The most fashionable thing nowadays is the steam engine.

More than two months ago, a textile workshop started using steam engines for the first time.

In fact, the textile industry has developed very rapidly in recent years. At the beginning, the Chen family's workshop developed the use of cotton to make cotton yarn and then made into cotton cloth. Such cotton cloth is more warm and more comfortable to wear on people.

But cotton is not like silk. Silk must be raised in mulberry trees, waiting for silk to sprout silk to form cocoons. Therefore, silk is a natural high-end fabric and has always been of high value.

But soon... people discovered that the market for civilians began to flourish. After many people entered Chang'an and Erpigou, it was no longer possible for men to farm and women to weave them. The clothes they wore were almost dependent on buying them. However... the vast majority of brocade, silk and local cloth on the market could not meet the needs of these people.

After all, although the price of homemade cloth is low, it cannot meet the needs of these craftsmen and the people who have some spare money. However, brocade and silk are unattainable, and the consumption capacity of ordinary people is far from reaching.

At this moment... the Chen family began to breed cotton on the land they were looking at and began to purchase cotton.

Historically, the production of real cotton cloth began in the Song Dynasty. Before the Song Dynasty, although there were crops such as cotton, in fact, no one realized that this was a natural cloth raw material.

However, with the promotion of new grain seeds and satisfying the problem of fullness, cash crops have gradually been favored by farmers. The Chen family has selected many cotton seeds, and the cotton planting is not as delicate as grains. Therefore, cotton has begun to be produced everywhere in the world.

Immediately afterwards, the Chen family purchased cotton and built a cotton yarn workshop, directly using a loom, and then began to produce cotton on a large scale based on the cotton yarn.

In the production of cotton cloth, the shuttle has been widely used, so the output is extremely high. Naturally, the price of cotton cloth is naturally much cheaper than silk.

This warm and comfortable and well-style cloth quickly began to become popular and demand was extremely strong.

However, the cotton cloth workshop found that its output was indeed high, and the goods were not worried about selling. The only headache was that the output of cotton yarn could not keep up with the supply.

Therefore, the most demand for steam engines is the cotton yarn workshop. They hired people to continuously improve textile machines, but the strong demand is still difficult to meet this strong demand.

It was not until people realized that they could use looms to increase production on a large scale, and after several improvements, they achieved great success. Only then did people realize that although the steam engine consumes a lot of coal, its production... is more stable than manual labor, and the texture of the cotton yarn produced is also excellent. The most important thing is that it can be produced continuously and expand production capacity frantically.

Now, by improving the shuttle, the output of cotton cloth has increased sharply. By passing the steam textile machine, the output of cotton yarn has also begun to increase on a large scale. Looking back, people's demand for cotton has become huge again.

Many aristocratic people who moved to Hexi, and many families who obtained a large amount of land from the Chen family were very interested in this cotton. They hoped to plant cotton in Hexi on a large scale. Of course, it will take time to observe whether the climate there is suitable for planting.

The cotton on the market is now expensive, and almost as long as it is picked, you will not have to worry about no sales. It is already a profitable deal.

The promotion of cotton cloth is also very terrible, because this thing is famous for its low price, more comfortable and warmth, and is much better than ordinary linen cloth.

There were three or four of the ten merchants who came to Chang'an, all of whom were looking for cotton everywhere, hoping to buy such cotton and then take them back to their respective prefectures and counties.

The Chen family’s textile workshop has started this, and now there are more and more workshops investing in the textile industry. Now this cotton cloth has become a hard currency.

This cotton cloth can not only be cut into clothes, but also become bedding. It is a necessity for ordinary people. The demand has remained high and there is no downward trend. Including the army, large-scale procurement has also begun.

Chen Zhengtai returned to the Chen family in a carriage. He had just arrived at the ground and before the people had gained a foothold, the door came forward to report: "Your Highness, Mr. Cui is asking for a meeting."

"Which Mr. Cui?" Chen Zhengtai frowned, looking confused.

Menzi replied.

"Your Highness, it's the Cui clan of Qinghe."

The Chen family and the Cui family are now very happy to cooperate. After all, the Cui family needs the Chen family to take care of the Hexi area.

The Chen family also needs to rely on the influence of this world's largest aristocratic clan.

Cui Zhizheng is still in Chang'an, although the vast majority of people and their tribes have begun to settle in Hexi.

