Northern Dynasties

Chapter 187
The military barracks outside the city of Baishui County were originally emptied after the parade, but they were full of people recently.

"My lord, all the warehouses in the thief's nest have been seized and counted."

Protégé Zhao Jingzhi walked into the big tent with two entourages carrying a large basket of scrolls, with a rather contented expression on his face: "Although a certain class of clerks has completed their examinations, they have not yet become county civil servants!"

After Li Tai heard this, he was quite satisfied. Baishui County was governed by the county seat, and the combined work efficiency of the clerks at the county and county levels was actually not as good as that of his subordinates. This shows that the general affairs education in Zhuangzhong is also very effective.

As early as when northern Shaanxi attacked and disturbed the Hu tribe, he felt deeply that the spoils of war were not digestible enough and had to be discarded in large quantities. The recruitment from the school and the transfer from various industries formed a clerk team of more than [-] people, in order to check the efficiency and know the results in the shortest possible time.

Otherwise, when a battle is over, the envoys of counties and counties have to count the spoils, and there is no telling how much they will be embezzled.If all the officials in these counties and counties were of high morality and integrity like water, Daxingtai would no longer need to carry out ideological education construction such as the "Six Edicts".

The leader of the group of bandits exterminated this time is named Ma Jinshan, who once served as an official of Beiyongzhou in the early years of Datong.During the Battle of Heqiao in the fourth year of Datong, a rebellion broke out in Guanzhong, and he brought a group of villagers to help the rebellion, and fled to the mountains because of his familiarity with the local conditions, avoiding being purged, and it has survived until now.

In fact, this year Bafu has the idea of ​​going west along the northern part of the Guanzhong Plain to go field hunting to Qizhou after Dayue. If the field hunting can be held normally, this group of bandits will be wiped out by the way.It's a pity that Dayue's progress was not smooth, and Daxingtai had no choice but to give up the plan of field hunting.

The madman has his own harvest. Originally, this group of bandits had fled westward into Liupan Mountain after learning of the Baishui Parade. After learning that the Parade had ended hastily, they returned to their hometown and arrogantly headed towards the nearby counties. It was reported that the materials were taken, so they bumped into Li Tai's hand who was about to try his hand.

After a battle, the main force of the bandits was completely wiped out, and the bandit leader was also kept in his lair in the mountains.A gangster who had been in trouble for several years was easily wiped out like this. On the contrary, it took more time to clean up the battlefield and collect the loot.

Although the fighting power of this group of bandits is not high, they have quite a lot of reserves. Nearly ten thousand catties of gold, silver, copper and iron were confiscated.In addition to killing and wounding the fleeing bandits, there were nearly [-] men and women captured.

However, only a few thousand stones of grain were confiscated, and less than a thousand bolts of cloth. Compared with a large gang with thousands of people, such a grain and silk reserve was already very dangerous.

If Li Tai didn't come to exterminate them, this group of bandits would inevitably launch a large-scale looting operation this winter, otherwise they wouldn't be able to survive the winter with their savings.If they survived, how many people in the county would suffer.

Among all kinds of seizures, copper and iron accounted for the vast majority, and gold and silver were also considerable, as much as thousands of catties.It doesn't mean that this bandit has strong financial resources, and there must be no suitable environment for selling stolen goods. Therefore, these materials that are not easy to sell and realize can only be accumulated for many years, and Li Tai is finally cheap.

So even if you are a bandit, you have to steal well. If the mass base is not good, no one is willing to help you sell the stolen goods. No matter how precious these gold and silver are, can you eat them to satisfy your hunger?This kind of loot structure also shows that at least in Baishui County, there are no powerful tyrants to collude with it.

In addition, hundreds of cattle, horses and livestock were also obtained, plus some other miscellaneous things, this time the bandit suppression was a good start.

According to Li Tai's agreement with the county government, all these spoils of war will belong to him.The materials are still in stock, Li Tai is not like those captives, even if he doesn't need it, he can cash in or exchange it, but those captives are a bit difficult to deal with.

Some of these people are relatives of thieves, but a considerable number of them came from captivity, and their relatives are still looking forward to reunion.

The most convenient way is to join them as a team and use them as slaves.However, after this decision is made, it is unknown how many families will continue to suffer from separation.

Li Tai asked himself that he was not a person of high morals, but he still felt a little uncomfortable if he made many people suffer more because he was seeking convenience for a while.

After pondering for a while, he said: "Go and tell the county magistrate, and the county will allocate five hundred soldiers. All the copper and iron materials will be sent to Baishuizhuang along the river. All the prisoners captured in the bandit's lair will be given The counties and counties have fallen."

When the subordinates informed the county government of the news, the county guard immediately nodded in agreement, and personally came to the barracks outside the city to thank him.

It's not because Wu Hanyong of Li Tai's department was so frightened that he obeyed. Although this battle was won beautifully, Li Tai's power was not yet to the point where even the prefects of a county would stay low. The key is that this arrangement was also beneficial Yu county politics.

For the current county officials, increasing registered households and expanding cultivated area are the most important political achievements.But if you want to do it well, it’s not just about marking out a wasteland and arranging people in it.

