It's just that things were destined to disappoint them.
The first snow in Beijing came later than in previous years.
But when God intervened, it snowed heavily like goose feathers.
It continued to snow for several hours, and then turned into urgent small snowflakes.
As a result, the prices of charcoal and firewood in Beijing skyrocketed.
The price of charcoal, which originally cost three cents per catty, rose to five cents, while the price of firewood rose from twenty cents per hundred catties to thirty-two cents.
Even with this, there is still some shortage of supply.
But the nobles and gentry in the outer city were no longer surprised by this.
After all, there are one or two accidents every year, and they have prepared for them. Almost every household will fill the woodshed with firewood and charcoal early in the morning.
There is still enough money to support the whole family through the winter.
This extra money... can be used to make some extra money.
But this year their plans were dashed.
The price of black coal briquettes in the blacksmith shop didn’t increase at all!
At first, few people paid attention to the blacksmith shop, because according to inertia, at such a time, the price of things that can keep warm will inevitably increase.
But the neighbors who were among the first to buy the stove and coal briquettes brought home a whole truckload of coal briquettes.
So some people became suspicious and after asking carefully, they found out that the price of coal briquettes had not increased.
Now the people rushed to the blacksmith shop.
No matter how expensive the stove is, it can be used for a long time.
Unlike the firewood that has gone up in price, once it’s burned there’s nothing left!
The convenience and durability of coal briquettes far exceeded their imagination. Even if they did not buy a stove, they bought a lot and kept them at home.
When there is really no firewood to burn, you can throw coal balls into the charcoal brazier to keep warm!
Word spread from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred, until every blacksmith shop in the outer city was packed with people.
Yinreng had anticipated this situation long ago, and at the beginning of the heavy snow, he ordered people to deliver goods to the outer city.
He never fought an unprepared battle. From the beginning of the year to now, the mountains of coal stoves and coal briquettes in the outer city were enough for the people in the suburbs of Beijing to consume.
The first heavy snow of this year cost every household in the capital a lot of money, but no one was worried about it.
Instead, they were all in high spirits, praising the blacksmith shop.
The gentry were unable to make any money from the people this year, and one can imagine how angry they were.
Whose business is this?
How dare you be so unruly?!
The officials in the capital who were looking for a chance to make a fortune began to unite against the enemy and investigate the owner of the blacksmith shop...
But wait!
Blacksmith shop?!
Everyone realized the seriousness of the problem, so the investigation came to nothing.
A small number of nobles who had some concerns were also caught off guard by this situation.
Did the prince get kicked in the head by a donkey?
Such a good opportunity, no price increase?!
How much silver can you earn with the price of one cent and three pieces?
When someone is dissatisfied, someone will impeach.
The reason was that Yinreng squandered the money from the national treasury.
Giving benefits to the people is certainly a good thing, but you cannot use the money from the national treasury to give benefits!
They sound high-sounding words, but in fact they want to get involved in the coal industry.
Based on the current sales volume, they set the price of coal briquettes slightly higher and sell them in other provinces.
You definitely won’t have to worry about not making money.
Although the "Great Qing Law Code" stipulates that ordinary bannermen are not allowed to engage in business, they are not ordinary bannermen.
They are nobles with titles.
There are too many fields and land at home to be consumed, so selling them to ordinary people would be a good deed!
Didn’t you see that the emperor turned a blind eye?
The court was filled with outrage, as if the prince had done something terribly evil.
Kangxi just looked at it coldly, then turned to look at Yinreng.
"Prince, how do you explain this?"
Yinreng took a step forward, bowed and said,
"Your Majesty, the coal stove and briquettes business is registered under the Ministry of Revenue, and all revenue and losses are recorded. If you are interested, you can go to the Ministry of Revenue and look through the account books to find evidence of my wanton squandering of the national treasury."
People in the court turned their attention to the Minister of Revenue, Maltu.
Maltu was calm and composed.
I don't even want to give them any attention.
He still vividly remembered how he was tricked by the prince. Now he wanted to be a bystander and watch his colleagues make a fool of themselves.
"What kind of shit is that? With that much energy, you'd be better off working as a laborer on the dikes and ports. You're just staring at the little money in people's pockets all day long, and you're not afraid of going to hell when you die."
"However... transporting coal from Shanxi to the capital is still a bit difficult. The official road is also difficult to travel on when it snows heavily. Used coal briquettes can be crushed to pave the road. Otherwise, I'd like to find someone to recycle the coal slag. That would require a lot of work..."
Yinreng was pondering the feasibility of paving the road with coal slag.
The saying that if you want to get rich, you must first build roads is not a joke.
Coal briquettes can be produced in Beijing, but transportation becomes a big problem.
In fact, he suddenly remembered that there was also a coal mine near the capital.
But the coal that has just been dug cannot be used.
Need to wash with water.
There are too many impurities in the coal washing water and it is impossible to discharge it directly.
So Yinreng found a coal mine deep in the mountains with a small population in Shanxi to start digging.
There is an underground river nearby, which perfectly solves the problem of water for coal washing.
There were not many people in the nearby villages, so he spent a lot of money to let them move their families and become the first batch of "relocated households" in this dynasty.
Afterwards, he recruited able-bodied men from nearby counties to build a road to the outside world. This project alone took him several months.
While Kangxi was listening to Yinreng's inner thoughts, he turned his attention to the officials who impeached Yinreng.
"The capital has been experiencing heavy snowfall for several days now. Although there has been no disaster, I still have concerns. If you have some free time, please consider how you can help me share my worries..."
"Coal mines are also minerals, with the same status as iron and copper mines. The imperial court is not allowed to get involved! Anyone who violates this will be guilty of treason!"
Kangxi made the final decision.
Everyone felt nervous when they heard this.
This cuts off their chance to get involved in the coal mining industry.
People in the court have different thoughts.
Yinreng widened his eyes.
"I didn't expect the old man to have such courage. Coal is a strategic resource and should be controlled by the state."
"That's because the steam engine hadn't been invented yet. Otherwise, coal mines would be much more useful than they are now... I don't even know how it works, I just know that steam drives machinery..."
Yinreng frowned.
Yinyou will be able to enter the court next year, and he has to test whether that kid can be an inventor.
If not, he would have to give Yinyou a direction and let him cultivate talents in mathematics and physics.
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