The government doesn't care, but the miners themselves have to take on this job, because after all, the veins are the guarantee of their food. However, the search for ore veins requires a considerable amount of manpower and material resources, and without the support of the government, the miners' own efforts have achieved little success.

This is the fundamental reason for the shrinking production of hardware ore in Ezhou. The inaction of the mine supervisor led to the delay in the development of new mines, and the old caves were closed one by one due to the depletion of mining.

Not only that, but probably because of the fear of trouble, the government changed from a proportional tax system to a fixed amount of mining tax, which of course is a guarantee for the country. But for mines that are mining less and less, the pressure on miners is increasing.

Of course, the government is not completely ignoring this issue, and every time someone organizes a petition, the government will always reduce the tax at its discretion. But taxation is the merit of the mine supervisors, and the reduction of their merit in three days is no less than cutting meat from the body for officials who regard advancement and political performance as their only goal.

This is where the contradiction between the government and the miners comes from.

In addition, the disadvantages of the bureaucracy's declining efficiency over time are also reflected in the mine superintendents. For example, accepting bribes from top to bottom, passing the buck in case of trouble, not caring about the safety of the mine, and not comforting the miners who died due to mining accidents, etc.

This is a little detail that has been shown in various aspects after a dynasty has entered a period of fatigue.

Bai Yijie just listened to Yun Fusheng's complaints quietly, and did not speak easily, only occasionally asking one or two more details. After Yun Fusheng finished speaking, he still said in a flat tone: "You go back, I will talk about these questions later." ”

In this way, the leaders encountered today can be described as a thousand appearances, but in general, Bai Yijie classifies them into the above three categories. As for how to rectify the order of the pit and increase the output of ore, Bai Yijie also has some plans in his heart.

Early the next morning, Bai Yijie asked Xu Shiqing to gather the miners from the nearby pit on the flat land outside the big house.

Thousands of people gathered inside and outside the big house, and the filthy faces of the miners all looked at Bai Yijie who was sitting in the hall.

"You are all upright people, so I won't talk too much." Bai Yijie said loudly: "I was entrusted by the Jinghu Transit Division, the Ezhou Zhizhou Yamen and the Deputy Metropolitan Department of the Imperial Army stationed in Jiangling and Xiangyang (the official name of the Jing'e Deputy Metropolitan Division) to first manage the mining and taxation of the mine. There are a few things to announce to you. ”

"First, there is a minimum amount of wages for miners per hour in the mine, and a maximum number of hours a miner can work per day!" Bai Yijie raised his voice even higher: "The country's management of mines is based on benevolence and righteousness, and it is not the original intention of the emperor and the ministers of the court to exhaust all the brothers for the sake of the ore!" The Son of Heaven governs the people with virtue, but some people change the law to squeeze the miners in order to complete the taxes of the government, which is the biggest insult to the emperor and the country! Since ancient times, the life and death of miners have been decided by the head and the mine supervisor, but starting today, it is up to the Jing'e Metropolitan Department and the Transshipment Department to decide! Anyone who violates the minimum salary and increases working hours at will, you can report it to the Yamen of the Jing'e Metropolitan Unified Division! ”

As soon as he said this, there was a dead silence inside and outside the hall. Everyone looked at each other, not knowing how true or false what the white-faced scholar said. Since Jiang Tai openly took iron from the mountain, the world has never heard of such a method.

Bai Yijie is a bamboo in his chest. When he talked to Zheng Yunming in Xiangyang City about using new techniques and new equipment in the mining area to increase the production of the mine, the first article talked about the sudden imposition of these in the current mine pit, which would never achieve the effect that Zheng Yunming wanted.

The implementation of technology is not something that can be achieved by any person or organization forcibly pushing it. The diffusion of any new technique must have its own driving force. Historically, the adoption of new technologies has been either due to a severe shortage of capacity due to the development of emerging markets, or a shortage of labor due to a large attrition of labor for some reason, which necessitates the need for mechanical power in addition to manual labor alone. In the absence of this factor, craftsmen in a single closed agricultural civilization would prefer to rely on human power to complete their work rather than on unfamiliar and expensive machinery. Historically, this can be called "mechanophobia".

This mechanophobia is so powerful that it is sometimes unimaginable. On another plane, about 700 years later, after the Western industrial civilization had occupied the Middle-earth market for more than 60 years, and the machine industry constituted an absolute advantage over the handicraft industry, the handicraft industry in the vast countryside and towns of Middle-earth still survived tenaciously. Even in Western countries, the enormous traditional inertia of craftsmen has made it difficult to advance new techniques. A technique that can clearly double productivity in an instant is always tried by a few a priori, then imitated by others, and it takes decades to gradually roll it out.

Abandon social change and civilizational differences. The pursuit of stability, stability, and perfection is probably the subconscious mind that is carved into the bone marrow of human beings.

