Chapter 881 Jizi Juan Steel Breaks the Situation

Seeing that Feng Ziying said it so confidently and thoughtfully, Zhu Zhiren also felt a little moved in his heart.

Yongping Prefecture’s biggest problem now is that it owes too much tax debt to the Ministry of Household Affairs, which has reached a point where it is difficult to recover.

If the current situation continues, this kind of historical debt will only become more and more serious. Even if Zheng Jizhi from the Ministry of Revenue can help him soothe his cheeks, what if Zheng Jizhi will no longer be the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue in a year or two? Then his position as prefect is in jeopardy.

Besides, Zheng Jizhi of the Ministry of Revenue cannot cover the sky with one hand. Once Guan Yingzhen becomes the new official of the Ministry of Commerce, his right minister of the Ministry of Revenue will definitely be replaced by someone. This newcomer will definitely clean up the original problems. Yongping I'm afraid the government won't be able to escape.

 At that time, Zheng Jizhi may not be able to cover herself up all the time.

If the coal and iron industry can be really developed as mentioned by Feng Ziying, the mining tax alone will not be small. Although the mining tax does not belong to the Ministry of Household Affairs, but to the Ministry of Industry, the Jieshen Treasury belongs to the Ministry of Industry. The emperor personally controls it, and it can win the emperor's favor through this, which is even more effective than directly covering the deficit of the household department.

 Besides, there is also the commercial tax on iron materials. As long as it is exported, the city tax and customs duties are quite a lot.

However, Yongping Prefecture owes mainly land taxes to the Ministry of Household Affairs. Since the amount of commercial taxes is not large, it does not owe much. However, according to the practice of the Zhou Dynasty, land taxes are insufficient. If industry and commerce are prosperous, mining taxes, This is why Zhu Zhiren is so interested in using the business tax as a discount.

"Ziying, judging from your posture, you are very confident?" Zhu Zhiren pondered for a while, "What do you want me to do?"

"Shibo, the main thing is craftsmen and manpower. Foshan Zhuang is the number one iron smelter in Foshan, but they have to recruit craftsmen all the way from Foshan to come here. The climate and food are very different, so many people are unwilling to come, so they take the lead The craftsmen may be from the Zhuang family, but we in Yongping Mansion have to raise more of them ourselves." Feng Ziying spoke slowly, "This time my nephew wants to make it bigger. With the support of businessmen like the Shanshan-Shaanxi Chamber of Commerce, Haitong Yinzhuang will also give full support, so the currency is not bad, and sales market channels are not a problem. Zhuangji is even willing to underwrite sales. In terms of iron smelting technology, we have also made some attempts to use carboniferous After the processing, the iron will be smelted, and the effect will be much better..."

Zhu Zhiren didn’t know anything about the iron smelting industry. He frowned and said, “Zi Ying, we make iron from charcoal. It is said that the quality of the iron is very poor...”

Feng Ziying understood what the other party meant. If coal is directly used to make iron, the iron quality will be poor due to the high sulfur content. This is also the biggest problem in coal-based iron making. However, if coal can be processed and converted into coke, not only the iron quality will be guaranteed, but also other Because the smelting temperature increases, the quality of the iron material will also be better.

“Don’t worry, Shibo, we have already considered this aspect. If we don’t solve this problem, Zhuang Ji will not be so interested...”

Seeing that Feng Ziying was quite confident, Zhu Zhiren could only believe it tentatively. Besides, this matter would not be solved overnight. He still had time to see whether what the young man said was rhetoric or whether he really had any special skills.

"Ziying, if this matter goes as you said and Shanxi merchants and Foshan iron merchants are willing to invest heavily in this bet, how much do you think the annual output of this iron material can be?" After licking his lips and enduring for a long time, Zhu Zhiren still said I couldn't help but ask this question.

The Zunhua Iron Works in Shuntian Prefecture next door is considered the largest iron production base in the entire North. In addition to mainly supplying the Military War Bureau and Ordnance Bureau in Beijing, it also supplies civilians with agricultural tools, iron pots and other items. However, as Zunhua Iron Works The forests around Zunhua have been cleared, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to make charcoal. The quality of iron smelting from charcoal is unsatisfactory. Therefore, the situation of Zunhua Iron Works has shrunk significantly, and the number of craftsmen is less than one-fifth of what it was at the beginning of the founding of the country a hundred years ago. It is said that Zunhua Iron Works intends to close down.

The Zunhua Iron Works is said to have produced 3,000 kilograms of iron per day at its peak, and one million kilograms of iron material per year. However, in actual terms, based on the calculation of sixteen taels per kilogram, it is actually about 700 tons. .

If such a quantity were to be transferred to future generations, even the most **** home-made steel-making method would be more than ten times stronger than this thing, and more importantly, what is produced is still iron, not steel.

In the Ming Dynasty, it seemed that no real liquid steel could be produced, and almost all liquid steel was a mixture of wrought iron and steel. Of course, people at that time had no way of knowing the carbon and carbon content in iron ore and steel. The influence of sulfur, phosphorus and other elements on the quality of steel.

Feng Ziying thought for a while and then said slowly: "Ten million kilograms shouldn't be a problem, right? If the iron smelting furnace we design can meet the design standards, my nephew feels that many processes can be improved, and it will reach 20 to 30 million kilograms in the future. It’s not a big problem.”

Zhu Zhiren's feet were a little weak, and he couldn't help but even his voice trembled a little, "How much? Ziying, how much do you say? Ten million pounds?"

