Chapter 513

During the New Year, there were a lot of people visiting Ye Xiaotian's house, but most of them were people who came to visit during the New Year, such as the county's gentry, the government officials, the garrison officers, and the chiefs of the strongholds. Those who could come and go were Ye Xiaotian's friends or confidants.

Among these people, the tycoon was busy taking care of the child and couldn't go out. Only Su Xuntian, Monitor Zhou, and Li Yuncong often visited the Ye's house. One day, Li Yuncong came to the Ye's house again, holding his right arm. On his wrist, there was a big colorful bird with gorgeous feathers. He swaggered like a playboy.

Ye Xiaotian couldn't help but laugh, "Haha, Brother Li is riding an eagle and a dog. You really have the prestige of a tax ambassador."

Li Yuncong blushed and smiled, "Don't make fun of me, Second Master. This parrot is a gift from my subordinate. I don't like to raise birds. I saw that Second Master's house is spacious, and you raise King Kong and Pi Xiu. I think you will like it, so I brought it here."

Li Yuncong raised his arm, and the bird with gorgeous feathers flapped its wings and flew up. But Li Yuncong had a silver iron ring on his thumb, and a thin iron chain was tied to the parrot's foot, so it couldn't fly too far. The parrot spread its wings in the air and screamed, "Good day, Official. Good luck."

Ye Xiaotian was stunned for a moment before he burst out laughing, "Brother Li is very considerate. I like this parrot very much!"

Li Yuncong was one of Ye Xiaotian's more shrewd disciples. He wasn't as casual as Su Xuntian, nor was he as dull as Monitor Zhou. He never came to the Ye's house empty-handed. But if he gave a gift, it would seem distant. Besides, the Ye's house was big, and he didn't have anything to give. If he didn't give a gift, it would seem too casual. Therefore, every time he visited, he would meticulously pick out some trinkets.

The maid in front of the hall saw that the bird was beautiful and could talk, so she was very happy. She hurried forward and took the iron ring from Li Yuncong's hand. Li Yuncong said, "This bird has been trained, so it's not afraid of strangers. You can take it to your place." As she spoke, she pulled on the chain, and the parrot flew back. It followed the chain and landed on the maid's arm.

The maid happily took the parrot away. Ye Xiaotian invited Li Yuncong to sit and asked, "Is everything under control in the tax department?"

Li Yuncong bowed and said, "It's alright. Especially around the New Year's Day, the road is not busy. Everything is going smoothly." Everything is going smoothly. "He cleared his throat and said," However, there will be a big event after the New Year. I'm afraid we have to prepare early, or else there will be trouble. "

Li Yuncong was recommended by Ye Xiaotian. In the officialdom, the recommender had to be recorded on the recommended person's resume. If there was a problem, the recommender would also be held accountable. So if the person wasn't very trustworthy, the officials usually wouldn't easily recommend him. And the recommended person received such a great favor, so it was natural that he would be regarded as part of the recommender's faction.

Now that Li Yuncong had just taken up his post, if there was a mistake, it would mean that Ye Xiaotian didn't know the right person, so Ye Xiaotian was also very concerned. He leaned forward and pretended to be focused. Li Yuncong then "reported" to him. Although the county magistrate and the tax department didn't have a direct subordinate relationship, and this wasn't a formal occasion, it was more accurate to say that this was a report.

The tax department of course didn't only manage commercial taxes, but other than the post road, Hulu County really didn't have any important economic pillars. Especially as a large agricultural country in the feudal era, the county's agriculture accounted for an extremely low proportion. But low didn't mean there wasn't any, so this was also part of the tax department's responsibility.

Previously, when Xu Boyi initiated the change of surname, Ye Xiaotian took the peaches. The credit went to him, so naturally, the responsibility also belonged to him. Now that the New Year had passed, it was time to fulfill his obligations.

This year's tax collection had to strictly calculate the tax exemption for those who responded to the court's call to change their surname and surname. This would be deducted from the total tax payable. At the same time, Hulu County's agriculture wasn't flourishing, and instead they had to receive aid from the government every year. How should this amount be distributed? How much money could they get from their superiors? Should there be more relief for the already exempted families? All of these were higher level issues, and indeed, it wasn't something that Li Yuncong, the tax department's ambassador, could decide. But he couldn't ignore it, because if there was a problem, he would be directly responsible, and even Ye Xiaotian would be implicated.

