Chapter 151: Rumors in the Streets, Yielding the Greater Cause Once More

Cotton seeds were relatively easy to handle; the real challenge lay in de-seeding and spinning. Actually, spinning and weaving were not too difficult either—although the fibers were different, it was possible to adapt the spinning wheels and reeling machines used for hemp and silk. Besides, Li Wei was not demanding an industrial revolution. He did not know Huang Daopo’s textile machinery, but he still remembered the bow used for fluffing cotton. He had also grown cotton—well, that was about the extent of it!

Particularly for de-seeding, the Central Plains in the Tang Dynasty certainly lacked any related machinery, not even the most primitive kind. It all depended on whether Lingnan, Qocho, or other such regions had them. If not, one might even have to look into the Arab lands. Of course, going all the way to the Arab lands was unnecessary; simply inquiring with Arab merchants would suffice.

Just as he was preparing to get things underway, various rumors suddenly began to circulate among the common folk.

How the investigation was being handled remained unclear, but the stories were told with supernatural flair: He Guangzhen searching the Xu family estate five times, Guan Fuxing galloping eight hundred miles through the night, and so on—it was a wonder they didn't throw in a tale of five mice wreaking havoc in Tokyo. These rumors were not frightening in themselves; every dynasty had them, and they often ended up completely distorted. What truly alarmed Li Wei was the most terrifying rumor of all. Some imaginative commoners went so far as to claim that the Empress, having seized supreme power and bewitched the Emperor, saw how brilliant and capable the Crown Prince was, and had therefore instigated Xu Jingzong to assassinate him. The true mastermind behind the scenes was Wu Zetian!

There were other potential culprits too, such as Ming Chongyan and Xu Yanbo, who were currently in Luoyang and had not yet been put on trial. But Li Wei figured that amidst this turbulent climate, they would not dare to be as bold as Xu Jingzong. Ming Chongyan was probably hunkered down in Shenzhou, shaking in his boots. As for Xu Yanbo, with his grandfather dead, he could only spend his days in dread and panic. As for the senior officials who were dissatisfied with Wu Zetian, they were seasoned and prudent veterans who would never stoop to such acts. Therefore, these rumors likely stemmed from spontaneous discussions among the common folk. After all, this was a man's world; seeing Wu Zetian assist Emperor Gaozong in state affairs left some ordinary people unable to accept it, particularly certain staunch Neo-Confucian scholars who felt deep revulsion.

With Xu Jingzong's downfall, his mother had undoubtedly lost a crucial pillar of support. Coupled with natural disasters, the unruly behavior of maternal relatives like Helan Minzhi, and even the trouble caused by his "father-in-law" Yang Sijian—especially the heinous crime committed by Xu Jingzong, who happened to be her favored minister—and now these vicious rumors...

Upon hearing this, Li Wei's face turned pale.

The common people might have meant well, but such well-intentioned talk was placing him right back on the roasting spit.

Not only him, but Bi'er, who was young and innocent, had her face drained of color with fear. Attendant Jin remarked, "These commoners wagging their tongues so recklessly are truly detestable."

Detestable? Not necessarily. The commoners were simply showing goodwill and sympathy toward him. After pondering the matter, he decided to stop fretting and instead present his mother with another grand contribution to the greater good.

He called Wei Yuanzhong and the others over and gave them strict instructions. Since this was to be offered to his mother, not a single word must be leaked to the outside world. Even the farmers at the agricultural estate must be kept quiet—though a little intimidation would ensure they kept their mouths shut.

"This... cotton..." Zhu Jingze asked hesitatingly, "holds such great significance?"

Could it possibly surpass bamboo paper?

"Wait and see," Li Wei replied. It was a pity he lacked deep knowledge of textiles, but the yield of cotton far exceeded that of mulberry and hemp. To name just one benefit: with cotton-padded coats, once people put them on to stay warm in winter, Liaodong and the northern regions would no longer be places of bitter cold. That would spare them decades of warfare, countless sacrificed soldiers, and the loss of those territories to the Mohe and Silla peoples. Furthermore, due to the bitter winters and a lack of proper bedding, countless commoners froze to death every year—especially during the severe cold and heavy snows of the previous winter. For instance, when his grandfather finished his campaign in Liaodong and returned late, countless soldiers froze to death along the way, causing Emperor Taizong to weep bitterly. What if they had cotton clothing?

Besides, his own daily life would become much more comfortable. But come what may, he would just have to tough out this coming winter.

