Volume 3: Confrontation! The Run of Civilization Chapter 473: Shanxi Merchants Begin to Transform (Part 2)
"Well, Yanming, how do you buy a coal mine or the exploration rights for a piece of land?"
"Uncle, according to the court's 'Mineral Resources Exploitation Law', if private capital wants to get involved in mineral development, it can be divided into two types. The first is to directly purchase a ready-made coal mine that is now under the jurisdiction of the court, and after the purchase, pay taxes according to the law. The second is to pay a certain amount of money to the court to purchase the exploration rights of a certain place. If mineral deposits can be found in this piece of land, they can also be mined, and then taxes can be paid according to the law. Speaking of which, the former is safer, but my family will face fierce competition from wealthy merchants all over the country. It will cost a lot to buy a mature coal mine with stable output. The latter, of course, is a gamble, but the possibility of coal being produced underground in Shanxi is still very high. And because the purchase of exploration rights is very cheap, once the gamble is won, it will be a huge profit!"
Yang Yanming's words immediately caused a flurry of discussion in the ancestral hall. After everyone had discussed it for a while, the third uncle, who was the most senior in the ancestral hall, coughed a few times and said, "Yanming, how much does it cost to buy a coal mine? How much does the exploration rights cost?"
"The existing coal mines of the imperial court are auctioned, so I cannot give you an exact number. The exploration rights are very clear: 50,000 for a township, 300,000 for a county, and 1 million for a prefecture. The exploration rights are exclusive, which means that if we buy the exploration rights of a prefecture, then, in addition to the existing coal mines in this prefecture, the newly discovered minerals and gold and silver mines must be handed over to the imperial court, and the rest can only be mined by us. However, this exploration right is only for ten years. If you don't find any mineral deposits within ten years, then this money will be thrown into the water.
Although it is safer to buy an existing large mine, the price is hard to say. Uncle, everyone, since the first batch of Southeast merchants who got the steam engine have entered the harvest stage, their capital is very strong. The news that my grandson has heard is that Xu Bengu of the Huating Xu family has entered our Shanxi with a bill of exchange of no less than 500,000 yuan. "
"Hiss~" Of course, the Yang family's assets are far more than 500,000, but you can't stand the large number of people in the Yang family. If you really want to spread it out to each branch, 500,000 is still a huge sum of money. So, when everyone heard the news, they couldn't help but take a breath.
"Yanming, is the news true?"
"Third Uncle, although the public security in our dynasty has improved significantly in recent years, and the Xu family entered Shanxi with strong guards along the way, it was still a huge sum of money. So after the Xu family entered Shanxi, they immediately sent the ticket to the bank's vault for safekeeping. My grandson had already prepared for the coal mine auction, and had made friends with a bank manager in advance. After many treats and gifts, the manager just made a five-fingered gesture to my grandson on this matter , and refused to say anything else. My grandson thought, the Xu family couldn't have brought only 50,000 into Shanxi, right? That would be too stupid. If it was 5 million, that would be too terrifying."
"Hmm..." Third Uncle stroked his gray beard, "That's not necessarily true. The Xu family can't come up with five million, but what if the wealthy merchants in Songjiang Prefecture work together? What if the wealthy merchants in the entire Nanzhili work together? Although I am old and have long stopped doing housework, I also know that a large coal mine with an annual output of one million catties, even if it is sold normally, will never be taken down without one million. So, I think that the Xu family probably brought five million when they entered Shanxi."
"Uncle, your advice is correct, but my grandson has a narrow vision."
"It's okay. When my uncle was in charge of the household forty years ago, there weren't so many people living off the land. At that time, a large amount of funds could be allocated to do big things. You have really worked hard over the years."
Eh... all the parasites rolled their eyes in embarrassment and were unable to speak: This Third Uncle, they had met Duke Xiang Yi when they were young, and he was in charge of the entire Yang family's household affairs for nearly fifty years in his early years. He is really not to be messed with.
"Yan Ming, if we follow your idea and close 90% of the shops and cut 90% of the caravans, how much money can we get out?"
"To reply to Third Uncle, we can collect about 1.8 million yuan."
"Not enough, not enough." Shaking his head, the uncle asked, "What about the Wang, Zhang, and Ma families?"
"My grandson also contacted the heads of these three companies a few days ago, and it seems that none of them have made up their minds to transform."
