"Reporting to Imperial Father! The super iron ore this time is of the highest quality, with a large reserve and a rich variety of minerals. It can be said to be the best in the Tang dynasty. From now on, our Tang dynasty will no longer have to worry about a lack of ironware. "
In Taiji Palace, Li Tai proudly showed off his newly discovered super iron ore to Li Shimin.
"It's really God's mercy. Previously, our Tang dynasty was short on iron, and the price of iron soared. But no one expected to find such a super iron ore in such a short time. It's really God's blessing for the Tang dynasty," an imperial censor said excitedly.
"Venerable One's words are mistaken. This is not the mercy of the heavens, but the work of the geography lineage. His Highness King of Wei singlehandedly established the geography lineage to search for ore veins for the Great Tang. The discovery of the massive iron mine in the Sichuan region is proof that the geography lineage is the work of the Hundred Schools of Thought," Yu Zhining flattered.
"Of course. Our Huaxia is vast and rich in resources. There must be many undiscovered ores. The geography has a long way to go."
"His Highness Emperor Wei is a new school of thought. It's really a joyous occasion for our Tang dynasty."
… … …
The officials all agreed.
"School of Thought!"
When Li Shimin heard that his son had become a school of thought, his old face couldn't help but smile like a flower. However, he said modestly, "Although Qingque has made some achievements, there's still a long way to go in the future. My beloved officials, don't flatter him too much."
"Your Majesty is too serious. Your Majesty has raised a prince to be a school of thought. You're a role model for all fathers in the world," the officials all said. How could they not know what Li Shimin was thinking?
"My dear ministers, you are overpraising me. There is still a long way to go in the field of geography. Qingque, do not slack off. Continue to work hard and bring the field of geography to greater heights. Continue to search for more mineral veins for the imperial court and the country," Li Shimin said.
"Your son obeys!" Li Tai bowed.
"Your subject represents the Ministry of Works to thank His Highness Emperor Wei. With the super iron ore, the Ministry of Works will no longer have a shortage of iron." Unexpectedly, the Minister of Works took the lead and wanted to seize the super iron ore.
"Ministry of Works?" Li Tai was stunned and quickly waved his hand, "Mo Jiu asked me to find the super iron ore I, so of course it belongs to the Mo Family Village."
Zhang Liang said nonchalantly, "Emperor Wei may not know this, but all the land under the heavens belongs to the Emperor, and all the people who live on the land are the Emperor's subjects. Naturally, all the minerals under the heavens belong to the Imperial Court, not to whoever finds them. If that's the case, wouldn't the world be in chaos?"
"Minister, you are right. The imperial court needs to purchase a large batch of iron materials every year. Now that we have a super large iron mine, the Ministry of Works no longer needs to spend a large sum of money every year." The assistant minister of the Ministry of Works agreed.
Li Tai shook his head and said, "Lord Zhang, you may not know this, but this super iron mine was not discovered by chance. It was the Mo family who invested tens of thousands of strings of cash. Furthermore, it was only discovered after careful exploration. If it were not for the Mo family, it would be impossible for this super iron mine to appear. We cannot take over this super iron mine just because of Lord Zhang's words."
"That's true. Furthermore, there has never been a government-run workshop in our dynasty. It is not in line with the precedent for the Ministry of Works to own an iron mine." What was even more surprising was that Zhangsun Wuji actually stood on Mo Jiazi's side. One must know that just a moment ago, the Zhangsun residence and the Mo family were fighting to the death over the iron ore. Furthermore, the Zhangsun residence was the loser. At this moment, he actually spoke up for Mo Jiazi.
"Zhangsun Wuji is actually so selfless?" The officials could not help but be stunned, not understanding Zhangsun Wuji's plan.
"In the past, there was no such thing because His Majesty was merciful and did not want to rob the private property of the commoners. However, this super large iron mine is different. It is newly discovered in the wilderness and is not a private mine that has been discovered long ago. Furthermore, the person who discovered it is a prince. Naturally, it can be owned by the imperial court." Zhang Liang retorted.
