Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 181: I Don’t Know What to Say (2)

After Zhao Xingde came to this world, he paid more attention to iron smelting because of his interest.The main method of iron smelting in this era is to use charcoal furnaces to smelt iron. The iron smelted in this way is of good quality, but the cost of iron smelting is extremely high and the price is expensive.The armor and weapons used in the Xia army are mostly made of iron materials smelted by this method, and then forged.The ironware and agricultural tools used by the people are made of simply treated coke and then repeatedly forged.The second is to smelt iron in a charcoal furnace, and to obtain steel by frying steel.Because the impurities in the coal have penetrated into the molten iron, the steel is very brittle, but the price is cheap.Because of the large number of imperial guards in the Song Dynasty, and the need to save money for the three envoys, most of the armor and blades actually distributed to the soldiers were made of this kind of iron.Only a few armored weapons that are distributed to generals and are subject to inspection are made by the method of smelting steel.The third method is to use a small crucible to smelt iron, and then hammer it into a fine weapon. This method is mainly used by the Hezhong Workshop, the Turks, the Tianzhu people and the Khitan people of the Liao Kingdom. The disadvantage is that it is labor-intensive and the output is too large. Low.

With an expression of reminiscence on Zhao Xingde's face, he said slowly: "Some types of charcoal can replace charcoal for ironmaking with a little treatment, and the quality of the iron produced is no different from charcoal."

"Really?" Chunyu Zhen's eyes showed surprise.Coke, even if it is simply processed coke, because the impurities cannot be removed completely, there is a huge gap between the iron material smelted from charcoal.However, indiscriminate felling of forests was strictly prohibited in the Xia Kingdom, and the price of charcoal used in ironmaking was more than twice as expensive as that in Kanto, and the price of the refined iron produced was also higher.Because Xia people love to use good iron, some merchants used charcoal to smelt iron in Song Dynasty, and then smuggled it to Guanzhong for sale.

Zhao Xingde nodded slightly, and said in a deep voice: "I remember that the approximate location is Jinhua Mountain in the north of Chang'an, there are many coal veins there, and you need to send someone to collect samples to determine the origin of this fine charcoal, and then we will send The mining rights have been bid for." He paused, then sighed, "This kind of fine charcoal is rare elsewhere, and it can be said to be a treasure in the world. If it is used to burn it for heating, it would be a waste of money."

Chunyu Zhen was even more shocked by his words, he nodded and said, "It's just like what Mr. said."

Zhao Xingde said again: "After the origin of the charcoal is determined, we can bid for a high-quality small iron mine." He slightly closed his eyelids, thought about it for a while, and said, "The Qinling Mountains, a hundred and fifty miles west of Chang'an, are located in the heart of the Qinling Mountains. Iron ore is the best, Mr. Chunyu can pay more attention to it." He estimated that with the scale of iron smelting in this era, there is no need to mine the large mines of later generations.Chun Yuzhen nodded again.The ore veins in Guanzhong have already gone through a lot of exploration. Instead of trying to find new mines, it would be more convenient to simply buy the mining rights of the existing mine veins.

Xia Guo divided the iron mines into nine grades. The ore of the high grade has high iron content, while the ore of the low grade contains less iron, so the price naturally varies.According to what Zhao Xingde said, he was determined to use charcoal to smelt high-quality steel that was comparable to charcoal smelting, so he would rather use expensive high-grade small ores than low-grade ores.In this era, smelting one catty of iron needs to consume as much as five or six catties of charcoal. Zhao Xingde plans to build blast furnaces near the coal producing areas in the future. Considering the transportation costs, high-grade ore should be much more cost-effective.

The two then agreed that Chun Yuzhen would be in charge of the daily operation of the iron ore business, holding [-]% of the shares, while Zhao Xingde would only hold [-]% of the shares.Both of them put most of the bounty they got from casting cannons into the business of mining and smelting iron.Chun Yuzhen sent people to Jinhua Mountain to find out the fine charcoal veins and bid for them.During this period, Zhao Xingde first assisted Chun Yuzhen in building a small coke oven and began to optimize the coking process.Because charcoal is generally used instead of wood for heating in Xia Kingdom, and coal can be bought everywhere, but it is not so easy to find suitable iron mines.

