The climate in the Central Plains has been generally warm in recent years, but there have been some changes, with the climate turning downward every one or two years, causing slight winter shocks to the countries in the Central Plains.
Like the heavy snow when Zhu Xiang left Zhao State.
The State of Chu was not as far north as the State of Zhao, but the nobles had gotten used to life in Yingdu. When they moved north to the Jianghuai Plain, they always felt that the winter was a bit uncomfortable.
Wearing silk clothes is cold, and if it rains, it is even more uncomfortable; wearing fur clothes is hot, and the stuffiness makes people feel uneasy. It is really uncomfortable.
The ancestral land of the Chu State was originally south of the Yangtze River, so the sleeves and hems of the clothes were very wide for ventilation.
Now they have arrived in the Jianghuai area. When the winter wind blows, the cold wind blows in so fast that they have to wear several layers of silk underwear.
If modern people came to the Jianghuai Plain today, they would be surprised at the mild climate. They would say that they don’t even need to wear a down jacket. A sweater inside and a windbreaker outside are enough to survive the winter.
However, the Chu nobles who migrated north have not been able to get used to the winter climate of the Jianghuai Plain for so many years, not to mention the small fluctuations in climate in recent years, which is even more frustrating.
The cotton cloth brought by Lu Buwei just met their needs and was unanimously welcomed by the Chu nobles.
As for what is unique to "Qin State", they would not think of "aiding the enemy". On the contrary, the more unique something is to another country, the more willing they would be to buy it.
The cotton produced by Zhu Xiang's system is a high-quality medium-staple cotton variety that has been improved many times in later generations; the cotton cloth woven by Xue Ji's loom is fine and dense. The combination of the two is incomparable to the local cotton cloth of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in the original time and space, reaching the level of "foreign cloth".
The nobles of the Chu State could not let go of the soft and strong cotton cloth, especially those who practiced martial arts, who preferred this kind of cloth that was easy to absorb sweat.
Wearing silk in summer and cotton in winter became a consensus among the nobles of the Chu State, and even the five Central Plains countries were swept by the cotton cloth trend.
When Wei and Han were facing war from Qin, the upper class nobles did not forget to rush to buy cotton cloth at high prices to show off their new clothes.
The deaths of soldiers on the front lines and the decadent life of nobles in the rear have always existed at the same time and are not worth elaborating on.
The city of Guangling (Yangzhou), which is across the river from Wujun, was built during the reign of King Huai of Chu. It gradually grew by relying on the convenient shipping and irrigation of the Yangtze River and the Hang Canal (an ancient canal connecting the Yangtze River and the Huai River).
The land of Wu and Yue was seized by the Qin State. The Chu State stationed troops in Guangling, relying on the natural barrier of the Yangtze River to guard against the Qin army. However, there were no restrictions on trade between Guangling and Wujun. Instead, the trade became more prosperous because of the Qin State's development of Wujun.
Merchants always chase after the "trend" of the market. Qin cotton is now the "trend" of the Chu market.
There was an endless stream of merchant ships traveling back and forth between the north and the south on the Yangtze River, and the Qin and Chu armies turned a blind eye and secretly accepted benefits.
After Li Mu counted the "rewards" received by the Qin army today, he said, "We have earned enough money to repair the warships."
Wang Jian found it hard to accept Li Mu's businessman-like behavior.
As a very traditional Qin general, Wang Jian was accustomed to using as many soldiers and food as the King of Qin gave him, and at most plundering the city after it was captured.
In this regard, Li Mu was not like a general at all, but more like a shrewd businessman, from replenishing troops to raising money and food on his own. If Zhu Xiang and Prince Zheng had not been in Wu County, Wang Jian would have worried that someone would say that Li Mu was going to rebel.
Wang Jian reminded Li Mu. Li Mu was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said, "I'm afraid of being poor."
Li Mu immediately wrote a letter to the King of Qin to reflect on his actions and asked the King of Qin to send someone to supervise him.
King Zhaoxiang of Qin was on his sickbed at the time. After hearing what happened, he wrote a letter to scold Li Mu.