After listening to him, Ye Xiaotian decisively said, "Those who have already been exempted also have to participate in receiving relief. They were exempted because they responded to the call to change their surname and surname, and it has nothing to do with whether their family's financial situation is poor or not. If they are excluded this time, then the previous favors they received from the court will become a piece of paper. There's no doubt about this. You first spread the news to calm people down. As for how much relief can be obtained from the government and how to distribute it, once the court opens, I will immediately discuss it with the county magistrate! "

This kind of thing was not something that Li Yuncong could decide. Today, he came to ask Ye Xiaotian for help. With Ye Xiaotian's words, Li Yuncong's heart was relieved. After talking about business, the two of them started to talk about some relaxed topics, but at this time, they heard an extremely loud roar. It was the voice of the giant ape.

Ye Xiaotian heard that the sound seemed to come from the courtyard where Yaoyao lived, so he quickly left the table and rushed to the corridor. He curiously looked into the courtyard where Yaoyao lived. In Yaoyao's courtyard, the parrot was dragging a piece of chain, flying around the courtyard, and scolding in a sweet voice, "Fool, you fool!"

Presumably, it also learned this sentence from somewhere else, or even when it first learned to speak, its master used it to scold it. It might not understand the meaning of this sentence, but from the tone and expression, it could roughly understand the situation where it should be used, and at this time, it was used to scold the giant ape.

A Big Man roared and scolded angrily. From time to time, he jumped into the air and stretched out his huge palms to slap the parrot, but it was like a cannon shooting a mosquito, how could he get close to it?

This giant ape was huge, and its whole body was invulnerable. It rampaged in the courtyard, jumping high and low, smashing a lotus tank, and smashing a corner of the rockery. In extreme anger, it rushed to the corner of the courtyard, pulled out the weeping willow, and smashed the dirt and debris all over the sky. Yaoyao and the two little maids ran away one after another, but Fuwa was not tired of it, and ran around behind A Big Man, who was jumping up and down, as if it was very interesting.

Ye Xiaotian hurriedly ran into the courtyard with Li Yuncong, and saw that King Kong and the parrot were fighting fiercely, and they were stunned. Ye Xiaotian cried out in surprise, "What's going on? How can such a small thing fight with A Big Man like fire and water?"

Yaoyao hid behind a pillar in the corridor, and poked her little head out, and said with grievance, "I don't know. Although this parrot has a broken mouth, it is very cute, but it just happens that A Big Man doesn't like it, and the parrot only bit its head, and then it flew into a rage … "

At this time, there was a rumbling sound, and King Kong, who had jumped up, fell down, and hit the top of the wall, crushing it. The parrot was dragging the chain, and it didn't fly high, but King Kong didn't know how to grab the chain. Moreover, it might not be able to catch a thin iron chain with its gigantic palm.

When Ye Xiaotian saw the parrot flying towards him, he hastily leaped up, grabbed the chain, and dragged the parrot towards him. Li Yuncong saw the mess in the courtyard, and said awkwardly, "Second Master, I didn't think it through, this parrot …"

Ye Xiaotian shook his head and sighed, "What does it have to do with you that the animal doesn't understand human affairs? Forget it, this chatterbox and A Big Man don't like each other, so I'll keep it in my room. "

…

At the foot of the mountain, in the back of the county office, Magistrate Hua listened to the roar of the giant ape on the short mountain gradually disappear, and then he continued to talk to Registrar Bai, "Registrar Bai, after the Lantern Festival, the government office will open. After that, you should go to Tongren Province."

The one walking next to him was Bai Hongbai, the registrar. Today, when he was invited by Magistrate Hua, he knew something was up, and as soon as he heard this, he quickly caught up with Magistrate Hua, and humbly asked for advice, "What business does First Master have to send me to Tongren Province?"

Bai Hong used to be the magistrate of Jiangpu County, and it was a first-class county, so his status was higher than Hua Qingfeng's. Now that he was a registrar, he really lowered his status, and bowed slightly, showing his utmost respect. Probably the setback in his official career was a big blow to him, so his temperament had changed.

