Chapter 550 The vastness of the sky

Chapter 550 The vastness of the sky

With the Huan Shuzu tribes being put in place one after another, and the repair of Liumenyan beginning, it also marked the official start of the vigorous construction of Mianbei.

Although only Huan Shuzu's family won the bid for Liumenyan, Li Tai used this to basically get a rough idea of ​​the powerful forces in the territory. Since people are bidding enthusiastically, they will certainly not waste their enthusiasm. Since you want to work, there is endless work for you to do.

In such a large area in Mianbei, it is natural that Liumenyan is not the only water conservancy project in need of urgent repair, but there are of course other counties and counties as well. Li Tai then selected a few key projects and asked other wealthy and powerful families in the territory to bid for them, taking advantage of the low water supply in autumn and winter to work on them together.

Taking advantage of the large-scale construction projects in the territory, Li Tai ordered the state government to open a large-scale sales market to buy grain accumulated by the people to support the consumption of laborers. Although he brought a large amount of military rations from Kansai, it was exclusively for the army and could not be used for other purposes.

At present, agriculture is not prosperous in the Miobei area. The land owned by poor households is very limited, their income is not much, and they have to endure multiple exploitations by the government and powerful people.

Although the powerful people occupy vast areas of wilderness and mountains, they rarely do intensive farming. The farming technology can be said to have completely regressed, and there are many subordinates who need food and clothing, so they don't have much savings, otherwise they would not be able to survive. Li Tai threw money at him and was confused.

Even so, when the news of the government's grain harvest spread to the countryside, many families were still rushing to bring in their surplus grain to sell, and some even didn't even keep much of their own rations.

As soon as Li Tai entered the country, he attacked Xiangyang southward. His practical actions proved that he had the ability to ensure the security of Jingzhou and ensure that the farming and weaving production in the coming year would not be affected by the military war. The large-scale water conservancy projects in various counties and counties mean that the area of ​​cultivated land that can be fully irrigated will increase in the coming year, which also means that the price of grain will inevitably decrease in the coming year.

The Mianbei area was affected by the war. Although the industry was not prosperous, the folk customs were very lively. The people did not reject the business of merchants, and there was no shame in getting rich through it. Even the powerful people in Guanzhong, whose folk customs are slightly old-fashioned, can't stand Li Tai's temptation. Naturally, the powerful people here know better about the pros and cons.

So soon the state capital collected tens of thousands of grains, and areas further away from the state capital were still sending a steady stream of food to it.

Li Tai's frequent troubles not only made the people in the state uneasy, but also the people in the state capital were often busy because of his thoughts. Especially Cui Qian, who was in charge of everything, was so busy that his time for eating and sleeping was reduced to pole.

On this day, Li Tai came to the main hall of the state capital to discuss something with Cui Qian. After looking around, he found Cui Qian lying in a small space separated by several screens with his head covered to catch up on his sleep.

After Cui Qian heard the official's call, he quickly stood up and rubbed himself to wake up quickly. However, he still couldn't help but yawned twice. Then he returned to the main hall to sit down, looked at Li Tai and asked: " What do you want to tell me?"

Li Tai didn't say too much nonsense and said directly: "The former county officials are mostly inferior talents. I plan to eliminate those who are incompetent before the end of the year. I ask Chang Shi to draw up some plans based on the situation of the countryside in the near future." The method of performance evaluation is to ensure that good candidates are in office so that they can successfully expand households and grant land in the coming year. "

"So fast? Isn't it a little too hasty? If it arouses public dissatisfaction, I'm afraid the political achievements will be in vain!"

After Cui Qian heard this, he said that almost all the county chiefs in Jingzhou are local people, and there are very few people who are capable and competent enough. If all officials are eliminated, it will be like scraping bones and exchanging blood.

"It's not fast anymore. Let these unruly people come to the people to manage things. It will be a long day. Now we are tired of the people with labor and deprived of their food by buying grain. If they still refuse to follow my laws, it will be useless to keep them!"

The most important things for a powerful force are nothing but food and troops. Today, the forces of several of the most powerful powerful tribes in the country are concentrated at several construction sites, and the remaining grains of each family are also collected and stored in the state warehouses. They have reached the point where they can start. good time.

Li Tai does not want to uproot all the powerful people in the territory. The key is to emphasize his own rules. From now on, what official positions you can hold in the state must be my decision, not yourselves. .

It's not that he doesn't want to do his best to eradicate evil, and his key subordinates don't have enough candidates to fill these official positions. Jingzhou alone has eight counties and more than 40 counties. Some counties are controlled by barbarians. The situation is very complicated and only the locals can understand it.

Cui Qian nodded after hearing this, and then recorded the matter in the business book and marked it as an important matter in the drama. And there are more than a dozen things of the same level.

The powerful forces in Mianbei have existed for many years, and their power will never be eliminated in an instant. Moreover, purging is not Li Tai's ultimate goal. It is to integrate and utilize them as much as possible and rebuild order. Therefore, Li Tai also prepared a complete set of combination punches for these people.

