Northern Dynasties Imperial Industry

Half coaxing and half frightening him to get rid of these assistants, Li Tai told Gao Zhongmi again at night that he was going to take over He Basheng's industrial management, and secretly reminded Gao Zhongmi to be cautious and not to engage in such shady operations that breed hidden dangers. .

When Gao Zhongmi learned about this, he was a little bit sour: "There are many fierce soldiers in Beizhen under Grand Master Heba's old department. They may not be willing to hear about it. But since you have agreed, Apan, I won't stop you. I just remember his family's routine. If you are really arrogant and untamable, you don’t need to worry too much about other people’s household affairs. You should know that you can’t be close to each other if you are estranged.”

Li Tai nodded and smiled when he heard this. He had no intention of directly facing and dealing with the personnel disputes in He Basheng's army.

Another night, seven assistants came as requested in the early morning, and Li Tai took them back to Shang's hometown.

The manor is now very different from when Li Taichu came. The fields are cultivated diligently and the residences are neatly maintained.

All the bricks and tiles extorted from the historians were put into the construction of the manor. The tall brick and stone walls looked pleasing to the eye and were elegant. Many dock walls in the countryside that had been built for generations did not have this appearance.

Entering the manor and seeing the rows of brick and tile houses, the fellow servants couldn't help but marvel. Since they were willing to buy officials from the Situ Mansion, they naturally had little property. When they saw that the residences of the servants in the manor were so neat and elegant, they were all impressed by how well the property was managed.

But in fact, the current manor is still operating with debt. The only real profit is the textile workshop on the south slope, except for the few hectares of millet that are about to be harvested.

Li Tai has also heard some people from nearby towns comment on his wasteful use of materials, which is simply a waste of money. Build large brick and tile houses for the tribesmen, and the living conditions are more elegant and comfortable than the homes of some wealthy families in the countryside.

Li Tai just laughed it off. At the moment, he can't help the world at the same time, but it is more than enough to make the lives of his subordinates better.

He is not a native of a medieval family, and in later generations he is just a social animal who works hard to produce content. In fact, some people cannot understand the mentality of those capital predators who accumulate addiction.

There is always a limit to people's material enjoyment. Even if they are extravagant and lustful, they will not become immortals. Although the unfair distribution of social resources has been difficult to change in ancient and modern times, there are always people who hoard, accumulate, and take all the benefits. They are really bastards when they eat and drink and lose their conscience!

It's like the historian would rather provoke himself and then apologize and accept blackmail, rather than use these building materials to improve the living conditions of his family. He has lost face and lost his dignity. He is really being mean to his core.

Those seven assistants were arranged by Li Tai as transfer students to the manor school. While learning mathematics and arithmetic, they also practiced writing official documents at the grassroots level of the Western Wei Dynasty with Chief Shi Heland, mainly in accounting.

Li Tai also looked through the accounting documents of the Western Wei Dynasty. The format of the official documents was very clear, but the content was very complicated. To compile a household account, it often contains hundreds of words. If it is a wealthy family, the accounting text will exceed a thousand words every minute.

This is because the land equalization and taxation targets in the Western Wei Dynasty were very broad. In addition to the heads of households and their husbands, the land was granted to tribes, slaves and even cattle. This is not purely good governance to benefit farmers and encourage farming. It is mainly to expand tax sources on the basis of limited household registration.

Because as long as the land is granted, taxation obligations must be borne, whether it is people or cattle. With such a policy, in Kuanxiang, a sparsely populated area with vast land, households can still rely on the average number of acres of land to increase their income, and the burden is still light.

However, in narrow villages with many people and little land, the average number of acres of land is often discounted and cannot be paid in full. The male and female slaves and even the cattle and horses in the family have to bear the tax and labor. If the harvest is slightly poor, a middle-class family may go bankrupt.

Therefore, the more you live in the elite and fertile towns in Guanzhong, the more serious the situation is where households are dispersed and powerful people shelter the population. Within a few months of Li Tai's arrival in the village, his relationship with the villagers had improved slightly, and he had taken in more than a dozen shady households.

Because of the wide scope of taxation, it would be more difficult to organize and prepare accounting records, which in turn aggravated the administrative cost consumption and manpower gap of the Western Wei government.

To be honest, if Hou Jing's rebellion hadn't stirred up the unrest in the Southern Liang Dynasty and created an excellent opportunity for the Western Wei Dynasty to seize Bashu and Jiangling, based on the current situation of the Western Wei regime alone, Li Tai really couldn't see the possibility of the Western Wei regime catching up from behind.

At the moment, he is neither a minister nor a general in charge of the army. He is only slightly disappointed with the current situation. He has neither the ability to change nor the motivation to improve.

But from the perspective of his own interests, he came up with some new ideas, that is, can he get a share of the huge administrative expenses of the Western Wei Dynasty?

Previously, in order to attract large households in the village, he purchased a lot of hemp raw materials. Among them, there are also cases like that of the Shi family who were short of gold and used old materials to replace new ones. Although this part of the loss has been recovered by large households redeeming purchase orders at high prices, there is still a lot of old and hemp materials accumulated.

