A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 493 Customers
Dahai Temple.

When Wu Huaiyu came back again, besides five hundred Qingqi guards, he also brought back eight hundred veterans.

These old soldiers from the former dynasty who had already taken off their military uniforms were all disabled, lacking arms and legs, blind and deaf, and covered with scars.

Going back to the big battlefield back then, these people all had complicated expressions.

Huaihai, the abbot of Dahai Temple, was very surprised to hear that Wu Huaiyu had returned and brought back hundreds of disabled people.

"These are veterans who survived the Battle of Dahai Temple back then, and they came to pay homage to Zhang Shuai today."

The tombs of Zhang Xutuo, father and son are actually in Dahai Temple, which Huaihai and the others did not expect.

Cao Qing and other veterans brought Wu Huaiyu to Dahai Temple. In a pine forest behind the temple, there were a few inconspicuous soil bunds, which were the burial places of Zhang Xutuo and his son, the God of War.

Before Zhang Xutuo's death, his official position was the Sui Dynasty's envoy Chijie Xingyang Tongshou Henan Road to arrest the deposed ambassador Kaifu Yitong Sansi. After his death, Yang Guang posthumously gave him the title of Jin Ziguanglu doctor Xingyang County Sheriff.

Burn the incense and burn the paper.

Wu Huaiyu also personally made an epitaph for Zhang Xutuo, which recorded his family dignitaries, and also recorded Zhang Xutuo's life experience in battle, and highly praised this brave and loyal man.

The full text is more than a thousand characters, written in Yan style, and the powerful calligraphy records and praises Zhang Xutuo's bravery and loyalty. This epitaph will be engraved by the best craftsmen.

Zhang Xutuo's two grandsons, Zhang Zhiyun and Zhang Zhixuan brothers who are also Qin Qiong's righteous sons, were dressed in hemp and mourning, crying bitterly in front of the soil bag.

Abbot Huaihai and the others also presided over the ceremony in person.

The earth bag was dug up, and inside was the remains wrapped in horse leather. At that time, there was no condition. The corpse was stolen back from the battlefield, mended, and buried in horse leather.

The Zhang family brothers prepared a high-quality catalpa coffin in advance, opened the horse hide, and put the bones into the coffin.

Eight hundred veterans knelt down to fill the pine forest, weeping for Marshal Zhang Guo together.

The two brothers took Fu Ling back to his hometown of Taolin, Hongnongyi Township, to bury Zu Ying.

······
The tombs of Zhang Xutuo, father and son in Dahai Temple have been moved, but on the original site, Abbot Huaihai proposed to build four pagodas and set up a stele to remember them.

The monks in the temple hoped that Wu Shaobao could leave early, but Wu Huaiyu didn't leave immediately, and the eight hundred veterans didn't leave either.

"Elder Huaihai, there is something I want to discuss with you."

Wu Huaiyu finally made the request, and Abbot Huaihai, Jingyan Weina, and Venerable Zhizang were also mentally prepared.

"This time I was able to find Zhang Shuai's remains, all thanks to the help of several elders, and I am also grateful to you for doing things."

"It is right for monks to be merciful." Huaihai said.

Thank you first, and then make a request.

Wu Huaiyu's request was also simple. According to the new regulations of the imperial court on the management of Buddhism and Taoism, although Dahai Temple was built as a royal temple, it must abide by the new regulations.

The monks in the temple need to be assessed, they need to obtain the monk certificate issued by the imperial court, and even the land and property in the temple have to be sorted out and registered.

"The Dahai Temple was rebuilt by His Majesty's imperial edict, and the land in the temple was also bestowed by the imperial court throughout the history, as well as donations from some benefactors..." Jing Yan said impatiently.

Wu Huaiyu smiled.

Jing Yan had no choice but to shut up and let Wu Huaiyu speak first,
"Naturally, someone knows the origin of the land in Dahai Temple. Dahai Temple has been established for more than a hundred years. From the Northern Wei Dynasty to the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi Dynasty to the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Sui and Tang Dynasties, the imperial court has indeed rewarded a lot of land, and many benefactors donated it, but there are still many. The common people surrendered with land, and some temples were merged.

The imperial court is very clear about the origin of these lands, but you can also rest assured that the imperial court has issued an edict to clear and register the temples and lands, and will also issue title deeds, and will not take them away directly.

but,"

But without saying a word, the hearts of the three purple-clothed monks couldn't help tightening, and the monks didn't eat wind and drink dew.

