The guests are full of praise for the dishes and wine on the table, and the people who came to the birthday banquet today can be said to be either rich or expensive, almost all the officials with a little real power in Taizhou have arrived, since ancient times, there has been a repeated relationship between officials and businessmen, as a businessman, he will naturally not let go of such a good opportunity, if you usually want to meet a certain official without too much intersection, people may not see you, then don't say the old saying, don't stretch out your hand and don't hit the smiling person

As long as people who know a little bit about things take the opportunity to toast and drink, the officials should not refuse, and those who are good at talking may be able to chat with the officials for a few words, and get a friendship with each other

As the owners of the manor, Li Yang and Li Song brothers were busy toasting and expressing their gratitude to the guests, and the guests were shouting to Li Yang for a cup It is not appropriate for anyone to drink a cup of it, so they had no choice but to drink it hard, but after a few tables, he was a little unable to stand, no, he had to be drunk by these people if he drank it like this

Li Yang tugged at Li Song's clothes: The second child is too many, let's go down after drinking like this, or you go and greet those businessmen, and I will greet those colleagues in the house

Li Song was slightly drunk: That's okay

When everyone at the table of the village chief of the ten villages stood up, Li Yang picked up the wine jug on the table and poured a glass of wine: I thank you here for coming to the village chief's birthday banquet, and I will pay tribute to you for this cup of wine

After speaking, he drank all the wine in the cup and showed the empty cup to everyone, and the village chiefs saw it and applauded in unison, "Master Li, a lot"

Yuan An, the head of Cole Village, raised his glass: Let's give a glass to Lord Li

The village chiefs picked up the wine glasses one after another, and Li Yang hurriedly shook his hand when he saw this: I really drank too much today, and I have your kindness in my heart, or I will drink a glass with you instead of tea instead of wine

Chang Mu Village, the head of Xilan Village: Master Li is not very drunk, so let's not embarrass him

After drinking, Li Yang looked at them: I heard Ju Zheng say that you have something to look for me

Bai Zhuan, the head of Lanxi Village: My lord, we are here today to congratulate the old lady on her birthday, and second, we want to ask Master Li to help us intercede and let us pay less poll tax

Han San, head of Dahan Village: The New Year will be celebrated in more than 20 days, and if everyone pays the tax, it will not be paid this year

Li Yang sighed lightly: I'm afraid I can't help you in this matter, I can't hide it from the fact that the country ordered all the prefectures to reduce the 20,000 Taizhou soldiers to 10,000, and this poll tax is listed as one of the whole army, I want to ask you to go back and let everyone pay the taxes as a help in the next favor

Han Er, the head of Xiaohan Village: It's not that we don't pay, but we really can't take out so much money

Li Yang: Since I took office, I have been able to harvest a pattern of mirror silver

Han Er: Since your arrival, you have never received Baojing silver, and we know that you are a kind-hearted person, so we ask you to help us with this old face

Li Yang: I can't say that, I am very happy that you can come to me, there is really a way, but I don't know if you are willing

White Stake: Your Excellency, you said that as long as we can bear it

Li Yang: There are still tens of thousands of victims in Taizhou City, you should have heard of it somewhat

Motoyasu: I've heard that the victims in the city seem to be doing a pretty bad job, so could it be that the method you said has something to do with them?

Li Yang nodded: That's right, as far as I know, Taizhou Governor Sun is worried about the resettlement of these disaster victims, if you can resettle some disaster victims, I can try to talk to Lord Sun, see if you can reduce some poll tax for each village, so that everyone can have a good year

When the village chiefs heard this, they discussed in a low voice, but their expressions seemed a little reluctant

Li Yang: If you feel embarrassed, just say nothing, the tax can't come up, it's a big deal that I'm not properly guarded, but there will be people who will collect the tax, and I believe you should have understood the methods of those people

The village chiefs' faces turned white instantly after hearing this, if they let those people collect taxes, then the villagers can still have a good thing, in the past, those tax collectors had no money to collect taxes, they used valuable things to offset taxes, the villagers of these ten miles and eight villages did not let that gang play to deal with the disaster, and the villages would pay some silver to the guards every once in a while in order to make a peace

Zhang Nan, head of Dianke Village: If we take in the victims, how much can we reduce the poll tax?

