People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 265 I am the one who knows the courtyard.

In March of the second year of Qingli, Ruyin County, Yingzhou, northwest of Beijing.

The new Ruyin County Magistrate came to take office at the beginning of this year. This person was a Jinshi who passed the exam this year. His name was Li Xiaoji. He was only 21 years old. He served as a general supervisor for more than half a year and was then awarded the Ruyin County Magistrate.

At this moment, he was walking slowly in the office, his brows furrowed.

Ruyin is not only a county, but also the administrative seat of Yingzhou, so the state government's Yamen can directly take charge of him.

He just went to the county government for a meeting.

At the meeting, in front of the imperial censor who came to inspect the North Beijing Road, Bai Zhipeng, the magistrate of Yingzhou, expressed the court's new policy righteously and demanded that all county magistrates and county magistrates must strictly implement it.

However, after the meeting, Bai Zhipeng found Li Xiaoji and hinted at something.

In other words, it can't be said to be a hint, it's just some common rhetoric in official circles, which is a bit of a slap in the face.

Li Xiaoji is a smart man. He concealed his background before coming and did not publicize it, so the world did not know that he was Li Di's grandson.

From Bai Zhipeng's words, he could tell that the other party seemed to be hinting that he wanted to stand on his own side.

At that time, Lee Hyo-ki looked like a newcomer to the officialdom. He was submissive, pretending to be stupid, as if he didn't understand the other party's meaning at all, and he was fooled by it.

But the other party's attitude made Li Xiaoji a little puzzled.

Logically speaking, the magistrate of the state, the top leader of the state government, except for the superior department, cannot even compete with the general magistrate of the state government, so why should people take sides?

It’s really confusing.

At this time, the outside government officials came to inform that all the village chiefs and household heads from various townships had arrived.

If he didn't understand, Li Xiaoji simply didn't think about it and went to work first.

Immediately he went to issue new policy orders.

March was almost uneventful. During this month, Li Xiaoji traveled to various countryside to promote the new policies of the imperial court. Countless people were overjoyed by them, and the good policies spread everywhere.

With the elimination of a large number of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, agricultural taxes are only 819 million yuan, a direct reduction of nearly four-fifths from last year's 3632 million yuan. According to the two-tax reform, % of the national tax will be sent to the central government, and % of the local tax will remain at the local level.

This means that the actual agricultural tax this year is about 1200 million yuan, one-third less than in previous years, directly reducing the burden on farmers by two-thirds.

Therefore, it can be described as a carnival between the common people and the landlords.

It also made many landowners willing to cooperate with the court and take the initiative to tell the truth when local officials investigated hidden properties.

Even if some people realize that doing so is likely to bring crisis in the future, for example, after the court finds out your property, it suddenly increases the tax rate and makes you pay more taxes.

However, under the near-semi-threatening situation of the imperial court, most landowners still chose to cooperate.

Only a very small number of landowners choose to do bad things. For example, some landowners in remote mountainous areas choose to continue hiding their homes and property, and do not take the government's decrees seriously. There are even some who conceal the news of the New Deal with Li Zheng and the head of the household and plunder the people's money.

Ruyin County is located in the Henan Plain. It has been an important grain-producing area since ancient times. Several rivers such as Xiaoru River and Ying River pass through the county. It is rich in water resources and has a large amount of farmland.

Since there are not as many mountainous areas as Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangzhou, Guangxi, and Sichuan, mission communication is still very smooth.

Soon everyone in the county knew the news, which was exciting.

By the time it was May, Li Xiaoji was working in the government office on that day. Suddenly, he heard the government servant saying that the state government office asked him to come over.

Li Xiaoji was puzzled, so he left the mansion and went to the Yamen of the state government without any delay.

At this time, Bai Zhipeng was sitting in the yamen of the state government. Next to him sat a fat man wearing silk and satin. The fat man said, "Brother, will this man be obedient?"

"Don't worry, after testing him a few times, he's probably just a fool who just entered the officialdom. He even coaxes and deceives, so he'll probably be fine."

Bai Zhipeng smiled and said: "Besides, it's easy for your brother to handle the county magistrate."

