It was not winter yet. Although it was already chilly, it was only necessary to add a layer of clothes. The fire wall and the bed were all on fire, and the temperature was almost thirty degrees. After a while, Li Shimin's face
Beads of sweat appeared on my face.
Unable to stay in the house any longer, the two of them went outside and found a cool, windless place to relieve their sweat.
Li Shimin said: "Aiqing's invention is indeed beneficial to the country and the people. I want to promote it to the world, but I still have doubts in my heart."
Li Mu could probably guess it, but he didn't say that the boss wanted to speak. Wouldn't he be a fool if he didn't let the boss speak now to show that he was smart?
"No one paid attention to coal and stone in the past, and the amount was not very large, so it gave people the impression that it was readily available. But if people all over the world use coal and stone to heat their homes, the consumption must be huge. Can this coal be used for a long time?"
Li Mu smiled and said: "Your Majesty, I have already conducted an investigation. The coal and stone in our country in the Tang Dynasty are inexhaustible."
"really?"
"really."
Li Mu dared to say this, and it was not without basis. Of course he knew that coal was a non-renewable resource, so use less. But the premise is how many people use it. In later generations, 900 million people in the north will be heated every year. It has taken more than 70 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Ming's coal reserves are still enough to be used for more than a hundred years. You must know that this includes heating, power generation, and industry, and the annual consumption is nearly three billion tons.
We can make a rough estimate, remove the ones that are difficult to mine, remove the ones with too many impurities, remove all the miscellaneous ones, and only count the kind of open-pit coal mines that are "everywhere" as Lu Wenfeng, the doctor of the Ministry of Yu, said, how many are there? At least.
It must be a quarter! You must know that two of the world's top ten open-pit coal mines are in China. The coal currently used by Datang is negligible and is in an unmined state, with a stock of at least 100 billion tons.
And how many people are there in the Tang Dynasty? Li Mu asked Lu Wenfeng. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, there was great chaos, soldiers were everywhere, and the population dropped sharply. In the first year of Zhenguan, the imperial court conducted a statistics and found that the country's population was less than two million households. Even though
Even considering the low-income population, the number of hidden black households does not exceed 2.5 million.
How many people are there? It's only 12 million people. If you include people with low status and black backgrounds, it can't exceed 15 million people.
This small number of people is not as much as the total population of a municipality in later generations. Even if it is opened up, no money is needed, and coal is used every day, how much can be used?
Li Mu was too lazy to calculate, but at least, while he was alive, he would not see the day when the open-pit coal would be used up. Maybe the day when the Tang Dynasty fell, the open-pit coal would not be used up.
In this case, what's wrong with bragging? There's no way to verify it anyway.
Li Shimin still trusted Li Mu's judgment on these matters. He rubbed his hands, feeling a little excited.
There are fights and fights all over the world. What are we fighting for? What are we fighting for?
To put it bluntly, they are human beings!
Why do aristocratic families have such great influence? Because they have more people and influence more people. Who can decide whether an emperor is foolish or wise? It is still a human being. If people say you are foolish, you will be foolish; if they say you are wise, you will be wise.
Those who have attained the Dao will receive much help, while those who have lost the Dao will receive little help. Where does the help come from? Isn’t it just a human being?
Li Shimin could already imagine that as soon as the coal was produced, tens of thousands of people were saved from freezing. In the coming spring, he would definitely be praised by all the people. Wouldn't this be the beginning of a prosperous age?
The more Li Shimin thought about it, the more excited he became. He clapped his hands and said, "I have decided to let Datang Daily print another issue and distribute it to various places. Forget about the iron furnace, I will spread the construction methods of the fire wall and the Kang to the whole world, and then order
The county and county governments must not prevent the people from mining coal and stone, and they must prevent the people from freezing. It will snow in more than a month, so we must implement it quickly, otherwise my people will suffer from the cold for another year.
, I can’t bear it in my heart!”
Li Mu glanced at Li Shimin with a sideways glance, thinking that you are really generous. But then he thought about it, and Li Mu knew what the problem was. In order to deceive Li Shimin, he said coal was too cheap. Since it was something easily available, of course he wouldn't.
Will care.
Li Mu quickly said: "Your Majesty, no!"
Li Shimin frowned and said: "I love my people like my own sons, why not? Or are you reluctant to part with your secret method and not want to spread it to the world?"
Li Mu sighed and said: "Your Majesty, you have misunderstood me. Your Majesty has seen everything I did after I arrived in Chang'an. When did I care about money and when did I care about secrets? I invented it.
Everything should be dedicated to His Majesty immediately and used for the people. Except for a small part of the money I earn, it is used for my family, and the rest is also spent on official business. I am not allowed to spend more than 20,000 to 30,000 yuan in any month.
, These are all based on real accounts. Your Majesty misses me so much, and I feel really sad..."
As he spoke, Li Mu raised his sleeves and hid his face to cry. Li Shimin had just played the role of a wise king, so he naturally had to accompany him to play a wise minister, otherwise the play would not be enough to compete with him.
Although Li Shimin saw traces of Li Mu's performance, after careful consideration, Li Mu was really right. Li Shimin saw what he did, and Yuan Tiangang occasionally mentioned a few words recently. He really couldn't fault it.
