Daming Crazy Emperor

Chapter 30 New Routines

Taichang's mood is indeed much better now, and his thoughts are instantly clearer.

He cleared his mind for a while and asked directly: "Shi Gao, do you know who is in charge of the mining and smelting before the late emperor sent a mine supervisor?"

Of course this Bi Maoliang knew, after all, he had been in court for more than 20 years.

He said without hesitation: "These were originally managed by Yu Hengqing of the Ministry of Industry."

It turned out to be under the control of the Ministry of Industry.

Taichang nodded slightly and said, "How do they manage it?"

Bi Maoliang then explained: "This is actually a common practice. It has been like this since the Hongwu Dynasty. Generally, all government offices, local state capitals, including the royal family and local vassals will write documents to the Ministry of Industry Yuheng Qing Officials Department for the record. , the Ministry of Industry’s Yuheng Qingli Department will estimate a certain amount of output after summarizing various needs, and then will order the ambassadors stationed in various places to organize mining and smelting. , in short, the Ministry of Industry Yu Hengqing Bureau will guarantee various needs and have a little surplus at the same time."

When Taichang heard the words, he couldn't help but be stunned.

Originally, he thought that mining and refining was a very simple matter, and it was not difficult to manage it well, but now it seems that he took it for granted.

The yamen of the imperial court, the local state capitals, including the royal family and the local vassals, what minerals are needed? How many are there? There are not one kind of minerals, but many kinds. In other words, the official Yu Heng of the Ministry of Industry probably receives at least a thousand copies of filing documents every year. After summarizing, they organize mining and smelting in various places. , I am afraid at least thousands of copies.

It seems that not all civil servants are busy fighting among themselves. Some people still do a lot of things, just like Yu Hengqing of the Ministry of Industry. There are only a dozen people who are actually on duty in the Yamen of the Ministry of Industry. They have to manage The thing is that it scares me to death. Mining and smelting are just a small job of theirs. At least he didn't notice it before. They have a lot of other things to take care of.

He couldn't help sighing: "It seems that some officials are still doing practical things, otherwise, the world may have been messed up."

Bi Maoliang couldn't help sighing: "Yes, most of the officials in the six yamen are very busy, especially the principal and the doctor. They are really busy and dizzy."

Uh, this seems to be a bit far-fetched.

Taichang nodded, and then asked again: "Then what about the costs and benefits?"

Bi Maoliang still said without hesitation: "This is the matter of the Ministry of Accounts. The Ministry of Industry's Yu Heng Qing Bureau will collect all kinds of needs and transfer them to the Ministry of Accounts for record. The Ministry of Accounts will calculate the cost, allocate the silver, and collect various taxes. At the same time, organize manpower to distribute the minerals to various places, and if there is any excess, they will be transferred to the nearby warehouses for storage.”

It turned out that the Ministry of Industry was in charge of mining and smelting, and the Ministry of Households was in charge of money.

There is another problem, and that is the income.

Taichang asked again: "What about the income? You are the servant of the household department now, so you should be very clear about this. How much was the annual mining income when there were no mine supervisors?"

Uh, earnings!

Bi Maoliang said embarrassingly: "Basically there is no profit from this, so the Yuheng Qingli Department of the Ministry of Industry will try to avoid too much mineral surplus. Anyway, if there is not enough, just mine it. The Ministry of Households will also try to achieve a balance of income and expenditure. It’s a good loss.”

This!
Mining can't make money?

No wonder the first emperor sent mine supervisors to make money. The royal family couldn't make money with so many minerals, so they sent people to get them!
Of course, this is pure nonsense, regardless of the reason, what is the difference between grabbing and grabbing?
The reason for this still needs to be clarified first.

Taichang asked again: "Why can't the royal family make money with so many minerals?"