"Then it all depends on brother."

The fat man smiled.

His name is Bai Zhiyuan, and he is Bai Zhipeng's younger brother.

Later generations thought that all officials in the Song Dynasty were honest and honest, and enjoyed themselves with high wages and benefits.

But in fact, high wages and high benefits are true, and there is no limit to the greed of people. Therefore, high officials at that time often arranged relatives and servants to do business and seek huge profits.

The only advantage is that the officials and gentry of the Song Dynasty collectively paid grain and taxes.

It will not be like the Ming and Qing Dynasties, as long as you pass the exam to be a juren or above, you will be exempted from certain taxes, causing a serious problem of investment, causing a large number of farmers to name their land under the name of a jurenjinshi to avoid taxes, resulting in a situation where the tax revenue does not come up.

However, this year's new business tax is more troublesome. Because it is a progressive tax, a business like Bai Zhiyuan's can be a large business of more than 100,000 yuan, and the tax rate is actually much higher than before.

Although there are advantages, that is, you don’t have to pay taxes in advance. But Bai Zhiyuan was certainly unwilling to pay taxes that were heavier than in previous years.

Moreover, in the past years, he often relied on his elder brother to evade taxes, and even relied on his elder brother's power to buy and sell by force. It just happened that when Zhao Jun was on tour that year, Bai Zhipeng was not working in Yingzhou, but as a judge in Sichuan.

When Zhao Jun went to Sichuan, he was very lucky and met with the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Mo Kan was transferred from Sichuan to Huainan, which Zhao Jun had just checked. Last year, he was transferred to North Beijing Road. It was really good luck.

Therefore, although the Bai Zhipeng brothers knew how powerful Zhao Jun was, they took a chance and were always lawless. They still kept things under wraps, thinking that no one would find out.

But one thing is true, no one has discovered their illegal behavior so far.

After all, it is not that easy even for future generations to catch corrupt officials. Many people work until they retire, only to be found out later when they find out that the problem was implicated by other officials. This shows that it is not easy to catch some corrupt officials who have hidden deeply.

Bai Zhipeng was not so blatant. He often used hints to ask his subordinates to help Bai Zhiyuan's goods easily avoid inspection, thus evading taxes for many years without anyone noticing.

However, in the past two years, the imperial court has severely cracked down on officialdom and added many channels for supervision, such as the Imperial City Department, the Yushitai, as well as inspections by higher-level leadership departments, etc.

Although there is still a lot of room for maneuver under the New Deal, if Bai Zhiyuan only does business in his territory in Yingzhou, he must register with the IRS in Ruyin County and Prefecture. Otherwise, if he is caught, he will be brought to the road government. Or the Yushi Division will be in big trouble.

Fortunately, Bai Zhipeng has a way to solve the problem. He has already established a good relationship with the new magistrate of the State Taxation Bureau, and the two are now very close. The county government and the county tax bureau were more troublesome, so he could only do it step by step.

He was afraid that the newly appointed magistrate of Ruyin County would be a fool, so he would have to think of other ways.

The two people were talking.

The servant outside came in and said, "Master, Magistrate Li is here."

"Well, let him in."

Bai Zhipeng nodded, and then said to Bai Zhiyuan: "You should avoid it first."

"Ah."

Bai Zhiyuan hid behind the screen.

After a while, Li Xiaoji came in. Seeing that Bai Zhipeng had specially hosted a banquet in the backyard of the government office, he was a little puzzled, but he still handed over his hands and said, "I have seen the prefect."

"Hahaha."

Bai Zhipeng stood up, walked over, took Li Xiaoji's hand and said with a smile: "County Magistrate Li is young and promising. I admire him very much. Come and sit down."

"Thank you, Governor."

Li Xiaoji sat over.

In fact, it's not like I haven't met with Bai Zhipeng when I came to report on official duties and complete assessments in the past two months.

Bai Zhipeng often spoke in official accents and played riddles, which made him very tired.

Lee Hyo-ki was born into a family of officials since he was a child, so he certainly understood the rules of officialdom.