"However, according to the new regulations of the imperial court, monks in all monasteries need to pass an examination before they can be awarded a monk's certificate. Without a monk's certificate, they are not formally legal monks, and they must be ordered to return to the vulgar home.

Each temple will have a quota of monks, which cannot be exceeded.

Dahai Temple is a state-level imperial temple, and the number of monks will be more, and each monk will be granted [-] mu of land by the imperial court."

There is a lot of land in Dahai Temple, so the imperial court does not need to grant the [-] acres, as their own has already exceeded the quota.

Now Wu Huaiyu proposes that each monk retains [-] mu of land, and the rest of the monastery land still belongs to the temple, but it should be managed in the same way as public land.

The government is responsible for leasing the land to the common people. According to the fatness and thinness of the field, it is divided into upper, middle and lower fields. Two to six buckets per mu are rented to the temple every year.

Apart from this rent, there are no other burdens. Land tenants do not rent from the temple, but from the government that manages the land. There is no dependency relationship, let alone additional labor.

The best fields can only be rented for six buckets of millet a year, and dry land and thin fields can only be rented for two buckets of millet.

The rent is not high, and it is basically in accordance with the standard of public land, but in fact the rent burden of public land is higher than this, and there are some extra burdens.

Shangtian can earn two stones per mu. If you rent six buckets, it is actually seven or three, and the tenants get three for seven temples.

And if you count the autumn grain, or other miscellaneous grains planted, or even wheat grass, etc., then the actual tenants get more.

Wu Huaiyu even proposed a more important one, that is, the tenants signed a contract with the temple, and the tenants enjoyed the permanent tenancy rights.

The temple monks have land ownership and hold the field bones, while the tenants get the land management rights and hold the field skin.

Even tenants can transfer their tenancy in the future.

The landlord can also sell the land, but it does not affect the tenant's tenancy management right.

This is actually the separation of ownership and management rights, a major form of tenancy in the south of the Yangtze River since the Song Dynasty, especially in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

In this case, Dahai Temple still owns those fields, but the power over the fields is greatly reduced, and the tenants have no direct relationship with them, and the rent is also handed over to the entrusted yamen.

You don’t even have to worry about the temple not renting the land to them anymore, or raising the rent, because the rent is also fixed after signing the permanent tenancy contract.

There is no increase in rent in a good year, but a reduction in rent in a bad year.

This is actually a disguised form of taking back the monastery's property, but compared with the previous thunderous method of directly confiscating the third-order religion, it is relatively mild, and it also retains a lot of rights and interests for the temple.

At least one mu of land can be rented for six buckets a year, iron rent income, and the land can be resold at any time without affecting the income.

Dahai Temple was the first temple to implement this policy. Facing Wu Huaiyu, they wanted to refuse but dared not.

The lessons of the third-order religion are in the front, who dares to reject the emperor's heart who censors Buddhism?

Acceptable, and a little bit unwilling.

In the end, it was the senior master Zhizang who came out to respond.

The Dahai Temple signed the land to Zhengzhou as an escrow, and the Zhengzhou Yamen signed a permanent tenancy contract with the tenants.

The first batch of tenants were, of course, veterans left over from the Battle of Eight Hundred Dahai Temple.

These people have not had a good life in the past 12 years, and many of them have become escapees. Now they are naturalized and registered again, and they have signed leases for them.

One Ding rents a hundred mu of land, and the rent per mu ranges from two to six dou.

However, although these original escapees are now registered again, they are also benefactors, but they are specified as customers.Because they have no land property and are engaged in renting, so they indicate the client and do not need to pay the rent and adjust the tax, but they also need to serve the miscellaneous corvee.

In this way, in addition to paying rent to the landlord for farming, the customer no longer needs to pay the rent to the court, and the burden is much lighter.

Otherwise, it would be difficult for them to survive if they paid both the land rent from the landlord and the official rent transfer from the state, and sooner or later they would become fleeing households.

The client just no longer pays the official rent and adjustment of the state, but the household tax has to be paid by the official service miscellaneous corvee, and the grain for the free warehouse is paid by the landlord.

