Time Travel to 1859: The Iron-Blooded Soldier King

Liu Ye made all the necessary arrangements for Yung Wing. To ensure his safety, he even transferred his former security captain, Wang Haonan, to lead a platoon of guards, specifically responsible for Yung Wing's safety. Remember, he was holding a 50,000 taels of silver note! If anything went wrong, there would be no place for him to cry.

After seeing off Yung Wing, the next few days would be spent making detailed arrangements for the next domestic affairs with Guo Songtao, Li Junfeng and Ding Baozhen. Half a year had passed since Liu Ye came to Shandong, and there was no time to delay any further!

Although the introduction of some policies and the establishment of banks have begun to boost industry and commerce in Shandong Province, the momentum is still not enough and we need to add a few more fuel to make the fire burn even more vigorously.

However, when Liu Ye was discussing matters with the three of them, something happened below.

Yanzhou is one of the three centers for initial development designated by Liu Ye, not for any other reason but because it has a large number of coal mines. Although the coal mines in Yanzhou cannot be compared with those in Shanxi and Hebei, the quantity is already astonishing. In the initial stage, it is completely sufficient to supply.

Today, the coal mining equipment that Hua Ruohan purchased from the United States has already arrived in Yanzhou, and a huge modern coal mine has begun to operate. Zhang Chunping is personally in Yanzhou, arranging the start of the coal mine in full swing.

The equipment purchased by Hua Ruohan are all the most advanced industrial equipment in the United States. Once put into production, coupled with Shandong's abundant labor force, it is entirely possible to reach an annual output of nearly one million tons. Of course, this is only in theory. Shandong does not have as many mature technical workers as the United States. The coal output in the first year can exceed 200,000 tons, which is already super high. The plan for the second year is only about 400,000 tons. By the third year, with the maturity of the workers and the management in place, Yanzhou Coal Mine can easily increase its output to more than 500,000 tons. In Liu Ye's plan, this coal mine will have an annual output of more than 800,000 tons within five years. In this era, the price of a ton of coal is between two and three taels of silver. 800,000 tons means an income of two million taels of silver. As for the driving effect on the local economy, it is more than just two million taels of silver!

Zhang Chunping naturally had a plan in mind. Shandong Province's annual fiscal revenue was only two to three million taels. In three years, the income from this coal mine alone would be close to the entire province's fiscal revenue. Shandong Province would undoubtedly be thriving! Now he controlled this coal mine and the Laiyang iron mine. According to Mr. Hua Ruohan's introduction to him, the ironworks' future profits would even exceed those of the coal mine. Perhaps earning three to four million taels a year would not be difficult!

With these two cash cows in hand, my status in the eyes of the governor will certainly be important in the future. In the future, the governor also wants to put the arsenal in my hands. That means that the three pillars of the governor in Shandong are all in my hands!

The more Zhang Chunping thought about it, the prouder he became, and he worked even harder. A gentleman will die for his friend. Since the Lord values ​​him so much, how can he not work hard for him?

Now two or three months have passed, and almost all the equipment has been installed in place. The technicians from America have also led the recruited workers to start mining. Looking at the piles of coal, Zhang Chunping couldn't help but be happy. This is all money!

However, with money, there will naturally be people who are jealous. This jealous person is naturally the useless prefect Lu Mingsong who was scared by Liu Ye to the point of almost peeing his pants.

Lu Mingsong had been the prefect of Yanzhou for four years, and he had never imagined that he would have a mountain of gold sitting right under his butt. This was all black gold! The shiny black coal was piled up like a small mountain. If it were sold elsewhere, it would be pure silver! Silver!

Lu Mingsong was envious. This guy couldn't do any serious work, but he was more proficient in these kinds of bullshit than anyone else, without anyone teaching him. He was simply digging deep into the ground and plucking feathers from passing geese! Now that such a large coal mine had appeared, how could he miss such a good opportunity?

I heard that this coal mine is run by Zhang Chunping, the once-famous idiot. This guy is unwelcome wherever he goes. If he's blackmailed, no one will stand up for him. Even if the coal mine was specifically designated by Liu Ye, the position of Shandong Governor is no longer held by Liu Ye, right? It's not appropriate to meddle in matters that are not within your jurisdiction. Now Liu Ye and I are both fourth-rank prefects. I give you face and call you Lord Liu. If I don't give you face, what can you do to me? We are both fourth-rank officials. I have connections in Beijing. How could I have become a fourth-rank prefect without connections?

Lu Mingsong made up his mind to make a fortune.

However, it was inconvenient for him, a prefect, to show up in person for such matters. He only needed to stay in the yamen and send out a lackey to get the job done. In order to intimidate the young man Zhang Chunping, Lu Mingsong directly sent his own legal advisor out, and also sent a clerk from the prefectural yamen to visit Zhang Chunping. The two of them went to visit Zhang Chunping together and hinted at Zhang Chunping. Presumably, Zhang Chunping would understand what they meant. At that time, they could squeeze out some money, which would make everyone look good. Naturally, the prefectural yamen would give the coal mine some face in the future.

But Master Zhao left quickly and came back quickly. In less than half a day, the two of them returned to the prefectural yamen in a dejected mood to report to Lu Mingsong.

Lu Mingsong looked at the expressions of the two people, frowned, and asked, "How is it, Mr. Zhao, is it not going well?"

"Hey! Sir, don't mention it. This Zhang Chunping is really a stubborn donkey. We just pointed out our words to him, and he directly rejected our words. Not only that, this kid also took out the decree of the Governor's Office to reduce taxes and strictly prohibit negotiations. At the same time, he asked us to be careful and not to reach out to others, otherwise I'm afraid that in the end I won't even be able to keep my official hat. As for money, in a word, no, the coal mine has no money. Even if it makes money one day, it will definitely not think about handing over a single cent of money to the prefectural government!"

I rub!

Lu Mingsong was so angry that he threw the teacup to the ground and roared, "Asshole! Damn Zhang Chunping, who the hell is he? He can only stay in Yanzhou because I let him. If I don't want him to stay, he has to get out of Yanzhou right now! This is Yanzhou! I am the prefect of Yanzhou!"