Northern Dynasties

Chapter 27
In the end, the contract reached between Li Tai and the Wuxiang county government was: starting from now on, the county government must guarantee the supply of twenty cattle and horses, fifteen carts, and more than one hundred men and women of five men and women, and all crop seeds plowed and sown with the seasons. , and replace and fill various farm tools.

On the other hand, Li Tai must guarantee to make up for the shortage of food and grains by the Daxingtai Governor and the county government after the autumn, at least [-] shi, and a maximum of [-] shi.

At first glance, this contract is a bit absurd. The magistrate of a majestic county actually wants to make such a back-and-forth deal with the households under his rule in order to guarantee the full amount of taxes.

But in fact, Li Tai still suffered a disadvantage.In the current world, the hegemonic regime of the Western Wei Dynasty is already weak and lacks prestige, and anyone who has food is a master.In order to ensure the stability of the government and the sufficient income of money and food, the county magistrate has to be close to and almost flatter the big households in the villages.

Now Zheng Man is completely in the same boat as Li Tai, and also revealed to him many details of county affairs management.

Even if Li Tai doesn't use the cars and animals rented by the county government to Li Tai, they will actually be distributed to other big households in the county for use.

Whenever a large family has a wedding or funeral, the county officials will use it free of charge, and the county magistrate will also be present to express it.There is also the matter of worshiping Buddha by digging caves and statues. Although it is called by big households, the county also has to contribute money and efforts.

These courtesies indicate that the price will not be clearly marked, and it is only in exchange for the friendship of the big households in the county. Once the materials need to be requisitioned, the county officials will visit and ask for help in a low voice.

Now the county has to sign a contract with Li Tai with a clearly marked price, mainly because he has no local foundation, so he is underestimated.

Li Tai didn't feel ashamed or angry about this, it was also a fact that he was weaker than others.

The reason for reaching such a deal with the county government is not only to obtain direct help to expand production, but also to obtain a backer in the countryside.

After the cooperation was reached, if these big households in the county wanted to reject and suppress him, they had to consider the attitude of the county government.And the county government should also give Li Tai special care because of the hope of Wanshi's food.

The county magistrate Du Yun is also an old cunning man. When we met before, he talked about friendship endlessly. He seemed to be friends with every member of the Li family in Longxi. He was merciless when talking about business. I am not qualified enough to sign a contract with the county, it is best to ask someone with a strong position to guarantee it.

The implication is that it would be best for Li Tai to ask He Basheng to come forward as a guarantee.

But not to mention whether Li Tai could please He Basheng, even if he could, he wouldn't do it.Before being polite, it was to attract people to take the bait, now that the county magistrate has already felt that this is a good choice, of course Li Tai will not be so courteous anymore.

Even if the cooperation fails, I have nothing to lose, but the county magistrate has to go to the gates of various big families to be the grandson.

Although the contract was sent to the county, but because of Li Tai's negative attitude, there was a stalemate for a few more days.In the end, it was the county magistrate Du Yun who couldn't hold back, and said that the manor belonged to Gao Zhongmi after all, and it would be best for Gao Situ to come forward. After all, he still doesn't trust Li Tai, a white boy.

"This county magistrate is also a clumsy talent, not a great weapon! There are so many things to discuss, but there are so many things to discuss!"

Letting Gao Zhongmi come forward, Li Tai did not have any psychological burden, but after arriving at the manor, Gao Zhongmi complained, and Zheng Man next to him just smiled dryly.

"After all, it's my clumsiness, I can't support my own business, and I'm tired of uncle running around."

Li Tai said with a smile, and Gao Zhongmi sighed again after hearing the words, patted him on the shoulder and said: "This is such a poor place, and everything is not going well. I don't blame others for belittling me, but I feel sorry for you, Apan... In the past, a parent My beloved son of aristocratic family, but now he has to discuss gains and losses with this county for his livelihood. If it is really difficult to continue, Ah Pan will come back to the city with me. This narrow manor is not considered a business foundation, so we can simply rent it out!"

"Materials in Kansai are scarce, so I need to earn my own living to be at ease. Uncle takes pity on me, but I don't want to be a rice bug in Huli. I still hope to work hard to be worthy of myself and Uncle."

Gao Zhongmi is a person who sounds unsophisticated at best, and high-minded and talented at worst, but his concern for himself is not fake, and it also allows Li Tai to find a sense of being dependent on each other.

At present, the construction of the manor is still sloppy. After Gao Zhongmi came to meet with the county officials, he was persuaded by Li Tai to go back to the city, but there were another hundred men and women left behind, and the only gold left in the family was lost. Handing it over to Li Tai made Li Tai even more determined to fight to the death.

In the past few days, Li Tai and the other ministries have not been idle. In addition, Zhou Changming led the soldiers from the village to help. Although the funding from the people in the county has not yet been in place, nearly half of the ten hectares of open fields have been plowed. Start sowing the five hectares of millet.

Li Tai selected more than a dozen strong men who were proficient in carpentry from the trilogy and the village soldiers, and selected good wood from the mountains and forests to continue making Quyuan plows and other tools.

The day after Gao Zhongmi's appearance, the county's carts, animals, and manpower were delivered. Thirty cattle and horses, eighteen carts, and a team of more than [-] men and women were all higher than the agreed bottom line. In order to show the sincerity of the county.

In addition to Zheng Man, who was basically stationed in Shangyuan, who led the team, there was also a county lieutenant named Shi Gong.

