The Ming Dynasty started with caution

In the capital, the cold wind was biting.

The carriage stopped at Zhou's house in a hurry. Zhou Yu was really daring to sell. Yan Chengjin knew that His Majesty would be furious. The price of charcoal rose to 100 coins per catty.

His Majesty summoned him for the price of charcoal.

Before entering the palace, he deliberately gave Zhou Yu a chance. After all, the Queen Mother would remember his kindness.

However, Zhou Yu would not cry unless he saw silver. Unless he was given silver, he would not lower the price.

"Changning Earl, I heard from Wu Jian that you bought all the forests in Wanping. Can you reduce the price of charcoal to 20 coins?"

All the forests in the capital were rented or bought by Zhou Yu.

In the capital, except for him and the Zhang brothers, no one could take out so much silver at once to monopolize the charcoal in the capital.

It must be said that Zhou Yu is really better at doing business than the Zhang brothers. If there was no anthracite, he would definitely make a lot of money.

Zhou Yu choked for a moment. Wu Jian, the dog official, dared to leak the news. He laughed shamelessly: "Why did I buy the forest? What does the price increase of charcoal have to do with me? Oh, I can't afford to burn charcoal. That dog profiteer actually raised the price to 100 coins! He is really black-hearted, nephew, don't you think so?"

Buying the forest is to make money. He is a businessman, not an official. What does the people have to do with him?

Yan Chengjin pretended to be puzzled and said: "Really not my uncle?"

"Really not my old man, I haven't been willing to burn charcoal for two days." Zhou Yu's face was not red, and there was a copper basin with burning charcoal next to him.

"Then I am relieved."

Zhou Yu was suspicious in his heart, but this kid always scares people. The two fools of the Zhang family were scared by him.

"My dear nephew, is something going to happen?"

"No, charcoal will soon be worthless. If he is really the Earl of Changning, you might as well sell these forests and charcoal to the Liangxiang Chamber of Commerce." Yan Chengjin said.

Most of the places with timber in the capital were bought by Zhou Yu.

And under Wanping, Mentougou, and Xiangshan, there is a high probability that coal is hidden.

In later generations, these places are the production areas of coal.

Zhou Yu showed a happy expression. It turned out that he wanted to cheat the forest in his hand. If it was stable, he would never sell it.

"My dear nephew, it's not that I don't give you face, it's really not bought by me."

...

East Warm Pavilion,

Emperor Hongzhi was a little anxious waiting, looking at the eunuch outside, and shouted: "Is Yan Chengjin not here yet?"

Mo Bin walked in and said: "He has arrived in the capital, and he has taken a detour to the Earl of Changning's mansion."

Others avoided this official. Li Dongyang looked at his feet thoughtfully. What is this kid doing in the Earl of Changning?

Soon, Yan Chengjin stepped into the hall, bowed to Emperor Hongzhi, and stepped aside.

Xiao Jing picked up the memorial and showed it to him.

The memorial of Prince Rong asked the court for 200,000 taels of relief silver.

If it were in the future, Prince Rong's city would be built in the Heilongjiang area. Without heating, it would be really cold to death.

And the court would not allocate money to support a group of people.

Yan Chengjin looked up and asked, "I heard that Lord Qin asked to retire?"

If his memory is not bad, Qin Hong will not survive this winter, and he will recommend the Minister of War again.

I don't know if my father can be transferred back to the capital to serve as the Minister of War.

Emperor Hongzhi was upset and needed people at the right time, and Qin Hong retired at this time.

"I have not yet given my approval. Let's discuss the Liaodong issue first. What do you think? Should we withdraw to Liaoyang or allocate relief silver?"

Han Wen bowed and said, "I ask for your advice. It has only been one month since we withdrew to Liaoyang City. How much silver will it take to hold on until March?"

The treasury has no silver. The more income, the greater the expenditure, because Yan Chengjin is always reforming, repairing canals, repairing the Great Wall, and maintaining overseas fleets.

