In the Song Dynasty, there was no law or order.

In March of the second year of the Qingli period, Ruyin County, Yingzhou, Northwest Road, Beijing.

The new magistrate of Ruyin County came to take office at the beginning of this year. He was a Jinshi who passed the imperial examination this year. His name was Li Xiaoji, who was only 21 years old. He served as the chief minister of the Ministry of Works for more than half a year and then was appointed as the magistrate of Ruyin.

At this moment, he walked slowly in the yamen, frowning.

Ruyin is not only a county, but also the seat of Yingzhou, so the prefecture government can directly govern him.

He just went to the prefecture and county government for a meeting.

At the meeting, in front of the inspector of the Northwest Road of Beijing who came to inspect, Bai Zhipeng, the magistrate of Yingzhou, expressed the new policy of the court righteously, and required the magistrates and county magistrates of each county to strictly implement it.

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

Or it can be said that it is not a hint, but some common words in the officialdom, which is quite a bit of a knock.

Li Xiaoji is a smart man. He concealed his background before coming here and did not publicize it, so no one in the world knew that he was Li Di's grandson.

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

At that time, Li Xiaoji looked like a new official, he was submissive and pretended 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, as the governor of a place, the top leader of the prefecture, except for the higher authorities, even the prefecture Tongpan could not compete with him, so why did he ask people to stand on the side?

It's really hard to understand.

At this time, the yamen runners outside came to inform that the village heads and heads of households in various townships had arrived.

Li Xiaoji didn't understand it, so he simply stopped thinking about it and went to do his business first.

He immediately issued a new policy order.

March was almost peaceful. During this month, Li Xiaoji traveled all over the countryside, publicizing the new policies of the court. Countless people were ecstatic and the benevolent policies were spread everywhere.

With the abolition of a large number of miscellaneous taxes, the agricultural tax was only 8.19 million guan, which was nearly four-fifths less than last year's 36.32 million guan. According to the two-tax reform, 70% of the national tax was sent to the central government, and 30% of the local tax was left in the local area.

This means that the actual agricultural tax this year is about 12 million guan, which is one-third less than in previous years, directly reducing the burden on farmers by two-thirds.

Therefore, it can be said that it was a carnival for the people and landlords.

It also made many landlords happy to cooperate with the court, and when the local government investigated the hidden households and hidden properties, they took the initiative to truthfully explain.

Even if some people can realize that doing so is likely to bring crises in the future, such as the court suddenly raising the tax rate after finding out your industry and asking you to pay more taxes.

But under the almost half-threat of the court, most landlords still chose to cooperate.

Only a very small number of landlords chose to do bad things, such as some landlords in remote mountainous areas, who chose to continue to hide their households and property, and did not take the imperial decree seriously. There were even those who concealed the news of the new policy from the head of the village and the head of the household, and extorted the people's money.

Ruyin County is located in the Henan Plain. It has been an important grain-producing area since ancient times. There are several rivers such as Xiaoru River and Ying River passing through the county. It is rich in water resources and has a large number of farmlands.

Because there are not as many mountains as Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangzhou, Guangxi, and Sichuan, the task transmission is still very smooth.

Soon the people of the whole county knew the news, which was exciting.

In May, one day Li Xiaoji was working in the yamen, and suddenly heard the yamen runner say that the state government yamen asked him to go over.

Li Xiaoji was puzzled, so he did not delay and went out of the mansion to the state government yamen.

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

"Don't worry, after a few attempts, he is probably just a fool who has just entered the officialdom. He will be fine after coaxing and deceiving him."

Bai Zhipeng smiled and said, "Besides, it is easy for your brother to control a county magistrate."

"Then it all depends on your brother."

The fat man smiled.

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

People in later generations thought that all officials in the Song Dynasty were honest and incorruptible, and enjoyed themselves with high salaries and high welfare.

But in fact, high salaries and high welfare are true, but people's greed is endless, so the officials at that time often arranged relatives and servants to do business and seek huge profits.

The only good thing is that officials and gentry in the Song Dynasty collectively paid taxes.

It is not like the Ming and Qing Dynasties, where as long as you pass the exam, you will be exempted from certain taxes, which caused serious problems in donations, causing a large number of farmers to register their land under the names of Juren and Jinshi to avoid taxes, resulting in a situation where tax revenue could not be collected.

However, this year's new business tax is more troublesome. Since it is a progressive tax, for businesses like Bai Zhiyuan that make hundreds of thousands of guan, the tax rate is actually much higher than before.

Although there are benefits, that is, you don't have to pay taxes in advance. But seeing that the tax is heavier than in previous years, Bai Zhiyuan is of course unwilling to pay.

Moreover, in previous years, he often evaded taxes with the help of his brother, and even relied on his brother's power to force purchases and sales. It just happened that when Zhao Jun was on tour that year, Bai Zhipeng was not serving in Yingzhou, but was a judge in Sichuan.

When Zhao Jun went to Sichuan, he was very lucky to meet the transfer of the Ministry of Personnel, which transferred him from Sichuan to Huainan, which Zhao Jun had just checked, and last year he was transferred to the Northwest Road of Beijing. He really hit the big 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 discovered later when they find out that the problem was implicated by other officials. This shows that it is not an easy task to catch some corrupt officials who have hidden deeply.

Bai Zhipeng was not so blatant. He often used hints to let his subordinates 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 of them 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, County Magistrate Li is here."

"Well, let him in."

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

"Um."

Bai Zhiyuan hid behind the screen.

After a while, Li Xiaoji came in. Seeing Bai Zhipeng specially hosting a banquet in the backyard of the state government office, he was a little puzzled, but he still held 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, and of course he 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. Bai Zhipeng even poured wine for Li Xiaoji himself, 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.

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

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

"What do you mean by becoming an official?"

"It's 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 are a high-ranking scholar. With a good 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 upward 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 Xianguan doesn't know the senior officials in the court. Even if there are some people who have a good relationship with him in the same year, they all serve in various places, and some even have lower positions than Xianguan. Who can tell Xiaguan 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 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."

"I understand, I understand. I understand."

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 will 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.

Seeing him being so good, Bai Zhipeng became more and more satisfied.

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, while the rest were clerks. The office basically only needed a few rooms.

Therefore, the newly established departments are still located 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 on the spot, and the guests and hosts enjoyed 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 someone above us, and only if we have money can we have someone." 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!

Know the courtyard cover.

Who are you bluffing?