Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

"General Who Conquers the West, Prince of Jin Ergalang, respectfully reports: Regarding the matter of mining and minting coins in Dongchuan: Dongchuan has always been a copper-producing area, and coins were minted here during the Ming and Qing dynasties. At its peak, six out of ten coins were produced here. However, in recent years, due to continuous wars and the influx of Japanese copper across the sea, copper production has become increasingly scarce. What a pity! I believe that the matter of minting coins concerns the fate of the nation, and we must not entrust the lifeline of the country to foreign powers. Moreover, the benefits of mining and minting coins are threefold: First, the military expenditures from years of war are enormous, and this can supplement the court's daily expenses; second, the profits from mining are many times greater than those from farming, and the people will benefit." This would double the population, making the people prosperous and ensuring wealth is stored among the people, which is in line with the path to national wealth and military strength. Thirdly, Sichuan has long suffered from war and is sparsely populated. Although the court encourages immigration and land reclamation, the results have been slow. If private mining is permitted, people from afar will flock here for profit, and even empty valleys can become markets. Doubling the population of Sichuan will not be difficult. Given the abundance of copper in Sichuan, mines should be opened and casting should be expanded! I humbly request that Father Khan allow private mining in Dongchuan Prefecture, and the copper obtained should be collected by officials appointed by the Ministry of Revenue... This humble opinion awaits Your Majesty's decision.

With a flourish of his pen, Prince Ergalang of Jin submitted a memorial to his father. Everyone present assumed that the prince was reporting his victory over Dongchuan to the Great Khan, but little did they know that the memorial had nothing to do with warfare; it reeked of the money-grubbing of mining and minting. As the fourth son of the Great Khan, Ergalang's mother, Yaro, was a princess of the Torgut tribe, holding the rank of Imperial Noble Consort, second only to the Empress in the harem. He had been highly regarded since childhood, receiving instruction from renowned teachers and possessing a deep understanding of economics and governance. He had long heard of Dongchuan's reputation as the "Copper Capital of Southern China" and the "Hometown of the King of Coins," knowing that it had once minted coins like the Jiajing Tongbao, which are still famous today. Therefore, immediately after conquering Dongchuan, he invited local artisans to learn about mining and minting. Unexpectedly, he was told that the mines had been shut down long ago due to the war, and coins could not be minted. He felt that this was a waste of resources, so he submitted a memorial to his father requesting that the mines be restored. He even had a sudden inspiration to suggest that private mining be allowed, with the Ministry of Revenue purchasing the coins.

This memorial was merely a spur-of-the-moment decision. After submitting it, Ergalang led his army on a continued campaign, aiming directly at Wusa Prefecture, east of Dongchuan Prefecture, to remove the last obstacle to his southward advance into Yunnan. The garrison of Wusa Prefecture was Li Fu, a guerrilla general under Wu Guizhou's Admiral Li Benshen. Li Fu originally had only two thousand soldiers, but after garrisoning Wusa, he recruited three thousand local soldiers, bringing his total strength to five thousand. It was clear that this force was no match for the Prince of Jin's army of over one hundred thousand. In just two days, Wusa Prefecture fell, and Li Fu himself was killed. Having eliminated this threat, Ergalang ordered the Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou, Alatan Cang, to lead 40,000 troops to Zunyi to monitor Wu's army in Guizhou. He himself, along with the Deputy General of the Western Expedition, First-Class Duke of Shu, Tuoli, gathered 90,000 troops at Ma'anshan, south of Dongchuan Prefecture, preparing for a southward advance into Yunnan.

