The First Prince of the Ming Dynasty

Upon hearing Qian Ning's words, Zhu Houzhao immediately rejected the idea, saying, "You are not up to the task."

In this respect, he genuinely looked down on Qian Ning.

I've never seen you manage to get any money before, so why are you showing off in front of others?

If you really have money, wouldn't it be better to give it to me? Why do you always have to take rewards from me?

Seeing that Zhu Houzhao, Yang Yiqing, Zhang Mao, and others all looked down on him, Qian Ning said aggrievedly, "Your Majesty, won't you listen to my thoughts?"

Zhu Houzhao said, "You already know how much it will cost, why bother showing off?"

"Your Majesty, I also wish to do my best for the Ming Dynasty and for Your Majesty," Qian Ning said firmly.

Yang Yiqing, standing nearby, tried to speak up: "Your Majesty, if a subject has an opinion, he should be allowed to express it. After all, it is not easy for the court to come up with an extra 100,000 taels of silver to repair new muskets at once."

In his view, since your close associates have the courage to take on this task, why not let them give it a try?

Anyway, it's not us, the orthodox civil officials, who are losing face.

Zhu Houzhao said coldly, "Speak."

Qian Ning then said, "Your subject wishes to open a mine."

"Hey! What nonsense are you talking about?" Zhu Houzhao immediately became angry.

Mining had been mentioned before, but it wasn't until the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty that mining was officially allowed in various places. Of course, the resulting disputes between the emperor and his officials were even more severe than during the Zhengde era.

To put it bluntly, the officials of the Ming Dynasty could not stand the emperor having his own private pockets, especially when it came to profiting from state resources.

They want to earn their own money.

Qian Ning said, "Please let me finish, Your Majesty. There is a Mr. Tang Yin who is well-versed in astronomy, geomancy, and Xuan Kong Feng Shui. In my opinion, there is a Western Hill outside the capital. That place is rich in coal, but most of the existing mines are poor-quality. If we let him go and assess the feng shui, find a few rich mines, wouldn't we have plenty of silver?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Houzhao fell into deep thought, seemingly pondering the feasibility of the matter.

Yang Yiqing and the others standing nearby almost burst out laughing.

How naive!

It's easy to believe that Tang Yin knew some divination and unorthodox methods.

But mining?

Do you really think he's omniscient and omnipotent?

Seeing that the emperor was not entirely convinced, Qian Ning quickly said, "Lord Zhang, you also have your own mines in the Western Hills, don't you?"

"what?"

Zhang Maoben was just watching the show from the sidelines, never expecting to get involved.

He was surprised, but dared not lie to the emperor. After all, the emperor's chief of secret agents was questioning him. If he stubbornly denied it, wouldn't the emperor destroy his coal mine?

"Well... I did... a few years ago, I took over a mine, but the annual output wasn't much... it was all for my own use," Zhang Mao stammered as he explained.

Zhu Houzhao frowned and said, "Duke of England, your household uses quite a lot of coal. Do you really need to acquire a separate mine for it?"

Zhang Mao's face was a mixture of red and blue, and he cursed Qian Ning's ancestors for eighteen generations in his heart.

Qian Ning said, "Not only the Duke of Ying, but also many meritorious officials in the court own mines in Xishan."

"Yes." Zhu Houzhao nodded.

In his view, if all of you ministers are doing this, how can I be left out?

You've made a fortune from mining, and then you tell me this won't work?

The relationship between a ruler and his subjects should always be based on equality, right?

Earning money must be commensurate.

Yang Yiqing sensed something was wrong and hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, in my opinion, even if we were to start mining immediately and accurately locate the mineral deposits, it would take at least a year and a half to see any results. Shouldn't the manufacture of firearms also be postponed because of this?"

Can you see immediate results just by mining?

From exploration to implementation, to production and marketing... a whole series of steps, even a year would be considered fast.

Zhu Houzhao said, "Yes, it's too late. This matter..."

"Your Majesty, I have another idea."

Qian Ning appeared very enthusiastic and said, "I'm thinking, if we really find a rich mine with high-quality coal that's easy to mine in shallow layers, we might not even need to mine it ourselves. We could sell it directly to ministers in the capital, like the Duke of Yingguo, who have mining experience. Each mine could be sold for tens of thousands of taels... wouldn't that allow us to raise the funds quickly?"

