No wonder his grandfather Shenzong was keen on mining. It turned out that the profits from mining were so huge. If he could open a few more mines, even if they were not gold mines, he would not have to worry too much about his internal funds and the court's income.
Under the temptation of the mountains of money in his mind, Chongzhen no longer cared about the so-called competition with Min. He heard that this traitor was mining in Shandong, and there were few objections in the court. As an emperor, he could do it naturally. .
"Okay, Father, then we have a deal! I'll draw up the contract later, in duplicate. I and Father will sign it first, and it will be finalized after the cabinet attaches it."
Two percent makes 20 percent, which is much better than not even 10 percent. Considering the massive iron ore in Ma'anshan, the two percent can be converted into a good dividend. Whether the scapegoat will give it or not is another matter.
However, this matter also needs to be reviewed and approved by the cabinet, but it is just a process. A certain prince wants to turn all mining matters into a legitimate and legitimate business, so that he can choke those who are looking for trouble. stuff.
"...Hmm! Okay! Are there any giant mines nearby that can be exploited by the imperial court?"
Chongzhen is now addicted to mining. He is too short of money. If he wants to gain a foothold in Nandu, in addition to the Yongwei camp in his hand, he must have enough money.
Otherwise, he, the emperor, would have to be ignored again, and being ignored by his own son in the capital would only be regarded as a family scandal. After arriving in Nandu, being ignored by a group of ambitious ministers would mean repeating the same mistakes.
If one mine can yield five million taels of silver, then if ten mines are mined, wouldn't it be possible to earn five million taels of silver per year?
The operation of the imperial court should be calculated separately. If his own internal funds have so much income every year, he can make a lot of achievements in the southern capital.
"Father, there are huge coal mines in the Huaihe River and the Huaihe River, which are easy to mine. However, there is a shortage of coal in the south of the Yangtze River. The mined coal can be shipped and transported along the canal to various cities along the Yangtze River. My son's briquette business in the capital is very good. , the people can save far more silver taels by using honeycomb briquettes than ordinary coal. When winter comes in Jiangnan, every household will also enter the heating period. My father can take advantage of the trend and expand this business to Jiangnan. The nobles of Jiangnan can raise one million taels of silver. Let it occupy 40% of the coal mines and briquettes, and the remaining 60%, the father will occupy 40%, and the children will occupy 20%. In this way, the father can enjoy the success and benefit from hundreds of thousands of taels of silver every year!"
A certain prince had no time to run the business in Jiangnan for the time being, so he gave this big business of making money every day as a favor to the dumper. If he still cried about poverty, he would have to give this second-rate emperor a very bad review.
This business is highly operable, and a certain prince already has some experience in cooperating with nobles in the capital, so there is no problem in imparting some of his experience to the dumper.
"...One million taels of silver? Jiangnan Xungui is willing to pay this money?"
This is not a small amount of money. Before the exchange, Chongzhen couldn't even get it out. He asked for one million taels of silver. This traitor was really embarrassed to say it.
"Father, you can definitely understand things with reason and be moved by emotion! Our Ming Dynasty is facing many difficulties at the moment. It is obvious that some people are still in a state of being tight at the front and tight at the rear. How can such behavior be worthy of the holy family of my father? Are they worthy of the court's grace? If their father, Long Yan, is furious, not even a tael of silver will be left in their possessions! After weighing the pros and cons, they will also choose to obey their father! What's more, opening a coal mine and selling briquettes is extremely profitable. The business can be sold all year round. There is no threat from Donglu in the Jiangnan area. Coal mines can be mined all year round. Why not? Most of the nobles in Jiangnan are rich people who can rival the country. It is not like letting their family Paying out one million taels of silver is easy for many people to chip in. Father, please rest assured! Iron mines can actually be operated in this way. When it comes to mining, my father does not even have to pay a tael of silver and can just sit back and enjoy the dividends. Once something happens in the mine, let the nobles take responsibility. My father has always entrusted them with full authority to manage it, so you can express your ignorance at that time!"
You can play like this in the north, but in the south, you can still change the people who play the game, as long as you find a partner who is willing to pay.
These days, there is no business that is easier to make money than mining. If it doesn't work out to hire some coolies, disaster miners, etc., the prisoners can also make do with it. At the worst, they can be given a substantial reduction in their sentences and that's it.
As long as the ore is dug out of the ground, regardless of gold, silver, copper, iron, or even coal, and transported to the established market, you can make a lot of cash!
"..."
Chongzhen finally understood that this treacherous son was not just a bad person. He used this trick to control the remaining nobles. His methods were shameless and despicable.
But don’t tell me yet, it’s really possible!
