According to Xu Ping's memory, the most ideal cotton production area at this time should be the Xiangyang Basin of Jiangsu and Zhejiang and Nanyang. The Jiangsu and Zhejiang area is large in population and is in the climax of development, and it is not suitable for large-scale cotton planting. However, the surrounding Nanyang is sparsely populated and wasteland is very large. The land business opened on Jingxi Road is basically there. It is just because of the insufficient population, it has always been built and abandoned. There is great potential for opening an official cotton plantation there according to local conditions.

However, this involves coordination between the three departments and local governments and changes in the taxation system. Xu Ping cannot make the decision. He can only go back and discuss with Kou Yu slowly, and he will come forward to raise the matter to the court.

The little yellow door came to cool water, and everyone drank it to quench their thirst and talked some gossip.

Xu Ping's teeth were not completely healed. After taking a sip of ice water, he felt the pain was unbearable, so he had to let go.

Taking advantage of the time when several people were talking, Xu Ping held the scepter and said, "Your Majesty, my husband, I just said that I would like to expand cotton planting next year, but I still need to discuss how the cotton planted is weaving it into cloth."

Zhao Zhen was a little surprised: "Now the Sansi weaving field business is idle after only one month of busyness? If you plant more cotton next year, will the field business still be backlogged?"

"In Weichen's village, all the cotton planted this year is less than 5,000 acres. If it is promoted to the prefectures and counties below, it will start from hundreds of thousands of acres. The weaving field is far from enough."

Lu Yijian put down the ice water, picked up the folding fan on the table and shook it, saying, "There are more open spaces on both sides of the Wuzhang River in the north of the capital. Even if the Sansi recruits people, it will expand the existing business."

Xu Ping shook his head: "My husband, things are not that simple. Those weaving machines have to be learned before they can be used. It is not enough to recruit people. Moreover, over the past year, Sansi's new business has recruited tens of thousands of people. Although the capital has a large population, there are no idle people, so recruiting people is not easy."

After hearing this, Lu Yijian couldn't help laughing: "Xu Ping, everyone knows, who is the most people in the capital? Of course, there are the most idle people! For these idle people, Cheng Lin of Kaifeng Prefecture was worried about it, how could there be no idle people!"

"My husband, the reason why idle men are idle is because they are idle, not because they have nothing to do. It is very hard to do work in the field, and how can I compare to wandering on the streets and having food and drinks when I mingle in the restaurants? The most unlikely person in the field is idle men. For the court, idle men are useless people."

The idle men in this era were gangsters and hooligans in later generations, and most of them had skills. However, these skills were all fun, fun, playing, singing, and sumo, and cuju. They had nothing to do with labor. These people are not the labor force that the factory is welcomed. If they recruit them, the managers will be very troubled. Not to mention, you don’t care about the trouble, and your family is not willing to go there. Every day, you can eat delicious food and drink spicy food. Why do you have to go to the factory to do your best?

There are many idle men in Kaifeng City because there are many princes, ministers, powerful and wealthy people. These people have the needs to raise such a special market. How can the working conditions of the venue be compared?

Wang Zeng said: "Xu Ping makes sense. How can those idle men be people who do work? They are all scoundrels who have been young and have lost their shame, so they can be idle men. Even if these people want to enter the court, they can't let them in! If there is a shortage of people in the court, they should not think of ways."

Mei Xun said: "Or what if the surrounding prefectures and counties are sent to the court for prisoners who are exiled as soldiers? Now the prisoners of Kaifeng Prefecture are sent to the Jiagushan Quarry in Zhengzhou. They suck stones into the lungs every day, and many people die. If they are relocated to the Sanshi field, not only will they have manpower, but they will also be a virtuous policy for prisoners."

After hearing Mei Xun's words, Xu Ping hurriedly said, "No way! Now the workers in the new business are good people who receive fixed money and food every month and do not lack food and clothing. Doing things in the business and telling them to relatives and friends is a shameful thing in the capital. If the miscellaneous staff attacks the offender, wouldn't it be embarrassing? The business under the three officials can only recruit good people, and no matter what, you can't let people commit crimes and do things!"

The quarrying service in Jiagushan, Zhengzhou is the main source of official building stones in the capital, including Kaifeng Prefecture. The prisoners of the surrounding prefectures were all sent to the labor camps, which was considered labor reform. Due to the quarrying working conditions, they are prone to pneumoconiosis. Normal and hiring cannot recruit any people, mainly relying on the prisoners who are sent to the army.