If the King of Zhao can tolerate you, then why can't I tolerate you? My successors can tolerate you too! And act on your own!
Li Mu did not feel relieved after reading the letter from King Zhaoxiang of Qin. Although he still acted independently, every time he took action, he would write down in detail what he was going to do and submit it to the King of Qin.
According to Zhu Xiang, this is why "regular reports are necessary." If some personal letters are mixed in the "regular reports," the king will be more assured.
Therefore, both Zhu Xiang and he were allowed by the King of Qin to "act independently". According to the secret letters secretly sent by Zichu and others, the two Kings of Qin trusted Zhu Xiang and Li Mu more than those county governors who did not have the power to act independently.
Zhu Xiang learned this technique from the letters between Yongzheng and his favorite minister Man Bao.
Whenever Man Bao, the Governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, submitted memorials to Yongzheng about military and political affairs, he would mix in some nonsense, which became a popular joke on the Internet in later generations: "Lychees are delicious, and mangoes are delicious, but does the emperor want to eat them?"
Man Bao was a rare capable minister in the Qing Dynasty who attached great importance to coastal defense. He added more than a thousand artillery positions on the southern coast. During the Opium War, the war was fought with the help of these old artillery positions. It was certainly not stupid for him to write these memorials.
The greater the power, the more you cannot just write cold reports. The king has given you great power, which means you have a close relationship with him. At this time, you can enhance your relationship by chatting with him about family matters and talking nonsense.
Li Mu learned a skill from Zhu Xiang and now passed it on to Wang Jian.
He ordered the Qin army to accept bribes from merchants without hesitation and hand them over truthfully, as he would use the money to improve the lives of the soldiers.
The soldiers all trusted Li Mu, a general who never withheld food and wages, and did as they were told.
Li Mu made three copies of the list of people who received bribes, one for archive, one for Ying Xiaozheng, and one to Qin Wangzhu along with some "specialties".
This was not only a casual chat between him and the King of Qin, but also a delivery of "stigmatizing evidence" to the King of Qin.
Zhu Xiang reminded him that generals must learn to defile themselves in a harmless way, and accepting bribes from businessmen is just that "harmless" way of defilement. Even if others find out, the worst that can happen is that he will be demoted or dismissed from his post.
Wang Jian learned how to defile himself from Li Mu, but he had not yet learned how to do business.
He held his forehead and sighed continuously.
He is really not good at doing business. Can he just lead the troops to fight, and then go home to enjoy the glory and wealth after the battle
Is Li Mu going for Wu'an Jun? Why does he feel that Li Mu is going for the Prime Minister
With your ability to revitalize Wujun and Qin's navy, Li Mu, you are more than qualified to be the prime minister.
Li Mu simply told Wang Jian expressionlessly that he was forced into this.
King Wuling of Zhao established Yanmen, Yunzhong and Dai to resist the Xiongnu. The Li family has been generals in the three counties for generations since then. However, the main focus of Zhao State was on the Central Plains, and the military supplies were all in the Central Plains. When he was a general in Yanmen, the Hu people were growing stronger.
In addition to the Xiongnu, the grassland nomadic tribes called Donghu, which were located to the east of the Xiongnu, were also very powerful. The Xiongnu and Donghu fought each other when the grass and water were abundant, and joined forces to invade the Central Plains in winter when the water and grass were dry.
Facing such a powerful enemy, Li Mu had insufficient soldiers and food supplies, and without any management skills, how could he defend the three counties of Yanmen, Yunzhong and Dai
Wang Jian was struggling to learn things that Li Mu was not good at, and he joked, "When you manage Yanmen, Yunzhong and Dai well, the three northern counties will become your fiefdom, Li Mu. Are you sure the King of Zhao won't kill you then?"
Li Mu continued expressionlessly, "I'm afraid you were here to attack Zhao at that time on the orders of Zheng'er. Didn't Zheng'er say that he wanted to kill me by sowing discord? I guess you used this as an excuse."
Wang Jian laughed loudly, and the depression of being outdone by Li Mu finally dissipated.
