The imperial court controlled the production materials and sold them to merchants with almost zero risk. This was a business that was sure to make a profit without losing any money.

There are currently four major types of cotton in the world: upland cotton, sea island cotton, kapok and grass cotton.

At present, the cotton of the Song Dynasty is mostly produced by kapok trees in Lingnan and Lianghuai areas, while the cotton grown in Shaanxi Road is a combination of grass cotton and kapok. Regardless of grass cotton or kapok, the yield is still lower, and the fiber is not white enough and long enough.

.

Upland cotton, which is now widely used in the cotton textile industry, originated in Mexico and was not introduced to China until the 19th century.

However, the Song Dynasty was better than the Europeans. Europeans at the same time always believed that cotton was something that sheep grew on trees. Today, the main competitors of the Song Dynasty are India and Persia.

But in the future, they should not be able to compete with the large-scale cotton textile industry of the Song Dynasty.

We've always been good at keeping prices down.

Xihe Road In order to import raw cotton from various places, it was necessary to use the waterways from the Tao River, Huangshui River to the Yellow River. After capturing Lanzhou, a transit hub was obtained.

But this alone is not enough. It is also necessary to open up the Hexi Corridor, capture Liangzhou, and truly connect the Western Regions, so that the goods of the Song Dynasty can truly reach the hands of merchants from the Western Regions, and at the same time, Dangxiang's trade benefits will be cut off.

From then on, silk and cotton cloth (beji cloth) were the hard currency used by the Song Dynasty to travel to the Western Regions, thus reopening the Silk Road.

After reading Zhang Yue's plan, the officials used the profits from the cotton fields to induce people to go down the mountain and establish households to unite the people. This would increase the tax on Dingkou on Xihe Road and at the same time raise civilian services and soldiers, which would be useful when attacking Liangzhou in the future.

Come in handy.

Once the officials saw it, they felt that the case was feasible, but... it would just take time.

At the same time, the officials continued to look at it, and Zhang Yue carried out tax reforms on Xihe Road and the entire Qinfeng Road to prevent and reduce the increase of local subordinate officials, so as to achieve the goal of benefiting the people and enriching the country.

For the officials, Zhang Yue's two strategies are not bad, but their common shortcoming is "slow down".

Zhang Yue said: "For the imperial court, attacking Liangzhou is the goal, and restructuring is just a means."

"However, for me, restructuring is the goal, and attacking Liangzhou is just a means."

"I want to restructure Xihe Road and Qinfeng Road to make them new with the purpose of attacking Liangzhou."

What was the purpose of Wang Anshi's reform?

Make the country rich and the army strong, make the poor rich and poor, and suppress annexation. Later in Wang Anshi's reform, he proposed to "regulate the whole country", but it was too broad.

Zhang Yue is attacking party items.

Internal restructuring was carried out by defeating party items. Now, from defeating party items, it was refined to attack Liangzhou, and then to reorganize Xihe Road.

Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, throughout the history of the dynasties, in the early decades of the Central Plains dynasty, all the kings and ministers were wise and virtuous, and they strived to expand externally. Then in the following decades, when the expansion reached its peak, the kings and ministers began to maintain the status quo and reuse the system.

, seeking relief.”

"After several decades, many shortcomings have accumulated, and internal reforms are sought. But if the reform is not successful, it will be like Wang Mang, who will immediately destroy the country and the world. If the reform is good, like Xining of this dynasty, it will be nothing more.

It has been extended for more than ten years and for dozens of years."

Zhang Yue's words were so bold that all the officials looked at him with suspicion.

The officials were both happy and worried. They were happy that Zhang Yue was willing to speak out and pointed out the country's current shortcomings, but they were worried that it was true as the other party said. What he and Wang Anshi had done would only last for more than ten years and decades, so what should we do?

The official asked: "What good idea do you have?"

Zhang Yue thought to himself that the Qin, Jin, Sui and Zuo dynasties were not included in this list, but that was not the case in the Han, Tang, Song, Ming and Qing dynasties, and even in the neighboring country of Liao.

In the beginning, they were very capable of fighting, expanding their territory everywhere. After reaching the peak, when the losses in the war were greater than the gains, they began to relax their defenses and overhaul forts on the border.

Later, when internal problems arose, Wang Mang, Wang Anshi, Li Longji, Zhang Juzheng and later the Westernization Movement all aimed at reviving China.