Cao Qing's family of six, signed a contract, signed a pledge and pressed their fingerprints, and obtained the permanent tenancy right of 330 mu of fertile land. After that, they only need to pay [-] shi of millet rent every year, and this [-] mu of fertile land can harvest [-] shi of wheat for summer grain in normal harvest years, and can be converted into millet. More than [-] shi, and some autumn miscellaneous grains can also be harvested.

The family works hard to cultivate, and then plant mulberry and silk weaving, and they can still have enough food and clothing, and even have a surplus in case of famine.

Of course, compared with the imperial court's equalization of land, the burden is actually heavier. If the imperial court can equalize a hundred acres of land, the rent, adjustment and taxation will only be two stones of millet plus two feet of silk and three taels of cotton.

But for Cao Qing, he still feels very satisfied. Paying six buckets per mu is indeed much more than paying a few liters per mu, but for the Cao family who are working hard now, they can get one hundred Mu of land, even if it is only a tenant right, is enough. After all, this is a permanent tenancy right, which has great protection.

After paying the rent of [-] shi, there is still a lot left, and then planting mulberry and weaving cloth, there is a great guarantee.

Cao Qing's only problem is that he is disabled, the land is not easy to grow, and they basically have nothing now, so they have to buy new farming tools, seeds, etc., which will cost a lot.

Fortunately, Wu Huaiyu still has follow-up support, and can provide them with Changping Society's low-interest young crop loan, which can solve the urgent need.

Veterans who are disabled and have insufficient labor force can also hire another person. Based on the fact that the long-term workers now pay about one shi of grain per month, and five shi of millet and five shi of wheat a year, plus clothes, it is equivalent to two months of grain.

The salary of a long-term worker is equivalent to about [-] shi grains a year, which is roughly equivalent to an output of seven or eight mu, and it is still affordable.

Of course, if you are really disabled and you are an old bachelor, then you can sublet and collect rent, and earn a little difference in the middle to rent for the elderly.

The permanent tenancy right is set up to provide this kind of protection. Veterans are basically disabled, either old or sick, many of them are bachelors, and it is difficult to grow land. With this permanent tenancy right, they can sublease, which is equivalent to There is a welfare guarantee.

Xu Da, the watchman, planned to rent out the land again, but he still went back to Xingze to do the watch. He couldn't plant the hundred acres of land by himself, and he was too old and in poor health, so he simply collected some rent.

If it is rented out, the harvest in the field will be divided in half, and two stones will be divided into one stone. He will pay six buckets of grain, and there will be more than four buckets of grain per mu, and there will be forty grains of grain per hundred mu. It is enough to buy clothes, rent a house, etc., and if you have a little income, you will have a guarantee in your later years.

"Thank you Wu Shaobao for remembering us cripples and giving us such a place."

Eight hundred veterans are very grateful.

Wu Huaiyu is not all for them. This kind of customers, permanent tenant rights, etc., are actually patching up the collapse of the land equalization system, so as to prevent a large number of people from abandoning their residences and becoming fleeing households in the future.

"Uncle Cao, I want to enlist you to serve as the assistant of my government and join the military. How about going to Youzhou together, with [-] shi grains per year and another [-] qian per month?"

This is based on the salary of an eighth-rank official in the imperial court. Although there is no additional income such as land rent, sixty shiliang for this year and [-] yuan per month are not bad.

What's more, Wu Huaiyu also said that there are other gifts for the New Year's Day, and he also provides clothing for the four seasons, as well as mounts.

"What can I, a disabled person, do for Wu Shaobao?" Cao Qing shook his head.

"Uncle Cao is still young and has extraordinary knowledge. I hope Uncle Cao can help me."

Cao Qing asked Ming Wu Huaiyu not because he felt sorry for him, but because he really wanted his help, so he generously agreed.

"Wu Shaobao has done so much for us, my old bone has nothing to hesitate."

The family hired two long-term workers to help grow the 2 mu of land, and followed them to Youzhou to do work. The income is still good. The salary alone is more than 150 yuan a year, and the current price of wheat is only 140 yuan per stone. If you can buy [-] four shi of wheat, plus [-] shi of salary, that is [-] shi, which is equivalent to harvesting a hundred mu of land.

Lao Cao doesn't have any career ambitions anymore, he just wants to repay. Wu Shaobao has helped everyone so much, and he has to repay.

(End of this chapter)