Bi Maoliang quickly explained: "Your Majesty, this is because mining and smelting require too much manpower and material resources! Just like what was proposed a few days ago, it is necessary to cast 50 pieces of Taichang Tongbao every year. If this matter is handed over to The Yu Heng Qing Officials Department of the Ministry of Industry will take care of it, and the Yu Heng Qing Officials Department will find a suitable place to organize copper mining and smelting. Tongling happens to have a lot of copper mines, and the Mint Bureau of the Ministry of Households also has coin workshops here. Yu Heng Qing Officials Department ten Official documents will be sent here most of the time. 50 copper coins require almost 100 million catties of copper to be minted. If this batch of copper is contracted to Sheng Huaixuan for mining and smelting, then, in addition to taxes, the Ministry of Households will have to allocate 20 yuan to him. The remuneration is about 20 taels, and then the Ministry of Households organizes craftsmen to mint coins. The cost of manpower, material resources and materials is no less than [-] taels. , it would be nice if you don’t lose money.”

Still can't make money by minting copper coins?

Wouldn't it be a loss to mine other mines!

Why is this?

Taichang thought for a while, and then asked again: "Do you think Sheng Huaixuan's remuneration of about 20 taels per hundred catties of refined copper is too much?"

Bi Maoliang shook his head without even thinking about it: "This is really not much, because copper ore is too difficult to smelt. He said that ten thousand catties of ore can yield a hundred catties of copper. He must have selected ore. If he hadn't , Digging up and refining it, it’s a big deal if ten thousand catties of ore can be smelted to fifty catties of copper. For this mining and beneficiation, he has to invest a lot of manpower, and the investment of bitter water and coal is even more terrible. hands, spending 20 taels may not necessarily produce a hundred catties of copper!"

Uh, Sheng Huaixuan is fine here, but is there any problem with the household officials?

Taichang asked again: "Is it so expensive to mint coins? It costs more than 50 taels to cast 20 copper coins!"

Bi Maoliang sighed helplessly: "Oh, there is no way, the minting of coins is so costly, the minting has to use copper blocks to carve out the mother coin at first, and then use the mother coin to cast a certain number of coin molds, and then It is necessary to organize a large number of craftsmen to turn sand, pour molds, cast, cool, clean, trim, and polish. In this way, ten craftsmen cooperate to make a thousand qualified copper coins a day. It is not bad. 50 copper coins, At least tens of thousands of craftsmen have to work for half a year to make it! I don’t know how much coal will be used and how many molds will be wasted.”

Well, copper coins are minted one by one these days, which is indeed time-consuming, labor-intensive, and material-intensive.

Now it seems that if the previous routine is followed, it is not only a question of whether there is corruption, but also a big problem of no profit and no money at all!

In other words, if you want to solve the problem of corruption and make profits from so many mines of the royal family, you must change to a new routine.

What if something doesn't make money?

It's actually very simple, increase the price and increase the output!
By the way, the price.

Taichang asked again: "Sheng Huaixuan only charges about 20 taels per 20 catties for mining and smelting copper. That is to say, the price for copper purchased by the Ministry of Households is about [-] taels. How much is it for [-] catties when it is sold?"

sell away?
Bi Maoliang thought for a while, and then estimated: "The selling price should be about 50 taels and a hundred catties."

It takes 50 million catties of copper to mint 100 coins, and you can’t make any money after working so hard for half a year. If you sell 100 million catties of copper directly, you will get 50 taels, which is equivalent to earning 50 guan!
So why are you working so hard to sell minerals directly!

These officials wouldn't have thought of such a simple thing, right?
Taichang was a little puzzled and said: "Then why not mine and smelt a large amount of minerals and then sell them?"

This!
Bi Maoliang shook his head again and again and said: "Your Majesty, this won't work. Copper is fine. Most people use it to make Buddha statues and cast copper lions. If the iron is sold, it can be directly used to make swords. Doing so will cause big troubles sooner or later." .”

Why are you so rigid?

If iron cannot be sold, we sell copper and coal!
Besides, what happened to the sword?
As long as the new muskets and cannons come out, the sword will still be useful!
(End of this chapter)