I was the richest man in Da Song

Chapter 100 Coal
Zhang Qixian was not surprised to see He Shao, and called his servants to bring him a cup of hot tea.

Hearing the howling cold wind outside, with hot tea in his hands, and a warm charcoal pot inside the room, it was a completely different scene from the outside.

"Back?" Zhang Qixian asked.

"Well, it's only a day or two since the Liao Kingdom retreated, and it will be peaceful in the future."

"Taiping is back to Taiping. It is difficult for the millions of people on East East Road to live a good life," Zhang Qixian said pointingly.

"Uncle Zhang, in my opinion, the easiest place to get rich in the entire Song Dynasty is the East Road. You are guarding the gold mine and crying poor."

Apart from the Yellow River, the most famous person on this Loess Plateau is the coal boss. When it comes to coal, it is the representative of local tyrants.

Zhang Qixian put the book away and looked at He Shao with a smile.

"I knew you had a solution, so tell me."

"My solution is far away in the sky, but close at hand"

Zhang Qixian stroked his beard and looked at the charcoal basin, where the charcoal was burning vigorously.

"You mean charcoal?"

"Uncle Zhang, I'm a merchant after all, and now I'm going to discuss a business with you," He Shao said with a smile.

"What kind of business, as long as it can make the life of the people on Hedong Road not so difficult, the old man who has been the prime minister for 21 years will not hesitate to talk to you, but you have to talk about how much this coal can really support. Millions of people?"

After all, this is an unprecedented business, and even Zhang Qixian has no idea even if he is an old man. In other words, he doesn't think that coal is enough to support millions of people on Hedong Road.

"If you change to the Han, Tang and Five Dynasties, coal is just an insignificant thing and can be completely replaced by fuelwood, but there is a huge difference between our Song Dynasty and these dynasties"

"Tell me"

"That is prosperity. Compared with domestic coal, industrial coal is the biggest one.

To give you an example, the fuel used in the metallurgical cast iron industry is charcoal. Three catties of wood can be dry-distilled to produce one catty of charcoal. At the same time, three catties of wood are needed for dry distillation, so six catties of wood can be turned into one catty of charcoal, and pig iron can be processed into Various utensils require more charcoal.

Copper smelting requires twice as much charcoal as iron smelting, and ceramics, cooking salt, brewing wine, and making alum all require a lot of fuel, and our current main fuel is only trees, which simply cannot supply such a huge demand.”

In any dynasty, He Shao would not have the confidence to use coal to ban wood.

"When you said that, the old man remembered that Taizu encouraged business from the beginning of his ascension to the throne, and all walks of life grew wildly. In the third year of Zhidao, the fuel shortage you mentioned has already appeared.

All the miscellaneous trees around Kaifeng City have been cut down, and the wood shop in Kaifeng City began to focus on the mulberry jujube tree. , Kaifeng's silkworm industry was in a slump, and even the trees around the Zhaoling Mausoleum of Emperor Taizong Li Shimin had been cut down.

In the winter of the fourth year of the Dao Dynasty, the city of Kaifeng turned into ice, and there was no wages in the Xiangfang. Many people died in the cold, and the price of materials and charcoal was two hundred yuan per scale, and even the Lantern Festival was cancelled.

At that time, the old man was in charge of the political affairs hall, exempted all fuelwood taxes, shut down many official kilns and private kilns, and even reduced the casting of coins by 200%, and barely survived the winter, but the taxes that year were also reduced I bought [-] million guan, which is why the old man got a phase. "

Mentioning this matter, Zhang Qixian is still a little embarrassed.

"The growth rate of fuelwood has long been unable to keep up with the consumption rate of Kaifeng City, and not only Kaifeng, but I guess other places are the same. Economic development will cause a series of impacts, the first is the shortage of fuel.

In the past, there were dense forests in Hetao, Guanzhong, and the northern part of the Qinling Mountains, but now these forests are rapidly disappearing. When I was on Hedong Road, I saw Qilu pine forests. At this point, as long as coal can be harvested, all problems will be solved. "

Civilization is constantly expanding, but resources are very limited. He Shao remembers that the first coal revolution occurred in the Song Dynasty. Coal and steel are the most important foundations for a country.

"Uncle Zhang, let me make an inference for you. If coal is used instead of charcoal, the output of iron will definitely increase dramatically. Iron is an important raw material for various workshops and farmers' production tools, so the increase in iron production will definitely greatly improve the production of various industries. production efficiency, the prosperity of our Great Song Dynasty will increase day by day," He Shao said.

Zhang Qixian didn't answer in a hurry. After thinking about it carefully, he couldn't find a reason to refute it. If every farmer could have more iron farm tools, it would not be difficult to plow an additional mu of land every day.

"What you said is very deceptive. No wonder people as smart as Mr. Li Hanxiang Minzhong will follow you to raise pigs. Everything you said is true, but there is a prerequisite, that is, there are enough people on Hedong Road. of coal can be mined”

Coal has been around for thousands of years, but mining has remained stagnant because only a few pits have been discovered.

He Shao laughed in his heart, the people on Hedong Road combined did not have as many coals!
"Don't worry, it's on me. If I find the mine, I have the priority to mine, and I will pay the government a fee to buy the mine, do you think it's okay?"

He Shao's conditions can be said to be very generous. In this era, whoever finds a coal mine will be his. As long as the taxes are paid in full, the government will not make trouble.

"Is this the business you want to discuss with the old man?" Zhang Qixian asked with a smile.

"certainly"

"It sounds very good, and the old man can't find any problems.

But after you left, I have been asking about your heroic deeds in Kaifeng, so I am willing to believe that you can find the mine.

Whether it's restaurants or drinks, or raising pigs and selling ice, you can make a lot of money with each one, so it's never wrong to follow smart people.

In this way, you don't need to spend a sum of money to buy mining rights. Our government uses this mining rights to invest in shares. No matter how much money you make in the future, it is feasible for us to share it in two? "

Looking at Zhang Qixian's benevolent eyebrows, but He Shao felt as if he had eaten Xiangxiang.

"Let's say we don't have mining rights in Song Dynasty."

"I didn't have it at first, but after talking with you, the old man was inspired, and the mining rights will be available tomorrow!"

"Then your official said that you want to buy shares, what capacity do you use to buy shares? We don't have such a yamen in the Song Dynasty, right?"

"I didn't have it at first, but after talking with you, the old man was inspired, so I will play it now, and this yamen will be established soon."

Li Hang is loyal and lenient, and he would never say such a thing, but Zhang Qixian's eyes are poisonous and his methods are simple and rude, and he eats himself to death.

"No wonder you are the old prime minister for 21 years. The boy admits it, but five or five points is not enough. I will give you [-]% at most!"

"Thirty percent!"

"Twenty percent, I can't give up anymore"

"That's the deal. The old man will report it to His Majesty. What do you think this yamen should be called?"

"Da Song Merchants Bureau"

(End of this chapter)