The Ming Dynasty government has always adopted a proactive and supportive attitude towards the production of coal, because the supply of coal is not only related to economic development, but can even rise to the level of maintaining social stability.
Chinese folk have traditionally used firewood or straw as fuel. If it is only needed to maintain family cooking, the straw produced in the fields, plus a small amount of firewood, is enough. With the economic development
Development, brick burning, iron smelting, brewing, porcelain making and other industries all require the use of large amounts of fuel, which has caused a crisis in fuel supply. The price of firewood continues to rise, directly affecting the living costs of residents.
In addition, due to the large-scale cutting of firewood, vegetation destruction and soil erosion have occurred in many places. Green hills in some places have turned into bare barren hills in just a few decades, and the ecological environment has deteriorated sharply.
Under this circumstance, everyone from the emperor to local officials at all levels began to pay attention to the use of fossil fuels, and strengthened coal exploration and mining through a combination of government-run and private-run methods.
For example, during the Jiajing period, a county governor named Wansu of Mahu Prefecture in Sichuan suffered from the pain of "a country with thousands of houses and a heavy burden, and the salary in the south would be unsustainable... the people were sick", so he organized people to treat the disease in the house.
A large-scale coal survey was carried out within the area. In March of the fourth year of Jiajing, the surveyors finally found coal deposits in a place called Xintan River. Wansu was so happy that he went to inspect it in person and placed offerings to commemorate the coal.
God, then large-scale mining began.
At that time, the people of Mahu Prefecture were not used to using coal as fuel, so Wansu specially set up coal stoves outside the east and west gates of the government office and sent special personnel to demonstrate how to use the coal stoves to the people. "It is a coal fire."
There are thousands of people, and there is no longer the problem of hard wages.”
Fengcheng is a traditional coal-producing county under the rule of Nanchang Prefecture. The history of coal mining can be traced back to the Song Dynasty. In the notes of Xie Weixin, a Song Dynasty man, it was recorded: "Fengcheng and Pingxiang counties on Jiangxi Road both produce coal in the mountains.
During the period, the soil dug was black and combustible, and there was fire but no flame..." By the Ming Dynasty, Fengcheng County already had dozens of coal mines, but due to the limitations of exploration technology, the output of these coal mines was still very limited.
Ancient people's knowledge of coal exploration mainly came from practice. Professionals responsible for exploring coal deposits are called "coal engineers". Their methods of finding coal include observing stone layers, checking for seedlings, and identifying soil colors.
, The third is to look at the vegetation.
For example, people at that time already knew that "everyone with veins of charcoal regards their mountains and rocks. If they count stones, it will be OK, but if they are bluestone or sandstone, it will not." Among them, "counting stones" refers to shale, "bluestone" refers to limestone, and "sandstone"
It is sandstone. It can be seen from this sentence that the coal engineers at that time already had some understanding of the properties and depositional rules of the surrounding rock of the coal seam.
However, these coal exploration technologies based on experience seemed too superficial in Su Hao's eyes. Precisely because the coal exploration technologies at that time were limited, although Fengcheng's coal mining industry has continued uninterrupted, its development has been slow.
It is very slow. The annual coal output is only enough for some large households in the city to heat their homes in winter. Occasionally, some burnt lime is purchased, and iron smelting workshops purchase some. Due to the low output, the price of coal remains high, which affects its use.
range.
Su Hao had already learned about these situations when he went to the countryside, and he was keenly aware that this was an opportunity for him. If he could find one or two large coal fields and increase coal production, not only would he be able to get huge returns from it
, the entire Fengcheng County, and even the people of Nanchang Prefecture and Jiangxi Chief Envoy will benefit from this.
When Su Hao does something, he always considers its significance to the country and the people. This is also a habit he developed as a national expert in his previous life. But Dai Qi, Chen Guanyu and others do not have such big ideals.
What they see is the value of this thing to themselves. A large coal kiln with an annual output of 10 million jins of coal, after deducting mining taxes, labor wages, material losses and the expenses of various officials, can ultimately save at least a few thousand taels of silver.
profit. Regardless of whether I get half or 10% of the dividend, it is still several hundred taels.
According to the regulations of the central government of the Ming Dynasty, a scribe like Dai Qi in the seventh-grade yamen received a monthly salary of one stone meter, of which he could only withdraw 3 dou, and the remaining part had to be converted into treasure banknotes, and the treasure banknotes had already depreciated to
It went into the Mariana Trench, and it was not even enough to use as toilet paper. Government offices in various places knew that this amount of money was not enough to support their subordinates, so they would try to find ways to increase their salaries. Even so, Dai Qi's salary in a year was
Thirty to forty taels of silver, if we hadn't been able to get some kickbacks from the project, the whole family would have gone to the northwest.
Now, Su Hao's idea has given him hundreds of taels of extra income a year, and this kind of income will not decrease in the foreseeable future. Where can such a good thing be found in the world?