Now it was Zhu Houzhao's turn to stare in disbelief.

Zhu Houzhao was also thinking to himself, "Is this even possible?"

Seeing that no one responded, Qian Ning said, "Old Master Zhang, assuming such a mine truly exists, even if it's just begun, would you be willing to take it over?"

Zhang Mao thought to himself, "Why do I always have to be involved in everything?"

If I say I'm willing, wouldn't that mean my family has at least tens of thousands of taels of silver in surplus? And if the emperor were to borrow money from me...

"I am willing!"

Before Zhang Mao could make any statement, Zhu Fu, who had been listening nearby, couldn't help but break the deadlock.

Qian Ning was delighted and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, you see, this business is quite easy to do. Even the Duke of Cheng thinks it's a good deal."

Zhu Houzhao looked around with a suspicious expression before finally fixing his gaze on Yang Yiqing and asking, "Mr. Yang, do you think this is feasible?"

With a "the more the merrier" attitude, Yang Yiqing said, "I think we can give it a try. But the key issue is how to find the location of this mineral deposit."

What he meant was, if you all talk a good game but in the end Tang Yin doesn't find any mines, then it's all for nothing.

Even if he does find them, with Qian Ning's naivety, he wouldn't really think that these wealthy and powerful officials are so easy to deal with, would he?

With military power and wealth in their hands, they would definitely cause all sorts of trouble when faced with the coal mines surveyed by Tang Yin. What was originally a rich mine would be classified as a poor mine by them, and in the end, they would buy the mines at extremely low prices...

In short.

The emperor wanted to make money from mining in the Western Hills and also fill the gap in firearms production, but that was an impossible task.

If you, the emperor, don't get to experience the treacherous nature of this world, you won't know how dangerous it is.

Seeing that Yang Yiqing also had expectations for this, Zhu Houzhao nodded and said, "Qian Ning, you can give it a try. But let me make this clear beforehand: if you can't handle it, I will punish you! Don't say I didn't give you any advance notice."

"Your subject will certainly do his utmost!" Qian Ning also felt the pressure.

He wondered, "Is this young prince playing a trick on me?"

But if Tang Yin is really that capable, he should be able to make a good impression on my father, right?

Zhu Houzhao said, "We need to prepare for both possibilities in this matter. Mr. Yang, you're about to enter the cabinet, so please use your connections in the court to communicate with the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War, and do your best to secure this sum of money for manufacturing new firearms for me. I'm counting on you!"

Yang Yiqing cupped his hands in a gesture of respect but did not immediately agree.

Because he didn't want to do such a pointless thing.

Zhu Houzhao smiled and said, "I am very happy today, and it is also the first time I have met Minister Zhu. I don't even know what to call you! So, I will bestow a name upon you. From now on, your name will be Zhu Zaiyi. In the next two years, I will arrange for teachers from the Court of Imperial Sacrifices to set up a lecture hall for you in the Wenhua Hall. You will attend the daily lectures on the classics and study hard."

Zhu Yi bowed and said, "Your subject obeys."

Zhu Houzhao didn't seem to intend to host a banquet, and finally gave Qian Ning a look of pity for his lack of ambition.

They probably felt that Qian Ning simply didn't have the ability to accomplish this.

Zhang Yong went up to remind him, "Your Majesty, shouldn't we recall Mr. Tang from Juyong Pass?"

Zhu Houzhao said, "Aren't we going to Xishan to survey the mines? Let's go to Xishan first."

Qian Ning hurriedly said, "Your Highness, please accompany me to Xishan to assist Mr. Tang in completing this matter."

"oh."

Zhu Houzhao frowned slightly, then realized that Qian Ning had agreed to this matter, so it didn't seem inappropriate to let Qian Ning go.

But let Zhu Yi go...

However, Zhu Houzhao immediately nodded and said, "Then let's go take a look. The Ministry of Rites is still arranging the adoption ceremony here, it won't take more than a few days. Zaiyi, you should learn from Qian Ning about military affairs, he knows quite a lot."

Zhu Yi bowed again and said, "Your subject will certainly seek advice from Commander Qian on matters of military administration. I also ask Commander Qian not to hesitate to offer his guidance."