The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 28: Using Imperial Power for Personal Purposes

Wanli actually wanted to recruit the remaining soldiers from the garrison to open mines to make money.

Is it okay to do this kind of nonsense?
Actually, this is nothing.

In history, he did something even more outrageous. He directly sent mining supervisors and tax collectors to make money everywhere.

That's killing the chicken to get the eggs.

He did get a lot of eggs, but the chickens were almost all killed and the meat was eaten by the eunuchs.

The mining supervisor and tax collector only collected one tenth of the mining tax, but gave him less than one tenth of it.

This is not a big deal.

If those eunuchs collect mining taxes so crazily, others who contract to mine will definitely lose a lot of money.

Therefore, no one dared to open a mine in the late Wanli period.

This led to a sharp decline in the mining and smelting of various minerals in the Ming Dynasty.

The miners were forced to rebel because their livelihoods were cut off, and all kinds of minerals were in extremely short supply.

Originally, the copper in the Ming Dynasty could be used to make a large number of copper coins. However, during the Tianqi period, all the copper was used up to build the royal mausoleums.

In order to grab the scrap copper from the inner treasury to build his own mausoleum, Wei Zhongxian had Wan Rong, a doctor in charge of building the Taichang Mausoleum, beaten to death. This shows how severe the shortage of copper was at that time.

That’s nothing.

Originally, the Ming Dynasty's pig iron production was more than that of all other countries in the world combined. However, by the Chongzhen period, there was not even enough iron to make weapons.

The Ming Dynasty court was actually forced to import Japanese swords!

Wanli had read in many books that the mining industry in the Ming Dynasty collapsed due to the mining supervisors and tax collectors, so he naturally would not send eunuchs to collect mining taxes again.

He directly ordered Duke Dingguo Xu Wenbi to open a mine!
Duke Dingguo Xu Wenbi was shocked. How many people would be needed to mine and smelt iron to produce one million kilograms of pig iron a day?

He said with some embarrassment, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I'm afraid I can't refine one million catties of pig iron in one day."

This number sounds really scary.

However, compared with the production in later generations, it is nothing.

In fact, ten thousand jin is equivalent to about five tons in later generations, and one million jin is about five hundred tons.

In later generations, the steel output of the University of Tokyo was over 10 billion tons a year, and the annual output of large iron mines was at least tens of millions of tons. Even if we calculate it at 20 million tons a year, it would be about 60,000 to 70,000 tons a day.

Their 500 tons are pig iron, not steel. You should know that nowadays, after forging 100 kilograms of pig iron into steel, less than 3 kilograms will be left. By this calculation, the daily output of 500 tons of pig iron is less than one percent of that in later generations.

At that time, the mining and smelting in the Ming Dynasty were actually not very backward. Even if the output did not reach one-tenth of that in later generations, one percent should be no problem.

Wanli explained in detail: "This is not a big problem. I have already asked Wang Guozhang. A young and strong man can mine at least a thousand kilograms of ore a day, and the iron yield of iron ore is generally around 50%.

In other words, a young and strong man can produce 500 kilograms of pig iron from the ore he digs out in a day. If you only need to recruit 2,000 surplus soldiers from the garrison to mine, you can dig out 2 million kilograms of ore.

Recruit another 2,000 garrison soldiers to dig coal, and another 1,000 to smelt iron. Five thousand garrison soldiers will be enough."

This seems to make sense.

But you have to get people to work hard for you.

Duke Dingguo Xu Wenbi still said with some embarrassment: "Your Majesty, a young man must work really hard to dig a thousand kilograms of ore a day. Besides, they can't dig with their hands, they must use shovels and spades.

And iron smelting requires a furnace, and transporting ore requires a cart. The guards here don't know how to smelt iron, so we have to hire an experienced iron smelter."

Do you think I want to get something for nothing?
Wanli said without hesitation: "These are not problems. Isn't it easy to make the remaining soldiers of the garrison work hard to mine?

Tell the remaining soldiers in the garrison that if they dig a thousand pounds of ore a day, they will be paid a hundred coins. If they dig 30,000 pounds a month, they will be paid three taels of silver. If they dig 50,000 pounds a month, they will be paid five taels of silver. The iron smelters will also be paid. If they smelt 30,000 pounds a month, they will also be paid three taels of silver.

As for shovels, spades, and carts, this is even simpler. Twenty thousand craftsmen have come here one after another, and I just need to let them make them. These things can be made in a few days.

There are also experienced craftsmen who can smelt iron. This is even easier. You can just hire them with money. With a monthly salary of five taels of silver, you can hire even the most skilled craftsman, right?
If they know how to smelt iron, they can definitely build furnaces, so you don’t have to worry about the furnace issue.”

It turns out there is salary!
Duke Dingguo Xu Wenbi nodded repeatedly and said, "If Your Highness pays the wages, then there is absolutely no problem. With such high wages, I'm afraid they will go crazy and work day and night."

This salary is really scary. The current county magistrate only makes five taels of silver a month.

However, if we calculate the input-output ratio, it is nothing. Even if the remaining 5,000 garrison soldiers all work for 5 taels of silver a month, it is only 25,000 taels a month. As for the experienced craftsmen, there is no need to hire many.

The output of these more than 5,000 people is quite terrifying. If everyone is paid 5 taels of rice, the output of pig iron will be 50 million catties per month. Even if 50 million catties of pig iron is calculated at 5 cents per catty, it is still worth 250,000 taels of rice.

What's more, they can sell one batch of wrought iron for 25 wen, and 10 million jin is 250,000 taels. In other words, after deducting all costs, they can earn at least 200,000 to 300,000 taels a month.

