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

Chapter 389 Li Yi Sells Official Positions

Hulao Pass.

Li Yi stood atop the fortress, beside him were Huo Yu and Li Shiji, the heroes who had captured the fortress, and Shen Yue, the inside agent.

Lu Chengqing, Zhang Gongjin, and Dai Zhou, who was captured in the Battle of Hulao Pass, were also present.

The fortress sits majestically atop a towering mountain ridge, surrounded by intersecting peaks, bordering Mount Song to the south and the Yellow River to the north.

Hulao Pass is the eastern gateway to Luoyang, and its relationship to Luoyang is similar to that of Tongguan Pass and Chang'an.

"This pass is truly a place where one man can hold off ten thousand."

Li Yi praised it.

As a loser, Dai Zhou lamented, "The strength of a country lies in virtue, not in its natural defenses. Wu Qi said this long ago: If virtue and righteousness are not cultivated, everyone on the boat will become an enemy state."

“What Lord Dai said is very good. I heard that Lord Dai was also highly regarded by Wang Shichong. He was appointed as a censor and also served as an official under the Grand Commandant’s office. However, Lord Dai advised him not to usurp the throne. Unfortunately, he did not listen to Lord Dai’s advice and instead demoted Lord Dai from Luoyang.”

Dai Zhou was in his forties when he entered officialdom in the Sui Dynasty through the Mingjing examination. He was well-versed in law and document drafting. When he served as a clerk in the Secretariat, he was highly regarded by prime ministers Su Wei and Pei Shiju.

Even Wang Shichong admired his talent.

The fall of Hulao Pass was not unexpected for Dai Zhou. Even without Shen Yue, there would have been Zhang Yue or Wang Yue, just as Li Yi surrendered wherever he went in Henan.

Given this situation, who would be willing to defend Wang Shichong to the death?

Hulao was once the place where the Zhou emperor imprisoned tigers.

Legend has it that King Mu of Zhou once discovered a tiger hiding in the reeds while hunting in Zhengpu. The brave warrior Gao Benrong volunteered to fight the tiger and successfully captured it alive. King Mu then kept the tiger in Dongguo, which is why the place was named Hulao (Tiger Prison).

The Qin Dynasty established a pass here, and the Han Dynasty established a county here. After that, this place became a strategic location fought over by military strategists.

Luoyang was the foremost of the eight passes, such a strategic location, yet the Tang army captured it with almost no effort. How could Dai Zhou not understand that the state of Zheng was doomed?

"Does Lord Dai have any good suggestions for me?" Li Yi asked.

Dai Zhou thought for a moment and said, "Reduce taxes and corvée labor to encourage agricultural work, value millet and devalue gold and jade."

"Since the Great Expedition to conquer Liaodong, the people of Henan have suffered from taxes and corvée labor, followed by refugees, famine, and constant wars. The people need to recuperate and rebuild their lives. What they need most now is to restore farming and encourage agriculture and sericulture."

Only with a good harvest can the people settle down; otherwise, nothing else matters.

Although this is a cliché, very few people actually do it these days.

They rewarded farming and weaving, promoted water conservancy projects, provided relief to displaced people, and encouraged agriculture and sericulture.

First and foremost, you need a stable environment. Otherwise, if you cultivate the land, and neighboring warlords or bandits come to plunder it, it will all be for nothing.

Another point is that it needs to be organized and planned.

After the great chaos, how easy is it to appease the displaced people and restore farming?

“Let’s start by cultivating the land,” Dai Zhou suggested. Most of the people today are displaced people or bankrupt, and they have no ability to resume farming. Many of them are not locals, and they have no land, no oxen, no seeds, and no farming tools. Even if you give them a piece of land, they will not be able to cultivate it.

Dai Zhou proposed to first establish collective farming, even involving soldiers in military settlements. Wasteland was everywhere, and what was needed was organization. This involved utilizing the power of the imperial court, whether by transferring seeds, farming tools, and oxen from other places or by renting them from local powerful families.
Everything needs to be organized.

"Whether they are local people or refugees, we should first organize them to cultivate land. I heard that last spring, the Chamberlain suppressed bandits south of Zhouzhi Mountain, and then also pacified the refugees, established villages and garrisons, and organized land cultivation."
We can do that now too.

It is autumn now, and the imperial government will provide them with rations until the summer harvest next year. This rations can be allocated from the imperial granaries or borrowed by the imperial government from local powerful families.

