Chapter 1018: Pulling the Dragon and Attaching the Horse
In addition to the above categories, Liu Zhongli's manor also grows some fruit trees with strong economic attributes such as peaches, plums, apricots, and pears, and there is also a small brick kiln and a winemaking workshop. In addition to some other inconspicuous but practical industries, it can be regarded as a model of self-sufficient manor economy at present.
After a tour, Li Tai found that although the scale of Liu Zhongli's manor was not too large, the benefits were very considerable. The most basic farming and weaving operations alone can meet the food and clothing needs of all the family members, and there is still a surplus.
In addition to all other types of livelihood, that is pure profit. Perhaps a single item is not outstanding, but if all items are added up, then the net income of Liu Zhongli's manor in a year is probably more than 3,000 pieces of silk.
Of course, according to Liu Zhongli's past status, the net income of only more than 3,000 pieces of silk a year is really nothing. But the problem is that he is no longer a general of the Southern Dynasty. He is just a small landlord who lives in seclusion in northern Shaanxi in the Western Wei Dynasty. As a result, his annual income can help Gao Aocao get rid of his legs, which is indeed very considerable.
Although Liu Zhongli's family has a considerable income, it is also related to his shrewd calculations and good housekeeping skills, which may not be very universal, but even if the discount is discounted again, according to the profit of a manor of this scale of 1,000 pieces of silk, it is worth noting for the entire Xihe County.
Nowadays, the scale of cultivated land in Xihe County is more than 15,000 hectares, and more than half of them are commercial settlements rented and operated by merchants and powerful people from all over the border. Liu Zhongli's manor is relatively small among them, and the scale of cultivated land alone is more than 100 hectares. If this profit standard is calculated slightly, the profit in it is roughly calculated to be more than one million pieces of silk!
This is not just one year, but every year, and as long as there are no major natural disasters or man-made disasters, as other supporting facilities in northern Shaanxi become more mature, this profit space will be further improved.
Li Tai did not forbid these merchants to make money. After all, the essence of the Sino-French policy is to benefit both the public and private sectors. If the policy only stands on the official position and blindly compresses the profits of private capital, it will be difficult to maintain this policy for a long time.
However, such a profit margin is obviously a bit unreasonable at the moment, and too much profit margin may not be good for these merchants.
Too much profit will inevitably attract more covetousness. The initial policy support will soon turn into contraction and suppression. Official support will become a new entry threshold. When the situation develops to the point of collusion between officials and businessmen, it will no longer be a good policy that benefits both the public and private sectors, but a thief's nest that breeds insects and rats!
Liu Zhongli did not expect that Lord Tang would have so many associations after touring his own manor. He had been secretly watching Li Tai's expression. Seeing that his brows were slightly frowned and he became silent, his heart skipped a beat again, but he did not dare to show his fear in his heart.
"I am sorry to bother Lord Liu with so many people accompanying me here. It is getting dark and we have to rush to the county city. We will say goodbye today. I will invite Lord Liu to meet in the capital city when I have time in the future."
Li Tai temporarily put away his thoughts, looked up at the sky, and then looked at Liu Zhongli and said with a smile.
"Ah? Lord Tang is leaving... I, I respectfully send Lord Tang off!"
Liu Zhongli was stunned when he heard this, and then he quickly lowered his head. He still dared not relax his tense heartstrings, just to send this great god away quickly.
Li Tai took in Liu Zhongli's reaction and felt happy in his heart. Now that their status is very different, he doesn't bother to bring up Liu Zhongli's old accounts again. Even if he feels a little bit touched by his garden business, he is thinking about levying taxes in Xihe County and even the entire northern Shaanxi area, rather than attacking Liu Zhongli's family.
Liu Zhongli bowed and walked quickly all the way, sending Li Tai and his party out of the scope of his own manor without hearing any scolding or blame. He finally breathed a sigh of relief, but then he couldn't help feeling a little disappointed. Especially when he looked back at his son standing respectfully in front of the manor gate, and saw the ceremonial guards behind Lord Tang, the feeling of loss in his heart became more obvious.
He hesitated and struggled for a while, but finally couldn't help but make up his mind, and bowed deeply in front of Lord Tang again, saying in a hoarse voice: "I am disloyal to my homeland, and I disobeyed the king's order before. I am full of sins and ashamed of the world. Fortunately, with the protection of Lord Tang, I can live in the world. I dare not have any more extravagant hopes. Only Shao Xi, my disciple, is still innocent and has never made any mistakes since returning to the country. I beg Lord Tang to have mercy on him and not treat him as a bad boy, so that he can be generous and determined to be loyal to the country!" After hearing this, Li Tai stopped and looked down at Liu Zhongli and said: "Our country has its own laws, Lord Liu doesn't need to do this. The imperial court recruits scholars not only based on the first place of the family. The Imperial College, the Imperial College and other schools in the capital are now all open to recruit talents. All your disciples who have talents can come to the capital for examination. Just like Liu Hou can still live peacefully among the mountains and rivers, the people of our country have the qualities of gold and jade, how can I bear to be covered by dust? "
"Mr. Tang is as virtuous as a saint and has a broad mind. I, a commoner, am also blessed by his grace. I am really grateful and grateful!" After hearing this answer, Liu Zhongli bowed deeply again, and waited until Mr. Tang's carriage left for a long distance, and his sons came forward to support him, and then Liu Zhongli slowly stood up.