Money and silk moved people's hearts. After the meeting, Chen Guanyu and Dai Qi started to act as feverishly as if they had been given blood. One went to search for coal mining craftsmen, and the other went to apply for the licenses needed to open a coal mine. Lu Xiuer and
Su Xiaohu and Su Xiaohu had no experience in these areas, so they could only run errands for Chen Guanyu, but they were also pushed around. Lu Xiuer finally no longer cared about her business of selling tea eggs.
After full exchanges with Su Hao, Dai Qi wrote a report on applying for a coal kiln. In terms of expected output, he doubled Su Hao's plan and claimed that the annual output would be about 5 million kilograms.
.Writing it this way is to avoid the possibility that Su Hao's prediction is wrong and so much coal cannot actually be mined. Secondly, it can effectively avoid mining taxes.
The mining tax standard is calculated based on the production scale of the coal kiln. As for the actual output, the official supervisors can only make a simple estimate, and it is impossible to see it so accurately. What's more, when the supervisors come, Dai
Qi naturally has a big red envelope to give, and even if 10 million kilograms of coal is piled under the nose of the supervisor, he will turn a blind eye.
After the report was written, Su Hao and Dai Qi came to the county government office together and asked to see Han Wen, the county magistrate. Han Wen met with them in the third hall of the county government office. Master Fang Mengjin did not attend the meeting out of consideration of avoiding suspicion.
"Mr. Han, this is a submission drafted by the students. It is about matters related to coal mining. Please take a look at it." Su Hao handed the report to Han Wen and said.
Han Wen had long heard Su Hao talk about coal mining, so he was not surprised. However, when he read the submission, he was still a little shocked: "In other words, you are really sure to find a company with an annual output of 500 yuan."
A large vein of ten thousand kilograms of coal?”
Su Hao said: "The student also knows a little about the art of coal exploration, which is actually the same as the art of well exploration. This time the student went to the countryside and visited five or six villages. He also observed the trend of underground mineral veins.
According to my speculation, there may be a large coal deposit in the Xuanfeng Township area in Hexi Province. If it can be accurately located, an annual output of 5 million kilograms will not be a problem."
"Five million kilograms of coal, based on the current price of 2 yuan per 100 kilograms, is worth 10,000 taels of silver. This is a huge business." Han Wen clicked his lips and said meaningfully.
Su Hao said: "Mr. Han, the student's idea is that if the production of coal can be increased, the price of coal should be lowered. If the price of coal is as low as 1 yuan per 100 kilograms, then most people can afford it.
.Students have been in the countryside for a long time and know the suffering of farmers with insufficient firewood, so they do this in the hope of benefiting the people there."
"It makes sense." Han Wen nodded and said, "When I went to Nanchang Mansion to discuss matters, Fan Fuzun also talked about the heavy supply of firewood for the people many times, and also urged me to find more people to explore for coal and increase the amount of coal.
The county government has also arranged for coal engineers to explore for coal before, but the harvest was very small. If the result of the reform can lead to the exploration of large coal deposits, it will be a great thing that will bring fame and fortune."
"So, Mr. Han supports me in exploring and mining coal?" Su Hao asked.
Han Wen said: "This is natural, such a good thing, how can this county stop it?"
Su Hao said: "Sir, this coal mining is quite risky. If you are not careful, the initial investment may be wasted. Therefore, the students did not dare to do this in the name of the workshop, but set up a trading firm.
In this way, if the coal mining fails, I will only pay some money personally and will not cause the county government to suffer losses. I would like to ask you to take this into account as a student."
Han Wen stroked his beard and praised: "Kaizhi is indeed selfless. He can think of the county government at all times. He is really a model for officials. Dai Shuli, you should learn more from Gai in the future."
Dai Qi nodded repeatedly, then said: "Master Han, the initial expenses required to open the mine were raised by Master Su and his subordinates by mortgaging their ancestral property. There are still some gaps. Master Su means that he wants to find some
Do you think it’s feasible for merchants to take shares and share the risks?”
"How big of a gap is there?" Han Wen asked.
"Uh... there's still 50 taels left." Dai Qi said, "Master Su wants to use 10% of the dividend to recruit people to buy shares."
Korean is also a veteran. Dai Qi could not understand what the other party meant when he spoke to this extent. He pretended to be embarrassed, thought for a while, and then said resolutely: "Coal mining."
, there is no clue yet, and it is not appropriate for the merchant family to take this risk. Let’s do this. The county will let the inner government save some money and squeeze out 50 taels of silver to help you. As for the shares, now
There is no need to mention it. If the coal kiln is successfully opened in the future, it will be enough to return the capital to the county."
"Thank you, Mr. Han." Su Hao and Dai Qi both stood up and saluted Han Wen to thank him. Han Wen said that he didn't want any shares and just wanted to recover his capital. Everyone just listened to this casually. Su Hao and Dai Qi asked Han Wen to come out.
The purpose of the 50 taels of silver is to be able to send money to Han Wen openly and openly in the name of dividends in the future. This kind of unspoken rule in officialdom is tacitly understood by everyone.