Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 379 Mangchuan Silver Mine
Fan Ning then inspected the progress of the city wall in Jin County. The city wall had begun to take shape. In fact, the foundation of the city wall was completed last year. A large number of city bricks were fired and prepared, and even the soil to fill the hollow of the city wall was ready.

So when the approval letter came in, Jin County immediately started construction, and the construction was very fast. In just one and a half months, nearly half of the project had been completed, and the city wall could be completed in two months.

Fan Ning didn't stay in Jin County for a long time. Early the next morning, he set off to return to Han County. The state government and his family moved to Han County at the end of the summer of the previous year. The center of gravity of the entire Kunzhou was tilted towards Han County. In particular, the Song army captured the city of Akita two years ago, and Akita became an important supply station and transit point for the fleet. Except for the trading ships in Hepingjing, the fleets basically sailed in the north of Japan, Kunbei Bay The status advantage of Hehan County was revealed.

Fan Ning led more than a dozen cavalrymen and rushed south along the flat official road. This official road was built last autumn. It started from Han County and forked in the middle. Seen from a high altitude, the official road looks like a capital 'Y' letter. This official road has to go two hundred miles to Jin, and there is a small town at the fork in the middle.

However, this town did not appear because of the official road, but because of a huge silver mine. This silver mine is the largest Mangchuan silver mine in Kunzhou. Mangchuan is the word for "silver" in the Kun language. It means that this silver mine has huge reserves, and the ore has a high silver content. It is easy to mine and refine. The crude silver refined directly goes to Han County by inland waterway.

To the east of the silver mine is the highest point of Kunzhou, which is a volcano. Countless streams converge into a small river, which meanders southward and flows into Kunbei Bay in the north of Han County. This small river is named Chilongchuan.

There is a small town less than five miles away from the silver mine. It is mainly a town formed by silver smelters and their families. Ten thousand Japanese laborers work on the silver mine.

The output of crude silver has increased from the initial 80 taels to 320 million taels this year, and the monthly crude silver output is 26 taels. Low, there must be enough silver production to be profitable.

At dusk, Fan Ning and his party arrived at Mangchuan Town. Mangchuan Town was originally a small town. Since the official road was built, there have been more people coming and going, and business has gradually flourished. There are inns, restaurants, brothels, and grocery stores in the town. , There are more than [-] stores such as grain and oil stores, clothing stores and so on.

In addition to the craftsmen, there is also a military camp of [-] soldiers responsible for maintaining the order of the mine. This is an official mine, and naturally there is a government office. The Kunzhou Mine Supervision Department, which was established only last year, is in charge of management.

The Kunzhou Mine Supervision Department is the fourth independent official agency after the government, the Economic Bureau, and the Qunmu Department. It is in charge of all the minerals in Kunzhou, and it goes without saying that it is responsible for official mining. Private mining of gold, silver and copper mines has always been heavily taxed. Not only the gold, silver and copper ingots smelted must be sold to the imperial court at a low price, but a huge management fee is also levied every year.

Kunzhou is slightly different. The five families are all rich and powerful, and the money shops they run have the right to exchange gold and silver. The mine supervisor did not forcefully buy their gold, but approved the output, and collected half of their gold output every year.

However, there are policies above and countermeasures below. When the mine supervision department came to verify the output, the five major private mines were already panning for gold in the riverbed, and the output naturally dropped by half. The final mining tax was only [-]% of their actual gold panning volume. Left and right, but even so, each minefield is still heartbroken.

There is an official post in the small town, Fan Ning stayed in the official post, and sent the soldiers to eat. He came to the Chilongchuan Inn next door by himself, and asked the shopkeeper, "Is Fan Mingren here?"

Yesterday, Fan Ning sent someone to inform Mingren and Mingli to come to Jin County, but he learned that Mingren had gone to the mine supervision department, and Mingli couldn't leave. Today he came to Mangchuan Town, so he came to inquire about Mingren's news.

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "He's here, he just came back, I'll call him!"

The shopkeeper ran to call for someone, and after a short while, Ming Ren came out lazily, seeing Fan Ning, he smiled and said, "A Ning, why are you here?"

"I came back from Jin County, and Ming Ren said that you were in Mangchuan. Why, you came to Mangchuan to fool around?"

"Fuck!"

