Zhang Guojun returned to his luxurious mansion covering an area of more than 300 acres outside the city. When he entered, he called the housekeeper to give instructions.
"Master Hou, are you going to Beijing?"
Zhang Guojun sighed, "I can't stay in Beijing? Tokyo. Who else is qualified to go to Beijing? To Yunnan." The former uncle of the country looked angry and helpless.
"What to do in Yunnan?"
"I just asked you to arrange the packing. What do you care about? Are you the Marquis or am I the Marquis?" Zhang Guojun was so angry that he scolded the old housekeeper until he was pissed off.
A group of people from the Zhang family came over after hearing the news. They originally wanted to congratulate Zhang Guojun on his enthronement, but unexpectedly he encountered something like this. His uncle asked him, "What happened again? Why do you want to go to Yunnan?"
Zhang Guojun took a few sips of wine from his cup and breathed out the smell of wine, "The emperor gave me several copper mines in Yunnan and asked me to run the mines."
"This is a good thing."
In recent years, the Zhang family has been running a bank pawnshop and also opened a copper and iron mine. Copper mining is a very profitable business. Although the investment is relatively large, the Zhang family is not short of capital.
Even if according to the rules, gold and silver mines have to pay four mineralization taxes, copper and iron have to pay two mineralization taxes, and they have to purchase at least 50% of the mineralization, the remaining few mineralizations are still very profitable, not to mention the 50% of the unified purchase.
The imperial court also paid for it, but it was cheaper than going directly to the market.
Nowadays, the imperial court requires a large amount of copper to mint coins, especially after Japan began to reduce its silver and copper exports last year. The year before last, it imported nearly 10 million kilograms of copper from Japan, reaching a historical record, but now it may not even reach one million a year, which is huge.
The gap has caused the current copper price on the market to rise sharply and exponentially.
In this case, if you can get the mining contract right of the Yunnan Copper Mine, you will be making money.
It seems to be the emperor's compensation to the Zhang family.
"What a fart!"
Unexpectedly, Zhang Guojun yelled, "The emperor is ruthless!"
He directly said these dangerous words in front of all the children of the Zhang family. Zhang Guojun, who has always been extravagant and enjoys life but has no backbone, could say this. It was obvious that his anger was at its peak at this moment. He said it under the influence of alcohol.
came out.
"What happened?"
Everyone was shocked.
Zhang Guojun took a few more sips of wine and told the story. It turned out that the emperor had indeed given the Zhang family several large copper veins in Yunnan, and the Zhang family had mined many of them, but the matter was not that simple.
Previously, the factory guard had obtained a lot of evidence of violations of laws and regulations by the Zhang family, including their violations when running the bank pawnshop, their land occupation, excessive land purchase, and other disputes, etc., etc.
Not big, not small.
Zhang Guojun originally thought that he agreed to the emperor's dethronement and sent his daughter to the East Palace as a concubine. The emperor also made him a marquis, and the matter was over.
But who would have known that this was not the case, and now the emperor still wanted to settle the score with him.
Or we can't ask Qiu Hou to settle the accounts. The emperor didn't say that this matter would not be investigated before. Now the emperor has designated several copper mines for him in Yunnan and asked him to mine them.
All the money was invested by the Zhang family, but the royal family took 40% of the mine's revenue, the household department took 20%, and the Yunnan Province took 10%. The Zhang family contributed both money and effort, and in the end could only account for 30% of the revenue.
To go even further, the emperor also said that these mines were very rich, so the mining rights of the Zhang family were not given in vain. All the fields that the Zhang family now owned that exceeded the land quota had been taken away by the court. In addition, all the fields operated by the Zhang family were taken away by the court.
The pawns and bank property were all confiscated by the court.
This means that the Zhang family's wealth, except for some gold and silver, and all the other land and housing properties, are only exchanged for the mining rights of a few Yunnan copper mines, and the proceeds from mining, after paying 20% of the copper price and 50% of the unified purchase
, the remaining 30% of the income will eventually be divided with the royal family, the court, and the four families of Yunnan Province, and the Zhang family can only get 30%.
30% of 30%, in the end it was less than 10%, 9%.
The most cruel thing is that the emperor also asked the entire Ningbo Zhang family to move to Yunnan.
