Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 300: Mining Ban Issue

"The request by Liyang Marquis Su Chen to claim Lai'an and other places has been discussed by the Ministry of Revenue. Lai'an and other places have been divided among the military and civilians for self-cultivation, and the taxes collected are used for national reserves. How can they be used for private benefit? The Ministry of Revenue's decision is inappropriate. The emperor has issued an edict to find vacant land in the southern part of the Americas of the Ming Dynasty and give it to them. Now the cabinet has approved it, and the emperor has granted 260 hectares of new Lai'an in Temuco, Chile in southern America!"

Liyang Marquis Su Chen was very surprised after receiving the imperial edict. He wondered when the Ming Dynasty had the land of America, and where were Chile, Temuco, and Xinlai'an. However, he had to accept the emperor's edict, so he had to ask the messenger: "May I ask, where is the Xinlai'an granted by your majesty? Is it in Fengrun, Baoding, or Hejian?"

The messenger hurriedly said, "Your Majesty knows that the Marquis of Liyang doesn't know about this new place, so he asked me to bring you the map. You see, all the land in the world belongs to our Ming Dynasty. This continent is America, and this place is named Chile by your Majesty. This part of Chile is Temuco. There is a coastal area in Temuco, which is this area. According to the report of the Marquis of Jianchang, there are huge trees that can be cut down in this area, and there are countless rare and precious animals. It is a treasure land. You are lucky, Marquis of Liyang. Most people want to have such a piece of land but can't."

Marquis Liyang thought that this was not a treasure land at all, it was just a forest land with no people. What good would it be for him to get it? It would be better for him to be given a piece of forest land inside the pass. This forest land was far away on the other side of the ocean. Even if he wanted to cut down trees and sell them, it would cost a lot of money.

"If the Marquis of Liyang wants to develop this place, he can apply for a loan from the imperial bank. After all, this place is yours now. If you don't go, no one will care. The Portuguese are developing in this area. If they occupy your land, it will be troublesome!"

After the official said this, Liyang Hou could only smile awkwardly: "Yes, Su understands!"

After the official left, Liyang Marquis Su Chen showed a look of regret, but as a noble of the Ming Dynasty, the emperor was unwilling to grant him the people's land, and he could not do anything about it.

Zhu Houzhao knew that the previous emperors regarded the world as their own private property, and these noble princes were all his relatives. As an emperor, it seemed to be in line with human ethics to grant some of his land to his relatives. However, the noble princes would also ask the emperor for a piece of land very impolitely.

The emperor would even take the initiative to grant large amounts of land to these noble princes. For example, in history, Wanli granted Prince Fu 20,000 hectares of land and tens of thousands of salt permits, which emptied the national treasury. If the land in the fief was not enough, he had to collect it from Huguang, Shandong and other places.

This undoubtedly exacerbated the phenomenon of land annexation in the empire, encouraged the extravagance of princes and nobles, and left the poor landless.

Now, Zhu Houzhao dare not treat the world as his private property, although in the system and the consciousness of the people, the world is still his private property.

But Zhu Houzhao knew that everyone has the right to have their private property respected and the need to own their own private property. As the emperor, he can exploit the ruled but cannot deprive them of their property. Deprivation will make everyone in the world rebel against him.

From then on, Zhu Houzhao did the same thing. Whenever there were royal relatives who asked for fiefs, Zhu Houzhao would simply circle out some areas in South America, Africa, and Australia and give them to them, because there were no Ming people in these places, and giving them to royal relatives would not infringe on the interests of the people.

Zhu Houzhao certainly knew that by doing this, these royal relatives would naturally have some complaints, but complaints are common. Zhu Houzhao didn't believe that these royal relatives could do anything. The nobles of this era were not the aristocratic families before the Song Dynasty. They had no military bases and no fiefdoms. Not to mention the emperor himself, sometimes these royal relatives could not even fight against a civil servant.

Moreover, facts have proved that even vassal kings like Prince Ning could not rebel successfully.

