When Luo Jian heard Liu Weimin's words, he was immediately surprised, he only cared about the construction of the steel mill before, but he didn't care too much about the source of this ore, thinking that this mineral deposit was in Huang Degong's jurisdiction and could be mined casually, but he didn't expect to encounter such a thing.

This steelmaking plant is not like a glass factory, the glass factory is a profit-making factory, this steelmaking plant can only be used in the army in a short period of time, it is impossible to make a profit, how can you afford to buy ore for a long time?

Shi Kefa saw the two of them walking aside and muttering for a long time, knowing that the two of them had encountered difficulties.

"Xinghua, what the hell is the matter with you? Say it and let's figure it out together, what problem can the two of you solve? Shi Kefa said loudly.

"Brother Xian, Brother Maozhong, in this fiefdom of the royal family and the nobles, if the imperial court discovers mineral deposits to be mined, will the imperial court also have to pay for it?" Luo Jian walked up to the two and asked.

"Xinghua, under normal circumstances, the imperial court will re-divide the land and divide them into feuds, how can the imperial court have to pay for mining operations?" Shi Kefa was a little puzzled.

Only then did Luo Jian explain the question of Xiao Liu's reaction.

Shi Kefa and Chen Zilong frowned when they heard this.

"Xinghua, this noble surnamed Zhu must be Zhu Guobi, the Duke of Baoguo, who is extremely greedy and regards money as the root of his life, so it is not a small trouble for him to give up this fiefdom."

Chen Zilong spoke first.

"Xinghua, let's do it, I'll first report to the imperial court and ask the imperial court to redivide the fief for Zhu Guobi, if it really doesn't work, I'm afraid I can only open another mine." Shi Kefa said helplessly.

When Zhu Guobi ascended the throne of Emperor Hongguang, he had the merit of supporting Xincheng Bo Zhao Zhilong, Sincerity Bo Liu Kongzhao and others, which moved the interests of the nobles and nobles, and it will inevitably cause many nobles to attack, and Shi Kefa's approach may only be done to the best of his ability and obey the will of God.

"Another mine? So much has been invested in the early stage, and if you start again, I am afraid that all these investments will be wasted. Hearing what the two said, Luo Jian felt extremely depressed.

After thinking for a long time, Luo Jian said again: "Two, do you think you can supply ore from the mines of the imperial court?" ”

"Xinghua, don't think nonsense, as far as the mines of the imperial court are concerned, it is not enough to train iron by yourself, how can you supply this steel mill? This steelmaking mill needs more ore than the imperial ironworks! Chen Zilong said angrily.

Later, Chen Zilong gave Luo Jian a detailed introduction to the current situation of the imperial court ironworks, these imperial court-run ironworks are basically overcrowded, the miners are not able to eat, and the daily mining volume is surprisingly small.

"Xiao Liu, how long can you use these ores?"

"Chief, don't look at these ores now, they look like a lot, in fact, when the furnace is opened, it won't take long at all, and it is estimated that it won't be used for half a month."

Seeing that Shi and Chen were both in deep thought, Luo Jian opened his mouth and said: "In this way, if the ore is not enough, spend money to buy it first, and the matter of steelmaking must not be delayed." It's really not good, let's open a new mine, this Luzhou is very rich in minerals, I don't believe that there are mines in the fiefdom of his Zhu Baibi family. ”

"Xinghua, no, I'll move some more money out, this steelmaking plant really can't be stopped." Shi Kefa said with a wry smile.

Hearing Shi Kefa say this, Luo Jianxin said, where is there still silver in this Yangzhou official mansion?

Although since Shi Kefa supervised Yangzhou, the taxes of the four towns in Jiangbei have not been handed over to the imperial court, but in fact, since the Qing soldiers went south, the Jiangbei area has been extremely erosive, and the people have to rely on the government for relief in their lives, but where can they collect taxes?

The Qing soldiers have just retreated for a month, and production has not yet fully recovered, so it may be difficult to solve the problem on their own.

"Then let's do it, staying here won't solve the problem, we'll find a way back to Yangzhou." Luo Jian was also helpless.