After Chun Yuzhen's cannon-casting skills were accomplished, although he was praised by others, he always felt that something was missing. Now that Zhao Xingde proposed the business of mining and iron making, he was like a tired horse who suddenly heard the sound of the golden drum of charging. Excitedly ready to do it again.Unlike casting cannons, iron smelting involves thousands of households. In the Xia Kingdom, most of the real wealthy businessmen cannot do without businesses such as tea, iron, cloth, horse and porcelain.

But at this time, Linquan Palace was shrouded in a haze.Both the Zhuguo Mansion and the Huguo Mansion raised doubts about the interference in the autonomy of the chamber of commerce, which made Chen Xuan quite annoyed.

"Many Zhu Guo and Xiaowei in Guanzhong have money to invest in the workshop, and even the public treasuries of various armies and military mansions are also involved. And the school lieutenants in Hezhong are worried that the imperial court will interfere with the operation of the chamber of commerce. Once this case is opened, the legacy Infinity." Liu Yi's face was not good-looking, and whenever the imperial court used troops, if there was a shortage of supplies hoarded by the logistics department, the merchants in the river would raise the prices of some goods. It's a waste of money to hide more.The Supplies Department had been dissatisfied for a long time, but it was forced by the court's rule not to interfere with the self-government of merchants, so it could not force the chamber of commerce to stabilize the value of goods.

"Some Zhu kingdoms say that allowing chambers of commerce to govern themselves and recognizing contracts between merchants is the law of the court. If the court interferes with the contract, the court itself will violate the law. How will your majesty govern the world in the future?" Liu Yi looked at With an angry look on Chen Xuan's face, he said slowly, "They also said that if the emperor felt that the workers were in a miserable situation, he could improve the treatment of the workers in Fuhaihang Workshop, or the inner treasury would provide money to help the workers. It is a matter of the imperial court's law. Moreover, if you want to help the Guanzhong workers, there is no source for the money."

"This group of old and young, I want...," Chen Xuan said angrily. He rarely expressed his dissatisfaction with the Zhu Guofu of the Huguo Mansion, but after holding back for a while, he couldn't say what to do.It is not the first time that the Zhuguofu of the Huguofu has its own opinion.

Chen Xuan forcibly calmed down the anger in his chest, and asked in a deep voice: "Could it be that among Zhu Guo and the school lieutenant, there is no one who agrees with the proposal of the Prime Minister's Mansion?"

"There are indeed," Liu Yi said in a deep voice, "Zhu Guo's school captain Yang Ren and Yu Zangyun both advocated restricting the wanton slavery of workers in workshops, and Xu Wenhu, who has just retired, also supports the Prime Minister's Mansion. However, because of the new law and The conflict of the original law requires the consent of more than two-thirds of the Zhu Kingdom to amend the original law and then promulgate a new law. Moreover, the two parties in the Protectorate Palace are still at loggerheads."

"So that's the case," Chen Xuan murmured, "If the Huguo Mansion is not unanimously opposed, what if I issue an order to rectify this matter first?"

Liu Yi's face changed slightly, and the Hanguang Hall suddenly became quiet, the wind whizzed outside, and only the breathing of the monarch and his ministers could be heard in the hall.The elder brother of the first emperor, Chen Su, repeatedly slandered the two governments and issued edicts. More than 300 school lieutenants impeached him on the grounds of "acting unworthy of the king". He was finally deposed by the two governments and replaced by Chen Yuan, the father of Chen Xuan, who was also the first emperor.Since then, the emperor has been extremely cautious in making decisions on major issues alone. In this case, Chen Xuan first ordered the implementation of the matter that was still in dispute between the two governments, at the risk of losing the hearts of the people.

