A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 432 Doctor Guanglu
East Palace.

Chongxian Hall.

Wu Huaiyu gave an experimental class to the prince today, and the gall water soaked iron into copper.

Prince Chengqian sat there curiously and somewhat restrained, because his father was also sitting next to him today, and those part-time teachers of the prince also participated in this experimental class.

Prince Shaobao Pei Ju, Shangshu Tang Jian of the Ministry of Rites, and Dai Zhou, Shangshu of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. These are the third promotions of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

And the prime ministers.

A prince's class can attract so many bigwigs to attend, and they are all listening carefully.

Wu Huaiyu took out a few things and put them on the table.

"This bottle of water is bile alum, also known as stone gall, which is taken from the natural gall spring in Censhui, Shaozhou.
Forge pig iron into thin sheets, arrange them in a gallbladder water tank, and soak them for several days. Raise red coal on top, take the red coal and put it into the furnace. "

"This method is called hydrometallurgy, also known as water copper smelting."

Huaiyu put the thin iron sheet into the tank filled with spring water.

The monarchs and ministers all stared at it with wide eyes, a little incredulous.

In order to be able to see is believing, Wu Huaiyu also took the iron sheet that had been soaked for several days, and there was already a lot of replaced copper on it. He scraped it off, put it in a small furnace, and demonstrated how to turn it into copper in front of everyone.

Li Shimin asked Chengqian, "Prince, do you think it is a good deal to smelt two catties of four liang of molten iron to get one catty of copper?"

Copper is almost a natural currency.

Kaiyuan Tongbao has always been six catties and four taels, cast with copper-lead-tin alloy, and the copper content has reached a high level. One catty of Kaiyuan Tongbao is worth 160 cash, of which the copper material is 120 six cash.

This is the price of the copper material of the copper coin itself. As a Tongbao coin, it is 160 Wen per catty.Because of the war at the end of Sui Dynasty and the beginning of Tang Dynasty, the amount of copper mining decreased, and there was insufficient copper material in the market, so copper materials rose.

Originally, if the price of copper materials in the market reached 120 yuan per catty, then the coinage would basically be a loss of money, and it would also lead to many people desperately selling money castings, or recasting private money.

Chengqian was a little at a loss when faced with his father's question, because it involved the issue of prices.

If you don't know the price of copper and iron, you don't know whether it is cost-effective to smelt one catty of copper with four liang of iron.

"I don't know the current price of copper and iron, but I estimate that copper is more than twice as expensive as iron, so it must be a good deal."

Li Shimin was not very satisfied with this answer, "In addition to reading sage books, you should also learn more about people's livelihood and economy,"

Huaiyu smiled and came out to answer.

"During the Han Dynasty, meat cost four renminbi per catty, salt cost four renminbi per catty, ironware cost less than ten renminbi per catty, copper cost sixty renminbi per catty, and gold cost ten thousand renminbi per catty.

Up to now, a catty of gold can cost [-] yuan.

While iron is twelve or thirty yuan a catty, copper is one hundred and twenty thirty yuan a catty, and copper and iron materials are ten times the price difference. "

"During the Daye period of the Sui Dynasty, the imperial court forcibly set a copper price of [-] yuan per catty, but the actual price of copper was over [-] yuan, which led to the suspension of a large number of copper mines."

There is a shortage of copper materials in the market now, and the price of copper materials makes it impossible for the imperial court to make coins, and even often loses money.

But now Wu Huaiyu's water method of copper smelting uses natural gall springs to turn iron into copper, and two catties of four irons can be exchanged for one catty of copper. This is an exaggeration.

Four taels for two catties is 36 taels, and 16 taels for one catty, which is [-] times.

Less than two and a half times.

The price difference between copper and iron is ten times, which means that there is at least four times the profit margin. Even if some labor and transportation costs of water smelting are removed, the cost of copper obtained by water smelting is still lower than that of the market. The copper on it is much lower.

This means that the imperial court has more copper materials for minting coins, and it also means that minting coins can make money, and it can make a lot of money.

Originally, a catty of copper material costs one hundred twenty or thirty renminbi, but the copper coins cast are only worth 160 renminbi per catty. There are also costs such as copper, lead, tin, labor, and transportation. The more you cast, the more you lose money.

Now the cost of copper material for a catty may only be about [-] yuan. After adding the costs of lead, tin, labor, and transportation, there is still a lot of profit.

Wei Zheng expressed doubts about this kind of alchemy. He had been a Taoist priest before, but he had never studied alchemy.But I always feel that how can iron become copper?

With this ability, why don't you just turn stones into gold?
"Bile water, also called copper sulfate, contains copper ions in it. The gall water and iron will react, and the copper ions in the water will be replaced by iron to deposit as simple copper.

The advantage of this method is that it requires less labor and low cost, but it must rely on the abundant natural spring water, and it must also rely on the spring and summer rainy season when the water is abundant, which is greatly affected by the season and climate. The gallbladder will also decrease, and it will not be able to produce large quantities of gallbladder copper. "

Can't understand, don't understand at all.

But it is so mysterious and tall.

Wu Huaiyu took out some proofs recorded in ancient books, including Ge Hong's Baopuzi and Tao Hongjing's, and there is even a record in the Han Dynasty that stone gallbladder can turn iron into copper.

These can all prove that this is not a scam, but there is no specific method of operation.

What Wu Huaiyu said was clear, but they still couldn't understand.

But Wu Huaiyu is a disciple of Yinxian after all, and he also offered the seeds of auspiciousness before, and he has done all kinds of very powerful performances. Everyone didn't regard him as some kind of charlatan, but things were indeed a bit too surprising.