After Shi Kefa chose the site of the gunpowder factory, a group of people rode back to Yangzhou.

Shi Kefa, who returned to Yangzhou, hurriedly went back to the mansion to write a recital for the imperial court, and Luo Jian returned to the mansion depressed with his head down.

At this time, the city of Nanjing was a different scene, and Duoduo's retreat made Emperor Hongguang and the Manchu Dynasty both breathe a sigh of relief. Emperor Hongguang, who had eased up, first had a new idea.

A month ago, he was preparing to flee from Beijing, but he didn't expect the situation to stabilize all of a sudden, although Lu Jiude came back from Yangzhou and told Zhu Youxiang and Ma Gebu about Luo Jian's analysis, but both of them thought that it was all in the future, and the current crisis was gone, which was the most critical.

This palace only built Xingning Palace and Cixi Palace last year, and now Zhu Youxiang feels that these two palaces are too small, and his troupe can't fiddle with them. At the beginning of the year, the harem was expanded, so many new concubines were recruited, and so many palace maids were added, and now the residence is extremely crowded.

Of course, if the emperor wants to repair the palace, he generally will not bring it up, there must always be courtiers, Zhu Youxiang thought for a long time, and finally found Zhu Guobi, the prince of Baoguo, and asked him to ask for the palace to be repaired.

Ma Gebu also felt that the pressure was much less, and the others were secondary, mainly because there were fewer people looking for him for silver. The four towns in Jiangbei used to make the Ma Ge Department miserable, raising so many soldiers, and the amount of silver asked for every year was already a few days.

Ma Shiying clearly remembered that since Emperor Hongguang succeeded to the throne, Chu Zhen (Zuo Liangyu Department) and the four towns asked the imperial court for silver every day, and Chu Zhen had more than 50,000 soldiers and horses, and 1.8 million taels of silver were needed; The soldiers of the four towns each have 30,000 horses, and they need to pay 2.4 million taels, and the other horses in Jiangbei need 1 million taels.

These five towns alone are not enough, and there are 60,000 horses in Beijing, which needs to be paid 1.2 million taels; The eight towns along the Yangtze River, including Jiangdu, Anfu, Wufu, Wenwu Caojiang, Zheng Hongkui, Zheng Cai, Huang Binqing, Huang Fei, and Bu Congshan, had a total of more than 120,000 soldiers and horses, and had to pay 2.4 million taels.

The total amount of military pay required has exceeded more than 7 million taels. Sichuan, Hubei, Shandong, Henan and other places have fallen into the hands of the Manchu Qing Dynasty or thieves, and have long been unable to collect taxes, according to the statistics of Dasi Nong, all the annual taxes are only 6 million taels, if there is a flood and drought, this tax has to be reduced, and now even in Nanjing's Taicang there is no overnight grain.

In addition to the army's salary, the expenditure of 7 million taels also included officials' salaries and other expenses, and the imperial court had long been unable to make ends meet.

Now that this Chu town has rebelled against the imperial court, there is no need for this salary to come out again, and the Huang Degong Department of Luzhou in the four towns of Jiangbei has been merged into Yangzhou, and now only Yangzhou and Liu Zeqing are left.

The five towns have become two towns, and the situation in Jiangbei is actually better than before, and the Ma Gebu is overjoyed, thinking that it is time to breathe a sigh of relief.

Ma Gebu, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, received an edict from Emperor Hongguang and asked him to enter the palace to see His Majesty.

Ma Shiying ran to the Wuying Palace, and saw that Zhang Youyu, the secretary of the household department, Ruan Dacheng, the secretary of the military department, Zhu Guobi, the prince of Baoguo, Chang Yingjun of Xiang Chengbo, and others were already waiting in the palace, and the four of them were given seats by the emperor, and there was an empty seat, which was obviously reserved for himself.

Ma Shiying looked at the people in the palace, guessing in his heart the purpose of the emperor calling him.