It's impossible not to move.
This is actually exile.
The whole family was exiled.
After hearing this result, all the young and old men of the Zhang family in the room were shocked. An older uncle even fainted without even breathing.
After a moment of panic, everyone felt like they were mourning for their heirs.
"Hasn't His Majesty already allowed Yu Zhen to be admitted to the East Palace as Crown Prince Concubine, and also made you the Marquis of Ningbo? Why is it that the Zhang family is suddenly exiled now?"
Confused, confused.
"The emperor is ruthless." Zhang Guojun could only reply bitterly.
As for the Zhang family's occupation of land, their use of power for personal gain, and even his uncle Zhang Guojun's previous role as a political broker, he didn't think there was anything wrong with it. Uncle, what does this mean?
The emperor obviously deliberately suppressed the Zhang family. In order to support Hongjia as the crown prince, he was afraid that the nine princes would fight for the right to the throne in the future, so he abolished Empress Zhang and suppressed the empress's natal family.
It may not be cost-effective to exchange the entire family's industry for a few copper veins in Yunnan, no matter how abundant the reserves are. And even if it is cost-effective, why should the entire Zhang family be moved to Yunnan.
He also asked them to settle in Yunnan in the future.
Everyone is angry.
Uncle Zhang Guojun came to his senses and sighed, "The emperor could have robbed it directly, but he was still so polite to our Zhang family. He granted him the title of marquis, adopted the crown prince's concubine, and gave him several large copper mines. It's really a great blessing from God."
He doesn't have to go to such trouble at all. He can give the queen three feet of white silk, and then accuse our Zhang family of treason and have the whole family beheaded. Wouldn't it be more worry-free?"
Everyone was silent.
Resentful, unwilling, but powerless.
Everyone understood what the clan elder said. This is not the worst outcome. If the Zhang family does not cooperate, then what he just said is possible.
After all, the emperor can be so ruthless to the Zhang family now, so what's the point of being ruthless?
After a long silence.
The clan elder slowly asked Zhang Guojun, "Do you know about those mines?"
"I heard that it is a big mine. If it is developed well, one mine can produce one million kilograms of copper a year. The imperial court is exploring many large copper mines in Yunnan. The large mines are concentrated in northern Yunnan, Dongchuan, and Zhaotong. If they are all mined
, the maximum annual production capacity reaches 10 million kilograms of copper.
However, it is inconvenient to transport copper from Yunnan, so the imperial court now plans to set up a coin foundry there, smelting it directly in the mining area, casting coins, and making utensils, and then part of it will be circulated locally and shipped out."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The clan elder pondered for a long time.
"Move it!"
Many tribesmen disagreed. Who would want to surrender all their property and go to the barbaric land of Yunnan without staying in the beautiful world of the Central Plains, and go into the mountains to mine copper mines?
The elder of the clan is old, but very sober. When the Zhang family took the initiative to marry their daughter to King Lu as their concubine, he was also one of the decision-makers. Later, he also made the decision to provide money and help for the emperor to launch an army.
Now the Zhang family is in a disadvantageous position in the matter of establishing a crown prince. There is no point in fighting. Historically, the abolition of a queen has always been related to the establishment of a crown prince. When such things happen to the descendants, it is often easy to destroy the family and the entire clan.
Now the emperor's attitude is very obvious. Giving Zhang Guojun a marquis and accepting Zhang Guojun's daughter as the crown prince is just to appease him. However, the emperor no longer trusts the Zhang family. Now he moves them to Yunnan. This is to eliminate future troubles and let the Zhang family
He completely stayed away from the court and became a mine owner in Yunnan, which was a de facto exile.
The Zhang family now has only two choices: obey, which will keep them safe in Yunnan and stay away from the court. Or resist and disobey, and the result may be that the family will be destroyed.
Facing such a powerful emperor, the elders knew very well that the Zhang family had no strength left to resist.
Although the Zhang family is the queen's natal family, Zhang Guojun failed to live up to expectations. He only served as the commander of the Jinyi Guards for a few months and then disappeared. After that, he had no official position at all. The Zhang family has become rich in recent years, but they are not expensive and have no power.
In other words, Zhang Guojun's uncle Mao Youlun was a general soldier, but what's the use of this power?
