"Your Highness, the Honorable Marquis Wu Weiying, the Marquis of Xincheng Wang Guoxing, the Marquis of Xinle Liu Wenbing, Chengyi Bo Liu Kongzhao, Hui'an Bo Zhang Qingzhen, Xuancheng Bo Wei Shitai, and Zhangwu Bo Yang Chongyou are asking for an audience outside the palace!"
"Oh? Announce it!"
The Beijing rebels had just been killed, and they suddenly came in a group. Why did they want to cut their waists?
However, since these seven nobles were still on his side in the previous court meeting and were more or less sensible, a certain prince could meet them despite his busy schedule.
Besides, there are so many things needed to refine sulfonamide. The servants didn’t even prepare the crucible. There was a lot of difference in other necessary materials, so Yaoji could only postpone the experiment.
"I bow to His Highness the Crown Prince and wish..."
"Excuse me, Ping Sheng. All of you dear ministers are people who have the overall situation in mind. I deeply believe that. There is no need to be polite. Come and give me a seat!"
Each of the seven of them had previously subscribed for 50,000 taels of purple bonds, which was regarded as paying protection fees.
At first it was said that it was a free donation and no money was taken, but a certain prince would not eat and drink for free, leaving a bad impression on everyone of robbing families and homes.
The 350,000 taels of silver were finally collected as ten-year deposits, with a profit of 25%. After maturity, each family would make a net profit of 12,500 taels of silver.
At first, the prince's arrangement was not taken seriously by the nobles, let alone any intention of asking for it. They were all spending money to buy peace.
But later it was discovered that the eunuch Jizhou of the East Palace Bingbi who was in charge of this matter was very attentive and even made the passbook more exquisitely. Moreover, the total subscription amount of the nobles, chamberlains and maids in the palace had exceeded the five million mark.
Coupled with the fact that the prince wants to mine gold mines in the coastal area north of Shandong as a mortgage, the benefits of this gold mine are well known to the world. If you think about it, it is indeed true, but you can return the money to yourself with profits. You will be completely relieved.
Everyone was seated. Wu Weiying, the obedient Marquis, considered his speech in his mind first, and felt that it was almost done, so he spoke first: "Your Highness, when I heard about the rebellion in the capital, I became very anxious. Unfortunately, there were no soldiers in the mansion, and each family only had dozens of servants. , and cannot be reused. Fortunately, His Highness coordinated the overall situation, and General Huang commanded it properly, and the inner city was protected. It is really a great blessing for the country!"
The rebellion in the capital camp frightened the nobles so much that they wanted to go to the imperial city to pay their respects to the prince but were afraid of causing trouble to the prince for no reason. They could only wait until the rebellion was suppressed before they dared to form a group to come and inquire about the matter.
The overall situation has been decided, so it's okay for Yaoji to reveal some battle reports to him: "Haha, Jingying has always been lazy and neglected training, but this time he overestimated his capabilities and dared to hit an egg against a stone. Naturally, he will end up like a clown, vulnerable. Now he has control. Four of the six lieutenants of the three battalions have been killed, and only two of them are escaping with their remnants, so there is nothing to fear!"
If this group of people hadn't taken the initiative to commit suicide, a certain prince would have had to find an excuse to deal with those tea merchants who regarded their wealth as their lives. He sincerely thanked the Beijing camp for launching the rebellion...
Hearing that all the people in the capital camp had been killed, everyone felt at ease. Liu Kongzhao, the sincere uncle, immediately raised his hands in salute and said, "I would like to congratulate your highness on your decision to fight, and bring peace to the people of the capital!"
Although these people have not completely become the prince's subordinates, if the Beijing camp invades the inner city, they will definitely demand a huge amount of silver from them. This is a situation that no one wants to see.
Xinlehou Liu Wenbing took advantage of the opportunity to bring out the meeting gift according to the price they had discussed before: "Now that the root of the disaster has been eliminated, I have nothing to repay, so I am willing to contribute 10,000 taels of silver each to Your Highness!"
It is impossible for them to come to the palace empty-handed, greet the prince, and then leave without leaving anything behind. That would be like entering the palace to entertain the prince.
As soon as this statement came out, the other six nobles also agreed. Yaoji ignored this and said to himself: "I wonder if you, my beloved, know the current price of coal in Beijing?"
This question suddenly appeared and knocked seven nobles unconscious on the spot. What exactly is going on? Why did the prince end up on coal? Don’t you want seventy thousand taels of silver?
Everyone looked at each other in confusion, Hui'an Bo Zhang Qingzhen knew better, because his family had been very frugal in eating recently, and he was afraid of being caught by a certain prince: "Your Majesty, I know something about it, charcoal is two to three liang per hundred catties, and coke is Three to four taels per hundred catties!”
