I

  Chapter 586 583【Imported sheep】

  Under the interference of the local government, more than 60% of the cotton fields in the south of the Yangtze River this year have been replanted with drought-resistant crops such as millet, corn, and soybeans.

  Because although cotton is drought-tolerant, it must not be subjected to drought, otherwise the yield will be severely reduced or even completely lost.

   In the past few years, when there was a spring drought, the government also vigorously publicized it, but the farmers were not very cooperative.

  After suffering a few more losses, the cotton farmers also learned how to behave.

  This year’s work has been smoother. Under the initiative of local officials, the farmers’ associations of villages and towns took the lead in connecting them. A large number of cotton farmers took the initiative to contact the government to buy or loan seeds of drought-resistant crops such as millet.

  From June to the new calendar, the first batch of wool from Chahar was transported by merchants to Yangzhou for sale.

  Jiangnan textile merchants gathered in Yangzhou to grab goods.

  The foreseeable decline in cotton production has led to an increase in the price of wool and even the worst quality felt.

   "One dollar and five, I will pay one dollar and five!"

   "One dollar, five dollars, two!"

   "I'll pay you one dollar, five dollars and three!"

   "..."

  The warehouse outside Yangzhou Prefecture, the northern wool merchants, even held an auction here.

  One five yuan, that is, one tael and five silver coins, can wholesale a load of medium-quality rough-processed wool.

   "One yuan and sixty one cents, this owner makes a deal!"

  Cao Fengji was so happy that he could not close his mouth from ear to ear. The Fan family's Jin merchants behind this product were copied by Li Zicheng. Cao Fengji was blessed by misfortune, the elders of the clan were beaten and paralyzed in bed, he took advantage of the prestige of Emperor Datong, took advantage of the situation to become independent from the Fan family to start a business, and even changed his surname to Cao.

  Through Zuo Xiaocheng’s relationship in Chahar, he obtained the right to purchase wool from several Mongolian tribes in Chahar.

  The wool textile market in the south has been gradually cultivated.

   It is rumored that the emperor and empress both like to wear woolen sweaters. The woolen cloak (actually a windbreaker) designed by the emperor himself became very fashionable in Nanjing. The empress also taught the concubines to knit sweaters, and the noble ladies in Beijing also learned to knit sweaters. This kind of wool lining became popular in the south of the Yangtze River.

   "Boss, this year's wool is selling really well!" said the man happily.

Cao Fengji smiled and said, "The empress likes to wear sweaters. This year, the cotton production has decreased, so the wool is naturally sold very well. You go back quickly, don't be stingy with the travel expenses, and tell the various ministries on the grassland. I will take as much wool as they have! I There are tea leaves, iron pots, and salt bricks, and you can exchange them with wool!"

  The severe drought in the south accidentally caused a shortage of wool, which led to the closer economic ties between the herdsmen in Inner Mongolia and the Datong court.

  …

Shanghai.

  A Dutch merchant ship arrived at the port, which is obviously an official order, otherwise it would be traded in Batavia, and there is no need to travel all the way to Shanghai.

   Several officials from the Ministry of Commerce, together with technical officers from the Animal Husbandry Institute, and some textile businessmen, came to this Dutch merchant ship for handover.

  First of all, there are textile merchants, squatting among the sheep to check.

  You Jixian, an official from the Ministry of Commerce, asked: "How?"

  Cui Dian, a textile merchant, stood up and said, "Youkezheng, there are two kinds of sheep here, one with coarse wool and the other with fine wool. But what your Majesty wants are fine wool sheep, and the Dutch barbarians are trying to use the second as good."

  You Jixian sneered: "How courageous!"

  The Dutch quickly explained: "His Majesty the Emperor of China wants English sheep, and these are English sheep. We, the Dutch East India Company, did not intend to deceive Your Majesty."

  In fact, neither of the two sheep on board came from England.

  Zhao Han is not familiar with the textile industry and the history of sheep, so he preconceived that British sheep are the best.

