Chapter 291 Haya Elephant's Big Hand (asking for monthly ticket)
Chen Shamen was certainly not the kind of person who did not know what was good for him. After all, he had seen the world and would naturally not misunderstand Li Shu's meaning.

In fact, he was even grateful to Li Shu.

As for others being overjoyed, it is easy to understand.

It's just that I'm afraid that my buddies are having a hard life, and I'm also afraid that my buddies are driving a Land Rover.

Now Li Shu issued an order to treat everyone equally and only purchase a share of 300 kilograms, which actually put their hearts at ease.

Li Xiang actually took this into consideration when setting the purchase price.

Cotton is not picky about the land it grows on. For example, in the saline-alkali land of Dengzhou and in fields that are not suitable for drying salt, cotton can be grown there.

In addition, cotton can also be grown in Liaodong, especially in the Caoxian Peninsula.

In a place like Silla, they could allow them to grow cotton on a full scale, with the imperial court responsible for the purchase and sale; the cotton they grew could be exchanged for money or grain.

If there are ambitious people in Silla who want to rebel, they should also consider what they have planted and whether they have the capital to rebel.

Are you kidding? Cotton can be worn as clothes, but it can’t be eaten as food.

If there is any change on the peninsula, Li Xiang can order people to cut off the channels for transporting food and fodder.

Rebellion? Fine, you'll be finished if Hayabusa's big hand pinches you.

Hey, pinch his head and shake it left and right, then he can't stand it anymore and surrenders.

When it comes to tactics, Li Xiang has always had a dirty mind.

His purpose is very simple, to make the barbarians suffer and then I will bear the blame.

Unity is certainly possible, but it must be based on safeguarding the fundamental interests of the vast majority of Han people.

After sending Chen Shamen and others away, Li Shu asked someone to lead a team to the countryside to buy cotton from the villages where the Khitan tribe had been dispersed.

When purchasing, the policy must be communicated in detail. Each household is only entitled to 300 kilograms per year, and more than one crop will not be purchased. Don't rely on luck.

Of course, it is impossible to precisely control the yield when planting cotton. It is impossible to just plant 300 kilograms.

Basically, people will plant a little more and keep the rest to make some clothes or quilts for themselves.

In fact, the same was true in later generations. Farmers in the north would sometimes grow some cotton in their own fields and keep it for their own use, and sell the excess at the market.

While Jingzhao Prefecture was purchasing cotton, Li Shu also arranged for people to start taking care of the cotton that had already been purchased.

Li Shu has already figured out how to make cotton thread.

Another basic technique is fluffing cotton. Stuffing the fluffed cotton into clothes makes a cotton-padded jacket, or into quilts makes a cotton-padded blanket.

Moreover, these cotton-padded jackets and quilts are not disposable. When they are no longer warm enough, you can take them apart and stretch them again to keep you warm again.

It can be said to be very convenient.

After finishing the cotton work, Li Shu arranged Fang Yiai to work in Jingzhao Prefecture and asked him to supervise the repair of the sewer system.

At first Fang Yiai was not very happy about it, thinking that he was a royal consort after all, and doing such a lowly job... He would be ashamed to tell others about it.

But Li Su's just one sentence blocked all his dissatisfaction.

“This is our own job!”

From then on, Fang Yiai became active on the construction site of the reconstruction of Chang'an sewer system. He held the blueprints in his hands, humbly asking for advice and learning every day. In order not to be fooled, he even studied during meals.

There was even one night when he was having a good time with Li Su, and he was still mumbling about unclogging the sewer.

The result was that Li Shu bit him hard on the shoulder.

It must be said that Fang Yiai's personality is rather rigid, which makes him suitable for this kind of project.

This kind of person doesn't know how to adapt, and he has an extremely high status. The most important thing is that he really knows his business, and no one dares or can fool him.

As for bribes... stop joking, what does Fang Yiai's family need?

The emperor's favor? His father was the prime minister, also known as the "Fangmou Duduan" in the story. Moreover, his wife was the aunt that the crown prince relied on, and she controlled a part of the chamber of commerce of the Tang imperial family. As for money? Not to mention, what his wife earned in a day was more than what ordinary people earned in decades.

Do you want to bribe this kind of person?
As for the beauty trap, let alone the one that was used to trap women. Beauties who were more beautiful than Princess Gaoyang were basically already taken; those who were not as pretty as Princess Gaoyang were not even considered attractive by Fang Yiai.

Moreover, Chang'an City naturally knew about the Lu family's plot against Fang Yiai, and even the courtesan lady was not tempted...