The other village chiefs followed suit: Yes

Li Yang: It depends on how many victims can be resettled in each village, if there are more than ten or twenty people, I advise you to stop as soon as possible, it is not worth opening my mouth to Lord Sun once

Yuan'an: There are 680 people in Kol Village, if we can accommodate 320 victims, how much do you think you can reduce the poll tax for us?

Li Yang: I like to deal with cheerful people like you, I don't dare to guarantee more, but I estimate that it should be about the same if each person is reduced by 100 lines

Yuan An picked up his fingers and calculated that the whole village could pay 68 taels of silver less, and his face gradually recovered a little: My lord, I still have a question

Li Yang: If Village Chief Yuan has any questions, just ask

Yuan'an: There are more than 3,800 acres of land in Kol Village, and there will be more people and less land in the future, so I am worried that the rations of everyone will not be enough after the autumn harvest

Believing that this should also be a common concern of the village chiefs, Li Yang leaned on the table and waved his hand to signal the village chiefs to lean over: There are some things I can't tell you now, but please rest assured that this year, everyone's fields will not be less, but will be more

The village chiefs looked at each other and still hesitated slightly, although he was only 26-7 years old, he did have the stability that a middle-aged man should have, and the look on his face did not look like the kind of person who opened his mouth

Han Er: The adults have said so, so what do we have to worry about, in the past, those garrisons would be powerful and squeeze the silver in everyone's hands, and when the Dongwu Haikou came, they would kill the ducks one by one, but the adults never reached out to us for silver after they arrived, and they would send a team of people to patrol the villages every day, and the old and young of the village had a sense of security, and I didn't know about other villages, but our small Han Village could accommodate 220 people

Li Yang got up and hugged his fist at Han Er and bowed: Then I will thank Village Chief Han here for those victims

Cao Yong: We can accommodate 290 people in Gray Village

Han San: Daehan Village can contain 280 people

Zhang Nan: Dian Ke Village accommodates 150 people

Niu Peng: Tuman Village contains 200 people

Tokimura: Sealand Village contains 200 people

White pile: Lanxi Village contains 200 people

Song Jiaping: Luolun Village accommodates 300 people

Li Yang calculated in his heart that another 2,160 people had been resettled: It won't be long before you know how correct the decision you made today is, and the resettlement of these people in the county will give each person 10 catties of grain a month, so that everyone's burden can be lightened

White Stake: If that's the case, you don't have any worries, I thank you here for the folks

The village chiefs responded one after another: Thank you

Li Yang: You owe me a favor today, and I hope you don't stand idly by when I need your help in the future

Cao Yong: I have been in the township for decades, if there is a place where everyone can help, you can say it

Li Yang nodded, "Okay, village chiefs, I'll miss the company first, the wine and meat are not enough, although I greet you, if you want to be sluggish, please forgive me."

Li Song carried the wine jug and held the wine glass and slowly walked towards the merchant's table, I have never seen these people, how to salute them, what should I say about this glass of wine, just when he racked his brains to think about it, he saw the guests on the side suddenly had an idea, there are so many people who dare to say that they all know me, and if I don't know myself, it doesn't mean that others don't know it, thinking of this, he first gave himself a glass of wine and walked over with a smile: In the next Li Song is the second son of the Li family manor, the brother is afraid of neglecting you, let me come and greet everyone first, Thank you for coming to my mother's birthday party, and I would like to toast you first

A businessman stood up: it turned out to be the second young master of the Li family, and in Xia Xin was the shopkeeper of Taizhou Yixuan Bu

Li Song arched his hand: It turned out to be the shopkeeper of Wen, who looked up for a long time

