12dz Chapter 117 Cotton
Chapter 117 Cotton
While Xiao Siyue was busy, the capital city had already received the memorials and cotton-padded clothes delivered by Xiao Qinian.
The first court assembly after the New Year.
Everyone was still enjoying the relaxation of the holiday when, unexpectedly, another big thing happened.
During the court assembly, the emperor politely greeted all the ministers.
"How did you all spend the New Year, my beloved ministers?" Emperor Zhou asked with a smile.
Although the ministers were somewhat flattered, they could all tell that their emperor seemed to be in a very good mood.
This is completely different from them. Now that work is about to begin, who is it? Who likes it?
"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. We are all well," Grand Commandant Yu replied.
"That's good, I'm fine too," Emperor Zhou said to himself.
Others may not know why Emperor Zhou acted this way, but Shen Junru did.
"Today, I have two pieces of good news to share with all my beloved ministers," Emperor Zhou said, then summoned Eunuch Wei to come in.
“The officials from the Ministry of Works shall enter the palace.”
A moment later, the group of people came in.
"Greetings, Your Majesty." The group entered and bowed to the Emperor.
"Rise, and tell your ministers what happened," Emperor Zhou said in a good mood.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Within two months in Qianyuan County, we have successfully built a cement workshop, and the first batch of cement has been produced and is already in use," the man said proudly.
Then another person added, "The cement road surface is very hard and very smooth, much better than the road surface paved with blue bricks."
After they finished speaking, the two left.
The ministers were all very excited and incredulous upon hearing this, and that was it.
The ministers inside the hall were extremely curious about the cement road, and with several people announcing the news, they asked all sorts of questions, making the scene lively in an instant.
Emperor Zhou did not stop them, but quietly watched the ministers below him making a ruckus.
"Alright, now that you know, the rest is up to the Ministry of Works."
"This is my principle," replied Yan Shu, the Minister of Works.
After two months, the alcohol workshop was almost finished, and we could finally free up manpower to process the cement.
However, Yan Shu was also praying in his heart that it wouldn't happen again, as he was already at his limit.
"The second good thing is this." Eunuch Wei took down the cotton quilt and cotton clothes for the ministers to see.
"What is this?" Several ministers gathered around, touched it, and asked curiously.
"It looks like clothing, but it's so soft!" one minister exclaimed.
"Indeed, and it's also quite warm."
Emperor Zhou watched as his ministers curiously examined the cotton-padded clothes and quilts, while only Shen Junru stood aside, not participating.
However, he knew this; when Xiao Qinian sent the set to the capital, he also sent one to Shen Junru, without hiding it.
"Your Majesty, what is this?" asked Nie Xing, the Minister of Agriculture.
Upon hearing this, everyone else turned their attention to Emperor Zhou, who was seated at the head of the table.
"This is cotton-padded clothing and quilts."
"Cotton-padded clothes and quilts? Cotton?" They know about clothes and quilts, but what is cotton?
Looking at the crowd, Emperor Zhou knew that they, like him, were not going to keep him in suspense.
"The reason this garment is so soft and warm is because it's filled with cotton," Zhou Di said.
"cotton?"
They had never heard of it before.
"This is cotton, a kind of plant." Emperor Zhou took out the cotton beads that Xiao Qinian had given him, which he had specially saved during the previous harvest.
All the people saw was a small tree branch about half a person's height with several cloud-like things growing on it.
The group took it, and realized that this was cotton.
"The cotton-padded clothes are made from cotton bolls that grow on small trees," Emperor Zhou said, showing everyone a ball of cotton.
"I wonder what the cotton yield is? Where does it come from?" Nie Xing asked Emperor Zhou excitedly.
If the production volume is extremely high, then... then...
"This cotton was sent by Xiao Aiqing from Qianyuan County. As for the yield, it is about 400 kilograms per mu." These are all things that Xiao Qinian said in his letter.
"How much cotton does this cotton coat need?" This time, it was Duke Dingguo, Lu Feng, who spoke. He was a military general, and he couldn't contain himself when he saw the cotton coat.
Having fought in battles for many years, he knew what his soldiers lacked most.
"This garment requires about one kilogram of cotton. But it is processed cotton."
"Your Majesty, this cotton must be planted properly. I wonder how much cotton Magistrate Xiao has?" Nie Xing asked with great concern.
"Minister Xiao said that last year, a total of 50 mu of cotton were planted, and a total of 4 jin of cotton were harvested," Emperor Zhou said. He planned to have the palace's procurement office go to Qianyuan County to collect some cotton in the next few days.
"Does Your Majesty know the yield of cotton seeds?" Nie Xing continued to ask.
"You can figure that out yourself. The cotton seeds are inside the cotton bolls."
Upon hearing this, everyone immediately picked all the cotton bolls from the cotton plants.
The first thing he did was pick up a cotton boll and start counting it.
"One, two, three... There are 40 cotton bolls in this one."
“I have 43 here.”
"I only have 30 pills."
I counted several cotton bolls, and they were mostly between 30 and 45.
So how many seeds can 50 mu of cotton produce? This question popped into almost everyone's mind at that moment.
The emperor said, "Minister Xiao said that there are about 100 cotton plants per mu."
As soon as the emperor spoke, the ministers below were already calculating in their minds that if this was the case, then there would be enough seeds to plant this year.
However, Nie Xin did not think so. As the Minister of Agriculture, he naturally understood agricultural matters. Although there were many seeds, not all of them could be planted, and some seeds had already been damaged.
There will be losses when planting, but even so, these seeds still make Nie Xin's heart burn with excitement. This is cotton that can keep you warm!
Every year, people freeze to death in Dazhou, especially after the snow disaster a few years ago, when countless people froze to death.
"Minister Xiao also said that cotton can not only keep you warm, but also be used to weave cloth, and the cloth woven from it is very soft," Emperor Zhou added.
Weaving cloth—nowadays, the powerful and wealthy wear fine silks and brocades, while the common people mostly wear linen clothes.
The emperor was secretly delighted by the reactions of his ministers, but he maintained a calm and composed demeanor. After all, he was the emperor, and the first lesson he had to learn was to remain expressionless.
"Your Majesty, I wonder if Magistrate Xiao's seeds are suitable?"
Everyone understood Nie Xin's meaning, including the emperor.
"Minister Xiao is very righteous, willing to offer all the seeds to the court." The emperor glanced at the crowd, some were happy, and some felt it was a pity. The emperor's eyes sharpened.
He naturally understood what these people were thinking. It seemed he had been too lenient; someone had actually set their sights on this place.
However, he will deal with these people slowly later; right now, the most important thing is the seeds.
"Minister Yan, after this, arrange for some people to go to Qianyuan County to learn cotton cultivation."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Nie Xin replied happily, but he felt a little regretful. He wanted to go and see for himself, but he simply didn't have the time.