My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 360 A Memorial Requesting a Monopoly on Saltpeter

Su Ze arrived at the Imperial Household Department early; today was another day for him to lecture the Crown Prince.

He had just sat down in the public room when Zhang Hong, the eunuch beside the crown prince, came over to invite him over.

As they walked, Zhang Hong said:
"Su Hanlin, the heir of the Marquis of Wuqing has arrived."

It turned out that it was Li Guojiu who came to the Eastern Palace.

Su Ze nodded repeatedly and casually stuffed a small bag of silver coins into Zhang Hong's arms. Zhang Hong smiled knowingly and stuffed the silver coins into his pocket.

The two arrived at Minglun Hall one after the other, where Su Ze met the emperor's brother-in-law, Li Wenquan.

Li Wenquan was even more spirited than last time.

The preparatory committee of the Japanese Silver Company concluded its mission after a consultation meeting.

Then the Japanese Silver Company issued its articles of association, stating that investors who invested more than 5,000 silver dollars and did not hold any official positions in the imperial court would automatically become directors of the board.

After statistics were compiled and investors who held official positions or were anonymous investors were excluded, the Japanese Silver Company finally selected 75 directors.

The board of directors, consisting of 75 members, meets every six months to discuss major matters concerning the Japanese Silver Company.

The massive Japanese silver company could not be controlled by the board meeting alone, so seven permanent directors were elected at this board meeting.

The permanent directors are responsible for the day-to-day operations. The board of directors, composed of these seven permanent directors, will decide the daily work of the Wogo Bank.

Li Wenquan was naturally elected with a high number of votes, and he became the first chairman of the Woyin Company.

After being elected, Li Wenquan immediately went to Laizhou to purchase merchant ships from the Japanese Silver Company.

The Japanese Silver Company held a huge sum of 600,000 silver dollars, which was almost equivalent to the total annual tax revenue of a province in the Ming Dynasty.

However, the provincial administration could only use a small portion of the taxes collected by each province, while Li Wenquan, as chairman, could completely control this huge sum of money.

The Woyin Company was wealthy and powerful. It not only bought up the civilian ship orders of Laizhou Shipyard for the next two years, but also directly purchased ten armed merchant ships.

In addition, the directors of the Woyin Company also put their own fleets under the Woyin Company, and the entire Woyin Company suddenly had forty merchant ships!

Of course, this number only seems exaggerated, as it includes many small boats that can only navigate near the coast. However, after the newspaper's publicity, it is enough to make people marvel at the Woyin Company's wealth and power!
Just recently, the Ming Dynasty navy annihilated the pirates near Jeju Island, making the sea route to Japan much safer now.

Li Wenquan said to Su Ze:

"I have come today to bid farewell to the Crown Prince and Hanlin Su. I am going to Sakai Port with the fleet."

Su Ze was somewhat surprised; he hadn't expected Li Wenquan to personally go to Japan.

You have to understand that sailing was a dangerous thing in this era.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. If Li Wenquan hadn't had such an adventurous spirit, he wouldn't have been able to build such a great business in Penghu.

Li Wenquan then added:
"In addition, I have another matter to trouble you with, Hanlin Su, today."

"Please speak, Your Highness."

Li Wenquan said:
"The imperial court has granted the Wa Silver Company a special license to operate in the saltpeter trade during this trip to Japan. However, the official price of saltpeter has soared, and the Ministry of Works is facing a shortage. Therefore, I would like to ask Hanlin Su for help."

Saltpeter?

Su Ze then realized that even the Ming Dynasty was experiencing a shortage of this hard currency from the gunpowder era.
The process of producing nitrates was originally a Chinese invention.

Saltpeter in the Ming Dynasty was mainly extracted from saltpeter soil.

Nitric acid soil is formed through microbial decomposition.

Nitric acid soil will form near toilets, pigsties, and at the base of old walls.

Gather these nitrate soils, crush them, soak them in water, filter them, add wood ash, and then boil and concentrate them to form crude nitrate.

After further separation and purification, saltpeter can be obtained.

In the Ming Dynasty, there were specialized saltpeter producers responsible for saltpeter production, and various regions also had taxes to be paid for saltpeter.

It can be said that nitrate production is an industry that is extremely dependent on the state's organizational capacity.

The government must be able to get the people to hand over saltpeter, and it must also have specialized technology to purify it.

It's important to understand that many countries in this era simply lacked the capacity for grassroots governance. They couldn't even organize ordinary people to collect saltpeter, let alone collect taxes from the local population.

During this period, the Ming Dynasty accounted for more than 70% of the world's saltpeter production.

Li Wenquan glanced at Su Ze and said:
"Actually, this matter is also related to Su Hanlin."

"Is it related to Su?"

Li Wenquan nodded and said, "Su Hanlin proposed equality among the four classes and abolished the lowly status. As a result, many saltpeter households were removed from the status, and now many saltpeter workshops in the garrisons have stopped operating."

It turned out to be the case.

Like military households and salt households, the production of saltpeter in the Ming Dynasty also relied on specialized saltpeter households.