But he was too lazy to chat with Bai Zhipeng, or he wanted to see what Bai Zhipeng was planning, so he pretended to understand something, and seemed to understand something.

Perhaps Bai Zhipeng came over to show off recently because the time was right.

The two of them sat down, and Bai Zhipeng personally poured wine for Li Xiaoji, so Li Xiaoji had to pretend to be flattered and said: "The prefect is flattering me."

"The county magistrate was promoted to Jinshi at the age of twenty. It can be said that he has a bright future. Unlike me, who wasted decades and was promoted to Jinshi at the age of thirty-five."

Bai Zhipeng seemed to be complaining, and said with a wry smile: "I wasted six years as a county magistrate, and another six years as a general judge. Now I am nearly fifty years old, and I have only served as a prefecture magistrate. I feel deeply ashamed. I am not as good as you." These young people.”

"Whenever you are a governor, you are doing it for the country and the people."

Li Xiaoji said hurriedly.

"Come on, come on, have a drink."

Bai Zhipeng raised his wine glass.

Li Xiaoji had no choice but to continue to accompany him.

The two of them talked to each other, and after drinking seven or eight glasses of wine, the conversation seemed to be open.

When Bai Zhipeng saw that the emotional connection was almost complete, he raised his chopsticks and picked up a chopstick while asking, "Bo Shi."

Hearing him suddenly call his own name so intimately, Li Xiaoji felt a little disgusted, but he still responded: "Yes."

"What do you mean by being an official?" "It is for the common people and for the country and the country."

"That's natural, but what else?"

"This subordinate doesn't know."

"Of course I got promoted."

Bai Zhipeng smiled and poked at the ceiling with his chopsticks, and said, "If you don't get promoted, how can you govern more places? How can you enter the center of the imperial court and serve the Holy Emperor?"

Li Xiaoji said humbly: "What the prefect said is true. It's just that the lower official has just been awarded the county magistrate. Under the new law, he is very cautious and does not dare to slack off at all. How can he dare to hope for promotion?"

"You are young and promising, and you have a good academic background. You have a great future, but sometimes, you still have to have some opportunities."

Bai Zhipeng looked like he was giving instructions.

Li Xiaoji quickly said: "This official is stupid. If the prefect can give me some pointers, I will be grateful."

Seeing him on the road, Bai Zhipeng pointed to the top again and said: "As the saying goes, there are people in the court who are easy to do things. Sometimes, you need to find a backer for yourself. If this person is a key person and can help you at the critical moment, The key point is that this is the secret of promotion."

Li Xiaoji scratched his head and said: "But the official doesn't know the senior officials in the court. Even if there are some close friends of the same year, they all serve in various places, and some even have lower positions than the official. Who can tell the official about this?" What about the conversation?"

"Why don't you understand?"

Bai Zhipeng tapped the table lightly and said in a low voice: "This month, the imperial censor came to take the assessment. Although your assessment is excellent, now every county in the state is actively completing the task of passing the exam. Why am I the only one who wants to take you?" Put it first?”

Hearing these words, Li Xiaoji pretended to be deep in thought. After a moment, he seemed to suddenly realize it. He raised his hands to Bai Zhipeng and said, "Prefect, I am very grateful!"

"That's right."

Bai Zhipeng said with a smile: "Young people should not always look at the people around them, and don't think about how they can help you. Only when you look up can you understand that there is heaven and there are people outside the world."

"The official understands, the official understands."

Li Xiaoji immediately said: "From now on, the affairs of the prefect are the affairs of the lower officials. The eunuch's instructions will be kept in mind by the lower officials."

"Ha ha ha ha."

Bai Zhipeng laughed, raised his glass and said, "Come on, let's drink."

"Yes Yes Yes."

Li Xiaoji quickly agreed.

Had two more drinks.

Bai Zhipeng put down his wine glass and said with a sincere expression, "Bo Shi."

"Yes."

"Are you a little confused as to why I want to find you?"

"This official is a little confused."

Li Xiaoji was confused and said: "The eunuch's orders are bound to be followed by the subordinates, but why do you do this specially?"

"You still don't understand the importance of having someone up there."