He looked at the ceremonial guard that was getting away, holding his sons' arms and sighed: "I used to live in the South. Although I advanced bravely, I have been immersed in the world for a long time, and I can't help but follow the customs and pursue profit. Unexpectedly, there are actually things between the sky and the earth. The Duke of Tang is such a great man. Could it be that Heaven also felt that Zhu Xia was severely abused and sent down the hero to save the world? It is sad and ridiculous that Naiweng's career has been ruined. Although he meets the heroic master, it is a pity that he cannot follow him and succeed. Name!”
Li Tai didn't know that this meeting gave Liu Zhongli the idea of letting his sons join him. Now he just wants to make money, or strengthen the management system for Shangtun in northern Shaanxi.
Although he had built this series of personnel foundations before, he did not have time to personally strengthen management in the future. Although most of the front and rear managers came from his disciples, after all, these people could not feedback all developments and changes in real time, and it was difficult to Adjust the management system independently.
In addition, the Bafu itself at that time was only greedy for the benefits brought by the opening of China and France to border defense, and did not understand the more detailed internal situation deeply enough. This resulted in a system that could not match the current situation of the rapidly developing commercial villages.
Therefore, on the way to the county town, Li Tai told Dugu Bin and other officials to strengthen their investigation of the specific profitability of the relevant merchant villages and formulate a new tax collection plan based on the actual situation to increase tax revenue. , but also to make relevant management more rigorous and thorough.
Even if the Bafu is not eager to extract profits in northern Shaanxi now, it would be better to increase the investment in local construction in northern Shaanxi by collecting more taxes, or simply reduce the labor burden of some local residents, rather than continuing to retain such huge profits. Space thus breeds various ills such as the realization of power.
In the evening, the group arrived at Xihe County City, which was the original Heishui Fangcheng.
Heishui Fangcheng was once the stronghold of a Jihu chief. It was occupied by General Li Tai after his forces were wiped out. After years of management and expansion, Xihe City is now the leading city in northern Shaanxi.
This city is no longer just a simple military fort, but now the military, political and economic center of the entire Xihe County. Its scale has expanded several times compared to the original. There are many merchants, tenant farmers and campers looking for job opportunities living here, and it is very prosperous. Second only to Luochuan City.
At this time, there were thousands of elite soldiers standing in front of the gate of the county city, so that many teams of chariots and horses entering and leaving the city were jammed and could not enter or exit smoothly. However, although those who were blocked were dissatisfied, they did not dare to speak out and scold them when they saw this posture.
This welcome formation was obviously not arranged by the county government, because Tang Gong had previously notified people not to disturb the people with great fanfare, so Dugu Bin and others went out to welcome them lightly. Moreover, the thousands of elite soldiers lined up were not county soldiers, most of them were Jihu soldiers.
Not to mention the fact that the people dared not speak out in anger, when Tang Gongyi appeared on the west avenue of the city, a knight in rich robes and golden saddles with flashy costumes rushed out from the team in front of the city gate and rode towards Tang Gongyi. go.
When they were still a few miles away from each other, the knight dismounted and walked quickly toward the opposite side. As he walked quickly, he shouted loudly: "My lord, your lord! This slave is Liu Kuzhen, Liu Kuzhen... Old year I bid farewell to the Lord and leave the country. I miss you day and night and look forward to it day and night. Finally, I hope that the Lord will return to Beizhou. I really miss you, old slave!"
Although Li Tai was in the team, he had already heard the screams of Liu Kuzhen, a living treasure. When the guards in front of him separated and his view was clear, he saw a fat man with a slightly bloated body twisting his body and running towards him. The gorgeous brocade robe sparkles in the setting sun, and its appearance is amusing.
"When the Lord went north to attack the Huns, Liu and General Liu went to the county government office several times to complain that the ministers and others did not inform the Lord of his itinerary, and they were too tired to greet the Lord. This time they came to ask again and again, and the ministers told The Lord General is here on patrol, but I don’t want him..."
When Dugu Bin saw Liu Kuzhen's posture, he was worried that Li Tai would blame him, so he quickly rode forward and explained in a low voice.
Li Tai knew what kind of thing Liu Ku was. Although they didn't get along much with each other, they were still deeply impressed by him, so he didn't feel dissatisfied and waved his hand to signal the guards in front to get out of the way.
When Liu Kuzhen saw this, he walked straight in front of Li Tai's mount and knelt down with a plop on the ground. A large cloud of smoke and dust was immediately stirred up. His whole body was submerged by the smoke and dust, but he still shouted loudly: "I miss you, Master." The master is as fast as he is mad, and now I can finally satisfy my hunger and thirst! I hate that I can't transform into an ox or a horse, so I can follow the master for a long time. However, when the master left, he ordered the slaves to win over the tribes and strengthen the master's prestige. I dare not forget that today I finally have to go before the Lord!”