Late Tang Dynasty: I

Chapter 134 Shock!Baiguan
Taiye Pool Hanliang Hall, bursts of valley fragrance wafting.

The farming time of His Majesty's farmland varies from morning to night, but by this time it is basically ready to be harvested, and there are still dozens of mu of cotton, which is white at a glance.

In the harvest season, I am naturally in a good mood, which can even offset the anxiety before going out.

His Majesty's lineup was very large. Concubine He Shu, Concubine Pei, Chen Zhaoyi, Liu Zhaorong, and the prince were all brought along. Li Ye also held the toddler Princess Pingyuan in his arms.

On the east bank of Taiye Pool, Kong Wei, Du Rangneng, Zhang Jun, Zhang Chengye, Liu Chongwang, Sun Weihou, and Sun Kui have all arrived, as well as six other officials of the fifth rank and above, and everyone in the Sinong Supervisor.

Two hundred farmers near Chang'an were invited by His Majesty the Emperor, but they still waited and watched.

At this time, Kong Wei was not as loud and direct as when he first saw the emperor working in agriculture.

Worry about the world's worries first, and enjoy the world's joys later!

Prosperity, the people suffer, death, the people suffer.

His Majesty's quotations have spread throughout the government and the public, and even spread to various feudal towns under the leadership of interested people.

In the past few days, I don't know who said that His Majesty is also good at arithmetic.

This is the rhythm of sanctification!

Yushan's personal guard, in charge of the emperor's eyes and ears, Li Ye naturally knew some of these words.

His Majesty the Emperor is also very helpless, the one given to Zhang Chengye is only at the level of the third grade in primary school, is this also called sanctification?

If you write out the complete algebra, geometry, analytic geometry, probability theory, calculus... Would you be immortal?

Plus physics, mechanics, chemistry, biological genetics, etc., what I have learned in junior high school, politics about productivity, production relations, economic base, superstructure, the main and secondary contradictions in philosophy...

If all of this is sorted out, wouldn't it be an immediate ascension...

Of course, at this time, Li Ye didn't have time to popularize natural science with the officials of the Tang Dynasty.

There are always priorities. For the current Datang, the first thing is to have a full stomach, and the second thing is to be safe and stable.

Now the second thing is being done, and it is estimated that it will take a few years to do it. The first thing has achieved initial results, and there is still room for improvement.

"Your Majesty, the time has come!"

His Majesty the emperor took the sickle, and then the princes took the sickle one by one, and the officials followed, each with a sickle, and the servants took them to their respective fields.

The concubines don't need to harvest. Concubine He Shu led a group of concubines and maids to pick cotton in the cotton field.

Among the farmers, a boy of seventeen or eighteen asked his father.

"Yeah, why does His Majesty the Emperor and those nobles still want to cultivate the land?"

The old farmer slapped the young man on the head.

"What do you know! What do you eat if you don't grow food?"

The young man was still puzzled, and said: "Mother said, His Majesty the Emperor always cuts wheat with a golden sickle, how come it is the same as us."

The old farmer also scratched his head, very puzzled.

His Majesty the emperor didn't do the farming for stuttering, it was the etiquette of the Tang Dynasty.

Since Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty, there has been a Xiannong altar. In spring and autumn, His Majesty the emperor went to cultivate in person, which is called "personal farming ceremony", so this scene is not uncommon.

During Taizong's reign, when Emperor Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty was in the plowing ceremony, the cattle were frightened and ran away. The general Yuchi Jingde beheaded the cattle, and then he became a cattle and farmed for Li Shimin.

But in many cases, the plowing ceremony was just a show, and the emperor's ministers walked around the field and it was over. Even Li Ye's good brother Tang Xizong had never participated in the plowing ceremony.

In his heart, farming is not as fun as polo.

Even the oldest Kong Wei has never seen such a real harvest like Li Ye's.

After a while, the officials were out of breath, but seeing that His Majesty was working hard, they could only wave their sickles.

From the corner of his eyes, Li Ye saw that the stubble that Kong Wei cut was the same as that eaten by a dog.

It's hard for them, I'm afraid they have never done it before!

In the Tang Dynasty, one mu of land was only about 150 square meters. Li Ye mowed two mu, and Kong Wei hadn't cut half an mu yet.

"Let's take a break!"

Under the leadership of the servants, the farmers stepped forward to take the sickles from the nobles one after another, each with a disgusted look on their faces.

This job is really messy.

The reason why Li Ye recruited so many farmers was not because he was afraid that the ministers would be tired.

It is because they are afraid that they will delay things.

If these ministers and workers were to cut the grains and beat them down, they would have to toss for three to five days.

And Li Ye brought them here just to let them witness the production.

Du Rangneng is very interested in cotton.

"Your Majesty, what kind of crop is this, and is it edible?"

Li Ye couldn't help laughing. It seemed that cotton planting was the first time in Datang.

"It's not for eating."

Li Ye looked at Zhao Xi, and Zhao Xi cleverly took out a piece of cloth, about one foot long and five feet wide.

"Duke, look at this!"

Du Rang feels different when he holds it in his hands, it looks like silk but not silk, and it is not as rough as linen.

"Your Majesty, this thing is very good. Could it be that it was spun from the white flowers?"

Kong Wei, Zhang Jun, Sun Kui and others also gathered around one after another, expressing their amazement. Jing Xiang had seen Cotton before, so he was not surprised.

"Jing Gong knows this thing?"

Jing Xiang looked sideways and saw that it was Zhang Chengye, he hurriedly said: "So it is Zhang Gong, Jing Xiang can't afford to be a father, Zhang Gong loves you."

"It's just a name. I see that Jinggong seems to have seen this thing before, so I'm a little curious."

"This thing is called cotton, which was passed down from the Western Regions. His Majesty was very happy to see it. He planted it himself and improved the weaving technique..."

As soon as Zhang Chengye heard it, he felt why His Majesty paid so much attention to it, and hurriedly asked: "Your Majesty, you know, how much is the yield per mu?"

Jing Xiang said: "About 100 catties!"

"Ah!" Zhang Chengye was also shocked, is it so tall?
He thought about it in his mind, twenty catties of silkworm cocoons can spin a piece of cloth, and half of the cocoons are useless silkworm chrysalis, which is actually only ten catties, so how much cloth can be spun with 100 catties of cotton per mu?

Zhang Chengye hurriedly asked Jingxiang.

"Probably able to spin seven or eight bolts of cloth!"

I have found a treasure, His Majesty the Emperor has discerning eyes!Zhang Chengye saw that the cloth was much thicker than silk. Although it was not as soft as silk, it was much better than linen, and could be used for sewing close-fitting clothing.

Seven or eight bolts of cloth, even if one bolt is eight hundred wen, at least five pieces can be sold!
The output of one mu of land in the Tang Dynasty was only half a stone, and one stone of grain was only 150 Wen, and half a stone was only [-] Wen.

Wuguan and 150 Wen are very clear.

The officials gathered around the cotton cloth and praised it greatly. The outsiders watched the excitement, but the insider Zhang Chengye saw at a glance the importance of cotton to Datang.

Compared with silk, it is only strong but not weak.

Zhang Chengye looked at His Majesty the Emperor.

What the sage said, turning decay into magic, must be His Majesty the Emperor!
(End of this chapter)