In short, the people must first be settled down and prevented from wandering around. They must be able to eat so that there will be no more large numbers of bandits and thieves. Most importantly, farming must be restored to ensure a harvest; otherwise, it will only lead to a vicious cycle.

"Is there still grain in Luokou Granary?" Li Yi asked.

Luokou Granary was one of the six major granaries of the Sui Dynasty. The city of Luokou Granary was 20 li in circumference and had 3,000 cellars, each of which could store 8,000 shi of grain. If Luokou Granary was full of grain, it could hold 24 million shi.

This was the largest granary in the Sui Dynasty.

When Li Mi first arrived at Wagang, his first task was to persuade Zhai Rang to capture Luokou Granary and then Liyang Granary. With grain in hand, they could rally the various rebel armies in Henan and Hebei.

In the thirteenth year of the Daye era, Zhai Rang dispatched 7,000 elite troops to capture Luokou Granary, opened the granary to distribute grain, and quickly increased his army to 200,000. After Li Mi seized power in Wagang, he built a new city, Luokou, with a circumference of forty li, where he established his regime and proclaimed himself Duke of Wei.

Luokou Granary, relying on the Grand Canal and the Yellow River, became the largest transshipment warehouse for grain from all over the country.

Dai Zhou sighed, "It's been four years since Wagang captured Luokou Granary. Four years of consumption, where is there any grain left?"

"When Li Mi opened the Luokou granary and distributed rice, he only cared about winning people's hearts and boosting his reputation, but he ignored everything else. There were neither guards nor pawners, and people could take as much or as little as they wanted."

As a result, many people desperately try to acquire more, but after leaving the warehouse, they are unable to bear the burden and abandon it on the roadside without any appreciation.

From the granary to the city gate, the rice paddies were several inches thick, trampled by carts and horses.

Nearly a million bandits and their families came seeking food, yet they had no earthen jars or containers, and wove wicker baskets to wash their rice. For ten miles along both banks of the Luo River, everything appeared as white sand!

Li Yi shook his head upon hearing Dai Zhou's description.

They really didn't know how to cherish it. In the era of great famine and cannibalism at the end of the Sui Dynasty, Li Mi conquered the largest grain reserves in the country, but instead of managing them properly, he allowed people to take them at will. As a result, no one cherished the grain, and it was wasted everywhere.

Not only from the warehouse to the city gate, the road was full of rice, but even along the Luo River, the various rebel armies, their families, and refugees who came took rice and then washed it in the river, leaving a rice paddy on the banks of the Luo River.

What a waste!

If Li Mi had managed things properly, things wouldn't have come to this.

But Li Mi didn't care. He captured Luokou Granary and later Liyang Granary. By opening the granaries and distributing rice, he attracted countless people to join him and became the largest rebel army in the Central Plains.

In the end, Li Mi's reign lasted only a few years before he was defeated and killed, and the grain in his granaries was almost depleted.

After Wang Shichong defeated Li Mi, he still used the Luokou Granary and other granaries, but the grain reserves from the Daye era were long gone. The grain was all collected from various parts of Henan later, and there wasn't much left.

Li Yi wanted to seize Luokou Granary, open it to provide relief to the people, appease the displaced, and restore farming and weaving, but his plan was blocked.

When Li Yuan raised his army in Taiyuan and marched south, he temporarily solved his military needs with the help of Yongfeng Granary offered by Li Xiaochang. However, the grain reserves were not large. After capturing Chang'an, he could only send people to Sichuan and Chongqing to find food. Grain prices in Guanzhong have been very high for the past few years.

Ultimately, the grain that Yang Jian and Yang Guang had collected from various places in their early years and stored in several large granaries had long been exhausted.

Zhang Yacha, a colonel under Huang Junhan, the governor of Huaizhou, captured Huiluo Granary north of Luoyang with only seventy men. However, there was no grain there, otherwise it would have been possible for seventy men to capture it with so few soldiers guarding it.

When Li Shimin was in Luoyang, he relied on transporting grain from Guanzhong, Hedong, and Shaanxi. General Dang Renhong, the Left Martial General and Inspector General of Shanzhou, was specifically responsible for this transport. The previous Shanzhou General, Yu Yun, had been demoted due to issues with grain transport, and Dang Renhong replaced him. The six major granaries of the Sui Dynasty were basically empty; the Yongfeng Granary only stored grain transported from various parts of the Tang Dynasty.

In fact, the only ones who still have grain are the local powerful clans.