Seeing Wang Jian laughing, Li Mu kicked Wang Jian and then couldn't help sighing in his heart.
Although he was no longer in Zhao, he could see the dead end he would have faced if he had remained in Zhao, and he felt very complicated.
Under Li Mu's indulgence, merchants from the State of Chu with various missions soon discovered the secret of Qin cotton.
Qin cotton is actually grown from the ground? If Qin can grow it, then we in Chu can too!
Soon, they secretly purchased cotton seeds, colluded with bandits, kidnapped an old farmer who knew how to grow cotton and left.
If they were kidnapped directly, Li Mu would stop them on the shore and kill those who deserved to be killed. This also gave the Chu people the illusion that the Qin people attached great importance to cotton planting technology.
Later, merchants changed their way. They sent people to learn from the Qin Dynasty or went to the Chu State to do business (such as Lu Buwei who pretended to be his retainer) to buy old farmers who knew how to grow cotton. Only then did they bring cotton technology to the Chu State.
In this era, planting techniques were difficult to keep secret and were easily passed on. The Chu people did not realize that the Qin people were deliberately indulging themselves.
Li Mu deliberately built an execution ground by the river and publicly executed law-abiding merchants. The merchants spread the news to the ears of the Chu nobles, and it became a rumor that Qin killed people in order to keep the cotton planting method secret.
Since the Qin people attached so much importance to cotton planting technology, the Chu nobles of course immediately allocated land to plant cotton.
Ying Xiaozheng, the acting governor of Wujun, immediately sent Li Si to visit the State of Chu to solemnly protest to the King of Chu against the Chu State's theft of cotton seeds.
The ministers of the King of Chu severely refuted Li Si's absurdity, saying that cotton had been grown in Chu since ancient times, but it was not popular before.
Isn't cotton grown in Wu and Yue? Wu and Yue were originally the territory of Chu, so the Chu people brought cotton to the Jianghuai Plain.
They also brought up Zhu Xiang's reputation.
Duke Zhu Xiang would definitely be willing to share cotton, a good thing for the people. But would Duke Zhu Xiang be willing to let people all over the world freeze to death
When Li Si heard the other party insulting Zhu Xiang, he felt real anger in his heart.
He knew that he was narrow-minded and had a dark mind, and even Han Fei, who regarded him as a close friend, was deeply jealous of him. Even though he thought that if it was for his own benefit, he might even frame Zhu Xiang. But now that he heard someone insulting Zhu Xiang, Li Si's anger was hard to suppress.
"Of course Duke Zhu Xiang has sympathy for the common people, but are the people who are using cotton cloth now the common people?"
Li Si snorted coldly and quoted the current purchase price of cotton by Qin merchants and the price of cotton cloth sold in various countries.
"You are a bunch of people who are full of food and drink, and you actually say that Duke Zhu Xiang did not share with you. What did Duke Zhu Xiang share with you? How can we not starve to death or freeze to death by sharing?"
"If you can make common people wear cotton cloth, not to mention Duke Zhu Xiang, I, Li Si, can guarantee that the Qin State will not only not pursue your theft of cotton, but will also send people to teach you how to grow cotton."
"I dare to sign a written agreement, do you dare?!" Li Si sneered, "Do you dare?!"
He looked around at the people in the hall of the King of Chu, and no one dared to look him in the eye. Li Si certainly knew that no one in the State of Chu dared to respond to this matter.
Cotton is now the favorite fabric of the nobles. If common people also wear cotton, then where will the nobles' face be
Lu Buwei once told Li Si that the reason why he was so crazy about climbing up the ladder was not only because he wanted greater wealth, but more importantly, if he was just a businessman, even if he had a lot of money, he would not dare to enjoy it.
The patterns on their clothes and the decorations they wore were strictly controlled and could not be the same as those worn by the nobles. Some kings or feudal lords even restricted the cloth that common people wore.
The Qin State actually had such regulations, such as what colors common people could not wear. But the Qin people preferred black, which was resistant to dirt, and they wore black from head to toe, so judging only by clothing, the difference between common people and nobles was not so clear.
