Datang: Ten Years of Proton, Leading an Army of Millions to Return

Just when everyone was puzzled, Guo Shoujing took off his cotton coat, put it on Li Kuan himself, and wrapped him tightly.

When the eunuch Wang next to him saw this, he quickly put the cloak on Guo Shoujing.

Guo Shoujing laughed:
"Your Majesty, this cotton-padded jacket is indeed warm and is a good thing. But after all, you brought him to our Dayan, so you must not let him get cold!"

"Thank you, Principal Guo, for your concern," Li Kuan said with a smile, "I will definitely get things done as soon as possible."

"Then I will wait for your good news, Your Majesty," Guo Shoujing smiled heartily, "It would be great if one day all the people of Da Yan could wear cotton-padded clothes."

Due to Guo Shoujing's visit and the news of 500 elite soldiers farming, the news of cotton and cotton clothes soon spread throughout Yanyun City.

Batch after batch of people came to the Li Mansion to ask for cotton and cotton clothes. After Li Kuan explained, most of them were satisfied. After all, the principle that the first batch of cotton clothes were to be given to the principled soldiers in the Northern Frontier could not be changed.

This morning, Li Kuan had just seen off a few people when a burst of hearty laughter was heard at the gate of Li's mansion.

When Li Kuan heard this voice, he knew that this person might not be so easy to deal with.

"Haha, you little brat, I didn't expect your Li Mansion to be so lively today." Cheng Yaojin hurried over and tried to get close to him.
"To be honest, you must have missed me, Old Cheng, so much after not seeing me for a few days."

"Thank you for your concern, General Cheng. However," Li Qiu said straight to the point, "I'm afraid General Cheng would not come to visit you for no reason."

"Oh, what are you talking about, kid? Am I such a person?" Cheng Yaojin's expression changed immediately, but then he said with a smile.

"It's just that, yesterday, I, Old Cheng, accidentally heard that Yuchi Laohei said that you had discovered some cotton and used it to make a cotton coat."

"Winter is coming soon, isn't it? You and I both know how cold Yanyun City is in winter. Boy, we've fought together on the battlefield and exchanged our lives for each other. Given our friendship, it's not too much to ask you for one or two cotton-padded jackets, right?"

Sure enough, when it comes to benefits, Cheng Yaojin's sense of smell is always so sensitive.

Li Kuan smiled politely at Cheng Yaojin, and then replied very politely:
"General Cheng and I have a very special relationship. Logically speaking, one or two pieces of clothing are nothing, so in this matter..."

Seeing Cheng Yaojin's smile getting brighter, Li Kuan said as if to deliberately whet his appetite.
"I absolutely cannot agree to General Cheng's request."

"Why is that?" Cheng Yaojin was a little unhappy. "Boy, tell me how I treat you. You can't be so stingy!"

"I'm not being stingy. The point is that I've already reported to His Majesty that after the first batch of cotton clothes are made, they will first be distributed to the soldiers guarding the north and the helpless people in the city. The court also agreed with my opinion."

"General Cheng, think about it. How can we in Yanyun City just ignore the Northern Frontier soldiers? If I really do what General Cheng said, wouldn't I be guilty? It is precisely because of our deep friendship that I, Li Kuan, cannot do this!"

"That's true, but there are so many cotton-padded clothes. When you're done making them, you can use the remaining ones to make one for me," Cheng Yaojin scratched his head.
"Besides, didn't I, Old Cheng, also fight in the north? Wasn't I considered a general guarding the north? As long as I, Old Cheng, explain things clearly to the court, the court will definitely not blame us."

"General Cheng, although you have fought in the north, you are in Yanyun City now," Li Kuan said slowly.

"Besides, with General Cheng's physical condition, a little severe winter is nothing. Why must he ask me for one or two cotton-padded clothes?"

"I am stronger than an ox. I have no problem wearing too little, even shirtless," Cheng Yaojin patted his chest.

"But my grandson is still young, and he likes to run out and play all day. Am I afraid that he will get cold? Besides, when I was young, I wore only coarse linen. After the establishment of Da Yan, I got used to wearing all kinds of silk and satin. When I heard about a rare thing, didn't I want to try it? Why don't you..."