The other three Ma Shiying are very familiar with themselves, but they don't know much about this city Bo Chang Yingjun, only that Chang Yingjun was a leathersmith at the beginning, and when Emperor Hongguang fled from Huaiqing, he ran dozens of miles alone with Zhu Youxiang on his back, and defected to his cousin Zhu Changshu, King of Lu. Now the emperor felt his kindness, and first named him the governor of the left capital, and then added the title of Xiang Chengbo.

"Mr. Ma, I invited Mr. over today because the Duke of Baoguo has an excerpt and wants to repair the palace again. Zhu Youxiang directly explained to Ma Shiying the intention of convening everyone, but it was a little secretive.

When Ma Shiying heard this, Zhu Youxiang vaguely mentioned it to him at the beginning, but because of the erosive situation and the military expenditure, Ma Shiying pretended to be deaf and dumb, and did not take Zhu Youxiang's stubble.

"The emperor, the minister thought that it was not the time to build the palace at this time, and now the treasury is empty, and the army has spent a lot of money on silver, and the palace has to be repaired, but the household department can't get the silver."

Although Zhang Youyu, the head of the household department, was recommended by Ma Shiying, although he was not a faction of the Donglin Party, he was not of the same mind as the Ma Ge Department, he was very upright, and he had put forward a proposal to Emperor Hongguang to "cut redundant soldiers, save redundant food, and eliminate redundant expenses", and now seeing that the situation is slightly stable, Zhu Youxiang raised the matter of building the palace again, and raised objections on the spot.

"Zhang Shangshu's words are bad, don't you know that there are only two towns left in the five towns of Jiangbei and Chu Town? There are not a few people who can save this military spending, right? How is it that the household department has no silver? Zhu Guobi, the Duke of Baoguo, listened to Zhang Youyu's words, and immediately jumped up and asked.

"Now the situation has just stabilized, still need the full support of the Yangzhou army, now the Yangzhou army is the way of elite soldiers, although the number of people is greatly reduced than before, its expenses are not slightly reduced than before, the accounts of its military expenses are clear, generals at all levels do not have a trace of milligram deduction, after careful inspection, it is believed that it is not empty, so the minister has not been less Yangzhou military expenses."

Zhang Youyu patiently explained that Ruan Dacheng had returned from Yangzhou and knew a lot about Luo Jian's training process, and when he saw Emperor Hongguang looking up at him, he lowered his head and pretended not to see it.

"Now the palace is in disrepair, has made the emperor lose face, although last year repaired the Xingning Palace, Cixi Palace, but its pattern is very small, now the emperor expanded the harem, everywhere is already very crowded, Zhang Shangshu, do you think the royal face is not important?" Zhu Guobi said righteously and strictly, but after speaking, he felt that he was still unfinished, and asked sharply:

"This Yangzhou army now only has 50,000 horses, how can its salary still be the same as the previous three towns?"

"Where is the equivalent of the previous three towns? It is just the salary and silver issued according to the number of the Luzhou army and the Yangzhou army. Zhang Youyu had no choice but to explain patiently.

Listening to the two arguing, Emperor Hongguang's fat face showed a stupid expression, as if this matter of repairing the palace had nothing to do with it, Ma Shiying said in his heart, although the emperor didn't care about anything, but he had a lot of scheming.

"I'm afraid that this Yangzhou Metropolitan Governor Luo Jian will become another Zuo Liangyu in the future, and he is already disrespectful to the imperial court, if he doesn't listen to the imperial court in the future, what can he do?"

Zhu Guobi's words made Ma Shiying's heart tremble, now relying on the Yangzhou army, if this Yangzhou army is really as Zhu Guobi said, who else can this court rely on?

Zhang Youyu heard that Zhu Guobi had already pulled the matter to the Yangzhou army, and he didn't want to get involved in these things, thinking that if it was only tens of thousands of taels, he could barely deal with it if he moved to the east and made up the west. Immediately spoke: "I don't know how much money it takes to build this palace? ”

"What are you talking about, if you want to start construction, how can you build only one palace, and this harem residence must also be built, the minister has already found someone to make a budget, probably only one million taels." Zhu Guobi has obviously done his homework beforehand.

