Chapter 109 Uproar
"By the way, after we return to Yingtian Prefecture, please inform Old Liu and the others to find some craftsmen who know how to quarry and mine for me. The wages are negotiable, and the more people the better."
"Yes, sir." When Zhang Quan heard what Zhu Chong said, his guess came true.
Zhu Chong had stopped burning lime because the lime kiln had no coal as fuel.
Could it be that he had discovered coal in those wastelands? If that were the case, it would be too bizarre!
After all, finding a mine is not as easy as finding Zhu Chong. They just walked around and stopped today, looked around, and didn't see Zhu Chong do anything. If they could find a coal mine in this way, it would really be something to tell a story.
However, since Zhu Chong had given the order, Zhang Quan had to obey it. He didn't have to spend any money anyway, so he could just wait and see the result.
So a few days later, when a large number of horse-drawn carriages loaded with high-quality coal entered the Baochao Tizhusi in the early morning, Zhang Quan's eyes almost popped out.
After Zhu Chong checked the coal and confirmed that it was all high-quality coal, he arranged for the lime kiln to start working.
When he saw the blue flames burning in the lime kiln, he felt relieved.
The quality of this batch of coal from Changning County is quite good, and it is the best-quality anthracite. Just these dozen or so trucks of coal have almost made back all the money Zhu Chong spent on buying the land.
Soon, the news of the high-quality coal produced in Changning County spread among the people of Yingtian Prefecture, and at the fastest speed, it reached the imperial palace, shocking countless people.
In fact, during the Ming Dynasty, people in many parts of the country had already used coal for heating or fuel.
If we go back further, from the Han Dynasty to the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, there were even large-scale government-run coal mines and even open-pit coal mining workshops.
At that time, the Central Plains used coal not only as fuel but also in large quantities for iron smelting. Coal could even be processed into different forms and sold.
During the reign of the Mongols in the previous dynasty, coal was developed more widely and its uses became more diverse. It was even much cheaper than charcoal. These are all recorded in historical materials.
But why is it that in the Ming Dynasty, there was no trace of coal in Yingtian Prefecture, the capital of the great Ming Dynasty?
This was certainly because the war had just subsided, but the more important reason was that there were no mines near Yingtian Prefecture.
Today, most of the Ming Dynasty's trial exploration and mining are in the northwest region, which was once a battlefield with vast land and sparse population. After years of war and natural disasters, the population density has dropped to a critical value.
Due to the small population, the mining and use of coal are naturally at the lowest energy level.
Therefore, although Yingtian Prefecture has a large population and a huge demand for various fuels, it has no nearby coal resources. Therefore, if it wants to use high-quality coal, it can only be transported from the farther northwest.
This then involves transportation costs. At that time in the Ming Dynasty, whether it was land transportation or canal transportation, the price of coal plus transportation costs would definitely be much higher than the price of charcoal. Merchants would not make any profit at all, so naturally they would not do such a thankless task.
Therefore, the news that the Baochao Tizhusi had discovered coal spread throughout Yingtian Prefecture at the fastest speed.
However, it is impossible for the people of Yingtian Prefecture to go to the scene to witness the incident. After all, who would go so far to watch the excitement?
However, Changning County Magistrate Yu Tong personally led people to the scene to check the mining situation.
Soon another rumor spread that Changning County Magistrate Yu Tong had discovered high-quality coal at the scene. When he confirmed that it was from the barren mountain that he had sold to Zhu Chong, he stamped his feet and beat his chest, almost bursting into tears.
Afterwards, he returned to the county government office and immediately wrote a memorial to defend himself, describing Zhu Chong as a greedy and shameless person who used his power to oppress others.
After all, Yu Tong had been an official in Changning County for so many years and had not discovered the existence of coal. Now he sold a barren mountain rich in coal mines to Zhu Chong at such a low price. The court would definitely investigate after knowing about it, so he had to write a memorial to defend himself quickly.
But Zhu Chong didn't care about these things at all. What he did every day was to arrange the daily work of the Baochao Tizhusi and assign people to them. As long as his requirements and workload were met, he would readily pay the craftsmen.
However, what Zhu Chong didn't know was that his actions really caused a huge uproar.
After hearing about the discovery of a large coal mine in Changning County and the county magistrate's self-defense memorial, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately sent the Embroidered Uniform Guard to inspect the scene.
After verifying that the facts were correct, Lao Zhu couldn't help but be shocked and angry.
What surprised Old Zhu was that Yingtian Prefecture had not found a coal mine for so many years, but now it was suddenly found, and the reserves were not small, but the person who found it was not a government official.
But what made him angry was that the land where the coal mine in Changning County was located had been purchased by someone, and it was impossible for the government to take it back now, unless Old Zhu did not abide by the rules he set and forcibly took back the land.
But that was impossible. Old Zhu would not slap himself in the face because of a coal mine, especially in this densely populated area of Beijing, unless he wanted to arouse public resentment.
In a rage, Zhu Yuanzhang naturally wanted to find someone to vent his anger on. He called over all the officials involved in geological surveys, including the Minister of Works, who were in Beijing, and started scolding them.
The officials who were scolded by Zhu were like eggplants hit by frost. They suppressed their inner fear and almost prostrated themselves on the ground, fearing that their heads would be in danger.
Everyone secretly cursed their bad luck. Who could have imagined that such a large coal mine was hidden right under their noses.
What is even more unexpected is that someone got there first and bought the entire piece of land at such a low price.
Jinyiwei commander Mao Xiang was also kneeling in the crowd at this moment. Jinyiwei also had the duty of investigation. As the commander of Jinyiwei, Mao Xiang certainly could not escape when such a big thing happened.
Old Zhu scolded for two full hours before he finally got tired. He angrily ordered all the officials to continue kneeling on the ground to reflect on their mistakes, then he called Mao Xiang by name and led him into his imperial study.
"Your Majesty, I am guilty. Please punish me."
As soon as he entered the imperial study, Mao Xiang knelt down and apologized. This was his old routine.
"Get out of here! We didn't call you in to hear you talk nonsense." Old Zhu kicked Mao Xiang directly.
Mao Xiang fell to the ground. He could feel that Lao Zhu's kick was not hard, and he was delighted. He quickly pretended to cry out in pain for a while, then stood up tremblingly to express his gratitude.
"We know you're not to blame for what happened in Changning County. Bring the county magistrate to the palace. We'll have to ask him what made him crazy enough to sell our land!"
"I obey your order!" Mao Xiang felt as if he had been pardoned. He quickly stood up and prepared to leave, but at this moment, someone stepped into the imperial study and shouted loudly.
"Wait a minute!"
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