4.5 million catties of cotton, it sounds like a lot, but to make canvas, it is really not much, the proportion of canvas is much larger than that of ordinary cotton, under the premise of the same area, it is several times more than ordinary cloth, a sailboat, especially the Spanish sailboat, and the Galen ship, the number of canvas required is very large.

The strength of the soft sail lies in the huge force surface, and the length of the canvas under the mast of the same height may be more than one or two times the length of the mast, so that a ship will consume an extremely large amount of canvas.

Even for the sake of navigation, the current cotton planting area is somewhat insufficient, 150,000 mu sounds like a lot, but in fact, it is really very little.

It is impossible for Zhao Xin to make most of the northern farmland intercropping of cotton and wheat like later generations, but it is no problem to affect some of them.

As for the issue of promotion, in Zhao Xin's view, this is not a problem at all.

Cotton is a cash crop, this is true, at this node in the Northern Song Dynasty, cotton has not yet been introduced, but more than a hundred years later in the Southern Song Dynasty, after cotton was introduced and displayed on the weaving, the large-scale promotion of cotton was almost immediately popular in the entire Southern Song Dynasty.

From the appearance to the complete spread, at most it is a few decades, in the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, there was no cotton, in Guanmin, Sichuan and Shaanxi just appeared, and it gained huge benefits, and this interest directly guided these people to devote themselves to cotton planting one after another.

What is more attractive than direct benefits, growing grain for one acre of land can achieve a consistent income, which is already regarded as God's care, for ordinary peasants, deducting taxes, tenant rent, the rest of the money is barely subsisting, this is also the fundamental reason why once a major disaster is encountered, households below the fourth class can not persevere.

If it is replaced with cotton, it will be different, even if it is now a mu yield, 30 catties of lint, Ding Haijun's purchase guide price is 80 Wen a catty, that is to say, the output of cotton is not a large-scale increase, simply now, the income of planting cotton, is already higher than grain.

It's not that the price set by the Navy is deliberately high, the reason is that these cotton are worth so much money now.

30 pounds of lint, almost 3 pieces of cloth, the cloth of the Song Dynasty, 2 feet wide, 40 feet long, compared to modern cotton, much smaller, the width of modern cloth, generally more than one meter, the width even reached 1.5 meters, or even 2 meters, but the cotton cloth of the Song Dynasty is a small horse, that is, 2 feet, almost only one-sixth of the modern one, that is, the overall weight is not too high, about 8 pounds.

Cotton spinning will be lost, and weaving will also be lost, but no matter how much it is lost, 30 catties of lint is enough to weave 3 pieces of fabric.

The price of cloth in the Northern Song Dynasty was low, a piece of cloth was only 300 Wen, and the price of this cloth referred to linen cloth, which was still a relatively poor kind of cloth.

This kind of cloth is the main clothing material worn by ordinary people, after cutting, a piece of cloth can be cut out of at least 10 pieces of clothing, the average price of fifty or sixty clothes, but also working people, can consume.

Cotton cloth in the Northern Song Dynasty at this time, belongs to the high-end products, especially pure white as snow, high and fine soft cotton cloth, because comfortable and close-fitting, they are with high-end silk is a price, the price is above ordinary silk.

High-end cotton cloths, which have undergone special printing and dyeing weaving, can even reach the value of the finest silks, and even the most basic cotton fabrics are very expensive.

In nature, there are many scarce, only very few reserves of stones, they have no specific value, they are not much different from ordinary sand and gravel.

But rare, and have a unique value, it will be very expensive, cotton unique properties, so that it is the most high-end choice of intimate clothing, although silk is good, summer is very suitable, but winter to wear, it is a little cold, relatively speaking, or cotton is the most suitable.

Similarly, compared with grass cotton, the warmth effect of Indian cotton is better, and the quilt made of Indian cotton has a very good effect, and it has been used among high-end people, some high-end, even not lower than the price of fur, which pushes up the price of cotton.

Even according to the most ordinary, a piece of cloth 2 pieces to calculate, 30 lint cotton production 3 pieces of cloth, the price is as high as 6 pieces, even if the discount and deduction of manual costs, the price of raw materials is quite high, a pound of 80 Wen, 30 pounds is 2.4 pieces, relative to his value, is very suitable.