At this point in the empire's development, Zhu Houzhao seemed to have lost a clear direction for improving the empire. He seemed to be doing the same thing every day. Officials at all levels handled every matter in a routine manner, and he, the emperor, also approved and agreed to them in a procedural manner.

But the subtle changes are still very obvious. At present, the empire is sending large numbers of troops to the north, causing a sharp increase in military expenditures, and a large amount of the empire's wealth is used for military expenditures.

At the same time, the trade in border towns also suffered heavy losses, and the tax revenue and commercial income from border trade also dropped sharply, which the northern officials could not tolerate.

The cabinet chief Kang Hai also discovered this phenomenon: "Your Majesty, this year's border trade revenue has dropped significantly. From Datong to Liaodong, the Shanxi merchants who mainly engage in border trade have suffered the most losses. It has also caused a sharp drop in the sales of silk, cotton, silk and other products in the south, while military expenditures have increased a lot. In the short term, the current situation in the north is quite unfavorable to our Ming Dynasty!"

"This is all the fault of these Shanxi merchants and the Tartars. If these Shanxi merchants had not smuggled the Tartars, they would have contacted the Tartars to plunder the border, intending to disrupt normal trade at the border. They did not pay customs duties and made huge profits through smuggling. Now I have assembled a large army to sweep away the Tartars and leave the north without a trade market. They finally feel the pain, right!"

Zhu Houzhao also knew that if he stationed hundreds of thousands of troops in the north for a long time and even continued to increase the number of troops, it would almost make it difficult for Mongolian tribes to remain in a large area from the south of Lake Baikal to the north of Zhangjiakou. Some were eliminated or driven away, and some were forcibly immigrated overseas by the Ming Dynasty. As a result, there is no commercial market in this area.

Shanxi is the closest to this area, so naturally the main commercial activities of Shanxi merchants are also in this area. Therefore, when the trade market in this area disappears, Shanxi merchants will naturally suffer the greatest losses.

But as Zhu Houzhao said, this was also the Shanxi merchants' own fault. They were unwilling to trade through the court's formal channels and intended to evade taxes through smuggling. In order to make the court lose its ability to control border trade, they could only collude with the Tartars to plunder the border.

But the Shanxi merchants miscalculated that with the progress of Ming Dynasty's industrialization, Ming Dynasty's military warfare model had changed, and the Tatar cavalry could no longer pose any threat to Ming Dynasty, which had advanced muskets and artillery.

Moreover, as the Ming Dynasty opened up its seas, the empire's income increased significantly, and it was not difficult to eliminate the northern Tartars on a large scale.

It is precisely because of this that now, the interests of Shanxi merchants have been greatly damaged, and they have no choice but to begin to surrender and beg for mercy from the court, hoping that the court will stop its raids outside the Great Wall and restore peace in this area.

"Your Majesty, the evil Shanxi merchants have been severely punished, but the court cannot ignore the lives of the entire northern merchants and people. Moreover, the northern merchants must have understood the consequences of colluding with the Tartars to disrupt the world. Now this problem still needs to be solved. What's more, if the military expenditure of our Ming Dynasty continues to grow at this rate, it may not be a long-term solution," Kang Hai said at this time.

Zhang Cong could not help but stand up and said, "Your Majesty, as the Prime Minister said, although the national treasury reserves are becoming more and more abundant, it is only used for military expenses, which is also suspected of being a warlike aggression and not conducive to the country. As Your Majesty said, the money of the national treasury comes from the people, so it should be used for the people. For example, building bridges, repairing dams, and promoting education are all things that benefit the country and the people. However, now the money of the national treasury is only used for the people. I am afraid that the people do not need it. Therefore, I also think that sending hundreds of thousands of troops to the north to occupy every inch of land is not a long-term solution. After all, uninhabited land is like chicken ribs."

Zhu Houzhao nodded. He admitted that what Zhang Cong and Kang Hai said were right. He could not blindly advance northward at the expense of the interests of the people of the world just because of some Shanxi merchants. Perhaps this was also the helplessness of the Central Plains dynasty.