"A bunch of idiots who can't see the current situation!" Third Uncle slammed the cane in his hand on the ground heavily: "In this case, only our Yang family can go it alone. Everyone, I think everyone knows that since Duke Xiangyi, my uncle Zhang has become the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and my uncle Zhang has become the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. But that was more than 50 years ago. Since these three, although my family has had Jinshi, there has been no more officials above the third rank. At the same time, as the family population grows, conflicts and contradictions between the branches continue, and the whole family is going downhill. If it weren't for Yan Ming's support, and if I were still alive and didn't allow the family to be divided, I'm afraid that my Puzhou Yang family would have disappeared long ago!
Even now, my Yang family is in crisis. Yan Ming just said it very clearly. If my family does not transform, it will decline sooner or later. Your monthly allowance will decrease or even disappear. Only by transforming to industry can my family survive! Do you have any objection to this?"
"My great uncle is right. We have no objection."
"Well then." The old man's cloudy eyes suddenly shone brightly. "Each family should hand over the land deeds of their own farms and gather them to Yan Ming, and then go to the Shanxi branch of the Royal Bank for a loan. We must find a way to raise more than three million yuan, and together with the money that can be transferred from Yan Ming, we can make up a total of five million yuan. We will strive to obtain a large mine with an annual output of one million catties, and the exploration rights of a county."
"Ah? Uncle, this is absolutely not allowed!"
"Yes, uncle, land is the foundation!"
"Great-grandfather, now that Mongolia has been defeated and there are no more Tartars to plunder, the people can farm with peace of mind. Not to mention southern Shanxi, even the land in northern Shanxi will increase in price!"
"Dong, dong, dong!" The crutch hit the ground hard again, making the ancestral hall quiet. Third Uncle wanted to speak but couldn't get a breath.
"Hey." He took a long breath and said, "I am old after all. Yanming, you go and talk to them."
"Yes." Yang Yanming stood up again: "Everyone, because of my housework, I have to travel all over the country. In my opinion, the income from this kind of land will not increase just because Mongolia is flattened. On the contrary, it will only get less and less."
Looking at the dazed tribesmen, he sighed deeply and finally spoke: "Everyone, the land rent in my Ming Dynasty used to be 50%. But now, the land rent in Jiangsu and Zhejiang has dropped to 40% or even 35%. Even so, there are still some abandoned lands."
"ah?"
"As you all know, the per-acre yield of land in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is much higher than that in our area. If a farmer has one or two acres of land and rents another seven or eight acres, he can afford to send a child to school. But why is it that no one cultivates such high-yield land even though the rent has been reduced? Of course, it is because a large number of factories have been built in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. It is said that workers there can generally get three to five silver dollars per month, which is 35 to 60 yuan a year. The average per-acre yield of land in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is only three stones at most. Ten acres of land can earn about 60 yuan a year if it is carefully managed. After paying rent and taxes, there will be about 25 yuan left. Tell me, who would be willing to farm with this 50% rent? Even if the rent is reduced to 30% or 40%, the income is only about 30 yuan. It is still a long way from the factory salary! Not to mention, ten acres of land requires the joint efforts of a husband and wife, while working in a factory only requires the man in the family, and the wife can also work another job.
In Shanxi, the yield per mu is only half of that in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, or even less. So more than ten years ago, before the emperor promoted potatoes and other high-yield crops , farmers in Shanxi had to rent more than 30 mu of land to make ends meet. Shanxi is a small and densely populated area, so there is no worry that good farmland cannot be rented out, so the rent can of course be very high, 50%? I know that your farms even receive 65%! So, your tenants can probably earn about 15 yuan a year, right? This income can only barely make ends meet, not to mention supporting children's education.
But now it is different. The emergence of steam engines has led to the construction of factories everywhere. The court has built a large number of roads, railways, cement plants, and steel plants, which also require a lot of labor. The people are not stupid. They can earn several times more in these factories. Why do they still have to stay on the land and work for you?
Therefore, it is foreseeable that the current situation in Jiangsu and Zhejiang will gradually appear in Shanxi in one or two years at most. And now the Taiwan governor Sun Chuanting is vigorously recruiting people to immigrate to Taiwan in Shanxi, which will only speed up this process. Therefore, in the near future, land leasing will really have no profit. On the contrary, if things continue to develop like this, I am afraid that we will have to reduce the land rent to less than 20%, and only hope that these outputs can pay the court taxes.
Everyone, I have said before that the business of buying low and selling high will face challenges from new merchants, and my Yang family is too burdened to cope with it. And now, I think you should understand that we can't support this family by growing food. We must transform into industry!"
