Chapter 1252 Inspection

Chapter 1252 Inspection

Chapter 1252 Inspection
Raising livestock is not an easy job, and people who love cleanliness may not be willing to do it, especially those who used to be from a noble family but have now fallen into poverty.

Sima Xi is now raising draft horses, oxen and some goats specifically for cashmere under the name of the Shaofu.

As a result, when they woke up, they found that there were dozens more sheep, but the number of manpower had not increased, so they started complaining.

The result, of course, was a few beatings.

"Your Majesty, the wool is still a little short."

"Is it a bit longer than the previous sheep?"

"The carefully selected ones will naturally grow."

Two voices floated in the wind, one young and one slightly seasoned.

While feeding the horses, Sima Xi took a sneak peek and discovered that one of them was Emperor Shao Xun of Liang, and the other was Shao Zhang, the Shaoqing of the Ministry of Finance and the Prince of Qi.

"Thief father and son." He cursed in his heart, wishing that a mad horse would rush out and run them to death.

Sima Xi really didn't expect that as the son of the previous emperor, he couldn't escape punishment. Among the four people, only the emperor Sima Fei was escaped, and the other three were all criminals.

Feeding the horse, feeding the horse makes him stink, which is more painful than killing him - well, I don't want to kill him when I really want to.

"People are tall, short, fat, and thin, and so are sheep." Shao Xun added, "The sheep in Guangcheng Garden and Zuoguo Garden have actually been carefully bred for many years. I remember that their wool was short and hard at first, and it was difficult to spin. It took almost 20 years to achieve today's success. The wool sent by Hezhou and Daiguo is so long, it's purely a natural gift."

The officials and generals accompanying the father and son laughed a few times.

Your Majesty is such a joke!

It is true that some people are tall, short, fat, and thin. Some are born with great strength, some are born to run fast, some are naturally intelligent, and some are not prone to illness. This is also true, but is it the same for horses, cows, and sheep?
If this is the case, if we only look for tall people to mate with, and intermarry with each other for decades, wouldn't we be much taller than others? Well, it seems to make sense, but livestock can do this, but humans can't.

"If Grandpa wants good sheep, he has to go to the Western Regions to find them." Seeing Shao Xun calling himself "father", Shao Zhang also changed his address and said, "The more long-wool sheep, the better. The farther away, the better. This way, there may be surprises."

Shao Xun hummed and said, "My son has experienced a lot and knows how to share his worries. That's great."

Shao Zhang lowered his head and said, "I always see my father frowning, which means the state affairs are complicated, so I always want to share some of the affairs with my father."

Shao Xun glanced at him and said with a smile, "Do you know what your father is worried about?"

"Attack Murong Xianbei and recapture Pingzhou." Shao Zhang replied.

Shao Xun did not comment, but only asked: "Do you have any suggestions for attacking Murong?"

"Lulong Road has been in disrepair for a long time. It would be best to transport troops and food by sea."

"What if the boat capsizes?"

"In history books..."

"Those who fail won't be recorded in history books." Shao Xun said, "We have successfully crossed the sea this time, and it will be recorded in history books, but can we guarantee success next time?"

Shao Zhang was speechless.

Seeing his son like that, Shao Xun softened his tone and said, "But you are right."

Shao Zhang looked up, somewhat surprised.

"From Qingzhou to Liaodong, there is a series of islands, which are widely distributed. The turbulent waves in the open sea are blocked by the islands, and their power gradually decreases, so the west of the islands is relatively calm, and there are not so many big waves." Shao Xun said: "Let's not talk about the sea, let's talk about the port. If it is for sea vessels to anchor, such islands and capes are also needed to shelter from the wind and waves. This is called a 'breakwater'. Therefore, unlike the river port, the sea port is not chosen randomly. Although Qingzhou is large, there are only a few places suitable for the sea port."

In this era, a good seaport does not require high water depth, but has relatively high requirements for wind and wave protection.

