The Ming Emperor and the Jesuit Mission in China

The site, located on the premises of the 13 Ming tombs, was personally selected by the emperor and he made regular visits to check on the construction from 1584 to 1601. Estimates ranged from 80 million to 800 million tales of silver to build this monstrosity. At today's I silver shares price could be more than $2 billion. This does not take into consideration equivalent purchasing power.