For the sake of money, I sold popsicles. Really, I'm afraid I'm the first emperor in history who didn't even want a face for money, right?

Saltpeter ice has appeared in the Tang Dynasty, but it has not been popularized among the people. The reason is simple, saltpeter ice making is more expensive and cumbersome.

Therefore, the royal or wealthy families still use the method of collecting and storing ice in the winter ice, which is low in cost and large in scale. The common people use well water to cool the town, and they drink it cold.

However, the large-scale use of saltpeter ice production, just like industrial production, will naturally reduce the cost.

For the royal family, it is not difficult to get a large amount of saltpeter, a strategic material. What's more, after saltpeter is melted into water to make ice, it can also be evaporated and crystallized for reuse, and there is no suspicion of waste.

With this method, the royal ice cellar can also be sold to the outside world to supplement the palace expenses.

In order to maximize profits, the emperor also sold the method of cold drinks to the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, not only paid for a batch of saltpeter imported from the Ryukyus, but also allowed them to use the brand of the royal secret and the secret recipe of the court.

It's really not a forced buying and selling, and if the price is moderate, the profit for the whole summer is still quite considerable. Because the Chinese Chamber of Commerce has many shops in the north, even Phi Dao and southern Liaoning, they have their trades.

The Chinese Chamber of Commerce also sees the potential of the military as a consumer group, with tobacco and alcohol being the most popular, followed by sugar and tea.

The imperial court did not owe food and wages, military families were also treated preferentially, and the soldiers had money in their hands, so they were not too stingy in order to relieve the pressure of the war.

Coupled with the monopoly of border trade in the north, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce did not make a little money. Since the emperor has given so many conveniences, even cold drinks are not profitable, and it is not a loss-making business to buy them to make the emperor happy.

And the emperor had to make money, and this year's gold and silver were in vain. Even the inner library was not used, so it was distributed to the southwest and Liaodong. There is no money to make up for it, you let the emperor's family drink the northwest wind?

Although there are still a lot of internal funds left by Grandpa Wanli, Zhu Youxiao is a miser, and he continues to save in line with the principle of not using it as much as possible.

More than a million! Thinking of the gold and silver that had been spent without even looking at it, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but feel a pain in his flesh. Eating fruit shaved ice, the feeling of pulling out the cold can be regarded as a little relief to the heart.

For next year's winter and spring counteroffensive, military production will be expanded again, which will also cost money, and it is not a small amount.

Zhu Youxiao stroked his forehead, there was a gap in the court's finances, and the emperor had to find a way to solve it. You say, is there an emperor who thinks of himself as such?

Other emperors spend all their time drinking and doing harm, but there are courtiers who can collect money! Like that, Hekun, it's very good!

"The Emperor-" Wang Tiqian entered the hall and bowed down and said: "The newly promoted celebrant and eunuch Fang Zhenghua came to say goodbye. ”

"Announce him in." Zhu Youxiao put down the shaved ice, took the silk handkerchief handed over by Fan Xiaohui and wiped his mouth, and reached out to take the documents on the table.

Fang Zhenghua entered the temple and knelt down to give a salute. Shandong, although he is a eunuch, is tall and big, and if he has a beard, he is also a Tibetan man.

Zhu Youxiao handed over the document to the palace people, forwarded it to Fang Zhenghua, and said: "This time I sent you to Linglong to supervise the gold mining, not only because you are from Shandong, but also because you were fair and selfless when you served as the commander of the Supervision Bureau. ”

"Mining gold is to solve the difficulties of the imperial court, but also to increase the income of the people's livelihood, and if you do these two things well, you will live up to my expectations."

Zhaoyuan belongs to Qidi, and the rich ore veins on the surface of Linglong and other mines have developed since the Tang Dynasty private pit governance.

According to the "Old Tang Dynasty Book: Career Official Chronicles": "Where the world produces copper, the state capital." Listen to the private mining of others, and the government collects its taxes", and there has been an unprecedented prosperity in mining and metallurgy.

The poet Liu Yuxi once wrote: "The sun shines on the Chengzhou River and the fog opens, and the gold diggers are full of Jiangkuma", which vividly depicts the prosperity of the folk gold mining industry at that time.

In the fourth year of Jingde (1007 AD), the Song Zhen sect sent the minister Pan Meilai to supervise the Linglong gold mine. "History of the Song Dynasty: Food and Goods" contains: "Tianshengzhong (1023~1031 AD) Denglai Caijin benefited thousands of taels".

At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, "Yuan History: Shizu Benji" contained: to the fifth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1268 AD), "Lingyidu missed 4,000 households, and Qixia County, Dengzhou, and lost four coins per household." ”

At that time, the highest annual output of gold was about 30,000 taels, which was twice as high as that of the Song Dynasty, when gold production was at its peak.

During the Ming Dynasty, Shenzong sent a large number of eunuchs to supervise the opening of gold mines. The eunuch sent to Shandong was Chen Zeng, and Zhaoyuan's gold mining was also very prosperous for a while.