Kansai has been in turmoil for many years, and there are many dead households in the countryside. The purpose of the government's expansion of households is to allow the people to farm and pay taxes for a long time.

However, even if these unrooted households are registered and granted land, there is no grassroots village organization to restrain them. Once the weather is not beautiful or the military disaster is turbulent, they will inevitably flee in groups.He didn't even have the idea of ​​staying at all, and turned around and left after deceiving the farm tools and grain seeds issued by the government.

The government registry was established, but the rent adjustment failed. At that time, not only would it be useless, but it would also be a serious crime.

Sometimes local tyrants will also use this method to fight against the government. After the new official takes office, he will create registries and grant land to the shady households under his command. After the register is completed, the shady households will be gathered back. , such a faculty to do for a long time?

Kansai has been in turmoil for many years, and the people are not willing to go to work, which will cause this phenomenon.Faced with this situation, local officials will also feel powerless, so they can only administer cautiously and dare not be greedy and aggressive.

The extermination of such a group of stubborn thieves is naturally a good opportunity to expand the production of wasteland reclamation.The villagers Li Tai rescued from the thief's lair had relatives and connections in the village, so they were the most suitable targets for expanding households and granting land.

As for those captives whose roots are unknown, even if they are in the prime of life, they dare not easily open their books and give them land or any means of production. They can only be used as slaves.

In addition to thanking him, the county guard brought up the old matter again, hoping that Li Tai could establish Fangcheng in Baishui County.

After seeing the combat effectiveness of Li Tai's troops, the county guard offered more generous terms, saying that as long as Li Tai nodded, the county government would bear all the consumption of man-made materials for the defense city, and would also serve thousands of people every year and provide financial support. A part of Fangcheng food and fodder.

In addition to the annual fixed rent adjustment and regular taxes and military service, the Kansai Zhuzhou counties also have to bear a certain amount of food for the army, which is also a heavy burden.

But if Li Tai fortified here, the county government would have a reason to refuse the additional food delivery mission sent by the superior. Moreover, Li Tai's troops have high combat effectiveness, strong mobility and strict military discipline. If they can stay here for a long time, it will be reassuring.

Such a condition can be said to be sincere, but Li Tai has already decided to fortify Chengcheng County on the east bank of Luoshui.

Because the county magistrate of Shibao County under Chengcheng County is out of rank this winter and will be resigned, and the county magistrate promised to recommend the candidate provided by Li Tai to the Taiwan government, which is tantamount to bringing the entire Shibao County into Fangcheng's sphere of influence.

In contrast, Li Tai naturally paid more attention to the conditions of Chengcheng County, so he could only say sorry to Baishui County.

However, he also assured that if there was any banditry in Baishui County, his troops could cross the river to suppress it at any time.After all, he still has property in Baishui, and he also wants to set up a military workshop in Baishui.Of course, the adult's idea is that I want them all, and I don't have to be limited to Luodong or Luoxi.

The result of mutual negotiation is that Baishui County is responsible for raising a batch of coal and other materials to Li Tai every year, and Li Tai charges according to the current price, which can be regarded as saving the manpower and transportation costs of all purchases.

Li Tai is responsible for the food delivery quota for [-] people in Baishui County. When the Taiwan government reassigns the troops to send food to prefectures and counties, it will take this situation into consideration and relieve some of the pressure on Baishui County.

To put it bluntly, Baishui County is now under the protection of Li Tai. If these military leaders in Bafu want to fight the autumn wind, you should not come here to save face.If you don't give face, then don't give it. If you want Li Tai to actually come forward to expel him, you have to pay more.

Li Tai's troops stayed outside the city of Baishui County for another two days. After the trophies were counted and distributed, some of the easily portable ones were taken away, and the other part was temporarily stored in the Baishui County treasury. They asked them to send people back one after another, and then Li Taicai Lead the department to leave.

After marching for one day, they arrived at Zhangyuan in the Nanbaishui area. Lu Chuan and other pioneers greeted them. In addition to these soldiers from the headquarters, there were also many villagers from this area.

After the trilogy finished camping outside the manor, Li Tai went into the tent to rest for a while, and then led Lu Chuan and a few villagers to him, and asked, "What's going on? Tell me."

Several villagers saw that Li Tai was so young and handsome, so contrary to the image of a hero they had imagined in their minds, they were surprised and secretly relieved. Zhang He, the old man of the clan, came forward and said: "Xiaomin and others are guilty. I used to be feuded with the local tycoon Zhou, and now he is in power, every time the county hard labor envoys are sent to my house, in order to keep the householders, they can only pretend to be taken away by bandits..."

"Do you want to be a bandit yourself?"

After Li Tai heard the words, he sneered, then turned and said in a deep voice: "I have also heard about the bandits who fly kites in the south of Shannan. Now I will give you a chance. If you still don't tell the truth, then there is no need to talk about it."

Zhang Shinu, a young man who followed into the account, fell to his knees with a plop: "Great Governor Mingjian, Xiaomin is a flying kite in the south of Shannan. It is true that he did some bandits for a living in the past year, but this is not the case with the relatives in the household. It's irrelevant. If the governor needs additional punishment, the criminals will receive it..."

(End of this chapter)