If he is criticized by the government and the public when he arrives in the southern capital, especially if he cannot get the support of the nobles who are deeply loved by the saints, then he will have to use extraordinary means.
After this tortuous experience, Chongzhen also realized that his Ming Dynasty was already in a precarious stage. If he did not use thunderous means, he might not even be able to keep the throne.
Especially when the war in the north was raging, the nobles in the south of the Yangtze River were actually left with nothing, which made Chongzhen extremely angry, but he was beyond his reach. This time he moved to the southern capital, and saw if they still dared to cry for poverty to him?
Chongzhen wanted to see who among these nobles in Nandu dared to brazenly become the second "Huangdou Gong" of the Ming Empire!
"Father, I still remembered that there is tungsten sand in Jiangxi. They are open-pit mines and are very easy to mine. I can purchase tungsten sand worth one hundred thousand taels of silver from my father every year. If it is refined into tungsten in Jiangnan in advance Ingots are also available!”
It seems like a hundred thousand taels is a lot, but in fact it has to be calculated based on the CIF price, which is the price of shipping to the warehouse in the capital. A certain prince will not pay additional freight.
"...Tungsten sand? Why is it used?"
Chongzhen was very confused about this. It was understandable that Nizi wanted iron or copper, but purchasing such a large amount of tungsten was a bit unbelievable to him.
"Father, tungsten is a metal that is resistant to high temperatures and is not easy to melt or deform. It can be used as a filament and cannonballs!"
Buying light bulbs will also be a big and profitable business in the future. From mining to delivery, it will be great if the goods arrive next year, so you must say hello to the dumper in advance.
Furthermore, the warheads made of cannonballs are similar to cannonballs made of iron. Due to the high temperature when exiting the chamber, the iron pointed warhead will deform when it touches a hard object.
The "hard object" is the bastion. After some experiments, scientists at the Academy of Sciences discovered that tungsten warheads fired from imperial cannons can be driven into the walls of the bastion.
Therefore, a certain prince wanted to specially manufacture a batch of tungsten warheads to deal with the bastions in the west, especially when Zheng Laofi's army could not attack Relanze Castle for a long time.
The artillery shell made of metallic tungsten is not an ordinary prototype, but has the same shape as the later stabilized fin armor-piercing projectile, but its performance is much worse.
Even so, the sharp warhead like an arrow shaft can be driven directly into the wall of the imitation bastion by kinetic energy.
It is impossible to destroy the wall of the bastion in one go, but firing thousands of tungsten shells can disintegrate its seemingly solid shell.
The trick that a certain prince taught Mr. Zheng to use mortars to attack Relanzhe Castle from above was just an evil move. This was a tactic that could only be used when one's troops had an absolute terrain advantage.
On the vast plains, once one's own troops encounter a giant tortoise-like bastion, they are really helpless and helpless.
Of course, the reason why the bastion is highly regarded is because of its excellent defensive capabilities, and tungsten shells are only one of the means used by a certain prince to conquer the bastion. Only by combining with other weapons can victory be guaranteed.
In this extraordinary period, selling tungsten shells to Zheng Laopi is also a good choice. At least it can make you a lot of money, just like anti-ship missiles.
"...Ohhh~!"
After hearing this, Chongzhen had only a half-understanding, and because of his face, he didn't dare to ask in detail. Since Nizi said so, it should probably be like this, and there should be no other use for this thing.
"With the coal mines in Lianghuai, the tungsten mines in Jiangxi, and the iron mines in Ma'anshan, my father has the capital to compete with the Jiangnan traitor group. I think this is not enough, and my father not only wants to If you have hard power, you must also have soft power. The so-called "soft power" is public opinion, such as the "Jingshi Daily". When my father arrived in Nandu, he was afraid that the New Deal would encounter fierce opposition from the traitorous group, but as long as he opened a "Jingshi Daily" in Nandu, Nandu Daily promotes the advantages of the father's new policy to the general public every day, and penetrates into it for a long time. Over time, the people are not fools, and they will not be swayed by people with ulterior motives. Moreover, this newspaper can be regarded as a This very profitable business can be run by my father himself without the intervention of nobles, and it is easy to earn one hundred thousand taels of silver a year."
Newspapers are both a business and a weapon. If used properly, their effect is not much less than that of the army, and a large number of royal literati can be hired to cheer for you, so that those with ulterior motives will be pissed to death after reading the newspapers.
"...Is it really that many?"
Chongzhen was surprised when he heard this. He also recognized the role of newspapers very much, but according to what the traitor said, there was still a very large profit in it, which was much higher than he thought.