The places in the entire Shandong Peninsula that are suitable for being natural naval ports have been given by later generations. In fact, they are Yantai, Weihai, and Qingdao, especially the latter two.

Weihai is located in a bay, with Liugong Island outside to block the wind and waves, making the fleet anchorage relatively calm.

There are high mountains nearby, so we can build a lighthouse for navigation, construct a fortress, and set up coastal defense artillery.

Qingdao has even better conditions, and the same goes for Dalian on the Liaodong Peninsula.

Whether in ancient times or modern times, whether feudal monarchs or foreign invaders, they all set their sights on Jiaozhou Bay, Weihaiwei and Lushun, and there is a reason for that.

God has blessed us with good fortune and geographical location.

Thinking of this, Shao Xun decided to test his son, so he asked: "Since you are the King of Qi, do you know where in Qi we can build a sea port?"

"To the northwest of my fief is Dong'an County, in the county there is an ancient city named Jiaxiayi, which is located next to a large lake and overlooks the sea. The lake is calm and peaceful, and can accommodate thousands of sails without being destroyed by wind and waves. It might be possible to build a seaport." Shao Zhang replied.

Shao Xun recalled it, but had no impression.

He glanced at his son and saw that he looked calm and didn't seem to be pretending, so he believed it halfway.

Perhaps this is a place that has not yet been silted up to form land. In later generations, it was inland but now it is facing the sea. After all, the Yellow River carries a large amount of silt, and it has been reclaiming land.

But it is hard to say whether it is suitable for building a port.

Although the ships of this era had a shallow draft, there were still some requirements for water depth, and people had to be sent to inspect the terrain and measure the water depth.

"If we build Haipu there, when will the month be appropriate to attack Murong in the future?" Shao Xun asked again.

"It's best to go to sea in the spring."

"Why?"

"The weather in Liaodong is cold. If we send troops in the summer, it will be late autumn if we delay a little. We must withdraw."

Shao Xun smiled and said, "So, if we send troops in the spring, how will the ships get there?"

Shao Zhang was stunned.

"Do you know what kind of wind blows there all year round? How the waves flow?" Shao Xun asked.

Shao Zhang was speechless. "There are more southerly winds in summer and autumn, and more northerly winds in winter and spring." Shao Xun said, "So the envoys of the Murong clan often went south when the northerly wind blew strongly, and returned north the next year when the southeasterly wind blew strongly."

He didn't say the direction of the ocean current because he wasn't sure and couldn't remember it clearly.

Without wind, we can only move along the direction of the ocean current.

He didn't know if the Bohai current was fast enough, and he didn't know if it was counterclockwise, clockwise, or if the direction of the nearshore current was changeable. So it was best to rely on sails as power, and he could only cross the sea after summer.

Of course, boats also have another source of power: oars.

Galleys were popular for a long time. When sails were not available, they were propelled by paddling. They were mostly suitable for inland rivers or relatively calm seas.

The Mediterranean Sea in Europe is a typical example. Until the Thirty Years' War (during the Ming Dynasty), galleys were still common, but they could only drift in the Mediterranean, and had a shallower draft than ordinary galleons and flute-shaped ships, making them less safe.

How are the waves in Bohai Sea? We are just guessing at the moment, and the sea conditions will definitely be different in different seasons and weather conditions, and even very different. These all need to be investigated in advance.

"After the first month of next year..." Shao Xun stroked his son's back and said, "You will serve as the inspector of Qingzhou and help your father select a few suitable places to build Haipu."

"Yes." Shao Zhang responded subconsciously, then looked at the sheep in the yard and hesitated to speak.

"Leave it to someone else." Shao Xun said with a smile: "Spend more time with your wife and children these days, and go to the palace to see your mother every ten days."

"Yes." Shao Zhang replied.

Princess Liu gave birth to a son for him last month, and Madam Liu is also pregnant and will give birth in the first or second month of next year. By then, he will be ready to set off.