Wanli calculated carefully and said solemnly, "You should also pay attention and bring more managers to manage it properly. If you can produce one million catties of pig iron a day, I will give you a monthly dividend of 10,000 taels."

The money earned from the farmland has really been made up, and there’s even more!

Upon hearing this, Duke Dingguo Xu Wenbi rubbed his hands and said, "Your Majesty, if I recruit more people and refine two million catties of pig iron a day, wouldn't that give me a dividend of twenty thousand taels a month?"

Oh, you kid, you still have a little ambition. Wanli nodded without hesitation and said, "Of course, the more you produce, the more dividends you will get. If you can produce 3 million catties of pig iron a day, I will give you 30,000 taels a month."

That would be great.

Upon hearing this, Duke Dingguo Xu Wenbi's face flushed with excitement.

Mining and iron smelting are so profitable, it would be no problem for him to give all the land he has acquired to His Majesty.

Duke Chengguo Zhu Yingzhen and Duke Yingguo Zhang Yuangong were envious when they saw this.

How come such a good thing didn't happen to them?

It would have been better if His Majesty had requisitioned their land. Forty to fifty thousand acres of land could have brought in at least two or three hundred thousand taels of profit a year.

Zhang Zhen saw this and said with a somewhat sorrowful face, "Your Majesty, the more pig and wrought iron you produce, the more you can sell. 20 million catties a year is a bit better, but if you can produce 20 million catties a month, I don't know how I'm going to get it to the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty to sell it."

Isn’t this simple?

Wanli said without hesitation: "Qian'an and Luanzhou happen to have the Luan River passing through them. Jizhou Town still has quite a few 400-ton octopus boats and wheel boats. 400-ton boats can carry at least 50,000 catties of cargo, so 100 boats can carry 5 million catties of cargo.

If you go downstream from the Luan River to the Haihe River, Beiyun River, and Chaobai River, the total water distance is about 500 to 600 miles. You pay them five taels of silver for each boat per trip, and let them row as hard as they can in three days at most. It will only take two days to go back with an empty boat.

In this way, one trip would only take five days, and with six trips a month, wouldn't 30 million kilograms of pig iron be transported here?
If Wenbi produces a lot, you can rent a boat from Liaodong or even Shandong. They have nothing to do all day anyway, so let them exercise and make money at the same time. Isn't that great?"

Well, border towns like Liaodong and Jizhou still have small warships of 400 tons. A border town can definitely pull out 100 ships. For example, in coastal garrisons like Shandong, Fujian, Zhejiang, and Nanzhili, which have many warships of 400 tons, a commandery can pull out 500 to 600 ships.

The question is, why would anyone rent it to him?

Zhang Zhen said cautiously, "Your Majesty, I'm afraid I can't rent a boat."

Your position is quite low.

Wanli thought for a moment, then decisively said, "I'll promote you to the rank of Vice-Chief of the Imperial Guards, and assign you to a Thousand Households of the Imperial Guards. Just tell them that this is my will. If anyone dares not rent to you, I'll dismiss him and investigate him."

How dare you, the emperor, issue such an order!

That should be fine.

Zhang Zhen asked carefully again, "Your Majesty, what about shipping? It's impossible for the ships from the southeastern coastal garrisons to come to Northern Zhili to pick up goods."

This is also simple.

Wanli said without hesitation: "You can rent a grain ship to ship the goods. After the grain ships transport the grain to Tongzhou, they usually return empty. There are tens of thousands of grain ships, some with 800 tons of cargo. It will be no problem for them to bring your goods to Nanzhili."

Okay, now I have no problem, but you might have some problems.

You actually used the imperial power to do business. What will others say about you behind your back?
Zhang Zhen thought about it and then politely reminded him, "Your Majesty, I'm afraid that what I'm doing will affect your reputation."

Wanli doesn't care about these things.

The emperor of the Ming Dynasty was fooled by the civil servants and dared not do anything.

He just wants to break the shackles of civil service and do whatever he wants!
The three powerful families in Puzhou have made so much money by using the power in their hands that no one knows how much money they have earned. So why can't he use the power in his hands to make money?
If we believe the lies of those civil servants and dare not do anything, all the benefits of the Ming Dynasty's development will be snatched away by those civil servants.

This is not a joke.

Since the Hongwu and Yongle dynasties, the Ming Dynasty has not been regressing, but developing. The profits produced by the entire dynasty have at least doubled.

Especially in industry and commerce, the profits from output are estimated to have increased more than tenfold.

Statistics from later generations showed that after the opening of the sea in the reign of Emperor Longqing, the value of gold and silver flowing into the Ming Dynasty from European colonists alone was more than 30 million taels each year.

It has been more than ten years, and at least 500 million taels of gold and silver have flowed into the Ming Dynasty.

However, the court's taxes did not increase much, and almost all the benefits were taken away by the vested interest groups of the civil service.

As an emperor, he didn't make a penny.

This was just the beginning. During the more than 40 years of the Wanli reign, the gold and silver that flowed into the Ming Dynasty was worth at least ten billion taels.

If history had continued to develop, all this gold and silver would have been taken away by the vested interest groups of the civil servants. In the end, the Ming Dynasty would have been so poor that it could not even pay out food and wages, while the civil servants would have become filthy rich!

Therefore, those who listen to the civil servants are fools. The right thing to do is to quickly rob them of money to develop military force.

I abuse my power for personal gain, so what?

Wanli said nonchalantly, "Who says that being an emperor can't make money? Just go for it with confidence. If you sell 10 million catties, I'll give you 10,000 taels. If you do well, I'll promote Shunpin to Imperial Concubine."

Oh, my precious daughter still has a chance to be promoted to imperial concubine?

Never mind.

Dry!
Zhang Zhen nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

(End of this chapter)