Furthermore, the Ming Dynasty had strict regulations prohibiting the private production of saltpeter and strictly controlling saltpeter.

Of course, this control had become a mere formality by the Longqing era.

Private saltpeter production was rampant, and saltpeter was sold in the market. As long as it wasn't sold in large quantities, the government didn't interfere.

Nitrate is an important chemical raw material for humankind.

Su Ze did not regret the abandonment of the saltpeter producers, as the saltpeter production under this slave labor system was not necessarily efficient.

In the original timeline, the production of saltpeter in the late Ming Dynasty was problematic because saltpeter producers were exploited by the times, resulting in insufficient purity of the saltpeter produced. Consequently, the misfire rate of firearms in the late Ming Dynasty rose sharply.

Moreover, this officially controlled saltpeter industry also suffers from serious corruption problems.

During the Jiajing reign, there were instances where the official price of saltpeter was higher than that of the common people. When Hu Zongxian was fighting against Japanese pirates in the southeast, he purchased saltpeter from the common people.

One way to solve the problem of saltpeter is the pile saltpeter method.

The method is quite simple: collect human and animal excrement, pile it up with grass, wood ash, and soil, and after a period of time, it will eventually turn into saltpeter through the action of nitrifying bacteria.

This was actually quite easy to achieve in the Ming Dynasty.

In cities like the capital, a great deal of excrement is produced daily, and many people in the capital specialize in transporting this excrement.

By managing this waste and establishing specialized saltpeter production workshops, saltpeter can be produced.

In addition, Su Ze remembered that his wife, Zhao Lingxian, was from Sichuan, and Sichuan had a lot of natural saltpeter.

These nitrate caves are basically natural caves. Bats in these caves excrete nitrifying bacteria, which continuously accumulate and produce nitrate, eventually forming nitrate veins.

The last option is to go overseas.

The world’s largest nitrate mine is located in South America.

However, transoceanic trade is still too far.

Su Ze said:

"Actually, the private production of saltpeter has always been very prosperous, and the price is very cheap. Why doesn't the Crown Prince buy it directly from the private sector?"

Li Wenquan looked at Su Ze and said:

"Su Hanlin, it is illegal to make saltpeter privately."

Zhu Yijun also looked at Su Ze, wanting to see how he would solve this problem.

Now Su Ze was also starting to have a headache.

Saltpeter was undoubtedly a strategic resource in this era!

Saltpeter is the raw material for gunpowder and also for many other chemical products, including military, fertilizer, and pharmaceutical industries. It will remain one of the most important materials for the next few hundred years.

If private saltpeter production is allowed to continue unchecked, the price of saltpeter will decrease, but the problem of saltpeter smuggling will become even more serious.

However, if government-run saltpeter production were to proceed, it would also face problems of inefficiency and rampant corruption. More importantly, government-run workshops also suffered from the problem of being "large but not strong."

In such a market with little competition, government intervention results in slow technological upgrades and a continuous decline in product quality.

Saltpeter was essential for firearms and was a very important resource.

Su Ze thought for a moment and said:
"In fact, Su also had a plan: to monopolize the sale of saltpeter."

"Saltpeter monopoly?" Little Fatty Jun and Li Wenquan both read it aloud.

Su Ze said:

"The shortage of saltpeter in the Ministry of Works stemmed from the abandonment of saltpeter producers, the neglect of government-run workshops, and the rampant private saltpeter trade."

"However, the demand for military supplies and firearms, as well as industrial and commercial supplies, is increasing daily, while government production is shrinking, leading to an imbalance between supply and demand."

"Furthermore, saltpeter is a vital national asset, and smuggling is rampant. Many private saltpeter workshops could not openly sell their products in the Ming Dynasty, so they ended up resorting to smuggling."

Li Wenquan nodded; Su Ze was referring to the current state of the nitrate industry.

Su Ze said:

“If saltpeter production is completely state-run, we will repeat the same mistakes: there will be production but no quality, which will be harmful to the country.”

"But if it's completely liberalized, the imperial court will have difficulty controlling it."

"Su believed that the imperial court could issue a monopoly license."

"The imperial court issued permits for saltpeter, restricting the entry of merchants."

Merchants could produce and sell saltpeter if they held a permit to do so, but all production and sales had to be registered and accounted for, and awaited inspection by the imperial court at any time.

"In addition, we need to introduce tiered sales."

"High-purity saltpeter is for military supply, and the government purchases it at a price higher than the market price. It is subject to centralized purchase and sale and cannot be sold at will."

"Those with medium purity are for civilian use and are allowed to circulate among the public, with prices determined by the market."

"Substandard products will be destroyed immediately, and merchants who sell substandard nitrates will be punished."

"The proceeds from the saltpeter production were used partly to purchase saltpeter for the imperial court, and partly to offer rewards for technological upgrades, encouraging merchants to use new methods to produce saltpeter."

"The imperial court has already monopolized the sale of saltpeter and issued saltpeter permits. Anyone who continues to privately produce saltpeter will be severely punished."

"Su proposed to establish saltpeter monopoly bureaus in saltpeter producing areas such as Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou, to be in charge of this matter."

