Big landlords like to stock up on grain, and any family doesn’t have hundreds or thousands of stones of grain. Ordinary families may not have overnight grain. Generally, self-cultivated farmers only have a year of storage after three years of farming. However, those big households, especially those landlords, often stock up on a lot of grain.

Food is wealth, especially in these turbulent years, the more food you stock up, the more you feel at ease.

Now Li Chao is going to take almost half of them away. Of course, they are unwilling to buy and sell voluntarily.

"Li Xiang collected all our grains, and he might not have any benefits. Why not, let's give Li Xiang some gifts."

Many people in Shangzhou have already delivered grain to the yamen. Even the governor of Shangzhou took the lead in asking officials and buying grain. Many grain merchants have also delivered grain to the yamen, but some people still haven't taken action.

Those who have not yet taken out their food are the largest local tyrants in Shangzhou.

Someone suggested giving Li Chao some money.

But this proposal was immediately rejected. Li Chao is so young, and he is very proud of his official position. Is he short of money? Not to mention that Li Chao has a high title and many places, who doesn’t know that Li Chao is a master who turns stones into gold. The Li family’s industry has been spread all over the world in just a few years. The speed of making money can envy countless hundred and thousand-year-old wealthy families.

Even wealthy families like Cui Zheng, who are from the Li family, make money together. How many prime ministers and Dukes in the court have made money together with the Li family, and Li Chao will be short of money.

I have never heard of Li Chao receiving any gifts, because he is not short of money at all, so he doesn't need to ruin his reputation for some money gifts. Even the industries run by the Li family are good businesses that make money and make fame.

"Li Chao doesn't charge money, so it's impossible for the people around him to charge money either, right?" Someone proposed a new idea. Li Chao is indeed rich, but the people around him cannot be so rich. Li Chao also has to rely on his subordinates to do things outside.

Many people are accustomed to giving gifts. They would rather give some money to an official than pay taxes to the government. In their opinion, giving private money is to make friends and build connections. When the money is spent, it can be seen and touched. If you give money to the government, it will be impossible to even throw it into the water.

The most important reason why these local tyrants have always been strong in the local area is their power in the local area and their relationship with local governments.

The famous local tyrants in Shangzhou are mostly intermarriage relationships. The situation in this place is actually very similar to that in the court. The nobles in the court are connected with each other, and the local tyrants are also intermarriages. Moreover, they are still married for generations and have closer relationships.

They advance and retreat together, watch over and over, prosper together and lose together.

Facing Li Chao's hebuy, he decided to deal with it to the end.

They have always been skilled in doing things like giving money.

The governor Liu Ye has a good control over his subordinates. After giving money here, he got news from him and came to see Li Chao in person.

“Did they give a lot of gifts?”

"The gift is indeed not bad, and there are many gifts, so the officials in the state basically have one."

Cui Yan also came to report that many people on their side also received gifts from the powerful men in Shangzhou.

A pair of two sides, Li Chao found that these powerful men were indeed generous. For Li Chao, these gifts may not be anything, but for the officials of Shangzhou and the officials he brought, it was quite a sum of money.

"I'll send you all the money back right away!"

"What are you going to refund? Since they have given it, let's keep it. Register all the gifts you received with you and me, and then these will be the hard work that His Royal Highness has given you during this period."

The powerful men gave gifts, which was enough to give bribes. The officials accepted them, which was to accept bribes. However, Li Chao also knew that there was no fish in the water, whether it was the people he brought or the local officials, they also wanted to support their families.

The money sent, Li Chao said in one sentence, can change from accepting bribes to the prince’s reward, and the nature is different.

The same amount of money collected by officials will change from dirty money to direct reward income. Taking bribes will make them lenient and speak for the powerful. But if they receive rewards, they will no longer have to stand on the side of the powerful.

"Send another order to those big households, and there are three days left to let them hand over the food. At the same time, give a fine to those who dare to openly bribe the imperial officials. The fine will be doubled if they bribe them!" Li Chao said with a smile, but his decision was a little ruthless.

This time, it was Li Chao's strict warning.

Li Chao brought a lot of people this time, in addition to a thousand guards, there was also a team of staff. Among them, there were only a dozen officials of rank, and the remaining more than 100 were all officials.

No grade or grade.

Some of these people are considered officials of the classics, while many are staff members of Li Chaozheng. These people are all scholars, and some of them have participated in the imperial examination.

However, the imperial examinations are not perfect now. Among so many subjects, the Mingjing and Jinshi are worth a lot of weight, and there are too few other candidates such as the Xiucai. Even if you pass the Mingjing and Jinshi, you will not be able to become an official immediately. In short, if you want to become an official, you have to rely on your family background and background.

He has no family background and no good backer, so he is rarely awarded an official position within two or three years after passing the imperial examination.

Many scholars, especially those from poor families, choose to join the curtain first as staff. Being a staff member is not to make money, but to look forward to being appreciated by the director and the opportunity to be recommended in the future.

Li Chao served as the local government as the Prime Minister, serving as a local magistrate, an observer and a great governor. This was the prime minister. According to the court system, he could open a government office and build a yamen and recruit a team of staff himself. Some of the staff members could even have ranks.

This is also a huge difference between officials in the Tang Dynasty and later Song and Ming dynasties. Senior officials in the Tang Dynasty were able to establish government offices and establish their own subordinates. In the Sui Dynasty, even the governor could establish their own subordinates. Until now, the power in the governor's hands has been taken away by the court, and local officials were appointed by the court's Ministry of Personnel.

However, most officials are recruited from local governments.

Even in the Ming and Qing dynasties, when the central government was highly centralized, a county magistrate would have to take office with him a large group of people. Several divisions, prison guards, etc., the divisions alone had to divide them into several divisions according to their reputation, money and grain. These divisions with rich practical and civil affairs experience helped those officials who entered the imperial examinations to actually manage their government.

No matter what dynasty, in ancient times, officials took office, in addition to the staff they brought with them, they were also inseparable from the support of local clerks.

The officials who are flowing water are iron-clad officials.

Most of the clerks in many places are actually hereditary. They have controlled these clerk positions in the local area for generations. These positions seem lowly. Even the court stipulates that the sons of clerks in prefectures and counties cannot take the imperial examinations, but these people cannot be underestimated.

Li Chao is a person from later generations. Anyone who eats public food in any township in later generations is very majestic. Not to mention, at this time, the clerks in the yamen are actually equivalent to those at the level of county directors in later generations. Can a county director be a small person?

In the local area, these people are big names.

The county magistrate who destroyed the family, even the clerks, were all powerful people.

Li Chao didn't mind these people collecting some money, but just don't tilt your feet to one side.

This time, Liu Ye brought the officials from Shangzhou to pay the grain. The local officials performed well. This time, the money was left to them, which can be regarded as making up for the losses they had paid the grain before.
Chapter completed!