But these days, food is more precious than life, so who would be willing to lend food so easily?

Forcible requisition can collect grain, but it may trigger conflict or even rebellion among powerful families.

Although Luokou Granary was out of grain,
But we still have to win it.

Taking this place will make it easier to transport grain and fodder in the future.

The emperor's decree also arrived from Chang'an, ordering Li Yi to capture Luokou Granary and subsequently send an army to Luoyang to assist in the siege. The emperor did not send Li Yi to Luoyang personally, but instead ordered him to pacify Henan and Hebei.

While stabilizing the rear, they were responsible for collecting grain and fodder, and for resettling people and cultivating land.

After all, it's harvest season now, and Henan can still harvest some grain.

"The Sui dynasty declined, its government was corrupt, and its people were scattered. The nine provinces were torn apart, and the four seas were divided up. The innocent people were captured by wolves and jackals. The terrified common people suffered the calamities of war."

I, the Emperor, possessed the precious map and saved it from peril. For even a single object lost its place, I am deeply moved and offer my condolences. Now, the people of Zhao and Wei, all benefiting from the Emperor's benevolent rule, and the people of the coastal regions, yearn to submit to the Emperor's authority…
General of the Right Martial Marquis, Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince and Left Guard Commander of the Crown Prince, Left Vice Minister of the Yizhou Circuit, Left Vice Minister of the Xiangzhou Circuit, Governor of Xiangzhou, concurrently Inspector-General, Pillar of State, Duke of Jin, Yi, whose territory is close to the capital and whose achievements are significant since the beginning of the dynasty, is worthy of being entrusted with important responsibilities.

The Pacification Commissioner of Henan and Hebei Circuits was appointed, and the military affairs of Henan and Hebei were also placed under his command.

The previous ambassador was Li Shentong, the Shandong Circuit Pacification Ambassador. He is still visiting Dou Jiande with his deputy, Huangmen Shilang Cui Mingan. Li Yi's maternal uncle, Zhang Daoyuan, previously served as the Hebei Circuit Pacification Ambassador. He was a subordinate ambassador of Li Shentong, which was equivalent to the relationship between a Grand Commander and a Military Commander.

Li Yi thought that Li Yuan was eager for him to go and fight in Hebei again.

Fortunately, the emperor also issued an oral edict.

Li Yi's mission was to guard Hulao Pass, and his first task was to command Li Daliang and Guo Xiaoke to break through Wang Shichong's Xuzhou headquarters.
At the same time, prevent Dou Jiande from advancing south and reinforcing Luoyang. If he has the capacity, send another army to Hanoi to assist Liu Dewei and Huang Junhan in capturing Hanoi, north of Luoyang.

"Your Excellency, I am willing to lead my troops to attack Luokou Granary, and then go to Luoyang to assist in the siege." Li Shiji volunteered for the mission.

He was getting anxious because his achievements on this expedition were not as great as those of Guo Xiaoke and Huo Yu.

Huo Yu chuckled, "Then I request to lead an army to Hanoi. I'm quite familiar with the area, and I still have some old subordinates there."

At the beginning of the year, Huo Yu and his mother retreated to Hanoi, where they were ultimately wiped out. They learned to rise again from where they fell.

"Row."

After some deliberation, Li Yi agreed that Li Shiji should lead his 10,000 troops to attack Luokou Granary, and then proceed to Luoyang to provide support.

Huo Yu also led 10,000 troops across the Yellow River to Liyang, a place that had previously been captured by Wang Shichong himself, and whose garrison commander had now surrendered to the Tang.

First, stabilize this outpost in Hebei, then support Liu Dewei in attacking Hanoi.

Li Yi himself continued to be stationed at Hulao Pass. He could first send people to persuade the local military leaders east of the Grand Canal, such as Meng Haigong of Caozhou, Xu Yuanlang of Yanzhou, Zhang Qingte of Jizhou, and Wang Bu of Qizhou, to surrender. Most of these people were currently attached to Dou Jiande, but they were all opportunists.

However, if they were willing to submit to the Tang Dynasty again before Luoyang was captured, it would be very beneficial to the Tang army.

Even if it's a nominal surrender, they won't attack, harass, or plunder the neighboring prefectures that have already surrendered to Tang for the time being.

The autumn harvest is just around the corner, and Li Yi doesn't want his grain to be stolen.

"Lord Dai, I appoint you as Military Advisor for Agricultural Development. You will be responsible for assisting in the pacification of displaced people and the restoration of farmland cultivation."

