A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 869: The captain of the tribute car is like a dragon, and the three scenes of the capital are three

September of the second year of Qianyuan
At the Chunming Gate in Chang'an, a convoy as long as a dragon appeared not far from the gate. Hundreds of strong soldiers were dressed as guards and guarded the convoy.

At the front of the convoy were carts full of grain and wooden boxes, on which were inserted small triangular flags with the inscription "Hedong Duzhishi" inscribed on them. Passersby knew that this was the team from Hedong offering tribute.

In the first year of Zhide, in order to gain the support of the governors, Li Heng promulgated the "Two Tax Law", one of the articles of which formally established the destination of local taxes.

Li Heng decided to divide all local taxes into three parts each year, and send one third to the capital, which was called "tribute."

One third was left in the local area for use as state and county expenses, or for building roads and canals. This part was called "retained in the state."

The remaining one third was given to the Jiedushi in charge of local military affairs as military expenses, which was called "sending an envoy."

This largely recognized that local military governors could recruit soldiers, collect taxes, and support their own troops.

Although it greatly alleviated the financial pressure on the court, it obviously made the Jiedushi more independent and no longer under the control of the court.

If the central government's power was not still strong and the treasury was not full of money, the local governors would have stopped listening to the central court long ago.

However, there are also some Jiedushi who only obey orders and not announcements.

"Stop, which team are you from? Do you have an ultimatum?" The commander of Chunming Gate had already seen the convoy in the distance and knew that it was the tribute-paying team from Hedong, but the proper procedures had to be followed.

Soon, a middle-aged man who looked like an official came out of the convoy, showed a document to the guard, and said:

"Lord Bai Jing, the governor of Hedong, has been ordered to escort Hedong's tax revenue to Beijing this year. Here is the customs clearance document. Why don't you let him pass as soon as possible?"

The guard followed the official's gaze towards a not-so-luxurious carriage, and saw Bai Jing lift a corner of the curtain and wave his hand. Bai Ming on the side hurriedly took out a large string of talismans from a wooden box and handed them to the guard for inspection.

Respectfully taking the seal, the guarding general looked at the string of nearly twenty titles printed on it, including "Hedong Duzhi Envoy", "Hedong Surveillance Envoy", "Crown Prince's Left Secretary", "Hedong Transport Envoy", "General of the Cavalry", "Grand Guard", "Minister of the Ministry of Revenue", "Prince of Baiguo" and so on, which were printed on the seal in different colors and materials.

Wow, this is a real big shot. One person's title is equivalent to an entire family. His hands couldn't help but tremble, and he quickly handed it back to the follower beside Bai Jing with both hands.

Then he ran to the city gate and shouted, "Open the gate!!!"

Then he stood respectfully by the roadside, watching the endless stream of convoys entering the city.

After entering Chang'an, the caravan was divided into two teams. One team carried the taxes to the Zuozang Dayingku, and the other team went to the Bai Mansion in Changlefang.

Walking on the streets of Chang'an, Bai Jing looked out from the car, looking at the desolate Chang'an streets in front of him, which were no longer as prosperous as before, and sighed in his heart.

This is his third time to Chang'an.

The first time he came, he was young and arrogant, and he came here to gain fame as a poet. At that time, the Tang Dynasty was at its peak, with clear politics and harmonious people. It was powerful and attracted many nations. A few years later, he won the title of "Poet Noble" because of this.

The second time, he was middle-aged and came to seek wealth for his family. At that time, although the Tang Dynasty was prosperous on the outside, it was already rotten on the inside. The politics was dark and the emperor was incompetent.

At that time, he was traveling with his friends such as Li Bai and Du Fu, while at the same time presiding over his family's actions against Li Linfu in Chang'an.

This is the third time. My hair is mostly white and I have reached the age of knowing the destiny. The Tang Dynasty is now facing internal and external troubles, and has lost its soldiers and territory.

The Western Regions and the south of the desert have been occupied by foreign races. Eunuchs are in power inside, warlords are in power outside, and rebels are rampant.

Especially on the way here, he heard about the severe drought in Guanzhong, which was really adding insult to injury. He didn't know what the court would do.

