Chapter 310: Making Li Shimin Curious About the World Beyond the Tang Dynasty

However, that being said, Li Shimin felt a sense of ease in his heart.

Even for such a small matter he thinks of him, pushing a good reputation onto him; who wouldn't like a minister like that?

"Let's go to the County Magistrate's office and find Zi An."

The carriage started moving again.

However, after a while of riding, Li Shimin learned at the County Magistrate's office that Chen Yan was not at home and had gone out to the Xianlya.

Li Shimin was not surprised by this; he chatted with his two daughters, reminded Gao Yang of a few matters, and then had Li Junxian drive a carriage to the Xianlya.

After finding Chen Yan, he said bluntly, "I have read the letter you gave me last time."

Chen Yan understood and replied, "Your Majesty, please follow me; let's go to the Mediation Office to have a look."

As they were about to board the carriage, Chen Yan originally wanted to sit outside with Li Junxian, but Li Shimin insisted that Chen Yan go into the carriage compartment.

Finally, he added, "This is not the Court; we are as if one family."

Chen Yan could not refuse, so he entered.

"Fine, look at you like that."

Li Shimin looked at his restrained demeanor and chuckled lightly, "It's just a carriage ride, isn't it?"

"Since when have you cared so much about such a thing?"

"Stop pretending; I see right through you."

Chen Yan, a bit embarrassed, said, "Your Majesty, hearing you speak like that, I am being completely honest; how could I be pretending?"

"Ah, right, right." Li Shimin replied perfunctorily, then brought up the matter of the cotton‑padded clothing.

"The cotton‑padded clothing rumored outside—does it truly have excellent cold‑resistance?"

In fact, winter has always been the season Li Shimin least wishes to endure.

Because the Tang Dynasty still has many impoverished commoners who cannot afford clothing, winter is too harsh for them.

When the weather is at its coldest, many commoners in the Tang Dynasty freeze to death.

This is not a joke; they truly freeze to death, and the numbers are considerable.

If Chen Yan's cotton‑padded clothing is indeed that effective, he wants to see whether more can be prepared so that the Tang Dynasty will no longer have people freezing to death.

"Could it possibly be fake?"

Speaking of the cotton‑padded clothing, Chen Yan said animatedly, "This is something I spent many methods on last year; after more than fifty failures I finally produced the finished product."

"Its cold‑resistance is excellent."

"An ordinary person, even if they wear only this cotton‑padded clothing and nothing else, will at most feel cold in winter but will not freeze to death."

The more he listened, the brighter Li Shimin's eyes became, "Then what is the pricing of this cotton‑padded clothing?"

"Can the most ordinary commoners afford it?"

"... uh, this." Chen Yan hesitated.

To be honest, the origin of this cotton‑padded clothing is actually comparable to that of toilet paper.

Both were forced upon Chen Yan, who had no choice but to make them.

Indeed, Chen Yan had found cotton early on and cultivated it.

But this thing, first of all, processing it is a huge hassle, and secondly, deciding what kind of clothing to make is also a trouble.

You cannot copy later‑era garments outright; you must match the style of this era.

Otherwise, stuffing cotton into a Tang‑style robe would look completely out of place and terribly ugly.

Consequently, Chen Yan later tried many methods and finally created an inner garment.

Worn as an inner layer, with normal clothing on top, it becomes much better.

But regardless of the final form, the cost of this clothing sits at least at twenty‑five wen, and that's a price he does not profit from at all.

Moreover, there is only that much cotton.

Even if his fields this year did not grow grain and were entirely planted with cotton, it could only satisfy relatives, friends, and a small portion of the commoners of Weinan County.

Wanting all Tang Dynasty commoners to wear this cotton‑infused clothing is not something that can be achieved in a short time.

"What, is the price of this clothing high?"

Li Shimin could not say he was disappointed; after all, with such good cold‑resistance, the price naturally would not be too low.

Just like brocade robes, if the raw materials weren't expensive and they weren't comfortable to wear, could they fetch such a high price?

"It's not exactly..."

Chen Yan specifically explained to Li Shimin what cotton is, and also discussed the production cost of the cotton‑padded clothing.

He then said, "To popularize it, we must have a large number of commoners grow cotton, but there are many issues, since grain is the foundation of everything."

"Ordinary commoners often cannot even eat the grain they harvest themselves, so they may not be willing to grow cotton."

"Unless..."

"Unless—bullshit!" Li Shimin glared at him, "Are you the fool or are the commoners the fools?"

"Only a fool wouldn't grow such a good thing!"

"As long as you bring out the seeds and tell everyone the cotton‑padded clothing is made from cotton, how could the commoners possibly refuse to grow it?"

"Does this thing need to be cultivated in large quantities?"

"How much land does your household have? If you plant for a year, you can satisfy the many commoners who work for you, and still have a surplus to make cotton‑padded clothing for sale; it should not greatly affect the grain harvest."

"Under the Equal-Field System, each commoner has a hundred mu of land; allocating ten mu for cotton should be feasible, right?"

"You kid, stop beating around the bush and tell me your purpose directly."

"... as expected, I couldn't hide it from Your Majesty." Chen Yan gave an embarrassed smile, first offered a flattering remark, then said, "In the 'Lin Yiguo' that Prince of Yue mentioned last time, there is a kind of rice called Champa Rice..."

He repeated the words he had previously told Gao Yang to Li Shimin.

Li Shimin's eyes lit up with a green glow as he listened.

"Do you want to send the Bannerless Cavalry to Lin Yiguo?"

He guessed Chen Yan's purpose.

"His Majesty is wise!"

Chen Yan flattered him again, earnestly saying, "His Majesty, a good army cannot avoid the baptism of the battlefield."

"But at present, you receive tributes from myriad nations as the Heavenly Khagan; where is there any war to fight?"

"If we dispatch the Bannerless Cavalry to Lin Yiguo, first we can baptize them, and second we can bring back a great many Champa Rice seeds—how delightful would that be?"

Li Shimin listened, hesitated only briefly, and then made his decision.

"Bannerless Cavalry, they're already bannerless; what else is there to say?"

"I recall that in your last letter you said there is a massive gold mountain outside waiting for us to mine, and the role of the Bannerless Cavalry is irreplaceable."

"I approve this, but it absolutely cannot be done this year; let's wait until next spring."

"I'll go see this Bannerless Cavalry first."

Last time, Chen Yan said there was a silver mine in the Japanese's tiny land, and this time he said Lin Yiguo has Champa Rice that can be harvested twice, even three times a year, making Li Shimin gradually realize that Chen Yan's words were not unfounded.

Beyond the Tang Dynasty, there are many things he has never seen but that are of great value.

They must not be abandoned.

He also gradually understood why Chen Yan was willing to take such a huge risk and asked him for the authority to raise an army.

Seeing that Li Shimin did not refuse, Chen Yan was overjoyed.

Once the first step is taken, the rest becomes far, far simpler.

He believes that when Li Shimin truly sees the good things outside, he will be even more concerned about the Bannerless Cavalry than Chen Yan himself.

Likewise, he will be more curious about what lies beyond the Tang Dynasty.

"......."