The income of one acre of cotton, more than 2 runs, simply farming, growing grain, absolutely not as good as planting cotton, so that cotton is called the fundamental reason for cash crops, cash crops, if the value is not as good as growing grain, how can it be called cash crops.

Of course, the price of cotton will be reduced in the future, if according to the current price, the price of a horse 2 runs, it is not possible to popularize on a large scale, the price of a dress is more than 500 Wen, such clothes, I am afraid that only high-ranking officials and nobles can wear.

However, Ding Haijun's current price level is still no problem, with an average monthly salary of 80 yuan per person, 500 wen a piece of clothing, it is really nothing, simply Ding Haijun, a population of more than 2 million people in the future, according to the consumption of an average piece of cloth per person, the annual sales volume is 2 million pieces of cloth, and at least 16 million catties of cotton are needed, with the current planting level, it is far from enough.

There is no doubt that if something is good, it can be promoted, and for farmers, a project that is three or five times higher than growing grain will almost inevitably spread in the Northern Song Dynasty.

According to the real history, this is almost 100 years earlier than when cotton was popularized, but the Northern Song Dynasty also occupied a larger territory and promoted more benefits.

It's just that, according to the general law, from the time ordinary people discover the benefits of cotton and gradually follow the trend, to when the planting amount increases, it will take at least a few decades, and Zhao Xin can't wait that long.

150,000 mu, in fact, most of it is Miaojiazhuang, as well as the land around the Daimyo's Mansion, Zhao Xin chose Ding Haijun, he can get out of the whirlpool of the change of throne, but correspondingly, he is also restricted.

Even if they knew that the construction of a railway from Haizhou to Hongze Lake could greatly speed up the development of the Ding Navy, and even, at a huge cost of money, to build a canal more than 300 miles long, so that the Huai River would have an estuary, and the mainstream water system from the Ding Navy to the Northern Song Dynasty would be completely barrier-free.

Don't underestimate this, even in the 21st century, there are ports with containers and mechanized operations, and it takes time for a ship to load and unload from entering the port, not to mention this era, even if the Ding Navy has made changes, but from Haizhou to unload, land transportation, and then to Hongze Lake loading, the time spent is at least two or three days.

Perhaps, for some bulk materials, two or three days are nothing, but for Ding Haijun, who has a strong understanding of the rapid development and popularity of commodities, this directly affects the interests.

Even such a huge benefit thing has been stopped because of concerns, not to mention the large-scale promotion of cotton.

Among the current 150,000 acres, more than eighty percent of them are planted in Miaojiazhuang, Miaojiazhuang itself, almost all of which are planted with cotton, and even for this, delay the planting of grain is not hesitating, of course, Miaojiazhuang does not have more than 100,000 acres of land, but after the Baozhou incident, Miaojiazhuang is already the strongest family in Baozhou, and its influence is all-round, so, under his influence, there are at least 100,000 acres in Baozhou, which is planting cotton.

The rest is near the blacksmith workshop of the Daimyo's Mansion, which occupies a huge area, and because of its influence and strength, it still affects one or two thousand acres of land.

This is basically the limit of Ding Haijun, if you increase the influence, maybe in some affiliated chambers of commerce, you can influence some, but let them give up growing food, and choose completely unfamiliar cotton, which will take time, maybe a year or two before it can be popularized.

One or two years is not too long for the Northern Song Dynasty, and even for Renzong, it is also not long, but for Zhao Xin, it is really a bit long.

The demand of the Navy itself alone requires at least 16 million catties of cotton, which is almost 4 times the current amount, not to mention canvas, and other needs, conservatively estimated, at least more than 30 million catties, or even 50 million catties.

In order to achieve this goal, Ding Haijun adopted a two-pronged approach, 30 million catties of cotton, if the output of 30 catties is followed, about 1 million mu of land is needed.

In the entire Central Plains, it is not impossible to find these lands, but the price is very high, to put it bluntly, Ding Haijun is now, many things are produced, and a large number of benefits have also been generated, these benefits are used for exchange, some are too unworthy, after all, this is a profitable business, and Zhao Xin only wants to save this time.