At this point, Cheng Yaojin suddenly rolled his eyes and smiled maliciously.

"How about this? I won't make things difficult for you. Tell me the cotton seeds and how to grow them. I, Cheng, will make cotton clothes myself after I figure it out. This way, it won't be against the will of Bao Chaoting, right?"

Li Kuan smiled. He knew Cheng Yaojin's love of taking advantage. But if he wanted to take advantage of him, he would be wrong.

"In principle, what General Cheng said seems to be feasible," Li Kuan said deliberately slowly.
"It's just that there is a method for growing this cotton seed. Once the experiment is successful, it will naturally be promoted throughout the country. Why is General Cheng so anxious?"

"Oh, once this thing is promoted, there will be too much of it. If there are too many of them, they will no longer be treasures and will not be valuable," Cheng Yaojin said anxiously.

"Don't you know that now, those wealthy merchants on the streets of Yanyun City have heard that your Li family has made cotton-padded clothes, and they are ready to buy them at high prices."

"In my opinion, they are trying to keep themselves warm and use your reputation to show off. I, Old Cheng, can't stand it and just want to punish them a little."

"So, I, Old Cheng, must know this in advance. I believe you will support me, too."

Seeing that Li Kuan still didn't speak, Cheng Yaojin continued:

"To tell you the truth, boy, when I was young, the court gave me a lot of land as a reward, but my family was so poor that we couldn't afford much food."

"Think about it, there are so many soldiers in the north, how can the few acres of land awarded by the court be enough? I, Old Cheng, am willing to give you my land to grow cotton. When the cotton clothes are made, I will send them to the north with you, and then I will earn some money for wine."

Li Kuan was relieved after hearing this: "After thinking about it carefully, General Cheng's suggestion is indeed reasonable, but this cotton seed is very precious, and the technology is not something that can be easily given away."

"That's easy. When we earn enough money for the wine, we'll split it 50-50!" Cheng Yaojin stretched out his hand.

Li Kuan was silent again. Cheng Yaojin gritted his teeth and said, "40% to 60% of the money. I'll split it by 40% and you'll split it by 60%. You can't reduce it any further."

"Deal!" Li Qiu smiled.
With the land provided by Guo Shoujing and Cheng Yaojin, the cotton planting area expanded rapidly.

With the addition of Li Kuan's culture medium, the cotton is growing at a superhuman speed.

Li Kuan went to the two fields every day, responsible for guiding and supervising the cotton planting.

Although it is called guidance and supervision, Li Kuan himself doesn’t particularly understand it.

Fortunately, cotton planting is not very complicated. In modern times, he has heard some knowledge and principles about cotton planting.
So overall, there were no major problems with cotton growth, and when it matured, it was a relatively large harvest.

Li Kuan counted the cotton and felt that the cotton had reached a certain harvest and scale, so he reported the situation to Guo Shoujing. After Guo Shoujing confirmed it, he also transported the finished cotton clothes to the northern border and distributed them to the people of Yanyun City.

The first harvest also produced a large amount of cotton seeds, so Guo Shoujing made up his mind to choose a day to promote cotton in Dayan.

At the same time, the cotton in Cheng Yaojin's field had been harvested. Since Cheng Yaojin's cotton was also transported to the northern border, and some was handed over to the national treasury, Guo Shoujing also agreed to sell Cheng Yaojin's cotton in the market.

One day when the weather was just right, Li Kuan and Cheng Yaojin dressed up and pretended to be ordinary people to inquire about the price of cotton in the market.

"General Cheng," Li Kuan said with a smile, "I wonder how your cotton cloth is selling?"

"It's sold out a long time ago. I've already sent out the news of the sale. Those profiteers came one by one to grab it, and in a few seconds they snatched up all my inventory, Cheng Yaojin said with a smile.

"And if I'm wrong, there are quite a few unscrupulous businessmen who want to monopolize cotton and harm the people. There are quite a few who have paid a lot of money to get our cotton seeds and technology?"

"Did General Cheng say anything?" Li Kuan asked.

"I, Old Cheng, am not that stupid. Even if you want to promote these things throughout Da Yan in the future, at least I still got your first-hand technology and seeds. As long as I lower the price, I, Old Cheng, can continue to do this business."

