Chapter 30: Kaiping Coal Mine

Wei Zhongxian hurried to report the good news to Zhu Youxiao. Zhu Youxiao said, "Director, you've done a fine job. Well then, have Chen Xiu lead some men to Qian'an to locate the iron ore deposits, and then establish an ironworks for me. I will provide you with a set of regulations, and you shall proceed accordingly. As for the name, let's call it the Royal Ironworks, and have Wei Chao's construction team handle the building."

Chen Xiu arrived in Qian'an with a few men and first paid a courtesy call to Bi Zisu. Bi Zisu maintained his consistent principle: he would provide personnel, funds, and whatever convenience was needed, but he would not interfere in specific operations. In truth, this was the most ideal scenario. Chen Xiu quickly discovered an iron ore deposit in Zhujiagou. The Zhujiagou iron ore was shallowly buried; digging just five feet down revealed the ore. When Chen Xiu smelted the ore using simple methods, he discovered that the quality was exceptionally high. Overjoyed, he immediately reported the success to the capital. Zhu Youxiao instructed Wei Zhongxian to expand the exploration area and swiftly construct an ironworks locally to begin mining.

He remembered that in future generations there was a Kailuan Coal Mine, which should be located around Luanzhou. Since Luanzhou and Qian'an were adjacent, he summoned Wei Zhongxian and ordered Chen Xiu to proceed to Luanzhou for coal exploration immediately after completing the Qian'an iron survey. He told them to first look for a place with the character "Kai" in its name and try their luck there.

While conducting exploration in Qian'an, Chen Xiu discovered several more iron deposits. He then led his men to Luanzhou, while Wei Chao had already brought the construction team to begin building the ironworks.

Upon arriving in Luanzhou, Chen Xiu followed the emperor's instruction to search for a place containing the character "Kai" in its name, eventually finding a populous town called Kaiping, which was renowned as the foremost of the four major towns in eastern Zhili. Chen Xiu and his companions had doubts in their hearts—if such a bustling place had coal mines, wouldn't people have known about it long ago? Surely the Emperor could not be mistaken.

However, after wandering around the town for a while, they learned that people had already begun mining coal here as early as the Yongle reign. Guided by the locals, the group first arrived at the Kaiping Coal Works and, after careful observation, proceeded to the residence of the proprietor.

The proprietor, named Li Zhengbing, warmly welcomed them inside. Once seated in the guest room, Chen Xiu got straight to the point: "Proprietor Li, the reason we have come is to purchase the Kaiping Coal Works."

Li Zhengbing's eyes flickered as he asked, "I wonder how much silver your esteemed master is prepared to offer for the coal mine."

Chen Xiu replied, "I inspected the coal mine and inquired about your annual coal output. Based on current market prices, your mine generates an annual profit of six hundred taels. Therefore, we wish to purchase the mine at a price equivalent to ten years of revenue."

Six thousand cash amounted to three thousand taels of silver, which was already a very fair price. Yet, Li Zhengbing shook his head and said, "Fifteen thousand. I won't sell for a single cash less. And mind you, that's in silver. If paid in the new currency, it would be thirty thousand."

Chen Xiu was dumbfounded. This sum was equivalent to extorting fifty years' worth of output from the coal mine in one go—it was utterly exorbitant. Having operated mines himself, he knew he had offered a fair price. It seemed that this Li Zhengbing simply had no intention of selling.

Wanting to make one last effort, Chen Xiu said, "Can Proprietor Li offer a more sincere price so that I may report back to my master?"

Li Zhengbing smiled and said, "Take it or leave it. I won't see you out."

With no other choice, Chen Xiu took his leave and immediately dispatched the news back to the capital. Upon receiving the report, Wei Zhongxian was furious. *How dare a petty mine owner ride roughshod over me!* He immediately sent men to the Yongping Prefecture to check the tax payment records of the Kaiping Coal Works, intending to accuse him of tax evasion, seal his mine, and see how arrogant he could still be.