The capable rulers of all dynasties naturally wanted the empire to be vast, but running an empire is like doing business, and the more land the better. Some worthless lands are better to be abandoned than to waste money and food to defend them, so as to save financial resources and improve people's livelihood. "According to your opinion, the Ming Dynasty should abandon all the lands outside the Great Wall, from Khorin to Daning (equivalent to today's Mongolia and Inner Mongolia), and withdraw the army?"

When Zhu Houzhao asked this question, the cabinet officials all remained silent. After all, they did not dare to say that all these lands were abandoned.

Yang Yiqing came over pushing a wooden wheelchair and said, "Your Majesty, I don't think it's possible. This vast land was acquired by the entire Imperial Guards with countless efforts. It cost a lot of money and food. It would be a pity to abandon it now!
And I also want to ask, these hundreds of thousands of guards are now stationed in the area outside the Great Wall and can still play a defensive role, but if they are withdrawn to the interior, how will the court support them?"

"Of course we can't withdraw. What I'm confused about is that since the Tartars can survive in these places, why can't we Han people? Can't we Han people raise sheep? Since it's land, there will always be a future for it. I think the court should figure out how to use these lands instead of abandoning them. If they abandon them, the Tartars who fled to the north will definitely come back, and the Tartars in the west will also move eastward. At that time, there will still be border troubles! Everything we did today will be in vain!"

Xia Yan also took over the conversation at this time.

"The land outside the Great Wall cannot be abandoned! Let me make this clear first. In a peaceful world, the population will only increase. If the land is abandoned because it is useless now, it will only lead to an intensification of the internal disputes between people and land in the empire. Although the north is bitterly cold, it is not completely unsuitable for human life. Xia Qing is right. The value of land does not only depend on whether it can be cultivated. Different lands have different values. The court should think of ways to make use of these lands instead of abandoning them!"

After Zhu Houzhao's words, Kang Hai, Zhang Cong and others hurriedly agreed.

Zhu Houzhao nodded and began to think carefully with the court officials about how to make use of the newly occupied land in the north.

There is no doubt that, except for those near the Great Wall where winter wheat can be grown, it is meaningless to use most of the land outside the Great Wall for agriculture. Moreover, Zhu Houzhao also knew that in fifty years, the Little Ice Age climate would become more and more obvious, and these places in the northern part of the Great Wall would become even colder. In the long run, it would not be suitable for agricultural development. Even in later generations, areas such as Liaodong and Nurgandusi were still the main rice producing areas.

The only possible approach at the moment is industrialization, and strive to find the value of these lands in industrial use. Of course, traditional industries on these lands, such as animal husbandry, can still be developed, and even the development of the food industry can be used to promote animal husbandry. After all, if everyone in the Ming Dynasty drinks milk every day in the future, the demand for dairy cows will certainly be huge, and the animal husbandry industry in these grasslands outside the Great Wall undoubtedly has great room for development.

Of course, the problem is that not everyone in the Ming Dynasty drinks milk yet, and dairy products are only becoming popular among the aristocratic class.

Zhu Houzhao felt that the most immediate reflection of the value of the land outside the Great Wall was the rich mineral resources there. Zhu Houzhao vaguely remembered that in later generations, the area from Helin to Daning was a region rich in mineral resources.

In later generations, Inner Mongolia was known as the world's "open-pit coal mine" home, and Mongolia was also rich in coal, silver, and copper.

The Ming Dynasty has now implemented steam mechanization in the textile industry, and the demand for coal is accelerating. Moreover, Zhu Houzhao can foresee that since the Ming Dynasty has already started steam mechanization in the textile industry, then mining, transportation, military, navigation, water conservancy and other aspects will certainly quickly start steam industrialization, and the demand for coal will certainly be even greater at that time.

In the future, the places outside the Great Wall that the Ming Dynasty currently occupies will undoubtedly provide the Ming Dynasty with rich mineral resources.

