From the gate of heaven

Chapter 76 [Being able to make money, all problems are not problems]

Fengping County Government, Lin Ze's arrival was welcomed by three officials.

"Zi Yi is here."

Li He greeted with a smile.

Liu Pei, who rushed over after hearing the news, also greeted with a smile and cupped his hands.

Gao Fei even personally reached out to fetch Lin Ze's teacup and pour tea.

As time went by, the coal mine operated steadily according to the mechanism set by Lin Ze, and millions of catties of coal were produced every day.

And these days, with the influence of coal fermenting, the surrounding areas of Fengping County began to use coal in large quantities, and the coal produced by the coal mines was continuously put into the market, becoming real money.

Many of the benefits created by these coal mines belong to the three officials.

This means that the big pie that Lin Ze drew for them not long ago has begun to be realized slowly.

Seeing the actual benefits, they naturally became more kind to Lin Ze, the God of Wealth.

"The results of my recruitment of miners have come out. If the family members of the yamen servants and the existing miners are counted, the number of miners can be expanded to tens of thousands in one fell swoop."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Lin Ze put down the teacup in his hand and started talking about serious matters with several officials.

Tens of thousands of miners?

Hearing this, Li and the three of them frowned.

"There are so many young and strong people gathered together, if someone with a heart stabs at the Shangguan, saying that the coal mine gathered a crowd to rebel, there will be trouble."

Li He said worriedly.

"Even if there is no problem as Master Li said, with so many young and vigorous people, if they are not managed well, it is easy to cause trouble."

On the side, Liu Pei expressed his professional opinion with concern.

A group of young and strong miners gathered together, all of them were full-blooded people, and it was normal to fight.

If someone spreads rumors and causes mutiny, it will be even more troublesome.

"Ziyi, there are only a few hundred miners at present, and the daily coal output is as high as millions of catties. If there are tens of thousands of miners, wouldn't the daily output exceed tens of millions of catties? Even if everyone in Fengping County has so much coal Burning coal is not enough.”

"So, we don't need to recruit so many miners."

"Even considering that many young people cannot dig coal during the busy season of spring plowing and autumn harvest, the coal dug out by more than 1000 miners is enough to supply the entire Fengping County."

Finally, Gao Fei put forward his own opinions from an economic point of view.

The daily firewood consumption in Fengping County is 30 million catties. In addition, the fuel consumption of rich families is more abundant, and there are some commercial facilities such as restaurants. The total fuel consumption in a day is less than It will consume more than 200 million catties of firewood.

One catty of coal is worth three catties of firewood, which means that even if everyone in Fengping County uses coal, they can consume at most more than 60 catties of coal every day.

The reason why Gao Fei does not object to Lin Ze expanding the number of miners to thousands is because people cannot run out of daily fuel, and the excess coal can be used to smelt iron. In addition, coal mining in coal mines will probably stop when the farming season is busy. Operation.

But now if Lin Ze expands the number of miners to [-], the coal produced may not be used up even if it supplies the entire Mingguang Prefecture, and so much manpower to dig coal will be thrown into his hands.

In fact, dispelling Shangguan’s concerns and managing the miners in an orderly manner are minor problems, and the last problem is the biggest problem.

To engage in coal mines, after all, it is still necessary to make money.
-
Lin Ze listened quietly to the three officials, and then spoke.

"I have a way to make honeycomb coal, which is more durable and more convenient than purely using coal, which will help people accept the use of coal faster."

Lin Ze described the method of making briquettes to the three officials.

It is nothing more than mixing coal powder and yellow mud in a ratio of eight to two, and then pressing them into shape with a simple mold.

Without any technical content, it can also be mass-produced manually in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

"A piece of briquette that weighs one catty contains only [-]% coal, but we can sell it at the same price as coal, and even without labor, our cost can be reduced by more than [-]%."

After a pause, Lin Ze continued:
"After the briquette is made and dried, it can be packed in batches and sent from the dock along the canal to many cities, counties and counties along the way. As long as the briquette is sold for one penny per catty, merchants can still make profits. Then within this range Our briquettes will not worry about selling."

"If after these merchants increase the price, they can still ship large quantities of more expensive than firewood, then they may transport briquettes to farther areas."

"A rough estimate is that at least the fuel market between Linhai County and Lanjiang City can be completely occupied by us, and we can absorb almost all of our production."