Most of the people he selected to be responsible for the project were well-known armed sects in the territory. On the one hand, only they had enough soldiers to use them to exhaust the manpower of their subordinates. On the other hand, these powerful sects had strong strength and poor style. They tend to be tough and can use them to break up some nostalgia entanglements.

For example, if the ponds, weirs and ditches on the rivers are built and destroyed privately and indiscriminately, even if the fortifications are rebuilt, the effect will be limited. If the government comes forward to ban the destruction, it will easily lead to confrontation between the government and the people. However, if the powerful clans within the territory do it, it can achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Of course, it doesn't matter if they don't do it. Anyway, if the project acceptance fails, they won't be able to get the balance. The state capital is always honest, and the balance will be paid to anyone who can deliver a qualified project.

The construction of water conservancy projects will definitely harm the interests of some people, turning their fertile farmland that could have been fully irrigated into barren dry farmland.

Li Tai did not ignore this. The state government has drafted an order to encourage land reclamation and will be announced soon.

These families only need to pay a small deposit, and they will have priority in obtaining the right to reclaim wasteland in these new irrigation areas in the coming year. This will not only directly increase the cultivated area within the territory, but also make up for the lack of residents in the states and counties.

The cultivated land will not be taxed for three years. After three years, it can be returned to the government and can continue to be cultivated, but it will need to bear normal taxes.

Of course, if they are unwilling to pay even such a small amount of money, the state government also has preferential policies, that is, they can use slaves and maids as farm grants. As long as you see as many slaves as you want, you can get as much new land as you want, and the treatment will be the same as reclaiming wasteland.

In order to prevent some people from taking advantage of legal loopholes, some supporting government decrees must also be followed, that is, the slavery ban. It is prohibited to illegally occupy and plunder the households with equal land as slaves. Once the crime is found out, the servants will be released immediately and the master will be arrested. The owner will either have to bear a one-year prison sentence, or he will have to pay the tenants with equal land for five years. Used as a fine to atone for sins.

This prohibition on slavery is accompanied by the household expansion order. First, search the old registration to ensure that all the people who have registered there actually exist. If there are any people who have disappeared, they will recover their registration, and then expand the population. All the people in the territory who are not slaves are miscellaneous households. Criminals will be granted land immediately after registering and registering.

Use the cultivation resources built by the powerful people and their efforts to compete with the powerful people for the tribal population they protect. As for the funds previously advanced, they will be gradually recovered through administrative fines and other means.

The implementation of this series of decrees will inevitably lead to a large loss of powerful tribes, maybe in one year, maybe two years. In short, as long as the general environment here in Mianbei can remain stable and agricultural cultivation continues to develop, households will eventually break away from the shadow of the powerful and re-naturalize themselves.

When things develop to this point, they can issue decrees and confiscate abandoned properties. All land that has been deserted for more than three years will be deprived of officials and used for land granting. Without a sufficient tribal population, the land owned by the powerful will inevitably be gradually eroded.

This was the trajectory of the basic decrees regarding population and land that Li Tai formulated for Jingzhou in the next few years. The implementation may not be smooth sailing, after all, the entire world will be in a period of violent fluctuations in the next few years, but even if there are any twists and turns, Li Tai will have enough power to get it back on track.

Here in Zhitang, he worked with Cui Qian to sort out the context of the upcoming decree to determine the specific implementation timing and matters that need attention.

But when he saw Cui Qian's tired face and bloodshot eyes, he couldn't help but feel a little worried: "Cui Changshi, do you want to rest for a few days? Let the government officials take charge of the case. Cousin, you can just give an overview. "

"All the personnel involved have not been in their new positions for a long time, and there is still a lack of integration within the work schedule. Once any omissions occur, it will inevitably lead to serious delays."

After hearing this, Cui Qian shook his head and said with a smile, then looked at Li Tai and said with emotion: "After working with you, Apan, I realized that you really deserve this prestigious reputation. Jingzhou is a deserted place, but you can Cook calmly and simplify things. We and the people who are in charge may seem busy, but in fact, we will work hard to make up for our mistakes within your plan. It is a blessing to the people of Mianbei that we are under the command. What a blessing!”

After Li Tai heard these compliments, he said a few words of humility. Liang Rui, a young man who had been serving as the governor of his tent and had been accompanying him all the time, couldn't help but echoed: "In the old days in Taifu, Daxingtai often said that Xihe Gong is the The people of Kansai, old and young, are rare in their ability to serve the country. If I can follow him and get three points, I will not have to worry about making contributions and becoming independent.

Since entering the town, I have deeply felt that what Daxingtai said is true. Your strategy is as deep as the sea, and the people inside and outside are in the palm of your hand. Although what I see is short and shallow, it is like a person looking up at the vastness of the sky! "

Hearing Liang Rui's slightly excited words, which seemed to have been brewing in his heart for a long time and finally found a chance to express them, Li Tai couldn't help but burst into laughter.

He knew that this boy's identity was quite unusual. He had been adopted by Yu Wentai since he was a child, and he was treated like a nephew. He arranged for him to continue cultivating him, and of course, he could not help but be a little spy.

As it turns out, not long after this kid followed him to Jingzhou, he already looked like a little fanboy, which made Li Tai feel that he was really charming. If you continue to spoil me like this, then I'm really rude!