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

Chapter 403 Demolishing Luoyang
Standing on the Tianjin Bridge, looking at the Ziwei Palace in the northwest corner of Luoyang, it does indeed seem a bit too extravagant.

Dai Zhou, who was accompanying Li Yi, explained: "The city of Luoyang and the Ziwei Palace were also designed by Yuwen Kai, the Grand Supervisor of Works who designed Chang'an, and supervised by Liu Quan, the Minister of the Imperial Guard, and Wei Wanqing, the Secretary of the Imperial Secretariat."
"Seven hundred thousand laborers were conscripted, and the palace walls were built in just sixty days."

"The foundations and walls of the palaces and courtyards within the city required the labor of more than 100,000 people, and the carpenters, tilers, metalworkers and stonemasons required another 100,000 people, for a total of 1.7 million people."

Lu Chengqing exclaimed, "Emperor Yuwen Kai was worried about the emperor's extravagance, so the Eastern Capital was made extremely magnificent."

The Ziwei Palace was built with extravagance and magnificence, surpassing all previous capitals.

Li Yi was also filled with emotion. In fact, the Ziwei Palace had only been under construction since the first year of the Daye era, and it had only been sixteen years since then.

This should be the most magnificent architectural complex in the world today, but unfortunately it has changed hands three times in just sixteen years.

From Emperor Yang of Sui to Emperor Tai of Sui, then to Wang Shichong's Zheng Kingdom, and finally back to the Tang Dynasty.

The breach caused by the earthquake a few days ago is still there, but it has been cordoned off with some wood.

“The Ziwei Palace, which is so wasteful of resources and extravagant, should be demolished,” Dai Zhou said.

Li Yi retorted, "It took so much manpower and resources from the people to build it, and it's only been sixteen years. Now we're going to waste manpower and resources to demolish it? What's the point?"

First, send troops to blockade the area; it must not be destroyed.

"After the New Year, send craftsmen and recruit refugees to repair the city walls of the outer city and the imperial city that were damaged by the earth dragon."

“Your Excellency, such extravagance cannot be allowed to remain. The empire is not yet settled; are we to begin indulging in luxury?” Dai Zhou objected. “Now that Henan has been newly pacified, we should restore agriculture, allow the people to recuperate, and practice frugality.”

He even believed that industry and commerce should be suppressed so that people could focus on farming and men plowing and women weaving.

This idea surprised Li Yi a little.
While there were certainly some problems with Yang Guang's construction of the Eastern Capital, after the capital was moved to Luoyang, especially with the opening of the Grand Canal, Luoyang had long become the center of north-south transportation and the center of commodity circulation throughout the country.

This was not only Yang Guang's political center, but it had also long been a commercial center, and even a center for handicraft manufacturing, with many high-end technological manufacturing industries, such as embroidery, tapestry weaving, printing and dyeing, and forging.
Even after the Tang Dynasty unified the world, it still couldn't do without these things.

Those who constantly advocate for men to farm and women to weave, or even want to restore the well-field system, are either wicked or foolish. Foolish because they don't understand that life is impossible without commerce and wealth is impossible without industry.

The bad part is that some powerful clans and families want to get involved in these industries. Just like the Ming Dynasty officials who shouted the ban on maritime trade all day long, many officials were actually the representatives of the interests of the Southeast maritime merchants. The ban was on the imperial maritime trade, but private maritime trade was thriving, and every copper coin earned went into their pockets.

The location of Luoyang
Suppressing industry and commerce and forcing everyone to farm and raise silkworms? That's either stupid or malicious.

Li Yi couldn't say for sure which category Dai Zhou belonged to. The Dai family was from Qiao County, Qiao Commandery. His grandfather was a state official, his father was a county magistrate, and he himself was originally a fifth-rank official, so his knowledge and experience should be quite high.

"Now that Luoyang has been newly pacified, it is right to allow the people to recuperate and develop, and it is also right to encourage farming and weaving, but that does not mean that we must suppress commerce and industry."

Without agriculture, there is no stability; without industry, there is no wealth; without commerce, there is no life. For the nation to prosper and the world to flourish, scholars, farmers, industry workers, and merchants are all indispensable.

"It cannot do without the leadership and management of scholars, nor can it do without the supply of grain and cloth from agricultural production. Without commerce and industry, the nation and its people cannot prosper, and society cannot exchange goods and resources, nor can it be vibrant and prosperous."

Many people always say that all merchants are unscrupulous, that merchants don't produce or create anything, they only know how to buy low and sell high, but they ignore the fact that merchants facilitate the circulation of goods.

"In the aftermath of the war, everything was in ruins. Some places lacked food, some lacked cloth, some lacked farm tools, some lacked farming implements, and some lacked cattle and horses."

At this time, wouldn't it be helpful for the people if merchants organized the supply and sale of goods?

Li Yi instructed,
To quickly revive Henan's economy, customs duties and taxes on the transportation of goods within Henan should be temporarily abolished, and all kinds of checkpoint fees should be prohibited.

Officials at all levels must ensure the smooth flow of goods, especially essential commodities such as grain, cloth, salt, firewood, and charcoal.

The East Market, West Market, and North Market in Luoyang will also reopen, with everything remaining the same.

At times like these, the more tightly you control things, the more stagnant and hopeless the situation becomes.

We can only relax the restrictions a bit, let people help themselves, and create more opportunities. Some people can become street vendors, and some can become factory workers. We can't force everyone to farm; such a blanket approach is unrealistic.

Of course, farming and textile production are fundamental and cannot be neglected.

"After the Lantern Festival, all prefectures and counties will begin to survey the land and conduct a general census. At that time, lands with no descendants, abandoned lands, and government lands will be collected and distributed equally among the households."

