Chapter 680 Generous Gifts
Around the New Year, there are inevitable social interactions. As the boss of Jingzhou, Li Tai did not have too urgent social tasks. However, after returning to town, he immediately arranged for envoys to go to Xiangyang and Jiangling to congratulate the New Year.
Although Li Tai was not eager to visit others, many people were eager to see him, especially since he had not stayed in Jingzhou for the New Year in the past two years. This time, the troops were away again and did not return to town until the day before New Year's Eve, so many people could not see anyone even if they wanted to see him.
So when the masses learned that General Li was staying in the town to celebrate the New Year, in the past few days after the New Year, almost all the gates of the General Manager's Mansion were trampled down, and there was an endless stream of visitors. The queue reached outside Rangcheng City!
With so many visitors coming, it was naturally difficult for Li Tai to receive them all. Most of them still required Cui Qian, the chief official, and his staff in the General Manager's Office to receive and entertain these visitors.
So after Cui Qian had a meal of dumplings from Li Tai's house, the next day he was caught up in the busy work of welcoming and delivering people. Because Li Tai was in town to celebrate the New Year this year, the workload of government officials increased sharply.
In addition to officials at all levels under Jingzhou, these visitors are also the powerful chiefs in the territory. Some of them from places like Handong, Shannan and other places have come to Jingzhou as early as years ago and have been waiting to meet General Li.
Those who came to visit naturally did not visit empty-handed, and soon all kinds of gifts were piled up in the warehouse of the mansion. And this is still light. As early as the entire twelfth lunar month of the previous year, there was an endless stream of people coming to the Governor's Mansion to give gifts, and the number and types of gifts were also greater, and they were carried by cars and horses.
Since these gifts were given to General Li personally, it was not convenient for the General Manager's Office to inspect and collect them, so they had to send them all to the inner government.
Although Lady Miaoyin often pretends to be mature and maintains her status as the head of the family, her limited experience rarely faces and deals with such large amounts of money and silk transactions. Before she left the court, her parents took care of the family affairs. In the years after marrying Li Tai, Li Zhusheng and other family members were also responsible for dealing with people.
Now that she followed her husband to Jingzhou, she had no choice but to accept them all. She was afraid that her husband would be harmed due to her ignorance, so she sealed up all the gifts in the palace and did not allow any family members to open them until her husband returned. You can then decide whether to accept it or return it.
After Li Tai came back, the young lady carefully reported the matter to her husband. When she said that the gifts had filled more than a dozen empty rooms in the inner palace, Miaoyin was full of worry: "My family has received so many gifts. Will the husband be investigated for embezzlement? "
Seeing the worried look on this lady's face, Li Tai felt happy. At his level of power, even if he was accused, it would have to be a big deal like treason and stealing the country. It would be really humiliating if he was punished because of embezzlement. What's more, this is not considered corruption at all.
Li Tai checked the gift list and found that those who gave large amounts of gifts were often officials and powerful people from Handong, Shannan and other places.
These places were newly developed and were governed by local powerful people. Since there was no systematic household registration and land granting, no taxes and labor were collected. However, this did not mean that they had any influence on the Western Wei regime or Li. Tai, the direct superior officer, has no rights or obligations at all.
Just as Li Tai had to obey the military dispatch of the Chinese and Foreign Governments, sending these goods to Li Tai was also a manifestation of their obligations. In other words, although they do not need to pay taxes, they also need to pay protection fees. Since this kind of interaction between power and money does not have formal channels such as land rent and taxation, it can only be carried out through this form of private giving and receiving.
If there is no protection fee, how can Li Tai protect them from the intrusion and oppression of Jiangling, other Xiaoliang vassal kings, and Hou Jing's rebellious army?
This in itself is part of the rules of troubled times. Even if the court and the Bafu knew about it, it would be difficult for them to inquire about it. Unless Li Tai imposed excessive taxes and made the people resentful, local order was lost and rebellion became common.
In the new year, there were a large number of gifts coming in, and the government warehouse was almost full for a while, so Li Tai arranged for his nephew Li Zhen to bring Zhao Jingzhi, Yang Yu and other disciples into the government to quickly inventory and store these gifts. .
It took them several days to make a preliminary inventory of the gifts they had received. The number of gifts that could be calculated and converted alone reached more than 500,000 pieces of silk. There were also other specialties and pearls of unknown value. Gems, etc., adding up to hundreds of boxes.
