Northern Dynasties Imperial Industry

The project on the northern section of Longshou Canal had already started before Li Tai returned home.

Two thousand people were put into service in the county, and the county captain Zheng Man was responsible for supervising the progress of the project. Large households in the township contributed capital and small households provided personnel, and more than 500 people were gathered. A total of more than 2,500 tons of manpower was more than enough to complete the first phase of fortifications before plowing in spring.

After Li Tai learned about the current preparations and progress of the fortifications, he made a few more requests.

The first is the organizational division of labor of the Canal League, and Li Tai, the leader of the canal, naturally has to manage everything. Under the head of the canal, six directors were selected to take charge of labor, carriages and horses, warehousing, expenditure, food supply and pensions.

The county lieutenant Zheng Man was in charge of the labor force, the deployment and use of the oxen and horse carts was by a rural tycoon from Yuanbei, and the person in charge of warehousing was Wu Jingyi, who urged rural households to import supplies as soon as possible.

Du Zhi was handed over to Liu Gong, who was a businessman in the countryside and was proficient in the business. Li Zhusheng was responsible for the supply of food, while Party Leader Zhao of Shangyuan was responsible for providing condolences for those who were sick and disabled during the construction period.

After such personnel adjustments, the originally complicated drainage project suddenly became clear, and each director was responsible for one aspect. After everything is summarized, Li Tai, the channel leader, will make the final decision.

After the division of labor was agreed upon, Li Tai first determined the daily working hours and workload.

Although the sooner the ditch work is carried out, the better, but the laborers involved in the fortifications are also real people, and Li Tai is not used to using these laborers to fill ditches and earn a lot of nostalgia for him.

Therefore, after considering the entire construction period, the working hours were tentatively determined to be six hours per day, and the labor force was divided into two shifts. Those who completed the daily work on time were given two meals and one bucket per day, and those who were unable to complete the work would receive half of their dinner.

The second step was to set up a warehouse in his Shangyuan Village to store materials donated by villagers. Any shipment of five buckets or more than one piece of silk requires Li Tai's cutting certification. Without the little gold seal on his waist, all the articles and orders would be useless paper.

When Li Tai raised his golden seal to show it to everyone present, everyone's eyes couldn't help but change when they looked at him, and the envy and admiration in their eyes could not be hidden at all.

While everyone was shocked by the golden seal, Li Tai said again: "In the past, when we discussed the matter, we could only do it voluntarily based on village justice and never force it. Now that we are united in our will and our career is promising, we need to act with dignity and dignity. Continue to be nostalgic and willful! ”

Generally speaking, anything involving the masses requires rules and favors, rewards and punishments, so as to ensure that things proceed normally. There was no horoscope before, so there was no way to talk about the so-called rules. But now that things have officially begun, some rules and regulations are needed.

When everyone heard this, they all nodded in approval.

"When canals are opened to divert water, all the people and land it flows through will benefit. The canal line is used as the boundary. Within a hundred steps, every mu will be given a bucket to help, and beyond a hundred steps, half will be given. Those who do not accept the grain will be hired to take their place. , One and a half buckets of work. This is the rural law. If you have no objections, we will tell the people in Yanqu Village to abide by this rural law. Anyone who violates the law will be punished!"

Li Tai first stated such a rule. He worked hard to bring about such a thing, and of course he would not benefit from the hard-nosed villagers.

"Water is beneficial to farming. Wherever it flows, the production can be increased by more than half. One bushel per acre can bring benefits for many years. This is natural!"

Wu Jingyi took the lead in raising his hands and patted his chest and pledged: "Fortunately, thanks to my husband's support, I can share this righteous cause, and I will do my best to persuade them to lose! If there is really a wicked person who is stingy and causes trouble, even if he does not punish him, Dian, nostalgia can be punished!"

Just relying on the voluntary donations from the villagers, even tens of thousands of grains are not enough to sustain the entire construction period. After the Longshou Canal was built, there were three to four thousand hectares of cultivated land that benefited from it. By collecting ten shi per hectare, another thirty to forty thousand shi of food could be collected.

If Li Tai had proposed such a rural law before planning his work, it would have never been passed without even thinking about it. If you keep your mouth shut, everyone will have to use food to support you. Why do you have such a big face?

But now the preparations for the matter are more than half completed, and as long as we proceed step by step, we will definitely be able to accomplish it. Moreover, it has received widespread support from Daxingtai to big households in the countryside. If anyone jumps out to sing the opposite, they will become an annoying minority.

It is the power of the imperial court to levy rent, transfer and taxes. But now, based on the rural sentiments and controlling the public opinion of the rural righteousness, Li Tai has obtained the power that is close to the imperial court's taxation. This is the embodiment of the power of the local tyrants under the situation of rural ethics and autonomy.

Enforcing education, ending litigation, and engaging in fund-raising. The reason why the powerful in the countryside are stubborn and difficult to control lies in their single-handed control of public customs, ethics, justice, and economic resources.

Is it really just for a good reputation that Li Tai puts so much effort into water conservancy projects? At least whoever in the village corrupts ethics and morals will be thrown into a pig cage, I must have the right to speak!