However, no matter where they migrate, the Cui family also needs to have influence in the court. Therefore, many Cui family members are still officials in Chang'an, so Cui Zhizheng, the clan leader, naturally cannot escape the vulgarity.

Chen Zhengtai immediately went to the main hall to meet Cui Zhizheng.

As soon as he saw Chen Zhengtai, Cui Zhizheng bowed: "I have seen the world. Recently, I am very happy for Your Highness to see the colorful Luan Pavilion."

Chen Zhengtai glanced at Cui Zhizheng, then curled his lips and smiled: "This Luan Pavilion is what Your Majesty means, it is just to share your worries, why are you happy?"

No matter how many advantages the Chen family has taken, Chen Zhengtai always looks sad.

It seemed as if I was afraid that someone would lend him money.

Cui Zhizheng knew it and did not discuss too much on this topic. Instead, he smiled at Chen Zhengtai and said, "Your Highness, I am here, there is something I want to report to Your Highness."

Chen Zhengtai had already sat down, waved his hand to Cui Zhizheng and said, "Come on, sit down and talk slowly."

Cui Zhizheng nodded, his face raised, and said seriously: "Your Highness, my nephew, just returned from Gaochang."

Gaochang State was in the Western Regions, and in the Western Regions, the national strength was considered strong. Because Hexi and Gaochang State bordered, there would be some exchanges.

After the Cui family arrived in Hexi, they naturally did not stick to their own land and only cared about their own land. Such a large family believed in the idea that people would have immediate worries without long-term plans. Therefore, after settled in Hexi, a large number of tribesmen began to inspect the market in Xining, or sent people to nearby Gaochang or Tubo countries.

Chen Zhengtai raised his eyebrows and looked at Cui Zhizheng.

"Gaochang Kingdom, what's wrong with Gaochang Kingdom?"

"Do you know, how much is a pound of cotton now?" Cui Zhizheng asked Chen Zhengtai seriously.

Chen Zhengtai shook his head gently: "I don't know this."

Cui Zhizheng was very excited, as if he had discovered a new world, and told Chen Zhengtai in detail.

"The prices have risen all the time this year, especially after the emergence of steam textile machines, the prices are even more unattainable. Why, because the output has increased, but the raw material is this cotton... but it cannot be supplied. On the market, a pound of ordinary cotton is fifty-three cents, and if it is a good cotton, the price is nearly seventy cents."

Chen Zhengtai said: "Yes, in recent years, the demand for cotton is really strong. Look at our Chen family, many people wear cotton coats. The main reason is that there are too many workshops and the output is too large. However, I heard that the demand on the market is also high. When everyone is full, they naturally hope to wear warmer. Just this year, this cotton yarn workshop and textile cotton workshop, I heard that there are Erpigou in Xining and Shuofang, and there are more than 40 more companies."

"That's right." Cui Zhizhengji said seriously: "The Cui family has been in Hexi and tried to plant cotton, but found that... the effect is not good. Either the output is too little, or the quality of the cotton planted is too low... On the one hand, it is because the Cui family lacks experience in growing cotton, and on the other hand, it may also be because of the local environment and the local environment is not suitable."

Chen Zhengtai said: "Let's cultivate it slowly. My cousin Chen Zhengde, have you been focusing on selecting cotton seeds recently?"

"This is the truth." Cui Zhizheng coughed, and then looked at Chen Zhengtai deeply: "But... my nephew was in Gaochang State and found that there was actually cotton in Gaochang State, and the output was particularly amazing. After this cotton grew, the quality was excellent. It can be said that it is the best cotton today."

Yeah?

Gaochang was in the Western Regions, and later generations Chen Zhengtai also heard about it. The cotton there was the main industry.

In people's minds, the land in the Western Regions is poor, but in fact, it is also a unique place.

First of all, the land that blooms is alkaline and is very suitable for the growth of cotton.

Secondly, it is located in the foothills of the edge of the Tianshan Mountains, with rich melting water in the mountains and very convenient irrigation.

In addition, most of them are sandy land, which has good breathability and is beneficial to the growth of cotton.

Moreover, because of the low precipitation, it is conducive to cotton picking.

When winter comes, the temperature is very low, which is very beneficial to killing diseases and insects.

Not to mention, cotton is a light-loving crop and is suitable for growing under sufficient light conditions. The Western Regions have unique lighting conditions.

