There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 226 Lingyuan Silver Field
Nie Yu rode in a carriage, enjoying the scenery along the way, and soon arrived at the first stop—Lingyuan Silver Field.

Huang Zhongwen, the head of the Lingyuan Silver Exchange, hurriedly came out to greet them with his subordinates. Even the silver exchange workers brought out several good-looking ones to accompany them. Because the Han Dynasty was not a puppet Qing Dynasty, the silver exchange was no longer a man-eating beast. As long as they were legitimate workers, they all had proper household registration.

Officials in charge of silver mines were not allowed to exploit or oppress the workers, nor were they allowed to beat or mistreat them. Even if a worker was injured or killed in an accident at the silver mine, the silver mine was obligated to provide compensation. However, if any official found out about any deliberate mistreatment of workers, the punishment would range from dismissal and investigation to execution, confiscation of property, and exile.

Nie Yu got off the carriage.

"Greetings, Your Majesty!" the crowd bowed in unison.

Nie Yu cupped his hands and smiled, "Everyone has worked hard, there's no need for such formalities."

The officials of Lingyuan Silver Exchange hurriedly stood up, while the silver exchange workers who had been pulled over to greet them bowed their heads and looked somewhat at a loss.

Huang Jiandang didn't teach them what to do!

Nie Yu smiled gently and stepped forward to help a man up. The man was initially taken aback, but when he saw the handsome young man in front of him wearing the Dragon King's robe, he was stunned.

The man certainly didn't recognize the imperial robe, but he could recognize the dragon pattern on Nie Yu's robe.

It was both handsome and imposing, even more so than Huang Jian, the pawnbroker at the silver shop.

"Your Majesty..."

The man was terrified and instinctively tried to kneel down.

Nie Yu had anticipated this. He pressed his hands on the other man's shoulders, preventing him from kneeling, and continued to laugh, "You don't need to kneel to me. I am the Prince of Han, not the dog emperor of the pseudo-Qing Dynasty. I don't follow that kneeling etiquette. Not only do you not need to kneel to me, but if any officials ask you to kneel to them, you can also refuse to kneel and go to the yamen to file a complaint."

Upon hearing this, the silverworkers who were about to kneel down were all stunned.

Kneeling to heaven, to earth, and to one's parents are ancient customs.

They were used to kneeling before officials and their superiors, but suddenly a Prince of Han appeared. The officials had said beforehand that this Prince of Han was equivalent to the former emperor, or even more powerful.

As a result, when the Emperor came to their silver yard, he told them that they no longer needed to kneel.

Not only do they no longer have to kneel before the Emperor, but the officials also don't have to kneel. If any official dares to make them kneel, they can directly sue those officials.

"This...this is turning the world upside down!" the man couldn't help but say.

Nie Yu nodded slightly, taking the opportunity to speak frankly: "If we don't turn the world upside down, how can we drive out the Tartars and restore the Han dynasty? How can we let our Han people stand tall and be human beings, instead of just being slaves and dogs of the government as before?"

These words were quite hurtful, and upon hearing them, Huang Zhongwen, the supervising official, immediately led all the other officials to kneel down, shouting in fear, "We dare not!"

No sooner had the King of Han said there was no need to kneel than Huang Jiandang knelt down. Yet the King of Han did not react at all, not even glancing at Huang Jiandang.

Looking at the scene before him, and listening to what the King of Han had just said—that they, the common people, should stand up straight and be human beings, instead of being slaves and dogs of the government—something seemed to have been stirred within him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Nie Yu deliberately left Huang Zhongwen waiting for a moment before saying indifferently, "Get up! I was cursing the fake Qing government, not you."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Huang Zhongwen finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Although he said he wouldn't scold them, Huang Zhongwen still understood that the king was clearly trying to warn them.

As for why he was reprimanded, Huang Zhongwen couldn't figure it out yet, but it might be related to Prefect Zhao. Prefect Zhao must have reported something to him, which led to this sudden turn of events.

