The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 636 Make a fortune
At this time, the processing and construction level of the Ming Dynasty was truly exceptional.

As soon as Emperor Wanli gave the order, the walls and workshops on the south side of the Mountain Resort sprang up like mushrooms after rain.

In less than a month, the wall and the iron foundry were completed.

Even the railway tracks were started to be cast.

That afternoon, around noon, Wanli carried little Zhu Changxun to the newly built foundry.

They come every day, and Uncle Yongnian, Wang Wei, and Song Yingxing even live here.

Right now, the two of them are standing next to the sandy field, directing the craftsmen to carry the cast iron rails out.

Wanli shoved the young Zhu Changxun into the arms of Yongnian Earl Wang Wei, then squatted down and stared intently at the cast iron rails.

The casting level of the Ming Dynasty is now exceptionally high. Even the rails cast in Shatin are remarkably smooth on all four sides, almost gleaming.

He nodded slightly, then said to Song Yingxing beside him, "Chang Geng, the rails can be cast like this. You just need to polish the top and the inner side that contacts the iron wheel."

Song Yingxing nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

After saying that, he took out a stack of drawings from his pocket and said excitedly, "Your Majesty, I have finished drawing this train. What do you think?"

Emperor Wanli took the blueprints and looked at them, then couldn't help but nod slightly.

This kid is a genius. He only gave a rough description, but the train he drew actually looks a bit like the trains of later generations.

However, simply drawing it isn't enough; we have to build it and see.

After carefully examining the blueprints, he nodded slightly and said, "Hmm, not bad. Let's make a trial run based on these blueprints."

Song Yingxing nodded excitedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, I will take people to build it shortly."

Emperor Wanli then instructed in detail: "Don't just focus on building trains, you also need to get the tracks laid as soon as possible."

The workshops that manufacture locomotives and carriages must lay tracks in advance, and the locomotives and carriages must be assembled on the tracks. Otherwise, it would be difficult to lift the locomotives and carriages, which weigh tens of thousands of kilograms, onto the tracks.

Also, you need to have people lay a ring of tracks around the workshop first, and the tracks inside the workshop must connect with the tracks outside. Otherwise, if the train prototype isn't long enough to run on, there's no way to test it.

Yes, the tracks need to be laid first.

Song Yingxing nodded eagerly and said, "Your Majesty is wise, I understand."

Don't you two ever consider the money issue?
Upon seeing this, Yongnian Earl Wang Wei couldn't help but remind him: "Your Majesty, I dare to say that this train weighs at least 100,000 jin, and Chang Geng also said that many places will need to use high-quality steel."

Leaving aside the cost of the refined steel, the cost of the iron itself is enormous. Even if we calculate the cost price, a hundred catties of wrought iron would still cost more than one tael of silver.

In other words, we spend 30,000 to 40,000 taels of silver a day just on building the railway tracks. If we also build the train, it would probably cost at least 50,000 taels of silver a day.

This only covers material costs. If we calculate the cost based on a 50/50 split between materials and labor, the labor cost alone would be at least 50,000 taels per day.

Are you worried about the money?
Emperor Wanli shook his head slightly and said, "Father-in-law, I know that this thing will cost at least tens of millions of taels of silver a year."

It's alright. Right now, the gold mines in the Americas and the grain collected by the Ministry of Revenue are enough to pay for the soldiers' food and wages.

We can invest all the profits from Wanshengtang in building railways and trains; investing 50 million taels a year wouldn't be a problem.

My goodness, fifty million taels a year! You're really generous!

Upon hearing this, Yongnian Earl Wang Wei was dumbfounded.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhu Changxun couldn't help but ask, "Father, can we make back all the money we've invested?"

Of course you can.

Do you think Father Emperor would do something that would lose money?

Wanli nodded slightly, then patiently explained, "This train can carry not only people, horses, and supplies, but also other things."

For example, regarding mineral resources, the Ministry of Works had actually explored many coal and iron mines, but because there were no waterways and the transportation costs were too high, they did not mine them.

We could even lay railway tracks directly into the mine, so people could just dig inside and wouldn't have to carry the tracks out.

This is just coal and iron ore; with just this, we can recoup our investment. There's also timber, stone, and even gold and silver mines—once the land routes are established, mining and transportation will be incredibly convenient.”