After hearing Su Ze's suggestion, both Xiao Pangjun and Li Wenquan applauded it.

The system of monopolizing land and sea has a long history, dating back to the earliest proposal by Guan Zhong, which called for "government control of mountains and seas."

The earliest commodity sold under a monopoly was salt.

The Song Dynasty had the most types of goods sold under the monopoly system, including sugar, wine, vinegar, and tea.

However, the monopoly on daily necessities is actually a tax levied on ordinary people.

After the Song Dynasty, salt was the only commodity that was still strictly monopolized.

Saltpeter was not considered a daily necessity; rather, it was more suitable for a monopoly system.

Little Fatty Jun said, "Please, Master Su, quickly write a memorial; I also wish to co-sign it!"

Now that the decision to sell the goods had been made, Xiao Pangjun asked Zhang Hong to bring pen and ink, and Su Ze immediately wrote a memorial, which Zhu Yijun also signed.
-
Back in the public room, Su Ze took out the [Portable Ming Dynasty Imperial Court].

Memorial Requesting a Monopoly on Saltpeter

——[Simulation Start]——

The petition requesting the monopoly of saltpeter was delivered to the palace and the cabinet.

The cabinet supported your memorial on the saltpeter monopoly, but disagreed on how to implement it.

Second Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng believed that the saltpeter monopoly was a matter for the Ministry of Revenue and should be managed by the Ministry of Revenue, which should issue the saltpeter monopoly permits.

Minister of Railways and Water Resources, Raleigh, argued that the Ministry of Works was responsible for the state monopoly on saltpeter production, and that saltpeter production was a technically demanding process.

In his memorial, the host suggested that saltpeter be graded and sold. If the Ministry of Revenue were in charge, the officials there might not be technically proficient, which could lead to merchants selling inferior saltpeter to the court or selling substandard saltpeter.

Zhang Juzheng and Lei Li each held their own views, and the cabinet could not reach a consensus, so your memorial was sent to the palace.

The Longqing Emperor also agreed to your proposal for a saltpeter monopoly, but he was also troubled by the infighting among the cabinet ministers, and the memorial was eventually shelved.

——[Simulation End]——

[Remaining Prestige: 1310.]

[To have your negotiation proposal approved, you need to pay 300 reputation points. Do you wish to pay?]

Su Ze did not expect that after Li Chunfang left the cabinet, the conflicts among the cabinet ministers would become public.

Su Ze also felt a bit nostalgic for Li Chunfang's cabinet.

However, Su Ze was also aware that as the reforms of the Ming Dynasty deepened, such contradictions would increase.

In fact, the power struggle between Zhang Juzheng and Lei Li was still in the stage of discussing the specific issues at hand.

If it were Li Chunfang's cabinet, with Li Chunfang's intervention, a consensus could probably be reached within the cabinet.

However, his own mentor, Gao Gong, was lucky if he didn't get into arguments with others.

Su Ze was somewhat worried. Many conflicts arose during the "discussing the matter objectively" stage. The next step was taking sides based on personal emotions, and the final stage was "I oppose whatever you support."

Su Ze was worried about the unity of the current cabinet, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Su Ze sighed and could only choose "yes".

[Prestige points have been deducted, leaving 1010. Please complete the memorial as soon as possible and await its effect.]

Looking at the time, Su Ze realized it was almost time to leave the office. Thinking it best not to delay the cabinet and the Ministry of Justice from closing, Su Ze decided to send it to the Ministry of Justice the next morning.
-
Zhang Juzheng returned to his residence a little later today than yesterday.

As soon as Zhang Juzheng returned home, he met his second son, Zhang Sixiu, who came up to him with a letter in his hand.

"Father, my elder brother has written a letter!"

Upon hearing that the letter was from his eldest son, Zhang Juzheng remained expressionless, but still took the letter from Zhang Sixiu's hand.

Zhang Sixiu stared longingly at the letter.

Zhang Juzheng had very strict rules for managing his family. Even if it was a letter from his elder brother, his younger brothers could only read it after Zhang Juzheng had read it.

This time, Zhang Juzheng did not go to his study, but instead read in a side hall.

The letter began with a routine greeting, and then Zhang Jingxiu talked about his school on Penglai Island.

In fact, Zhang Juzheng had already learned about the naval academy from the Ministry of War. His good disciple, Shen Shixing, was a military officer in the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War.

Compared to the Military Supervisory Commission, the Naval Academy started later, received fewer resources, and had limited support from the imperial court.

Zhang Juzheng was very pleased that his son had managed to run the school so well. At Zhang Jingxiu's age, he would not have had the opportunity to start a school from scratch.

Most of them were trivial daily matters, but Zhang Juzheng read them with great interest.

After joining the navy, Zhang Jingxiu found himself better able to understand the difficulties his father faced in handling affairs.

After he started his own business, he would write to his father about his troubles, and Zhang Juzheng would always give him guidance.

The father and son's relationship actually became more harmonious.

In his letter today, Zhang Jingxiu also wrote about several of the navy's difficulties.

(End of this chapter)