The revival of Shu Han

Chapter 200: South of the True Color Cloud ([-])
"Geng Teng, county magistrate of Xiaguan Guchang, and Yin Hui, director of Caomin Guchang Copper Mine. Greetings to Da Sima."

Why can I see famous people in history wherever I go?
"Magistrate Geng, Mine Manager Yin, what do you call the two names? How old are you? Where is your hometown?"

"Lao Da Sima Guowen, his official name is Meng Sheng, he is 21 years old this year. His ancestral home is Chengdu, Shu County."

"Caomin's name is Ziming, and he is 35 years old this year. Caomin is from Tianshui, and used to be under the command of General Zisi (Zhugexu). In the first year of Yanxing, he surrendered with General Zhenxi at Yang'an Pass. In August of the second year of Yanxing to here."

It seems to be right, this Geng Teng has achieved the internal history of Yizhou in the Western Jin Dynasty in the historical plane.He and the Zhao he met not long ago are a couple who love each other and kill each other.Oh, I have to sigh again, there are so many talents in Yizhou.

As for this Yin Hui.

"Ziming, what is the relationship between you and Zhijinwu (Yin Shang, Jiang Wei's son, who came to Han with Jiang Wei) who was not paid two years ago?"

"Hehe, Zhijinwu can be regarded as the clan uncle of the grass people. Da Sima and Yin Zai Tianshui are the surnames. The two surnames Yin can be related to some extent. So this clan uncle is really nothing."

"Well, I'm here this time. I mainly want to see the mining and sales of the Guchang Copper Mine. How about this, Ziming, you lead the way, and I want to take a complete look at the mining, classification, smelting, and formation of the copper mine. Copper throughout."

"No! Please Da Sima go with the grassroots."

Copper mines in Yunnan are mainly bornite and chalcopyrite.The ore here contains more than 300% copper, which is a rare rich ore.However, due to various reasons, the value of copper production here has not been fully valued.Until the early Qing Dynasty, Wu Sangui was named the King of Pingxi, and he was the Queen of Yunnan.In order to raise funds for the war against Kang Mazi, the copper mines here were developed on a large scale.After the failure of the Wu family's rebellion, the Qing Dynasty continued to improve the production and further develop the copper mine here.The production of Yunnan Copper entered into prosperity.During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the peak output of copper in Yunnan reached 90.00 million jin, accounting for [-]% of the total output of the country at that time[-].

Copper is the second most conductive metal after silver.In modern society, its main use is to make wires.In this era, of course, it is the main material for coinage.In other words, the huge amount of funds needed for the Northern Expedition after Guan Da Sima mainly came from here.Therefore, Guan Yi attaches great importance to this place.

"Da Sima, the above is the whole process of copper mine production. In general, we dig out a hundred stones of ore, and after various screening and smelting, we can get about one stone of pure copper."

"Well, how many people from Longxi do you have here? How many local people of various ethnic groups are hired?"

"Back to Da Sima, there are more than [-] captives from the former Longxi Army in the Guchang Copper Mine. When we first started production last year, we did not hire local people. This year we found out the direction of the mine veins, and after the scale of production began to expand, we recruited some local people. People work in copper mines. Well, this number is constantly changing. As of last month, there were more than [-] locals working in mines.”

That's 400 people, huh?Count the other dozen or so copper mines.This is the scale of 3 people.And these 3 people are led by former soldiers... Guan Yi only felt a headache after hearing this number.

But there is no way, the excavation of such a large mine must be a large-scale labor-intensive industry.There are not enough people to watch.

"I saw in the report of the imperial court that your mine is the largest among the many copper mines in Nanzhong, and it also has the most people. So this became the first stop of this official's trip to Nanzhong. Then, what is the annual output value of your mine?"

"Da Sima, because it was just started last year. So the output was extremely small, let's not talk about him. This year, starting from July, the output has become constant. Basically, if we don't continue to increase the manpower. The output of copper (pure copper) is 180 stones. In addition, since this mine is a copper-iron-tin alloy mine, in addition to copper, we can also produce [-] stones of iron and [-] stones of tin per month."

The quality of five baht coins in the Western Han Dynasty was relatively good. It was not only a currency unit, but also a unit of measurement.Since Empress Lu improved the currency system, each of the five bahts in the Western Han Dynasty was basically about 8 grams.Among them, the copper content is 6 grams, and the pewter content is a little more than 2 grams.And there is a pressure ring on the edge of each five baht - to prevent someone from scraping the copper material from the edge of the copper coin.