After giving up some unrealistic ideas, he became less enterprising.

He will still do the work his father assigns him well, even do it with all his heart, but he is a little too lazy to show his initiative.

Let's see when the new eunuch comes and settle the matter with them. I won't be in charge of this matter anymore.

Thinking about the fact that he had to build family trees for cattle, sheep and horses every day in the past year and watch them mate, it seemed outrageous. He was finally relieved - in the eyes of others, sheep and other animals all looked the same, but Shao Zhang now really knew some sheep and even knew whose children some of them were, without having to look at the brand on their buttocks.

However, he quickly thought of something and said, "Grandpa, someone from Hezhou mentioned that there is a kind of Jibei in the Western Regions, and the cloth woven from it is better than the Jibei cloth in the South..."

Shao Xun said, "Oh," and said, "That should be African cotton, also known as grass cotton or African cotton."

History books say that cotton was introduced to China very early, but this "China" is from the perspective of later generations, not at that time. In fact, it only spread to Xinjiang at that time. It was planted in Dunhuang in the late Tang Dynasty. It began to spread to the Central Plains in the Northern Song Dynasty. It was popularized in a small area in the late Northern Song Dynasty. It was planted on a large scale in the Southern Song Dynasty and Yuan Dynasty. However, at that time, there was not only African cotton, but also Asian cotton originating from India. He was not sure which of the two was planted more and which was planted less.

When he heard his son mention cotton, he hesitated and did not directly give an answer about introducing it.

"If someone sends it to you, plant it in the Shaofu for fun, and don't rush to distribute it. Never mind, this matter is not your business." Shao Xun said, "Father still values ​​wool. When handing over the seal, be careful about everything."

"Yes."

Shao Xun soon came to a courtyard nearby, where a group of criminal women were weaving wool, with the sound of looms.

Ying was standing on a table, trying hard to pull a bundle of wool down from the beam, but her footing was unstable and she fell backwards.

As she exclaimed, Shao Xun hugged her in his arms.

Ying was so embarrassed that she didn't know what to say.

Shao Xun was surprised at how round the butt was.

I've seen big ones and warped ones, but it's rare to find one so round, like a ball, in terms of feel.

What a talent! What a talent!
He gently put Ying down, then with his hands behind his back, he carefully looked at the woolen spinning workshop under the name of the Shaofu.

"How do you degrease wool?" he asked.

"Originally, we used wood ash and some medicinal herbs. After my father mentioned it last time, we sent someone to the Shanyu Mansion to inquire and bought some salt from there." Shao Zhang stepped forward and replied.

"Where did you buy it?"

"Daiguo."

"Where is Dai?"

"The grasslands to the north of Guangning were where Tuoba Liwei grazed his cattle. In the early years, it was under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Tuoba Xianbei Lord."

Shao Xun nodded.

Salt is natural soda ash.

In the grassland environment, water turnover is poor and rainfall is low, so it is easy to form salt lakes and produce various salts, including soda ash.

What the Shaofu purchased should be the "kou alkali" of later generations. "Kou" means Zhangjiakou, but the place of production is not in Zhangjiakou, which is just a distribution market. Instead, it is on the grassland further north, where there are many alkaline lakes. For thousands of years, no one has cared about it and only herdsmen and some people on the border use it, which is called "tu alkali".

Very good! It gives grassland herders another way to make money.

Shao Xun really worked hard to help them reverse the trade deficit, but the worst thing is that the effect may not be very good.

If Indian cotton spreads to China and is widely planted in the south in the future, it will probably take over most of the woolen cloth market. Not to mention that the wool at this time is so bad that Shao Xun feels it prickly when he touches it.

The hair fibers are also short.

If any of his women wore a pair of woolen pants, they would probably become pilling after a while of touching them...

Before leaving, Shao Xun glanced at the workshop again.

Shi was leaning close to Ying and whispering something.

Shao Xun nodded secretly. This is a good place to unlock new scene maps.

(End of this chapter)