Maybe it's just his genes, his father is henpecked, and he himself... is somewhat similar to that.

In short, Li Shu chose the right person this time. When Li Shimin learned about this, he was so happy that he ate two more bowls of rice. He smiled and praised Li Su for selecting talented people regardless of their relationship.

Afterwards, Li Shu summarized recent events, reported them in detail in a letter, and sent someone to deliver it to Li Xiang at full speed.

Not only was Chang'an City undergoing reforms in full swing, but Jiangnan and Lingnan were also achieving remarkable results.

This time, Xiao Shoudao went to Jiangnan not only to plant sugarcane, but also with the mission of killing schistosomiasis.

The Tang Dynasty is currently short of energy. Although we cannot satisfy our habit of drinking hot water, we can still kill snails.

Thanks to Xiao Shoudao's unremitting publicity, twenty-seven states in Jiangnan have already understood the root cause of the "big belly disease".

Therefore, under the organization of the government, a massive operation to eliminate snails was launched in full swing in the south of the Yangtze River.

It should be said that it is indeed effective. In Muzhou where Xiao Shoudao lives, the infection rate of schistosomiasis has dropped by 60 to 70 percent.

In fact, the principle is very simple. It is nothing more than killing snails, not coming into contact with infected water sources, and more importantly, not urinating or defecating in the pond...

This may sound funny, but it is indeed of great significance in preventing the spread of schistosomiasis.

After learning that it was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who had obtained this method bestowed by the immortals to help thousands of people, the people of the eastern part of Jiangnan began to build ancestral temples, in which they enshrined a doll carved from powder and jade.

As for the Crown Prince, everyone's inherent impression of him is that he is a cute pink baby.

Xiao Shoudao looked at it and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

He did not feel that he was offending Li Xiang. Instead, he felt that this was the sincerity of the people. So he also wrote a letter and sent it to Li Xiang, reporting the situation in detail.

He has to report it, and he doesn't dare to act on his own.

This matter can be a big deal or a small one. If the suspicious emperor is released, and the people build a shrine for the crown prince, what are you doing? To build up your reputation? Are you going to replace me next?

Of course, Li Shimin is not such a person. His attitude towards Li Xiang now is just like Zhu Yuanzhang's attitude towards Zhu Biao.

Now the court officials are basically a bit tired of praising him.

But if you praise my great grandson? Well, then you have good taste. Praise me more. I love to hear it!

Li Xiang's position today is much more stable than Zhu Biao's.

Even if Li Yuanzhang wanted to depose Li Xiang now, he would have to think about whether there would be any negative impact. As for Zhu Biao... there are rumors online that he is the most stable crown prince in history, but in fact it is not the case - his stability is based on Zhu Yuanzhang's unwillingness, not his inability.

If we really have to talk about the most stable one, it would have to be Emperor Xiaohui Liu Ying.

Stability does not depend on whether the emperor wants to depose him, but on whether he can do so.

The policies of Jiangnan East Province also affected Lingnan Province.

The actual person in charge of Lingnan Province today is Feng Ang, who is equivalent to a local emperor in Lingnan. However, since Feng Ang is more sensible and knows that Lingnan cannot belong to him forever, he accepted Li Xiang's suggestion and requested the court to send officials to Lingnan Province.

This was also one of the suggestions Li Xiang gave to Li Shimin before leaving.

Not only in Lingnan, but also in the Huihe, Khitan and other tribes, the imperial court sent officials to assist in the management of their tribes.

Before officials were dispatched, they had to undergo strict training. Li Xiang especially emphasized that the dispatched officials were not allowed to abuse their power in the local area, use the Tang Dynasty's power as a token of authority, and demand whatever they wanted from the tribes.

Li Xiang also specially set up an agency in the court for tribes from all directions to come to Beijing to complain about local officials.

There are too many lessons from the past. The surrendered tribes are not the fickle villains like the Xueyantuo. If they are forced to rebel, money and food will have to be spent to quell the rebellion. This business is a huge loss.

With the assistance of dispatched officials, Lingnan Province also began activities to eradicate schistosomiasis.

The problems that plague Jiangnan also exist in Lingnan.

At that time, Lingnan was not as prosperous as it is in later generations, and was somewhat a place with malaria.

Even in later times, the snakes, insects, rats and ants in Lingnan were much larger than those in the north.

Especially in these wild days.

But then again, although Lingnan is full of malaria and there are countless snakes, insects, rats and ants in these days, there are no such things as giant cockroaches.

The so-called southern giant cockroach, scientifically known as American cockroach, is native to South America. In the 17th century, with the rise of international trade, it was brought to all parts of the world, including my country.

