Of course, Wan Lei was not what Tie Xuan said about the wandering clouds and wild cranes. On April 15, he returned to Beiping City with all the students, and at the same time brought back the good news that the iron mine had been found. The officials and the people were all excited after hearing the news.
Great joy. However, everyone was not surprised, because in their impression, everything Mr. Wan took over was handled well. This is the reason why the people in the whole government are convinced by his ability.
However, Wan Lei, who had returned to the city after "Debao", did not hold a banquet to celebrate. Instead, he immediately summoned all members of the Yan Chamber of Commerce to come to a meeting to discuss the development of the iron mine. After all, the newly discovered iron ore was in the deep mountains and old forests.
They won't collapse by themselves and jump into the steel mill, so mining and beneficiation have become an urgent matter.
Based on the understanding that monopoly leads to corruption and absolute monopoly will lead to absolute inefficiency, Wan Lei will not hold on to the mineral rights. According to the Shuntian Prefecture Basic Law, the ownership of iron ore cannot be bought or sold, but the development and use rights can be transferred.
Yes, Wan Lei wanted to transfer the mining rights and collect the ore and concentrate on making iron.
In order to achieve fairness and justice, Wan Lei did not appoint Yiyantang as the designated developer. Instead, he held a conference of Yan merchants and used bidding methods to allow Yan merchant members to compete fairly. Wan Lei's move was not without selfish motives. He intended to cultivate
Industrial capital, and these twenty "veterans" of the Yan Chamber of Commerce have cooperated with him, and they are of the same mind. He will try his best to be partial, and will inform them first of anything beneficial.
Wan Lei sat in the front seat and saw that everyone who was supposed to come had arrived, and each person was given a "tender document" in their hands. He did not talk to them about the weather and went straight to the point: "Everyone, the tender documents have been sent to you.
, you should read it carefully first. If you are interested in bidding, please come here to register within half an hour. If you have any questions, you can ask questions now."
"My dear nephew, why are you bidding? Wouldn't it be better for the government to advocate for the mining?" Tie Xuan also attended the meeting, and he asked in confusion.
"The government's push to open mines seems to save costs, but in fact it is not the case. In government-run businesses, workers eat from the same big pot, and no matter whether they work well or badly, the mines produced must be small in quantity and of low quality. Outsourcing allows developers to make profits.
, quality and quantity can be guaranteed, and the iron smelting plant will be convenient. Why not do such a double-profit move?"
"What Mr. Wan said is absolutely true. If the iron smelting plant can be run by me, I can also guarantee the quality and quantity." Su Degong, the richest man in Peiping, said. This guy is very wealthy and made a lot of money in the grain sales movement a few months ago.
Now is the time when the spring breeze is coming, and I want to do whatever I can to make money.
"Ironmaking involves a variety of key technologies, and we have no plans to outsource it yet. But don't be discouraged. As long as you develop iron and steelmaking technology and the quality of the steel you produce meets standards, you can also apply to open a new factory. The government and parliament will
Strong support. Not just steel plants, but also other factories such as spinning mills, weaving mills, breweries, as long as they are industries with development prospects, we will encourage their development."
"With Mr. Wan's words, we can rest assured." All the businessmen, big and small, were overjoyed, because Wan Lei opened the door for them to do business and allowed them to compete fairly. The Ming Dynasty not only harvested
Commercial taxation and various measures to curb the development of industry and commerce. Compared with the new policy of Shuntian Prefecture's heavy industry and commerce, it is really incomparable.
Wan Lei was secretly happy when he saw the excitement among the merchants. He was confident that in the more than ten years without paying taxes, the Yan Chamber of Commerce could completely destroy all the struggling business gangs of the Ming Dynasty and become the capital and industry of the Ming Dynasty.
The largest commercial "aircraft carrier".
"Let's get back to business now. Let's discuss the matter of opening the mine first." Tie Xuan saw that he was off topic and quickly reminded him that he was also eager to open a factory to make iron. After all, Shuntian Mansion still owed the Mongols tens of thousands of iron pots. If they couldn't make them, they would
If you break trust with others, it will be difficult to gain trust from the Mongols in the future.
"The bidding method has been stated in the bid document. The bidders must transport at least one thousand kilograms of iron ore from the mining area within seven days. Whoever transports more quantity, good quality and lower price will be the owner of the mine. As for the collection of ore
I have also set the standards, and the impurity content and diameter of the ore are clearly stated." Wan Lei said.
"Mr. Wan, what's going on with the impurity content and diameter?" The bid contained some industry standard terms, no wonder these people didn't understand it.
"The impurity content refers to the content of silt, sand and rocks in the iron ore. It should not be more than one kilogram per 100 kilograms, otherwise we will have to process the ore again when making iron, which will be very troublesome. As for the diameter, it refers to the diameter of the iron ore.
Sir, iron ore that is too big is difficult to smelt, so it needs to be broken into sand. The more broken it is, the better. However, considering the impact of mining tools, it is tentatively determined to be one inch, and anything larger than one inch will be broken."
"How to determine the impurity content?" Another experienced businessman asked.
"We have a way to do this. I will take a pound of the ore you brought for bidding to make a sample and use a reagent to test it. The result will be very accurate, so I suggest the bidders try to wash the ore as many times as possible to wash it off.
silt, and remove those rocks.”