Zhu Jingze still remained skeptical. However, since the Crown Prince had given orders not to leak the information, he would obey.

Afterward, Li Wei requested an audience with his mother, only to be denied entry!

She must have heard the rumors as well; otherwise, even though she was angry with him for cutting off their ties over the "early lotus" incident, she would not have refused to see him. Yet public gossip was rampant and impossible to stem. In the few months since he had arrived in the Tang Dynasty, he had noticed that the common people did not hold very high opinions of his mother. Li Wei estimated that his mother's later tyrannical reputation was largely related to this public sentiment. Relatives worked against her, ministers worked against her, the imperial clan resented her, and the common people bore her no goodwill—despite the vast amount of work she actually accomplished. One could easily imagine the bitterness in her heart.

This time, he was bringing her a merit, so Li Wei was not afraid. Since his mother refused to see him, he had her chief eunuch, Li Shoucheng, summoned.

"Greetings, Your Highness," Li Shoucheng said upon arrival, offering a bow, though his expression was far from warm.

Li Wei was in no rush. He instructed Attendant Jin to bring out five gold ingots, weighing a total of over eighty liang—a very generous gift. "Eunuch Li, you serve the Empress with all your heart and soul, and I am deeply grateful. Please accept these modest tokens of appreciation."

"Your Highness, what is the meaning of this?!" Li Shoucheng suddenly grew angry and said, "Although this humble servant is only an eunuch, I would never commit an act of betrayal against my master. Please maintain your self-respect, Your Highness."

"Yet I have a matter that requires an immediate audience with the Empress."

"Your Highness, it is not my place to lecture you, and perhaps your actions are unintentional or stem from filial piety, but have you ever considered the two Sovereigns in what you do?" As Wu Zetian's closest veteran eunuch who also held important inner court official posts, he saw no need to be overly polite when speaking to Li Wei.

"Eunuch Li, I deeply admire your loyalty. But such accusations are unjust. Where have I done wrong? It is true that I struck back against Helan Minzhi and Xu Jingzong. Yet they are mere subjects who repeatedly sought my life! I am, after all, the Crown Prince. While my father and mother share supreme power and I harbor no complaints about that, am I simply to let myself be slaughtered by petty villains? Must I have avoided fleeing on Mount Zhongnan and allowed Xu Jingzong's men to riddle me with arrows just to fulfill my duty of filial piety as a son?"

When it came to arguing, Li Shoucheng fell far short.

It took him a long time to think of a retort before he finally said, "Still, such major matters should ultimately be reported to the two Sovereigns, rather than... launching sudden, unannounced strikes."

Report them? Li Wei smiled and said nothing more. Once reported, there was no telling how things would be handled; after a flurry of political calculations and self-interest, they might simply issue a mild warning to Xu Jingzong and sweep the whole affair under the rug, just like Ming Chongyan, allowing him to remain at large in Shenzhou.

Pausing for a moment, he continued, "Right and wrong aside, I called you here today because of a matter—much like the bamboo paper—that I wish to present to the Empress. It is a contribution of great magnitude, meant as my atonement to her. If you refuse to pass this message along, I will have no choice but to submit it directly to the imperial court."

"What is it?" Li Shoucheng remained fiercely loyal to Wu Zetian, a trait Wang Cainian had repeatedly warned Li Wei to watch out for. That was why heavy bribes had failed to sway him. Upon hearing this, Li Shoucheng immediately dropped the unpleasant topic and asked.

Li Wei produced a few feet of coarse cotton cloth and said, "It is this, but it is not limited to this alone."

He mentally calculated the yield: in future generations, an mu of cotton fields could yield two to three hundred jin—or even three to four hundred jin—of ginned cotton, though that depended on seeds, chemical fertilizers, and various other factors. Being conservative, he stated, "With proper cultivation methods, a single mu can yield over two hundred jin of pure fabric."

That would translate to just over a hundred jin in modern terms, which was still remarkably impressive. How much raw silk could one harvest from an mu of mulberry trees? Or how much hemp from an mu of hemp? This was not measured in rolls of fabric, but weighed in jin.

"Really?"

