In the summer grassland, there are lush wild grasses as far as the eye can see.

Groups of cattle and sheep ate grass leisurely there.

However, a cement road divided this vast grassland into two pieces.

And at the bend of the cement road, a river happened to pass by.

In this area, a brand new town has sprung up.

Because this place is very close to Shuozhou, Xue Yantuo has now been destroyed by the Tang Dynasty, and the nearby tribes have either moved or been destroyed.

Therefore, this small town did not even have a city wall.

"Lang Jun, the Chu Palace invested at least 200,000 yuan in building this iron-making workshop, and they have not yet built a city wall. This fully shows that they are full of confidence in the safety here. Last year, we already tried to plant cotton.

The benefits are that the money invested in one time has almost been paid back. If we continue to expand the scale in the future, the risk should not be very big."

As the person in charge of the Du government in the Shuozhou area, Li Shuguo's main job was the management and expansion of cotton fields.

However, after purchasing another 10,000 acres of land at the beginning of this year, Du Gou had some doubts about whether to continue to expand cotton planting in the future.

Turning a grassland full of weeds into good land for growing cotton requires a lot of investment.

Relevant water conservancy facilities basically need to be handled by yourself.

The most important thing is that a large number of people need to be recruited to help.

Especially during the cotton picking season, if there is not enough manpower, the best picking time may be missed.

"This iron-making workshop is indeed very generous. But I can't figure out why the Chu Prince's own cotton fields have not increased at all this year. Logically speaking, the profit of each link of cotton planting and subsequent processing

It's not low, Li Kuan has no reason to give up."

"Boss, the Prince of Chu's Mansion has not given up on the cotton industry. Although the scale of cotton planting is already a dozen or so larger than that of the Prince of Chu's Mansion, when it comes to subsequent cotton processing, especially cotton dyeing, the Prince of Chu's Mansion has invested so much in this area.

It is still very large. In my opinion, Li Kuan felt that cotton processing and dyeing, and even subsequent clothing production, were more profitable than simply growing cotton, so he did not focus on it. This does not mean that the Chu Palace

I am not optimistic about Shuozhou’s development.”

Li Shuguo's status in the Du family is now directly proportional to the Du family's investment in Shuozhou cotton.

If most of the Du family's income comes from the cotton industry, then as the person in charge of cotton planting, Li Shuguo's position will be very stable.

On the contrary, if the Du family's future focus is not on cotton cultivation, then Li Shuguo's status in the Du family will decline.

"Are you familiar with that Chu Suiliang?"

Du Gou did not deny Li Shuguo's words, but asked about Chu Suiliang's news.

As the person in charge of the Chu Palace in the Shuozhou area, Chu Suiliang's influence is still very large.

In particular, the equipment of each cotton seed removal workshop comes from the workshops affiliated to the Chu Prince's Palace; the cotton thread spinning equipment also comes from the workshops affiliated to the Chu Prince's Palace.

Any family that wants to make a difference in the cotton industry will want to have a good relationship with Chu Suiliang.

In particular, the Chu Palace is now the largest cotton purchaser in the Tang Dynasty, which determines the price of cotton to a certain extent.

The cotton price, to a certain extent, was determined by Chu Suiliang.

That is to say, Li Kuan had great confidence in Chu Suiliang and knew that he was an ambitious talent and would not give up his future for the sake of small profits in front of him.

Otherwise, if another person were to be in charge of the business in Shuozhou, Prince Chu's palace, he might have to put a lot of money into his own pocket.

"We have visited a few times and had dinner together twice, but we are not familiar with each other. Boss, actually you don't have to worry about our relationship with Chu Suiliang. I don't know if it is to avoid suspicion, but Chu Suiliang is leaving with various families.

They are not very close to each other, but they like to hang out with the farm slaves in the fields."

Li Shuguo was worried that Du Gou would blame him for not having a good relationship with others, so he quickly explained.

"I heard that a new group of prisoners have arrived in Shuozhou recently. Go and buy a hundred slaves later. Then go and buy 50,000 pieces of wasteland from Shuozhou Governor's Mansion, which is next to our cotton field; we will do it in advance.

Be prepared and strive to bring our cotton planting area to a higher level again when planting next year!"

Seeing the black smoke rising from the chimney in the distance, Du Gou felt the generosity of the huge iron-making workshop in front of him.

Since the Chu Palace is willing to place such an important industry as steelmaking here, then the Du family's investment in expanding the scale of cotton planting should be controllable.

Anyway, a cotton field can make money back with interest within a few years.

…

"Master Fu, I have arranged for people to go to the grassland to buy more cattle and sheep, and other materials such as horse feed are also being prepared. However, you still need to make arrangements for the making of weapons."

At Shuozhou Governor's Mansion, Chu Suiliang was reporting the recent situation to Governor Zhang Jian.

"Chu Zhubo, are those rumors on the Liaodong border true? Goguryeo is also a rare big country. Is the Gao family dynasty really so easy to collapse?"

A few days ago, Chu Suiliang suddenly came to Zhang Jian and said that the caravan had received news that Gao Jianwu in Goguryeo was killed by Yuan Gaisuwen, and the situation in Goguryeo had undergone tremendous changes.

If it is such a piece of news, although it is a bit shocking, Zhang Jian can still accept it.

The most important thing is that Chu Suiliang judged that this time, after such changes occurred in Goguryeo, Datang would use troops against Goguryeo.

This is why Zhang Jian did not pay attention to it.

Whenever troops are used against Goguryeo, the army will probably pass through Shuozhou, then go to Youzhou, and then enter Liaodong.

Judging from the scale of the three certificates of Goguryeo in the Sui Dynasty, the scale of each one was not small.

If Datang wanted to deal with Goguryeo, even if there was unrest in their country, the scale of their troop dispatches would not be small.

Along with it, there were supplies provided by the state capitals along the way.

"Master Fu, the Yuan family in Goguryeo was originally one of the five tribes left over from the founding of the People's Republic of China. Yuan Gaisumun also controlled the military power of Goguryeo. Many of the orders given by Gao Jianwu and his son did not necessarily have much effect after they left Pyongyang City.

Although I still don’t know the cause of this incident, I still think the rumors of Yeon Gaesoo’s massacre of Gao Jianwu are credible. As for whether the Gao family dynasty will fall, I think it won’t happen in a short time. After all, Yeon Gaesoo

In order to deceive others and let everyone see that he is not seeking to usurp the throne, Wen will probably choose an obedient one from the Gao family and support him to the throne."

"Does this mean that Yeon Gaesomun will become the de facto controller of Goguryeo? And the king of the Goguryeo family will become a puppet?"

Zhang Jian naturally understood what Chu Suiliang meant.

"That's right, and judging from Yeon Gaesumun's situation, this puppet of the Gao family may not be able to last long."
Chapter completed!