Riverboats of this era carried between 25 and [-] tons.

Based on the minimum carrying capacity of 25 tons, the cost of buying a ship of honeycomb briquettes is 50 taels of silver, and when it is shipped to the destination, it is sold at the price of firewood for 30 taels of silver. After deducting the transportation and taxes along the way, there is a profit of about [-] taels of silver.

If there is a way to avoid tax with connections, and then use your own servants to save labor costs, you can even make profits to the level of 40 taels of silver.

If the price is increased according to the degree of fire resistance, a shipment of honeycomb briquettes can be sold for 100 to 120 taels of silver, and the profit must be higher.

In this case, there will definitely be some ship owners who specialize in reselling briquettes to make money. No matter how large the output of Lin Ze's coal mine is, it is estimated that these second-hand traffickers can eat it.

After the market is fully cultivated, Lin Ze can increase the selling price of coal and honeycomb coal, reduce the profits of these second-hand traffickers, and then be able to grab greater profits.

After hearing Lin Ze's words, the three officials present were suddenly enlightened.

If all the output of tens of thousands of miners can be sold, then all problems are indeed not a problem.

Lin Ze didn't care about the changes in the expressions of the three, and continued to say:

"If we can sell all the coal produced by tens of thousands of miners every day, the profit we can get will increase tenfold. In the future, after everyone develops the habit of using coal, the price of coal will rise, and the profit will continue to increase several times. .”

"If this continues, the coal mine will become the largest taxpayer in the county, and it will also be the industry that provides the most jobs.

"The taxes generated by the coal mine before have allowed Master Liu's soldiers to patrol between Fengping County and Heishi Village. After expanding the scale by ten times, it is reasonable for Master Liu to move the barracks to the side of the coal mine for protection. things."

"This is not to protect merchants' industries, but to protect the vitality of the people. Even the Supreme Heaven will not blame it."

"In addition, the scale of the coal mine has expanded to this point, and the profits will become more and more lucrative. When the time comes, when my uncle uses money to manage the Shangguan, they will not be happy. Even if someone makes a slander, who will listen to it?"

"And with this achievement, the official positions of several adults may also be raised."

After speaking, the three officials who spoke nodded repeatedly.

They deeply know that what Lin Ze said can be realized as long as all the coal produced in the coal mine can be sold.

Governance is effective, which is an official's greatest confidence and amulet.

"It's not too late, I'm going to arrange the replacement of the barracks."

Liu Pei slapped the table and stood up.

"I'm also going to arrange an experiment to make briquettes."

Gao Fei also couldn't wait to get up.

"I'll send a letter to the station to explain the coal mine."

"No, that's not right. In order to prevent someone from picking peaches, first report the current situation of the coal mine to claim credit, and when you turn around and really build a mine with thousands of people, it's not too late to say to Shangguan."

Li He spoke.

He originally planned to write an official document to invite credit to the capital when he reported his work at the end of the year, but now it seems that he needs to pave the way in advance, so as to deepen the impression of Shangguan.

If someone is picking peaches now, Li He may not be able to protect them.

But if he has achieved results and there are still people who want to pick peaches, then he can go to his classmates and teachers of the same year to help him out.

Of course, in Li He's official document, he will try his best to explain that the coal mine does not make money, but only engages in charity to benefit the public, but under his leadership, everyone is doing well.

If you say you make money yourself, isn't it clear that you are tempting others to come and pick peaches?
-
Several people performed their duties, and Lin Ze was also preparing to leave.

"My concubine is holding the piano, Mr. Lin, my eldest lady is here to invite you."

But as soon as he left the study, he was stopped by a pretty maid in a light blue dress, who saluted and spoke.

Lin Ze recognized her, and she was indeed Li Yunhua's personal servant girl.

"Miss Lao Baoqin will lead the way."

Lin Ze nodded slightly in return, and spoke.

Afterwards, he followed the maidservant to the garden behind the county government office.

I saw Li Yunhua, who was still covered with a light veil, with a flower tint like a pistil dotted between her brows, the beautiful and moving Li Yunhua.

Lin Ze met Li Yunhua the last time he came to propose marriage.

But at that time, the two were just getting to know each other. Lin Ze listened to Li Yunhua playing the piano and chatted casually.