The price of coke seems to be quite high. Other charcoal sellers are similar to those in the Bai Juyi era. They earn hard-earned money. They dig it out of the ground and then refine it. They work hard to deliver it to your doorstep all the way. It only costs 100 kilograms. It costs three taels of silver, which is really not much.
Although Xungui is clad in gold and silver, he is not completely ignorant of the trivial matters of firewood, rice, oil and salt. Xuancheng Bo Wei Shitai also echoed: "What Hui'an Bo said is true, the situation caused by me is similar to Hui'an Bo, and the price is not much different. "
Even if one of the seven of them didn't know, all he had to do was nod his head after these two people. Besides, the dignified Uncle Hou might not even know how to cook, so there was no shame in not knowing the price of charcoal.
Yaoji had already asked the chamberlain around him before, and he already knew the prices of the four types of fuels: charcoal, firewood, coal, and coke, so he asked: "Well, I wonder if you are interested in running the coal business? "
There is never a shortage of big business in the hands of a certain prince. It depends on whether you dare to throw money into it. This business is not suitable for courtiers to run. Only the master with enough money in his pocket can get involved, such as the one in front of you. Several.
The Marquis of Xincheng Wang Guoxing was happy, but he had a lot of doubts in his heart, so he said respectfully: "If His Highness intends to do this, I will be willing to operate it, but this coal..."
The king asks the minister to sell charcoal, but the minister has no choice but to sell charcoal!
It's okay if the prince wants them to sell coal, but at least there must be a channel to get the goods, right?
You can't just open your mouth and touch a small mouth, and everyone will suddenly become a coal boss, right?
Yao Ji looked at the confused nobles who were surrounded by him, blinked and said: "I have already made preparations. Dear friends, you don't need to worry about the source of coal. If you are interested, you can start preparing for Kailuan The establishment of the Coal Group! I have no intention of competing with Min for profit, but from now on, the imperial city, various yamen, various mansions, and major merchants will all purchase coal from the Kailuan Coal Group for cooking and heating. The total number is expected to be high. It’ll be too low!”
A certain prince did not intend to monopolize the business, so he had to leave a way for the charcoal sellers to survive. Ordinary people could still buy charcoal and firewood from self-employed businesses.
However, the imperial palace, government agencies, the families of courtiers, and the businessmen who follow the chicken thighs all have to purchase goods from the "Kailuan Coal Group". If they do not purchase goods, they will not give face to a certain prince.
The Gongshun Hou Wu Weiying, who was sitting on the left hand side of the prince, thought about it and was still puzzled by some of the content, so he had to take the initiative to ask: "Your Highness, I don't know what this 'Kailuan Coal Group' is? Is it an organization that sells coal?"
Wu Weiying thought that this name was quite good, but it was still unclear whether the prince intended to set up a government office specializing in selling coal. He could only understand it by continuing to listen to the prince's explanation.
A certain prince had a talent for fooling locals, and he had a specialty that he could never get rid of: "'Group' means 'gathering and unity', and it is a commercial cooperation unit that is owned and controlled by private individuals, like an escort agency, a tea shop, or a restaurant. Wait, it’s just a large shop that sells coal. However, this shop integrates coal mining, smelting, transportation, sales and other processes into one, providing convenient services to customers who buy coal. It can be regarded as an enlarged version of the charcoal seller. !”
With this explanation, the nobles all understood, but there is another very important problem. If this is not solved, it will be impossible to sell coal at all.
Yaoji also noticed the questioning in everyone's eyes, so he continued: "Why is it called 'Kailuan Coal Group'? Because the coal mine is located in the area from Kaiping to Luanzhou in Yongping Prefecture, and the shallow coal depth is less than ten meters. The thickest part of the coal seam can be up to 100 meters thick. The mineable reserves in the open-pit part are about 15 billion kilograms or more, and the mineable reserves in the underground part are about 750 billion kilograms or more. Not counting the underground part, the mineable reserves alone are Open-pit raw coal is transported to the capital without smelting, and is sold for one or two silver per hundred kilograms. Excluding the expenses of miners, transportation, taxes, etc., the net profit can only be five cents of silver per hundred kilograms. If it is fully mined, it will be Earn 7.5 million taels!"
According to the calculations made by a certain prince, I believe no one will be tempted. The nobles have already been blinded by the astronomical reserves and cannot remember them at all. The only thing they can remember is the last amount.
Seven and a half million taels!
Not counting the prince's portion, each family can get a huge share of five hundred thousand taels!
This is simply a pie-in-the-sky super good thing. It not only falls on their heads, but also falls directly into their mouths.
Who wouldn't be ecstatic to get hundreds of thousands of taels of silver for free?
If it were a vassal king who was in charge of one side, I'm afraid he would also be moved by it.