Moreover, cotton is very suitable for large-scale planting. If it is in the hilly areas within the pass, it will be inconvenient for picking or transportation. However, the terrain of the Western Regions is very flat and can be said to be endless and can be planted directly on a large scale.

In other words... Speaking of cotton planting, compared with the Western Regions, 99% of the places under the world are all spicy in the eyes of the Western Regions.

The cotton in the pass is now extremely large, and it is unimaginable. Whoever has cotton can make a lot of money. Cui Zhizheng heard this information and had not slept all night, and all he was thinking about was money.

Yes, in his eyes, Gaochang Country was filled with money. Early this morning, he hesitated for a while and finally couldn't hold it anymore, because Cui Zhizheng knew very well that the Cui family could not eat this solo. Without the assistance of the Chen family, Gaochang Country could not grow cotton on a large scale, and the money had nothing to do with the Chen family.

He said, staring at Chen Zhengtai's expression on his face, and then continued.

"In the same land, the cotton in Gaochang State can be more than twice as high as that in the pass, or even more. Moreover, the cotton texture produced by such high-quality cotton is also of high quality. Your Highness, this is a blessed land, with a fertile land of thousands of miles. If all cotton is planted, the world will no longer worry about the absence of cotton. But... This Gaochang State has colluded with the Turks a few years ago and has been unwilling tolerated by the court... Most of the people here are Han people. If they can take over Gaochang State, there will be no shortage of population in this place."

At the beginning of Gaochang State, it was the descendant of a group of Han residents after the Han Dynasty ruled over the Western Regions. Therefore, although it was in the Western Regions, in fact, most of them were still Han people.

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When the Han Dynasty perished, with the endless wars in the Central Plains, Gaochang had to become independent. Like in the pass, the country was controlled by several Han nationality surnames, and six ministries were also established, adopting a county system, with four counties and eighteen counties, with a population of 100,000 households.

One hundred thousand households are hundreds of thousands of people. If this were placed in the Tang Dynasty, it might not be a big deal, but it would be very considerable in the Western Regions.

However, with the chaos in the Central Plains, the Han people in Gaochang had already shown signs of Hu's transformation.

Moreover, after Gaochang was cut off from the channels for contact with the Central Plains, in order to ensure safety, he had colluded with the Turks in the early years.

Cui Zhizheng obviously made a clear plan.

That is, if Gaochang can be won, then the Chen family and Cui family can make a fortune.

Since then, although the Cui family cannot surpass the Chen family, it can still maintain its huge influence in the future.

In fact, theoretically speaking, at this time, the Tang Dynasty should have conquered the Gaochang Kingdom. In the 14th year of Zhenguan in history, Li Shimin sent Hou Junji to conquer the Gaochang Kingdom.

The original intention of Li Shimin to attack and destroy Gaochang was actually to establish the Western Regions Protectorate, and most of the Gaochang Kingdom were Han people, and the future was also the cornerstone of the Tang Dynasty's stability in the Western Regions.

However, Hou Junji obviously did not understand Li Shimin's intentions. After entering Gaochang, he carried out plunder and massacres, which made the Gaochang Kingdom empty, and instead made the Central Plains dynasty occupy the land here in name, but in fact, it completely lost the fulcrum for pursuing the Western Regions.

What Chen Zhengtai never expected was that Gaochang Kingdom in history escaped Hou Junji's disaster, but was also missed by Cui Zhizheng.

Chen Zhengtai saw greed from Cui Zhizheng's face.

Land, population, cotton, money.

Since the Cui family is based in Hexi, it is bound to be pioneering and enterprising.

This greed was so obvious that Chen Zhengtai was shocked at this time. He was not shocked by the fact that the Cui family had become a threat to the Chen family, and the Cui family's ambitions.

Instead... Chen Zhengtai realized... he finally released the hungry wolves in the pass.

When they were in the pass, these aristocratic races were still greedy and ruthless, but in the pass, they were constantly exploiting and exploiting other people to continuously enrich their property.

But when we arrived outside the pass, these hungry and ambitious guys immediately became ferocious whenever they smelled a trace of blood.

God knows whether this is a good or a bad thing.

Chen Zhengtai did not show any emotion on his face, but just asked indifferently.

"How does Mr. Cui plan to take Gaochang?"
To be continued...