Chapter 27: No Worries about Debt
In the end, the contract reached between Li Tai and the Wuxiang County Government was that from now on, after the autumn harvest, the county government would ensure the supply of twenty oxen and horses, fifteen carts, more than one hundred men and women in the prime of life, and all crop seeds sown in the season. , and the replacement and supplement of various agricultural tools.
Li Tai will ensure that after the autumn, the shortage of grain and grain left by Daxingtai governor and county government will be made up, with a minimum of eight thousand dan and a maximum of 12,000 dan.
At first glance, this contract seemed a little ridiculous. The dignified county magistrate actually had to make such an under-the-table deal with the households under his jurisdiction in order to ensure that taxes were paid in full.
But in fact, Li Tai still suffered a loss. In the current world, the hegemonic regime of the Western Wei Dynasty is weak and lacks prestige. Anyone who has food is the boss. In order to ensure the stability of their rule and sufficient money and grain, the county magistrates must be very close to the big families in the townships, almost to the point of flattery.
Zheng Man is now completely in the same boat as Li Tai and has revealed many details of county governance to him.
Even if Li Tai doesn't use the vehicles, livestock and people rented by the county government, they will actually be distributed to other large households in the county for use.
Whenever there is a wedding or funeral in a large household, the county officials must use it free of charge, and the county magistrate must also be present to express his gratitude. There is also the matter of digging caves and statues to worship Buddha. Even though big households call for it, the county still has to contribute money and effort.
These courtesies are not clearly priced, but are only in exchange for the friendship of the big families in the county. Once something happens and materials need to be collected and transported, the county officials will have to visit and ask for help in a low voice.
Nowadays, the county still looks down upon Li Tai for signing a contract with a clearly stated price, mainly because he lacks local foundation.
Li Tai didn't feel ashamed or angry about this. It was a fact that he was weaker than others.
The reason for reaching such a deal with the county government was not only to get direct help in expanding production, but also to gain a backer in the local area.
After the cooperation is reached, if these big households in the county want to exclude and suppress him, they have to consider the attitude of the county government. And the county government also wanted to give Li Tai special care because of the hope of these ten thousand stones of food.
The county magistrate Du Yun is also an old cunning man. When they met before, he talked endlessly about their friendship. He seemed to be friends with every member of the Li family in Longxi. When talking about serious business, he was merciless. I am not qualified enough to sign a contract with the county, so it is best to ask someone with a powerful position as a guarantee.
The implication is that it would be best if Li Tai could ask He Basheng to come forward as a guarantee.
But not to mention that Li Tai could not touch He Basheng without invitation, even if he could, he would not do so. He was polite before, just to lure people into taking the bait. Now that the county magistrate has felt that this is a good choice, of course Li Tai will no longer be so attentive.
Even if the cooperation fails, he will have nothing to lose, but the county magistrate will have to become a grandson in front of the big families again.
Although the contract was sent to the county, due to Li Tai's negative attitude, the stalemate continued for several days. In the end, the county magistrate Du Yun failed to hold back and reiterated that the manor belonged to Gao Zhongmi after all. It would be best for Gao Situ to come forward. After all, he still didn't trust Li Tai, a white boy.
"This county magistrate is also a clumsy talent, not a great talent! He only has a lot of stone and little food, but he still has many plans!"
Li Tai didn't have any psychological burden when Gao Zhongmi came forward. However, after arriving at the manor, Gao Zhongmi complained, and Zheng Man next to him just smiled dryly.
"After all, it's me who is clumsy and can't manage my own business, which makes my uncle run all the time."
Li Tai said with a smile. After Gao Zhongmi heard this, he sighed again, patted his shoulder and said, "With such poverty and desolation here, nothing is going to happen. I don't blame others for underestimating me, I just feel sorry for you, Apan... In the past, a parent My beloved son of a noble family, now I have to negotiate with the county for my livelihood. If it is really unsustainable, Ah Pan can follow me back to the city. This narrow manor is not a business foundation, so just rent it out!"
"Materials in Kansai are rudimentary, so I have to make a living by myself in order to feel at ease. My uncle pities me, but I don't want to be a household chore. I still hope that I can work hard so that I can be worthy of myself and my uncle."
Gao Zhongmi is a person who, at best, is unsophisticated, and at worst, is ambitious and lacking in talent. However, his concern for him is not hypocritical, and it also allows Li Tai to find a sense of dependence on each other.
At present, the construction of the manor is still in a hurry. After Gao Zhongmi came to meet with the county officials, he was persuaded by Li Tai to return to the city. He only left behind another hundred men and women, and all the gold left at home. Handing it to Li Tai made Li Tai determined to fight a last stand.
In the past few days, Li Tai and his colleagues have not been idle. In addition, Zhou Changming led the village soldiers to help. Although the funding from the county figures has not yet been received, nearly half of the more than ten hectares of open fields have been plowed. Start sowing those five hectares of millet.
Li Tai selected a dozen strong men from his tribe and rural soldiers who were proficient in carpentry, and selected good wood from the mountains and forests to continue to make bent-shaft plows and other tools.
The day after Gao Zhongmi showed up, the county's vehicles, livestock and manpower arrived. Thirty oxen and horses, eighteen vehicles, and more than one hundred and thirty men and women, all of which were higher than the agreed bottom line, probably also To show the county’s sincerity.
In addition to Zheng Man, who was basically stationed in Shangyuan, there was also a county captain named Shi Gong who led the team.