Xu Ping opened a factory in Sanshi, which represents advanced productivity and production relations. He wants to set an example for the entire society. How could it become a place for sheltering prisoners? Sanshi's factory is a trustee for capital operation. Xu Ping himself is not a capitalist and will not do anything for profit. Sanshi requires not only the money earned from the new business, but also the workers in the business worker live like a personal business. This yamen still needs face.

Seeing that Xu Ping was not good at this or that, Lu Yijian said unhappily: "As you said, the venue service can't recruit the needed staff in the capital? What should I do?"

From the perspective of labor creating value, to produce more goods, in addition to increasing the number of workers, labor tools can also be improved. Although China has always been rich in labor resources, in this era, in this place, labor power is obviously insufficient. Otherwise, there would not have been so much arable land between the two capitals, the center of the world. Only two or three of them can cultivate farmland, and there are actually a large and sparsely populated land. There are many reasons for this situation, but the result is obviously a shortage of labor, and it is necessary to start from the improvement of labor tools.

He bowed to Lu Yijian and Xu Ping said: "My husband, the only people in the three companies can recruit, and it is impossible to ask more urgent things. The ancients said that if you want to do a good job, you must first sharpen your tools, and you can only think of ways from the tools. The subordinates tried new textile machines in cotton cloth business, without using animal power, but using hydraulic power, which was extremely effective. With the same human hand, the cloth woven more than twice as much as when using animal power. For the present plan, you can not recruit people, but change the equipment to hydraulic power, which can solve the urgent needs of the coming year."

Lu Yijian said: "You have always been agile and have many inventions, and the three corpses have made a lot of profits. If you really have such utensils that use fewer people and more weaving, it is naturally a good thing. If you use them together, you should be rewarded."

"My husband praised me, how dare the officials take responsibility? But the capital is located on a plain. Although there are many rivers, few can use water power. Nowadays, all rivers that can be used have water grinding services. In order to avoid the need for weaving in the next year, the officials want to ask the Xishui Mian to abandon it and turn it into a cotton weaving factory. It turns out that the rice and flour produced by the Xishui Mian office will be moved to another place and used cattle and mule to pull the grinding, which will not be possible. In this way, both will not be delayed."

After hearing this, Lu Yijian smiled and said, "Why do you have to do this too much? Wouldn't it be nice to move the weaving cloth to other places and pull it with a cow and mule? Xishuimofu supplies the rice and flour needed by the imperial guards in Danai and the city, how can it be scrapped?"

"My husband doesn't know that weaving cloth cannot be fast or slow. Use water to build dams to store water and build canals to drain water. It is much smoother than livestock. The grinding rice and flour does not need to be so stable, and the exchange of the two phases will not be delayed."

Lu Yijian shook his head repeatedly: "Nothing! Nothing can be done, no way! The emperor is here, let alone the need for the big net. The rice and flour required by the tens of thousands of troops in the city are not a decimal point, so I dare not make any mistakes! If you have a wastewater work, you will lose the food for the imperial guards. Once it becomes noisy, do you know the consequences?"

"How come there is less? As long as you plan properly, prepare surplus grain, or build the new milling surface first and then grind the wastewater milling work, there will be no mistakes. The official has been planning for a long time, so it should be foolproof!"

Lu Yijian just shook his head, and a hint of helplessness appeared on his face, as if he was ignorant child: "Xu Ping, you are still young, and some things are inappropriate. It is natural for human nature. All the water and soot tasks in the capital should not be abandoned. Just think of another way. This method is absolutely not feasible! Isn't this difficult for you, because you have experienced few things, do you understand?"

Xu Ping did not expect that Lu Yijian would firmly oppose it. He had been planning this matter for a long time, and all possible accidents had been taken into account. Even the rice and flour needed in the intermediate transition stage had begun to be reserved. Why is it not feasible?

Unconsciously, Xu Ping looked up at Zhao Zhen. Zhao Zhen frowned, just shook his head slightly, and said nothing.

Xu Ping looked at Wang Zeng, who was sitting on Lu Yijian's side. Wang Zeng sighed: "Food food is the foundation of the army, and there should be no negligence. Lu Xianggong was right, Xu Ping, don't think of a way, you can't move the water grinding business no matter what."

A Xishui Mofu Department only produces hundreds of thousands of kilograms of rice and flour every year, which is not a big number for the three departments. With the authority of his deputy salt and iron envoy, Xu Ping can reserve these rations in advance for a year. What can’t be done well in a year? Xu Ping wanted to break his head, but he didn’t know what the two prime ministers were worried about.