However, there were many failures, successes did not last for a long time, and then they all declined.

Why isn't the cycle broken?

The problem is that it is done behind closed doors.

Behind closed doors, without external input and output, it is a zero-sum game. No matter how you change it, it is nothing more than giving more to the less, and giving more to the less. It seems fair, but every time the knife is used, there will be consequences.

loss.

There are only two ways to go out: war and trade, which are import and export.

If you don't want to fight with your own people, you can only rob others. In the early stage of the organization, through continuous wars and continuous victory and expansion, it was a scene of wise kings and wise ministers.

A county can produce some of the top three or five figures in ancient and modern times.

War is the fastest way to react and solve organizational problems hands-on.

Keep fighting and expanding to temporarily avoid internal conflicts. It was like this in the history of the Yuan Dynasty. Once the expansion stopped, the empire was immediately over and over very quickly.

The Qing Dynasty was much smarter and used Confucianism and Legalism to continue the state. Even with the decline of military force, it could still be maintained for a period of time.

Therefore, apart from war, the only way to achieve long-term stability is commerce.

This is like a martial arts competition. You can brag about being the best in the world if you practice on your own, but you can only know how good you are when you compete with others.

If you stand, you are the winner, if you lie down, you are the loser. It is obvious at a glance. What the winner says is the truth.

We cannot pursue temporary stability by closing the country in isolation.

This was the purpose of Zhang Yue's insistence on capturing Liangzhou and reopening the Silk Road. Reform without a purpose is a trick without a way, and it must be oriented towards external export, whether it is war or trade.

You cannot cultivate immortality and enlightenment behind closed doors. You must go out and save all sentient beings. Change yourself by changing others. To help others is to save yourself.

After listening to Zhang Yue's words, the official realized that he and Zhang Yue had different purposes, and in the end they both reached the same destination through different paths.

Changing the tax system and official system of Qinfeng Road is a strenuous task, but it must be done in order to seize Liangzhou.

The third plan of Zhang Yue's plan to ping Liangzhou was to use inducements and incentives to rebel against the Renduo tribe in Liangzhou and the Ganzhou Uighurs.

Instigating rebellion against the Renduo tribe is what Xihe Road has been doing.

Once Liangzhou is captured, the Song Dynasty's commercial benefits on Xihe Road will be doubled. This will be a benefit to the Renduo tribe and the Ganzhou Uighurs in the future, and it will also be a means to separate them from the Dangxiang camp.

The Dangxiang people were unethical in doing business and often forcibly intercepted the goods of merchants from the Western Regions, buying and selling them by force. Therefore, merchants from the Western Regions did not like to take the Hexi Corridor, but instead chose the road closer to the Qingtang City.

Therefore, the Renduo tribe and the Ganzhou Uighurs and the Dangxiang people could not share the meat, but it was completely opposite to the Song Dynasty.

Zhang Yue attaches great importance to the business environment of Xihe Road.

After reading it, the official said: "Zhang Qing still surprises me as always. I am correct on these three points! But who is in charge of this task now?"

Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, Deputy Envoy Wang Hou is qualified for the job!"

Li Xian was transferred back to the capital. Zhang Yue knew that the officials were suspicious and that Li Xian had been in power on Xihe Road for too long. The other party could not even trust his confidants, so he transferred Li Xian back to the capital to prevent him from gaining influence in the local area.

Now if we don't set up an envoy, it will just hang there.

In fact, in addition to Li Xian, there are also Zhang Zhi and Zhang Kai who can take over.

However, Zhang Zhi was seriously injured after the Battle of Mingsha City and has been in bed recuperating to this day. Zhang Kai was not favored by officials, and Zhang Yue did not recommend him.

So Zhang Yue recommended Wang Hou.

Hearing Wang Hou's name, the official frowned and said, "Wang Hou is a deputy general, but he is not powerful enough to be a general."

Zhang Yue thought to himself, you know it, it will be difficult for me to handle it if you keep changing coaches like this.

Zhang Yue said: "Although Wang Hou is not a long-term strategist, he is prudent in his actions. The attack on Liangzhou will be more gradual than urgent. This person can lead the army without any mistakes."

"Another minister recommended Fan Yu as Qin Feng Road's transfer envoy, and Sun Lu as Qin Feng Road's honest envoy!"
Chapter completed!