Xu Ping took Liu Xiaoyi and a few retinues, rode along the Liangjing Post Road all the way to the east, crossed the Bianhe River at Octagon, and went straight to Wang Su's Zhuangzi. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Yesterday, the whole family returned to Zhongmu Manor, and played crazy inside and out with Panpan for a long time, and went out early this morning to rush to Wang Suzhuang to participate in the gathering of the fifth year of Tiansheng Jinshi in the same year in the capital.

It has been ten years since Zhongjinshi was now, the first echelon of the palace examination has just begun to emerge, Xu Ping is a leader in the dust, Wang Yaochen, Han Qi and Zhao Yan are moving towards intermediate officials, Zhao Yi and Wu Yu also have a museum position in Zhizhou, Wen Yanbo is still serving as a general judge, and his good friend Bao Zheng is still at home to support his parents and has not been released.

As for the other officials, most of the better incumbents are only county magistrates, or the state army's officers, and even those who are still serving as lieutenants in the division of the state army.

For the average Jinshi-born official, it is generally like this, and the first ten years have been circling in local states and counties. If you are lucky, you will be appreciated by nobles, and you will be able to enter the pavilion to be gilded, and you will be promoted rapidly in the next ten years with your ability. If you don't have the appreciation of nobles, you can learn and keep learning, you can take the exam, and you can also recommend yourself to the pavilion. In short, the next ten years are crucial, the first ten years have laid the foundation, those who have the ability have learned to deal with political affairs, and the next ten years will be based on their abilities.

The pavilion is a very important springboard, and staying here for a year or two is not only an identity, but also an opportunity to get acquainted with important officials in the court, and it is a ladder for the beginning of the political arena. If you have the opportunity to be admitted to the academy and fail to qualify, it will be a shame to be thrown to your grandmother's house, and you may have no chance for the rest of your life.

Miao Zhen, the fourth person in the first year of Jing You, was like this, in history he was recruited to the academy, and the chief examiner Yan Shu kindly told him that he had been an official in the local area for so many years, but he was afraid that he would be unfamiliar with his studies, so he wanted to study hard. Miao Zhen was full of confidence, and replied that where is there a thirty-year-old mother who is a child, but when she failed in the test, she was not only ridiculed, but also obscure.

At the end of this year or the beginning of next year, Wen Yanbo and others will also get the opportunity to recruit for the pavilion, and the Jinshi of the fifth year of Tiansheng will appear on the political stage in the next few years. Whether you want to or not, the same year is an important political force that can be relied upon, especially since everyone may hold positions of similar rank in different yamen, and there are natural conditions to help each other.

When he arrived in front of Wang Suzhuang, the director of Zhuangzi, who had been waiting outside, hurriedly greeted him and saluted: "I have seen the officials to be controlled, and the officials of my family and other officials have already waited in the West Garden. ”

Xu Ping dismounted, let the Zhuang Ke in Wang Suzhuang lead him to the stable, and walked towards the West Garden with the supervisor.

Wang Su is not a crop like Xu Ping, he can't appreciate the pastoral scenery, and as soon as the affairs in the Zhuangzi are stabilized, he deliberately built a west garden. Although the area of this garden is not large, a lot of exotic flowers and plants are planted, and even a pond has been excavated, and there is even a rockery made of strange stones transported by Jianghuai in it. This kind of handwriting is something Xu Ping could never have imagined, he built a garden to pursue bigness, building all kinds of scenery in it, planting all kinds of flowers and trees.

When you enter the West Garden, you will be greeted by a green bamboo forest, and a path shaded by bamboo leaves in the forest is extremely elegant. After walking a short distance out of the bamboo forest, there is a pond with lotus flowers in full bloom, and there is a small boat among the river flowers.

Wang Su and Han Qi saw Xu Ping coming in from a distance in the pavilion by the water, and hurriedly greeted him together.

After seeing the ceremony, Wang Su smiled and said: "Yunxing is a little late today, but there is something to do in Zhuangzi?" ”

Xu Ping shook his head: "It's nothing to do, it's all family affairs, my daughter pestered me and didn't let me go, and I coaxed for a while." ”

Han Qi and Wang Su looked at each other and smiled, they were all about the same age, and they knew that children were the most difficult to deal with at this time.

When they arrived at the pavilion together, Xu Ping said to Wang Su: "This season, there are no good things, the watermelons and grapes planted in my Zhuangzi ripen earlier than other families, so I brought some for you." By the way, yesterday Zhuangke opened the net to fish, got a few golden carp weighing more than ten catties, and brought you a pair. ”

Wang Su thanked him and asked Zhuang Ke to follow Liu Xiaoyi to receive the gift.