"Duke Zhu Xiang never cared about the affairs of the people. Wherever he went, he was in the fields working with the people." Li Si suppressed his anger and said calmly, "If you insist on letting Duke Zhu Xiang worry about this, then I will go back to Wujun to ask Duke Zhu Xiang about this. But Duke Zhu Xiang is willing to share cotton with you, Chu State. Do you dare to accept it?"
After saying this, Li Si stood up, turned away his sleeves, and strode out of the Chu Palace, regardless of the fact that the King of Chu was still there.
He was just an envoy, but he actually turned his back on the King of Chu and left, being extremely arrogant and domineering.
The King of Chu's face changed drastically, and he almost ordered people to capture this rude man, but thinking of the strength of Qin, he held back.
“Lord Chunshen, you see…” The King of Chu glanced at his ministers and finally turned to Lord Chunshen for help, whom he had suppressed several times.
The old nobles of Chu State each cared about their own interests. The King of Chu looked around for people who would work for him and felt that only Chunshen Jun was the most powerful.
Chunshen Jun was silent for a long time before he said, "This is a shameful thing that the merchants of Chu did for profit. Your Majesty should pretend not to know, or say that it is a matter of the people and you don't need to know it. If other countries know about it, they will laugh at us if we compare Zhu Xianggong with this merchant's matter."
The minister who accidentally mentioned Duke Xiang of Zhu immediately fell to the ground and said, "Chun Shenjun is absolutely right. It is my fault."
Chunshen Jun said: "Please send me to meet the Qin envoy to express my apology to Duke Zhu Xiang."
The King of Chu said: "Yes. But this cotton..."
Chunshen Jun said: "Since Chu has already planted cotton, it is impossible for it to stop. Qin also knows about this, and sending people to protest is just to save face."
The King of Chu sighed and said, "Okay, you go and meet the Qin envoy. I am tired, you can leave now."
The ministers of Chu State left one after another, and Chunshen Jun left with them.
After being ignored by the King of Chu, even though Chunshen Jun attacked the State of Lu and returned to the power center of Chu, the situation was no longer the same as before.
The emerging nobles, who had already shown signs of decline, were naturally not taken seriously by the old nobles of Chu.
Chunshen Jun sat in the carriage, lowered the curtains, then held his forehead and sighed.
Zhu Xiang's reputation for kindness and the cunning image of Zhu Xiang he met in Xianyang intertwined with each other, making him feel very confused and helpless.
"Zhu Xiang, Zhu Xiang, is this cotton thing really just a profit-seeking business, or do you want to do something?" Chun Shenjun held his forehead and muttered to himself, "I don't believe that you only know how to farm and don't care about the affairs of the people when you went south. What are your plans?!"
Chunshen Jun thought hard but could not figure out what Zhu Xiang wanted to do.
He could only go in person to meet Li Si, the unknown Qin envoy, to test the Qin people's thoughts.
Li Si, however, was foolproof.
Li Si complained bitterly to Chunshen Jun, saying that he knew that the merchants were profit-seeking, and that the King of Chu should have given Qin some face, reprimanded the merchants, and then symbolically compensated them. Who knew that the people of Chu would be so unreasonable and even dragged Zhu Xianggong into it
What does the business of merchants have to do with Duke Zhu Xiang? Wouldn't the person who said this feel uneasy
Fortunately, the State of Chu had Chunshen Jun who understood the situation.
"I once studied under Duke Zhu Xiang, and he praised Chunshen Jun highly. If it were not for official business, I would have come to visit Chunshen Jun in person." Li Si kept complimenting Chunshen Jun, saying a lot of nice things without missing a word of anything else.
Chunshen Jun couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart.
He had already seen that although Li Si was young and had no reputation, he was not an easy person to get along with.
Chunshen Jun suddenly remembered a rumor about Zhu Xiang.
He asked, "Were you recommended by Duke Xiang of Zhu to be an official?"
Li Si's eyes flickered, he lowered his eyebrows and said respectfully, "I dare not mention the recommendation of Duke Zhu Xiang."
