In addition to the fact that Li Zexuan took the ownership of iron ore for granted in this era, he also did not think clearly about the refining of pyrite when he was in the workshop.
The main component of pyrite is ferrous sulfide. At that time, he wanted to extract sulfur and iron from it through a series of chemical processes. However, after he returned home and calculated carefully, he found that from the pyrite, Sulfur is easier, but it is too difficult to extract iron!
It’s not that it can’t be extracted, but it’s difficult to do it under the current conditions. Even if it can be done, the cost is too high and it’s not cost-effective at all!
So if he wanted to get a lot of iron, he had to get some magnetite (the main component is iron tetroxide).
However, in addition to extracting sulfur from pyrite, an extremely important industrial raw material can also be obtained, which will be discussed later.
"What do you want iron ore for?"
Li Er didn't care much about sulfur mines. Besides, the court didn't have much control over sulfur mines, but iron mines were different. In the early Tang Dynasty, although the court abolished special taxes on salt and iron, basically all exploration The iron ore mines in the Ming Dynasty were owned by the imperial court. In principle, private individuals were not allowed to own iron ore mines.
"Your Majesty, the boy's workshop is short of iron! All the iron boys available near Chang'an City have been bought, but there is still not enough!"
Addressing and using words is a very deep knowledge. Li Zexuan calls himself a boy here instead of a minister or a minister to show that he is talking to Li Er as a junior, not a minister, because what he is saying now After all, the topic is about merchants, so it is very inappropriate to use the identity of a courtier.
"Hmph! You're worthless! Do you really think your workshop is a treasure? I won't give it to you for iron ore. Not only are you short of iron, but the imperial court is also short of iron now! Do you think your workshop is important? Or are my Shaofu Supervisor and Beidu Arms Supervisor more important?"
(The Tang Dynasty implemented a system of three provinces and six ministries. The military weapon workshops were under the management of the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of War, and were called Shaofu Supervisor and Beidu Military Supervisor respectively)
After hearing this, Li Er shook his sleeves and felt angry.
During the early Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty adopted the government-armed system. There were 574-800 zhechong mansions distributed across the country, of which 627 were famous. This number varies, which means that the minimum number of records is 574 and the maximum number is 800. Zhechong Mansion is divided into three levels, each with a strength of 1,200, 1,000 and 800. Therefore, in the early Tang Dynasty, there were about 800,000 soldiers in the country, of which about 260,000 were in Guannai Road, which were the main force of the soldiers - the Sixteenth Guards of the Tang Dynasty.
The weapons and equipment for these 260,000 people were manufactured by the Shaofujian and Beidu Arms. The other local and state governments were responsible for the weapons and equipment of the other local and state governments. However, the iron they used was not manufactured by the "central government". "Government" allocated it!
Such a huge amount of iron consumption made the imperial court's demand for iron ore very strong.
"Uh, Your Majesty, you misunderstood! I don't want the existing iron ore in Datang. What I mean is that I will search for the iron ore myself. After I find it, can I have the iron mine mined by myself?"
Li Zexuan explained carefully.
Li Er raised his eyebrows in surprise, and said with some surprise: "Oh? Your boy can also master Feng Shui and mine gold from behind the bucket?"
In ancient times, inverted fighting was called one of the eight gates outside Jianghu, which can be regarded as the application of Feng Shui in exploring gold mines and other mineral deposits. The craft of prospecting is known as the Ninth Gate: the Gold Mining Gate. Kinmen people have served the government for a long time, resulting in very few descendants. As long as they find a good gold mine, they will make a lot of money every day.
After all, Li Zexuan was also a member of the Taoist sect. Of course he had heard about gold mining by fighting upside down, but how could he know how to do this? It seems that he does not have this Feng Shui knowledge in his memory in this life. His confidence in prospecting lies in the memory of his previous life! But you definitely can’t say that to Li Er.
"Well, under the influence of my master, the boy knows a thing or two about these things, a thing or two!"
Li Zexuan's mind changed rapidly, and then he spouted nonsense in a serious manner.
Li Er looked at him twice and said after a long while: "In that case, I grant you an iron mine! But at the same time, you have to help the court find an additional iron mine of similar quality. Then your iron mine does not need to be submitted to the court. How about paying taxes and being able to mine as much as you like?”
Although the iron ore at this time was owned by the state, a large part of it was mined by the private sector. The "Old Book of Tang·Zhiguanzhi" records: "When copper and iron are produced in the state, they are mined privately. Officials collect their taxes." As the emperor, Li Er still had a lot of "room for maneuver" in this regard, which could ensure that other officials would not be able to find fault.
Old fox, Old Li's advantage is not something that ordinary people can take advantage of. Li Zexuan cursed in his heart. After thinking about it for a moment, he nodded and said with cupped hands: "Thank you, Your Majesty! That sulfur ore..."
Li Er smiled proudly, and then said: "You can do whatever you want with the sulfur ore! As long as you can find it, it's yours, and I won't interfere!"
Although he didn't know what Li Zexuan wanted the sulfur mine for, he didn't bother to ask. It wasn't an important national strategic material, so he just regarded it as a benefit for Li Zexuan to join the Shipping Department.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. I will go all out to help the Prince of Hejian manage the Shipping Department well and increase revenue for the Tang Dynasty treasury!"
Although such a result is not particularly ideal, Li Zexuan can accept it, and regard it as a contribution to the country. If the court has more iron, the army will have better weapons and the country will be stronger!
As for Shibosi's right lift, he doesn't have to go to Guangzhou to "work" anyway, he just needs to use his brain. It won't have much impact on his current life.
"Hmph! Get out of here!"
Seeing Li Zexuan's attitude of "flying away at the sight of a rabbit", Li Er snorted angrily.
Damn it, Lao Li is so disrespectful. He is killing the donkey! Li Zexuan felt a little unhappy, but after all, he did take advantage of this matter, so he didn't get angry with Lao Li, just bowed his hands and walked out.
Humph, I don’t want to stay in this shabby palace!
After leaving the Tai Chi Palace, Li Zexuan secretly gave Li Er a middle finger, and then walked towards the palace gate, preparing to go home.
"Brother Xiaoxuan!"
At this moment, a pleasant female voice came from beside him. Li Zexuan heard the sound and went out, and saw Changle walking in lotus steps, very dignified and elegant.
"your Highness!"
The reason why Chang Le looked so dignified was because he was in the palace now and had to abide by the rules. Similarly, Li Zexuan also had to abide by the rules, so he honestly bowed his hands and saluted.
"Brother Xiaoxuan, please be more polite. Changle is here to thank brother Xiaoxuan! Thank you for speaking for Changle in the court just now!
Changle stepped back and hurriedly came over and whispered. The little girl's eyes were like water, making her look very gentle.
.....................
I heard that a typhoon is coming. Friends in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai should also pay attention to safety while enjoying the coolness brought by the rainy days!
(End of chapter)