"This is not a lie. My aunt and uncle no longer need a residence to support their expenses. Since the operation of the "Jingshi Daily", the Prince Consort can live on his own. Father, this is the newspaper delivered this morning. Every copy It’s only ten cents. But as the saying goes, ‘The meat in a bun is not in the folds’. In fact, the way newspapers make money lies in the advertisements inside. Except for the first eight pages, which carry political news and are not allowed to publish advertisements, the remaining forty pages have advertisements. , the total advertising income of each issue is roughly more than 600 taels of silver. This newspaper has added a new insert page, which is this single page. Each advertising income is 30 taels, and five copies are 150 taels. The total advertising revenue of the newspaper The income can be more than 700 taels of silver. If you publish it throughout the year, you can earn more than 200,000 taels from advertising fees alone."
As the only media in the entire Ming Dynasty, "Jingshi Daily" is very profitable and has almost monopolized the market.
Even if there are other newspapers in the future, "Jingshi Daily" will be the well-deserved media hegemon for a long time.
Not only sold in Jifu area, but also sold throughout Beizhili, and even transported to Shanqian and Shandong, and even Sichuan has been printed, and newspapers can enjoy advertising dividends.
"...It's really a good business!"
Chongzhen murmured thoughtfully, no wonder the traitor said that the consort and his sister no longer needed the support of the concubine. It turned out that with newspapers, they could earn so much money. Using this business to help his family can be regarded as the traitor's intention.
After burning the midnight oil and reading many newspapers yesterday, Chongzhen also had a lot of experience in this regard. Looking at the many articles published by this traitor in the newspapers, he was more in agreement with some of them, while others expressed doubts or objections.
But the initiative is in the hands of this traitor, and it will be useless to comment or even be angry in private. This is the benefit of newspapers. It allows the publisher to have absolute say and influence the people who read it.
If I publish a similar newspaper in Nandu, wouldn't I be able to get twice the result with half the effort?
Since this traitor was also very supportive of publishing his own newspaper, Chongzhen couldn't help but get excited thinking about this.
"With this newspaper, three mines, and the briquette business, my father can earn more than a million taels of silver a year. My son entrusted my father with some novel inventions, such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, pencils and other items for sale on behalf of my father. , I think it will not be a problem to earn two million taels of silver a year, and I should be able to meet the expenses of the rear residence and the Yongwei Camp. This can be regarded as a filial piety."
A certain prince estimated that if the imperial palace and Huang Degong's troops were used sparingly, two million taels of silver a year would be enough, and the ten million taels of silver for the dumper could not be filled in first.
"...I have accepted this gift from you!"
Although Chongzhen was given the gift by his own son, no matter how depressed he was, he couldn't blame this rebellious son. What's more, after moving to Nandu, he needed a lot of money to support everything, so Chongzhen had to prepare for a rainy day. stand up.
"Moreover, Father, the news that you have ten million taels of silver will soon spread to the south of the Yangtze River. When you move to the southern capital, many people will be thinking about the money in your pocket. I will try my best to get you to pay money in the name of the imperial court..."
A certain prince was worried that he would foolishly use his own money to subsidize the gap in Nandu's household department. This kind of thing would happen a second time, so he had to give some warning in advance.
"You don't need to worry about this matter, I have my own sense of discretion!"
Thinking of those ministers who had nothing to lose, Chongzhen felt very angry, and his internal funds were almost empty. After moving to Nandu this time, no matter how short of money the court there was, he had no intention of subsidizing it anymore.
Not only did Chongzhen not intend to pay out of his own pocket, but he also asked his ministers who had money to pay out on their own. If they didn't pay, he could copy many of this traitor's methods.
Even if these people were prepared, Chongzhen did not believe that those iron roosters could hide all the money in his house. As long as a part was found, even a box, he could use it as an excuse.
"Father, I have another unkind request!"
After introducing a whole package of business to the dumper and eating and drinking this second-rate emperor, you can talk about small things.
"...But it doesn't matter!"
Taking advantage of his good mood, Chongzhen planned to listen to what bad ideas this traitor had in his mind.
"I hope to keep my third brother by my side and teach him some of the knowledge I learned from the immortal world. When he grows up, I hope to send him to study in the West to broaden his horizons and to demonstrate the power of the Ming Dynasty. !”
Zhu Cijiong lives in the back mansion, and his so-called classes every day are just a formality. He eats and sleeps, wakes up and eats again. If this continues, he will become a standard "royal fat house".
Therefore, as the elder brother, a certain prince has already arranged the schedule for the next ten years for this guy. Now he will study with him for a few years, then go to Europe to study for a few years, and then come back, and he should be somewhat successful.
Maybe he can bring back several girlfriends, which will probably make the dumper laugh or cry, because these girlfriends may already be pregnant...
"This matter... let me think about it first and then give an answer!"