The Central Plains is not good, then turn elsewhere, in the 21st century consulting developed era, cotton has also turned from the Central Plains, to the north, from Xinjiang to Central Asia, these places are the most suitable production areas for planting cotton, the sunshine time is long, the light and water are also abundant, Xinjiang and Central Asia's cotton, has become the best product, directly created an industry.

It is still too early to develop Xinjiang, but the Hetao Plain is very suitable.

To promote the cultivation of cotton here in the Hetao Plain, one person cannot get around, Zhao Xin is actually an exchange of interests, but the goal of the exchange of interests has changed from many people, from many businessmen, to one person.

That is Han Qi, although Han Qi has been transferred back to the center, and even now, it has not been announced that he is mainly responsible for something, but Han Qi's ascension is also certain, and for the entire Hetao Plain, he is also the one who has the greatest impact.

Unlike other places, Lingzhou, and some newly attached lands, these are all newly obtained, and they are almost under Han Qi's will.

For these new lands, in fact, the center of the Northern Song Dynasty did not pay much attention to them, these so-called barren places, and how many resources, it was Han Qi who single-handedly promoted the construction of farmland and water conservancy in the northwest, so that the Hetao Plain, from the grassland to the south of the Yangtze River, is full of infinite possibilities.

This is Han Qi's foundation, and it is also the most important capital, as long as this foundation is not weakened, and Han Qi's road in the future is extremely smooth, then, it is impossible for Han Qi to let this place get out of his control.

The protégé of the old officials, the grace of promotion, the Northern Song Dynasty has not yet developed into the future, Wang Anshi and Sima Guang are-for-tat, and when they are friends, these relationships are tacit and exist.

It is not difficult to convince Han Qi that the development of the northwest depends on Zhao Xin in many places, and the railway from Yingtianfu to Bianliang also allows Han Qi to see the opportunity, a road through the northwest, as long as the traffic problem is solved, the development of the northwest is unlimited.

If you ask for someone, you won't go too far, and after Zhao Xin tilted some supplies to the northwest a little and gave support in terms of roads and railways, Han Qi also agreed.

The Hetao Plain, with a total area of almost 25,000 square kilometers, is close to 4 million mu of land, even if only one percent of the land is developed.

As a matter of fact, comprehensive development can even reach more than 10 million mu, and one-tenth of it can be used to plant cotton, and at the same time, cotton and wheat are interplanted, and Ding Haijun will send special personnel to guide and plant cotton on a large scale, which is unacceptable.

Zhao Xin, with real results, to establish confidence in Han Qi, he will not open his heart, cotton purchase price, cotton income, these are not lies, even if it is only half of this output, it can also make the income of one acre of land more than consistent, which is very important for the northwest.

Similarly, what Han Qi values most is, in fact, the unique efficacy of cotton.

As a commander who establishes supreme authority on the battlefield, many of Han Qi's ideas are considered from the military aspect.

Cotton is a cash crop, but at the same time, for the Northern Song Dynasty, cotton is also a military crop.

In the cold north, cotton is a strategic material, why China can not enter the grassland, the vast grassland, the land is sparsely populated, is one reason, but the cold in the north is also an important factor.

The herdsmen in the north naturally have all kinds of fur and make leather clothing, which is very useful for keeping warm in cold weather, so that they can also have combat effectiveness in winter.

The forbidden army of the Northern Song Dynasty, how could they wear leather clothes, the armor has a limit to accommodation, and the leather clothes are almost difficult to integrate into the armor, at most it is a leather shoulder.

The Northern Song Dynasty was like this, the Liao State was slightly better, for the light cavalry that did not wear, or wore less armor, it was okay, and the heavy cavalry, every weight was taken into account to the extreme, and they could not endlessly set in.

This is also the fundamental reason why in Liao, they rarely go out in winter.

In winter, steel can become very cold, and the thermal conductivity is very strong, and at such strength, it is difficult to fight.

Cotton has changed all this, as long as a little filling cotton, it can be quite warm, so worn inside, and will not occupy a lot of space, under this premise, the scope of combat will expand a lot.