Chapter 112 Don’t bother me
Old Zhu was born into a peasant family. He was best at fighting, but he had only a superficial understanding of many other things.
Although the Ming Dynasty now has six ministries and special coal mines, they are too far away from Yingtian Prefecture. As far as Zhu Yuanzhang knows, the largest annual output of the Ming Dynasty's coal mines is only one million dan.
Therefore, Lao Zhu had a preconceived notion that no matter how big the coal mine in Changning County was, it could not be that big, and at most its annual output could only be a few hundred thousand dan.
But now that he saw Zhu Chong kept refusing, he realized that there might be something else fishy going on.
Zhu Chong was waiting for this question, so he answered without hesitation: "Your Majesty is wise. Based on the mining situation in the past few days, I estimate that the annual output of the coal mine discovered in Changning County is over one million dan!"
"Over a million dan? Are you sure?" Old Zhu stood up from the throne. "Second Brother, are you serious?"
Zhu Biao's expression also changed, but Zhu Chong's next words almost made him lose his breath.
"It's almost certain. The old master at the Baochao Tizhusi even exaggerated it. He believes that Changning County's coal reserves could exceed 10 million dan."
"Hiss..." Old Zhu took a breath of cold air, and the prince's chest heaved violently like a bellows.
Even though they were mentally prepared, they couldn't help but get excited after hearing Zhu Chong's words.
What is the concept of "wanwandan"? In the Ming Dynasty, one dan was one hundred catties. Even if one catty of coal only sold for one penny, "wanwandan" was still a terrifying number!
During the years that Zhu Yuanzhang was in power, the annual revenue of the national treasury did not exceed 10 million taels of silver, while the military expenditure spent on the three Northern Expeditions in these years was as high as 10 million taels of silver.
Because of this, Zhu Yuanzhang, who had no money in his pocket, thought of issuing treasure notes to make up for the shortfall in the Ministry of Revenue.
But now a mountain of gold has fallen from the sky for him, and he can earn a large sum of money every year just by mining coal. How can he not be happy?
"Second brother, are you serious?" Old Zhu asked Zhu Chong again, and this time his voice couldn't help but tremble.
This was really rare during all the years that Zhu Yuanzhang was in power, but he urgently needed to get a definite answer from Zhu Chong, for fear that Zhu Chong was exaggerating to please him and leaving him with nothing in the end.
"Your Majesty, I have personally calculated this," Zhu Chong explained earnestly. "The mining area can now produce nearly 3,000 dan of coal per day. Based on this figure, the annual output is at least one million dan."
"I bought four barren mountains, and now all of them have been surveyed. The interior of the barren mountains is basically coal mines, so the reserves of tens of millions of dan should not be a problem. The actual reserves may be even greater than this figure."
Zhu Chong was absolutely certain when he said this. The coal reserves in Changning County were estimated by later generations to be over 10 billion tons.
One billion tons converted into Ming Dynasty units is as much as one million dan, but adhering to the principle of speaking less rather than more, Zhu Chong now tells Old Zhu directly the reserves that can be calculated.
But even so, Old Zhu couldn't help but gasp, and even asked Zhu Chong to write down the entire calculation process for him in front of him.
When Zhu Chong put the numbers in front of Old Zhu, Old Zhu was so happy that he patted Zhu Chong on the shoulder repeatedly and said, "Second brother, you have really made progress. You have even learned arithmetic quite well now!"
"Well..." Zhu Chong acted embarrassed. "Since I took over the Treasury and Banknotes Administration, I've discovered that I was truly unlearned and incompetent. Now I'm just cramming for exams at the last minute. I hope Your Majesty won't laugh at me."
Hearing what Zhu Chong said, Old Zhu became even happier. What he liked most was seeing his son making progress. He was especially happy now that he saw such an astonishing reserve of coal.
But Old Zhu thought about it and asked, "Not bad, not bad, but the output of nearly 3,000 dan a day seems too low. Second Brother, do you have any ideas about who should be the most suitable person to mine the coal mine?"
"This matter should be decided by Your Majesty." Zhu Chong had already completed his plan for this round, so there was no reason for him to worry about these details.
He had no intention of participating in the mining. He was ready to bring back the craftsmen working in the coal mine at any time and had never thought about taking a share in the mining, so he gave Lao Zhu a heads-up in advance.
"Also, I implore Your Majesty to dispatch a new government-run mining workshop to take over the mine as soon as possible. I also wish to withdraw the craftsmen from the Treasure Banknote Administration Office from the mine as soon as possible so that I can complete the tasks Your Majesty has previously assigned to me."
"We don't care about this matter. Come on, call the Minister of Works Qin Kui." Old Zhu gave an order, and the Minister of Works Qin Kui, who was still kneeling outside, happily knelt back into the imperial study.
"Qin Kui, from now on, you will follow Zhu Chong and do his work." Old Zhu said shockingly.
"The mining of the coal mine will be supervised and carried out by you and him. This matter concerns national policy. We are giving you a chance to make meritorious contributions while serving your sentence. Do you understand?"
"I obey your order, thank you!" Qin Kui agreed immediately after hearing this. He was worried that Zhu Yuanzhang would continue to punish him, but he didn't expect that he was just asked to cooperate with Zhu Chong, so he was naturally willing to do it.
However, Zhu Chong immediately refused to do this and quickly resigned, "Your Majesty, I'm afraid this is inappropriate. I am only the Director of the Treasury and Banknotes Administration, and I have to attend to my duties. The Minister of Works is several levels higher than me, so how can he work under me? This is inappropriate!"
"There's nothing wrong with that." Old Zhu made another startling statement. "From now on, I will restore your title as King of Qin, and you will be in charge of the Treasury and Banknotes Administration Office, as well as the Ministry of Works. It's settled, and the decree will be announced to the whole country shortly!"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Chong was dumbfounded. Old Zhu was really more imaginative than himself in doing things. He had restored his title of King of Qin and even put the Ministry of Works under his control. This was too hasty!
Just as he was wondering whether he should refuse again, Crown Prince Zhu Biao couldn't stand it anymore and kicked Zhu Chong on the back of the knee. He pulled Zhu Chong to thank him together and then quickly left the imperial study.
"Brother Prince, I can't do this. How about..." Zhu Chong thought that he couldn't do it alone and had to drag the prince along.
"Don't give me that. I was wondering how you were going to return the 10 million strings of cash to me. It turns out you were waiting for me here!" Zhu Biao interrupted Zhu Chong directly.
"The Emperor will give you his order soon. Just go ahead and do your job without worry. Don't try to drag me down with you. I have a lot of official duties to attend to. Can you please be considerate of me and stop torturing me?"
After Zhu Biao finished speaking, he ran away, leaving Zhu Chong and Qin Kui stunned.
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