Xu Ping felt a little confused. Looking at the other people sitting, they shook their heads slightly, obviously they all felt that what they said was unreliable. Moreover, Xu Ping felt that the expressions of these people were all in the back of their expressions. No matter how talented you are, you are steadfast and willing to work hard, you will still be young after all, and you will come up with such an idea.

This expression has no meaning of ridicule. It is like the younger generation is treating the child. Seeing the child accidentally causing trouble, but he doesn't know how to explain it to the child, so he shook his head helplessly.

Xu Ping didn't like this feeling very much. He had seen this expression just after he returned to the capital. The facts proved that he had done nothing wrong. But this time, he really couldn't understand what these people were worried about.

If we cannot use hydraulic power, how can we start a large-scale textile industry in the capital? It is natural to use manpower, but where did so much manpower come from in this era? More than 60 years after the founding of the Song Dynasty, the population is still recovering, which is still far from the number of household registrations in the Sui Dynasty. If we count the surge in the population of Jiangnan and Fujian, the population recovery in the Central Plains is even more terrible. There is no large amount of surplus labor around Kaifeng City.

In fact, Xu Ping was not because he was young, but because he had been an official in the court for too short, and he didn't know some taboos that could not be touched. The food of the imperial guards was dared to move casually? Xishuimofu supplies the imperial guards' rice and flour, which is enough. Even if you pile the rice and flour into mountains at the gate of the military camp, the imperial guards still couldn't move.

As long as you dare to move, there will be rumors that the military camp will be short of food, and soldiers will definitely cause trouble. The consequences of the imperial guards in the capital will be unimaginable. As long as there is a little possibility, Lu Yijian and Wang Zeng will not dare to open this hole. No matter how well Xu Ping is prepared, it will not be possible.

The imperial guards were inherited from the warlords of the Five Dynasties. It is another matter whether they can fight or not. Rebellion and trouble are first-class, and the ability passed down from ancestors. If there is a little bit of unsatisfactory in clothes and food, someone will take the opportunity to make noise. More importantly, most of them will be comforted after the trouble, and those who can bring the leaders to justice must be recorded in history books.

In this case, let alone weaving cotton, no matter how big the matter is, you can't mess with them.

Taizu was born as a military general. When he was in power, he did not admire literature and suppress martial arts. In his eyes, scholars were poor and had to use them. They were cheaper than military generals. 200,000 guan would be filled with your poor house. Go home and count your money to play. But if you are a military general in charge of the place, you may not be able to raise a few fangs.

Because of the controversy in succession, Emperor Taizong vigorously promoted civil servants in the imperial examination instead of military generals and nobles, and officially began to worship civil servants and suppress military officials. But on the other hand, Emperor Taizong was afraid of rebellion and held military power firmly in his own hands. Moreover, for the sake of military power, he deliberately used mediocre generals to command troops, and encouraged lower-class soldiers to fight against military commanders, forming a strange situation. The generals were incompetent and had no ability to manage the army. The soldiers were even more arrogant and unacceptable, forming a balance. The mediocre generals sat in high positions, enjoyed generous salaries, and could not control the soldiers below and did not dare to control them. The fierce soldiers below did everything.

It is good to have a high status in civil servants, but they cannot easily interfere in the affairs of the imperial guards. Military power is a taboo for all officials in the hands of the emperor. The imperial guards retired at the age of 60 and received half a salary, and there are many elderly and weak. But even if they are the prime minister, even if they are the Privy Councilor, they are not able to eliminate the imperial guards. They are the iron rice bowl given to the emperor for life.

Civil officials can insult and ridicule the generals in the court, but they cannot move their interests at all. Not only can they move, but they will also rebel and cause trouble. There are no more local officials killed by the rioters.

This situation is fundamentally different from the support of Xu Ping in Yongzhou, where the village soldiers with sugarcane services were backing. At that time, he was really impatient and could use the regular army to attack them. Now the imperial guard camp is around the imperial city. The two prime ministers just want these people to live comfortably and not cause trouble. Why dare to provoke them?

Xu Ping wanted to use water, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. This could increase the income of money and grain to the court, and the Political Affairs Hall was optimistic. However, if you want to use water and grind the affairs, or do something else, it affected the imperial guards, even if there was only a shadow. Not only did the prime minister disagreed, but the emperor and Hanlin scholars sitting here were the same. They all thought Xu Ping was still too young and too naive. (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!