   But the actual situation is that the best sheep breeds in the UK have not been bred in this era.

  The sheep breed with the best wool quality in Europe, mainly living in Italy and the Aegean coast. Spanish Merino sheep are descendants of Phoenician fine wool sheep. In order to save trouble, the Dutch businessman bought a batch of merino sheep and shipped them as English sheep, which happened to meet Zhao Han's needs.

   This batch of merino sheep was fed separately on two boats, and there were naturally other goods on board.

   While passing the Cape of Good Hope, the Dutch fleet encountered a storm. Although no ships sank, one of them was severely flooded and drifted away from the sea for half a month. All the merino sheep on board died.

   So what should we do?

   Halfway to Persia to buy black-faced sheep, continue to pretend to be English sheep, and ship them to China for delivery.

  You Jixian said to the animal husbandry officer again: "Check it out."

  The animal husbandry officials are very careful, inspecting each head slowly, breaking teeth, hooves, hair, etc. to check.

  In the end, 36 merino sheep were selected, and You Jixian said: "We only need these, and you can transport the rest of the sheep back by yourself."

  The Dutchman knew that he was in the wrong and still wanted to make money, so he apologized and said with a smile: "The remaining sheep can be traded at half price."

   "Half price deal, that's the price of a Tianzhu horse!" You Jixian said angrily.

  The sheep are shipped from Europe, and no one will pay the normal price. In order to increase the enthusiasm of the Dutch, the CIF price of each sheep is twice that of the Indian Mawari horse.

  Dutch haggling: "A quarter price?"

   "Ten!" You Jixian haggled fiercely.

  Persian black-faced sheep are mainly used for food. Although the quality of wool is not particularly bad, it is not much better than Chinese native wool. It was shipped all the way, but China was unwilling to make a deal, and it was impossible for the Dutch to ship it back.

  After some bargaining, the Merino sheep were sold at the order price, and the remaining black-faced sheep were sold at one-eighth of the price.

  The sheep from Spain and Persia were transported to Jeju Island in this way.

  The horse farm of the Datong imperial court is no longer in Jeju Island. There is a large Fuzhou horse farm in Liaodong.

   Today's Jeju Island has become an animal husbandry research base, mainly conducting breeding experiments on horses, cattle, and sheep.

  The experimental method is very primitive and unrestrained, which is to let different species crossbreed, and come up with a lot of strange things. Of course, hybridization is the main preference, and the evolutionary direction of livestock is artificially corrected.

  These sheep are brought to Jeju Island, and they must focus on the preferred breeding of Merino sheep.

  However, Spanish Merino sheep, Persian black-faced sheep, and East Asian native sheep will also be cross-breeding with each other. To be able to hybridize what the **** is completely depends on God's will. Even if it fails, you can still pick a few outrageous ones and send them to Nanjing to surprise the emperor.

  Jeju Island, long ago renamed Jeju County, originally belonged to Jiangsu, now belongs to Shandong.

  The county's registered population has rapidly increased to more than 50,000, about a quarter of which are Han immigrants, and many Koreans who fled by boat in recent years. There are three primary schools and one middle school, all of which are taught in Chinese.

  …

   "Are you knitting again?" Zhao Han asked with a smile.

   "Your Majesty!"

  Liu Rushi and Tian Xiuying hurriedly stood up to greet them.

   "Sit down." Zhao Han nodded.

  The bamboo sticks for knitting sweaters were "invented" by Zhao Han himself, but how to weave them has to be studied by skilled craftsmen.

   Skillful craftsmen invented one type, and after it spread, folk women derived six types.

  Tian Xiuying is ingenious and has transformed the gardens for the Beijing Imperial Palace and various ornaments for the Beijing Harem. In her free time, she studied knitting sweaters in the harem, and unexpectedly invented a crochet method, which can be used to weave many patterns with wool.