Bai Zhipeng smiled and said, "This joint sometimes needs to be opened. But what is needed to open the joint?"

As he spoke, he rubbed his hands.

Li Xiaoji asked tentatively: "Money?"

"wrong."

Bai Zhipeng shook his head: "I don't want to give you this now. I want to give you gold, silver, jewelry, antiques, calligraphy and paintings."

Li Xiaoji said with a horrified look on his face: "But the official has a clear sleeve, what should I do?"

"Zhiyuan!"

Bai Zhipeng shouted inside.

Bai Zhiyuan walked out, holding a box in his hand, and said to Li Xiaoji with a smile: "Bai Zhiyuan, a common man, has met County Magistrate Li."

"This is?"

Li Xiaoji looked at Bai Zhipeng.

Bai Zhipeng said: "This is my biological brother."

"It turns out to be Bai Daguan."

Li Xiaoji quickly stood up and saluted with his hands in hand.

Bai Zhipeng became more and more satisfied when he saw him acting so wisely.

When the three of them sat down, Bai Zhipeng simply revealed the joints to Li Xiaoji.

Only then did Li Xiaoji understand the reason.

Under the New Deal, businessmen must have paperwork from the IRS before starting their business.

Bai Zhiyuan received the goods in Yingzhou and sold them in other places. If he didn't have the paperwork, all the goods would be confiscated and he would be jailed.

Therefore, it is necessary to open up the state and county IRS.

Although the Song Dynasty has been divided into many departments, if so many new bureaus are established at the local level, it will obviously have to build a lot of houses and incur huge financial expenditures.

In addition, there were only tens of thousands of people in a county in the Song Dynasty, and the number of people in a department was actually only two or three high-level officials, and the rest were staff. The office basically only needed a few rooms.

Therefore, the newly established departments are still in the county government office, or they need to be slightly expanded or separated into a few rooms.

This allows the county magistrate to still have considerable influence over these departments.

In particular, the affairs of these departments are also related to the county magistrate's performance. For example, if the Internal Revenue Service does not complete the investigation, it will also affect the county magistrate's promotion. Therefore, local county magistrates will often investigate tax issues more strictly.

What Bai Zhipeng meant was to ask Li Xiaoji to raise his hand. Bai Zhiyuan's tax documents were posted at the Ruyin County Taxation Bureau. When it was time to pay taxes, he could just make a false account to fool him.

Li Xiaoji made a promise to Bai Zhipeng with a guaranteed ticket on the spot. The guests and hosts were enjoying themselves for a while, and the whole banquet reached a climax.

In the afternoon, the banquet was almost over.

Li Xiaoji took the gift from Bai Zhiyuan and left through the back door under the leadership of Bai Zhipeng.

The two people stood at the back door. Bai Zhipeng, who had drunk a lot of wine, patted Li Xiaoji's hand with a red nose and said: "Bo Shi, remember, there must be people above us, and only if we have money can we have people." Protect us from above, do you understand?"

"I will keep this in mind."

"Okay, let's go."

"Thank you, Governor!"

Li Xiaoji said goodbye and left.

Bai Zhipeng went back happily. He had drank a lot today and it was time to have a good sleep.

What he didn't know was that when Li Xiaoji returned to the county government, he immediately sent his loyal servants from home to Bianliang with the gifts from Bai Zhiyuan and a letter from himself.

Under normal circumstances, even if you report to your superiors, you should still go to Lu Mansion.

But it can’t stand the North Beijing Road spanning a small half of Henan.

The most northwest is Henan Prefecture, and the most southeast is Yingzhou and Caizhou.

Moreover, the administrative office of Jingbei North Road is in Luoyang, Henan Prefecture.

This means that it is much farther for Li Xiaoji to go to Luoyang to report than to Kaifeng.

So it is better to go straight to heaven to listen.

Watching the messenger leave, Li Xiaoji's eyes narrowed.

There is someone above you.

There are people above me too.

I'm Aweng.

Li Di, Prime Minister of the Song Dynasty!

Known as the courtyard cover.

Who are you bluffing?

(End of this chapter)