"Your Highness, the merchant ship of the King of Chu has arrived, and it is said that it brought cotton seeds, but it is ......"

"But you have to hand over the artillery to them, right?"

"It seems that His Highness has seen everything. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info" Pang Yukun said with a smile.

Xiao Ming is writing a textbook on training flintlock pistol troops.

Yesterday, after a series of rounds in the lathe workshop, the military workshop, the equipment department, and the gunpowder workshop, he gave all his requests.

Whether it's bayonets, tongs, or oil-paper-wrapped ammunition, these three things are non-technical things.

The bayonet is just a barrel at the bottom, and the whole strip is nothing more than an iron rod, and it is simpler to wrap the bullet in oiled paper, just use oiled paper to mix and bandage the bullet and gunpowder in advance.

What's missing isn't technology, it's just an idea, or experience.

The flintlock pistol is about to be installed, Xiao Ming naturally has to consider the construction of modern military schools, entering the age of firearms, the war will be regularized, and the war will no longer be in the previous three-plate axe.

It is precisely because of this that he compiled a textbook and prepared to teach the generals of the Qingzhou Army about war.

Putting down the brush, Xiao Ming walked out of the main hall, and now he has taken off his thick cotton jacket in winter, and he is light and simple.

While walking towards the outside of the palace, Xiao Ming said: "Li Kaiyuan can transport cotton so smoothly, do you think it is the kindness of the King of Chu?" This time it's just an exchange of interests, he wants artillery, I want cotton. ”

"It's just that, the King of Wei should be unhappy again, it is said that the King of Wei complained a lot about His Highness in Jinling City."

"This ignores him, the King of Wei has always been at odds with the King of Chu, we sold artillery to the King of Chu, he is naturally unhappy, in this case, we don't need to participate in the contradictions between the vassal kings, on the contrary, it is the right way to use their contradictions to sell arms left and right."

After analyzing the situation in the Great Chongqing Kingdom, Xiao Ming decided to adopt the isolationist diplomacy of the United States during World War II.

He does not participate in the struggle between any forces, but only makes a fortune in silence.

After all, the current internal disagreements within the Great Yu Kingdom cannot be reconciled, and the various vassal kings are suspicious of each other.

"Your Highness's words are not bad, King Wei is not happy, then buy some more artillery and go back, isn't it okay if there are more of them?" Pang Yukun said.

"That's right, so selling artillery to the King of Chu is also stimulating the King of Wei to buy more artillery."

The two talked all the way to the dock, and Xiao Ming sent someone to the military workshop at the same time, sending the thirty cannons manufactured to the fleet of the King of Chu, and unloading the cotton seeds at the same time.

At first, Li Kaiyuan went to Chu, and the king of Chu naturally did not agree to give cotton seeds to Xiao Ming at first.

Later, the artillery of the king of Wei was in place, and in order to show off his strength, the king of Wei set off cannons on the Yangtze River like fireworks, which seriously stimulated the king of Chu.

And in Qingzhou, Xiao Ming has been pressing the artillery for Chudi.

There are no cotton seeds, Xiao Ming can wait, after all, the king of Chu can't stop the cotton sellers, and the textile mill can still support it, but without artillery, the king of Chu has no tricks at all, so he has to send the cotton seeds unwillingly.

Boarding a merchant ship inspected the cotton on board.

At this time, the envoy of the king of Chu, who came with the cotton seeds, said: "Your Highness, the king of Chu has an order, and if you can't see the artillery, this cotton cannot be handed over to your highness. ”

Xiao Ming and Pang Yukun glanced at each other, this envoy was a little bold, he smiled and said: "This king has always been a man of his word, how can he covet these three boats of cotton seeds, but the king of Chu chose to send cotton seeds in this month. ”

The envoy of the King of Chu looked embarrassed when he heard this.

He naturally understood what Xiao Ming meant, March was the time to plant cotton, and now it naturally contained the meaning of coercion.

Because once Xiao Ming does not fulfill his promise, it will take another year to plant cotton.

After waiting at the dock for an hour, the military workshop delivered the artillery.

The envoy of the king of Chu inspected the artillery and ammunition, and then agreed to the people to get on the boat and carry the cotton seeds.

Xiao Ming personally came to pick up cotton seeds this time because of the importance he attaches to cotton as a crop, after all, cotton can produce many industrial products, this clothing is just one of them, and the demand for cotton in medicine is also very large.

If cotton is successfully planted in Qingzhou this time, Qingzhou will not have to worry about the source of cotton in the future, and will no longer be constrained by the king of Chu and affect the development of Qingzhou's textile industry.

This time, the cotton sent by the King of Chu, Xiao Ming was directly sent to Guanzhuang, and it was the spring ploughing season of another year, and the Qingzhou Army once again played the role of farmers.

Now that the land in Guanzhuang has been cultivated, the next step is to sow cotton seeds.

"Your Highness, do you really want to grow cotton?"

On the ridge of Guanzhuang, Niu Ben followed behind Xiao Ming and asked.

As soon as the cotton was delivered to Guanzhuang, Niu Ben came with soldiers.

Although Xiao Ming had already greeted him, Niu Ben was still a little hesitant in his heart, because in his opinion, food was the most important thing.

Now the grain production in the six states has recovered somewhat, and last year there was a lot of surplus, but now this form cannot be said to be due to the barbarian turmoil again.

At that time, not having enough military rations was a fatal thing.

"Old general, you don't have to worry about this, there is not much grain in Qingzhou now, but the king of Wei, the king of Chu, and the king of Yan have a lot of grain, this time taking advantage of the artillery transaction, this king bought a lot of grain from them and stored it."

When Niu Ben heard this, he breathed a relaxed tone this time.

His idea of valuing agriculture and suppressing commerce is very heavy, because he has been commanding the army to fight all year round, so he naturally knows the sorrow of running out of food on the front line.

Therefore, food is more important to him than anything else.

He actually disagreed with Xiao Ming's current practice of attaching equal importance to business and agriculture, but the general of the army only needs to be responsible for fighting and training the army, and these political propositions are not what he should mention.

Now that Xiao Ming brought the cotton seeds, he couldn't hold back a little, but he also asked casually.

Knowing that in order to make up for the harvest of the official village, Xiao Ming bought back grain from other places, he was finally relieved, at least Xiao Ming had not fainted.

Bags of cotton seeds were handed out, and the soldiers picked up the seeds and sprinkled them in the fields of Guanzhuang.

This year, in addition to the official village to which Qingzhou belongs, Xiao Ming and Pang Yukun also established several slave plantations.

None of these plantations will grow staple foods this year, but cotton, sugar cane and canola.

Although soap, perfume, and mirrors can make a temporary profit, ordinary sugar, vegetable oil, and clothes are the things that the powerful and the common people need.

Capturing this market will result in lasting profits.

It is for this reason that Xiao Ming boldly developed plantations, and in his plan, Qingzhou was based on commodity trade, and at the same time self-sufficiency in grain, it would also adopt a strategy of buying and storing large quantities.

Since last year, the states have begun to build concrete granaries, and Xiao Ming's goal is to reserve enough grain for the people of Qingzhou to eat for three years.

This goal is not enough to rely only on the grain harvest in the fiefdom.

(To be continued.) )