Taichang is in a much better mood now, and his thoughts are instantly clearer.

He adjusted his thoughts and asked directly: "Shi Gao, who was the one who took care of the mining and mining refining before the last emperor sent a mining supervisor? Do you know?"

Of course Bi Maoliang knew this, after all, he had been struggling in the court for more than 20 years.

He said without hesitation: "These were originally managed by Yu Heng, Qing Lishu, Ministry of Works."

It turned out to be under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry.

Taichang nodded slightly and said, "How do they care?"

Bi Maoliang immediately explained: "This is actually a good example. Since the Hongwu Dynasty, this has been the case. Generally, all the courts, local prefectures, including the royal family and local vassal kings will write documents to the Yuheng Qingli Office of the Ministry of Works. After summarizing various needs, the Yuheng Qingli Office of the Ministry of Works will estimate a certain output, and then order ambassadors stationed in various places to organize mining and smelting. If the mine source is insufficient, the Ministry of Works will send special prospecting craftsmen to explore various places. In short, the Yuheng Qingli Office of the Ministry of Works will ensure various needs and there is a little surplus."

Taichang was stunned when he heard this.

Originally, he thought mining and mining were a very simple thing, and it would not be difficult to manage it well. Now it seems that he is a bit too presumptuous.

The court yamen, local prefectures, and governments, including the royal family and local vassal kings, this sentence sounds very simple. If you think about it carefully, you will be shocked. There are many yamens in the court, many prefectures in the local area, and many vassal kings. There are also minerals that are not one, but many kinds. In other words, the Qing officials of the Ministry of Works, just receive at least thousands of filing documents every year. After summarizing them, they organize mining and smelting in various places, and at least thousands of them are added.

It seems that not all civil servants are busy with internal strife. Some people still do a lot of things, just like the Ministry of Works Yu Heng Qing Literature Department. There are only a dozen people who are actually on duty in the Ministry of Works. What they want to manage is scaring people to death. Mining and mining are just their small responsibilities. At least he hasn't noticed before, and they have many other things to manage.

He couldn't help but sigh: "It seems that some officials are doing practical things, otherwise, the world would have been in chaos."

Bi Maoliang couldn't help but sigh, "Yes, most of the officials in the six ministries are very busy, especially the head and the doctor. He was so busy that he was so busy that he was dizzy."

Well, this seems to be a bit far.

Taichang nodded, then asked again: "What about the cost and benefits, so how do you calculate it?"

Bi Maoliang still said without hesitation: "This is the matter of the Ministry of Revenue. After the Ministry of Works Yu Heng Qingli Department summarizes various needs, it will submit a copy to the Ministry of Revenue for filing. The Ministry of Revenue will calculate the cost, allocate silver, collect various taxes and payments, and at the same time organize manpower to transport the minerals to various places. If there is any excess, it will be transferred to warehouses nearby for storage and reserved for later use."

It turned out that the Ministry of Industry was in charge of mining and smelting, while the Ministry of Revenue was in charge of money.

There is another problem, that is, profits.

Taichang asked again: "What about the income? You are the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue now. You should be very clear about this. How much is the annual mineral income when you were not sent to a mining supervisor before?"

Uh, the profit!

Bi Maoliang said awkwardly: "This is basically no profit, so the Ministry of Works Yu Heng Qingli Office will try to avoid too much mineral surplus. Anyway, just go to the mining industry if it is not enough. The Ministry of Revenue will also try to balance income and expenditure. Generally, it is good to do so without losing money."

this!

Mining can't make money?

No wonder the late emperor sent a mining supervisor to make money. The royal family could not make money with so many minerals, so he sent someone to make money!

Of course, this is purely a mess. If you don’t ask the reason, you will be forced to make a fuss. What’s the difference between robbing?

This reason must be clarified first.

Taichang asked again: "Why can't the royal family make money without making so many minerals?"