Upon hearing that the Wei army had not marched south but instead attacked and captured Dongchuan and Wusa to the east, and now stationed a large army in Dongchuan, Zhang Guozhu, the General of Dingyuan and Commander-in-Chief of the Yunnan Road, slapped his thigh in frustration, regretting that he had fallen for the Wei army's feint attack. Dongchuan was the northern gateway to Kunming, and the Wei army's deployment of heavy troops there clearly indicated their intention to seize Kunming. He hurriedly led his troops from Wuding Prefecture to Xundian and Qujing to set up defenses, and also urgently sent a message to Wu Sangui, informing him of the critical situation in Yunnan.
-
"The Fourth Prince is not only skilled in battle but also possesses administrative talent. I truly underestimated him!" Upon reading the memorial submitted by Prince Jin, Ergalang, the Great Khan of Lotus couldn't help but sigh. As a father, he was naturally pleased to see his son's abilities; however, there could only be one crown prince. The Great Khanate had only recently been established and could not tolerate internal strife, making it impossible to depose the eldest son and establish a younger one. For a prince to be too talented might not be a good thing! Fortunately, the Fourth Prince was very clever and always acted discreetly, never vying for favor with the Crown Prince, making him easier to manage than the Second Prince. It's just... alas... a pity for such talent!

After all, he was the Great Khan who ruled over all lands, and Sultan quickly extricated himself from his sentimental thoughts, reconsidering the memorial. As a time traveler, he vaguely remembered that Dongchuan produced copper, which was transferred to Yunnan during the Yongzheng era, making Yunnan's copper production reach as high as 95% of the national total. The Qing court levied a staggering one million taels of silver in taxes on Dongchuan alone each year. Hmm, opening copper mines and minting coins—the Ming and Qing dynasties could do it, and so can I. But how? I need to think this through carefully.

The minting of coins was always a major concern for him. During the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty, the minting of coins was the responsibility of the Ministry of Works. In 1622, the Ministry of Revenue established the Baoquan Bureau, thus reducing the amount of coins minted by the Ministry of Works. Following the Ming system, the Qing Dynasty established the Baoyuan Bureau and Baoquan Bureau in the capital and the Ministry of Revenue, respectively, and mints in various provinces. However, the ambitious and capable Khan felt that entrusting the minting of coins to two different departments would easily lead to monetary chaos. At the beginning of his reign, he entrusted the matter entirely to the Baoyuan Bureau of the Ministry of Works and abolished the Baoquan Bureau of the Ministry of Revenue. Subsequently, the coins minted by the Baoyuan Bureau increased, becoming an important means for the Great Khan to raise military funds and having a growing impact on the economy. He then upgraded the Baoyuan Bureau to the Minting Bureau and placed it under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Revenue. At the same time, to provide the Minting Bureau with materials for minting, the Ministry of Works established the Minting Bureau, responsible for mining precious minerals such as gold, silver, and copper.

After these two government offices were upgraded in rank, they not only mined large quantities of minerals but also produced a significant amount of gold, silver, and copper coins. This not only provided substantial military funding for the Great Wei Kingdom's wars but also powerfully promoted economic development. However, there is a catch: previously, copper mines, like gold and silver mines, were monopolized by the Mining Bureau, and private mining was prohibited. If, as the son suggested, ordinary people were allowed to mine copper in Dongchuan, wouldn't that mean the imperial court would lose its monopoly on copper mines?
However, the Great Khan understood his son's meaning. Mining required a huge investment, and the court's finances were currently strained, unable to provide the massive sums needed. Allowing private mining would require no initial investment and allow for rapid production. Furthermore, due to insufficient copper mining, the Kingdom of David imported large quantities of copper ore from Japan annually. The cunning Dutch took advantage of this, buying up and stockpiling Japanese copper, increasing the cost of imported copper. Accelerating the mining of domestic copper mines would significantly reduce minting costs, raising more funds for military expenses. Moreover, allowing private mining would be profitable, and both locals and outsiders with money would be willing to mine, while those without could work as miners to support their families. This would improve the lives of local residents and attract a large influx of people to Sichuan, addressing the population decline caused by war. With so many benefits, it was an opportunity not to be missed!

However, copper was a strategic mineral used for minting coins in that era. Opening up mining to the public could easily lead to smuggling and even unscrupulous merchants buying it to mint counterfeit coins. The Great Khan pondered this problem for a long time and felt that counterfeiting could be eliminated by improving minting techniques, increasing anti-counterfeiting measures, and enforcing strict laws. As for smuggling, he suggested that the Mining Bureau send officials to the mines to supervise, and that imperial envoys be appointed to oversee the process. He also proposed raising the official purchase price to ensure mine owners could profit and offset the huge profits from smuggling.