As they were talking, a guard suddenly rushed over with an urgent report in his hand, bowed and said, "Reporting, Your Majesty, an urgent report from the North American Western Commandery."

When Emperor Wanli received the urgent report, he was overjoyed.

The Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru has been taken over, and Qi Jiguang has also found all the mining areas that the Spanish occupied there. There are not only copper mines, but also gold and silver mines!
These are not just one or two mines, but many.

Qi Jiguang and his men had actually discovered quite a few gold and silver mines along their way, but since the fighting there was not over yet, he had not arranged for anyone to mine them.

Once the Viceroyalty of Peru is captured, the fighting in the Americas will essentially be over.

As for the Portuguese colonies in western South America, he had already told Qi Jiguang not to rush to attack them.

Portugal is now essentially Ming's agent; if we attack them, no one will help Ming do business.

Besides, the resources there could be claimed as theirs without them even needing to exploit them. Minerals and timber, for example, could be mined by them with just a little money, and the Portuguese wouldn't dare refuse.

Therefore, the battle to capture the Viceroyalty of Peru in the Americas is practically over.

Once this war is over, they can consider mining the gold, silver, and copper mines in the Spanish colonies.

Spain plunders fifty to sixty million taels of gold and silver from there every year.

Moreover, that's because they only know how to rob; their mining and smelting capabilities are simply inadequate.

If the Ming Dynasty were to mine and smelt these materials, the efficiency would be at least ten times higher!
In other words, if they were to exploit the gold and silver mines there at an aggressive pace, they could extract five to six hundred million taels of real gold and silver every year.

This is a real windfall!

Seeing the joy on his face, Xiao Zhu Changxun couldn't help but ask curiously, "Father, what does the urgent report say?"

Wanli handed over the urgent report and patiently explained, "Yuanjing has already taken over the Peruvian Viceroyalty. The battle in the Americas is almost over. We can now mobilize able-bodied men and artisans to mine and smelt gold, silver, and copper there."

The gold, silver, and copper mines over there are incredibly abundant. If we mine and smelt them at full capacity, we could earn at least several hundred million taels of silver annually just from gold, silver, and copper alone.”

what?
Xiao Zhu and Chang Xun were both surprised and said, "Can they really produce hundreds of millions of taels of gold, silver and copper over there every year? That's impossible, isn't it?"

You have no idea how advanced the mining and smelting technology is in the Ming Dynasty.

Emperor Wanli patiently explained, "It would be impossible if the Spanish were to organize the mining and smelting."

They probably don't even know how to use coal yet. They can't possibly smelt much gold, silver, or copper just from charcoal.

This is where the importance of trains becomes apparent.

There are actually coal mines there, but extracting the coal from the mines, transporting it to the port, then shipping it by ship to the port near the gold, silver, and copper mines, and then transporting it to the gold, silver, and copper mines, all require a lot of manpower and animal power.

If you do the math, one person can dig up about a thousand kilograms of coal in a day, so ten thousand people would dig up ten million kilograms, while an ordinary horse-drawn cart can only carry about a thousand kilograms.

In other words, we need to build as many horse-drawn carts as we hire to mine coal, otherwise the coal simply cannot be transported out. Moreover, we also need to equip the same number of horse-drawn carts to transport the coal to the gold, silver, and copper mines, which would require an unknown number of carts.

If there were trains, it would be different. For coal mines and gold, silver and copper mines that can be connected by land, we can simply build railways to them. For those that cannot be connected by land, once railways are built from the mines to the docks, there will be no need to consume much manpower and animal power.

"So, Chang-Geng, you need to step up your efforts and get the train developed as soon as possible; this thing is extremely important to us."

Song Yingxing nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand. I will do my best."

Little Zhu Changxun couldn't help but ask, "Father, didn't you say we were short of people?"
Where can we find tens of thousands of people to mine coal, and even to extract and smelt gold, silver, and copper?

This is indeed a big problem.

There are many gold, silver and copper mines over there, and the amount of coal needed is also enormous. Where is he going to find so many able-bodied men to mine coal and extract and smelt gold, silver and copper?

Perhaps this is the fundamental reason why the Spanish were unable to mine and smelt much gold, silver, and copper.

Without enough able-bodied young men to mine and smelt, all the gold, silver, and copper mines are useless.

After careful consideration, Wanli decisively said, "Send word to Yuan Jing and Li Qing to return to the capital immediately to report their military achievements."

(End of this chapter)