Chapter 30: The Great Fire Rages
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For cotton, Wang Qifang is not unfamiliar. In her previous life, she had a university classmate who grew up in Xinjiang from an early age, and the parents of that classmate contracted a large piece of land to plant cotton. She remembered that at that time, her classmate mentioned her painful experience of picking cotton under the scorching sun, and she listened with relish, specially asking to see the photos taken by her classmate.
The white clouds in front of me are clean and tidy, with each one bursting open to form small white flowers with five petals, just like the cotton fields planted by my classmates. Oh, no, they should be said to be even whiter, and the flowers are more expansive, gently swaying in the breeze on the branches.
"Haha, this world is indeed a crazy world. Even cotton, which was only widely planted in the Yuan Dynasty, has been brought out so early," Wang Qifang walked happily into the cotton field, gently plucked a blossom, and carefully pinched it with her thumb and index finger, savoring the long-forgotten softness and flexibility. "Although brocade is beautiful and noble, when worn close to the skin, pure cotton is still more comfortable. Hmm, great! Finally, I'll have cotton underwear to wear in the future..."
If it weren't for her physical condition, Wang Qifang really wanted to dive into the cotton pile and have intimate contact with the lovely cotton balls. What's even more exciting is the value of cotton - these small white dots in front of her are not flowers at all, but rather shiny gold ingots.
That's right, the value of cotton is far higher than gold and silver. Unlike glass which also originated from butterflies, although cotton was brought back by a predecessor who crossed over to Gaochang, it did not spread for long.
At that time, the suspected predecessor who crossed over was also a businessman, but not a Confucian merchant certified by the Confucian Merchant Association. He somehow got the information and said that there were cotton flowers in the distant country of Khotan, and he took the opportunity to bring back a large batch of cotton seeds with his own business team going to the Western Regions. After bringing back the seeds, the businessman bought a large piece of land, hired dozens of farming households, and used them for large-scale cultivation and promotion of cotton flowers.
Soon after, a large quantity of high-quality cotton fabric with beautiful prints was produced, which was once famous. It also made this ornamental flower in the Kingdom of Khotan become a money tree, bringing unimaginable wealth to that merchant.
The wealth that came rolling in finally caught the attention of the nobles and high-ranking officials of the Zhou Dynasty, and people from all walks of life were blinded by the cotton flowers that brought in a fortune. They all went to find that merchant to discuss "cooperation". But it was clear that they just wanted to bully him into sharing his profits. Under the pressure of huge interests, the merchant flatly refused, and soon he became Shen Wan San of the Zhou Dynasty.
What's even more regrettable is that his ending was not as good as Shen Wansan's. Although the Shen Wansan of the Ming Dynasty lost a fortune, at least he kept his life. But what about the Shen Wansan of Da Zhou? Not only were his family properties confiscated and his cotton plantation seized, but even the lives of his whole family were lost.
Later, the cotton plantation changed hands. Just as the cotton was about to be harvested, a mysterious fire broke out, burning hundreds of acres of cotton to ashes. The last jar of seeds also disappeared without a trace, making that year's cotton more precious than gold and extremely scarce.
At the same time, Dazhou and Gaochang also became enemy countries, with constant friction between them, sometimes even small-scale armed conflicts. The border was unstable, and trade routes were cut off, making it almost impossible to go to Gaochang to get cotton, as it would be risking one's life. Therefore, afterwards in Dazhou, only some privileged classes could secretly transport back a small amount of cotton seeds during the war, and the price was also extremely expensive.
As a result, the cotton and cloth that were previously in stock became hot commodities, and it was simply priceless. If you didn't have enough status and family background, you couldn't even buy them with silver.
As a result, since then, cotton cloth and cotton products have become symbols of status. If a family had a piece of cotton cloth or a fine cotton garment, it was absolutely a noble family, at least having an inseparable relationship with the nobility.
As she thought of the lingering impression in her memory, Wang Qifang's excited mood suddenly came down. Alas, how could she have forgotten? If cotton was as precious as Nainai's story, with her current identity and situation, it would be impossible to keep the cotton plantation. Moreover, if one day she left the Zhao family, cotton might turn from a money tree into an ominous sign, and she would end up on the same path as that predecessor.
"Can't just watch as Jin Yuanbao flies away right before our eyes?"
Wang Qifang sat dejectedly on the ridge, gazing blankly at the swaying white flowers around her. Was it life or money? The answer was of course the former.
Without a doubt, Wang Qifang let out a soft sigh. Her future was uncertain, so it's better to be cautious. However, she couldn't make a fortune with cotton, but at least she could improve her and her child's life. Thinking of the soft, absorbent cotton cloth, her lost mood was temporarily alleviated.
Alright, I'll just buy a villa and hide out to rest my body for now. After seven months, when she safely gives birth to the baby and makes her final decision, we can make plans then.
Thinking of this, Wang Qifang's painful feeling that money can't be earned was alleviated a lot. She raised her eyes to look at the sun and found that it was not early anymore. It is estimated that Zhao Ayi will also come back soon. So she patted her buttocks and got up, took half a bucket of spring water in her hand and went back to the small courtyard outside.
In the courtyard, Wang Qifang sat on a stone bench under the tree, poured a pot of boiling water tea, and held a small stone on the stone table to plan: Well, at the current market price, buying a 50-acre estate should not exceed two hundred taels. Well, plus two maidservants, two strong men, right, and several strong and healthy guards, two or four? Well, four are safer, buying eight servants should not exceed eighty taels?!
Wang Qifang muttered to herself, her hands gesturing left and right, the stone table in front of her covered with shallow scratches.
At this time, several cries for help came from afar in the courtyard:
"Oh no! The water is overflowing!"
"Everyone be careful, the wildfire is spreading to our place!"
"It's flooding! It's flooding! Everyone run quickly!"
Is it walking water? Walking water is losing fire!
Heaven, where's the fire? Wang Qifang hastily got up, stepped on a stone bench and climbed onto the table, tiptoeing towards the source of the sound. Not far away in mid-air, rolling black smoke was torn apart by the wind, but the burnt smell wafted over from afar.
"Fortunately, it's not Qingyuan Villa on fire!"
Wang Qifang put her right hand on her eyebrow, gazed into the distance for a while, and saw that the fire was far away from her own courtyard. Only then did she feel at ease and get down from the table to sit back on the stone bench.
"Wait, Aunt Zhao said she wanted to find a young man with the surname Chen, seemingly in some Chenjiazhuang or Chenjiacun, saying it's not far from Qingyuan Manor. Uh, shouldn't be that burning manor, right?!"
PS: Wow, finally on the list! Thanks to Tian Shi~ The gifts from Yīn Jiē and Wú Tóng Zhī Yǔ 2010 are appreciated. That certain Sa wants to linger on the new book list for two more days, so please continue to support, okay?!
