Li Zexuan had taken the ownership of the iron ore in this era for granted, and he hadn't thought about the extraction of pyrite when he was in the workshop.
The composition of pyrite was mainly ferrous sulfide. At that time, he wanted to extract sulfur and iron from it through a series of chemical processes. However, after he went home and calculated carefully, he found that it was easier to extract sulfur from pyrite, but it was too difficult to extract iron!
It wasn't that it couldn't be extracted, but with the current conditions, it was very difficult to do so. Even if it could be done, the cost was too high. It wasn't worth it!
Therefore, if he wanted to get a large amount of iron, he would need some magnetite, which was mainly made up of iron tetroxide.
However, other than extracting sulfur from pyrite, there was also an extremely important industrial material. He would talk about this later.
"What do you need iron for?"
Li Er didn't care much about sulfur. Besides, the imperial court didn't have much control over sulfur, but iron was different. During the early Tang Dynasty, although the imperial court had abolished the special taxes on salt and iron, basically all iron mines that had been discovered belonged to the imperial court. In principle, private individuals weren't allowed to own iron mines.
"Your Majesty, my workshop is lacking iron! I've already bought all the iron that can be bought near Chang 'an City, but it's still not enough! "
Addressing and using words was a very deep knowledge. Li Zexuan referred to himself as' Little Brat 'here and not' Minister 'or' Little Minister 'to show that he was speaking to Li Er as a junior and not as a minister. Because the topic he was talking about was, after all, a business matter, it was very inappropriate to use the identity of a minister.
"Hmph! 'Useless!' Do you really think that your workshop is a treasure? I won't give you the iron ore, because not only do you lack iron, but the imperial court also lacks iron! Do you think your workshop is more important, or my Imperial Treasury and Northern Capital Military Weapons Supervisor? "
(The Tang Dynasty implemented the system of three provinces and six departments. The military weapons workshops were under the management of the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of War. They were called the Imperial Treasury and Northern Capital Military Weapons Supervisor respectively.)
After hearing this, Li Er flicked his sleeves and said in a bad mood.
During the early Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty adopted the Prefectural Military System. There were 574 to 800 Prefectural Prefectures throughout the country, and 627 of them were famous. This number was constantly changing, which meant that the lowest number was 574, and the highest number was 800. The House of Subjugation was split into three grades, with 1200 men, 1000 men, and 800 men respectively. Therefore, in the early Tang Dynasty, there were around 800,000 soldiers, of which 260,000 were from the Guannei Circuit. They were the main force, the Sixteen Guards of the Great Tang.
The weapons and equipment for these two hundred and sixty thousand soldiers were made by the Imperial Treasury and the Northern Capital Military Weapons Bureau. The equipment for the soldiers of the other prefectures were made by the local prefectures, but the metal they used was still provided by the "central government"!
With such a huge consumption of ironware, the imperial court's demand for iron ore was also very high.
"Uh, Your Majesty, you misunderstood! This little one doesn't want the Great Tang's existing iron mines. What this little one means is that this little one will find an iron mine myself. After I find one, can this little one send someone to mine the iron mine? "
Li Zexuan explained carefully.
Li Er raised his eyebrows in surprise and said with some surprise, "Oh? You also know geomancy and gold mining? "
In ancient times, it was known as one of the eight outer gates of Jianghu. It could be considered as the application of Feng Shui in the exploration of gold mines and other mineral deposits. The art of prospecting was known as the ninth gate: Gold Mining. Because the people of Jinmen served the government for a long time, they had very few descendants. But if they found a good gold mine, they would make a lot of money every day.
In any case, Li Zexuan was also a member of the Dao Sect. Of course, he had heard of mining, but how would he know how to do such a thing? He didn't seem to have any knowledge of geomancy in this life. His confidence in finding ores came from the memories of his previous life! But he definitely couldn't say that to Li Er.
"Uh, under the influence of my master, this little one knows a thing or two about this, a thing or two!"
Li Zexuan's mind turned quickly, and then he seriously spouted nonsense.
Li Er glanced at him, and after a while, he said, "If that's the case, I will grant you an iron mine! But at the same time, you have to help the court find a similar iron mine. When the time comes, you won't have to pay taxes to the court and can mine as much as you want. How about it? "
At this time, although the iron mines were owned by the country, a large part of it was mined by the people. "Old Tang Book: Official Records" recorded, "Any mine that comes out of the Copper and Iron State Prefecture will be taxed by the officials." As the emperor, Li Er still had a lot of room for "manipulation". When the time comes, he could ensure that the other officials couldn't find fault with him.
Old fox, Old Li's advantage wasn't something that ordinary people could take advantage of. Li Zexuan silently cursed in his heart. After a moment of consideration, he nodded and cupped his hands, "Thank you, your majesty! The sulfur mine … "
Li Er smiled proudly, and then said, "You can have the sulfur mine! As long as you can find it, it's yours. I won't ask about it! "
Although he didn't know what Li Zexuan wanted the sulfur mine for, he was too lazy to ask. This thing wasn't an important strategic resource of the country. He would just treat it as a benefit for Li Zexuan to join the Department of Commerce.
"Thank you, your majesty. I will do my best to help Commandery Prince Hejian manage the Department of Commerce well and increase the revenue of the Tang Empire's treasury!"
Although this result wasn't ideal, Li Zexuan could accept it. He would treat it as a contribution to the country. The more iron the court had, the better the military's weapons would be, and the stronger the country would be!
As for the Right Promotion of the Department of Commerce, he didn't have to go to Guangzhou to "work". He only needed to use his brain. It wouldn't have much impact on his current life.
"Humph! Get out of here! "
Li Er snorted in annoyance when he saw Li Zexuan's "seeing a rabbit, he immediately let go of the falcon" look.
Damn, Old Li is too disrespectful. Getting rid of the donkey after it has outlived its usefulness! Li Zexuan was a little unhappy, but he did have the upper hand in this matter. Therefore, he didn't argue with Old Li. He cupped his hands and left.
Humph, I don't want to stay in this lousy palace!
After leaving Taiji Palace, Li Zexuan secretly gave Li Er the middle finger. Then, he walked towards the palace gate and prepared to go home.
"Brother Xiaoxuan!"
At this moment, a pleasant female voice came from beside him. Li Zexuan looked over and saw Changle walking over with graceful steps. She was very dignified and elegant.
"Your Highness!"
The reason why Changle was so dignified was that she was in the palace and had to follow the rules. Similarly, Li Zexuan had to follow the rules. Therefore, he cupped his hands and bowed.
"Brother Xiaoxuan, don't be so polite. Changle is here to thank Brother Xiaoxuan! Thank you for speaking up for Changle in the court just now!
Changle asked her servants to leave and hurried over. The little girl's eyes seemed to be made of water, which made her look very gentle.
.....
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