Wen Xin raised his hand and pointed to the person next to him: Let me introduce you to this is the Tang shopkeeper of Yongqing porcelain, the Shen shopkeeper of Wanyuan silk - the shopkeeper of Yifeng Tea。。。。。。

Li Song: Coincidentally, I also did some small business in Xiaxia, but I didn't expect that all of you here are my seniors, and I am fortunate to be lucky

Wen Xin: I don't know what kind of business you are doing, Second Prince Li

Li Song: The main ones that run in the lower part are some small businesses that can't be put on the table, mainly because of sea salt and some daily ironware, which can make money, and the goods that are under the market are mainly sold in the village or exchanged for some food

Wen Xin whispered a few words to a few shopkeepers: Second son, we have some small businesses, I don't know if you are interested

Li Song: As long as I can make money, I am interested, I don't know what kind of business it is

Wen Xin: The goods in several of our stores can be sold to the second son at a price of 7 percent, if you sell at a price of 8 percent, you can earn 1 percent of the profit, and if you sell 9 percent, you can earn 2 percent of the profit

Li Song thought in his heart that he didn't earn the money sent to the door, if people were looking for money, they wouldn't be able to save a few dollars after a year of hard work, but if they were looking for money, even if you were at home, he would still earn money: Then I thank you here in advance

Wen Xin: Second son, don't worry, we still have a small request before that

Li Song: Everyone, please speak

Wen Xin: Second son, can you sell us some salt at the same price?

How can there be a pie in the sky in this world, just now I was wondering how these people can be so generous, it turns out that they are the idea of salt, businessmen are profit-seeking, this is normal, as long as the price is reasonable, everyone takes what they need, "This is no problem, there is money, let's all earn it together"

Wen Xin was very happy when she heard this: Second son, you are really a cheerful person, as long as there is a profitable business in the future, everyone will think about each other

The Zhang family relied on the support of someone behind the back to monopolize the salt industry in Taizhou, and the boss was forced to agree that the Li family would not sell salt in Taizhou City because of the pressure from above, but Taizhou is a big city with more than 200,000 people, and salt alone will consume hundreds of thousands of catties a month, which is a lot of silver, if anyone is not tempted to look at it, then he is a fool, we don't sell salt in Taizhou City, it doesn't mean that others can't do it, borrow them to get our Li family's salt into Taizhou City, and the boss will no longer have to worry about silver in the future

Li Yang came to the room where Sun Yuanwu and the others were, and before he could enter the door, he heard the noisy "come and drink" and "bring the wine to the full", which sounded quite lively, he stretched out his hand and pushed open the door and walked in, hugging his fists: toast the guests, sorry for being late, sorry - sorry

Long Chuan waved his hand and motioned for him to come over: Don't make that piece of crepe, you will punish yourself three cups if you are late

Zhao Shoubei followed suit: Three cups of self-punishment

Li Yang picked up his wine glass with a helpless wry smile: Okay, I'll punish myself for three glasses

I saw him put the wine glass to his mouth and wrinkled the wine, then closed his eyes and swallowed the wine, when he picked up the second glass of wine, his body couldn't help but tremble when he smelled the wine, he took a deep breath and prepared to drink the second glass of wine

Sun Yuanwu waved his hand: Okay, don't tease him, look at his blushing face, you know that this kid has drunk a lot today, and he has just something to say to you when he sits down

The room was instantly quiet, and all the people present looked at Master Sun, only to see him shake his hand: You don't have to be so nervous, this time the poll tax is the key to the whole army, you can't give the officials a talking point

Yuan Bin: My lord, I see that this official squire wants to use the name of the whole army to rectify our Taizhou army, this time the several state capitals of the whole army only Taizhou sent a messenger, Wen An advocated that half of the 20 garrisons be killed, this is the blood of the Taizhou army, if it wasn't for the adults who stopped me that day, I really wanted to have a good break with that scholar about this matter, my lord, we are all subordinates who have followed you for many years, you have to administer justice for these brothers, the soldiers will wave and it will be easy to call, and it will be difficult to summon them immediately

The garrisons responded: General Yuan said yes

Sun Yuanwu: General Yuan's mansion would like to hear your opinion

Yuan Bin: I think we should keep all 20 garrisons, isn't there a quota of 10,000 people for the entire military state this time, then each garrison will be reduced by 500 people, why do you have to be so troublesome and panicked?