Wu Huaiyu said before that if silver is cast into silver coins, there will be a profit of [-]% in the middle.

But now if copper is smelted to make coins according to this method, the profit will be extremely high.

Anyone is willing to exchange two catties of iron for one catty of copper.

Wang Gui was still a bit puzzled, "Is the copper that is smelted with iron real copper?"

"There is no difference."

"Sure?"

"If it's a fake replacement."

Li Shimin was very excited, but Wang Gui immediately poured cold water on him.

"Your Majesty, although this method is good, it requires a lot of iron, but iron is also an important material. From making weapons and armor to producing agricultural tools, iron is needed. Now the imperial court has less iron smelting, and the supply of iron materials is insufficient. How can there be more? What about the iron materials used to smelt copper?
Isn't this tearing down the east wall to fill the west wall? "

The prince Chengqian said, "Your Majesty, the price of copper and iron is ten to one, but now two catties and four liang of iron can make one catty of copper, which is very cost-effective."

Even Chengqian understands the truth, but Li Shimin doesn't understand it.

He is short of money now, very short of money,

The imperial court lacked both iron and copper. Of course, the imperial court was even more deficient in copper.

Although copper and iron are important strategic and people's livelihood materials, copper can also cast money and is still currency.

"Your Majesty, the amount of copper and iron mined is insufficient, so what the imperial court needs to do is to continue mining and allow private mining and free trade. What the imperial court needs to do is to strengthen supervision.

The shortage of copper and iron in the market will stimulate and induce more mining, which is profitable, and the imperial court can even provide appropriate support."

As for the mining class, as always, a physical mine class is levied, and the rest is allowed to be sold in the market. If the imperial court needs it, they can buy it in the market. It cannot be restricted or even exploited blindly. That will only reduce the enthusiasm of private mining and smelting. .

As long as everyone is allowed to mine, everyone will be profitable. Naturally, the enthusiasm will be high. If there is more mining, the supply will increase, and the price will drop.

The imperial court does not need to compete for the mining profits, and can use its own capital and even technological advantages to engage in downstream industrial development, such as smelting, processing, and casting tools.

It’s even like pulling the iron that was picked to smelt copper and mint money. Each earns his own money, and everyone earns together to prosper.

Once the imperial court intervenes and restricts mining and metallurgy, it will inevitably lead to the suspension of a large number of mines. When the upstream is cut off, how can the downstream develop?

Although the imperial court has always had a lot of voices, it thinks that mining should be restricted, especially private private mining, and that there will be many problems. It should be based on agriculture, and the mines should not take up too much manpower, abandon agriculture, or gather a large number of miners in the mountains. There are various hidden dangers and so on.

This is actually lazy behavior.

Everyone is given a piece of land, and they all farm at home. They feel that the world is peaceful.

It is true that the population is small now, and mining requires a lot of manpower. Find a way to solve it. Besides, most of the land is now occupied by nobles and powerful, and there are still many people who are short of land and can only work for the landlords. , but also multiple ways of living and multiple incomes.

What the imperial court has to do is not to ban it across the board, but to introduce some corresponding management measures according to the actual situation. For example, for mining, you have to apply for a license and obtain a business license. For example, employment must be managed according to the court's laws.

What is needed is regulation, not prohibition.

"Shaozhou Inspector Wu Huaiyi reported to the court that he wanted to rebuild the Dayuling Mountain Road opened by the Qin Army into the south of Lingnan, and asked the court for permission and a sum of money."

Li Shimin stroked his exquisite beard, "This is a good proposal, be sure."

Wu Huaiyi said that he wanted to build roads, and then Wu Huaiyu said that Shaozhou had discovered a rich natural gall spring, and he also had a secret copper smelting method in gall spring, and then reported that many gold, silver, copper and iron deposits were found in Shaozhou and Qianzhou. These things are too coincidental up.

Of course Li Shimin doesn't believe that there are so many coincidences in the world.

He could see the logic behind this at a glance, the key was that Wu Huaiyi became the governor, and Wu Huaiyu wanted to make political achievements for his brother.

So now there are many minerals found in Shaozhou, and there are even gall springs.

Li Shimin believes that Danquan must not only exist in Shaozhou, but also in other places.

But he doesn't care about these. What he cares about is the result. The opening of the Dayuling Meiling Road will indeed have many benefits, especially the bile copper method can drive Shaozhou's mining and local development, and it can increase the court's income. ,coin.

With so many benefits, the rest doesn't matter.

"Chengqian, I'll give you a homework assignment."

"You should learn from Yi Guogong carefully and do every step of the water smelting copper method carefully. I hope you have patience and can complete this water smelting method by yourself."

Li Shimin was very happy for Wu Huaiyu to present this secret method.

Such a secret technique, which can be called the alchemy technique, is actually directly dedicated to the imperial court, how impartial and selfless it is.

"Give one hundred real food seals to Duke Wu Huaiyu of the Yi Kingdom, and a total of seven hundred households will be granted real seals. They will be promoted from the second rank to Doctor Guanglu, and a thousand bolts of silk will be given."

Wu Huaiyu didn't refuse, he stepped forward to thank him, he has already offered such a secret technique, so there is no need to pretend to refuse.

Anyway, one hundred households are really sealed, which is actually more pleasant. According to three Dings per household, two cents of the rent of each household will go to the feudal family, and one cent will go to the state. Three taels of cotton, in fact, what a hundred households really get in one year is only four hundred stone grains, four hundred feet of silk and 600 taels of cotton.

It is nothing more than the output of a Zhuangzi, and he has to send envoys to the local area to collect the sealed households together with the local officials.

Of course, this represents the highest honor.

Wu Huaiyu has risen another place on the list of meritorious officials.

(End of this chapter)