"It is necessary to encourage donations, but it is also necessary to carefully examine the status of each villager's family and whether they are strong or not. If it is true that the family is difficult to get rid of the disease, we also need to understand the suffering. Since we want to build Huixiang If you are righteous, you cannot do anything contrary to righteousness!"

Li Tai is also well aware of the tyranny of the strong men in the village. Although he wants to develop in this way, it does not mean that he has to learn everything from good to bad. It was not his wish to force the really poor families in the village to lose their lives just to build the canal.

So after establishing this rural law, he then said: "The governor of Wu must keep this rule in mind when he is in charge of the countryside. Since I am the leader of the river, I will never allow anything that is righteous and evil to happen in my affairs." occur!

All the poor families who are short of men and cannot afford to donate can come to my farm to borrow grain and labor, and can return the surplus after the year. In addition to the canal warehouse, my farm has set up another charity warehouse to help the poor and the needy, and we will respond to any request in this canal!"

At the Liyang Grand Review, Li Tai had seen Yuwen Tai use other people's money to buy people's hearts, and soon understood the spirit of "I am a man and a ghost".

It is necessary to repair the canal and collect grain. If it is really a poor family, I can advance it, but you can't treat me as a sucker just because I pick a fight.

After all, this is still everyone's business. The canal has been repaired and everyone has a good harvest. I burned the IOU in a fire, which is my noble character!

"My dear, you are really noble and compassionate!"

When everyone heard Li Tai say this, they all praised him.

"Since you live in this village, you should benefit this area. Only in this way can you look up and down with no regrets, live up to the grace of the emperor, and live up to the villagers. ”

Li Tai waved his hand politely, then clasped his fists to the people at the table and said: "You have lived in the village for many years. If it were not for the enthusiastic help of the good people, I would be powerless to do this. Even if I have good intentions, I have no way to display them. So recently I have often thought about how to highlight and praise the righteous deeds of the people who have contributed to the canal. Let's discuss it with you. "

While speaking, he asked Li Yantou to take a large wooden board from outside the hall, and he took out a map and nailed it on the board to show it to everyone.

"This is the full map of the canal line that we are planning to rebuild Longshou Canal. The repainted parts are all places with dense cargo and goods traffic such as Dangjin and Bridge. "

Li Tai first knocked on the wooden board to explain the content of the map to everyone, and then said: "This is what I think. Now it is not the Han Dynasty. The morality and righteousness of the village are renewed. The old canal was newly built. If it is still named after the old name, it will inevitably be insufficient to highlight the virtues and good results of the present time.

Therefore, the canal, bridge, weir and well are divided into sections, and named after the village councilors with high morality and righteousness. It is not to boast about the village, but to let the villagers of the present and future generations know who has benefited from their kindness. Drinking water and remembering the well digger, publicizing good deeds can make the village sentiment more beautiful! "

Everyone was excited when they heard this.

Fame and fortune are the lifelong pursuits of everyone. Putting their names on some long-standing landmarks in the village and letting the villagers pass it on by word of mouth is undoubtedly a great excitement for these village tyrants.

Such a situation has also happened in previous years, but there are not many village tyrants who can get this treatment. It is for this reason that when Li Tai proposed this plan, everyone present nodded in agreement, each of them was radiant, and they could not help but imagine the scene of their names being crowned on the surface of the village.

"This is a great saying by the young man, worthy of the famous talent! We, the countrymen, are short-sighted and can only see the improvement of canals and farming, but we did not expect that there would be such a good plan to demonstrate the village sentiment and education! ”

Hearing such praise from Shangyuan Party Leader Zhao, Li Tai felt a little awkward. Is this saying that it is still you, the rich and powerful of you, who can play the game of seeking fame and reputation?

Another person raised his hand and asked: "Excuse me, Mr. Li, there are few canals, bridges, weirs and wells, but there are many people in the village who participate in the affairs. Which one can be named and which one cannot be named? Can you tell me for sure?"

At present, there are more than 40 villagers who are involved in the canal affairs, including those present, but there are only a dozen places marked by Li Tai. Of all the families involved, more than half of them will definitely not get this treatment.

Li Tai was waiting for this sentence. After hearing it, he smiled and said: "There is no high or low in righteousness, but there are deep and shallow merits. After the canal affairs are completed this year, I will sort out the village's merit book, and then ask the villagers to nominate a few village elders to participate in the nomination, so as to achieve the public's expectations! "

Putting this matter on hold until the canal is done will, on the one hand, encourage everyone to get involved. Only by making more contributions can we have a better chance of winning.

Secondly, Li Tai also needs a handle to control people's hearts. Before the matter is settled, no one can think of anything to contradict me!

For the time being, Li Tai can only think of so many village laws and regulations and personnel frameworks related to the canal. The following details will not be discussed for the time being. When problems arise, they will be solved.

After this discussion, everyone also gained a lot. Knowing that Li Tai was tired from the journey, they all stood up and said goodbye.

After sending off these village tycoons, Li Tai had time to rest. While eating dinner, he heard the joyful voices of the villagers outside the manor.

After a little hesitation, Li Tai ordered the villagers to prepare some hot soup and noodles. While the villagers gathered outside, he recruited some idle people in the village to do short-term work for one or two months to expand the manor.