Magistrate Hua stroked his beard and said, "Near the end of the year, the imperial court will allocate a sum of money. You also know that most of the land in Guizhou is barren, and it is difficult for the counties to complete the tax collection, so they have to receive relief from the imperial court every year. After this sum of money is allocated, there are too many wolves and not enough meat. If we don't act early, once the first month is over, I'm afraid the money will already be divided by other counties, so we must act early. "

Bai Hong came to a realization and said, "Ah, this lowly official understands! In that case, I will immediately rush to Tongren after the Lantern Festival. "

Hua Qingfeng glanced at him and nodded, saying, "That's for the best! Registrar Bai, don't blame me for being unreasonable, sending you on a long journey in the first month is really because I have no other choice. The people of this county are fierce, and they often quarrel over some relief. Last year, many local people responded to the imperial court's change of customs and were exempted from money and grain, so the situation is even more complicated. It is not appropriate not to give them relief, but if we do it according to the previous practice, I'm afraid that the people who did not get any benefits before will be jealous, and when the time comes, it will inevitably cause more trouble. If we can ask for more money and grain, it will be safer. "

Bai Hong came to Gourd County to gain experience, not to make meritorious service, but to not make mistakes, this is his creed as an official. Although Hua Qingfeng only said a few simple words, but Bai Hong was sensitive to the words "fierce people" and "more trouble". Bai Hong immediately asked for advice, but as soon as Magistrate Hua said it, his heart turned cold.

Speaking of the counties under the jurisdiction of Tongren Province, the situation is more complicated, and most of them are led by local magistrates. Magistrate Zhang is a local magistrate, and these local magistrates have been passed down from generation to generation and are his subordinates, they are the real direct descendants. On the other hand, if Gourd County has an official, it is equivalent to the imperial court's people, in the eyes of Magistrate Zhang, it is inevitable that he will become someone else's child, in this case, is there a need to say who is closer and who is further away?

Therefore, when the imperial court allocates relief funds to your state government, and your state government then allocates to Tongren Province, Magistrate Zhang has always been able to give it to his direct descendants. Gourd County is just a gesture, no matter what you say, it is impossible to fight for more.

This has always been the case in previous years, but the situation this year is different. Last year's change of customs, the imperial court exempted the people who responded to the change of customs from money and grain. This way, the self-collected taxes will be less, if the imperial court allocates too little relief funds, it will inevitably be difficult to make ends meet.

At that time, if there is less relief, the people will be dissatisfied, and the people who have already been exempted will continue to receive relief, and the people who have not been exempted will inevitably be dissatisfied. If the salary of the officials is delayed because of this, the entire yamen will be dissatisfied. Bai Hong is only a newly appointed official, he has no prestige in the county, how can he bear so much dissatisfaction?

Bai Hong immediately became nervous, he hurriedly said, "Ah! This lowly official didn't think that there would be so many problems. This matter concerns the stability of our Gourd County's people. This lowly official has just arrived in Gourd County, how can I bear such a heavy responsibility? Magistrate, please choose a wise person. "

Hearing this, Hua Qingfeng frowned, he awkwardly said, "Registrar Bai, as a registrar, this is your responsibility. If you don't go, who else can I entrust the county to? Moreover, if you go to the yamen to fight for relief funds, if your status is not as high, then there is even less hope of success. "

Who in Gourd County has a higher status than Registrar Bai? Other than Magistrate Hua, there is only Magistrate Ye. Bai Hong immediately had a flash of inspiration, he immediately said, "Magistrate, the change of customs was initiated by Magistrate Ye and succeeded, and Magistrate Ye is also a student of Tongren Magistrate Zhang, he is the best candidate! You see … "

Hua Qingfeng glanced at him, he thought, "You seem to know the details of Ye Xiaotian." Hua Qingfeng stroked his beard and hesitated, "Well …, I can help you talk to Magistrate Ye, but this matter should be your responsibility after all, I'm afraid that Magistrate Ye …"

Bai Hong immediately said, "This lowly official will go to the Ye Mansion and ask Magistrate Ye for help. This matter concerns the livelihood of our Gourd County's people, I believe Magistrate Ye will focus on the overall situation. "

Hua Qingfeng smiled, he nodded and said, "Very good! If Magistrate Ye is willing to help you, I will naturally open the door to you. "