Bi Maoliang quickly explained: "Your Majesty, this is because mining and mining are too much manpower and material resources! Just like what I proposed a few days ago, I want to cast Taichang Tongbao, and cast 500,000 pieces a year. If this matter is left to Yu Heng Qinglishu, the Ministry of Works, and Yu Heng Qinglishu will find a suitable place to organize mining and smelting copper mines. Tongling is just a lot of copper mines, and the Ministry of Revenue Mint also has a coin workshop here, and Yu Heng Qinglishu will probably

The official documents are sent here. Five hundred thousand jin of copper coins are almost 1 million jin of copper to be cast. If this batch of copper is packaged for Sheng Huaixuan to mine and smel, then, apart from taxes, the Ministry of Revenue will have to allocate about 200,000 taels of remuneration to him. Then the Ministry of Revenue organized the craftsmen to mint coins, and the manpower, material and materials cost was not less than 200,000 taels. This is not over yet, and the minted copper coins must be transported everywhere. In this way, it would be good if you can not lose money."

Can't make money by minting copper coins?

Wouldn't it be a loss to mine other mines?

Why is this?

Taichang thought for a while, then asked again: "Do you think Sheng Huaixuan's reward for about 20 taels of refined copper with 100 kilograms?"

Bi Maoliang shook his head without thinking, "This is really not much, because copper ore is too difficult to refine. He said that 10,000 kilograms of copper is considered a lot. He must have selected ore. If he doesn't go through ore dressing, he will refine it. It's amazing that 10,000 kilograms of copper can be refined fifty kilograms of copper. Just like this, he has to invest a lot of manpower in mining and ore dressing, and the investment in bitter water and coal is even more amazing. If he is a beginner, spending twenty taels of 100 kilograms of copper may not necessarily be able to refine 100 kilograms of copper!"

Well, there is no problem with Sheng Huaixuan here, so is there any problem with the officials of the Ministry of Revenue?

Taichang asked again: "Is it so expensive to mint coins? It costs more than 200,000 taels to mint 500,000 jin of copper coins!"

Bi Maoliang sighed helplessly: "Oh, there is no way, coin minting is so expensive. At the beginning, the coin has to be carved out of the mother coins, and then cast it with the mother coins to make a certain number of coin molds. Then a large number of craftsmen have to be organized to turn sand, mold, cast, cool, clean, trim, and polish. In this way, it would be good if ten craftsmen cooperated to make one thousand qualified copper coins a day. Five hundred thousand stagnant of copper coins, at least tens of thousands of craftsmen can make it for half a year! I don't know how much coal you have to use and how many molds you have to waste."

Well, copper coins are all cast one by one these days, which is indeed quite time-consuming, labor-intensive and material-intensive.

Now it seems that if we follow the previous routine, it is not only a problem of whether there is anyone corruption, but it is also a big problem that we cannot make money without profit!

In other words, if you want to solve the corruption problem and make so many mines in the royal family generate profits, you must change to a brand new routine.

What if a thing doesn’t make money?

It’s actually very simple, increase the price and increase the output!

By the way, the price.

Taichang asked again: "Shenghuaixuan only charges about twenty taels of remuneration for every 100 kilograms of copper mining, which means that the price of the Ministry of Revenue purchases is about twenty taels. So how much does it cost to sell it for 100 kilograms?"

Sell ​​it?

Bi Maoliang thought for a while, then estimated: "The price of selling should be about fifty taels and one hundred kilograms."

It takes one million kilograms of copper to mint 500,000 coins. If you work hard and earn half a year, you can’t make money. Selling one million kilograms of copper directly is 500,000 taels, which is equivalent to making 500,000 jin!

Why are you tired and tired? Just sell minerals!

Those who are officials would not have thought of such a simple thing, right?

Taichang was a little puzzled and said, "Then why not mine and smelve a large amount of minerals and sell them out?"

this!

Bi Maoliang shook his head repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, this is not enough, it's fine. At most, people use it to make Buddha statues, cast copper lions, etc. If the iron is sold, it can be used directly as a sword. Sooner or later, something big will happen."

Why are you so rigid?

If we can’t sell iron, we will sell copper and coal!

Besides, what's wrong with the sword?
Chapter completed!