The highest golden year in the country is Yongle 21 years, with a total income of more than 5,000 taels, but it is only equivalent to one-sixth of the highest income in the Yuan Dynasty.

In the Wanli period, eunuchs were sent to collect mining taxes. Since then, the mine supervisors have been rampant all over the world, leviing taxes without the market, and losing silver without mines, which has become a tyranny that abuses the people and brings disaster to all places.

However, this does not mean that it is wrong to extract minerals and levy mineral taxes, but there are problems with the methods and methods. And Wanli's use of eunuchs as mine supervisors is inseparable from the constraints of civil officials.

Civil officials do not advocate the collection of taxes, under the guise of "not competing with the people for profit". But in reality, the imperial court did not get it, and the people were not rich, and it all went into the pockets of the powerful bureaucrats.

This time, Zhu Youxiao sent eunuchs to supervise the collection again, which was different from Wanli Shi. The officials who obstructed the collection of commercial and mining taxes have been purged and purged, and although it cannot be said that they have won a total victory, there has been much less resistance.

The other is the charter of mining, which is divided into official field supervision (official office) and "purchased by the people" (private, in fact, bought by Dabaotou from the government, called the owner, and then divided into households to buy); The other is to set up a tax on gold diggers.

Like Zhaoyuan Linglong Gold Mine, Suichang Gold Mine, Yunnan Central Silver Mine, etc., they are government-run. Because this is a well-known rich mining area in China, it is still being mined in future generations, so it should be monopolized by the state.

Most of the mines bought by the people are newly opened, and they don't know whether the reserves are rich or poor, and it is your ability to make money, and you are unlucky if you lose money.

As for the scattered gold diggers, they are managed and collected by the local government, and the tax amount is 4 out of 10.

Of course, there is no perfect system, and there can be no one, just try to improve it and adjust it in due course.

Whoever is rich in later generations will be described as "your family has a mine". The emperor is rich all over the world, and the whole world is his, how can mining be abandoned as a means of increasing income?

Despite this, Zhu Youxiao was also quite cautious about the eunuchs he sent, and he was finally selected after many investigations.

Fang Zhenghua, Li Fengxiang, Chu Xianxian, etc., although they are not perfect, they are still much stronger than those sanctimonious civil officials.

Moreover, the employer may see the wrong eye, but the supervision can make up for the loss. Not only have the power of these inspectors greatly reduced, but the inspectorate and the local government can also impeach them for their lawlessness and cruelty.

Fang Zhenghua took the document with both hands, knelt on the ground and read it. This is the emperor's admonition, and it also explains the main points of his work. He was also assigned personnel from the Ministry of Engineering to provide guidance on mining technology.

"Slaves and maids must do their best in this trip to repay the favor of the Lord." Fang Zhenghua kowtowed.

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "If there is anything difficult, if you can't make a decision, you can play it and I know." Well, if you don't have any other play, you can step down! ”

"Long live take care of the dragon's body, the slave and maid will go." Fang Zhenghua kowtowed goodbye and bowed out of the hall.

No matter how carefully I choose, there will always be people who will scold me, just like sending a mine supervisor to Grandpa Wanli. Eunuchs, eunuchs, and emperors who reuse them are all faint monarchs.

But now, Zhu Youxiao doesn't care at all what others think and say. Whether it's a faint gentleman or a bright gentleman, who cares when he closes his eyes?

The key is that I want to live a long life, and I can accept it in my seventies and eighties. But the world is not peaceful, how can you live in peace for so long?

I also have a sense of responsibility, I can't bear to see such a hellish scene at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and I don't want to build slaves to steal the Central Plains.

But in the final analysis, Zhu Youxiao felt that he was the emperor who should be stable, the common people could be saved from the suffering of war, and the Xiaoice River period would not let China sink on the land.

Actually, this line of thinking is not wrong. If Zhu Youxiao, as a traverser, can't be the emperor and doesn't live long, then whoever comes will not be more powerful than him.

Let's just say that the gold mine in Zhaoyuan has a proper policy, and there is no one who is not profitable to mine. But the output is low, and it cannot consolidate the development, in addition to the constraints of the civilian and official groups, that is, the decay of the Ming Dynasty is the most critical.

Zhu Youxiao has been promoting the good and eliminating the bad, and has been cleaning and purging, for this purpose. And it will be a long-term and sustainable policy.

Hundreds of years of feudal dynasties, decay is inevitable. Either revolution, overthrow and start over, that is, change the dynasty; Either reform, uprooting the chaos, and reinvigorating, it can also be called "Zhongxing".

Zhu Youxiao is the emperor, so naturally he did not hesitate to rule out the first item. It's simple, there's only one way to go in front of him. Don't think too much, hesitate, just do it.

Fang Zhenghua retreated, and the emperor thought for a moment, reached out to take the song, and flipped through it.

To make the emperor feel comfortable, even if the words are slightly inappropriate, he will not be held accountable; If it is obscure and long-winded, the emperor will look at it with a big head, and even if it is the truth, it will not be appreciated.