We must encourage people to return to their hometowns to cultivate the land and resume production.

Dai Zhou supported the equal distribution of land, but also raised a very real problem: after the great chaos, many people left their homes and could not return for a while, while others who remained in the area were outsiders.

“Whether they are locals or from other places, as long as they are willing, they can be granted land and settled down.” Dai Zhou continued, “There is no shortage of land now. There are a lot of abandoned land and land that has been abandoned by the families of the deceased. However, even if most people receive land and are allocated land, they will have nothing and it will be difficult for them to resume farming. Some people may not even have a place to live, let alone seeds, cattle, horses, or farming tools.”

"I don't think this problem is unsolvable. I faced the same problem when I resettled displaced people to cultivate land in Zhouzhi, Guanzhong."

My approach is to have these people form cooperatives or mutual aid groups, with five or more households forming production teams. They can then work together to cultivate the land, while the government can rent seeds, farming tools, and other supplies.

First, try to stabilize the situation and cultivate the land. If there are no houses, everyone should build a simple dwelling together. If there are no cattle or horses, use manpower. Take it one step at a time. The government will provide relief and support. Just survive.

After the harvest, at least we'll have enough to eat and wear. If we have any surplus, we can use it to buy seeds, farm tools, and eventually cattle and a house. Life will get better day by day.

"Chang'an was not built in a day, and good days do not fall from the sky. They depend on everyone's hard work and struggle."

The surrendered official Yun Dingxing flattered Li Yi, saying, "Your Excellency's strategy for securing the country is excellent."

"Lord Yun, please offer some useful suggestions, to fill in the gaps and make up for any deficiencies." Li Yi disliked this kind of flattery.

Yun Dingxing observed the expression and thought for a moment, then said, "I believe that Your Excellency's plan is excellent. After the great chaos, many people have become refugees and runaways, leaving them with nothing. Many are foolish and short-sighted, and may not see the way out that Your Excellency has arranged for them."
They only have the short-sighted tendency to attach themselves to wealthy landowners, becoming their tenants and retainers, or even willingly serving as slaves.

Yun Dingxing did offer some practical advice: many bankrupt people would indeed prefer to become tenants, servants, or even slaves of powerful families. Although they would no longer be law-abiding citizens, they could at least have a predictable future.

Losing one's status as a law-abiding citizen also means evading state duties. Even if one is dependent on powerful landlords, what difference does it make to ordinary people whether they pay rent to the landlords or pay taxes to the state?

The real difference lies in who you pay more to and who you can keep more of yourself if you work for them.

Most powerful landlords were actually quite disciplined, and their rules were relatively stable. If they agreed on a 40/60 or 50/50 split, it generally wouldn't change. Tenants also knew how much they could plant, how much they could harvest, and how much they could keep, unless there was a natural disaster or a major war.

However, receiving land meant becoming a registered household and a taxable household, and having to pay taxes and corvée labor. Not only adults had to pay, but middle-aged men also had to bear some of the burden.

In the current situation, the workload is very heavy.

Li Yi was well aware of this, after all, his family now had more than two thousand tenant households, all of whom had abandoned their official household registration and were dependent on the Li family, working for the Li family in various manors.

They didn't need to worry about the imperial court's taxes and corvée labor; they could focus on working for the Li family. The Li family offered decent pay; tenant farmers' children could even attend school for three years for free. The smarter ones could be selected for further training, eventually becoming shop assistants or managers, with the potential to become shopkeepers or stewards in the future.

The Li family did not force their tenants and retainers to leave. Those who wanted to leave were free to do so, and the family could even help them settle down and be given land. However, very few of them were willing to leave.

Life was peaceful and stable in the Li family.
Having a household registration does not necessarily mean a better life.

"What Lord Yun said makes some sense. What we can do is try our best to inform the people that Henan has just been pacified, and this land distribution is a rare opportunity, with a relatively large amount of land available for distribution."

First come, first served. Initially, the land allocation was always full, but later, when the land became scarce, it became impossible to allocate 100 mu per person.

Now that people are being settled and granted land, life might be tough at first, but it will be sweet after the hardship. Having a hundred acres of land in the future is much better than being a tenant farmer for generations.

"As I said before, it's not scary to have nothing now. The imperial court will distribute land and arrange for everyone to form groups and cooperate. They will also rent seeds, farm tools and other supplies to help with production."

"Equal land distribution requires land measurement first, which will inevitably lead to conflicts with local powerful landlords," Yun Dingxing reminded the young official.

When it comes to land ownership, this is no small matter, let alone a large-scale land survey and redistribution.

Li Yi simply smiled.

"As long as they produce the land deed, we will accept it. If it is their land and the land deed is missing, we can also apply for a new land ownership certificate."

However, since they don't come to register and confirm their land rights, all the land without confirmed rights is considered government land and can be allocated as farmland.

Li Yi wasn't worried about these powerful families concealing their land holdings at this time; if they did, the land would be confiscated. Even though they were currently exempt from land taxes, by registering and verifying their land holdings...
But don't forget there's also a household tax and granary grain. The household tax was determined by property; the more land a household owned, the more tax it collected.

As for the grain stored in public granaries, it was collected on a per-acre basis.

"Two liters of grain per mu" refers to grain that is not officially a national tax, but rather a portion of grain that local people voluntarily contribute after the harvest and store in the local granary to prepare for famine and help orphans.

In reality, however, the grain stored in these public granaries is now managed by the government or even the military.

As long as the local powerful landlords register truthfully and pay taxes in full, Li Yi no longer cares how much land they own or how they acquired it; everything will be based on the land deeds and registration details.

Li Yi is not concerned with curbing mergers and acquisitions at the moment, nor can he afford to worry about it.

(End of this chapter)