These old linen materials are difficult to use for textiles and take up storage space. It would be a pity to burn them on fire.

Li Tai did have the idea of ​​using it to make paper, but firstly he was not familiar with the papermaking process. Secondly, the demand for paper in the private market in the Western Wei Dynasty did not seem to be high. Even if this industry was started, the profit margin would be very limited. .

But after understanding that the Western Wei Dynasty's accounting work was so rigorous, it can be expected that the consumption and demand for paper must be huge. Li Tai couldn't help but imagine that the government could be a potential customer and a supplier for government procurement?

Of course, the accounting and registration project of the Western Wei Dynasty did not start at this time, and the government must have explored and established a relatively mature and stable material supply channel.

Even if Li Tai built a paper mill, the products would be of high quality and low price, but in the political environment dominated by human rule in the Western Wei Dynasty, he might not be able to win the right to supply government office supplies.

But what if these papers are not just paper, but have printed content?

Although the task of compiling accounting registers is tedious and heavy, the format is very unified. The number of male and female offspring, the amount of land granted, and the taxation situation are mostly very fixed contents.

Li Tai had already planned to print forms at home before, and this thing could also be directly transferred to the preparation of accounting records.

As long as relevant official documents are printed out in a certain format, officials only need to fill in those variable contents, which will definitely improve the administrative efficiency of the government!

"It's really something!"

If it was before, even if Li Tai had such an idea, there would be no channel for it to be implemented.

However, the arrival of his eldest cousin Lu Rou reconnected some of the broken relatives. Especially his other eldest cousin Cui Quan, who is currently serving as Jing Zhaoyin, is undoubtedly an excellent target for printing official documents!

Moreover, He Basheng had recently entrusted him with the management of the manor's property, so he could easily be brought in to join him. This would not only make up for his shortage of materials, craftsmanship and manpower, but also provide more important political asylum.

In addition to He Basheng, Shuo Hui is also very good to him. He can also be roped in to join the alliance to make this alliance of interests bigger, and he can also repay Shuo Hui for taking care of him.

The more Li Tai thought about it, the more he felt that this idea was feasible. After arranging the enrollment of the public servants, he summoned Li Zhusheng again and asked: "How is the progress of the ink deployment?"

Nowadays, there is a technology for preparing ink. It usually involves blending hemp seed oil with turpentine and ink to make the ink more uniform in color, absorb paper and preserve it.

However, when these writing inks are used in printing, they still need to be adjusted according to the materials used to achieve the best results.

"Alang, please look!"

Li Zhusheng was already prepared. After hearing this, he took out a printed matter and handed it to Li Tai.

Li Tai took it and took a look, and saw that the handwriting was clear and the color was uniform, and he was immediately happy: "It's very good! This ink formula must be carefully preserved. Buy more of other paper materials on the market and experiment one by one. Keep studying!”

There are no technical barriers to printing official documents, whether it is this idea, engraving, or paper. Only in the use of ink, it may be difficult to imitate in the short term.

As long as we maintain this advantage, open up the market first, and maintain the stability of the interest alliance, there is no need to worry even if any competitors appear again.

While talking, Li Tai returned to the room and wrote a template according to the official document format of accounting records. He still used European regular script, which he was best at. Then he ordered the craftsmen in the sect to make another engraving, trying to get one as soon as possible. Samples are out.

A few days later, He Basheng led his entourage to Shangyuan as agreed, and took Li Tai to inspect the properties under his name.

Li Tai has also made preparations here, telling his family that he will be away from home for a period of time, which can be as short as ten days or as long as more than a month.

He Basheng's properties are spread across several states in Kansai. This trip is also an opportunity for him to increase his experience and gain a comprehensive understanding of the current situation of people's livelihood in Kansai.

"I finally understand why you are so good at making things. When others run a household, frugality is the only virtue. Who dares to waste materials like you!"

He Basheng had been here once before. When he came back after a while, the atmosphere of the manor had changed drastically. He pointed to the bright and beautiful brick houses and said to Li Tai.

Li Tai also laughed after hearing this: "It is true that frugality is a virtue. However, there are many kinds of things, and they must be used to show their value. If a person has no desires, he is no different than a rotten tree. Only when he is constantly feeling inadequate can he be tireless.

Between heaven and earth, only human beings are the most precious. No matter how beautiful things are, I can't make sense of them. I invite favors from dead things. I think my behavior is far smarter than many self-proclaimed wise people in the world! "

"That's very true! I did not misjudge the person. With this kind of character, Apan, you are indeed worthy of my trust."

He Basheng also laughed after hearing the words, with an expression of excitement and expectation: "Let's go, this journey is not short, finish the journey as soon as possible, and I also look forward to how you can develop all your properties!"

Not only He Basheng was looking forward to it, but Li Tai himself was also eager to give it a try.

In any business, getting started is the most difficult thing. He had experienced this in his hometown before. If he could take over He Basheng's property, even if the property and profits would not be his own in the end, his room for manipulation would be greatly expanded.