At this time, the northern forests of the Ming Dynasty were cut down, and various vegetation on the Loess Plateau was used as firewood to lead to environmental problems.

It is absolutely necessary to prohibit the burning of firewood in the north, and do not think that the ancient environment was good. Compared with the 21st century, the environment in the north of the Ming Dynasty was not as polluted as there was industrial pollution, and the forest coverage rate was not as good as that of the 21st century.

There was no such thing as honeycomb coal in the Ming Dynasty. In these years, people did burn coal, but they all processed coal into small briquettes the size of ping pong balls, which had low combustion efficiency, and incomplete combustion, and it was very inconvenient to control the temperature.

Honeycomb coal should have appeared in the Republic of China period, and then gradually popularized, and officially popularized after liberation.

Honeycomb coal naturally has many advantages, such as complete combustion, easy to use, and the regulation of air entering through the furnace, which can control the combustion rate of honeycomb coal, etc.

The only thing that makes people unhappy is that honeycomb coal has a pungent smell of coal, which is easy to corrode things.

But this shortcoming, there is nothing wrong with putting up with it.

Honeycomb coal is too simple, just the proportion of yellow mud and other combustion-supporting materials. Zhu Youxiao casually asked people to make a large amount of honeycomb coal in the palace, which was a little technical, or a stove. The furnace was actually too simple, and it took the craftsman less than half a day to produce one.

This stove with honeycomb coal, it soon became popular in the palace.

Eunuchs and palace maids sometimes have to boil water, open a small stove or something, with this coal stove and honeycomb coal, it is simply much more convenient.

However, it is forbidden to use honeycomb coal in the Forbidden City, and it is not allowed to be used around the main halls, lest the gas corrode the building.

The Royal Mining Company then added a new business, which was to mine anthracite coal, which was then turned into honeycomb coal.

The cost of honeycomb coal can be calculated on the labor cost. The treatment of miners in the Royal Mining Company is 1.8 silver dollars per month, which is equivalent to 30 yuan per day, and there is a year-end bonus of 3 yuan at the end of the year.

A worker can easily press thousands of honeycomb coals in a day, although it is pressed by hand, but the machine is the kind that presses a row. Each process is divided in parallel, and the efficiency is still very high.

Although mining is also purely manual, it is proper for a person to dig 1 cubic meter of soil every day, almost a ton of coal.

The cost of one ton of coal from mining, transportation, coal preparation, coal washing and other links does not exceed the level of 100 Wen at most. One ton of raw coal is processed into 10 cm honeycomb coal (550 grams), which can process 1,818 pieces, and the processing cost of one ton of raw coal will not exceed 100 Wen.

At present, coal burning in the north is also relatively common, but it is processed into briquettes for sale, and the price of a ton of briquettes is about 300 yuan.

If the price of honeycomb coal is also sold for 300 wen per ton, then each ton of coal can generate a profit of about 100 wen from mining to making honeycomb coal and selling it.

The focus is on 1 ton of anthracite, creating an output value of 300 Wen.

The per capita annual consumption is half a ton, assuming a population of one million, Zhu Youxiao can earn 100,000 silver dollars in a year, and if the per capita consumption of coal reaches 1 ton, it is a benefit of 200,000 yuan.

Under normal circumstances, it is relatively normal to consume 1 ton per capita, and there is room for growth. Although the average household does not need as much honeycomb coal, some honeycomb coal is used in commercial activities and other activities.

If 100 million people in the country burn honeycomb coal, then there will be a profit of 20 million yuan every year. The per capita coal consumption of 200 million people in the country has risen, and there will be a profit of more than 40 million yuan in that year? And the price of coal can also rise.

Zhu Youxiao counted the cost and profit, and his mouth couldn't close with a smile.

This seemingly ordinary resource-based industry is actually very profitable. But to monopolize the supply of coal, it takes a bit of brains and means.

"Your Majesty, the slave maid thinks that if you want to squeeze out the coal from the private mines, it is still the old method you proposed before, so that the tax bureau can come forward and directly collect the mining tax. In this way, those briquettes themselves are not as convenient as honeycomb coal, and there is no price advantage, so it is impossible to appear in the market. The briquettes that will appear in the market must be tax evasion, and we can also add another checkpoint at the entrance of the city gate to completely squeeze out these briquettes. Wei Zhongxian said to Zhu Youxiao that he has been by Zhu Youxiao's side for so long, and he has been familiar with how to monopolize the market for a long time.

"Okay, you will be in charge of the collection of mining taxes." Zhu Youxiao saw that Wei Zhongxian was already well versed in the essence of monopoly, so he directly made an appointment.

"Yes, Your Majesty, the slave and maid will definitely get things done." Wei Zhongxian patted his chest and assured that Wei Zhongxian's income is constantly rising.

The main reason is that Wei Zhongxian also got the money of the royal consortium, coupled with the subsidy within the Han Imperial Party, Wei Zhongxian's annual income has quickly exceeded 100,000 yuan, and is moving towards 200,000 yuan.

This is the silver that Wei Zhongxian can get openly, so he doesn't have to be afraid. Moreover, it is tied to the interests of the royal consortium, and naturally wants to make the royal consortium stronger and bigger.

At this time, the royal capital has initially formed a consortium.

The so-called consortium is essentially a monopoly on all walks of life, so as to seize the windfall profits generated by the monopoly. The goal of the royal consortium this time is clearly aimed at coal mining and sales.

The range is the entire North Naoli!

Under Wei Zhongxian's departure, the mine owners in Beizhili soon complained. In every prefecture, in every county, where there are mines, there are several mines, and the East Factory has all been investigated clearly.

The notorious mining tax is once again in the rivers and lakes. What has changed is that this time it is the tax bureau that collects the mining tax, the system is far more formal than that of the Wanli period, and the supervision is also very strict, and this newly formed department does not have many corruption problems. What remains unchanged is that the tax office is still under the eunuch governor. PS: The second update arrives, ask for collections, tickets!