Chapter 86: The Cotton Seeds Brought Back by Ayuan (Part )

Su Ze entered the Peach Blossom Spring, and the guiding boy rushed over to congratulate Su Ze happily, and then brought Su Ze a piece of surprising news:
[Master of Taoyuan, Ayuan is back! ]

The wandering boy is back?
The last time Ayuan came back, he brought sugarcane to Su Ze. Who knows what kind of surprise he will bring to Su Ze this time.

Su Ze looked towards the Youfang Pavilion, and sure enough, the dusty traveling boy Ayuan had put down his backpack and was sitting in the pavilion drinking water.

Walking towards the Youfang Pavilion, Su Ze greeted A Yuan in the pavilion.

A Yuan saluted Su Ze respectfully, and Su Ze then asked:

"Ayuan, where did you go this time?"

A Yuan said:

"This time, Ayuan went to the west and saw the vast sea of ​​sand and countless oasis cities within it."

Following A Yuan's description, Su Ze quickly thought of a place - the Western Regions!
Wow, I don’t know how this Lingyun boy managed to travel all over the world without even noticing the distance?

Thinking about the Peach Blossom Spring is an irrational thing. As the summoning creature of the Peach Blossom Spring, Ayuan probably has some magical aspects.

Su Ze was a little excited. Ayuan brought back sugarcane from Lingnan last time. What would he bring back for him this time when he went to the Western Regions?
As expected, A Yuan took out a white piece of clothing from his backpack, then took out a bag and said to Su Ze:

"This is a specialty that Ayuan brought back."

Su Ze unfolded it in confusion, and then he realized that it was a white cassock?

What is the use of robes?

Wait, Su Ze suddenly realized something. He rubbed it carefully and found that this robe was made of cotton!
He opened the bag that Ayuan had given him and saw black seeds!
What is this? Cotton seeds!
A Yuan said:

"This is the seed of what the locals call 'Bai Diezi'. It produces white, fluffy flowers. Local monks love these flowers and weave them into cloth to make robes."

It’s cotton!
Su Ze looked at the cotton seeds in the bag in surprise.

There are two routes for cotton to be introduced into the Central Plains.

One is the trade with the Western Regions. Indian kapok was introduced to the Western Regions and then to the Central Plains, but only merchants brought seeds sporadically, and it had not yet been planted on a large scale.

Su Ze also wanted to find cotton seeds, but now that the Western Xia was in rebellion, the Silk Road trade had been basically cut off.

It was not until the Southern Song Dynasty that cotton was truly planted on a large scale. During this period, maritime trade was developed and merchants brought cotton seeds from the south. The Southern Song Dynasty then promoted cotton planting in the Yangtze River Basin.

In the Yuan Dynasty, a special Cotton Promotion Office was established to officially encourage cotton planting.

Cotton cloth began to flourish in the Ming Dynasty.

As an economic crop, cotton has many advantages that have led to its selection by humans.

Cotton has low soil requirements and can be used in rotation or intercropping on poorer land. It is more drought-resistant than ordinary crops.

Winter clothes made of cotton were the best choice for keeping warm in agricultural civilizations when there was a lack of fur.

Cotton seeds can also be used to extract oil. Although cottonseed oil is slightly toxic, it is still qualified as an oil crop, as long as it is not eaten.

Su Ze was very satisfied and praised A Yuan again. Then he called Anong and asked him if he could grow cotton.

After a month, the sugarcane had matured. Anong cut a piece of sugarcane and handed it to Su Ze, then studied the cotton seeds. "It shouldn't be difficult. We can try planting it next season."

Anong asked Ayuan about the planting method. Since it can survive in the Western Regions, it should be possible to plant it in [low-grade dry land].

Su Ze was very satisfied. Cotton is a very important economic crop, and the most suitable place for growing it now is the northwest region!

In the war between Song and Xia, an important factor affecting the combat effectiveness of the Song army was actually keeping warm.

The low combat effectiveness of the Song army itself was certainly one of the reasons, but the fact that the Song soldiers wore thin clothes and did not have enough warm furs, and were unable to fight outside the city in winter, was also one of the reasons for the strategic passiveness.

In order to supply furs, the Song Dynasty even strengthened the fur trade with the Liao Dynasty, which greatly enriched the Liao Dynasty. This was also one of the reasons why the Liao Dynasty dared to blackmail.

The Northwest region itself is suitable for growing cotton. If the cotton seeds can be improved, perhaps the entire Northwest land can be planted with cotton, solving the problem of winter clothing supply for the Western Army.

In addition, cotton has many other uses.

For example, to improve firearms, nitrocellulose was made by reacting nitric acid and cotton, which is the firing powder of flintlock rifles, also known as smokeless gunpowder.

In short, the role of cotton as a crop is so great that it can even be said to be the first industrial product of mankind.

Unlike silk, which can be produced by small-scale farming, cotton is a crop with the special characteristics of an industrial product, that is, planting and processing can be completely separated.

It can be said that cotton was the first product in human history to move from handicraft to industry.

The early history of industry can be seen as the history of how to obtain cotton more efficiently!

The future of cotton is promising, but the sugarcane in front of us is even sweeter.

He took the sugarcane that Anong had cut, took a light bite, and the sweet sugarcane juice rushed into his mouth. It was so sweet!
This made Su Ze, who was used to a high-sugar diet in his previous life, very satisfied!
Even if these sugarcanes are not used to make sugar, they are still very good as fruit!
Then Su Ze found A Zhi again, handed him the manuscript of the first issue of the tabloid, and asked him to print it as soon as possible.

With sufficient cultural energy, Su Ze can finally start large-scale construction!

He looked at the guiding boy and asked:
"As long as I build a total of twenty buildings, I can get new advanced blueprints?"

The guiding boy nodded heavily, and Su Ze really started to build.

First of all, there are too few farmlands, whether it is the cotton to be planted in the future, the sugarcane whose planting area is about to be expanded, or the soybeans and rapeseed that are still being planted.

The [Sugar Syrup Workshop] can also be built. The harvested sugarcane can be used to make sugar, and some can be sent to Zhang Daocheng and Zhang Yaozuo's homes later.

This time, Su Ze was very ambitious and spent 50 points of cultural energy to order the reclamation of five [medium-quality farmlands].

Then Su Ze spent another 15 points of cultural energy to build a [Sugar Syrup Workshop].

At the request of the God of Cooking, a [Spice Garden] was built again. Su Ze, who was already accustomed to various condiments in later generations, couldn't wait to taste more delicious foods.

80 points of cultural energy were used for construction, and another 35 points of cultural energy were spent on recruiting the corresponding spiritual boy, leaving 360 points of the 245 ​​points of cultural energy.

[Congratulations to the owner of Taoyuan! Please choose the drawing you need from the three drawings! ]

Su Ze, who had originally made up his mind to build the [Yingtian Academy], became hesitant again when he saw the third new blueprint.

(End of this chapter)