"Move to Yunnan and become a mine boss. It's not necessarily a bad thing."
Staying in the Central Plains, things are unpredictable. Who can guarantee that being caught in this vortex will not be smashed to pieces in the end.
If you don't have the ability, just obey.
Zhang Guojun's eyes were red, but in the end he could only drink heavily and could not even let out a fart.
"The emperor is ruthless."
What else can I do except say a few words?
Zhu Yihai was not completely heartless. He at least gave the Zhang family several large mines with an annual output of one million jins of copper. Even if the profit in the end could only be 9%, that would still be an annual copper income of 100,000 jins. As long as he feels at ease, Zhongyuan
Their fields, banks, etc. will be taken away, but the gold and silver will not be taken away. They can take them to Yunnan, where they can mine, open banks, or even buy land and set up manors within the quota.
Far away from the center of power, it is not possible to be a powerful person in Yunnan.
This can be regarded as the emperor's thanks to the Zhang family for their support when he first arrived in Taizhou and for their help when he started the army. Otherwise, if the emperor really wants to settle accounts for what the Zhang family has done in the past few years, the end will not be so good. For example, Zhang Guojun and others
, then a few of them must be cut down.
······
Shaoxing Marquis Mansion.
Mao Youlun had also just returned from the Holy See. The emperor asked him to switch to a civil service and go to Gansu as Chief Secretary to participate in politics. The emperor also gave the Mao family a large piece of land and pasture there, which meant that the Zhang family could move to Hexi to settle down. The reason was
The new restoration of Longyou is still very turbulent, especially the Hui people are now very unstable, so the emperor wants to vigorously move the Han people there.
Mao Youlun was talented in both civil and military affairs. He transferred from military service to civilian service, so he was well qualified to deal with the complex situation there. By moving his tribe there, he also took the lead in immigration and strengthened his control over Hexi.
Go now and give the Mao family some preferential treatment, more fields, pastures, and even mines.
Mao Youlun didn't have any objections to his transfer to a civilian position and went to work as an official in Hexi. He obeyed the arrangements of the court, but it was a bit embarrassing to move all his clan members there.
But the emperor seemed to have inadvertently mentioned the crimes committed by Zhang Guogong and the Zhang family, as well as the emperor's easing of the situation and allowing the Zhang family to move to Yunnan to mine. Mao Youlun's hair stood up all of a sudden. He really had goosebumps all over his body at that time.
The factory guard also visited Mao Youlun last time and brought two boxes of things.
Mao Youlun knew very well the meaning of the emperor's words: don't toast and eat as a penalty.
He could only bow down and thank him and accept it.
After he came back, it was a cold spring day in February, but his clothes were soaked with sweat. He finally understood what it means to accompany you like a tiger.
Sitting there in a daze for a long time, he understood that this was the emperor not leaving any trouble behind.
The Zhang and Mao families of Queen Zhang's natal family, one moved to Yunnan and the other moved to Gansu. One became a mining boss and the other became a civil servant. There was no threat at all.
He thought of the Han Dynasty, which always liked to move powerful people from all over the world to Guanzhong to guard their mausoleums. The Sui Dynasty pacified Nanchen and also forcibly moved the noble officials and powerful officials from Jiangnan to Guanzhong.
Nowadays, the emperor uses the method of moving to the border to deal with the Zhang and Mao families. In fact, the essence of the mausoleum system in the Han Dynasty is the same as "doing harm without killing". This not only eliminates future troubles, but also the political and moral cost to the emperor and the court is much smaller.
Zhang Mao's two descendants are far away from the Central Plains, so there is no need to worry.
Mao Youlun sighed, the emperor always acted like this, he was straightforward and decisive, without any sloppiness or any trouble. After such a set of actions, the Ninth Prince, who was just over a year old, no longer had the slightest capital to compete for savings, and would never do it again.
Who would support the Ninth Prince again?
But he, Mao Youlun, couldn't hate him. The emperor also compensated him with a life-long marquis, and a granddaughter who was admitted to the East Palace as the crown prince's concubine. Longyou also gave him land, pastures and mines. As long as the Mao family can stay safe until
Once the prince ascends the throne, the Mao family can still come back.
