After hearing what Eunuch Ou said, Yan Liqiang burst into laughter. He looked at Long Tiezhou and said, "In the entire Han Empire, there are two places with the most grasslands, one is in the west and the other is in the north. In the territory controlled by the Fengyun Army, it is even easier to get grasslands. With grasslands, you can raise sheep, and with sheep, you can get wool, and with wool, you can weave woolen cloth. With woolen cloth, will the Fengyun Army still worry about being strangled by money and food? Perhaps it won't be long before the Fengyun Army doesn't even need to sell woolen cloth. As long as there is wool, countless people will come to the Fengyun Army to buy it. It's easy to exchange wool for money, food, weapons, etc...."
Long Tiezhou also showed a smile on his face. "Indeed, in the areas controlled by our Fengyun Army, there are large grasslands around Jinzhou, Youzhou, Shuozhou and other places. Those grasslands are also suitable for animal husbandry. They are also the horse farms of our Fengyun Army. I always thought those places were poor and empty. There was nothing except grass and stones. After coming to Ganzhou this time, I found that as long as sheep can be raised on those grasslands, it will be a big business!"
"The Fengyun Army is said to have a million soldiers. I wonder what other businesses the Fengyun Army ran in the past besides the money and food allocated by the court?"
Long Tiezhou sighed, "Jinzhou, Youzhou, Shuozhou and other places are all bitter and cold places in the empire. They are originally poor in resources and have few products. There are flat fields everywhere. There are several silver and copper mines, which are all under the control of local government and Anbei Military Governor's Office. Because our Fengyun Army needs to raise military horses, we control several large grasslands and pastures. In addition to military horses, those pastures also raise some cattle and sheep to add some meat to the army. The fur of cattle and sheep is used to make some leather armor and other protective gear for the soldiers. We can barely support ourselves and cannot exchange for much money. For the rest, the Fengyun Army only controls a few small iron mines, a few market towns, two salt wells, and collects customs duties at the border. These businesses seem to have a lot of income, but compared with the consumption of the Fengyun Army's million-strong army, it is just a drop in the bucket. Therefore, most of the Fengyun Army's money, food, supplies and weapons still rely on the court to allocate and operate..."
"I see!" Yan Liqiang nodded. "When we go back today, I'll have someone accompany Master Long to the factory to see the entire process of turning wool into cloth. If you have any questions, you can ask. When Master Long returns this time, I'll compile a set of information for him to take away. He can also take back a few samples of the new spinning and loom machines from the Manufacturing Bureau. With these things, it will be easy for the Fengyun Army to build a similar factory!"
"I am grateful for your kindness. We, the Fengyun Army, will remember your kindness, Mr. Yan!" Long Tiezhou solemnly clasped his fists towards Yan Liqiang.
"Mr. Long, you are welcome. The Fengyun Army has been defending our country and guarding our borders, and they have made great contributions. As a member of the Han Empire, if the Fengyun Army needs me, I will naturally be duty-bound to help!"
Lord Ou said, "It's rare that Li Qiang is so understanding of justice. Before coming here, Your Majesty was still worried..."
"Hahaha, Your Majesty, you worry too much. The wealth of the world is for everyone in the world to take. How can I handle such a big business alone? I can help the Fengyun Army, maybe it is God's arrangement..."
"Yes, it's God's will, maybe this is God's will, otherwise how could it be such a coincidence? The Fengyun Army just encountered trouble, and you, Li Qiang, turned this useless wool into treasure in Ganzhou. The Fengyun Army doesn't have much else, but there are a lot of pastures for raising sheep. Having wool in the future is equivalent to having money. I don't think the price of this woolen cloth will be lower than that of a piece of high-quality silk. This wool is silk. Everyone says that Jiangnan is the richest place in the world. Half of the wealth of Jiangnan is supported by this silk..." Eunuch Ou also said with emotion.
Yan Liqiang nodded.
His Majesty the Emperor had thought of everything, but the only thing he had not expected was that after Yan Liqiang knew the method of degreasing the wool, he had no intention of keeping it for himself.
Not only did the Emperor not expect this, it is estimated that no one had expected Yan Liqiang to do this. If Yan Liqiang did not disclose the method of wool degreasing, then in the entire Han Empire, the production of wool cloth would be controlled by Yan Liqiang alone for a long time. The money that could be earned from this monopoly business would be huge. If Yan Liqiang disclosed the secret of wool degreasing, then after other people learned this method, they would become Yan Liqiang's competitors, and the wool cloth business would not be possible for Yan Liqiang alone, so Yan Liqiang naturally would not be able to monopolize the huge profits of this business.
Is there anyone in this world who is willing to give up the interests in his or her hands to help others
In the eyes of His Majesty the Emperor, that was not the case, so he went through so much trouble, conferring titles and letting Eunuch Ou bring the Fengyun Army here, hoping that Yan Liqiang would share the secrets of woolen cloth with the Fengyun Army. Once the Fengyun Army could use wool to open up its own financial resources, then Lin Qingtian and his party's ability to control the Fengyun Army would inevitably be greatly weakened. The Fengyun Army would be alive in the hands of His Majesty the Emperor, and would play a greater role in the future.
However, Yan Liqiang had no intention of taking control of this business. He created this thing to promote it unconditionally. The more people knew about it and joined in, the better. Therefore, he did not hesitate to open the wool spinning technology to the Fengyun Army, and was afraid that the Fengyun Army would not be able to learn it. He did not expect Yan Liqiang to be so thoughtful. Most of the Emperor's efforts were in vain. However, everyone was happy. Eunuch Ou completed his task, the Fengyun Army obtained the technology to turn waste wool into treasure, and Yan Liqiang also took a big step forward in his plan...
Yan Liqiang pondered secretly that when he was in the Tiandao Divine Realm, the Fengyun Army in the 15th year of Yuanping was not in a hurry to get rid of the control of General Anbei's Mansion. Everything was normal and there was no sense of urgency. But at this time, Long Tiezhou appeared in front of him. After thinking about it, he estimated that the letter he wrote to the commander of the Fengyun Army, Long Feicheng, began to take effect. The Fengyun Army had begun to prepare for the worst situation.
This is a good thing!
A sense of accomplishment that quietly pushed the wheel of history forward arose in Yan Liqiang's heart, but there was no one he could share it with.
…
"Li Qiang, you have money and prestige. With the title and reputation of Northwest Bandit Suppression given to you by His Majesty, you can already raise an army in the northwest in the name of sweeping out bandits. No one can find fault with it. His Majesty heard that the Gulang grassland is quite unstable now. This is your chance, Li Qiang. The opportunity to make achievements is right in front of you!" When leaving the Kyudo Club, Eunuch Ou, who was sitting in the car, whispered to Yan Liqiang.
Yan Liqiang was speechless. Perhaps the man in the imperial palace of Imperial Capital City also felt the pleasure of treating the world as a chessboard and placing his pieces on it at will. It seemed that His Majesty was more anxious about the things on Gulang Grassland than himself.
"Don't worry, father-in-law, I know what to do!" Yan Liqiang nodded.
After returning to Yan'anbao, Yan Liqiang arranged for someone to take Long Tiezhou to the woolen mill, and also asked the manufacturing bureau to send several sets of new spinning machines and looms packed in wooden boxes...
In just these two days, cloth merchants from all over the northwest who learned the news a few days late were still rushing to Yan'an Fort. The reputation of Yan'an Fort as the world's number one factory was causing a huge uproar among the cloth merchants...
The first batch of blankets and woolen cloth from the factory had already come out...
…
(End of this chapter)