Dai Zhou did not refuse, saying, "I am willing to do my best."

Standing at the pass and looking into the distance, Henan today is somewhat chaotic, but this is the chaos before great order; without destruction, there can be no construction.

The General Administration Offices of Huazhou, Bianzhou, Xingyang, Zhengzhou, Qinzhou, Songzhou, Guanzhou, and Liangzhou.
There are also six general administrations: Yi, Ye, Xu, Wei, Chen, and Yu.
Li Yi has already petitioned to establish fourteen general administrations in Henan, governing thirty-two prefectures and seventy-two counties.

The Wenren family, a prominent clan in Sishui County, Zhengzhou, under the jurisdiction of the Zhengzhou General Administration, received a letter.

The letter from Li Yi, the ambassador for pacifying Hebei and Henan, mentioned three things.

The government recruited outstanding young men from the prominent Sishui clan, assigning civil service positions to those skilled in literature and military service positions to those skilled in martial arts, based on their abilities. Those with exceptional abilities were granted official posts, while those of average ability were appointed as clerks.

The second matter was borrowing grain from Wenren, 1,200 shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain, with interest. It wasn't a grain requisition, but a loan. The autumn harvest was imminent, but Li Yi had already issued a proclamation that newly subjugated areas in Henan and Hebei would be exempt from rent and taxes this year.

Although the Wen family owns a lot of land, we will not levy grain on them this year. Instead, we will borrow some grain from them to help the people resume farming.

The third thing is that if you hear that someone is benevolent and generous and has surplus grain that they are willing to donate, if they donate 500 shi (a unit of dry measure), you can send one of their children to study at the Imperial Academy in Chang'an, or you can posthumously confer honorary titles on their fathers and grandfathers.

A donation of 800 shi (a unit of grain) can earn one the honorary title of Lixinwei (a minor official post of the ninth rank). To advance from the ninth rank to the eighth rank, one must donate an additional 200 shi of grain. The eighth-rank Huai Renwei (another minor official post of the eighth rank) requires 1,400 shi of grain.

From the eighth rank to the sixth rank, an additional 500 shi (a unit of grain) was required for each rank increase, up to 3,400 shi for the Jianjiewei (a military officer).

The next step up is to donate up to the rank of Fifth Grade Official (朝散大夫), which requires 5,000 shi (石).

The Wenren family owned a lot of land. Although there had been constant wars in recent years, the family had several fortified villages. They were able to navigate the chaos and recruit many refugees to cultivate the land. In the last two years, when things had stabilized a bit, they had secretly stockpiled a lot of grain.

"Isn't this just buying an official position by paying grain tax?" Wenren De said with some surprise.

Wenren Chengzong simply smiled. The old man had seen it all before. "What's this about buying an official position? In this chaotic world, the least valuable thing is an official position, especially since this is just a nominal one. The Li Tang dynasty in Guanzhong had already over-appointed these nominal positions, making them worthless."

Even a low-ranking official like Li Xinwei (a military officer of the ninth rank) was required to donate 800 shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain; this was essentially a disguised form of taxation.

Wenren Xin, however, was not so agitated. "Our Wenren family has first submitted to Li Mi in recent years, then to Wang Shichong, but has never submitted to the Tang Dynasty."
Judging from the current situation, the world will surely return to the Tang Dynasty, and we Wenren people should also make some preparations as soon as possible.

"Donating some grain to buy a few nominal positions in the Li Tang dynasty might seem like a loss, but I think it's worth it."

“I think that Li Shizhong should borrow 1,200 shi of grain from us and lend it to him in full. In addition, we should give 5,000 shi to Azu to donate for a fifth-rank Chaosan Dafu, and each of the three branches should give 800 shi to donate for a ninth-rank Lixinwei.”

The old man did the math and calculated that he needed 8,600 shi of grain. He was heartbroken and reluctant to part with it.

“Grandfather, if we hand over this grain now, we can still gain some benefits. If we don’t, the Tang people will try to rob us, and we might end up ruining our family,” the old man’s grandson, Wenrenxin, reminded his grandfather. The young man was quite insightful.

"Could you give us a smaller amount? We can borrow 1,200 shi of grain. There's no need for the official to donate. Just donate 800 shi. A fifth-rank official like Chaosan Dafu isn't worth much."

“Grandfather, the title of Chaosan Dafu is worthless now, but our Wenren clan is worth 8,600 shi of grain.”

(End of this chapter)