In the end, the contract reached between Li Tai and the Wuxiang County Government was that from now on, after the autumn harvest, the county government would guarantee the supply of twenty oxen and horses, fifteen carts, more than one hundred men and women in the prime of life, and all crop seeds sown in the season.
, and the replacement and replacement of various agricultural tools.
Li Tai will ensure that after the autumn, he will make up for the shortage of grain and grain left by the governor of Daxingtai, which will be at least 8,000 dan and capped at 12,000 dan.
At first glance, this contract seems a little ridiculous. The dignified county magistrate actually has to make such an under-the-table deal with the households under his jurisdiction in order to ensure that taxes are paid in full.
But in fact, Li Tai still suffered a loss. In the current world, the hegemonic regime of the Western Wei Dynasty is weak and lacks prestige. Anyone who has food is the uncle. In order to ensure the stability of the rule and sufficient money and food, the county magistrates have to deal with the big households in the villages.
The closeness is so close that it is almost flattering.
Zheng Man is now completely in the same boat as Li Tai and has revealed many details of county governance to him.
Even if Li Tai does not use the vehicles, livestock and people rented by the county government to Li Tai, they will actually be distributed to other large households in the county for use.
Whenever there are weddings and funerals in large households, the county officials must use them free of charge, and the county magistrates must also be present to express their gratitude. There are also matters related to digging caves and statues to worship Buddha. Even if the large households call for it, the county must also contribute money and efforts.
These courtesies were not clearly priced, but were merely exchanged for the friendship of the big families in the county. Once something happened and materials needed to be collected and transported, the county officials would have to visit and ask for help in a low voice.
Nowadays, the county still wants to sign a contract with a clearly stated price for Li Tai, mainly because he has little local foundation, so he looks down upon him.
Li Tai didn't feel ashamed or angry about this. It was a fact that he was weaker than others.
The reason why we reached such a deal with the county government was not only to get direct help to expand production, but also to gain a backer in the local area.
After the cooperation is reached, if these big households in the county want to exclude and suppress him, they have to consider the attitude of the county government. And the county government will also have to give Li Tai special care because of the hope of these ten thousand stones of grain.
The county magistrate Du Yun is also an old cunning man. When they met before, he talked endlessly about their friendship. He seemed to be acquaintances with every member of the Li family in Longxi.
If you are not qualified enough to sign a contract with the county, it is best to ask someone with a powerful position to act as a guarantee.
The implication is that it would be best if Li Tai could ask He Basheng to come forward as a guarantee.
But not to mention that Li Tai can't touch He Basheng without asking. Even if he could, he wouldn't do it. He was polite before, just to attract people to take the bait. Now that the county magistrate has felt that this is a good choice.
, of course Li Tai will no longer be so attentive.
Even if the cooperation fails, he will have nothing to lose, but the county magistrate will have to become a grandson in front of the big families again.
Although the contract was sent to the county, due to Li Tai's negative attitude, the stalemate continued for several days. In the end, the county magistrate Du Yun failed to hold back and expressed again that the manor belonged to Gao Zhongmi after all, and it would be best for Gao Situ to come forward.
, after all, I still don’t trust Li Tai, a white boy.
"This county magistrate is also a poor talent, not a great talent! He only has a lot of stone and little food, but he still has many plans!"
Li Tai didn't have any psychological burden when Gao Zhongmi came forward, but after arriving at the manor, Gao Zhongmi complained all the time, and Zheng Man next to him just smiled dryly.
"After all, it's me who is clumsy and can't manage my own business, so I have to work hard for my uncle to run all the way."
Li Tai said with a smile. After Gao Zhongmi heard this, he sighed again, patted his shoulder and said: "With such poverty and desolation here, everything is not happy. I don't blame others for underestimating me, I just feel sorry for you, Apan... In the past, a parent
My beloved son of a noble family, now he has to negotiate with the county officials for his livelihood. If it is really unsustainable, Ah Pan can follow me back to the city. This narrow manor is not a business foundation, so we can simply rent it out!"
"Materials in Kansai are rudimentary, so I have to make a living by myself in order to feel at ease. My uncle pities me, but I don't want to be a household chore. I still hope that I can work hard so that I can be worthy of myself and my uncle."
Gao Zhongmi, at best, is said to be unsophisticated, but at worst, he is ambitious and lacking in talent. However, his concern for him is not hypocritical, and it also allows Li Tai to find a sense of dependence on each other.
At present, the construction of the manor is still in a hurry. After Gao Zhongmi came to meet with the county officials, he was persuaded by Li Tai to return to the city. He only left behind a hundred men and women, and all the gold left at home.
Handing it to Li Tai made Li Tai determined to fight a last-ditch battle.
In the past few days, Li Tai and his fellow tribesmen have not been idle. In addition, Zhou Changming led the village soldiers to help. Although the funding from the county figures has not yet been received, nearly half of the more than ten hectares of open fields have been plowed.
Start sowing those five hectares of millet.
Li Tai selected a dozen strong men from his tribe and rural soldiers who were proficient in carpentry, and selected good wood from the mountains and forests to continue to make bent-shaft plows and other tools.
The day after Gao Zhongmi showed up, the county's vehicles, livestock and manpower were sent. Thirty oxen and horses, eighteen vehicles and more than one hundred and thirty men and women, all of which were higher than the agreed bottom line, probably also
In order to show the sincerity of the county.
In addition to Zheng Man, who was basically stationed in Shangyuan, there was also a county captain named Shi Gong who led the team.