"In view of your great contribution in the past, I will allow each of you to invest 20,000 taels of silver, and each family can occupy 10% of the coal mine's shares, which is a share. It is the same as other shops' shares when raising funds. The remaining 30% of the shares in the coal mine belong to me, and the dividends at the end of the year will be based on this proportion. I wonder what do you think?"
Yaoji wanted them to bid 50,000 taels, but since they had already come up with this amount before, if they tried to blackmail them harder, they might not be able to bear the money, so they just reduced it by an appropriate amount.
Xinlehou Liu Wenbing was so excited that he hurriedly stood up and saluted: "Your Highness is kind-hearted and magnanimous, and I am deeply grateful. However, in this way, His Highness's interests will be damaged. If His Highness does not give up, I am only willing to take half of it." Share!”
This is not just how much the prince gives you, you dare to eat as much as you want. Who knows if it is a trap. As a minister, you must know how to choose and give in. You should give up part of your benefits appropriately. Although you feel a little uncomfortable, this way you can live a better life. It's also better and lasts longer.
"I am also willing!"
Before Liu Wenbing finished speaking, the other six nobles also expressed their agreement with his point of view. The prince led them to make a lot of money, and it would be too ignorant to be greedy anymore.
Each family can pocket hundreds of thousands of taels of silver from this business, but you just swallowed it without saying anything. How will the prince look at you afterwards?
"...Okay, then each of you holds 7% of the shares, totaling 49%. I hold 51% of the shares, and have controlling rights to the coal mine. The dividends at the end of the year will be implemented according to this ratio. Each company will assign two directors to the coal mine. , one is responsible for attending the local coal mine’s board of directors, and the other is responsible for delivering orders and messages between the coal mine and the capital.”
Directors these days are not like later. A certain prince gave them two director seats just to let them have fun. Directors have no qualifications and power to vote because there is no need to vote. A certain prince has controlling rights, so he can do whatever he wants. Just play it.
I want to use these seven obedient nobles to show the vassals of the Ming Dynasty that those who obey me can not only drink and eat meat, but also make a lot of money. Those who oppose me will not only be killed, but will also die without a burial place. Where to go is up to you.
By the way, Yaoji explained the main purpose of asking the nobles to contribute money: "The 140,000 taels of silver raised by the seven of you are also of great use. Firstly, it is necessary to compensate the farmers whose land has been expropriated, and secondly, it is also used to recruit miners. Pay wages, and thirdly, it will be used as a means of transportation to purchase and build wharves and ports if necessary. Kailuan Coal Mine is very close to Shahe and Luanhe Rivers. It can be loaded directly into the sea from the river, transported to Tianjin and then transported by water. This is convenient Coal can be transported directly to the capital, and the cost of transporting it by horse-drawn carriage will be much lower than overland transportation.”
The distance of sea transportation is relatively long, but even if it takes a detour, the transportation cost will be much lower than that of horse-drawn carriages. This is one of the reasons why a certain prince advocates the mining of Kailuan Coal Mine. This mine is close to the capital and can also absorb the Yongping Prefecture area. The idle men can indirectly stabilize the rear of Shanhaiguan.
At this time, the nobles' minds were filled with boxes of silver. Whatever the prince said, they all thought it was right. Sincerity uncle Liu Kongzhao said: "Everything is subject to His Highness's arrangements. I will obey His Highness's orders!"
It seems that the prince has planned all the big and small things. They are just here to eat for free, and they will just sit and wait for the money at the end of the year.
The location of the coal mine was clearly visible on the map, and the nobles had no doubts about what the prince said.
Nowadays, there are countless gold, silver and jewels accumulated in the outer court. There is really no need for the prince to deceive them with a fake coal mine that does not exist for 140,000 taels of silver.
"There is something that you, dear friends, can really help with!"
These seven are all purebred local aborigines, so it will definitely work if they are separated from each other and sell coal.
Yaoji asked two little waiters to carry up a stove made of iron sheets, with a chimney about two meters high inserted on it.
There was also a little waiter who was struggling to hold a wooden tray with both hands. There were four cylindrical black things on the plate.
"Let's start the demonstration!"
After hearing the prince's instructions, the young chamberlains got busy. One of them opened the small door under the stove, first stuffed some withered grass and dry branches, then put black things on top, then lit the burning object, and waited for the fire to subside. It was so big that it started to fan.
The briquettes have been made for a long time, and because they have been drying, they were almost completely dry yesterday. Before even a cup of tea, the flames in the stove had the potential to jump out of the stove, which made the nobles stunned.
It's not like they have never seen the cooks in their own mansion lighting a fire to cook, but the stove here in the Prince's house is too magical. The speed of making fire is beyond imagination, and the intensity of the fire is terrifying. Could it be that the secret lies in this stove and the black object? ?
Yao Ji had to ask the waiter to sit down with a pot of water and prepare to boil it for tea.
Don’t mention the beef ramen. If you include this meal, you will have to eat it three times in a row...