The officials could not help but fall silent. Logically speaking, the Mo Family Village had spent money to hire people to explore the mine. Naturally, it should belong to Mo Jiazi. However, the benefits of the super large iron mine were too great. It was not as if Mo Jiazi could easily take it for himself just by spending tens of thousands of strings of cash. What benefits would the China family have then?
"That's true. I believe that not only should this super large iron mine be run by the government, but the entire Tang dynasty should implement the salt and iron official run. A few days ago, all the major iron companies were recklessly hoarding iron ore and raising the price of iron. The commoners' lives were miserable. The Minister believes that it is urgent to rectify the chaos in the iron industry. The salt and iron official run is the best choice." The Assistant Minister of Civil Affairs, Tang Jian, suddenly stood out and said something shocking.
"The salt and iron official run!"
Instantly, the entire court was in an uproar as they looked at Tang Jian in disbelief.
The salt and iron official run was a controversial policy. The good thing was that it could make a great contribution to the imperial court's finance. The bad thing was that the imperial court would personally plunder the wealth, which was really unsightly.
However, in the face of great benefits, all the officials in the court fell silent. The Tang dynasty was in a good situation at present and its national strength was rising day by day. However, there were too many things that needed to be done. The Tang dynasty's finance had always been unable to make ends meet. If they had this large sum of money, they would definitely be able to build more bridges and more brick roads.
Moreover, some time ago, the iron companies arbitrarily raised the price of iron and besieged the Mo Family Village, which gave the imperial court an excuse to rectify the iron industry. However, the ridiculous thing was that the Mo Family Village was the victim when the iron companies besieged the Mo Family Village. Now, the Mo Family Village turned the tables and bought a group of iron companies. The imperial court also implemented the salt and iron official run. The Mo Family Village was the victim again.
Immediately, the entire court fell silent. Putting aside the fact that the salt and iron official camp had stirred up a controversy in the world, just the current controllers of the iron materials in the world were the Zhangsun family and the Mo family. Both of them were influential figures in the world. He was not an ordinary mine director that could be controlled by them.
"Minister agrees with the salt and iron official run!" Suddenly, an old voice came out and shocked the entire court.
All the officials were shocked and looked around to see who was willing to take the blame and agree with the salt and iron official run. However, they realized that the person who agreed with the salt and iron official run was Zhangsun Wuji.
"Zhangsun Wuji!"
All the officials were in an uproar. No one expected Zhangsun Wuji to agree with the salt and iron official run. One must know that there was a historical reason why Zhangsun Wuji was in charge of the iron company in Guanzhong. Now that the iron company had become the economic pillar of the Zhangsun family, Zhangsun Wuji actually gave it up so easily.
To put it bluntly, the Mo Family Village would not be affected if they lost the super big iron mine, but the Zhangsun family would be greatly affected if they lost the iron company.
Zhangsun Wuji said calmly, "Back then, I was ordered to search for iron materials for the imperial court. All these years, I have been cautious and conscientious. Fortunately, I did not disappoint Your Majesty. Now, it is time to hand the iron company over to the imperial court and report to Your Majesty."
"Assistant! You … "Li Shimin was very touched.
All along, Zhangsun Wuji was his most trusted person and also his right-hand man. All these years, he was also cautious and conscientious for the imperial court and had never disappointed him. Later on, the Tang dynasty became stronger and did not need Zhangsun Tiexing to collect iron materials. Li Shimin did not take back Zhangsun Tiexing's authority as a reward for Zhangsun Wuji. However, he did not expect Zhangsun Wuji to agree to hand over Zhangsun Tiexing without hesitation and agree to the salt and iron official run.
"What a selfless Zhangsun Wuji." All the civil and military officials in the court praised. Of course, other than Meton who had fought with the Zhangsun family, only he knew how greedy the Zhangsun family was.
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.
