Seeing that Feng Ziying said so definitely and carefully, Zhu Zhiren was also a little moved in his heart.

The biggest problem in Yongping Mansion now is that it owes too much tax to the household department, and it has reached the point where it is difficult to return.

If the current situation continues, this kind of debt will only get more and more serious, even if Zheng Jizhi on the side of the household department can help him ease his cheeks, but after a year or two, Zheng Jizhi will no longer serve as the secretary of the household department? Then his position as the prefect is in jeopardy.

Besides, Zheng Jizhi of the household department can't cover the sky with one hand, once Guan Yingzhen becomes the new official of the Ministry of Commerce, his right attendant of the household department will definitely have someone to make up for it, and this newcomer will definitely clean up the original remaining problems, and Yongping Mansion may not be able to escape.

At that time, Zheng Jizhi may not be able to help himself cover it up all the time.

If the coal and iron industry can really be done according to Feng Ziying's mention, the amount of mining tax alone will not be small, although the mining tax does not belong to the Ministry of Households, but belongs to the Ministry of Industry, but the Ministry of Industry and the Treasury belong to the emperor himself, and can win the emperor's favor in this, and it is even more effective than directly making up for the deficit of the Ministry of Households.

Besides, there is also the commercial tax on iron, as long as it is exported, the city tax and customs duties are also a lot.

It's just that Yongping Mansion has always owed the household department the main land endowment, and the commercial tax is not much because the amount is not large, so it does not owe much, but according to the practice of the Great Zhou, the field endowment is insufficient, if it is prosperous for industry and commerce, it can also be discounted by mining tax and commercial tax, so Zhu Zhiren is so interested.

"Ziying, look at your posture, you have a big grasp?" Zhu Zhiren pondered for a while, "What do you need to do with Uncle Yu?" ”

"Shibo, mainly craftsmen and manpower, Foshan Zhuang is the number one iron smelting family in Foshan, but to recruit craftsmen from Foshan to come here, the climate and diet are very different, so many people are reluctant to come, so the lead responsible craftsman may be Zhuang's from the Zhuang family, but more we have to raise it ourselves here in Yongping Mansion." Feng Ziying's tone was very slow, "This time the little nephew wants to do it bigger, with the support of these businessmen of the Shanxi Chamber of Commerce, Haitong Yinzhuang will also help, so the money and silver are not bad, the sales market channels are not a problem, Zhuang Ji is even willing to underwrite, iron smelting technology, we also have some attempts, to smelt iron after the processing of charcoal, the effect will be much better,......

Zhu Zhiren didn't know anything about the iron-smelting industry, so he frowned and said: "Ziying, charcoal ironmaking, it is said that the iron quality is very poor,......

Feng Ziying understood what the other party meant, coal directly smelted iron, because the sulfur content is too high, so the iron quality is not good, which is also the biggest problem of coal ironmaking, but if coal can be processed into coke, not only the iron quality is guaranteed, but also because of the increase in smelting temperature, it can also make the iron quality better.

"Shibo rest assured, we have already considered this aspect, and if we don't solve this problem, it is impossible for Zhuang Ji to be so interested,......

Seeing that Feng Ziying's attitude was quite confident, Zhu Zhiren could only believe it, and besides, this matter was not achieved overnight, he still had time to see whether what this young man said was rhetoric or really had some special skills.

"Ziying, if this matter can be as you said, the Jin merchants and the Foshan iron merchants are willing to invest heavily to bet on this bet, how much do you think this iron can produce annually?" Licking his lips and enduring it for a long time, Zhu Zhiren still couldn't help but ask this question.

The Zunhua Iron Factory in Shuntianfu next door is the largest iron production area in the entire northern region, in addition to mainly supplying the military war bureau and the ordnance bureau in Beijing, it also supplies private agricultural tools, iron pots and other objects, but with the completion of the deforestation around Zunhua, it is increasingly difficult to burn charcoal, and the quality of iron smelting with coal is embarrassing, so now the situation of Zunhua Iron Works has shrunk significantly, and the number of craftsmen is less than one-fifth of the beginning of the founding of the country a hundred years ago, and it is said that Zunhua Iron Works is deliberately closed.

It is said that the daily iron output of Zunhua Iron Factory reached 3,000 catties in the heyday, and the annual output of iron could reach as much as one million catties, but in fact, it was converted into 16 taels per catty, which was actually about 700 tons.

If such a quantity is exchanged for the next generation, even the most rubbish earth-based steelmaking can be more than ten times stronger than this thing, and more importantly, it is still iron, not steel.

In the Ming Dynasty, it seems that there was no real liquid molten steel, and almost all of them were mixed with wrought iron and steel, of course, people at that time did not know the impact of carbon, sulfur, phosphorus and other elements in iron ore and steel on the quality of steel.

Feng Ziying thought for a while before she said slowly: "Ten million catties shouldn't be a problem, right?" If the iron-smelting furnace we designed can meet the design standards, the little nephew feels that many processes can be improved, and it will not be a big problem to reach 20 or 30 million catties in the future. ”

Zhu Zhiren's feet were a little weak, and he couldn't help but even tremble a little in his voice, "How much?" Ziying, how much do you say? Ten million pounds? ”

Feng Ziying nodded affirmatively, "Shibo, don't think that I am talking about it, iron smelting is nothing more than two keys, one is how to achieve better results than charcoal, and the other is the improvement of the iron smelting process, that is, the design of the iron smelting furnace, at this point, Zhuang Ji and the Shanxi Chamber of Commerce have been making improvements,......"