And this time, it was the first official meeting and date between the two after eliminating the strangeness.

"Yunhua, are you going out to play? I'll take you to see my property."

Lin Ze asked with a smile.

It's not easy to refuse an invitation from a beauty, but just talking about love and moon delays the business, so I have this invitation.

"it is good!"

"Baoqin, you inform the housekeeper to prepare chariots and horses for escort."

Li Yunhua's eyes lit up, and after agreeing to Lin Ze, she ordered the maid on the side to say.

When she heard that Lin Ze had arrived today, she was overjoyed. After dressing up, she met and dated her soon-to-be engaged fiancé.

Li Yunhua originally thought that today's meeting was just to stay in the garden to enjoy the scenery, talk about love and moon to deepen mutual understanding.

Unexpectedly, Lin Ze directly invited her out.

The Li family has strict family education.

Normally, if Li Yunhua wanted to go out, she would basically ask her father and brother to take her with her. She couldn't go out at will, but this opportunity is rare.

When Mrs. Li heard that Lin Ze invited Li Yunhua to go out, she naturally did not stop her.

Just arranged enough servants, guards and housekeepers to follow.

Next, Lin Ze informed Jia Ding to take his seal and go to some places in the city to run errands.

Then he took the carriage to the coal mine, and Li Yunhua's driver followed behind.
-
The road from Fengping County to Heishi Village, Fenglin Township is still the same, but compared to the desertedness before, it is much more lively now.

Along the way, you can see soldiers patrolling along the official road.

In addition, there are cattle, horses and donkey carts driving on the road. These vehicles are either empty or full of coal.

It is not difficult to see from these vehicles and horses that the business of the coal mine has begun to boom day by day.

Seeing this scene, Lin Ze's expression was very relieved, which is a symbol that his career in another world is gradually getting on the right track.

Soon, Heishi Village arrived.

It is even more lively here. There are people coming and going in the coal mine business district to buy coal and transport coal.

On the other side of the mining area, many coal miners are working hard.

In the direction of the cafeteria, there is smoke rising from the kitchen. Dinner is being prepared for the miners. Of course, those who come here to buy coal can also pay fifteen yuan to eat in the cafeteria.

When Lin Ze got out of the car, a sharp-eyed servant came up to him with a few half-grown children from the mine guard team.

"master!"

the bench yelled.

"Thank you, how is the mine going?"

Lin Ze asked casually.

He hasn't been here for a few days. Although the servants send the accounts and payment to Lin Ze every day, it can be seen from the accounts that the coal mine is running very well.

But he doesn't know some details.

"Everything is fine. Some people who wanted to steal coal with malicious intentions were also caught by us and sent to the patrol sergeants to be taken to the county government for detention."

"There are no problems in other aspects. The food in the cafeteria is delicious, and the miners work very hard. Then, more and more coal is sold every day."

The bench answered.

"Well, after a while, I will buy things and invite people to come. You are responsible for welcoming them into the conference room."

Lin Ze ordered.

Then he took a few steps forward, welcomed Li Yunhua off the frame, and placed him in the factory director's office with a relatively better environment.

After arranging snacks and tea for her, Lin Ze smiled and said, "I have some things to tell you, Yunhua, please rest here for a while, and I will come to accompany you later."

After speaking, Lin Ze bid farewell and left, and went to the conference room beside him.

Next, the coal mine will expand from the planned scale of [-] people to [-] people, so the supporting facilities of the coal mine also need to be updated.

For this reason, Lin Ze invited several master craftsman teams that he had cooperated with last time.

Next, build a new batch of miners' dormitories, canteens, toilets, bathrooms, and expand the warehouses in the commercial area. It is estimated that these master craftsmen will take a long time to lead people to do these tasks.

After arranging these people to go to work directly, Lin Ze started talking with some other people.

This is a middle-aged man dressed as a martial artist, and behind him are two young men in their early 20s, a man and a woman.

The identities of these people are the instructors of Zhangjiaquan, the largest martial arts gym in Fengping County. The purpose of Lin Ze's invitation to come here is to train the mine guard team and teach them martial arts.

In the future, the coal mine will expand to ten thousand people, and the mine protection team will also expand to hundreds of people. To ensure the majesty of the mine protection team, it is urgent to improve their combat power.

(End of this chapter)