Something went wrong. Li Shimin patted him on the shoulder and said: "How can I not know my love for you? I made a mistake in a moment of urgency. Don't worry about it. Let's get down to business quickly. Why don't you agree with me?"
Li Mu understood the truth of the matter and said: "Your Majesty, you don't know enough about coal and stone. What I just said is that it can be found everywhere, but it does not mean that it can be found everywhere. For example, in Chang'an City, have you seen where coal is produced?"
"According to my knowledge, the nearest coal-producing place near Chang'an is Tongchuan County, a hundred miles away. The coal used in Chang'an today is shipped from there. And the world is so big, this coal is also
It is not available everywhere. A few days ago, I, together with Lu Wenfeng, a doctor in the Ministry of Yu, found that coal is distributed in Hedong, Shaanxi, Jingdong, Jingxi, Taiyuan and other places.
, just like minerals such as copper and iron, they are not available everywhere.”
The places Li Mu mentioned are all the locations of open-pit coal mines that Lu Wenfeng found according to his instructions. Today's mining technology cannot be used to mine open-pit coal mines. Li Mu has no idea of those coal mines. As a society,
The successors of socialism still have the heart to leave some resources for future generations.
Li Shimin really didn't understand this situation, so he couldn't help frowning and said: "Then according to what you said, it is difficult to promote this coal and stone in the world?"
"It's not impossible, but it's a bit more troublesome." Li Mu considered his words and said, "Your Majesty, although it's troublesome, the profits are quite considerable."
"Profit?" Li Shimin became interested. Although the treasury's surplus has improved in the past two years, his internal funds are still empty. Otherwise, he would not be able to risk his skin to beg members of the racecourse. I heard that there is money available.
Li Shimin immediately became energetic like a cat that smelled fishy smell.
"Your Majesty, I checked the code and found that except for the salt and iron franchise, the Tang Dynasty has no laws on the mining of various minerals. I wonder if what I said is true?"
Li Shimin nodded and said: "There is indeed no official office in the DPRK that is responsible for mining. Most of the minerals are produced in cooperation with local people and the government collects taxes. This has been the case in all dynasties. What's wrong?"
"Your Majesty, this is very wrong." Li Mu said solemnly: "In my opinion, minerals are the lifeblood of the country. For example, copper can be used to make money. Even if it is not used to make money, it still has value in itself. Gold and silver
Needless to say, although the court now collects taxes, it cannot control the amount of minerals mined. The taxes collected are probably not enough. In this case, doesn't it mean that the country's minerals are delegated to private individuals and are left to their own devices?
Is it under local control? To put it bluntly, doesn’t it mean it’s been handed over to the hands of local powerful families?!”
"This..." Li Shimin hesitated and frowned more and more. Li Mu was right. Today's mineral deposits, except for salt and iron, are all in the hands of local powerful families. But this has been the case in all dynasties.
Is it possible to change this?
Li Mu rolled his eyes and said: "Your Majesty, have you heard of the saying that the mountains are high and the emperor is far away?"
Li Shimin said angrily: "What do you mean!"
"Suppose there is a copper mine in eastern Guizhou at this time, and 200 kilograms of copper are mined, but the local government conceals it and divides it privately. Can Your Majesty know about it?"
"This..." Li Shimin couldn't answer. Of course he couldn't know. But thinking about it, two hundred kilograms of copper were secretly divided in this way, and nominally, it belonged to him all over the world. Suddenly, he felt that his own money was being used.
It feels like someone has stolen it.
Li Shimin took a deep breath and said: "Don't say whether these are available or not, just tell me what you think."
Li Mu stopped trying to be pretentious and said straightforwardly: "Then there is coal, which was not a mineral originally, but now that there are new ways of using it, it has become a mineral. Your Majesty, do you think Taiyuan Shuozhou is known as the best coal in the world?"
It is a place with the largest amount of coal and stone. If the locals knew the use of coal and stone, wouldn't it mean that they would become rich overnight without having to do anything?"
Li Mu paused and added a heartbreaking sentence: "Your Majesty, this is all your money."
"Yes! All the royal lands in the four seas should belong to me!" Li Shimin glanced at Li Mu and said, "Any good ideas? Tell me quickly!"
"I believe that your Majesty should promulgate the Mineral Resources Law of the Tang Dynasty. It stipulates that all mineral resources, such as iron, copper, gold, silver, etc., shall be owned by the imperial court."
Li Shimin frowned and said: "Is this move too competitive with the people? After all, it has been this way for thousands of years..."
"Your Majesty, what have happened for thousands of years have anything to do with the present? Does your Majesty just want to be an emperor who follows the rules? Isn't it for the sake of innovation that your Majesty appoints ministers to reform the Ministry of Industry?"
"Innovation..." Li Shimin pondered for a while, but did not express his position easily, but said: "You continue to talk."
"First promulgate a code and take the minerals back into state ownership. Then set up a special department to manage the world's mineral resources. At the same time, there is no need to change the status quo in a hurry. We still cooperate with the local governments. However, we must send people from the imperial court who have nothing to do with the local governments to guard the mining areas.
It should be mobilized every year or every two years to prevent private interests. All exploration, mining, production, taxes payable, etc. must be compiled by the imperial court. If this is done, the national treasury will be greatly enriched."