"With the Empress's immense prestige backing this, I would not dare utter half a falsehood." Of course, this required strict adherence to row-and-plant spacing, nurturing seedlings in nutrient pots, pinching off the terminal buds, and other scientific farming techniques. Qocho and Lingnan already grew cotton, but cultivation was not widespread, largely due to low yields where an mu might produce only twenty or thirty jin of ginned cotton, offering little profit. Compounded by the immense labor of de-seeding and spinning, it never caught on. If an mu could truly yield one to two hundred jin of ginned cotton, it would have been popularized long ago in the Tang Dynasty, without needing to wait for the Ming Dynasty. It was likely that cotton yields remained low even during the Ming Dynasty, and it only gradually replaced mulberry and hemp because the textile industry had advanced enough to reduce production costs.

As he spoke, Li Wei explained the planting methods in detail, sharing everything he knew as well as addressing potential questions and doubts. Li Shoucheng hastily said, "Wait a moment, let this humble servant write it down."

After finishing his notes, Li Shoucheng asked, "Where did Your Highness learn such methods?"

They certainly were not in the *Qimin Yaoshu* (*Important Arts for the People's Welfare*). Li Wei fabricated an explanation: "Cotton comes from overseas; it was passed down from a very distant foreign land. Because of the vast distance, the technology never spread to the Central Plains, and not even the Arab lands have acquired it. I have only heard fragments of it, but I have no idea how the machinery is constructed. In fact, because that country is so far away, I do not even know the route to get there. I can only ask the Empress to send people to Qocho and Lingnan to see if any such machinery exists."

"Alas, there are truly all sorts of rumors floating around among the common folk, yet only Your Highness cares enough about state affairs to remember this."

"..."

"However, Your Highness's filial devotion brings me far more joy than these gold ingots, or even a mountain of gold and silver."

"Eunuch Li's loyalty fills me with profound awe." He truly meant *profound awe*.

A few days later, Li Shoucheng came back and reported, "The Empress has already dispatched men, Your Highness. There won't be any mistake, will there?"

"As I said, rest assured."

"Well... does anyone else know about this?"

"Only a few trusted people, but I have strictly forbidden them from mentioning it to outsiders." Li Shoucheng understood—the Empress wanted to keep the benefits entirely to herself.

Likely discerning Li Wei's thoughts, Li Shoucheng said, "Your Highness, it is not that the Empress wishes to be exclusive. Look at the difficult position she is in—a situation largely brought about by your own actions. Do you have any idea how much the Empress has done for this court and this country? Over the years, the public's attitude toward the Empress has been profoundly unfair."

Society might be unfair to his mother, but his mother could not be unfair to her own son! Though he dared not say it aloud, Li Wei thought to himself: *Eunuch Li, when it comes to handling state affairs, my abilities do not measure up to a ten-thousandth of my mother's. However, as my father once said, acquiring unorthodox knowledge—like this cotton—is one thing; in the future, I may be able to secure even greater contributions for her.*

The rumors were growing increasingly fierce, and he needed to give his mother peace of mind while showing her goodwill.

Alas, whom was he to blame? It seemed Li Shoucheng had a point—could he really blame anyone but himself?

"Your Highness having this intent is ultimately a good thing."

"Then can you allow me an audience with my mother?" A word from this veteran eunuch carried more weight than ten words from Li Wei himself. It would be best if he could see her face-to-face, plead a little, and act spoiled. It wasn't shameless; what was wrong with acting spoiled before one's mother? The results would be even better.

"Ah, Your Highness, although your intentions are good, the Empress has been nursing her anger these past few days and is still in a towering rage. You had best not disturb her. Besides, the Empress did send people to make inquiries; this cotton does indeed exist, but its yield falls far short of what Your Highness claimed. However, the cultivation methods differ very little from what you described. I know not where you heard of them. Still, as long as it proves effective and your heart is in the right place, the Empress will eventually be pleased."

Not only did she want to monopolize it, but she was also adopting a wait-and-see attitude. Yet waiting for the results would take at least until the autumn of next year... Did this mean the stalemate would drag on indefinitely?

In truth, the reason Li Shoucheng came to the Eastern Palace and listened patiently to Li Wei was that he believed the Crown Prince harbored no malicious intent of self-preservation. Instead, he always suspected that the Crown Prince’s intentions toward his mother were not of *that* malicious sort, but rather of *another* kind entirely. He wanted to speak of it, but found no way to broach the subject. Pausing for a moment, he added, "Moreover, Your Highness, it is not my place to criticize, but you run hot and cold so unpredictably that even the Empress can no longer see through you."

His mother—brilliant, capable, and possessing unmatched political acumen—could not see through him? Was that a compliment, or a dig?