Our family has been rebelling for generations, and you've become the top scholar in the imperia

We arrived at the Imperial Study.

Seeing that Zhou Zhengde's expression was not good, Qin Feng frowned.

He immediately understood.

It's estimated that the King of Transport came to complain, because all the miners were dismissed that afternoon, and Qin Feng took back all the mining rights held by those merchants.

It must be that the Prince of Yun's residence couldn't sit still any longer and came to the emperor for advice.

However, the profits in the coal supply sector are too high, and Qin Feng is unlikely to back down.

"You were appointed as a secretary in the Ministry of Works, so why are you going to the mines?"

"Your Majesty, the Tuntian Division manages coal mining, so I naturally had to go and take a look. I just didn't expect the coal business to be in such a bad state."

"Yeah?"

Zhou Zhengde was stunned, somewhat taken aback.

They supply coal to the entire capital and the palace, and the mining tax is paid on time every year. How could their business be bad?

Upon hearing this...

Seeing the emperor's surprised expression, Qin Feng vaguely understood something.

No way?

Does the emperor not know how much silver is lost from coal mining every year? Does he not understand how much profit is involved?

"Your Majesty, I dare to ask, how much tax does the Xishan Coal Mine pay to the court each year?"

"Go and check. The taxes from Xishan Coal Mine are paid to the Imperial Treasury every year for the palace's use. It should be quite a lot."

Zhou Zhengde wasn't entirely sure either, but there had never been any problems with coal mine taxes.

In addition, he felt that being able to supply so many people in the capital was a good thing. Mining coal was hard work, but if taxes were not a problem, then operating the business would naturally be fine as well.

As Prince Yun said, the Prince's Mansion wouldn't have intervened in such a thankless and arduous task if it weren't for maintaining the operation of the Xishan Coal Mine.

soon.

After checking, Eunuch Miao hurriedly returned to the Imperial Study.

"Your Majesty, last year the Xishan Mine paid 12,000 taels of silver, and the year before that, despite a slightly worse performance, it still paid 10,000 taels."

Qin Feng's lips twitched.

Seeing the old eunuch and the emperor with expressions that seemed to say "not bad," he felt a headache coming on.

How many mine shafts are there in the entire Xishan mining area? They only pay 12,000 taels of silver a year, and they think that's pretty good?

No wonder the Prince of Yun's mansion not only seized the Ministry of Works' mining rights and taxes, but also managed to profit from the miners' wages.

The palace was completely in the dark, almost like a blind person.

"Your Majesty, is there an abacus in the palace? I would like to calculate for you how much silver the Xishan Coal Mine should pay in a year, and what its specific revenue is."

"Is there a problem?"

Seeing that Qin Feng was serious and didn't seem to be just mentioning it casually, Zhou Zhengde nodded.

He ordered someone to bring the abacus.

"The Ministry of Works issues a total of 36 mining rights per year. Each mining right, according to the Ministry of Works' normal pricing, costs 2,000 taels of silver per year. For 36 rights, that's 72,000 taels of silver."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhengde hurriedly asked again.

"With so much revenue, why does the Ministry of Works need to apply for silver from the Ministry of Revenue? Seventy thousand taels of silver, is it not enough for the Ministry of Works' needs?"

Something is wrong!

At this point, Zhou Zhengde also realized that something was wrong.

The mining rights can be sold for 70,000 taels.

How could it be possible to pay 10,000 taels of tax?

"Your Majesty, I have investigated and found that the Ministry of Works could not actually sell that many. The Ministry of Works sold them to the Prince of Yun's Mansion in a package for 20,000 taels of silver. Ordinary merchants who want to mine coal need to purchase mining rights from the Prince of Yun's Mansion. As for the price, it is 5,000 taels of silver per year."

Qin Feng kept turning the abacus in his hands.

Calculate a number.

"Based on the number of mining rights I reclaimed today, all thirty-six mining rights have been sold. The Prince of Yun's Mansion earned a total of 180,000 taels of silver from these mining rights alone, making a profit of 160,000 taels!"

quiet!

Throughout the Imperial Study, both Zhou Zhengde and Eunuch Miao were taken aback by this number.

Sixteen thousand taels of silver.

They can make so much money just from the difference in the price of selling mining rights.

"No, I remember the Ministry of Works submitted a memorial stating that the mining rights couldn't be sold due to a lack of competition from merchants. That's why they bundled them together and sold them to the Prince of Yun's residence at a low price of five thousand taels a year. These merchants had no profit to speak of, so how could they possibly buy them?"

"Your Majesty!"

Qin Feng was on the verge of collapse.

It's only because the Great Zhou Dynasty is currently strong and doesn't lack money; otherwise, with this corruption law, it wouldn't be long before it's completely emptied out.

This is just one of the Xishan coal mines.

What about the other departments?

It is estimated that the same situation will occur in other industries taxed by the imperial court.

"That's not how you do it. Merchants are profit-driven. If there's no profit, they won't buy it, even if it's only 50 taels a year. The fact that they can buy it means there's something to be gained from it."

The price of coal in Beijing has not yet been calculated.

Qin Feng was unable to calculate the detailed profit involved.

but……

He did find out the details about the caravans responsible for transporting coal from Xishan.

It's very profitable.

It's fair to say that it's very profitable.

"Your Majesty, coal is a necessity, especially in winter, when every household buys it. The profit margin here is not as small as you think."

"I did check the coal transport caravans today. A cartload of coal delivered to the capital and given to the coal merchants costs forty wen. A caravan can make three trips a day before dawn, which is one hundred and twenty wen. And a caravan, at the very least, has over a hundred taels of silver in carts, so the daily profit is twelve taels of silver."

Qin Feng spread his hands, looking rather helpless, and said:

"That's more than three hundred taels of silver a month, Your Majesty. There are dozens of similar caravans in the entire Xishan mining area."

"The amount of silver transported in just one month is over ten thousand taels."

"How could mining coal not be profitable?"

Zhou Zhengde was dumbfounded.

The transportation alone costs tens of thousands of taels of silver a month. How could this business not make money?

"I have already ordered the arrest of all the merchants and managers regarding the specific profits, and I expect to have the results by tomorrow. However, I have heard from the transport caravan members that they are earning hard-earned money, while the managers of the coal mines are making the lion's share."

"Bang!"

Zhou Zhengde was furious and slammed his fist on the table.

Damn!

If 10,000 taels are transported per month, that's over 100,000 taels of silver per year.

Judging from the taxes collected, the transportation alone amounted to over ten thousand, so how could the amount handed over to the palace be only ten thousand?

How could he not have imagined that the transport team only made a fraction of the profits, while the real lion's share went to the mining merchants?

"and……"

"And what?"

"Your Majesty, the palace should actually thank the Prince Yun's Mansion for being able to collect ten thousand taels."

"What? He can earn 160,000 taels of silver just by opening a mining license, and I should thank him for giving me 10,000 taels?"

Qin Feng nodded.

"Yes, Your Majesty, you should not have received a single tael of silver. All the merchants are registered under the name of Prince Yun's residence. According to the Great Zhou Law, nobles are not required to pay taxes... I greatly admire Prince Yun for being able to give 10,000 taels to the palace. He could have given not a single tael..."

"Bang!"

Qin Feng couldn't continue speaking.

Zhou Zhengde, who was above, kicked over the table.

"This is outrageous! Investigate! Investigate for me! I need to know exactly how much silver the Prince of Yun's mansion has embezzled from the Xishan coal mine! Investigate!!!"