The Great Khan believed that with his iron fist, smuggling and counterfeiting were no problem, but there was another issue: transportation. Yes, transportation was a real challenge! So much copper couldn't all be used for minting coins; some would certainly be sold abroad, and some would be stored for future use. As a strategic resource suitable for minting coins, it naturally needed to be stored in the capital's treasury, not local government treasuries. Transporting copper from remote Dongchuan to the capital was extremely expensive; how to reduce expenses was a major problem.

Sultan recalled reading historical records that the Qing dynasty had copper shops in Xundian and Dongchuan prefectures to purchase and store copper from various mines. Some of this copper was then transported to Hankou for procurement in Hubei and Hunan provinces, while another portion was sent to Zhenjiang for procurement in Jiangsu province. The remainder was then transferred to Beijing. The entire process involved three stages: distribution, relay transport, and long-distance transport. Distribution referred to transporting copper from the mines to the two major copper shops in Xundian and Dongchuan; relay transport involved transporting copper from these two shops to the copper shop in Luzhou, Sichuan; and long-distance transport involved traveling from Luzhou along the Yangtze River and then via the Grand Canal to Beijing. From Sichuan to Beijing, the land route was over 2,200 li (approximately 1,100 kilometers), and the waterway was over 8,200 li (approximately 4,200 kilometers), totaling over 10,000 li (approximately 5,000 kilometers) – truly a journey of thousands of miles to deliver copper to Beijing!
Sultan also knew that the Qing court considered land transport too costly and had dredged the Jinsha River as a waterway for transporting copper. However, the Jinsha River was treacherous with its rapids and numerous hidden reefs, causing copper-carrying ships to frequently run aground and sink, resulting in huge losses of copper. The calculated cost was actually higher than land transport. Therefore, the first half of the copper transport was still mainly by land, with water transport commencing only after reaching Luzhou. The fleet set sail from Luzhou, sailing down the Yangtze River to the Grand Canal estuary at Yizheng, Yangzhou, before heading north, disembarking at Tongzhou and delivering the copper to the Ministry of Revenue. Since there was a precedent to follow, the transportation would proceed accordingly.

The Great Khan was always decisive and efficient. Having made up his mind to develop the Dongchuan copper mine, he immediately issued an edict allowing merchants to register with the Ministry of Works and pay a deposit before setting up mining sites within the Dongchuan Prefecture. He also ordered the Ministry of Works to send officials to supervise, the Censorate to send censors to oversee the operation, and the Ministry of Revenue to collect taxes. Furthermore, he ordered the Ministry of Revenue to establish copper shops in Xundian and Dongchuan for storage, and in Hankou, Zhenjiang, and Luzhou for sale and transshipment, transporting the copper overland to Luzhou and then by water to the capital. Of course, while he issued the edicts, the details—such as how to store, sell, and transship the copper, how many times a year to transport it, how many fleets and ships to be set up, and how many horses were needed—were left to his officials to handle.

This imperial decree directly spurred the rapid development of copper mining, including extraction, smelting, casting, and processing, in Dongchuan Prefecture and the surrounding areas. Merchants from all over flocked to the region, and the number of miners involved in mining exceeded one hundred thousand. Fu Shan, the Governor-General of Sichuan and Shaanxi, reported that "hundreds of thousands of migrants from other provinces have flowed into Sichuan, all relying on mining for a living. Not only do Sichuanese rely on it for their livelihood, but people from Jiangsu, Guangdong, Guizhou, and Yunnan provinces also come to Sichuan to mine."

With a large population, politics, economy, and culture naturally developed rapidly. The problem of a sharp population decline caused by war, which had plagued Sichuan for many years, was significantly alleviated, and Dongchuan Prefecture earned the reputation of "the first city along the long road to Beijing." Even the well-traveled and knowledgeable Great Khan Lianhua exclaimed, "I never expected that mining in Dongchuan would bring such great benefits! This place is worth a million soldiers!" (End of Chapter)