Chapter 248 Copper Mine

For Zhao Yu, it was not difficult to mint copper coins. Don't forget Zhao Yu's identity!

King of the Great Song Dynasty! The Book of Rites! Quang Nam West Road transfer envoy! It has the power to say everything about Quang Nam West Road. And there happens to be a coinage prison on Guangnan West Road, and the place where it is set up is still very close to Guizhou, the seat of governance on Guangnan West Road. It is located in Lingchuan County, which is located in the upper reaches of Lishui and connects to the Lingqu. Lingqu was called Qin Chisel Canal in ancient times, also known as Zero Canal, Steep River, Xing'an Canal, Xianggui Canal.

It is an important canal connecting Guangnan West Road to the north, after passing the Ling Canal, it is Xiangshui, from Xiangshui downstream, you can reach Dongting Lake, and when you reach Dongting Lake, you will naturally go to the Yangtze River, a developed water system, which is the best way to transport copper coins. After all, it is transported by horses, and it is only 80 miles a day at most. And with boats, maybe not as fast as horses, the problem is that boats travel day and night without any problems.

In the money casting prison, Zhao Yu easily obtained a group of skilled craftsmen and apprentices, what name? Directly smash with money and power.

Someone is strange, isn't Zhao Yu afraid that others will find out?

In fact, the secret that is now open now, behind the minting of private money, is the shadow of a scholar! And it's not some ordinary officials, it's some big family.

In fact, no matter which dynasty it is, the banking industry is very profitable!

In the most direct expression, official coinage is made of copper, tin, and lead. The composition of copper is 6 and a half, lead is 2 into 7, and tin is about 8 percent. Although there is an error in the composition because it is minted by the local coinage, it is not too large.

And what about the ingredient of private money? Some profiteers. It will reduce the copper in private money to three and a half percent! Why? Because the price of copper is too expensive. Copper is abundant in the South. It costs 150 wen for a catty, and when you go to the north, the cheapest is 200 wen!

What is the copper missing? Lead!

Lead is in Jiangxi, expensive 30 yuan, cheap, 20 yuan, 19 yuan! (囧)

The difference is more than ten times. One in and one out I don't know how much money I make. However, the people are not stupid, and private money is lower than official coinage, and often three or four private coins are worth one official coin.

How can such a profiteering, powerless and powerless person be able to run a business? Zhao Yu went to mint copper coins privately, but it was normal.

It's just that although Zhao Yu has a craftsman, he didn't let the craftsman immediately mint private money. It's just that people buy copper, tin, and lead on the black market, and cast them on a small scale, and the daily output is so low that it is no more than a consistent payment.

This is so because black market prices are more expensive. This is also normal. Otherwise, how can it be called a black market? It's just that someone wonders, why not buy it in the regular market?

Because copper, tin, lead, etc. It was all sold by the government, which was also a policy of the Song Dynasty in order to control private money, but the effect of this policy was obviously not very good. Just like official salt, the actual sale of illegal salt is still rampant.

Du Xiansheng was puzzled by this, seeing that it had been seven or eight days, and the output was still so low, it was not enough money for craftsmen, apprentices, and guards. I couldn't help but ask, "Lord Wang! Why are you going to let the Mint go on like this? Even if your family has a big business, it's not such a waste of money? ”

Zhao Yu shook his head disappreciatively and said, "Zijing, you only see the surface, not the inside!" What is the use of buying it on the black market? Wouldn't it be better to look for a mineral on the land of Quang Nam West Road? ”

Du Xiansheng understood what Zhao Yu meant, but he still had reservations. "The prince's idea is good! The question is, when will this mine come? ”

Zhao Yu smiled, picked up a letter, shook it, and said, "Someone just sent a pillow!" ”

This letter comes from Rongzhou, which was originally a large mineral state, with a large copper mine and two small copper mines in the state, and it is also the main source of raw materials for Lingchuan coinage.

The messenger happened to be a Xu official from Guozi Academy, because it was already July, and he was sent to the countryside to inspect the growth of crops. I happened to see a woodcutter holding a piece of malachite for his wife.

The woodcutter had no idea the value of malachite, not even the name. I just thought that this stone was quite beautiful, so I used it to please my wife.

Although the name of the Kokuko Academy is a seowon, the core of its education is a miscellaneous study that scholars and doctors do not pay much attention to, and there are also teachings about ores such as malachite, which are relatively easy to identify. Although he didn't recognize it immediately, he also felt familiar, so he bought it. When I returned to the county, I found an old craftsman and asked, only to know that it was malachite.

Malachite is also known as "green green", "stone green" or "green lang". Malachite got such a beautiful name due to its color resembling the green of the specks on peacock feathers. It is considered a kind of jade material.

In fact, malachite is a high-quality copper ore, and the copper content of malachite is generally 30%. The copper content of ordinary good copper ore is only about 20%.

The Na Xu official knew that he might have picked up a treasure, and the discovery of copper ore was a great achievement in the Song Dynasty. However, he did not dare to guarantee whether the place where the woodcutter found was a copper mine, so the officials went to the countryside again, and under the leadership of the woodcutter, they came to the hidden stream where malachite was found. There are also a lot of malachites scattered here, but they are not good-looking, so they are not taken out by the woodcutter to give to his wife.

Even with the technique of the two knives of the Naxu officials, it can be seen that this is an objective copper mine. Fearing that others would be greedy for their own merits, they hid the matter and hurriedly wrote to Zhao Yu. For this reason, even the family members who sent the letter did not know what it was. As for the woodcutter? I have absolutely no idea what is buried there! The people who know at present, strictly speaking, only Zhao Yu and Na Xu are the officials, and now there is one more Du Xiansheng!

Du Xiansheng was overjoyed and said, "The prince is really a person favored by God!" It's just that why didn't the prince immediately send someone to excavate? Even if you don't dig it, it would be nice to send a craftsman to investigate the situation of this copper mine! ”

Zhao Yu shook his head and said, "It's not time yet!" ”

After a pause, Zhao Yu said: "Don't look at what this king seems to say in Guangnan West Road, but is this Guangnan West Road really surrendered by this king?" Not necessarily! Not to mention anything else, just this yamen, because of the hot weather in Lingnan, even the concubines and servants of this king are reluctant to come, and in the end there are only eighteen servants who come with this king! On the way, there are still a large number of people who return to Bianliang because they are not accustomed to water and soil, and there are only five people on Guangnan West Road! Except for these servants, the rest of the yamen were sent by those subordinates, who do you say their hearts are towards? ”

Du Xiansheng was silent.

Zhao Yu said: "Before you are completely sure, don't act rashly!" And the time is not far off! ”

Du Xiansheng was stunned, but immediately understood, and said in surprise: "The prince is ......."

Zhao Yu stopped what Du Xiansheng was about to say, and said with a mysterious smile: "It's good to know some things, but it's not interesting to say it!" ”

Du Xiansheng said sincerely: "The wisdom of the prince is like the stars in the night sky, dazzling and people don't know how many stars there are!" ”

PS: Sorry! The word count is a lot less, but I feel like the state is back! Tomorrow we will start making up for it!

The hard thing is that I have lost too much information, and now the code word feels like constipation! ~Alas! (To be continued......)