Since then, the American cockroach has taken root and settled in Lingnan, becoming the overlord of Lingnan.

Fortunately, people in the Tang Dynasty nowadays are no longer troubled by giant cockroaches, which is a good thing.

Under the leadership of Feng Ang, Lingnan also promulgated a law to exterminate snails. At the same time, it also promulgated a decree prohibiting urinating and defecating near water sources such as ponds.

One is for hygiene, and the other is to prevent schistosomiasis.

These days, if you encounter someone who breaks the law, the solution is very simple.

If you can’t learn it, just try again. I guarantee you’ll learn it after you try again.

If you don't want to learn, that's fine. Just reopen to the west. Europe doesn't care about this anyway.

At the same time, Feng Ang also introduced sugarcane from Xiao Shoudao, and he planned to launch a sugarcane planting campaign in Lingnan.

It’s simple, sugarcane makes money!

That's white sugar!
What is sugar? Sugar is Kaiyuan Tongbao!

No one would complain about having too much money, and Feng Ang is the same, even though he is now so old that he can hardly walk.

However, Feng Ang reported the reforms in Lingnan to the imperial court, not to Li Xiang.

After all, Feng Ang and Li Xiang had nothing to do with each other. Feng Ang was responsible for the court and the emperor, not the crown prince across the stove and the kang.

The days passed and soon it was the end of July.

The seventh month of the lunar calendar is already September in the solar calendar.

The weather in Youzhou has turned cooler and is no longer as hot as in the past few days.

Li Xiang sat under the shade in the courtyard, looking leisurely.

There have been frequent reports of victory from the front line recently. The last time Li Shiji sent back a battle report, the Tang army had already joined forces with the Uighurs and other tribes, preparing to launch an attack on the main force of the Xueyantuo.

"I hold a steel whip in my hand and beat you." Li Xiang sang while shaking his head: "Beat you to death, you living bastard——"

"Your Highness is in a good mood."

Di Renjie's voice came from the door. Li Xiang turned his head and saw Di Renjie's fat and cheerful face.

"Huaiying ah——" Li Xiang drew out his voice, and the fan in his hand creaked.

Seeing Li Xiang's lazy look, Di Renjie smiled, walked up and handed him the letter.

"Your Highness, there is a letter from the capital, from Princess Gaoyang."

It's normal to be a little lazy. After all, we are all young people, Di Renjie said to himself.

Hearing that it was a letter from Li Su, Li Xiang reached out and took the letter.

"Oh, it's the cotton harvest." Li Xiang looked at it and said with a smile, "Ah, ahaha, I knew it was the right choice to leave it to my aunt."

"Cotton? What is that?" Di Renjie asked curiously.

Li Xiang put down the letter and just as he opened his mouth, he remembered that he had not told him about this matter yet, so he smiled and said, "Look at my memory, I forgot to tell you."

"The so-called cotton is the white sedge fruit. The fruit can be made into cotton, which can be stuffed into clothes and quilts to keep warm. Its warmth is no less than that of mink fur. At the same time, cotton can be made into cotton thread and woven into clothes."

"I see." Di Renjie suddenly realized, "So cotton is really a good thing that benefits the country and the people."

"Who said it wasn't?" Li Xiang said with a smile, "Last time I asked people to promote cotton planting, but the people refused to do it. You don't know that Jingzhao Prefecture said it to the sky, but they still didn't agree. They just thought that this thing can't be eaten and there is no point in planting it."

"As a result, we had no choice but to push the cotton business to the Tiele people. Now that the cotton harvest has come, the people are starting to regret it after seeing Jingzhao Prefecture offer 20 wen per pound to buy it."

"If that's the case, why didn't you state at the beginning that you would buy it for twenty cents?" Di Renjie asked.

Unexpectedly, Li Xiang snorted.

"You don't believe in me, but you still want to make a fortune. How can such a good thing happen in this world? This time, I will make it clear to everyone that only those who believe in me are worthy of making a fortune."

Di Renjie exclaimed in sudden realization, but he was laughing in his heart.

Goodness, it turns out that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is a bit petty.

But this was harmless, and in fact he agreed with it.

There are not so many good things in this world. Jingzhao Prefecture is not a charity organization. It won’t beg people to come and make some money.

Those who help themselves will always be helped by others. This is the truth.

The sign of the great grandson of the Tang Dynasty's crown prince is placed in front of you, which has given you a great opportunity. However, you cannot grasp it. Who can you blame?

(Monthly tickets on the hour! It’s the end of the month, no double this month)
(End of this chapter)