Feng Ziying nodded firmly, "Shibo, don't think I'm talking nonsense. There are only two keys to smelting iron. One is how to achieve better results than charcoal with charcoal, and the other is the improvement of the iron smelting process. It is the design of the iron smelting furnace. At this point, Zhuangji and the Shanxi Chamber of Commerce have been making improvements..."

Feng Ziying's words were half true and half false. Zhuang Kee's iron smelting furnace in Foshan was just like that. There was no new technology at all. It still followed the original traditional method. However, Feng Ziying brought some of the craftsmen of Zhuang Kee to Zhuang Kee through Gu Dengfeng this time. The new ideas and ideas have indeed inspired the craftsmen of Zhuangji. They have made amazing progress in coking and are close to success.

The issue of iron smelting blast furnaces is also very controversial, but Feng Ziying’s attitude is also very clear. If the pure old-fashioned iron smelting is carried out in the North, both the output and the quality are not as good as being transported directly from Guangdong. The reason why it should be smelted in Yongping Prefecture In doing so, we hope to achieve a breakthrough using new technology.

At this point, Zhuang Ji and the merchants from the Shanxi Chamber of Commerce also made up their minds after some arguments and were willing to give a sum of money to try.

Without even this bit of courage, Feng Ziying really looks down on this group of Shanxi merchants. Thinking about the past life, this group of people could hook up with the Jianzhou Jurchens for profit. Taking such a big risk, now they just give out some money. , how could they not understand how great the rewards would be once successful?

Zhu Zhiren couldn't help but stand up and rubbed his hands vigorously.

If what Feng Ziying said is true, then his plan to smelt iron is really not simple.

Before, he thought that what Feng Ziying wanted to do was just to reach the scale of Zunhua Iron Works, which was quite difficult. However, he did not expect that Feng Ziying would reach the scale of tens of millions of kilograms in one go. Although this may take a process, if it is done in If such an iron factory can appear within a year, then whether it is the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Household Affairs or even the Ministry of War, they must have a more "objective" understanding of their own Yongping Prefecture.

 “Ziying, what do you need Uncle Yu to do now?” Zhu Zhiren finally couldn’t help it anymore.

"Shibo, there may be two things. One is the craftsmen. When my nephew heard that the Yongping Guards were abolished, although all the guards were assigned to the Funing Guards and the Fourth Battalion, the craftsmen remained. This part My nephew wanted to use it, and it was originally agreed to exchange some of the craftsmen from Xingzhou Youtunwei to the government as compensation, but this matter has been dragged on, and now those craftsmen have been moving to settle down, and increasingly become After leaving the household,…”

Feng Ziying's words made Zhu Zhiren couldn't help but show a strange expression, "Ziying, you want to bring these craftsmen back? I'm afraid Ji Zhen won't agree, right?"

He almost said, are you trying to compete with your father for profit? But now they are the Tunwei craftsmen of Ji Town. Although they appear to be private households, their nature has not changed in fact. To a large extent, they still serve the Xingzhou Youtunwei.

"We can talk about it." Feng Ziying smiled, "Those craftsmen are useless to the current Xingzhou Youtun Guards, otherwise they would not be reduced to ordinary households, but if we want to do a large-scale iron smelting For workshops, it is very important. Xingzhou Youtunwei is different from Kaiping Zhongtunwei. They mainly focus on making vehicles, armor and repairing weapons. These craftsmen can play a greater role."

"Perhaps you plan to cooperate with Jizhen?" Zhu Zhiren hesitated, "The amount of iron produced is so large that it depends entirely on external transportation, which is not cost-effective. In fact, it can also be made into pots, plows, hoes, picks, etc. Things that are urgently needed everywhere..."

"Including firecrackers and cast cannons." Feng Ziying said calmly: "If possible, I think a workshop that can make firecrackers and cannons can be opened in Yongping Mansion. Zhuang Ji actually made firecrackers for the Ministry of War in Foshan, and the quality is better than The War Bureau and the Ordnance Bureau are better, but the price is cheaper. If they can be produced in Yongping Mansion, not only can they respond to the needs of Liaodong faster, but they can also promote firecrackers in the military affairs of the Nine Borders..."

Feng Ziying’s idea surprised Zhu Zhiren again. It would not be simple to build a gun workshop in Yongping Mansion.

"Ziying, I would like to remind you, stupid uncle, don't be too ambitious. You can't build a gun workshop casually. Even if the Ministry of War allows it, it seems that even the Beijing camp is not willing to buy the goods from the War Bureau. Don't delay. It’s a big deal.”

"Don't worry, Uncle Shi, my nephew knows what he knows, so I would like to ask Uncle Shi to give more guidance and support to my nephew in all aspects." Feng Ziying knew that it would be difficult for Zhu Zhiren to accept too much at once, so she could only take it step by step and take it seriously. Only when the technology of using carbon to make steel is completely successful can the worries of people like Zhu Zhiren be truly relieved.

"Well, Ziying, the current situation in Yongping Mansion is not good. Uncle Yu also understands your thoughts. If you want to open up the situation suddenly, Uncle Yu will definitely support it, but Uncle Yu recommends that you spend more time to familiarize yourself with the situation in Yongping. Let's figure out what we need to do first, and then worry about it." Zhu Zhiren was still a little worried. Feng Ziying's enthusiasm made him happy, but he was also worried that the other party was eager for success.

 (End of this chapter)