Just as he was thinking about it, dozens of horse-drawn carriages arrived at the Bai Mansion in Changlefang. He saw that the originally elegant and spacious Bai Mansion was now very dilapidated.

It is said that when the rebels invaded Chang'an, the rebel leader An Shouzhong chose Bai Mansion at first sight and made it his own residence.

Finally, the rebellion was defeated, and the Bai Mansion was visited by many warlords. Except for two or three precious flowers and plants, the rest are now nowhere to be seen.

Looking at the dilapidated Bai Mansion, Bai Jing couldn't help but sigh again. "Father."

Hearing Bai Ming's call, Bai Jing came back to his senses and instructed his attendants:

"The Duke's Mansion is too big to be cleaned up in a short time. Now we just need to clean up the front yard first. We can live in the front yard for the next few days."

"Yes."

More than a hundred family soldiers who received Bai Jing's orders rushed into Bai's mansion like wolves and tigers, ready to drive out the beggars and refugees gathered inside. For a while, cries of grief and shouting were heard one after another in Bai's mansion.

Bai Jing frowned when he heard this and ordered:
"There is no need to forcefully expel them from the Bai Mansion. The weather is hot now and there is no shade outside. You can let them live in the backyard temporarily. Just guard the courtyard. In addition, set up a porridge stall in the courtyard to help the homeless beggars in the city."

After receiving the order, Bai Jinchuan led the two people into the mansion. Within a short while, he heard cheers and words of gratitude coming from the mansion.

Exhaling a breath, Bai Jing looked at the not-so-bright red sun in the sky, knowing that another day was coming to an end.

But he couldn't feel at ease in his heart. He kept venting his anger and muttered, "You bastard."

He learned this sentence from the soldiers under him when he was leading troops in Xianghuan, and now it is exactly what he wants.

Two days later, Emperor Li Heng finally prepared to summon Bai Jing.

An eunuch, escorted by more than a hundred imperial guards, arrived at the Bai Mansion. Although he was stopped by the Bai guards at the gate, he did not care.

Soon, Bai Jing appeared in casual clothes, followed by Bai Jinchuan, Bai Ming, Yuan Baoyi and others.

"Cheng Yuanzhen, the archer of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, has come here on the orders of Your Majesty to summon the Revenue Envoy to the palace to make a report."

Bai Jing bowed slightly and said, "Thank you, eunuch. Please sit in the hall for a while. I will take a bath and change clothes and follow you to the palace to meet you."

"good."

Unlike the arrogance he showed towards other people, the Ministry of Internal Affairs had already made up its mind about the Bai family. The Bai family's son was different from other officials, generals, and military governors.

If you offend those officials, the most you will get is blamed by His Majesty, and you can retaliate against them.

But the Bai family is different. If they offend Li Heng, they will be abandoned by Li Heng and even sent away to apologize. In addition, the Bai family controls Hedong. If they are forced into a corner, Hedong will rebel and attack Chang'an, and they will die without a burial place.

Soon, after changing into a rare official uniform and sitting in a carriage, Bai Jing met Li Heng.

"I, Bai Jing, the transport commissioner of Hedong, pay my respects to Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty."

"My dear life."

Li Heng was very satisfied when he saw Bai Jing bowing respectfully. He was in a high position but did not bully those below him, and he was in power but did not bully those above him. How many people could not be like Bai, who knew when to advance and when to retreat, and understood the hierarchy.

His thoughts were the same as those of previous emperors: if only everyone were like the Bai family, he would feel much more relieved.

"My dear minister, you have come a long way to personally escort the taxes to the capital. Thank you for your hard work."

"This is my responsibility, I dare not complain."

As for the position of Duzhi Zhuanyunshi, Li Heng set it up in every place in the country, and usually used eunuchs because he was afraid that others would embezzle his money.

However, it was different in Hedong. Only people from the Bai family could serve as the Duzhi Transport Envoy and collect money and grain, so Li Heng had to make special arrangements.

He now has a very stable attitude towards the military towns and prefectures in various places. As long as they obey the orders of the court and send taxes to the capital on time, they are basically considered loyal ministers.

(End of this chapter)