Akihito curled his lips, "I want to find a woman, I just go to Jin County, why not come here? The Japanese women here are old-fashioned, so I don't like it!"

"Tell the truth! It's not that you don't want to come, but that you don't like it."

"Forget it! But this time I'm here to work with the mine supervisor. I'm so fucking black. Let's go eat and chat while eating."

. . . . . .
The two came to the Chilongchuan Restaurant across the road. Mingren ordered a jug of good wine and ordered a few more dishes. Taxes, but two days ago they said that the assessment was low, and they wanted to increase our tax by [-]%. No other mines have this kind of treatment. I can't help but come to them to settle accounts!"

Fan Ning picked up the wine glass and said calmly: "That's because your hands and feet are too ruthless, and the output is directly [-]% lower than that of other companies. Do you think the people in the mine supervision department are stupid?"

Akihito was taken aback, "You know about this?"

"Of course I know that the horse mine supervisor has come to Han County to get through with me. To be honest, only adding [-]% is already giving me face. Otherwise, I will re-approve and let them take some points."

"do not!"

Mingren quickly waved his hand, "You said earlier that I don't need to make this trip, and I have to give the mine supervisor this bit of face, so let's do this! One percent of the increase is ten percent, and we admit it. Who makes us the weakest in the backstage."

"What do you call being cheap and being obedient? I'm talking about you!"

Fan Ning glared at them angrily, and then asked strangely: "Didn't you say that the mining will end soon and I will return to Dasong? What's the point of arguing for this bit of mining tax now?"

Mingren hesitated for a moment, and Fan Ning immediately caught his inner struggle, "Why, don't you want to leave again?"

Akihito looked distressed, "There are still five miles of gold fields that have not been mined. Besides, the mining tax is not high. It is a pity to lose such a huge wealth."

"Then what about our plan?"

Fan Ning knocked on the table, dissatisfied: "Mr. Zhu has given me twenty large ships that have been in Quanzhou Port for two years. The maintenance of these ships alone costs thousands of money every year. How did you tell me? ?”

Mingren sighed and said, "Actually, Mingli refuses to leave, otherwise I will go to Quanzhou and Mingli will stay here, can you do this?"

"That's fine. I told you a long time ago that you don't need to do it together. You have to do it separately. You have stayed in Kunzhou for four years. Could it be that Mingli can't handle two hundred Japanese laborers alone? Besides, the Zhu family will help him." .”

"Okay! I'll go back and discuss it with Mingli."

"there's one more thing!"

Fan Ning asked coldly with a straight face, "Why doesn't Ming Li come to see me?"

"What did you hear?"

"Hmph! If you want people to not know, unless you do nothing, someone told me that you have children, is that true?"

Fan Ning got the news at the beginning of the year that Ming Li was living with a Japanese woman. Not long ago, someone heard a baby crying. Zhu Sheng felt that the matter was serious, so he sent someone to deliver a letter to him.

Akihito smiled wryly, "It's a boy, and it's been four months."

"You two bastards! How can I explain to your parents?"

Fan Ning was extremely annoyed and cursed severely. He calmed himself down and asked again, "Is that Japanese woman also from a brothel?"

"No! No! No!"

Mingren quickly waved his hands and explained: "That Japanese woman is clean, she was just a baby when she was with Mingli, she turned out to be a cloth saleswoman in a cloth shop in the town, she was very pretty, Mingli immediately took a fancy to her , she has been with Mingli for a year, it seems that Mingli wants to marry her."

Fan Ning breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid that the Japanese woman was Mingli's lover in the brothel. If his second uncle and aunt found out, he really couldn't explain it. The second uncle and aunt entrusted the two brothers. for yourself.

Fan Ning thought for a while and said, "Go and tell Mingli to send the mother and son to Han County. The construction site is extremely muddy. How can their mother and son live?"

"That's what I mean too. Now that you have spoken, things will be easy."

"Also! I don't care if you are in a brothel, but you are not allowed to have feelings with a specific woman. Kunzhou has rules. If you marry a woman here, you have to stay in Kunzhou. You should know this rule. Bar!"

"we all know!"

"Since you understand, let Mingli send the mother and child here quickly, and don't be caught by others."

Mingren nodded silently, he also felt that Mingli's matter was a bit big, how could he go back and explain to his parents?
(End of this chapter)