Cheng Yaojin smiled and said, "So, I just asked those profiteers to pay some IQ money!"

"Oh, IQ money," Li Kuan asked curiously, "How much does General Cheng set the price?"

"Isn't a piece of silk 220 wen? So I, Old Cheng, specially ordered 250," Cheng Yaojin laughed.

"Don't worry, ordinary people will definitely not be cheated at this price. I will only let those stupid people with a lot of money suffer a little! The higher they sell, the greater the loss they will suffer when you promote this product!"

"Hahahaha!" Li Kuan and Cheng Yaojin laughed loudly, then randomly walked into a tailor shop.

"Shopkeeper," Li Kuan opened his fan, looking like a gentleman, "how much do you want for this piece of cotton cloth?"

The man looked at Li Kuan and said calmly, "Five hundred coins!"

Five hundred wen. Based on the prices at that time, it was obvious that the shopkeeper was ripping people off by charging an exorbitant price.

Cheng Yaojin on the side became angry:
"How can you be more cruel than me? The price I sold it to you is just...
"Ah," Li Qiu stopped Cheng Yaojin.
"Shopkeeper, your price is a bit unreasonable! It is easier to grow cotton than silk, so why is your cotton cloth more expensive than silk?"

"Do you know that scarcity is a responsibility?" the shopkeeper snorted coldly.
"It's this cotton cloth. Only I and a few other stores can provide it. Did you know?"

"Wearing my cotton-padded jacket outside is truly impressive!"

"Cotton has not yet been widely promoted in Da Yan. Given the scarcity of goods, it is wrong for you to charge a few hundred coins for it," Li Kuan said, playing with his fan.

"You know, the original intention of His Majesty to introduce this cotton was to make things convenient for the people of Da Yan. Besides, the weather is so cold now, and the people need to rely on it to survive the winter. If you cheat others with such a high price, won't it ruin your reputation in the future?"

"No, are you going to buy it or not? If not, get out. There are so many people who want to make reservations with me right now," the shopkeeper waved his hand hurriedly.
"Since you have no money, don't touch the new things His Majesty brought us."

"Little brother, don't listen to him. He is obviously trying to cheat you," an old man passing by said again.
"I just heard from my neighbors that the court has sent people to give free cotton-padded clothes to elderly people like us. If you really need this, come with me. Maybe there will be some left."

"What did you say?" The shopkeeper looked incredulous. Li Kuan knew the truth very well, and followed the old man and left the shop leisurely.

After walking for a while, the group followed the crowd to the gate of the government office.

There were two clerks in charge of work at the gate of the government office. One of them was holding a large bag of cotton-padded clothes, and the other was holding a household register, and they were asking elderly people to come and claim the cotton-padded clothes.

Although the weather was clear at this time, the cold wind was still a bit chilly. In addition, most of the people were elderly and their clothes were not particularly thick, so they were shivering in the air.

But when they thought about getting free clothes, most of them still looked happy.

"This time it was His Majesty's suggestion. In order to protect you from the cold, Li Yi specially made a batch of cotton clothes so that you can get through this preparation well."

"Since the number of cotton-padded jackets is limited, each of you cannot take more than one. Apart from that, you must follow the order. Okay, now line up. After confirming your name on the household registration book, you can take a cotton-padded jacket home."

"It's your Majesty!"

"I know that your majesty and Lord Guo care about us ordinary people the most."

"I heard from others that this cotton-padded jacket is very warm. Finally, we won't have such a hard time enduring this winter."

"Thank you so much, Your Majesty!"

Even though they didn't know Li Kuan was standing among them, these people still expressed their gratitude from the bottom of their hearts, thanking Li Kuan for his great kindness.

Li Kuan smiled lightly but said nothing.

The scene was filled with a peaceful and happy atmosphere.

Of course, there was one person whose face was not looking good, and that was the shop owner who asked for an exorbitant price.

He really didn't expect that His Majesty, for whom he had asked for an exorbitant price for cotton cloth, would actually give them to the people.

Of course, there was one person whose face was not looking good, and that was the shop owner who asked for an exorbitant price.

He really didn't expect that His Majesty, for whom he had asked for an exorbitant price for cotton cloth, would actually give them to the people.

(End of this chapter)