Well, actually, Huang Zhongwen also suffered an undeserved disaster because Zhao Zhijie directly submitted a memorial to the King of Han, pointing out that the powerful clans of Hengzhou were too disobedient and had even banded together to oppose the Han government.

A power struggle, it seems, is still within a controllable range. But this is under the rule of the Han Dynasty. How dare local powerful clans challenge the Han government? Is Hengzhou Prefecture truly the Hengzhou Prefecture of the Han Dynasty, or is it a Hengzhou Prefecture jointly governed by the Han Dynasty and the powerful clans of Hengzhou?
Hengzhou produces silver, and silver-producing areas are rife with trouble. Nie Yu's southward inspection of the Hengzhou silver mines was not only to oversee the silver mining and minting, but also to warn the officials of these silver mines not to forget their duties.

After a few brief words of admonition, Nie Yu didn't feel embarrassed at all, and continued to ask with a smile: "What's your name, brother? How long have you been working at this silver mine? Are you doing well in terms of food and clothing? Do the officials at this silver mine treat workers like you in any way?"

The man was already feeling dizzy because the King of Han was actually calling him "brother," which almost made him want to kneel down again. He subconsciously bowed his body and stammered, "This humble subject...this humble subject dares not be Your Majesty's 'brother.' This humble subject's name is Liu Dazhuang, and my ancestral home is in Leiyang County. I have been working at this silver mine for seven or eight years. When the old manager was in charge, we silver mine workers lived like pigs and dogs. We were always hungry and had to work day and night mining silver for the manager. Back then, people died every day, and when they died, they were just thrown into the mountains and not even buried."

As Liu Dazhuang spoke, his expression shifted between grief and resentment.

Nie Yu asked, "Old owner, wasn't this a government-run silver mine before?"

Huang Zhongwen quickly explained, “Your Majesty, you are unaware of the details. These government-run silver mines, though called government-run, were mostly joint ventures between the pseudo-Qing government and local powerful clans. The government was responsible for endorsing the mining, while the powerful clans were responsible for arresting people and mining. Once they made money, they would often split the profits 50/50 with the government.”

Nie Yu scoffed: "They actually split it 50/50? I thought the fake Qing government would take at least 90%!"

Huang Zhongwen shook his head: "That's about right. The powerful clans need money for mining and arresting people. In addition, there are various relationships to be cultivated. The amount that actually belongs to the powerful clans is probably less than half of that 50%."

Nie Yu then looked at Liu Dazhuang: "Brother Liu, please continue." Liu Dazhuang nodded repeatedly: "Oh, oh, before, when I was with the old mine owner, I lived like a pig or a dog. Now that Da Han has come, our lives are much better. Although Supervisor Huang is a bit strict, he treats us silver mine workers quite well. We eat meat every day, he gives us days off, and we still get paid. Last month, Old Wu injured his leg while working in the mine, and Supervisor Huang personally took people to see him and brought him the compensation money issued by the silver mine."

Hearing this, Nie Yu finally nodded. Huang Zhongwen, who had been listening attentively, also breathed a sigh of relief; his back was almost completely soaked with sweat.

It wasn't that he felt guilty; it was just too agonizing. Although he had indeed managed to refrain from greed and corruption, having the king personally question the workers meant that if any worker said the wrong thing, he could be finished.

"It's almost lunchtime now. Can you show me what you usually eat?" Nie Yu asked again.

Liu Dazhuang had almost relaxed by then, and upon hearing Nie Yu's words, he immediately laughed and said, "That's great! I'll take you there right away, Your Majesty. We'd better go early, or the line will be incredibly long."

Liu Dazhuang led Nie Yu and his group quickly to the workers' canteen at the silver yard.

It was called a canteen, but it was just an open-air shack. Because it was a mine, conditions were limited, and the canteen building was not yet fully completed. The local government was too poor; many of the facilities were inherited from the Qing Dynasty's silver mines, so they tried to save money wherever possible.

