A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 318 Another City Victory

On the first day of the tenth lunar month, the Tang people had traditions of giving out clothes, offering sacrifices, and lighting the furnace.

The Cold Clothes Festival, an autumn festival, is a day when women prepare winter clothes for their families and also send winter clothes to their ancestors and the deceased.

Haozhou, a thousand miles away from my hometown,
Li Yi received winter clothes hand-sewn by his wives and concubines in Chang'an, and Luo San personally led Li's retainers all the way to Haozhou to deliver them.

The ten personal guards of Luo Family Fort, as well as the thirty-six retainers brought by Li Yi, also brought winter clothes sewn by their mothers, wives, or sisters.

"Thank you for your hard work, Uncle. This is truly a long journey."

Luo San was still the same as before, with a burly build, rough hands and feet, and a wrinkled face. "I'm just hurrying along, it's nothing hard. It's you guys who are working hard, risking your lives."

"Everything is fine at home. Young Master Ping An and Young Lady Ruyi are both doing well, plump and healthy, just as strong as Lady Shuniang."

Li Yi named his son, whom he had never met before, Ping An, and his daughter, Ru Yi. In the blink of an eye, both children were two months old.

"Everything is fine at home. Madam Rongguo no longer chants Buddhist scriptures. This time, she even asked me to bring two Hu girls, Reba and Naza, to serve Ah Lang."

Luo San thought the names Li Yi had given the two Hu women were too difficult to pronounce.

"You brought them along too?"

"Lady Rongguo said that since Ah Lang is away and cannot return home for a while, he needs someone to serve him. Those retainers and guards are all men, and they are rough and clumsy."

Li Yi thought to himself that Shi Niang was really considerate. While he was away fighting, she still traveled a long way to send two Hu women to serve her husband.

"Lady Rongguo also said that since Alang is in Haozhou, he can choose one or two suitable daughters from prominent families to take as concubines. Now that Alang is a Duke, he can have six concubines."

"I'm at war."

"Lady Rongguo said that fighting a war doesn't prevent one from taking concubines, having children, and so on. You're defending the city, not marching into battle. She also said that although our family now has one son and two daughters, we still need to have more children to ensure a prosperous family..."

Du Shiniang and the others brought Li Yi many winter clothes, dozens of pieces of various styles, as well as various brocade robes and fur coats.

Actually, Li Yi didn't lack winter clothes.

The emperor also specially sent people to deliver winter clothes to the soldiers of Haozhou, and Li Yi, this meritorious official, was naturally rewarded with many brocade robes and fur coats. The emperor even sent him a lot of tea, white sugar, pepper and other items.

He had Ren Xu take the list of Haozhou soldiers to Chang'an to present to the emperor. The emperor ordered the Ministry of War to register them all, and those who were originally auxiliary soldiers, sons, and militiamen were also specially selected as soldiers of the imperial guard.

The submitted medal registers were handled on a case-by-case basis, and all the merits were approved and awarded according to the registers.

The appointments of those meritorious soldiers to new official positions have also been approved.

Haozhou's second victory against the enemy siege, achieved despite Pei Ji's major setback, was all the more precious. The emperor decreed that the soldiers of Haozhou be awarded another round of honors, with each soldier receiving twenty mu of land as a reward.

Liu Heizi and his comrades received two additional honors after only two rounds of merit-based awards, along with forty mu of land and ten bolts of silk. Li Yi also requested two more merits for him, so now this little Heizi has seven honors.

He was even promoted to the rank of brigade commander, a lower-ranking official of the eighth grade.

"This year's summer harvest was 30% less than expected, but the autumn harvest was quite good. Our two mu of sweet potatoes yielded over 7,000 jin."
The bamboo paper workshops in Zhouzhi County are also doing quite well. Now, there are several bamboo paper workshops not only in Sizhuyuan, Zhouzhi, but also many new workshops are being built in Hanzhong, south of the Qinling Mountains. Making this paper is indeed complicated; from selecting raw materials to finishing the paper, it involves fifteen stages and seventy-two processes, taking more than three months to complete.
However, this paper was very popular in Chang'an and sold very well. A single sheet of fine paper cost one liter of wheat, while a ream of bamboo paper cost one shi of wheat.
"My goodness, this paper is really expensive!"