A supervisor from the Eastern Depot arrived at the Luanzhou Tax Office and directly sought out the resident inspector dispatched by the Depot. Upon checking the tax office's revenue records, they discovered that the Kaiping Coal Works was not listed at all.

The supervisor was overjoyed. He had originally intended to accuse the owner of paying too little tax, but it turned out the owner had paid nothing at all. That meant he didn't even need to forge evidence. He directly led the tax office officials to the Kaiping Coal Works, sealed the mine, and arrested Li Zhengbing.

Li Zhengbing had merely been running a small coal mine here, and earning five or six hundred taels a year was already considered quite respectable. Seeing that Chen Xiu and his companions were extremely anxious to buy the mine, he had hoped to make a killing and brazenly quoted an astronomical sum. Never did he expect that this would attract the tax office officials.

However, he was not afraid in the least. He roared at the supervisor, "How dare you arrest me! Do you know who my brother-in-law is?"

The supervisor looked at the tax office official and asked, "Who on earth is this fellow's brother-in-law that makes him so formidable?"

The tax office official had previously dealt with Wang Zhengbing, demanding that he pay his taxes according to the law. Wang Zhengbing had completely ignored him, instead invoking his powerful backing—it turned out his sister was a concubine of Li Mingsheng, the son of Li Sancai. Furthermore, this coal mine originally belonged to Li Mingsheng's estate and was given to Wang Zhengbing as the bride price for his sister. Due to poor management, the coal mine had barely been hanging on by a thread.

The supervisor, a quick-witted man with an extra grain of alertness, asked, "So does this coal mine currently belong to Li Mingsheng or Wang Zhengbing?"

Wang Zhengbing overheard this and triumphantly shouted, "Of course it belongs to my brother-in-law!" The tax office official also nodded in confirmation.

The supervisor thought for a moment and said, "Take him to the tax office first. I need to inspect the original deed before I can report this to the Director."

The group returned to the tax office and checked the prefectural archives, confirming that the coal mine indeed still remained registered under Li Mingsheng's name. Overjoyed, the supervisor hastily penned a letter and had it sent back to the capital.

Upon receiving the report, Wei Zhongxian was equally thrilled, but he prudently went to see Zhu Youxiao first. After reading the letter, Zhu Youxiao pondered for a moment and asked, "What is the Director's meaning...?"

Wei Zhongxian said, "Your Majesty, this is a prime opportunity. We can implicate Li Mingsheng in this affair. Surely Li Sancai cannot simply watch his eldest son thrown into the Imperial Prison. By then, we might just be able to extract a portion of Li Sancai's fortune."

Zhu Youxiao smiled. This truly was an opportunity. Li Sancai's wealth rivaled that of a nation; if he couldn't dig out a major portion of it, he would truly feel unsatisfied. However, he instructed Wei Zhongxian: "Have the Eastern Depot follow this lead. It's impossible that only this single matter is problematic. Pulling up the radish brings out the mud; we must uncover solid evidence. Simply locking up Li Mingsheng to extort Li Sancai is useless—if he pays one hundred thousand taels in compensation, you'd have to release him anyway. What does that amount to compared to his family fortune? Cast your vision further. Once you secure ironclad proof, his entire family fortune will belong to us."

Wei Zhongxian beamed with joy: "His Majesty is still the brilliant one; this servant's vision is too shortsighted. What about the coal mine?"

"As for Li Mingsheng defying taxes, naturally it must be confiscated. Have Chen Xiu expedite the coal exploration. That area is very close to Qian'an and has the Luan River nearby, making it the perfect location to build an ironworks to smelt steel and ship it directly to the capital. I need vast quantities of steel, the more the better. Go find Sun Yuanhua and have him dispatch a few steel-smelting artisans to guide the construction of the ironworks, while simultaneously building a coking plant at the coal mine. What I lack right now is time; moving on multiple fronts will accelerate the pace."

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