This Shi Gong was the head of a big family with the surname Shi in the village who had previously incited the villagers to harass. He was in his forties and was a barbarian with big arms and round waists.The Hu people surnamed Shi are basically the nine surnames of Zhaowu in the Western Regions. Guanzhong has been disturbed for hundreds of years, and it is not uncommon for many miscellaneous Hu people to flee and settle.

When the county captain Shi arrived, he didn't show any malice, and he said a few polite words, such as welcoming Li Tai to settle in Shangyuan, and the county government attaching great importance to this cooperation.

Of course, Li Tai would not question the previous Xiangdou incident in a childish manner. After sending the Shi County Captain away with a smirk, he pulled Zheng Man aside and said, "This Hexi thief hides a knife with a smile. He is not a good person. Zheng Zheng is willing to surrender ?”

Zheng Man smiled wryly after hearing the words: "There is a big family in Wei Township, Shixian County, and the family is Jingzhao Haozong. It is also accepted by the upper and lower levels to occupy this position. I am a mere subordinate, and I can only accept orders. How dare I have..."

"Yes! I don't hate the poor people in the village and hate me, but I hate these thieves and villains who bully everyone. Zheng Zhengzheng, you go to the village and you are courteous, and I see it all, but you are inferior to this traitor. Under the circumstances, it is unfair for the imperial court to reward and employ scholars. The reason why I was able to conspire with the county government this time is also because of Zheng's work on you. After the autumn harvest, I will not only return the grain, but also the The details of hard work are presented on the Daxingtai!"

After getting along for a few days, Li Tai also heard a lot of details about personnel in the county from Zheng Man, so he started to take eye drops as soon as the county personnel and supplies were in place.

Hearing this, Zheng Man's expression became a little tangled, both joyful and worried. After a long while, he sighed and said: "The kindness comes from the superior, and the subordinates are diligent. I thank Li Lang for promoting my old achievements. But Wei Township in Shixian County looks forward to a long life, and it is not a short-term and weak work that can win glory..."

"It depends on man's efforts. The imperial industry still needs to be hunted westward. A mere village thief is not as stable as a rock. This Hu's residence in the county makes me uneasy. It's either me or the other. One person must go. If it's not this year, it will be next year!"

Li Tai said with a smile again, seeing that Zheng Man's eyes flickered, he knew he was moved.Then, if he had any local disputes with Nashi county lieutenant and his family in the future, Zheng Man would most likely be on his side.At least if Lieutenant Shi wanted to make things difficult for him through the county government, Li Tai wouldn't be completely blind.

The lord Zhou Changming brought more than [-] strong men from the village to help with the farming, and Li Tai also had [-] Buqu men and women, plus [-] Buqu sent from the county.Nearly [-] people gathered in the whole manor, and it became lively immediately.

Naturally, it is impossible to devote so much manpower to farming, and many items in Li Tai's plan can be promoted together.

The first thing to do is to build a house. Although camping in the early summer is fine, Li Tai is not used to living in tents for a long time after all, and he feels at ease only with tiles to cover his head.

Now that manpower is sufficient, he arranged for a group of people to clear out the original ruins of the dock wall, and built a fence around the bottom wall of the rammed earth.

This kind of manual work is not difficult. Bamboo and wood materials can be found all over the mountains and plains. It only took half a day to build a fence with a length and width of several hundred steps at the foot of the hillside. Although it still looks a bit messy, But it finally has a preliminary internal and external pattern.

Inside the fence, Li Tai originally planned to build a brick and tile house in one step, and even asked people to build two brick kilns on the south slope.

But there are not many people who know how to make adobes and burn bricks in the trilogy. There are only a few such as Yang Heili, who can only produce two to three hundred pieces of qualified adobes after a busy day. The huge demand may have to wait until the Year of the Monkey.

"Shangyang Garrison still has more than [-] square meters of bricks, all of which are used for burning by soldiers and farmers in slack. If you need it urgently, you can use it first, but you have to make up before autumn."

After seeing the situation, the garrison master Zhou Changming enthusiastically suggested.

Farmhouses seldom use bricks and tiles extravagantly in building houses, but it is inevitable to use bricks and tiles to repair forts and castles.

Although the actual distance between Huazhou, the ruling core of the Western Wei Dynasty, and Jinyang, the base camp of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, is quite long, they are only separated by the Yellow River. Go digging ice by the Yellow River, afraid of being stolen by the Eastern Wei unknowingly.

Li Tai didn't dare to borrow the supplies stored by Shangyang Garrison's army, but knowing that there were many soldiers in the village who were proficient in cultivating them, he hoped that Zhou Changming could lend a few people for him to familiarize himself with and teach new ones.

Zhou Changming naturally had no objection to this. Li Tai taught Quyuanli's forging technology to the villagers without any secrets. In his heart, his favor has already exploded, and it is a trivial matter to second a few village artisans.

The production of bricks and tiles is limited, and the construction can only be delayed, so some sheds are built inside the fence as a transition.

In the evening, the sheep blew again in the camp.Although Zhou Changming asked the township soldiers to prepare their own meals, and the county envoys also took care of their own meals, Li Tai also noticed the busy physical labor from morning till night.

Although his family is not well-off now, after negotiating a cooperation with the county, most of the cost is temporarily borrowed, which can afford two fat sheep every day.Buy directly from the hometown, and the price is also affordable.Tired all day long, a bowl of delicious mutton soup can comfort the hard work.

(End of this chapter)