Zhu Houzhao therefore convened another court meeting.

"It's not very meaningful to give these places outside the Great Wall to farmers for cultivation. I thought about it and decided to give them to herdsmen for livestock raising. Alternatively, they can be contracted out to merchants for mining. The latter should be the most effective way at the moment. I remember the Ministry of Industry just submitted a memorial saying that the output of coal in the government-run coal mines in the 19th year of Zhengde quadrupled compared to the 18th year! This shows that the demand for coal in the Ming Dynasty has increased dramatically since the emergence of steam engines."

Zhu Houzhao said.

Zhang Cong nodded after hearing this. He was in charge of the Ministry of Industry and naturally knew how great the demand for coal was in the Ming Dynasty. However, he had to remind him, "Your Majesty, I have been in the border towns for a long time and found that merchants are not willing to open mines in the newly occupied Hetao and Saibei areas of the Ming Dynasty."

"That's why most of the coal mines in places like Hetao and Saibei are open-pit mines, which are easier to mine and have cheaper labor. Mining inside the Great Wall will easily destroy people's ancestral heritage, and I have not yet issued an explicit decree to allow private mining inside the Great Wall. It can be said that private miners are still mining illegally," said Zhu Houzhao.

"Because the mines inside the Great Wall do not collect mining taxes, because the court openly prohibits mining, there are no tax collectors to collect taxes. However, in Hetao and Saibei, the court allows merchants to cultivate land and mine, but they will collect mining taxes and land taxes. Therefore, merchants are still more willing to mine inside the Great Wall. As for labor, the people of the Ming Dynasty have always had low demands for wages, and some even only ask for three meals a day. In addition, most of the people inside the Great Wall are Han people, who are tolerant and can be bullied, while most of the people outside the Great Wall are Mongolians, who cannot be bullied. Therefore, merchants who open mines would rather exploit Han people of the same ethnic group than exploit Mongolians. Therefore, in terms of labor costs, it is more cost-effective inside the Great Wall."

Zhang Cong replied.

Zhu Houzhao was stunned for a moment after hearing this: “I didn’t expect that Han people are easily bullied, and even more easily bullied by their compatriots. This has been the case since ancient times.
But now, as the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and you as important officials of the court, what you think about must be beneficial to the country and the people of the Ming Dynasty and the national interests of the empire. We must start from this point. It is naturally better to let merchants open mines outside the Great Wall than to let them open mines inside the Great Wall!
Moreover, coal mining in the interior of the country is difficult and causes great damage to the land. According to the investigation of the East Factory, it is estimated that more than 10,000 people died in mining accidents in the 17th year of Zhengde, and more than 50,000 acres of arable land were destroyed. There is no doubt that mining in the interior of the country is not good for the country! "

When all the ministers in the cabinet heard what Zhu Houzhao said, they all nodded in agreement.

At this time, Zhu Houzhao could not help but look at Kang Hai and others: "You are all cabinet ministers in charge of internal affairs. Speaking of this, I would like to ask, do you know how many mines are being operated in the interior of the country when the court prohibits mining? What is the actual annual coal production of the Ming Dynasty? How much farmland is destroyed by mining every year? How many people die in mining accidents? How much assets of the court treasury are lost? Do you have any idea?"

"Well, most of the miners are nobles and gentry. Banning mining is as difficult as banning smuggling of salt. I am powerless to do anything about it!" Kang Hai couldn't help but reply truthfully.

"The fact that it is difficult to ban is not a reason for me to do nothing about it. So far, I cannot remember a single court official asking me to ban mining taxes, nor a single court official asking me to strictly prohibit private mining! No minister has noticed these problems, but the East Factory is doing it. What are you civil servants doing? This is a manifestation of inaction! You always say that you are concerned about the country and the people, but where are you concerned about the country and the people?" Zhu Houzhao asked seriously.

The ministers in the cabinet couldn't help but blush: "We are ashamed! Your Majesty, please punish us!"

(End of this chapter)