Sun Yuanwu: "Well, your opinion is exactly the same as mine, you have to pay the poll tax on time before you can stand up and speak for you, if the servant of the ministry Wen'an insists on going his own way, then the government will go to the book and fight for you

The guards raised their glasses one after another: We are relieved to have your words, and we will toast you together

Sun Yuanwu picked up the wine glass and drank with the people present: There are still some things to deal with in the yamen, so I will go back to the mansion first, and it is rare for everyone to get together and drink to the fullest

Seeing this, Li Yang hurriedly got up: My lord, then I will send it out

Sun Yuanwu nodded, "Hmm"

After leaving the house, I followed Lord Sun until outside the manor, and he suddenly stopped and looked back at me: Wen'an, the servant of the ministry, has already had a holiday with you, so you have to be more careful with the whole army this time, why don't you invite him to come to this birthday banquet, and you can come forward to maneuver for you

Li Yang lowered his head slightly: The last general thinks that the festival between me and him will not be resolved so easily, even if the last general invites Lord Wen, he may not be invited, so why should I be bored

Sun Yuanwu sighed lightly, "yes" and said that, he walked slowly towards the newly built wooden houses, I hurriedly followed, turned around and waved to the carriage, signaling the carriage to follow behind, the craftsmen were busy and did not stop because of the arrival of the two, he liked the feeling that people turned a blind eye to him, he walked into a built wooden house and looked around, "Well, yes, very spacious, but there is not even a stove in this house to warm up."

Li Yang raised his hand and pointed to the wall: My lord, this wall will be plastered with a layer of mud, so that it can withstand a lot of cold

After speaking, he walked to the other side and said, gesturing: Building a kang here can not only heat but also cook, and put some furniture and usual things in the house, so that it will feel like home

Sun Yuanwu was very satisfied when he heard this, he raised his hand and patted me lightly on the shoulder, the burden on your shoulders is not clear, if there is a place where this government can help, you can just say

Li Yang: My lord suddenly had an idea

Sun Yuanwu looked puzzled: What do you think, tell me

Li Yang: Let the villages in Taizhou resettle more disaster victims, and give some reduction and exemption of poll tax to the villages that resettle the disaster victims as an encouragement

Sun Yuanwu heard it: Your method is very good, the key is whether those villages are willing

Li Yang: They are definitely not willing to reduce or reduce the amount of reduction, if there is a reasonable amount of reduction, the villages may consider it, after all, no one will be unable to get along with money these days

Sun Yuanwu: Then do you think it is appropriate to reduce the poll tax for how many disaster victims should be resettled in a village?

Li Yang thought for a moment: How can I get 100 people

After hearing this, Sun Yuanwu calculated in his heart that the national capital allocated 30,000 taels of disaster relief silver can be used to make up for the reduction and reduction of the poll tax, and the villagers can get some benefits for a good year, and the victims can be resettled as soon as possible, and the burden on the shoulders of the government can also be reduced a lot: in this way, you can negotiate this matter with the villages first, and if it works, you can reduce half of the poll tax for them

Although Li Yang had reached a consensus with the village chiefs before, he did not immediately take this matter down, but put on a bottomless appearance: the adults will go to discuss this matter with the village chiefs tomorrow

Sun Yuanwu raised his hand and gently patted him on the arm: If this thing can be done better, you don't have to worry too much, it's not too early, and the mansion should go back

Li Yang bowed: The last general will send off Lord Sun

Sun Yuanwu waved his hand: Okay, you can go back

Watching Master Sun get into the carriage and gradually leave until he disappeared, he turned around and walked towards the manor, just when he returned to the manor, he happened to meet Li Song, he sent a few guests out, although he didn't know those guests, but out of politeness, he thanked him: If there is a place where the greeting is not good, please bear with me, and wait for your family to do a happy event before telling me that I will be there next

When the guests heard this, they nodded their heads again and again: "Definitely, definitely."