One ream of bamboo paper is one hundred sheets. During processing, one hundred sheets of paper are stacked together and cut with large scissors. Ten reams make one load.

With the addition of Princes Li Boyi and Li Fengci, Li Yi also brought in the Qiu and Wu families, as well as the families of Li Jing, Du Ruhui, and Fang Xuanling, and even included his sworn brothers from Guzhou, such as Qin Qiong, Luo Shixin, and Cheng Yaojin.

The bamboo paper industry is booming. Although the process is indeed a bit complicated, compared to mulberry bark paper, rattan paper, and hemp paper, the raw materials are still plentiful and convenient. Especially after crossing the Qinling Mountains and south of the Sichuan Basin, bamboo is everywhere, and there is often no shortage of water near the bamboo forests, making processing easy.

A ream of paper can be exchanged for a bushel of wheat.
If the annual production is 10,000 reams of paper, it is worth 10,000 shi of wheat. However, the rent from one mu (unit of land area) can only yield five or six dou (unit of dry measure) of wheat. Therefore, 10,000 shi of wheat would require the rent from 20,000 mu of wheat fields.

Moreover, the demand for paper is huge, while wheat-growing land is limited. Bamboo paper processing is a blue ocean that has yet to be developed.

Has anyone set their sights on our paper mill?

"Yes, quite a few people have been eyeing it ever since bamboo paper hit the market. However, after making a few inquiries and learning that so many princes and wealthy families have joined in, many have given up on the idea."
There were also some who wanted to join.

Li Yi chuckled. He had expected this, which was why he had brought in Li Dejiang, Du Ruhui, and even the Li Fengci brothers, just in case.

He was relieved to see that everything was alright at home.

"We're going to start making persimmon wine again. We plan to harvest more persimmons today and make more wine. What do you think, Ah Lang?" Luo San asked him.

"Sure, the more persimmons we can harvest, the better. We won't have to worry about selling the wine we make; the longer we age it, the better it tastes and the more precious it becomes." Li Yi strongly supported expanding and strengthening the persimmon wine business.

With the war still raging and food scarce, the imperial court has repeatedly issued orders to prohibit brewing.

Only the government's official workshops were allowed to brew and sell wine, which led to high prices. Li Yi's persimmon liquor, which did not use grain, was not subject to this restriction.

"The ladies have bought a lot more land this year. Now the family owns more than 50,000 mu of land. We have estates in all 22 counties around the capital. We have recruited more than 1,000 disaster victims and tenants in various places."

Li Yi was greatly surprised.

Li Yuan only granted him a fiefdom of one hundred households, which in reality meant he would receive the rent and taxes that those one hundred households should have paid to the court. Each household would receive three portions: one to the court and two to Li Yi. Every year, Li Yi would send his retainers and local officials to collect the taxes from the fiefdom. This small amount of real fiefdom was actually insignificant.

After all, the annual rent for one adult male was only two shi of millet, plus half a bolt of silk and three liang of cotton as tax. Even if each household was allocated the maximum of three adult males, he would only actually receive the rent and tax for two hundred adult males, which would amount to a total of four hundred shi of millet, one hundred bolts of silk, and six hundred liang of cotton.

Even with such a small amount of goods, Li Yi still has to send people to collect them every year. Apart from that, he has absolutely no connection with these sealed households.

It's as utterly unbelievable as it gets.

Meanwhile, Du Shiniang and Ji Lingyi were at home, taking advantage of the war and famine to buy land everywhere, and recruiting those disaster victims to be their servants and tenants, relying on the Li family to become their private servants.

They have already recruited more than a thousand disaster victims.

These disaster victims became tenants of the Li family, without national household registration, and were completely dependent on the Li family. Compared to the fiefdoms and households granted by the imperial court,

These disaster victims and tenant farmers are more like the fiefdoms of the Li family.

"Won't we buy too much land and recruit too many disaster victims as servants?" Li Yi was a little worried.

It owns more than 50,000 mu of farmland, and also has land in all 22 counties around the capital, and estates throughout Guanzhong and Longxi.

