Chapter 679 Harmony Festival
Although the external situation is still not stable enough, the overall impact on the Jingzhou General Administration Office is not that great. Li Tai was in a good mood. Today is New Year's Eve, so he arranged to distribute welfare rewards to the civil and military officials under the General Administration Office to comfort the people.
There was no official salary in the Western Wei Dynasty. Even the Eastern Wei Dynasty, whose financial situation was much better than that of the Western Wei Dynasty, began to restore the payment of official salaries after it was changed to the Northern Qi Dynasty this year in order to win the hearts of the people.
Although there is no regular salary, these officials are not working on a voluntary basis. There are still many unconventional ways of income within their powers. There are usually various rewards in the court and the Hegemony Office. Although it is not a custom, it is usually enough to support a family.
Of course, when the Hegemony Office is really in financial difficulties, it is inevitable that there will be no harvest for several months or even longer. It was not until Huazhou and other places had a considerable scale of military farming income that the income of the Hegemony Office officials was relatively stable.
Although local officials received fewer gifts from time to time than central officials, they also had more ways and channels to earn income. They could usually collect rent from public fields and labor service in their jurisdiction. The big families in the area would also give them certain gifts during festivals and when they were welcoming and seeing off guests. In addition, they could engage in business and use the deterrent power brought by their official positions to make their goods available to all directions.
Of course, some military generals liked to make money by plundering people and wealth through wars. Although the risks were not small, the rewards were also great.
The welfare of officials in Li Tai's Jingzhou General Administration Office was also very good.
First of all, the public office in the General Administration Office provided meals, two meals a day, with both meat and vegetables. Not only could you eat in the hall, but you could also take away in the evening. As long as you work in the General Administration Office, your family's food is still guaranteed. Of course, if you say that your family has more than 100 people, you need to use several cars to pack meals, which is impossible.
The expenses of these public office meals are maintained by collecting rent from 100 hectares of public fields, and then replaced by different foods by the General Administration Office Cang Cao for the public kitchen. The shortage at the end of the year will be supplemented by the General Administration Office, and the surplus food will be distributed to each official according to their rank.
In addition to food supply, the General Administration Office will also give each official a certain amount of silk, brocade and other fabrics for spring and autumn clothing according to their rank every season. Of course, the surplus fabrics are also allowed to be sold on the market.
These two benefits alone have surpassed the income of many local officials. In addition, there will be some additional rewards for overtime, business trips and some special tasks. Even the lowest-level clerks can usually earn more than 100 shi of grain in a year, plus food and clothing subsidies, which is enough to support a family of five.
Now there are more than 600 officials with specific duties in the entire Jingzhou General Administration Office, not including the positions set up by the governors and county governors in various places. It is also a considerable expense to maintain the welfare distribution of such an administrative agency.
Of course, the Zhongwai Mansion and the court will not be responsible for this part of the administrative cost. Everything must be raised and responsible by the Jingzhou General Administration Office.
Of course, the advantage is that the General Administration Office of Jingzhou has relatively independent administrative and financial powers. In addition to the appointment of the governor, county governor and the superiors of the prefectures and counties, the Zhongwai Mansion basically does not interfere with what policies Li Tai implements in the territory and what financial plans he formulates.
It is only in major events such as the expedition to Northern Qi that the General Administration Office must obey the orders of the Zhongwai Mansion and invest manpower and material resources. But if Wang Sizheng takes military action without authorization, the Zhongwai Mansion cannot restrain him. Of course, the consequences of these actions must be borne by you.
So except for the title of a subordinate, Li Tai can basically be said to be a vassal of Jingzhou. The personnel resources he has and can dispatch are far beyond the reach of the superiors of the Zhongwai Mansion.
Of course, in addition to the various states in Guanzhong, these states and counties scattered on the four borders are basically in a similar situation. Each of them has a well-functioning order maintenance, but it is not as powerful as the General Administration Office of Jingzhou.
This year, various internal affairs have been operated in an orderly manner and have a good development momentum. It is reasonable to give generous rewards to all the subordinates. After all, even if Li Tai was the one who made the decision, the specific implementation of the policy also depended on the efforts of these subordinates.
In fact, in the middle of the month, the chief secretary Cui Qian had already issued a welfare reward to all the subordinates according to the instructions given by Li Tai before he went to war. However, at that time, it was still unknown what the final results of the work would be at the end of the year, and Li Tai only gave a range of quotas. Before Li Tai returned, Cui Qian issued it according to the minimum limit, which was still a bit unworthy of the current achievements.
After Li Tai returned, he doubled the amount that Cui Qian had issued before. After hearing this, the people in the hall all applauded happily. They were very happy to receive such a reward during the festive season.
By the time these things were dealt with, it was already noon. Originally, all the subordinates had already taken a holiday, but after hearing that the general had returned to the town, they all withdrew to pay their respects. So Li Tai asked them to go home after receiving their rewards, and those who lived in the countryside outside the city were also arranged to be escorted by carriages and horses.