Hearing what Zhu Guobi said, Zhang Youyu gasped, and immediately stood up and said: "Emperor Qiqi, with so much silver, the household department is really impossible. ”

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks this matter is not difficult." Ruan Dacheng observed for a long time, saw that Ma Shiying lowered his head and did not speak, thought for a long time, and finally got up and said.

Hearing Ruan Dacheng's words, Zhu Youxiang was immediately overjoyed, and quickly asked, "What is the idea of Ruan Qing's family, come quickly." ”

Ruan Dacheng knew in his heart that if his idea came out, he would definitely offend Luo Jian, the governor of Huaiyang, and thought in his heart that if he benefited from this matter, he would share it with him more, and if he succeeded in marrying him in the future, he was afraid that he would not go against him. Thinking that this Luo Jian seems to only focus on military affairs, and doesn't seem to care too much about civil affairs, if he can send officials to collect taxes, I'm afraid he won't care.

After weighing it again, he felt that the emperor's thigh still had to be held tightly, so he said:

"Emperor Qi, the minister thought that this Yangzhou was originally a rich land, and the situation was erosive before, and the court could not collect its taxes. Now that the situation in Yangzhou has stabilized, this tax should be collectible, if the tax from all over Yangzhou can be collected, the silver for repairing the palace will not be lacking. ”

When Zhang Youyu heard this, he thought to himself that you would send someone to Yangzhou to collect taxes, not to mention whether the governor of the capital would agree, and even the governor Shi Kefa would probably not agree, just let you toss. At the moment, he said: "As long as the silver taels needed to build the palace are not sent out by the household, the minister has no objection." ”

"Then who can go to Yangzhou?" When Zhu Youxiang heard that there was a door, he was immediately impatient.

"The minister thought that the right squire of the military department and the deputy imperial envoy Tian Yangke were also." Ruan Dacheng felt that since he had done it, he simply left this matter to the end, and then recommended his friend and former Sichuan governor Tian Yang.

As soon as he heard Ruan Dabeard recommend Tian Yang to Yangzhou to collect taxes, Zhang Youyu's brows suddenly wrinkled.

In the early years of Chongzhen, Tian Yang was dismissed from office by the official for corruption in Sichuan, and later because of his close relationship with Ma Shiying, Liu Kongzhao and others, he was re-employed in this Hongguang Dynasty.

Tian Yang's appointment as the governor of Huaiyang was specially arranged by Ma Shiying in order to contain Shi Kefa, the governor of Huaiyang, but he didn't expect this Tian Yang to run to Liu Zeqing's army in Huai'an, and he had more than enough fun with Liu Zeqing every day, and he had already left his errand behind.

Ma Shiying has never said a word since he entered the palace, and has been weighing the pros and cons of this palace repair in his heart.

Now that the emperor has made up his mind to repair the palace, he blindly stops it, and he is afraid of losing the emperor's heart. If it is not stopped, the finances of this court are already overwhelmed, and this first assistant who has no money is not so easy to do.

Seeing that Ruan Dacheng had such an idea for the emperor, Ma Shiying shook his head in his heart, thinking that it was unknown what this Luo Jian thought, and even this Shi Kefa would not agree in Yangzhou.

Seeing that this Ruan Dacheng recommended Tian Yang to do this errand, he said in his heart that this Tian Yang is his own person, but if there is a benefit, he will not lose his own, and he thought in his heart, he can always get some back, so he simply let them go.

"What does Mr. Ma think?" Zhu Youxiang still remembers asking for the opinion of Shoufu.

"There is no objection to the minister." Ma Shiying said these four words and refused to say a word more.

"Then Xiang Chengbo Chang Yingjun will lead this matter, and the Ministry of Industry will fully assist, and Chang Qing's family must hurry up and not slack off." Zhu Youxiang set the tone.

This made Ma Shiying finally understand why he had brought this former leathersmith here, thinking that the emperor had arranged everything, so he came to discuss with himself, which was really a good calculation.

PS: Please support the new book, save the recommendation, ask for collection, thank you!