The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 38 Time is running out
"A large open-pit coal mine was discovered near Wu Wangdu!"

“There really is a gold mine in the South Bay!”

When the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty saw these two pieces of news, he was both surprised and delighted.

Of course, everyone could have expected that in such a large area like Australia, there would definitely be some minerals to be found.

But I didn’t expect it to be so fast and in such a good location.

The coal mine is less than 100 kilometers away from the coast, and the key is that it is on both sides of a river. It is a large-scale open-pit coal mine.

Coal can be loaded on a simple wooden boat and sailed downstream to the seaside, and it is also convenient to transport it to other places.

The gold mine is just over 100 kilometers northwest of the southern bay, and we can directly build a settlement and start mining.

The key is that Zhu Jianxuan’s words hit the mark.

Zhu Jianxuan casually said that if there was a gold mine there, there really would be a gold mine now.

Zhu Jianxuan was preparing to explore the river valley north of the royal capital, where he discovered a huge open-pit coal mine.

"It really is... like God's help..."

The prince couldn't help but mutter in his heart:
"Could it be that Brother Xuan is truly a natural saint, and the heavens cannot bear to see him destitute in this barbaric land?
"Especially the gold mines. Taizu...my ancestors were gold panners during the Yuan Dynasty..."

After sighing and hesitating for a long time, the prince returned to his desk and started the work he was supposed to do.

Now that gold and coal mines have been discovered in Australia, subsequent immigration plans must be adjusted.

We need to build a garrison directly in Nan'ao Bay, and at least station a thousand-household garrison there to garrison and control it.

The gold mines and the plains of sufficient size would have made such an arrangement worthwhile.

We need to start organizing professional prospectors, specialized gold miners, and purchase tools and equipment.

It is best to recruit openly and in a high-profile manner.

The people of the Ming Dynasty certainly like land, but they like gold and silver equally or even more.

There will inevitably be people who smuggle gold and silver mines. This cannot be completely eliminated. As long as you participate, you will earn money.

If there is a gold mine in one place, there may also be gold mines in adjacent and nearby places. If you can find a new gold mine yourself, that will bring you greater legal income.

Once the news of the gold mines in Australia spread, it became easier not only to recruit mining workers, but also to recruit ordinary immigrants.

There may even be civilian immigration groups.

The Ming Dynasty court also allowed spontaneous immigration and reclamation of wasteland by the public.

However, no matter where you go to open up wasteland, you have to report to the local vassal monarch.

Only by obtaining a written permission from the vassal state's court can one legally own the land that he or she has developed in the future.

However, if there are civilian immigration groups, a relatively complete vassal court must be organized.

We can no longer rely solely on the Kingdom Guard to enforce martial law.

However, the prince knew that he could not decide on this matter by himself, and he still had to ask his father for instructions first.

The prince put the matter aside for the time being and began to adjust the plans for the next batch of immigrants.

We will try our best to mobilize all the newly modified steam sailing ships and those that can be completed within the next year.

Traditional sailing ships can also operate normally on routes in other places.

Going to Australia inevitably involves headwinds and upstream currents, and using a steam sailing ship can increase the transportation efficiency by an order of magnitude.

Speed ​​up the transportation of immigrants, start the site selection and exploration work of the palace itself, and officially start the construction of the palace itself.

Increase the scale of coal mining in Australia and build more coal storage warehouses along the Australian coastline.

Ensure that steam sailing ships can use steam power throughout the journey in the future.

The transfer of all 70,000 immigrants to Australia will be completed this year, and the transfer of all 300,000 immigrants will be completed within the next three years.

After the prince made the overall planning adjustments, he took his own report and plan to the Qianqing Palace to meet his father, the Ming Emperor Zhu Zhonglin.

In the 32nd year of Xianning, the Ming Emperor Zhu Zhonglin was exactly 60 years old.

The prince handed over his plan, and then separately explained that if the news about the gold mine spread, there might be a civilian immigration group.

He then asked the emperor how to organize the Wu court and how to deploy personnel.

The emperor received the report from Australia earlier than the prince, and now his mixed feelings of surprise and joy have subsided.

The emperor sat on a couch and ate grapes. After listening to his eldest son's report, he said:

"Since you are planning to set up the Wu Kingdom's imperial court, you should go and ask your brother what he thinks, and you two brothers can discuss it."

The prince was somewhat surprised and immediately asked in confusion:

"Father, the selection of the initial officials for the vassal state is something that neither I nor my younger brother Xuan should take on. So please, Father, take the lead."

The emperor ate another grape and waved his hand nonchalantly:

"After you two brothers have discussed the alternatives, just give them to me to make the decision. Go ahead..."

The prince wanted to say something, but the emperor waved his hand again, not wanting to listen to him anymore.

The prince was worried, not knowing what his father was planning, but he had no choice but to go find Zhu Jianxuan first.

First ask yourself what this brother means.

If he doesn't have any idea, I will draw up a few more lists and let my father choose one.

So the prince said goodbye and went to King Wu's laboratory in the imperial city.