Han Qi said with a smile on the side: "Today, Yunxing came out to meet guests, and the gifts he brought were all specialties in Zhuangzi, which really meant something outside the countryside." Like me, there is no land in Kaifeng Mansion, and there is nowhere to take it. ”

Xu Ping patted Han Qi on the shoulder: "Zhigui, listen to me, if you have spare money in your hand, hurry up and put some land around the capital." All three of your brothers have been promoted to the Jinshi, so they should be much more prosperous than others. After this year, the land price around Kaifeng Mansion is bound to rise, and it will be too late to buy it at that time. Buying land for land reclamation is much more cost-effective than buying a shop in the capital to collect rent. ”

Han Qi shook his head: "I have many brothers in my family, and I want to buy land in Xiangzhou, how can I buy Kaifeng Mansion." ”

"How can it be compared? Xiangzhou can only grow some wheat and beans to buy land, and it can't be exchanged for much money. Kaifeng Mansion Land, there are too many things that can be planted, close to the capital, it is easy to exchange for cash. ”

Wang Su heard what Xu Ping said, and hurriedly asked, "Isn't there any other way?" Yunxing, we are all our own people, if you have news, you have to tell me first! Now the village only grows rice, and it is not easy to exchange money. ”

Xu Ping looked at Wang Su and said with a slight smile: "This time I went back to Zhongmu Zhuangzi, I saw that the large pieces of cotton planted in the village are growing very well. To tell you the truth, there is a spinning and weaving yard in the field affairs of the third division, because the loom has not been smooth, and it has been debugged until now. Now everything is smooth, a few days ago I tried it with the cotton that I originally stored in the village, and it was very easy to use. By mid to late July, when the cotton in my village has been harvested and a large amount of cotton cloth is on the market, you will know how powerful this is. ”

Wang Su looked at Han Qi, turned his head to look at Xu Ping again, and asked in a low voice, "How powerful?" Now the cotton cloth in the capital is a little more expensive than satin, and not many people can afford it. ”

"It's the same as sackcloth."

Hearing Xu Ping say this lightly, Wang Su and Han Qi both gasped.

Pushing cotton to the price of linen, it's a bit scary. Because of the rarity, cotton cloth is still in short supply more expensive than silk, and once it is the same price as linen, it will be available! The market where you can eat a part of silk upwards and the market that can eat most of ramie down will turn the entire fabric market upside down.

After thinking for a while, Wang Su asked: "You have pressed the price so low, what kind of cotton is still profitable?" ”

Xu Ping smiled slightly: "Anyway, now it seems that one acre of cotton is equivalent to two acres of rice, what do you say?" ”

The cotton in Zhongmu Zhuangzi is a variety of Xu Ping's previous life, which has already undergone countless improvements, and the fibers are much longer and stronger than the existing cotton, which is suitable for machine weaving. The original cotton varieties in Asia, on the other hand, are short and thin in fiber, which makes it much more difficult to weave and difficult to use large machines.

Once the continuous textile threads in the three divisions are opened, they will dominate most of the textile market like monsters, and the only trouble is the supply of cotton. And this depends on Wang Gongchen's field work, and the third division has to provide most of the raw materials by himself, and cannot be tied up by private cotton farms.

Growing rice and wheat millet is just one part of a large farm, and the cotton stubble is poured to prevent the yield from dropping. To really do large-scale, it is still necessary to rely on cash crops such as cotton, and it can also be connected with the field affairs and shops of the three divisions.

Wang Su was silent for a while, and after a long while, he raised his head and asked Xu Ping with some trembling: "Yun Xing, you are not lying about this?" If I really want to make such a big profit, I will expand the Zhuangzi even if I borrow money! ”

"One acre of cotton is equivalent to two acres of rice, which is my own loss and drives down the price. If you really wait for the cotton cloth to be sold, you may not be able to harvest cotton at this price. If you can't receive the goods, the three divisions can't force others to sell, right? ”

Xu Ping's pricing is directly towards the collapse of the ramie market, which is naturally low, and in fact it is likely to rise with the market. As for ramie, the largest production area is in Yongzhou, where there is no longer a need to rely on this commodity. Knocked down the ramie market there, just to make room for the growing sugar cane sugar. There is a lot of sugar produced in the cane sugar business, so it is natural that it should honestly expand the market overseas, and Pang Ji is already playing the idea of the Nanyang trade route.

Wang Su has seen Zhuangzi in the past two days, the rice planted is growing gratifyingly, he has just tasted the sweetness, and he is on the rise, but he didn't expect Xu Ping to bring such news today, which made him hesitate for a while.

When the farmland is harvested, it can bring surprises to the owner, but the initial investment is really not small, and it has been throwing money into it for more than half a year, and Wang Su's family business is a little unbearable no matter how big it is. But Xu Ping's own Zhuangzi's example is there, and now is the best time to start, the land price of Kaifeng Mansion has not yet risen, and if you miss this opportunity, you will regret it in the future.

After thinking for a long time, Wang Su gritted his teeth and said: "Okay, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, I will go to the Zhuangzi in Yunxing to see the growth of cotton, if it is really profitable, then when the crops in the field are harvested in autumn, I will also buy some more land!" ”

At this time, the benefits of having many relatives were revealed, and the prime ministers and privy envoys in the court, including the Hanlin Bachelor and the Imperial History Zhongcheng, these few big names were Wang Su's close relatives. Casual activities, tens of thousands of dollars can be moved, as long as you can ensure that you can earn back the money in the coming year, this business is definitely worth doing.

Han Qi made up his mind not to buy property in the capital and to run his hometown in Xiangzhou. Anyway, there are only two options for officials to buy property, either around Liangjing, or around their hometown, and other places generally do not do it without a special reason. Who knows where he will be transferred to become an official one day? Everywhere there is an industry that is difficult for the Inquisitor.

Xu Ping has made up his mind to use big farms to crush the small-scale peasant economy in the north, so by promoting these crops, he may have less profit for himself, and he must continue to do it firmly. (To be continued.) )