"It's so troublesome, how much can a pound of mineral sand be sold for?" asked another businessman. Obviously, he was afraid of losing money.
"You have the final say on this. You calculate the costs yourself and add the desired profit as the bidding price. Under the premise of ensuring quality and quantity, whoever bids with the lower price will win the bid. This bidding process is all based on strength.
, there are no crooked ways, you can feel free to participate in the competition boldly. It doesn’t matter even if you don’t win the bid this time, we will still use fair bidding methods when we discover new mines in the future.”
"Okay, I'll take part." A merchant expressed his position. There is no harm in giving it a try anyway. Even if you don't win the bid, you won't lose a lot of money. You should just accumulate experience for the future.
"I will also join you."
"Count me in."
All the merchants responded, and soon, twenty merchants had signed up. Wan Lei asked Wei'er to register their names, and after saying a few words about paying attention to production safety, he pointed out the location of the mine to them.
He doesn't care when they leave for mining and how many people and equipment they bring with them.
After sending away the merchants who were eager to recruit workers to start the mine and bid for bids, Wan Lei took another sip of tea and was about to ask Tie Xuan to resign and return to Changping Station, but was detained by Tie Xuan: "Xian Nephew, Mr. Xu and his entourage came here a few days ago.
However, he wants you to go to the Yongping Mansion residence."
"Oh, Mr. Xu went north?" Wan Lei was a little surprised. Although he had "bribed" some eunuchs in the palace, these eunuchs were just secret agents and were not there to find out gossip. As long as they could ensure that the imperial court would not send troops to attack Shuntian Mansion
That was enough. He didn't even think about asking about other things, so he was relatively ill-informed.
"Yes, Mr. Xu serves as the commander-in-chief of Shandong and Shanxi, and is now stationed in Yongping Mansion."
Wan Lei took another sip of tea, pondered for a while, and then said: "Since he is our neighbor, you might as well go say hello to him."
"My nephew, are you really going? I'm afraid they will hold you captive." Tie Xuan was a little stunned. In his opinion, Wan Lei going to Yongping was the same as Liu Bang going to the Hongmen Banquet. This trip would definitely be a disaster.
It's better not to go.
"If you don't go, you won't give me face. From now on, Shuntian Mansion will have to wear small shoes. Mr. Xu is a shrewd man and naturally cares about the overall situation. If he dares to invite me, he won't play dirty tricks."
"I am still worried. My nephew is the pillar of our Shuntian Mansion. If the other party really holds you captive, the Peiping Army will start an uprising." Tie Xuan also advised.
"In my opinion, Mr. Xu is in a dilemma just like us. He is afraid that we will rebel, so he divides his troops to be on guard; but he is also afraid that he will push us too hard and force us to rebel. Instead of being suspicious of each other, why not take the initiative to take this step?
It's best if you can eliminate his doubts. If you can't eliminate them, it won't make the relationship stalemate."
"It's just that if the imperial court really takes you as a hostage, the Peiping Army will have no one to lead and the imperial army will take advantage of it."
"Except for the north, Shuntian Mansion is adjacent to the imperial court on three sides, and there is no danger to defend it. If the imperial army wants to make a surprise attack, they can do so at any time. The reason why they did not use troops is because they do not want to destroy the alliance. In addition, Mr. Xu is a shrewd man.
He probably still wants to use the Peiping Army to defend the border. If I don't go, he may feel that the Peiping Army cannot be used, and turn to suppression tactics to avoid future troubles."
"Well, it's neither going nor going, it's really hard to make a decision." Tie Xuan's brows furrowed. Of course, he knew there was no point in regretting. The reason why Shuntian Mansion is in this situation is because of this.
Forced by the current situation, there are no ifs or buts. As for the future, we can only take one step at a time.
"You ordered the two generals Zhou Tianshou and Zhao Quanjie to come back. I will explain some matters to him tomorrow before leaving. Even if I am really detained, you must remain unchanged in response to any changes. Don't do anything until it is absolutely necessary.
Just don't start a rebellion. If the imperial army really takes the opportunity to invade in large numbers, take those soldiers and civilians who are willing to follow you out of the country to take shelter temporarily, and try not to have a direct conflict with the imperial army."
Wan Lei is not a reckless person. The reason why he has always opposed the rebellion is not because of his love for the Ming Dynasty or how loyal he is to the emperor, but because he knows that rebellion is not about playing house, and it is not about rising up and winning.
Killing everyone is a big gamble with your life, not just your own life, but also the lives of many people.
Wan Lei has also analyzed the situation. If the world is in chaos, rebellion will be nothing. But now at the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, people have decided that it is not the best time to rebel. And there are Mongols in the north of Peiping and the Mongols in the south.
The imperial court's million-strong army, east
If there are remnants of the Yan army, once they raise their troops, they will be besieged from all sides. Not only will they wipe out the people of Shuntian Prefecture, they will even break a big trap and attract the Mongols to go south. Thousands of people in the Central Plains will suffer at that time.
Thousands of people.
As a normal person, Wan Lei has not become vindictive because of being suppressed by the imperial court many times, and he will not seek out a traitor who has already happily lured thieves into his arms. Therefore, he has repeatedly restrained himself in the matter of rebellion.
"Oh, it's really not right for a good nephew to put himself in danger."
"Surviving in the cracks is hard, and that's all we can do now."