After commending several officials who stayed in the palace, Li Tai stood up from the hall and went to the inner house. As soon as he walked to the corridor, he found his cousin Cui Qian following him, so he asked with a smile: "The festival is coming again. Since you are not staying in the palace, where are you going?" Cui Qian's expression froze after hearing this. After a moment of silence, he looked at Li Tai with some resentment and said: "In previous years, I spent time in the side room of the inner palace. If there is an emergency in the palace, it can be handled nearby."
After hearing this, Li Tai felt ashamed and embarrassed. He realized that his cousin had been sitting in the mansion for him for several years and had never left. Except for the first year after entering the town, he went back to visit his relatives every year. Although he didn't have time to return to Guanzhong this year because of the expedition, his wife stayed in the mansion to celebrate the festival together. As for his cousin Cui Qian, he has been alone for several years, which makes people feel sad. "I, I am worried that my cousin will go somewhere else. I was just about to remind him to remember to return early even if he goes out. In previous years, my cousin stayed alone in the mansion. This year, my husband and I will definitely entertain him at the mansion. Every festival, I miss my relatives more. I hope that with my company, I can comfort my cousin's pain of missing his relatives!" After laughing dryly twice, he quickly changed the subject. If he drove this cousin out to wander during the New Year, he would be too conscienceless! Cui Qian could tell how blunt his words were. He rolled his eyes at him, then sighed and laughed, "I know you are a noble man with many things to do and many schemes to make, so it's hard for you to care about these little things. My sister-in-law came to me early in the morning to tell me that she wanted to go home with you to celebrate the festival, so I declined my colleagues' invitation early in the morning." Li Tai was slightly less embarrassed after hearing this. He took Cui Qian's arm and walked towards the inner palace, saying, "After a few years in the town, the affairs of the palace are going well, all thanks to my cousin's hard work in managing the internal affairs. Although I don't have the brilliant achievements of Han Zu, my cousin is as smart and hardworking as Xiao He! People only say that I have made great achievements, but have not yet given my cousin proper praise and evaluation. When the time comes, When the time is right, I will definitely make a name for my cousin!" Cui Qian couldn't help but smile when he heard this, but after laughing for a while, he still said with a serious face: "Such crazy words can be a little fun among close relatives and friends, but you should be cautious and modest to others. Especially A Pan, you are a tree that stands out in the forest. Even if you are not afraid of being broken, the strong wind will inevitably disturb your pace!" "My cousin is right. I will keep it in mind and never disturb others because of my words!" Li Tai smiled and responded after hearing this. Then he thought of He Ruo's big mouth. He always felt that with such a guy under his door, his popularity would probably not be good. In the inner palace, Miaoyin had already arranged for the family to decorate the courtyard with lights and decorations. With these decorations, the inner palace was no longer as deserted as when Li Tai returned last night, and added a lot of festive atmosphere. Cui Qian sat down in the hall and waited for dinner. Before dusk, Li Tai took his nephew Li Zhen, who came back with him, to worship the gods and ancestors. Because he was traveling outside, he was not as solemn as at home. The worship was simple and understood. The etiquette and morality advocated by the aristocratic families were often used to distinguish them from the poor families, but they did not strictly abide by the etiquette rules. There were still many changes.
After finishing these, he returned to the inner hall. Li Ya, who came back with him, was showing off his increasingly sophisticated knife skills beside Cui Qian. There were several plates of thinly sliced mutton on the table. He didn't care whether Cui Qian could eat it or not, and he continued to shave. Sometimes people are obsessed with a certain skill, not necessarily because of interest, but because it allows the commander-in-chief Li Ya to find the self-esteem that has been lost for a long time in front of his friend, the commander-in-chief.
There are still many customs on New Year's Day between Jingxiang, but Li Tai did not stay here for the past few years, and this year he came back before New Year's Eve, so there was no preparation in the mansion, but the food was very rich.
The people in the hall were all relatives and friends who knew each other well, so Miaoyin did not avoid suspicion. After arranging various trivial matters of offering food and congratulations, she also sat down in the hall.
When Cui Qian raised his wine glass to toast and thanked her, the head of the family, for giving him a meal and staying overnight to spend the holiday together, the lady was not rigid, and she also drank a glass of brightly colored fruit wine.
Dumplings must be eaten during the New Year. After three rounds of wine, a maid brought several large food boxes with exquisite dumplings and put them directly into the copper pot in the hall. This is also the dietary habit set by Li Tai's family after he came to this world. No matter what dumplings are called elsewhere, they are called dumplings in his family.
After eating and drinking, the lights are on.
Cui Qian had a rare opportunity to spend the New Year with his family and friends this year, so he fell asleep after drinking a few more glasses of wine. The young men had already eaten their fill, and Li Tai saw that they were restless, so he ordered them to cut bamboo and burn firecrackers, while he and his wife went up to the small building, where they could see the lights of all the houses in Jingzhou.