Feng Ziying's words are half-true, Zhuang Kee's iron-smelting furnace in Foshan is just like that, there is no new process at all, or the original traditional way, but Feng Ziying brought some new ideas and ideas to Zhuang Kee's craftsmen through Gu Dengfeng this time, which did give Zhuang Ji craftsmen a lot of inspiration, and they have made amazing progress in coking, close to success.

There is also a lot of controversy in the iron-smelting blast furnace, but Feng Ziying's attitude is also very clear, if the pure old-fashioned iron-smelting, whether it is output or quality in the north, it is better to transport it directly from Guangdong, the reason why it is to do this in Yongping Mansion is to hope to achieve a breakthrough with a new process.

At this point, the merchants of Zhuang Ji and the Shanxi Chamber of Commerce also made up their minds after some arguments, and were willing to take out a sum of money to try it out.

Don't even have the courage to do this, Feng Ziying really wants to look down on these Jin merchants, thinking that in the previous life, these people could collude with the Jianzhou Jurchens for the sake of profit, and take such a big risk, now it's just a matter of giving out some silver, once they succeed, how big the reward is, how can they not understand?

Zhu Zhiren couldn't help but stand up and rubbed his hands vigorously.

If what Feng Ziying said is true, then his iron-smelting plan is really not simple.

Before, he thought that Feng Ziying was going to do this, but it was not easy to reach the scale of the Zunhua Iron Factory, but he didn't expect that people would reach the scale of tens of millions of catties in one breath, although this may take a process, but if such an iron factory can appear in a year's time, then whether it is the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Households, or even the Ministry of War, I am afraid that we must have a more "objective" understanding of our Yongping Mansion.

"Ziying, what does it need to be done now?" Zhu Zhiren finally couldn't help it.

"Shibo, there may be two things, one is the craftsman, the little nephew heard that when the Yongping Wei was abolished, although all the guards were allocated to Funing Wei and the four battalions, but the craftsmen were all stayed, this part of the people and the little nephew wanted to use, and it was agreed that some of the craftsmen of the Xingzhou Right Tunwei would be exchanged for the house as compensation, but this matter has been dragged down, and now the craftsmen have been settled in Qian'an, and they have increasingly become households,......"

Feng Ziying's words made Zhu Zhiren couldn't help but show a strange look, "Ziying, do you want these craftsmen back?" Jizhen is afraid that he can't agree, right? ”

He almost said, "Are you trying to compete with your father?" That is now the Tunwei craftsman of Jizhen Town, although it seems to be a private household, but in fact the nature has not changed, to a large extent, it is still for the Xingzhou Right Tunwei service.

"We can talk." Feng Ziying smiled, "Those craftsmen are chicken ribs for the current Xingzhou Right Tunwei, otherwise they will not be reduced to the general of private households, but for a batch of large-scale iron smelting workshops, it is very important, Xingzhou Right Tunwei is different from Kaiping Zhongtunwei, they are mainly made vehicles, armor and maintenance weapons, and these craftsmen can play a greater role." ”

"Maybe you're planning to work with the Thistle side?" Zhu Zhiren hesitated for a moment, "The amount of iron produced is so large, it is completely dependent on external transportation, which is not cost-effective, but in fact, it can be built into things such as pots, plows, hoes, pickaxes, etc., which are urgently needed in various places,......

"Including guns and cannons." Feng Ziying said calmly: "If you can, I think you can open a workshop in Yongping Mansion that can make firecrackers and artillery, Zhuang Ji actually made firecrackers for the military department in Foshan, the quality is better than the War Bureau and the Ordnance Bureau, but the price is cheaper, if it can be made in Yongping Mansion, not only can it meet the needs of Liaodong faster, but also can also implement firecrackers in the military affairs of the nine sides,......"

Feng Ziying's idea surprised Zhu Zhiren again, if you want to build a gun workshop in Yongping Mansion, it will not be simple.

"Ziying, Uncle Yu wants to remind you, don't be too ambitious, the gun workshop is not something that can be built casually, even if it is allowed by the Ministry of War, but the goods of the War Bureau seem to be unwilling to ask for it in Beijing, don't delay the big thing."

"Uncle Shi rest assured, the little nephew knows it, so I have to ask Uncle Shi to guide and support the little nephew in all aspects." Feng Ziying knew that it would be difficult for Zhu Zhiren to accept too much for a while, and only by taking his time step by step, when the real technology of making steel with carbon was completely successful, could he really relieve Zhu Zhiren's worries.

"Well, Ziying, the current situation in Yongping Mansion is not good, Uncle Yu also understands your thoughts, and if you want to open up the situation all at once, Uncle Yu will definitely support it, but Uncle Yu suggests that you spend more time to familiarize yourself with the situation in Yongping, figure out what we need to do first at the moment, and then do the calculations." Zhu Zhiren was still a little worried, Feng Ziying's enthusiasm made him happy, but he was worried that the other party was in a hurry.