The First Step in Career, Colluding Between Officials and Merchants

Lin Ze confidently said that he had a way to sell the coal.

This remark aroused the interest of the two officials.

"I'd like to hear the details. Zi Yi, please elaborate."

Li He spoke.

"Coal itself is non-toxic, but burning coal consumes air. People in this environment for a long time do not have enough air for breathing, and unknowingly become poisoned."

"So, when burning coal in a room, pay attention to ventilation to avoid this situation, and it will not harm your health because of using coal."

Lin Ze explained simply.

He didn't say anything about the oxygen content in the space being too low due to coal burning, or the excessively high levels of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, which were difficult to understand terms. He just used a method that the people of Great Zhou could understand to explain the principle of coal poisoning clearly.

After a pause, Lin Ze continued, "If the Coal Mine is established, we can promote the principle and prevention methods of coal poisoning on a large scale, so as to eliminate the worries of the people about using coal. Then, we can sell coal at a low price of one copper coin for five jin, and we can ship it on a large scale."

"Compared to firewood at one copper coin per jin, it is obviously more attractive to buy five jin of coal for one copper coin."

The biggest reason people don't accept coal is just fear of poisoning.

Li He was skeptical of Lin Ze's words.

But if the problem of coal poisoning can really be solved, and the price is cheaper than firewood, then it is a matter of course that coal will be accepted by the general public.

"Actually, it's very simple to verify this. Find some coal, light it, and place it in two rooms, one ventilated and one not ventilated."

"Then put an animal in each of the two rooms. If the animal in the unventilated room dies, then it can prove that what I said is true."

At this time, Lin Ze proposed a detailed verification method.

Hearing this, the two officials present already believed most of what Lin Ze said. Such a detailed verification method was enough to explain many things.

Seeing the two officials sitting opposite him deep in thought, Lin Ze knew that they had been persuaded by him a lot.

Next, he should win them over as a protective umbrella to ensure that the Coal Mine can operate smoothly.

At this time, Lin Ze asked Registrar Gao Fei, "Master Gao, how many households are there in this Fengping County?"

Gao Fei replied without thinking, "Eighty-three thousand four hundred and twenty-three households, a total of more than six hundred and twenty thousand people."

At least one person per household, and some households have more people, like a dozen or twenty people.

On average, it is not surprising to have 620,000 people.

"A household generally eats two meals a day, one cold and one hot, consuming fifteen jin of firewood. More than 80,000 households consume at least 1.25 million jin of firewood every day, which is a consumption of 1,250 taels of silver for firewood."

"However, wealthy households and merchants in the city use more firewood, easily using dozens or hundreds of jin per day. Even if we exclude the people in the countryside who chop their own firewood, the wealthy people in the city alone can consume at least 500,000 jin of firewood every day, which is equivalent to a consumption of 500 taels of silver."

"After our Coal Mine is mined, we can ship at low prices in the initial stage. Later, when everyone is used to using coal, we can increase the price of coal and occupy this part of the fuel market. There is absolutely no problem, right?"

"Even if we exclude transportation and labor costs, is it not a problem to earn one hundred taels of silver a day? If our coal is sold out of Fengping County and sold to the entire Qingyu County, how much profit should we earn a day?"

"I am willing to cooperate with the two adults to start this Coal Mine."

"At that time, not only will there be dividends, but the establishment of this Coal Mine will also pay huge taxes, which is also a political achievement for the two adults. Maybe one day you will have a prosperous career and rise step by step."

Lin Ze said with a smile, a series of words that bewitched people's minds.

Li He and Gao Fei subconsciously followed Lin Ze's words to think and calculate.

Even if calculated at a net profit of one hundred taels of silver a day, that's three thousand taels of silver a month, and thirty-six thousand taels a year.

Even if everyone divides a portion, that's still a profit of several thousand or tens of thousands of taels of silver.

Moreover, this isn't black-hearted money that people will point fingers at, but a stable family business that can be passed down to future generations!

No one wants to earn money on their knees when they can earn it standing up.

Although being an official is already very profitable, no one will complain about having too little money.

Besides making money, the political achievements Lin Ze mentioned, and the promotion of officials, also moved the two officials.

With these benefits combined, the two men's breathing suddenly became rapid.

"Zi Yi is indeed young and promising."

Li He looked at Lin Ze with extreme kindness and praised him.

"If it weren't for the lack of an outstanding daughter in my family, I would have loved to marry such a talent as Zi Yi."

Gao Fei also sighed in admiration from the side.

"Speaking of marriage, my youngest daughter is sixteen years old, with outstanding qualities and appearance. If Zi Yi has free time in the future, he can come to my house as a guest."

At this time, Li He said with a smile.

He wasn't lying. Being a Presented Scholar was already a sign of being handsome. The wives they married after becoming officials were also good-looking, so his daughter was indeed outstanding in both qualities and appearance.

Gao Fei, a local strongman from a petty official background, was a bit lacking in comparison.

Lin Ze, this young talent, was both civil and military, and aspired to study hard and become a Presented Scholar. Having him as a son-in-law would be a complete win-win situation for him.

Their attitude clearly indicated that they had agreed to Lin Ze's proposal.

Although theoretically, after getting the Coal Mine project from Lin Ze, they could completely kick Lin Ze aside and go solo.

But firstly, they couldn't easily offend a first-rate expert, and secondly, they didn't understand these business matters, so they chose to cooperate with Lin Ze in peace.

"Let's talk about marriage another day. I wonder what the two adults think about this Coal Mine matter?"

Lin Ze skipped the marriage matter and turned the topic to business.

"If this Coal Mine is to be opened, Commandant Liu Pei, who also serves as the Fengping County Registrar in the suburbs, cannot be ignored and must be won over."

"These people are more than capable of spoiling things, but not of accomplishing anything."

Li He directly regarded the Coal Mine as part of his own business and said.

"Zi Yi, have you considered that once the Coal Mine is in operation, if all the residents in the county buy coal instead of firewood, how will the Zhang Family, who runs the local firewood business, cope? A member of their family is serving as a County Magistrate in another place."

At this time, Gao Fei also spoke, reminding Lin Ze.

"This matter is easy. Since they can sell firewood, they can naturally sell coal. My ex-factory price for coal is one copper coin for five catties. They can completely get the goods from me and sell them for one copper coin for three catties or two catties, or even the same price as firewood. As long as they can sell it, I have no objections."

"Those woodcutters can also switch to being miners and work at the Coal Mine."

Lin Ze casually spoke, answering this question.