Unexpectedly, Gao Yue just accepted the poems and said that we should not talk about grass or the topic of cotton. According to Letian's opinion, what are the advantages and disadvantages of this cotton cloth?

Bai Juyi was clever and knew that this was also a question-making session in the Jinshi exam, so he said truthfully: "This cloth has a flat texture and feels very warm when touched, but compared to silk, it seems to be lacking in smoothness and is far less bright than silk."

Gao Yue nodded and said Lotte was right, but do you know the market price of this cotton cloth?

The father and son of the Bai family said they didn't know.

At this time, Liu Deshi laughed and quoted the price: "A piece of cloth, forty feet, each piece of white stacked cloth (i.e. cotton) is only three cents, which means that a piece of cotton is one hundred and twenty cents."

One hundred and twenty dollars?

In other words, the price of cotton is about one-tenth of silk.

This is too cheap.

"So what does it matter if it is smooth or not, bright or not bright? This cotton cloth is for ordinary people to wear to keep warm." Gao Yuetangran said.

Bai Juyi suddenly felt admiration for Gao Yue. Although Gao Yue still regarded the future Bai Juyi as a "phoenix in the tung tree", Bai Juyi was also full of a strong sense of civilians. He knew that the promotion of this cotton cloth could truly bring benefits to the people.

"So I will also bring a tube to your Majesty this time, and cotton can be planted in all military towns in the northwest, including the Gyeonggi."

"The people of Middle-earth wear hemp, and they have a long history. It seems that this cotton cloth?" Bai Jigeng also had some questions at this time. After all, in terms of food, clothing, housing and transportation, the power of tradition was great, especially in ancient times.

The people have been wearing zip clothes for so many generations, and they have to change to cotton clothes, so this promotion may not be successful.

"Actually, this cotton cloth was popular in Shu during the Han Dynasty." Gao Yue said with a smile, meaning that the people had loved cotton coats for a long time. "The Huayang Kingdom and the Records of the Grand Historian recorded that Western Shu used the "Sala Tree Sci" from the Nanzhong to cut it open, and then the Indians traveled thousands of miles to the capital of Shu to buy cloth. The Sala Tree Sci is cotton, which shows that the texture of the cotton cloth in our Celestial Empire at that time had even surpassed the origin of Tianzhu (the origin of high-quality Asian cotton was Assam in India. In ancient times, there were trade routes along Myanmar, Yunnan and Sichuan in China). This cotton cloth is delicate and smooth, much better than most linen cloths."

Bai Juyi was even more impressed by his knowledge when he heard Gao Yue's words, but he still had questions, "Please help me, since Western Shu had weaved a large amount of cotton cloth during the Han Dynasty, why is it still unknown now?"

"When it comes to this, it's related to Zhuge Kongming." Gao Yue paused, and then replied very seriously to Bai Juyi. Other people at the banquet also listened carefully, "Western Shu cotton cloth was sold in Tianzhu and Daxia for the whole Han Dynasty, but few sold to the Central Plains. In addition, Dongchuan and Xichuan silk weaving industries have also emerged one after another. The silk washed from the capital of Jinjiang in Shu was famous all over the world. Therefore, when Zhuge Kongming was in power, he said, "Now the people are poor and the country is weak, and the only way to determine the enemy's resources is to rely on brocade ears, so he set up a large-scale store of Shu brocade weaving. Therefore, under such circumstances, Shu cotton declined."

"Where does Zhuge Kongming live? He should be arrested!" Minghuai was indignant and was seriously dissatisfied with Zhuge Liang's great policy of destroying Xingyuan Prefecture and Shu Capital.

Gao Yue shook his eyes wide and wanted to shut up.

"What are the advantages of cotton and linen?" Bai Juyi couldn't wait to ask the next question.

Gao Yue said that there are three advantages:

First of all, there are many types of hemp in the middle earth, mainly including hemp, jute, flax and ramie. Among them, hemp and jute are coarsely squid and cannot be weaved, and can only be used to rub hemp ropes. Flax is generally the best to produce oil, and the only weaving is ramie. However, ramie is the most delicate, requiring fertile soil, irrigation, and abundant rainwater. However, the rainwater is heavy and fierce, and it will be destroyed. Cotton is different. Salt-alkali land can be planted and sandy land can be planted. As long as the sun is abundant and the rainwater is suitable, it is not to compete with fertile fields. This is the first advantage;

Secondly, ramie has great damage to soil fertility. After planting a field for several rounds of ramie, it cannot be planted. But cotton is not the case. Not only does it not damage soil fertility, it also has the effect of grass fertility. Planting cotton in a field for two years and growing rice and wheat in one year will make the soil richer, and poor fields can be transformed into fertile fields and there are few insect pests. This is the second advantage;

Finally, for farmers, the most painful thing about weaving ramie cloth is the process of "Jiehe". What is Jihehe? That is, farmers should use a sickle to cut them off and soak them in water while the stems of ramie have not turned yellow. After soaking, they will stick one or two feet long ramie one by one to weave them. They can only be tiring every day, and the income can only be calculated in "money" (weight unit). The yield is difficult to increase, but cotton is not the case. After ripening, half a stone per mu. Use the utensils I made, pulling threads, and spinning them. You can get one pound of cotton thread every four days. This is much more efficient than ramie. This is the third advantage.

Hearing this, Bai Juyi understood something vaguely. He raised his courage and asked Xing Yuanyin again: "That is to say, this cotton does not choose the color of earth and does not compete for the fields. Compared with silk, it does not have the best efforts to sericulture, but it has the effect of gaining. Compared with ramie, it does not have the pain of hemp, but it has the benefit of keeping cold?"

"What Lotte said is very much!" Gao Yue praised highly, "Fengzhou has also started to grow cotton. From what point of view, what is the long-term benefit?"

Bai Juyi was quick-thinking. Although he was only fifteen or sixteen years old, he also analyzed the tricks inside: "There are no households in the world who don't want to be warm in beds, but silk is too expensive and ramie damages soil strength. With it, it is impossible to grow grain on a large scale. Only this cotton can complement the growing grains. If there is a large harvest, the people and people in the world can get good and cheap beds, and there is no shortage of food. And the appropriate amount of ramie can be used to make paper."

Gao Yue laughed heartily, saying that Bai Letian was young and had the experience of the prime minister.

This made the Bai family flattered and each stood up and was humble.

In fact, Bai Juyi is right, this is the historical significance of cotton.

Originally, the yield of silk was higher than that of the south. Later, due to the invasion of Khitan and Jin, they went to Central Plains to cut down mulberry trees to build fortresses or to attack cities, so that later generations of silk weaving industries in the south were gaining popularity. However, silk is silk, whether in the north or south, it is never affordable for civilians to consume in large quantities. Therefore, once cotton was promoted, the people quickly obtained good-quality but cheap cloak materials. While wearing warm clothes, it also indirectly promoted the increase in grain output (cotton does not compete with wheat fields or rice fields). Then the population grew in large numbers, and ramie was saved to make paper and print a large number of books. In this way, a new generation with a large population and a prosperous culture emerged.

Bai Juyi, who was praised by Xingyuan Yin, was both excited and uneasy. He simply asked Gao Yue to say, could he stay in Xingyuan Prefecture to plant cotton fields instead of his father? Then he could also help his father promote the cotton industry in Fengzhou.

"Oh my god, you brothers might as well enter the Taofen Academy in Xingyuan, how about it?" Gao Yue was very tempted.
Chapter completed!