Liu Yi was silent for a while, and said in a deep voice: "What I worry about is that in the autonomous region, the chamber of commerce pays to maintain the city guards. The imperial court never interferes with the appointment and dismissal of personnel. Although the commander of the city guards is sworn to A retired military officer who is loyal to the imperial court, but if the chamber of commerce is bewitched by the imperial court's perverse actions first, and the edict violates the law, it is difficult to guarantee the consequences. The attitude of the two governments is unclear now. If a rebellion is aroused, Colonel Guanzhong If the attitude is ambiguous, could it be that the imperial court mobilizes the army stationed in Longyou Mobei to attack Chang'an?"

Chen Xuan remained silent.Because the matter was so important, he shunned the guards.In the empty Hanguang Hall, there is only echoes humming, the evening sunlight slanted into the hall through the windows, and the tall palace pillars dragged long slanted shadows, enveloping the monarch and his ministers. Shrouded in black shadows.

Liu Yi said again: "Russia is now tentatively settled, the Turkic people are accumulating strength to provoke troubles, Mobei is unstable, Liao and Song are ready to move, and there will be a big war in a few years. There are many troubles in the four directions, and the country can no longer be 'chaos'. At the beginning, it was forced to implement The "Redemption and Purchase of the Land Equalization Act" was agreed by the two governments. The "rebellion" in the river was rebelled. Afterwards, the war to counter the rebellion caused heavy casualties to the people, so that "Sichuan and Shaanxi filled the river". Emperor Weiyuan also had to commit the crime Ji Zhao abdicated. Later, the slavery system was abolished in the country, and the two governments were still arguing endlessly, and the slave army rose up. When the civil war was on the verge of breaking out, if the Jiaojun army had not subdued the rebellious slaves, the fate of the country would be in jeopardy. The current situation is just like that of the past resemblance."

Chen Xuan listened, and suddenly interrupted Liu Yi, asking: "Is the royal family and Fuhaixing also opening workshops in Guanzhong?"

Liu Yi thought for a moment, and replied: "Not only the royal family, but as far as I know, all the founding princes, including the Liu family, have set up workshops in Guanzhong, but most of us employ craftsmen and craftsmen from the guild Workers, they rarely recruit exiles as workers." His tone was not sure.The Xia Kingdom forbids land annexation, and those descendants of the royal family and the founding princes cannot inherit titles and fiefdoms. There are a large number of people who run caravan workshops, and it is inevitable that some of them are in cahoots with those merchants who enslave refugees.

Chen Xuan nodded, and sighed: "The chamber of commerce is involved in countless threads, no wonder there is so much resistance in the two prefectures. The people are struggling and displaced, how can it be called a peaceful and prosperous world." He shook his head, feeling extremely stuffy in his chest, and then Standing in front of the window, he took a deep breath of the cold air to calm down his restless mood.On the opposite side of the window in Shouchangze, another group of people were looking at the palace. Seeing Chen Xuan standing by the window, they shouted long live towards this direction. Chen Xuan took a deep breath and waved his hand towards that direction. Get excited.With the cool wind blowing, his feverish mind gradually calmed down. Chen Xuan's face turned resolute, and he said in a deep voice, "Although it is difficult to improve the situation of the workers, it must be done."

"The prime minister's mansion first opened a government office in the autonomous region of the Chang'an Chamber of Commerce. On the one hand, it helps the people, and on the other hand, it investigates various workshops." While thinking, Chen Xuan said, "I think that the autonomy of the Chamber of Commerce is still the same, and the workshops are mixed. You might as well find out the workshops that really abuse and enslave workers. Then make public the place where people and gods are indignant. In addition," he turned around and said with a sneer, "of course the contract is to be protected, but the law also protects the workers. Subjects are not subject to lynching. After the government office is opened, it will first investigate whether there are selfless punishments, beatings, and even injuries in the workshop." He paused, and said with emphasis, "We must get real evidence."