"After Uncle San goes back, he tells Shi Niang not to buy any more land for the time being, especially not any more male land in the capital region,"

"Ah, why? Land is cheap now. Land prices have risen a lot this year, and they will definitely rise further in the future. It's a good deal to buy now. Even if you resell it in a few years, you'll still make a profit. What's more, it's even more profitable to hire these disaster victims as tenants. Grain prices are high now, so farming is profitable." Luo San said, puzzled.

“Land in Guanzhong, especially land in the capital region, will indeed become more and more expensive in the future. But precisely because of this, we cannot buy too much, otherwise it will attract covetousness. If we want to buy land in the future, we can buy some land in Hedong, Shannan, or even in Bashu and Jiangnan. Even buying land in Lingnan is better than buying land around Chang’an.”

Luo San didn't understand, but he remembered it well.

"How is Wuji Academy doing?"

"Great, the number of members in the academy has increased significantly, the amount of farmland has increased to two thousand mu, and the academy's Wuji Medical Clinic and pharmacy are doing very well."
The current number of students at the school is more than enough to sustain it. Nowadays, many students from other towns and even counties come here, even if it means paying tuition or other fees themselves.

Wuji Academy is now well-known.

Firstly, the teaching is excellent; secondly, the principal, Li Yi, is now the Duke of Rongguo. High-ranking officials, including the brothers Wu Shihuo, a meritorious official of Yuanmou, and Sun Fujia, the grandson of Du Ruhui, Fang Xuanling, and others, all send their clan's children to the school, where they hold honorary vice-principal positions.

This naturally made the school on the outskirts of Chang'an famous, and many noble families were willing to send a few of their collateral branches to it. Even some nouveau riche and local tycoons were vying to come.

This is a good thing. Although he is now the honorary principal and the principal position is held by Dong Xiucai, his name will always be imprinted on the school. The better the school is run, the higher the prestige Li Yi will gain.

Luo San didn't stay in Haozhou for long.

Li Yi got him some local specialties from Hedong and then told him to hurry back to Guanzhong, since this was the front line.

On the third day of the tenth month, after bidding farewell to Luo San, Li Yi launched the War of Filial Piety and Righteousness.

Liu Dewei led an army of 15,000 men, while Li Daoxuan and Qiu Yingqi led 5,200 men from the left and right garrison troops of Haozhou.

The combined army of 20,000 marched towards Xiaoyi City, 30 li away.

After arriving in Xiaoyi, they followed Li Yi's orders and surrounded the north, west, and south sides of Xiaoyi City, but not the east side.

Surrounded by three gates and leaving one gate open.

The 20,000-strong army was in high spirits, but did not immediately launch an attack. Liu Dewei sent people to persuade them to surrender, giving them a day to consider.

"If they resist stubbornly, the defending soldiers will be killed without mercy after the city falls!"

At this time, Liu Wuzhou's garrison in Xiaoyi City numbered less than a thousand and was not yet an elite force.

They were already filled with fear and unease after Huang Ziying's previous defeat.

When they saw that the Tang army was finally about to attack, they all panicked.

midnight,

The garrison in the city abandoned the city and fled eastward, heading towards the nearest city, Jiexiu, from the unblocked eastward route.

Although the eastern side might be a trap deliberately left by the Tang army, they had no choice but to take the risk.

As they fled Xiaoyi City, they were met with no pursuit from behind or interception from the front. Just as they were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief, they encountered the Yong'an Fort ambush that had been lying in wait.

Li Daozong, the Duke of Lueyang, Grand General of the State, and Prefect of Lüzhou, led the Ji brothers in an ambush, routing the more than one thousand Wu Zhou soldiers.
The thousand infantry and cavalry were almost completely annihilated on the north bank of the Xiaohe River, between Yong'anbao and Xiaoyicheng.

With 20,000 troops besieging the city, leaving one side open, and the Yong'an Fort army ambushing them halfway, how could those 1,000 soldiers possibly withstand such a deadly attack?

Xiaoyi City fell without a fight.

When the good news was sent back to Haozhou City, Li Yi remained calm. This was an inevitable result, something he had expected.

(End of this chapter)