When Li Zhen got the number, he couldn't believe his eyes for a moment. He looked at Li Tai and said with a trembling voice: "It is rumored that southerners are extravagant, but I didn't expect that such a heavy sum could be accumulated in just one festival." Goods! Uncle Thirteen, can my family keep this huge sum of money without having to return it?”
Although the Li family in Longxi is also a well-known family in the world and has many connections with famous officials, the gift of hundreds of thousands of silks during this New Year is still far beyond the understanding of this young man Li Zhen. Could it be that the money and silk between Jiang and Han It's everywhere, otherwise why would these people rush to bring gifts?
"If it were to be refunded, I don't know how many people would have sleepless nights!"
After hearing this, Li Tai smiled and said, it is not that these Handong and Shannan families do not know that money and silk are precious, and these money and silk are what they should give to maintain their dominance in their respective places.
Of course, the money will eventually be distributed to the local people, but this is also the logic of feudal rule.
Although Li Tai is now quite famous among Jiang and Han, his influence has not yet reached the level of sinking into the countryside of Luli. Although the people in the east of the Han Dynasty have heard of his reputation, if they pay him taxes in real money and silver, these People still have a lot of resistance, so these local powerful people are still needed to maintain local order and extract local money.
Just like some business practices in later generations, although many X family soldiers were charged IQ taxes, they also gained a sense of belonging and honor. The leeks on the opposite side are not as tall and strong as we are, and we have defeated them with casual attacks!
Of course, there are fundamental differences between the two. After all, society is progressing. These burdens in feudal society were unavoidable for ordinary people, and many of the business practices of later generations could be avoided as long as they had a smarter mind and didn't just join in the fun.
Hundreds of thousands of bolts of silk may seem like a lot, but if these places can establish a complete household-based land equalization tax system, the income will be much greater than this.
However, these places are far from the time to set up regular official governance. If you want to implement it forcefully, you must be prepared to deal with civil unrest, or you must wait patiently for a more suitable time.
In history, the rebellion in Shannan alone has lasted for a long time. Now, under the protection of Li Tai, the Ankang Li family and other local powerful people still stay in place to maintain local order. Although some civil unrest has occurred, they can still Solve it quickly and avoid corruption.
In theory, these gifts belong to Li Tai's private property, but in fact he is just a distributor. Some of his subordinates, who are stationed in various areas and maintain local order, also allocate some of them. As the cost of raising their own armies.
At the same time, the Chinese and Foreign Affairs Office will also lose some. Li Tai was fully responsible for the military affairs in the southeast, which was also a position given by the Overlord. In addition to his own prestige, his deterrence was also inseparable from the authorization of the Taiwanese government. If he were not subordinate to the Western Wei regime, his deterrence would be greatly reduced.
In short, if the association wants to develop, everyone must not be too selfish. Those who know how to jump hurdles, those who know how to chop people, and those who know how to memorize gang rules. If anyone feels that he has more horses and is more powerful and can challenge the rules, then he'd better wear a helmet in everything he does.
So while the New Year's festival atmosphere was still there, Li Tai ordered his generals to bring gifts worth tens of thousands of pieces of cash via Wuguan to Huazhou Bafu, and presented them to Daxingtai Neifu as personal gifts. Let me ask, who could not love such a handsome and charming subordinate who can win battles and make money?
In addition to these officials and powerful people within the country, some surrounding forces also sent envoys to congratulate them on the New Year. The most die-hard one was of course Liang Wang Xiao Qing. His old friend Cai Dabao arrived on the morning of the third day of the Lunar New Year. Calculating the days, he would be on his way here on the first morning of the Lunar New Year.
Next came Xiao Yi, the king of eastern Hunan from Jiangling. Wang Gu, who had delivered medical books last time, had not left yet. This time another envoy came. Even Shaoling King Xiao Lun, who was wandering in the southeast of Anzhou and in Qichang County of Nanliang, sent envoys to pay New Year's greetings.
Of course, what surprised Li Tai the most was that the General of the Universe, Hou Jing, also sent people to Jingzhou to greet him. This really flattered Li Tai. Even after Hou Jing became such a powerful commander, he still didn't forget about him, a little guy he met only once.