This Shi Gongzheng is the head of a large family named Shi in the village who previously incited the villagers to cause nuisance. He is in his forties and a tall, round-waisted Hu. The Hu people named Shi are basically the nine surnames of Zhaowu in the Western Regions. They have disturbed hundreds of people in Guanzhong.
Over the years, many miscellaneous beetles have moved in and settled, which is not uncommon.
When the Shixian Lieutenant arrived, he did not show any ill will. He said a few polite words in a friendly manner, such as welcoming Li Tai to settle in Shangyuan and saying that the county government valued this cooperation.
Of course, Li Tai would not childishly question about the previous rural struggle. He sent the Shixian Lieutenant away with a fake smile, then pulled Zheng Man aside and said: "This Hexi thief hides a knife in his smile. He is not a good person. Zheng Zheng is willing to submit to him."
?”
After hearing this, Zheng Man smiled bitterly: "We are a big family in Wei Township, Shi County, and our family is from the Jingzhao Hao clan. To occupy this position is the approval of our superiors and subordinates. I am just a subordinate, and I only need to take orders. How dare I have..."
"Yes! I don't hate the villagers for being poor and hating me, but I hate these traitors and thieves who bully others. Zheng Zhengzong, you go to the countryside and work diligently. I see it all, but you are ranked as such a traitor."
The bottom line is that the court rewarded and used officials unfairly. The reason why we were able to conspire with the county government this time was all because of Zheng Zheng's hard work. After the autumn harvest, I will not only return to transport grain, but also bring this
Details of hard work are reported to Daxingtai!"
After spending several days together, Li Tai also learned many details about the county's personnel from Zheng Man, so he started to give eye drops as soon as the county's personnel and supplies were in place.
When Zheng Man heard this, his expression became a little tangled. He was both secretly happy and worried. After a while, he sighed: "The kindness comes from the superiors, and it is the duty of the subordinates to work hard. I would like to thank Li Lang for my merits.
But Weixiang, Shixian County, hopes to have a long life, and it is not something that a short period of time and poor performance can win glory..."
"Everything depends on man-made efforts. The imperial industry still needs to hunt in the west. Even if there is a thief in a village, it is not as stable as a rock. This Hu lives in the county, which makes me uneasy. It is either me or him. Someone will leave, not this year, but next year!"
Li Tai said with a smile again. Seeing Zheng Man's eyes twinkling, he knew that he was moved. Then if he had any local disputes with Na Shi County Lieutenant and his family, Zheng Man would most likely side with him.
On the other hand, at least if County Lieutenant Shi wanted to make things difficult for him through the county government, Li Tai would not be completely blind.
The garrison leader Zhou Changming brought more than 30 strong men from the countryside to help with the farming. Li Tai also had 200 men and women from his tribe, plus 130 tribesmen sent by the county. There were nearly 400 men gathered in the entire manor.
People suddenly became lively.
Naturally, it is impossible to devote so much manpower to farming, and many items in Li Tai's plan can be promoted at the same time.
The first thing to do is to build a house. Although it is okay to camp out in early summer, Li Tai is not used to living in a tent for a long time, so he feels at ease when he has a roof to cover his head.
Now that he had enough manpower, he arranged for a group of people to clear out the ruins of the original dock wall, and first built a fence around the rammed earth bottom wall.
This kind of manual work is not difficult. Bamboo and wood materials are everywhere in the mountains and plains. It only took most of a day to build a fence running hundreds of steps down the hillside. Although it still looked a bit messy,
But finally we have a preliminary internal and external structure.
Inside the fence, Li Tai originally planned to build a brick house in one step, and even had two brick kilns built on the south slope.
However, there are not many people in Buqu who know how to make bricks and bake bricks. There are only a few such as Yang Heili. They are so busy that they can only produce two to three hundred qualified bricks in a day. With the addition of firing, they want to meet the needs of building a manor.
With such a huge demand, I'm afraid we will have to wait until the Year of the Monkey and the Horse.
"Shangyang garrison still has more than 10,000 square meters of bricks, which are used for burning by rural soldiers and farmers. If you are in urgent need, you can use them first, but you must make up for them before autumn."
After seeing this, the garrison leader Zhou Changming enthusiastically suggested.
Farmers seldom use bricks and tiles extravagantly when building houses, but they are unavoidable when repairing forts and cities.
Although the actual distance between Huazhou, the core of the Western Wei Dynasty, and Jinyang, the headquarters of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, is quite long, they are only separated by a natural barrier called the Yellow River. Building forts and fortresses after autumn is also a basic task of the Western Wei Dynasty, and even people have to be sent after winter.
If you go to the Yellow River to cut ice, you are afraid that the Eastern Wei Dynasty will steal your home unknowingly.
Li Tai did not dare to borrow military supplies from Shang Yang garrison without authorization, but he learned that there were many skilled cultivators in the local soldiers, so he hoped that Zhou Changming could lend a few people to his troops to train them with new skills.
Zhou Changming naturally had no objection to this. Li Tai imparted the Quyuan plow-making skills to the villagers without any secret, and he already had a good impression in his heart. It was only a small matter to second a few village soldiers and craftsmen.
The production of bricks and tiles was limited, so construction could only be delayed, so some sheds were built within the fence as a transition.
In the evening, the sound of sheep braying sounded again in the camp. Although Zhou Changming asked the rural soldiers to prepare their own meals and the county envoys also took care of their own meals, Li Tai also noticed the busy manual labor from morning to night.
Although his family is not rich now, after negotiating a cooperation with the county, most of the costs are borrowed for the time being, and he can still afford two fat sheep a day. He buys them directly from the countryside, and the price is affordable. After a hard day, a bowl
The fragrant mutton soup enters the stomach, which can relieve the hard work.