The end of the Ming Dynasty swept the world

Chapter 292 Shandong Gold Mine
After passing through Linglong Town, you will soon come to Luoshan Mountain, where the famous Linglong Gold Mine is located.

It turned out that Ding Yi came to see the gold mine.

There are many famous gold mines in Shandong, and most of them are in Denglai. Some larger gold mines were not discovered until the 20s.

Ding Yi asked Lu Chao to investigate the mines in Denglai and Denglai very early on, only to find that in this era, the most famous gold mine is the gold mine in Linglong Town.

The gold mine in Linglong Town was first recorded in historical records from the Song Dynasty (1007), when it was supervised by Pan Mei, the Minister of Song Zhenzong. By 1078, the gold production of the two states of Denglai accounted for 89% of the country in the Song Dynasty.

At that time and in later dynasties, there were mainly two mining methods, one was the government-owned field supervision (government-run), and the second was 'buy by the people (private-run)'.

The second is equivalent to the private boss spending money to contract with the court, and then digging by himself. If you dig too much, you will earn, and if you dig less, you will lose money.

By the time of the Yuan Dynasty, the annual output reached 3 taels, which was twice as high as that in the heyday of the Song Dynasty.

Then the Yuan Dynasty disappeared, and in the Ming Dynasty, Ming Shenzong began to send eunuchs to supervise the gold mines across the country, and the Zhaoyuan Mine began to become government-run again.

Until the first year of Tianqi (1621), Xizong sent Wei Zhongxian to Linglong Town to personally supervise the gold mine here, but Wei Zhongxian did not take care of it after a year of supervision, because he found that the official office could not dig much gold, and the official office collapsed the next year. .

Then it was turned into a private company, and the local tycoons contracted from the government. However, corruption became common in the late Ming Dynasty. Haoqiang and local officials joined forces to reap the benefits of the Ming Dynasty, and no one in the court cared about it.

Because those who take care of this, it is estimated that they have all received benefits.

During this military chaos, Kong Youde also led his troops past here, and after a wave of robbing, he ignored it.

This Zhaoyuan gold mine has been dug for hundreds of years and has not yet been dug. Later generations are still digging in the 20th century. Now it is Ding Yi's turn to dig.

Ding Yi and Lu Chao chose a high place and looked at the mining area with binoculars. The site was dug like a large natural pit, and there were mines everywhere under the pit. Right now, the government army and the rebel army are fighting, and there are still people below. panning for gold.

Some people looked up and saw the officers and soldiers above, and ran around quickly, because panning for gold without permission is a crime.

Others were not afraid when they saw the officers and soldiers, and continued to dig there.

The so-called wealth and wealth are sought in danger. Now that the government and the rebels are fighting, no one cares about this place. They are looking for opportunities to dig.

Among them, there are quite a few Bo people, dozens of them, and it seems that they are organized by a local tycoon.

They also saw Ding Yi's group of people, and even pointed at the top.

"Master Ding, there are indeed a lot of gold mines in Shandong, but now they are all contracted by the local tycoons, and a fee is paid to the court every year. The lowest is only 100 taels, which is extremely ridiculous." Lu Chao has been in Shandong for many years. clearly.

Local tyrants colluded with local officials to contract gold mines at a low price, and everyone earned money from the court together.

"There are still many large gold mines that no one knows about." Ding Yi said indifferently: "We have to find someone who can find mines."

There are still several large gold mines in Shandong, which were discovered after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and they are very easy to mine. Unfortunately, Ding Yi doesn't know where they are, but most of them must be in Denglai at this time.

At this moment, they heard someone behind them say: "Why, stop."

The two turned their heads and saw the boy from before, pushing forward with a girl, but were stopped by the soldiers.

It turned out that the two followed them all the way up the mountain.

"Let them come over." Ding Yi's heart moved slightly.

The young man looked happy, and hurried over to Ding Yi, plopped down on his knees: "I will look for mines, and I beg the official to take us two brothers and sisters in."

"..." Ding Yi.

The boy's name is Song Xiang, and his younger sister is Song Mo. Both of them were servants of the powerful Yu family in Laizhou.

Their father was a local mine craftsman who specialized in helping Yu's family find ore and make gold. Song Xiang followed his father around Shandong since he was a child, helping Yu's family find gold mines, learned how to find mines, and was more talented than his father.

The current head of the Yu family is Yu Yunjiu.

Their family is considered powerful in Laizhou. Several generations of their ancestors have operated gold mines in Zhaoyuan many times, and they have been shut down because of the government, but as long as they are privately run, their Yu family can always grab them as soon as possible.

At that time, Wei Zhongxian's official operation ended after one year, and the local government let it be "undertaken by the people".

In fact, everyone knows the reason for the closure of the official office. The court does not treat the miners as human beings and does not pay them. The miners are willing to work hard, so the output and efficiency are extremely low.

Wei Zhongxian supervised for a year but did not get much gold, and finally decided to let the private sector run it.

At that time, there were many companies competing, and Yu Yunjiu's father won the gold mine with 1 taels of gold per year.

After taking over, while using money to buy officials, they complained of losses every year.

Undertaker rents decrease every year.

The officials took the benefits and spoke for them one after another.

When it was passed on to Yu Yunjiu, the rent last year was only 1000 taels of silver.

This is simply a big joke.

Someone in the court may know that something is wrong, and specifically proposed to set up a tax supervisor to collect taxes.

But what's the use, the Yu family continued to buy it with money, and last year there was a mine collapse incident, saying that the mine collapsed and suffered heavy losses, and no gold could be dug.

Naturally, the court did not receive much tax from it.

Last year, Kong Youde suddenly rebelled and swept Denglai, which affected their gold production.

Moreover, Kong Youde was a miner. He immediately led his troops to sweep the Zhaoyuan Mine, and took away many miners to serve as soldiers in his army.

Then the rebels found out that Yu's family had a pier outside Xinzhuang Town, less than [-] miles from the sea.

The rebels sent a group of people to fight to Dunbao.

Over there, Song Xiang's father and many members of Yu's family were there. Their fort was built between two mountains, which was easy to defend but difficult to attack.

The rebels went with few troops and no artillery, so they failed to capture the first time.

Li Jiuzheng was furious when he found out, and asked someone to bring a cannon to go again.

It finally came down with one drum.

After breaking the fort, the rebels plundered and massacred many people in Yu's family, and Song Xiang's father also died in the rebellion.

Some rebels saw that their brothers and sisters were young, so they let them go.

The rebels got 3 taels of gold and 12 taels of silver as big as a winter melon in the fort, making a fortune.

The corners of Ding Yi's mouth twitched slightly when he heard this, "Ni Niang, I wish I had come earlier."

Don't look at Song Xiang's young age, he speaks in a very orderly manner, and he is also very courageous. Otherwise, everyone else ran away just now, and he was the only one who dared to go up and ask for something to eat.

At this time, he said again: "Yu Yunjiu, the Patriarch of the Yu Family, was also killed when the castle was broken. Some people from our castle escaped and came to Linglong Town. Let's live in this town first."

Linglong Town was also ransacked by the rebels, some people were killed and some fled.

Song Xiang thought, the rebels have looted, and they probably won't come again, so they will live here temporarily.

But I didn't expect that there would be people around here who would dare to dig for gold.

Song Xiang said that they were also members of the Yu family. The head of the Yu family died, and they spontaneously organized to dig, hoping to make a fortune before fleeing for their lives.

Ding Yi saw that he spoke clearly and calmly, so he nodded: "Okay, from now on, you can follow me."

"Thank you, Master Guan." Song Xiang was overjoyed, and knelt down to kowtow again.

(End of this chapter)