Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

Bai Sheng also led two guards to follow.

They thought they would be traveling by horse-drawn carriage.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Yuan rode away on horseback.

The group gave chase.

There is also farmland within the Tokyo Imperial Palace.

Imperial palaces from every dynasty had them.

This shows that the emperor was very concerned about agriculture.

Zhao Yuan was directing the eunuchs to tend the crops.

Seeing Wen Huanzhang arrive, he smiled and said,

"It's very fast."

"Your Majesty, where is the cotton?" Wen Huanzhang asked.

Zhao Yuan pointed to the side: "It's on the ground."

"There are two more?"

Wen Huanzhang immediately looked down.

It contained both cotton plants and the entire plant.

One of them clearly resembles a tree branch.

"Is this the kapok tree?"

Zhao Yuan shook his head: "It should be tree cotton."

Wen Huanzhang didn't quite understand: "Is kapok different from tree cotton?"

Zhao Yuan said, "I had someone consult the classics."

"I consulted many ancient books and materials,"

"Kapok has the longest history of cultivation in China,"

"Mainly in Hainan Island and the southwest region."

"I then asked officials from the southwest,"

"They say that kapok trees can grow to be more than ten or twenty meters tall."

"What about the tree cotton?" Wen Huanzhang asked.

Zhao Yuan said, "There isn't a name for 'tree cotton' yet."

"It must have been a name that was changed later."

"Kapok comes from India,"

"Also called native cotton, Chinese cotton, or Asian cotton,"

"This is probably what was widely planted during the Ming and Qing dynasties."

"It was originally a perennial shrub,"

"It can grow to two or three meters tall,"

"What's in front of you is just a section that was picked."

Wen Huanzhang became more and more confused as he listened.

"Cotton was widely cultivated during the Ming and Qing dynasties,"

"How could it be a perennial shrub?"

"I've read the materials before,"

"Top-tier cotton-growing techniques in Jiangnan during the late Ming Dynasty,"

"It involves planting cotton for three years and rice for one year,"

"It can effectively solve pest and disease problems."

Zhao Yuan guessed, "Then it can only be between the Song and Ming dynasties."

"The characteristics of perennial cotton trees have changed."

"It became an annual,"

"And the plants are shorter too."

"Could it be this kind?"

Wen Huanzhang pointed to another short and small cotton plant.

Zhao Yuan said, "This is called grass cotton."

"Also called African cotton,"

"It was introduced to Turpan from Africa."

"I had someone consult ancient texts,"

"The cotton of the African cotton plant is called white cotton,"

"The woven fabric is called 'silk cloth'."

Chapter 1763 The Creation of Heaven and Earth is Awesome!

"The cotton from Hainan kapok trees is called 'zhibei',"

"The woven fabric is called spotted cloth."

"As for tree cotton, it refers to the native Chinese cotton that was widely cultivated during the Ming and Qing dynasties,"

"No records have been found at present."

“I know about cotton; it’s recorded in the *Tiangong Kaiwu* (The Exploitation of the Works of Nature).”

"It is said that cotton can be divided into kapok and grass cotton."

Wen Huanzhang said,

"By the way, how did Your Majesty know so much?"

Zhao Yuan said, "The world's four major cotton varieties are common knowledge."

"Well....."

Wen Huanzhang was somewhat speechless after being teased, and asked again,

"What type of cotton is widely grown in 21st-century China?"

"Continental cotton comes from the Americas,"

Zhao Yuan explained simply,

"Continental cotton from the Americas,"

"And the kapok trees of Hainan Island and the southwest region,"

"Both of these are tetraploids."

"And the tree cotton that came from India,"

"African cotton,"

"Both of these are diploid."

Wen Huanzhang frowned and said, "In other words, the cotton that Zhu Yuanzhang ordered to be planted..."

"Is it still considered a perennial shrub?"

Zhao Yuan said, "It could also be somewhere in the southwest."

"They've already become first-year students,"

"It's just not widely known."

"Or perhaps from India,"

"They've already become first-year students."

"No, how can a perennial become a single-year plant?"

Wen Huanzhang found it incomprehensible.

Zhao Yuan smiled and said, "Annual and perennial plants,"

"Actually, there are no strict boundaries."

"You're using a year-old sweet potato,"

"Take it and plant it in tropical regions,"

"It may also become a perennial."

"Can it be done manually?"

"How can we quickly turn the tree cotton into an annual?" Wen Huanzhang asked.

"Can,"

Zhao Yuan said,

"In specific environments,"

"Make it bloom bigger and faster,"

"Overdrawing one's own vitality,"

"Its lifespan will become shorter."

"However, it's hard to say about its next generation,"

"I wonder how many generations of artificial breeding it would take to achieve heritability."

Wen Huanzhang pointed to African cotton,

Where is this thing?

Zhao Yuan said, "Bombax ceiba also has perennial and annual varieties."

"Turpan cotton is an annual."

"The advantage is its short growth cycle,"

"And it's drought-resistant and durable,"

"The downside is that production is extremely low,"

"The cotton fiber is also of poor quality."

"You'll see if you observe carefully,"

"The quality of the cotton from the grass-cotton plant,"

"It's nowhere near as good as the cotton trees next to it."

"But this kind of cotton has its uses,"

"It can be used for hybridization experiments."

Wen Huanzhang then asked, "The cotton trees that have grown in recent years,"

Will it bloom within a year?

"Yes, but for now,"

"The growth cycle is not short enough."

"And this thing is two or three meters tall,"

"It consumes too much nutrients and water,"

Zhao Yuandao,

"I need to nurture it further."