Fortunately, the food was normal. There were indeed meat dishes, and they were all large chunks of fatty meat. There was also a large bucket of mixed vegetables and meat soup, and the oil floating on the surface of the soup bucket looked appetizing.

"Hmm, good food. Give me a bowl too," Nie Yu said with a glance.

Huang Zhongwen hurriedly stopped him, saying, "This is all food for the silver mine workers; it's too coarse. Your Majesty's health is of utmost importance; it's better not to..."

Nie Yu chuckled: "Hehe, I ate plenty of these coarse dishes before I started out, so I can get used to them."

When the tone becomes "alone," it means there's no room for negotiation.

Huang Zhongwen had no choice but to give up and obediently asked someone to get him food, and he even got himself an extra portion.

Seeing that the king and his superiors were eating, the lower-ranking officials and clerks couldn't go back and cook for themselves, so they could only get food together.

A group of people sat around in the shack area eating and drinking. At least there were chairs, so it wasn't too undignified.

After lunch, Huang Zhongwen was alright, and the other officials didn't show any change in expression.

When they were land distribution officials, they had eaten a lot of very poor food during the harsh conditions, so they were not so unaccustomed to it.

Nie Yu said, "Huang Qing, you've worked hard. You've done a good job as the supervisor of Lingyuan."

"It is my duty, and I dare not accept Your Majesty's undeserved praise," Huang Zhongwen said.

Nie Yu said earnestly, "Good work is good work. This is your achievement, and no one can take it away or take it away from you."

"Yes," Huang Zhongwen replied, bowing with his hands clasped. He was no longer nervous; instead, he was filled with joy.

Nie Yu then said, "Take me to the mint to have a look!"

Finally getting to the point, Huang Zhongwen led Nie Yu toward the mint in the silver mine.

The mint was indeed a mint, with its own separate building and a sign that read "Mint".

Upon entering the mint, one finds artisans with different roles in coin casting and smelting, as well as several huge boilers and casting machines, where the temperature is significantly higher than outside.

Nie Yu had only walked a few steps when he felt his back was already soaked with sweat. He quickly walked around twice with Huang Zhongwen, looking at the various models of boiler machines. These were all designed and manufactured by Nie Yu, the King of Han (who copied the blueprints).

There was even a large steam engine inside, but it wasn't the modified "Watt" steam engine currently in service at the Great Han Firearms Workshop; it was a different type of atmospheric steam engine. The biggest difference between it and the Watt steam engine was that it was very primitive, lacking a piston coupling and unable to perform reciprocating motion for industrial power supply, but it could be used for pumping water.

The steam engine stored in this mint was used by the Lingyuan Silver Mine for pumping water during mining operations. Currently, this is the only one that is operational in the entire mine, as the cost is simply too high. It will only be transferred there to pump water when a new mine is opened to prevent the mining area from being flooded by groundwater.

"Your Majesty, please look, this is the first batch of 'Da Han Tong Bao' coins newly minted at my Lingyuan Silver Mint." Huang Zhongwen presented a gleaming, golden copper coin to the King of Han as if it were a precious treasure.

"Da Han Tong Bao Coin".

Nie Yu took the copper coin and examined it closely. The coin was engraved with the four characters "Da Han Tong Bao".

The font is regular script, which can be read vertically from top to bottom and from right to left.

The reverse side of the coin should theoretically have something engraved on it, but it is currently smooth and blank because these are sample coins, which are larger than ordinary copper coins and have clearer and more exquisite characters.

Nie Yu took out a Qianlong Tongbao coin and carefully weighed it. The Dahan Tongbao coin was significantly twice as heavy as the Qianlong Tongbao coin.

This is normal. In the early years of the Qianlong reign, the Qianlong Tongbao coin weighed about 1.2 qian, but by the later period, it only weighed 0.7 qian.

(End of this chapter)