Before fending off external foes, one must first pacify the interior.
Liang Zhaohuang convened the commandery governors for a regular meeting, unifying the thinking and actions of the commanderies and great clan families throughout Liu Province. Only after stabilizing Liu Province could they concentrate their strength and energy on confronting the threat of the Demon Country and Demon Race beyond their borders.
As for the matter of the tax-exemption period—
By long-standing Immortal Dynasty custom, however many years of tax exemption the central court granted, the great clans of a province would generally slice off half for themselves before passing the rest down to the commanderies and counties.
For example, when Ying Province was first established, the Immortal Dynasty's central court had, as customary, granted Ying Province a sixty-year tax exemption period.
Yet the Xie Family of "Orchid and Jade," Ying Province's great clan, had granted the commanderies only half that—thirty years.
After those thirty years, the commanderies and counties began collecting taxes and turning them over to the province.
Those taxes had essentially all fallen into the pockets of the Xie Family of "Orchid and Jade," becoming part of the resources and foundations that allowed the Xie Family to grow and prosper.
By granting the eleven commanderies under Liu Province a sixty-year tax-exemption period, Liang Zhaohuang considered himself far more generous than the Xie Family of "Orchid and Jade" had been in Ying Province.
Surely sixty years would be enough for those prominent commandery clans and wealthy county families below to establish firm footholds in Liu Province, achieve some growth, and become ready for shearing, wouldn't it?
At last, Liu Province's first regular meeting ended amid a chorus of praise and gratitude from the eleven commandery governors.
Liang Zhaohuang had the Provincial Governor's Office draft documents recording everything discussed