Chapter 1443 - 1351: Annexation

Many trade caravans were stranded west of Shanshan. They heard that the imperial army had advanced all the way to the Western Regions, and immediately gathered their money and goods. Upon arriving at Shanshan, they indeed saw flags with the "Zhao" character and the "Hua" character, so they eagerly sought refuge.

The imperial army did not refuse their request and escorted them back from the Western Regions to Luoyang.

Of course, they were sensible people who could afford a small protection fee.

The most affluent among them was Zhao Hu’s caravan.

Firstly, they had a large group and carried the most goods; secondly, their master had connections with the emperor, and the leader was the master’s grand-nephew. Even for the sake of Prince Qin, they were willing to pay the fee.

Zhao Erlang complained, "Shanshan has ten kingdoms: Loulan, East Qie Mi, Beilu, Puli, Yizhi, and the front and rear parts. It is the route that Yanqi and Wusun must pass through to reach the Central Plains. Five years ago, the Front Kingdom changed its king, and perhaps due to poverty, it directly sent troops to demand exorbitant protection fees and robbed merchants who couldn’t pay. The surrounding countries couldn’t bear it and started fighting him."

"Those countries are also incompetent; even united, they couldn’t defeat him. Not only were royal family members slaughtered, but territories were seized, roads were blocked, and direct robbery began. The chaos in the Western Regions started because of this, and other countries followed suit. As a result, for the past two years, caravans have gone but not returned."

"I’ve defeated the Front Kingdom and Puli this time, but I feel it’s not enough. Didn’t the Han Dynasty establish a Protectorate in that region? Sister, let’s establish one and take control of all ten countries. Let’s see how they can still rob our caravans."

Zhao Hanzhang couldn’t help but praise him, "That’s a great idea, but it’s too cold now for military action. Wait for me to send envoys to persuade them first; use diplomacy before force. If persuasion fails, then we’ll consider using the army."

The Western Regions are cold, and the snow likely won’t melt until April. Over the past half year, successive military expeditions have depleted the funds saved since her ascension, leaving the treasury empty.

Zhao Hanzhang decided to focus on economic development, initiating mineral resource exploitation, and expanding grain and cotton cultivation.

Due to the warm southern climate, improvements in rice planting methods, and the introduction of new rice varieties, rice yield per acre exceeded that of wheat.

With the imperial court’s strategic adjustments, the focus shifted towards the south, and the previously underdeveloped southern areas began to rapidly advance.

Besides rice and wheat, the south planted large quantities of mulberry and hemp, while the north focused on cotton and hemp this year.

Every ten days, Ministry of Agriculture officials gave lectures at academies, taught students various planting techniques, and then went to rural areas to conduct research and teaching.

But, with the academy serving as a bridge, a large amount of planting knowledge had already been disseminated to the countryside through students, significantly reducing their pressure.

It was only then that officials realized that the academy was the most crucial bridge under royal authority for delivering policies to villages, almost as vital as the county government.

"As long as a village or neighborhood has children studying in the academy, they can bring back the knowledge taught and policies heard, spreading them widely among villagers. This prevents them from being deceived by ignorant or deceitful officials."

The planting method for cotton studied by the Ministry of Agriculture was already mature, and after receiving cotton seeds, the people started planting based on their guidance. By August, after harvesting soybeans, wheat, and other crops, everyone then went to pick cotton.

Pure white cotton, resembling clouds, bloomed on the branches. Shi Le picked one and squeezed it, feeling the hard shell inside, but the surface layer was soft and fluffy. He skeptically asked, "Is this the cotton core used in the quilts at my home? It doesn’t look like it."

Wei Jie said, "Of course, there are other processes, but look at this."

He pulled out strands of fluffy fibers from the cotton, similar to the cotton fibers pulled from the quilts distributed by the imperial court.

Shi Le grinned widely, "Good! As long as it’s usable. Look at this field; this year’s cotton harvest is abundant. It’s enough to make lots of quilts."

Wei Jie said, "I think we should first focus on making cotton clothing. Most families now have built heated beds, and with enough firewood, there’s no need for quilts to stay warm. But cotton clothing is necessary when going out."

Zhang Bin agreed, "With cotton clothing, they can go out to work. Sir, we are very busy this year; there’s not enough manpower."

Cotton harvesting requires a lot of manpower.

Households that received seeds for planting couldn’t cope even with the entire family involved, so they had to pay for temporary labor.

People rushed out to find temporary work, and Shi Le feared that delayed harvesting would ruin the good cotton, so this year he postponed the labor service day, allowing them to work as temporary laborers to harvest cotton first.

After harvesting, cotton seeds must be removed, impurities eliminated, followed by combing and stretching...

By the time the cotton was processed into fillable cotton fibers and blankets, it was mid-November.

The imperial court stipulated that in harsh regions like Youzhou and Bingzhou, after entering the twelfth lunar month, forced labor was prohibited.

At this point, issuing labor service was too late, and workers could only be hired for payment.

Shi Le wasn’t very orthodox, but Fan Ying, serving as Inspector, happened to inspect Youzhou.

Although he wasn’t afraid of Fan Ying, it was preferable to avoid trouble. Moreover, with this year’s abundant cotton harvest, he was feeling quite affluent, so he grandly announced, "Pay for hired labor!"

Compulsory labor service is illegal, but paying is not.

Zu Ti was also hiring labor. This year, Jizhou planted much more cotton than Youzhou, and they were still busy.

He kept part for Yushan Hall and sold the rest at a high price.

Farmers who planted cotton saw this and followed suit, selling their cotton at high prices. Some families, eager to earn, even used their household supplies, paying the amount owed to the government then selling high.

Ten pounds of combed cotton could be sold for two strings of coins, and based on this year’s yield, one acre of cotton could earn seventy-two strings of coins. Even after submitting the cotton owed to the government, there were still thirty-six strings.

Oh, this was more than they could earn from planting twenty acres of wheat and twenty acres of rice.

Seeing the profits calculated, farmers secretly kept cotton seeds, not submitting them all.

Zu Ti knew such things couldn’t be completely prevented, so he turned a blind eye, but after spring, he dispatched numerous government officials to the countryside and summoned each Prefectural Governor to the Inspector Mansion, ordering them to strictly investigate and forbid the misuse of fertile land.

Fertile land could only be used to plant wheat and crops like rice that provide the nation’s staple grains. Anyone daring to plant cotton and hemp on fertile land would have them uprooted and heavily fined.

The imperial court also issued such orders.

"In the face of great profits, some will undoubtedly use fertile land to plant cotton. Grain is the foundation of the nation, and the annual planting quota for each household’s fertile land must not decrease."

When distributing land to the people, the imperial court also counted the planting land for mulberry and hemp; cotton could be planted in those areas.

The people wouldn’t fully obey the court; they had their own ingenuity.

Zhao Dali planted cotton seeds along the edges of the fields.