Zhu Jianxuan was also the first to receive the news sent by his emperor father, and learned about the situation and discoveries of the first batch of immigrants to Australia.

Zhu Jianxuan was also a little surprised about the discovery of coal mines and gold mines.

It was not the existence of the coal and gold mines themselves, but they were very surprised that the gold mines were discovered so quickly.

I remembered the location of the coal mine clearly, so I directly designated the place and asked the exploration team to survey it.

As for where the Melbourne gold mine was, he was not sure, so he sent people to investigate in that area. Logically speaking, even if the first wave of exploration teams found it, it would be too late to inform the immigrant ship.

The news can only be sent back when the next wave of immigrant ships return.

Unexpectedly, the first batch of immigrants brought it back on their returning ship.

This shows that the exploration team discovered traces of gold mines not long after they went out, and were able to report the news before the immigration ship returned.

There is even a possibility that the person who reported the discovery of the gold mine already knew where the gold mine was, but only decided to report it after receiving the task.

So Zhu Jianxuan looked through the instructions in the report.

The person who discovered that there might be gold mines in the area was called Liu Biao, who had previously participated in the first exploration of the Australian coastline.

He was also directly involved in the initial survey around the southern Australian Gulf.

Zhu Jianxuan laughed after reading it.

However, Zhu Jianxuan didn't take this matter too seriously.

The other party was just a young imperial officer who grew up in an environment with a strong business atmosphere, but he was not an idealist who was determined to build a harmonious society.

It is normal to want to legally claim gold mines when discovering a possible gold mine in a wasteland during a mission.

It would be abnormal to have no idea about this kind of wealth.

In the end, he realized that he could not hide it and he would not be able to get the gold mine, so he finally decided to report it, which is also a normal choice for an ordinary person.

The vast majority of people in the world are ordinary people, and few are so upright and honest as to be stupid.

Zhu Jianxuan fully understands this.

So overall, Zhu Jianxuan should thank him.

After all, he was the one who discovered this gold mine, and he reported it earlier than he expected.

Of course it is good for yourself.

It is now March 1778.

If history had not changed dramatically, last year would have been a great victory at Saratoga.

France should have signed an alliance with the United States at the beginning of this year.

By the second half of the year at the latest, France should officially declare war on Britain.

By the middle of next year Spain should have joined the war.

After the war breaks out, merchants from both countries will certainly reduce the number of merchant ships they send out in order to avoid risks.

The navies of both sides will certainly attack each other's transport ships.

Historically, the British would even intercept merchant ships from neutral countries because they believed that they were aiding their enemies.

As a result, the number of merchant ships that can continue to come to Ming Dynasty for trade will definitely decrease further.

By the beginning of next year at the latest, it should be able to directly affect the Ming Dynasty.

The most intuitive manifestation should be that customs revenue will decrease.

It will continue to decline in the next few years.

If tax revenue decreases, the Ming Dynasty’s fiscal revenue will decrease.

The court's support for itself will also weaken, and Australia's development and construction will slow down.

While Zhu Jianxuan was thinking about these situations in his mind, the guards outside reported that the Crown Prince had arrived.

Zhu Jianxuan reluctantly stood up and went out to greet the prince, and welcomed him into his office.

The prince greeted Zhu Jianxuan and exchanged a few polite words before handing over his plan:

"This is the next immigration plan. If you want to make any adjustments or have any additional ideas, please tell me."

Zhu Jianxuan didn't answer and pushed it back to the prince:
“Just take care of the arrangements, my Royal Brother. I’m not good at these things, I just hope it can be done as quickly as possible.

"Because as steam engines become more popular, Ming Dynasty's demand for coal will increase.

"Ming's own coal is not abundant, and Australian coal just fills the gap.

"Australia now has some value, so it's not like we opened up this wild land in vain."

The prince handed the proposal forward again, but Zhu Jianxuan refused to respond, so the prince had no choice but to take it back.

Then he asked about the plans of the Wu court.

He specifically stated that the emperor had asked him to ask this question, so that the two of them could discuss and come up with a plan.

Now Zhu Jianxuan could no longer simply push the task to the prince.

The officials of the Wu court now formed are the same team of court officials after he became a vassal.

If the official is appointed by your father personally, then there is a high possibility that the other party will be loyal to you.

Even when my father was alive, the other party might have had the function of reporting news to the old emperor.

But when his father passed away, the other party could only be his ordinary subject.

But the arrangements made by the prince are not certain. He may continue to supervise himself for decades.

If he had a conflict with the prince, the prince could even use these people to create trouble for him.

Therefore, if possible, it would be better not to let the crown prince take the lead in the formation of the Wu court, so that he will not be surrounded by the crown prince's people.

It is impossible for Dad not to understand this truth, but he let the prince come to discuss it with him. It might be intentional.

He may think that the prince should place some people around him.

Or maybe he felt that he was really not interested in the throne, and he really had a very good relationship with the prince.

But no matter what the real reason is, you should find a way to avoid it.

(End of this chapter)