Not to mention that in the Song Dynasty after the Nandu, the supply of manpower, the most traditional source of productivity for handicrafts, reached an unprecedented level. Examining the population after the southern crossing, because of the large number of northerners fleeing to the south, the population density of Banbishan River has increased greatly compared with the past, coupled with the warmer climate than the late Tang Dynasty and the progress of the country's governance methods, the tens of millions of figures in the household registration book cannot be fully believed. But the thing that everyone in the world knows is that there are many people in the Southern Dynasties.

The so-called "southeast shape wins, prosperity is the same", one of the potential meanings of prosperity is densely populated. Half of the country lacks land, minerals, and various products, but there is no shortage of people. Historically, some of the many achievements of the Southern Dynasties in terms of economy, material and culture were also due to the fact that manpower was enough to cheapen them.

Therefore, the demand for new technology and new machinery in the mining and metallurgical industries of the Southern Dynasty was even more sluggish, and in fact, when many laborers were facing unemployment, almost all the inventions that saved manpower, even including the machinery invented from the Qin and Han dynasties, degraded and disappeared in the Southern Song Dynasty. This is not the so-called Confucian civilization's suppression of craftsmen's skills, but the real market to eliminate unsuitable scientific and technological inventions.

In order to break this situation, Bai Yijie needs to rely on the coercive power of the government. The so-called setting of the minimum salary standard and the maximum time limit is naturally nominally benevolent and benevolent, buying the hearts and minds of the people for the imperial court. But Bai Yijie's most important additional effect is the forced increase in the mine's labor costs, once the manpower is no longer so cheap, the mine has to consider other ways to save costs.

The way to save money has been prepared, and they are just waiting for them to come to the door obediently.

Bai Yijie didn't care about everyone's surprised attitude, he believed that Zheng Yunming's means and strength to implement the policy, as long as this order was issued, Zheng Guanren would always have a way to start and finish well. He continued: "The production of the pit is decreasing, and according to my information, apart from the fact that there is a real reason for the depletion of the mine veins and the decrease in production, one of the biggest drawbacks is tax evasion. ”

"Some mines stop work during the day, secretly light pine branch torches in the middle of the night to start work, or mine ore during the day and do not transport it, and wait for the third watch in the middle of the night to secretly smuggle ore out. For what? Isn't it just to avoid the investigation of the mine supervisor? There are also officers and soldiers who stay in the mine for a few years and then go back to buy houses and buy land, who gives them the money? And who is letting the country's taxes drain in vain? ”

He used the corner of his eye to sneak a glance at Li Chaoen, the head of the small silver pit standing in the corner, sweat beads on his forehead, and he kept wiping it with a hand towel.

"From now on, the soldiers at the checkpoint and the mine will no longer be sent by the Yamen of the Ezhou Governor, but by the Jing-Hubei Metropolitan Division. Each pit shall hand over its own account books, which shall be re-verified and approved by the Transshipment Division. Once it is found out that someone is deliberately evading taxes"

He glanced at everyone coldly: "I will never be lenient." ”

Of course, this is only a short-term knock on the mountain, but with this to establish Zheng Yunming's majesty, this opportunity is no better.

Bai Yijie announced several decisions one after another.

The government came forward to raise funds to form a special prospecting team, and the cost was shared between the miners, the blacksmith shop and the government. Efforts are being made to identify new ore veins throughout the Jinghu area, while exploring ways to develop new ore deposits on existing ore veins.

All pits with a fixed tax system have been changed to a proportional tax system, but the frequency and duration of mine inspections will be increased, and the actual output of each pit will be investigated in detail.

In addition to the mine supervision officials, there is a special inspector who is responsible for inspecting the safety and personal protection of the mine. Supervise the safety measures of the mine day and night, and do not be lazy and reckless.

He talked about decomposition one by one, his mouth was like a river, his pen did not stop, and he was so keen that he didn't want to say that the miners were dumbfounded, and even the mine supervisors who were born to read were shouting that they had never seen it before. Within half an hour, the affairs of the mine were properly arranged, and the boy held the announcement of the good writing, which was re-copied by the person who could write in the mine, and then posted to all parts of the Ezhou mine.

Before noon, Bai Yijie had already taken care of all the affairs of the Ezhou mine, and said to Xu Shiqing and several mine supervisors: "The country is in a critical autumn, and the Tartars will definitely attack every year in the future, gold, silver, copper and iron are related to the battle situation ahead, and the safety of tens of millions of people and the emperor in the Great Song Dynasty may think I am alarmist." However, if the mines in Ezhou can do the actual results, it is the best support for the soldiers who are fighting on the front line, and they are all burning their hearts and minds in the front, worrying about the mines in Ezhou. ”

Xu Shiqing and the mine supervisors trembled and agreed, and sent Bai Yijie to the mountain pass and bowed goodbye.