The current courtiers all know the emperor's temperament, and even the most stubborn courtiers wisely add punctuation to the text or break sentences with spaces.

In particular, the Chamber of Commerce, which was specially given the right to write by the emperor, was written more plainly and clearly, so that the emperor did not have to bother.

For example, this letter from Tang Mo of the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce made Zhu Youxiao see the promoter of industrial and commercial development, that is, the Yangtze River shipping.

When it comes to Yangtze River shipping, we must first talk about the merchant gangs that appeared in the Ming Dynasty.

The same feudal dynasty with particularly developed industry and commerce often compares the Song Dynasty with the Ming Dynasty. In people's inherent impression, the Song Dynasty was the most commercial, and the Ming Dynasty was greatly inferior.

However, with the economic development of the Song Dynasty, there was no merchant gang. In the Ming Dynasty, merchant gangs continued to emerge. Jin merchants, Hui merchants, Zhejiang merchants and other merchant gangs rose in the Ming Dynasty.

The reason for this is, first of all, that the Song Dynasty did not have a relatively stable social environment, because if the army was not strong, the threat of neighboring countries would be great, and it would be difficult for the weak Song Dynasty to form strategic suppression, and the border wars were always continuous.

The crux of the problem is very simple, that is, the sixteen states of Youyun have never been controlled by the Song Dynasty, which is the biggest defect in the security of the Great Song Dynasty.

The second reason is also related to the ongoing war. In order to win the country without war and less war, the weak Song Dynasty had the habit of paying tribute to other neighboring countries.

Where do these coins come from, naturally, the people in the country, including merchants. It can be seen from the data that the commercial tax of the Song Dynasty was much higher than that of the Ming Dynasty, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it was exploited.

In addition, the Song Dynasty was notoriously redundant, redundant officials, and redundant soldiers, and the government's financial expenditure was very huge, and it did not suppress land annexation, so it could only be looted in many ways to ensure the normal operation of the country.

On the other hand, in the Ming Dynasty, the commercial tax "has thirty taxes and one tax, and no more taxes are allowed", which is simply insignificant for merchants. The practice of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business, the heavy burden on farmers, and the reduction of tax burdens on businessmen is really stunning.

Inheriting the scientific and technological achievements left by the Song Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty has made great progress on this basis. This has undoubtedly accelerated the production efficiency of society, and the folk handicraft industry has developed rapidly.

Taking the handicraft industry represented by the Jiangnan area as an example, there were 13,000 looms in the heyday of Songjiang Lu'an Mansion;

Nanjing, Linqing and other cities "surround more than 30 miles, and in a city, regardless of the north and south, that is, gentlemen and merchants have nearly a million mouths."

The ceramics factory in Nanjing alone can produce millions of pieces of porcelain every year.

Based on the above reasons, it is also an important reason why the Chamber of Commerce was able to appear in the Ming Dynasty.

It is precisely because of the above reasons that the Chamber of Commerce was able to appear in the Ming Dynasty. At that time, it was not called the Chamber of Commerce, it was called the Shang Gang, or the Chamber of Commerce Gang, and it was usually divided according to the place of origin.

For example, Huizhou Merchants, Jinshan Merchants, Fujian Merchants, Jiangxi Merchants, Yangtze River Water Gang and so on. These merchants used the "guild hall" as a place of contact, supported each other, and became bigger and bigger.

Among them, the Yangtze River Water Gang, because the Yangtze River, the main artery of water transportation that runs through the east and west of our country, is prosperous because of the "golden waterway", and its strength is also very strong.

From the perspective of time, the real rise of the Yangtze River Water Gang was still in the Zhengde period. Because Hankou was designated as a grain exchange port, and later ordered that all the grain from Heng, Yong, Jing, Yue and Changsha be exchanged in Hankou, Hankou became the center of Huguang grain storage and transshipment.

Hankow, which was well connected by water, took advantage of this opportunity to flourish in commerce and entrepot trade.

By the Wanli period, Hankou Town (commercial center) had been called the four famous towns in the country together with Jingdezhen (porcelain), Foshan Town (handicraft), and Zhuxian Town (printmaking).

In the Guangyang Miscellaneous Records, there is also a saying that "the world gathers around". Beijing in the north, Foshan in the south, Suzhou in the east, and Hankou in the west. The standard is divided by commercial centers, and Hankou is also one of them.

At that time, Hankou was a mountainous area of goods, densely populated, and full of merchants, and became a national water and land transportation hub and the largest inland river port in China, as well as a distribution center for rice and salt in the Ming Dynasty at that time.

For this reason, there is a saying of "goods to Hankou live" in commerce and trade, and there is "ten miles of sails according to the city, and the lights of thousands of homes are bright all night" to describe its magnificent scenery, and it also enjoys the reputation of "the first prosperous place in Chuzhong".

The Yangtze River Water Gang is relying on Hankou, the thoroughfare of nine provinces, a city where merchants gather, to transport and sell goods from Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Hunan, Henan, Jiangxi, Jin, Guizhou and other provinces, and form a group to develop and grow, also known as the Yangtze River Merchant Gang.