Chunshen Jun was silent.
Does this “dare not mention” mean a denial, or does it mean that before he became famous he did not dare to mention the fact that he was recommended by Duke Zhu Xiang, so as not to tarnish Duke Zhu Xiang’s reputation
Chunshen Jun looked at Li Si and finally sighed: "Is Duke Zhu Xiang praising me or does he want to kill me?"
Li Si did not beat around the bush this time. He kept his eyebrows downcast and said calmly, "Don't you think highly of Duke Zhu Xiang, so you wish to get rid of him as soon as possible?"
After hearing what Li Si said, Chunshen Jun was once again certain that Li Si was probably really the talent recommended by Zhu Xiang.
"Did Zhu Xiang do this to kill me?" asked Chunshen Jun.
Li Si shook his head: "This is really the work of the merchants. However, the Chu minister asked me to report to Duke Zhu Xiang, and I will bring Duke Zhu Xiang's opinion."
Chunshen Jun sighed again and said, "Okay, I will wait for Zhu Xianggong's words."
When Chunshen Jun left, Li Si accompanied him to the door.
After closing the door, Li Si rubbed his hair and almost rubbed his hair apart.
When Chunshen Jun asked whether it was Zhu Xianggong who recommended him for the official position, Li Si wanted to admit it directly.
He knew how much fame the "recommendation by Duke Xiang of Zhu" would bring him.
But as soon as the words came out of his mouth, he denied it.
"I am afraid that if I rashly use Duke Xiang of Zhu's reputation, it will cause displeasure to the prince, the crown prince and the King of Qin." Li Si said to himself.
He indeed thought so, but when he said it, why did Li Si feel a little angry and embarrassed
How strange.
Li Si told Zhu Xiang about the affairs of the State of Chu, especially what Chunshen Jun said during his visit.
Zhu Xiang was melancholy for a long time, waved his hand, asked Li Si to rest first, and thought about it for a while before telling him what to do.
Xue Ji noticed Zhu Xiang's distress and asked him the reason.
Zhu Xiang originally wanted to keep the matter to himself, but perhaps because he wanted to talk to someone too much, he told Xue Ji.
"I originally went to Changping just to save my fellow villagers, but later I was praised as a saint who cares about the people of the world. I know I am not such a saint, but I still feel a little ashamed when I am about to do something to harm others."
Xue Ji was puzzled: "Why isn't my husband a saint? He really cares about the people of the world."
Zhu Xiang smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I don't have one. My heart is very small, it can only accommodate the person in front of me."
Xue Ji still didn't understand why Zhu Xiang was so modest: "I do have a good husband. Apart from him, which other feudal lord would bury his head in the fields and farm with the common people? And back in Zhao, even if someone else held the knife, my good husband would not kill anyone."
Zhu Xiang's lips moved, and his rebuttal turned into a long sigh.
He didn't want to kill anyone because he didn't want to break the already precarious moral bottom line of modern people in his heart; he buried his head in the ground because he was originally a commoner, no matter in his past life or this life.
Now we don’t want to do anything that will harm the common people in the State of Chu, and that’s also because modern people’s values are not those of saints.
But in the eyes of people today, maybe it is.
War is bound to happen, but the psychological pressure of leading a war yourself is completely different from watching Qin launching a war.
But this time Zhu Xiang didn't want to retreat behind his friend again.
He did not personally participate in the series of wars launched by the Qin State in order to unify the world. Does that mean these wars really have nothing to do with him
He helped increase grain production; he led people to improve weapons; and he even discussed strategic matters with his friends in private many times.
It's just that he didn't stand in front of people, so the negative criticisms from outsiders about disliking the war were blocked by his friends.
However, other people’s comments are their own business. Don’t you know what you have done
You want to speed up the pace of Qin's unification of the world, but you also want to be a hypocritical ostrich. Zhu Xiang, Zhu Xiang, even if the world praises you as a saint, do you have a clear conscience
"You're right. I've figured it out." Zhu Xiang put his coat on Xue Ji's shoulders and said, "Although the winter in Wu County is mild, you should still put on an extra layer of clothing."