  Tian Xiuying sat down carefully with her big belly supported by the maid and said, "This is a baby's wool shoes, which can be worn in winter."

  Zhao Han picked up the half-knit little shoes, which were woven with fine cashmere yarn and would not irritate the baby's skin. He looked at it for a while and said with a smile, "Is this a bat?"

   "Weave a pair of bat shoes and pray for the child." Tian Xiuying already has a shadow in her heart. The sons she gave birth to Chongzhen died in succession, and she only kept the last one. Now that she is pregnant with Zhao Han's child again, I really don't want to go through it again.

  Liu Rushi smiled and said: "My husband is blessed, and princes and princesses are naturally blessed."

  Compared to the slender figure of the previous years, Liu Rushi's figure is much plump, and her relationship with Tian Xiuying is still the best.

   Zhao Han suddenly said: "Your father has been found."

  Tian Xiuying was startled suddenly: "Is my father okay?"

Zhao Han said: "When Li Zicheng was tortured in Beijing, he was beaten half to death. With the help of his old friends, he hid in the mountains to become a monk. The Datong Army recovered Hebei, tracked down the undisciplined monks, and confirmed his identity. Can be sent to Nanjing."

   "Congratulations sister!" Liu Rushi said happily.

  Tian Xiuying also pursed her lips and smiled. The child in her belly was about to be born, and the lost father also had a whereabouts. God was too kind to her.

  Zhao Han said to Liu Rushi: "Your family members have not been found yet."

  Liu Rushi forced a smile: "It doesn't matter if you don't look for it."

  Zhao Han reminded Tian Xiuying: "The title of Datong is only rewarded by merit. When your father came to Nanjing, at most he bestowed a house and silver. There is no title. You only have land in the countryside, and you can't divide the land when you live in the city."

   "Don't worry, Your Majesty," Tian Xiuying said, "I will remind my father that he will never dare to make mistakes."

  In the past few years, Zhao Han has been looking not only for his concubine's family, but also for his former benefactor. The Tianjin military officer who let him cross the bridge, the Tianjin woman who gave him water, posted notices with his facial features, and there were quite a few people who came to ask for credit, but unfortunately they were all wrong.

  Liu Rushi asked the maid to bring paper, pens and paints, unfolded the drawing paper and taught Zhao Han how to paint.

  Emperor Zhao is also a cultural person now, with rich and colorful hobbies. The main reason is that I am too tired to review memorials at work, so I have to find time for recreation. Besides reading, I am studying music, painting, playing Go, and even occasionally making cakes with Pan Qimei.

  Under Liu Rushi's hands-on teaching, Emperor Zhao drew a picture of flowers and birds today, which is quite at the level of young children in the Chinese painting training class of later generations.

   "My husband, this parrot looks more like an owl." Liu Rushi couldn't help laughing.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

  Zhao Han laughed and said to Tian Xiuying: "Concubine Tian also draws a picture, so Mr. Liu can't be ignored!"

  Tian Xiuying picked up the paintbrush with a smile, and a picture of flowers and birds was quickly formed, crushing the emperor's graffiti.

   As for the thing Zhao Han drew, it was kept by Liu Rushi's personal maid. When her five-year contract expires, she will be able to leave the palace to marry. At that time, she can either collect it or sell it quietly, anyway, the emperor's imperial pen is very valuable.

  The waste passed from the hands of the emperor is generally not strictly managed.

  Emperor Hongzhi of the Ming Dynasty used a thick silk cloth to wipe his buttocks. One day, he discovered that the coarse silk cloth he used to wipe his **** was cleaned by the eunuchs and sewn up to make a door curtain, so he felt that he was too extravagant. Therefore, Sichuan was ordered not to pay tribute to this object, and to wipe the **** with toilet paper in the future.

  Zhao Han continued to practice painting, and he was far away in Xuzhou, the Tianjin military officer who helped him at the beginning, finally found it!

   (Weakly speaking, there is only one update.)

  (end of this chapter)