The guests in the manor are still crowded, I went to the silver vault and selected 11 pairs of exquisite gold bracelets back to the house, as soon as I entered the door, Long Chuan put on an unhappy look and argued: You kid went for so long a day, did you run where to hide Qingjing

Li Yang raised his eyebrows and let out a wicked smile: It's rare for everyone to get together today, aren't I trying to give everyone some gifts

Long Chuan looked expectant: We really want to receive gifts from the host's family when we come to the birthday banquet, isn't it appropriate?

Li Yang put the gold bracelets on the table one by one: Brothers, don't politely pick what you like and take it back, and give it to my sister-in-law and my sister-in-law

Zhao Shoubei: Brother, your kind brothers have understood it, but your gift is too valuable

Although they said so, their eyes had already betrayed them, and their eyes would gather on the gold bracelet from time to time, which was clearly a sign of embarrassment: If you brothers take me as a brother, don't postpone it, and if I have anything wrong in the future, please don't blame you

After speaking, I gave Long Chuan a look, and he immediately understood my consciousness: "I think Brother Li sincerely wants to make friends with everyone, so don't delay living up to your brother's wishes."

After speaking, he picked out the largest and most exquisite bracelet on the table and handed it to Yuan Bin: General Yuan, I think this bracelet is very suitable for Mrs. Yuan

Yuan Bin took the bracelet and gently shook it with his hand, and the bracelet had to be about a pound: Listening to what you say, it seems to be true

Long Chuan: It seems that this bracelet has a fate with my sister-in-law, as the old saying goes, good things are given to people who are destined to accept it, brother

Yuan Bin put on a dilemma: My brother is so gracious, but I will thank my wife here

Seeing Yuan Bin put the bracelet into his arms, the people present did not postpone and went to get the bracelet one after another: Brother Li, let's not postpone it, if there is anything you need our help with, you will squeak

I picked up the glass on the table and got a glass of wine: I am very grateful to all my brothers for coming to my mother's birthday banquet, and I will do this wine first to show my gratitude

After a few rounds of drinking, Yuan Bin stood up slowly: It's not too early, I have to go back

The other guards also stood up: we must go back too

After sending them away, I swayed back to the hall with the strength of the wine, Li Song saw this and hurriedly ran over and stretched out his hand to help me: Boss, how much wine have you drunk, our mother asked you to go over and have something to say to you

Li Song helped me to sit down at the main table, and when I saw that the second and third uncles were also there, I greeted them: My nephew has seen the second uncle and the third uncle

The second uncle's eyes were wrinkled: Li Song, pour your brother a glass of water to wake up the wine

Li Song handed over a glass of water, I took the cup of water, and after drinking it, I shook my head and was indeed more sober

Mother sighed a long sigh: Son, these guests who came today can be seen, they came not for friendship with the Li family, but for your official position in the official family, before the Zhang family and several major families joined forces to compete with us for water sources, why didn't you see these people help us before, my mother told you that these are not complaints, but I hope you understand a truth, the more proud you are, the more you can't be sharp, and you should be more careful

Li Yang: Mother's teachings are remembered by the children

Mother: Your mother has no objection to the resettlement of the victims, to be honest, those people are also pitiful, there are tens of thousands of people in Alan County, how much food do you have to eat this day, this matter Niang hopes that you will do what you can, this is related to the rise and fall of our family

Li Yang: Mother, you don't have to worry about the difficulties, it's just a temporary success, and when the spring begins, these tens of thousands of people should keep them busy

Seeing that Li Yang was confident, Mrs. Li didn't say anything, she just got up slowly: This person feels tired when he moves a little as he gets older, Xiaohuan, you help your mother go back to rest

Li Yang: Mother, I'll help you go back with the second child

The mother shook her hand: You two have also drunk a lot of wine today, go back and rest early