Xue Ji nodded: "Okay. My dear, are you really not depressed anymore?"
Zhu Xiang smiled and said, "Before you do something that hurts others, it's inevitable that you'll feel guilty. But I won't lose the chance to fight because I can't bear it."
He did figure it out.
Xue Ji said: "If you really don't want to do it, let others do it. Zheng'er will definitely be willing to help you."
Zhu Xiang laughed so hard that he couldn't straighten his back: "Forget it, if Zheng'er does everything, I, as his uncle, will be useless."
Xue Ji thought about it and nodded again: "My dear, you are right. Then my dear, please stop being sad, or Zheng Er will feel bad."
Zhu Xiang couldn't laugh anymore.
He could see that his position in Xue Ji's heart was indeed behind Zheng Er.
I will make Zheng'er something he doesn't like to eat tomorrow!
On the second day, Ying Xiaozheng looked at the dishes on the table and asked in disbelief, "What is this?" Why did he feel a little hesitant to eat it
Zhu Xiang smiled and said, "Braised brain with tofu and spiced spiced pork, braised stinky mandarin fish with stinky tofu, stir-fried pork intestines with sour bamboo shoots, and the simplest vegetarian dish is chives with soy sauce."
Even though Ying Xiaozheng was used to eating green onions dipped in garlic paste, he was still afraid of the food on the table that looked and smelled horrible.
He asked, "Uncle, I haven't been marking papers in my quilt lately."
Zhu Xiang said: "Yes, I know."
He explained: "Although there were a few times when I didn't take a nap, I really did get a good rest."
Zhu Xiang said, "We'll talk about this later."
He pinched his nose: "Why should I eat these!"
Zhu Xiang said: "Try it, it tastes really good."
Li Mu held his forehead with his hand: "Don't bully Zheng'er just because Xue Ji went to the textile workshop. Are these things edible? Zheng'er! Don't eat them!"
When Zhu Xiang said "it tastes good", Ying Xiaozheng put aside his prejudice, picked up a spoon and scooped a spoonful of something that he didn't know was tofu pudding or brain pudding into his mouth, then his eyes lit up: "Really!"
Li Mu: “…”
Ying Xiaozheng tasted the pig intestines again.
The pig intestines are washed very cleanly without a trace of fat. They are first marinated and then stir-fried, and then added with the flavor of sour bamboo shoots, which makes it very memorable.
Ying Xiaozheng praised: "The pig intestines are delicious! The pickled bamboo shoots are also delicious!"
He stretched his chopsticks to the stinky tofu and stinky mandarin fish, pinched his nose and ate a few chopsticks: "Although it stinks, it is really fragrant. The more I eat, the more fragrant it is."
As for the chili sauce with leeks, it is just an ordinary dish.
"It's delicious, really delicious! Teacher, you should eat too!" Ying Xiaozheng, who is not picky about food, immediately picked up his chopsticks quickly and ate with relish.
Li Mu hesitated to speak, then kicked Zhu Xiang hard under the table.
Zhu Xiang cried out in pain and covered his legs, worried that his legs would be broken by Li Mu's kick.
"Don't cook strange meals for Zheng'er." Li Mu gritted his teeth. "The meals in the palace are mostly light. This is etiquette. If Zheng'er gets used to these strange meals, what will happen in the future?"
Zhu Xiang covered his leg and asked, "Have you changed the etiquette?"
Qin Shi Huang even destroyed the six kingdoms. Couldn't he eat brains, sour bamboo shoots, pork intestines, stinky tofu, and stinky mandarin fish in the palace? Who are you looking down on
Li Mu asked: "Are you trying to raise a tyrant?"
Zhu Xiang asked, "The King of Qin is not a tyrant. Do you believe this?"
Ying Xiaozheng raised his head: "Can my father also be counted?"
Zhu Xiang said: "A sickly tyrant is still a tyrant."
"Oh." He continued to eat with his head down.
(End of this chapter)