Even if a sow has eighteen milks, it can't feed them.

"We can't withdraw. If we withdraw, won't we hand over the city to the Tatars?" Yan Chengjin objected.

Li Dongyang and others all understood this truth, but they had no intention of taking the land of Liaodong.

Emperor Hongzhi frowned slightly and looked at Yan Chengjin: "I and the others have made up our minds. I asked you to come here to ask the Economic Department if there is a way to reduce the price of charcoal."

Not to mention Liaodong, the people in the capital can hardly afford to burn charcoal.

If Yan Chengjin had no other options, he would order a price reduction and have the factory guards arrest the profiteers who were driving up the price.

Yan Chengjin bowed: "I may have a way to make charcoal worthless. Your Majesty, can you sell me all the barren mountains in the capital, and the barren land in Shanxi? I ​​want as much as you can."

Some of them were ownerless land, that is, land owned by the court.

Emperor Hongzhi looked at Yan Chengjin suspiciously. I'm talking to you about charcoal, what do you want the barren mountains for?

"Let's talk about business first!"

"I want to lower the price of charcoal. In three days, the price of charcoal may fall."

Han Wen looked at Yan Chengjin.

I heard that Yan Chengjin bought a coal mine. Wouldn't he want to burn coal? That thing can suffocate people to death. It's choking and pungent. Few people are willing to burn it.

Li Dongyang and others also guessed so.

Emperor Hongzhi pondered for a moment. These barren mountains were useless in his hands. It was okay to give them to Yan Chengjin. The key was, what did this kid want to use them for?

If it is worth silver, then it cannot be given.

"Tell me first, what do you want to do with the barren mountain?"

"To mine coal and sell it to the people." Yan Chengjin said so.

There was an uproar in the hall.

Coal is poisonous when burned and is usually used to burn iron, so two official kilns in Wanping are enough.

If coal is valuable, the court would have mined all the coal in the capital long ago.

As expected, this guy really wants to mine coal and sell it.

A series of sharp eyes fell on Yan Chengjin, but Yan Chengjin did not intend to tell the truth. If His Majesty did not give the land, it would be a waste.

Today, he would take it no matter what.

Yan Chengjin continued: "If Your Majesty is willing, Liangxiang Chamber of Commerce is willing to pay taxes according to the land, and buy all the charcoal in the capital and send it to Liaodong."

Hiss!

It is still unknown how many millions of catties of charcoal there are in the capital, and the price of charcoal has risen to one hundred coins per catty.

At least two hundred thousand taels of silver, right? Twenty thousand taels of silver can buy a large mansion with five entrances and five exits in the East District.

When the officials heard this, they were surprised and lost their voices.

Emperor Hongzhi felt more and more that something was wrong. This boy has always acted steadily. "I will rent these barren mountains to the Chamber of Commerce, and the Chamber of Commerce will buy charcoal and send it to Liaodong."

Li Dongyang nodded. His Majesty is thoughtful. If he can make money, he can take it back at any time.

Yan Chengjin felt that his IQ was insulted. His Majesty wanted to get something for free again.

Although it was for the people, no one would be happy if they were always getting something for free, right?

"I won't rent it anymore."

Thanks to you, the anthracite is gone. I'm going to show my hand and I don't want the land anymore.

Yan Chengjin planned to go to Liangxiang to terminate the anthracite plan next shift.

Emperor Hongzhi's face was stiff. He didn't expect this guy to be so tough and not rent it.

Li Dongyang and others were also shocked. They didn't expect Yan Chengjin to do this.

Thinking about it carefully, the conditions proposed by this guy just now were still quite tempting.

Emperor Hongzhi was a little angry, and his face eased: "It's not that we can't negotiate. Don't you want the land? I'll give it to you, but one million kilograms of charcoal must be sent to Liaodong, not a kilogram less."

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