This Shi Gongzheng was the head of a large family named Shi in the village who had previously incited the villagers to cause trouble. He was in his forties and a tall, round-waisted Hu. The Hu people with the surname Shi are basically the nine surnames of Zhaowu in the Western Regions. Guanzhong has been disturbed for hundreds of years, and it is not uncommon for many mixed Hu people to sneak in and settle down.
When the Shixian Lieutenant arrived, he did not show any ill will. He said a few polite words in a friendly manner, such as welcoming Li Tai to settle in Shangyuan and saying that the county government valued this cooperation.
Of course, Li Tai would not childishly question about the previous rural struggle. He sent the Shixian lieutenant away with a fake smile, then pulled Zheng Man aside and said: "This Hexi thief hides a knife in his smile and is not a good person. Zheng Zheng is willing to submit to him." ?”
After hearing this, Zheng Man smiled bitterly: "We are a big family in Wei Township, Shi County, and our family is from the Jingzhao Hao clan. To be able to occupy this position is the approval of our superiors and subordinates. I am just a subordinate, and I only need to take orders. How dare I have..."
"Yes! I don't hate the villagers for being poor and hating me, but I hate these traitors and thieves who bully others. I see you, Zheng Zongzong, go to the countryside and work diligently, but you are ranked as such a treacherous fool. It turns out that the imperial court was unfair in its reward and use of scholars. The reason why we were able to conspire with the county government this time was because of your hard work, Zheng Zheng. The details of hard work are reported to Daxingtai!"
After spending several days together, Li Tai also found out many details about the county's personnel from Zheng Man, so he started to give eye drops as soon as the county's personnel and supplies were in place.
When Zheng Man heard this, his expression became a little tangled, with both secret joy and worry. After a while, he sighed: "The kindness comes from the superiors, and it is the duty of the subordinates to work hard. I would like to thank Li Lang for my merits. But Weixiang, Shixian County, hopes to have a long life, and it is not something that a short period of time and poor performance can win glory..."
"It all depends on man-made efforts. The imperial industry still needs to hunt in the west. A thief in a village is not as stable as a rock. This Hu is living in the county, which makes me uneasy. It's either me or him. Someone will leave, not this year, but next year!"
Li Tai said with a smile again. Seeing Zheng Man's eyes twinkling, he knew that he was interested. Then if he has any local disputes with Na Shi County Lieutenant and his family, Zheng Man will most likely be on his side. At least if Lieutenant Shi wanted to make things difficult for him through the county government, Li Tai would not be completely unaware.
The garrison leader Zhou Changming brought more than 30 strong men from the countryside to help with the farming. Li Tai also had 200 men and women from his tribe, plus 130 tribesmen sent from the county. Nearly four hundred people gathered in the entire manor, and it suddenly became lively.
Naturally, it is impossible for so much manpower to be used for farming, and many items in Li Tai's plan can be promoted at the same time.
The first thing to do is to build a house. Although it is okay to sleep outdoors in early summer, Li Tai is not used to living in a tent for a long time, so he feels at ease when he has a roof to cover his head.
Now that he had enough manpower, he arranged for a group of people to clear out the original dock wall ruins, and first built a fence around the rammed earth bottom wall.
This kind of manual work is not difficult. Bamboo and wood materials are everywhere in the mountains and plains. It only took most of a day to build a fence running hundreds of steps down the hillside. Although it still looked a bit messy, But finally we have a preliminary internal and external structure.
Within the fence, Li Tai originally planned to build a brick house in one step, and even had two brick kilns built on the south slope.
However, there are not many people in Bubu who know how to make bricks and bake bricks. There are only a few such as Yang Heili. They are so busy that they can only produce two to three hundred qualified bricks in a day. With the addition of firing, they want to meet the needs of building a manor. Such a huge demand may have to wait until the Year of the Monkey and the Horse.
"Shangyang garrison still has more than 10,000 square meters of bricks, which are used for burning by rural soldiers and farmers. If Lang Jun is in urgent need, he can use them first, but he must make up for it before autumn."
After seeing this, the garrison leader Zhou Changming enthusiastically suggested.
Farmers seldom use bricks and tiles extravagantly when building houses, but they inevitably use them when repairing forts and cities.
Although the actual distance between Huazhou, the core of the Western Wei Dynasty, and Jinyang, the base camp of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, is quite long, they are only separated by a natural barrier called the Yellow River. Building forts and cities after autumn is also a basic task of the Western Wei Dynasty, and even people have to be sent after winter. If you go to the Yellow River to cut ice, you are afraid that the Eastern Wei Dynasty will steal your home unknowingly.
Li Tai did not dare to borrow military supplies from Shang Yang garrison without authorization, but he learned that there was no lack of skilled trainers in the local soldiers, so he hoped that Zhou Changming could lend a few people to his troops to train them with new skills.
Zhou Changming naturally had no objection to this. Li Tai imparted the Quyu plow-making skills to the villagers without any secret, and he already had a good impression in his heart. It was only a small matter to second a few village soldiers and craftsmen.
The production of bricks and tiles was limited, so construction could only be delayed, so some sheds were built within the fence as a transition.
In the evening, the sounds of sheep bleated again in the camp. Although Zhou Changming asked the rural soldiers to prepare their own meals and the county envoys also took care of their own meals, Li Tai also noticed the busy manual labor from morning to night.
Although his family is not rich now, after negotiating a cooperation with the county, most of the costs are temporarily borrowed, but he can still afford two fat sheep every day. Buy directly from the local area and the price is affordable. After a tiring day, a bowl of fragrant mutton soup can comfort you a little.