The five baht of the Eastern Han Dynasty will not work, probably only about 3.5 grams to 4 grams per coin.The copper content is only about 3 grams.In the period of Emperor Han Ling, the five baht coins became lighter and lighter. During the reign of Dong Zhuo, the inferior five baht coins reached their peak: one piece was only 0.5 grams.Contains less than 0.1 grams of copper.

As for the Shu Han regime.That shameless Liu Bei is not much better than Dong Zhuo.When he first entered Yizhou, in order to boost morale, he told the soldiers under his command that after Chengdu was captured, I don't want anything in Liu Zhang's treasury, and I will give it all to you!As a result, he became a pauper after he took over Yizhou.So under Liu Ba's suggestion, he issued one hundred and five baht coins—one worth five baht and one hundred pieces in the Han Dynasty.What is its weight? 0.8 grams!Such scumbag currency cannot be circulated normally except for the government's forced purchase of private goods and robbing the people of their money.

In the period of Zhuge Liang, the government of Shuhan once honestly made five baht coins, and the weight of a five baht coin of Shuhan also returned to about 3.5 grams in the Eastern Han Dynasty.However, because Zhuge Liang did not have the geographical knowledge of the traversers, the Shu Han had been short of copper materials for a period of time.On the basis of history, compared with the five baht coins of Cao Wei, the five baht coins of the Shu Han are smaller in size and thicker (there is too much lead and tin added inside, it is too brittle, and it is easy to break if the thickness is not increased. ), the color of copper coins is extremely dull.And when Chen Yu later came to power, in order to spend a lot of money and food to supply Jiang Wei's Northern Expedition.Shuhan's five baht coins began to decrease again, from 3.5 grams all the way down.At the most exaggerated time, even five baht coins of 0.2 grams appeared... So Cao Wei and Soochow did not accept the five baht of the Shu Han, so when Guan Yi was in Fuling County, he often had to use foreign exchange (Cao Wei five baht) to buy thing.

Now Guan Da Sima has opened Goldfinger again, and got out of Yunnan Copper in advance.The Shu Han finally no longer suffered from the lack of copper.

"Well, one thousand stones of pure copper is produced a month, that is 700 kilograms, converted into grams, it is 900 million grams. According to the standard of five baht in the Han Dynasty, each five baht uses three grams of copper. Only here The output can be 800 million coins per month. In a year, it is [-] million. There are more than a dozen mines in Nanzhong, and the annual output can probably guarantee the court to mint one billion coins every year."

This amount is not small-he is the money newly put into the market every year.But it’s not too much—compared with Guan Yi’s upcoming Northern Expedition, a billion dollars?It won't be long before it's all gone.

However, this is almost the limit of Yunnan copper production in this era.Hey, take your time, the Northern Expedition is the last few years.But the production of Yunnan copper can last for hundreds of thousands of years.

"Ziming, how is your livelihood doing now?"

"Hey, Mr. Lao Da Sima asked. The grassroots are still living very well now."

"Hey, help me figure it out, what is a good way?"

"That's right, Da Sima. As for the red copper, we mainly sell it to the Mijia firm and the Shejia firm. The prices they offer are the same. Two thousand dollars per stone of copper. In addition, there are iron, tin and so on. This It is sold cheaply, about seven or eight hundred yuan per stone. All in all, our monthly income in this mine is about 250 million yuan. According to the rules of the imperial court, we have to pay 160% of the mining tax. The actual income We received about [-] million renminbi. We have a total of [-] brothers from the north and locals, and each of us receives an average of nearly [-] renminbi each month. Seven hundred renminbi! In recent years, the imperial court has implemented the Thirty-One Tax and Land Occupation Order, and the price of food has dropped to the level of one hundred yuan per stone. That is to say, our income can buy seven stones of grain every month! With such an income, not only one person can live It’s very comfortable, and it’s more than enough to support a family!”

This is about Yixin.The soldiers of the Shu Han and the former Cao Wei had an annual salary of about [-] yuan.Before the price of grain fell, the annual income was only enough to buy more than [-] shi of grain.It is completely different from the current annual income that can buy more than [-] stone grains.

and……

"Ziming, I heard that you hire local people to dig mines for you, and you only give them a stone of grain a month?"

"No way! It's impossible to be so low. Miners are physical labor, and it's easy to eat a stone of grain for a month. If we really give people a stone of grain, they will have nothing left but food every month! Our salary here The lowest payment is [-] yuan per month! Da Sima, you can ask County Magistrate Geng about this matter. His people are stationed at the mine, and they have to check our accounts every month to collect taxes! We can do this. Can't fake it!"

(End of this chapter)