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

Chapter 410 The Manor Embarks on a Grand Plan

Luo San, dressed in a round-necked robe, wearing black leather boots and a black soft turban, strode into the Luozhou Governor's Mansion.

When Dafu saw him at the door, he quickly greeted him with a smile, "When did you arrive, Uncle San?"

"Just arrived in the city." Luo San looked his nephew up and down. "The color of your green robe has darkened."

Luo Dafu said with some pride, "I am now a junior officer in the Jinyong Chariot and Cavalry Prefecture of Luozhou, a sixth-rank official, and I have already changed into a dark green official robe."

The ten men from Luojiabao were selected as soldiers and followed Li Yi in the campaigns in Hedong, Pingshan, and Henan. In just a few years, they had all earned merit and received official positions.

"Last year and this year, our Luo Family Fortress has recruited two more batches of soldiers, a total of thirteen people have become soldiers," Luo San said. Previously, Luo Family Fortress was full of poor people and tenant farmers, but now, with Li Yi as their protector...

This small fort produced twenty-three soldiers and four officers, including Cunxiao.

"They all benefited from Wu Yi's influence."

The requirement for the soldiers was that they must be from middle-class or upper-class households with a certain amount of wealth. They had to provide their own horses, clothing, and food. The villagers of Luojiabao had been working for Li Yi for the past few years and had gradually become managers. Li Yi would also let them take on some purchasing and distribution jobs so that they could earn more money.

The two chatted and laughed as they entered the governor's mansion.

A gatekeeper asked curiously, "Who is this?"

"Anyone who can enter our General's residence directly and be greeted so warmly by General Luo must be from Guanzhong, and probably from Luo Family Fortress, the hometown of the Attendant."

"Why isn't this person wearing an official robe?"

Luo San was greeted by Da Fu and escorted to Li Yi without any hindrance.

"Uncle, you must have had a long journey. Was the trip smooth?"

"It's fine. Luoyang and Chang'an aren't that far apart, and the official roads are wide. If it weren't for the fact that river transport isn't yet open, it would be even more convenient to come here."

Li Yi laughed, "Da Fu is now a sixth-rank cavalry commander, and Hei Zi has been promoted to a fifth-rank lower-rank cavalry commander."

The first ten soldiers from Luo Family Fort are now at least sixth-rank cavalry commanders.

Does Uncle San regret it now?

Luo San laughed heartily, "It would be a lie to say I'm not envious, but I wouldn't say I regret it either. I'm doing pretty well now, helping Alang manage his business, overseeing such a large persimmon wine business, and Alang gives me so much money every year."

I now own thousands of acres of fertile land, can command servants, travel by carriage, and have a large courtyard at home. I am content.

A wife, children, and a warm bed.
Lanxiang, Gousheng, and Shitou are now studying at Wuji Academy, no longer the starving children they once were. His third wife, Wang, has given him another son and a daughter. Wang even took the initiative to help Luo San take a concubine and a maid, and another woman gave birth to a child.

Luo San now has a wife, a concubine, a maid, and seven children—five sons and two daughters. His life is the envy of countless villagers in Yusu Township.

Although he held no official rank or title, he had previously helped Li Yi transport salt and grain to Hedong, and helped Li Yi transport wine to exchange for horses, which were then resold to the imperial court. He was awarded the title of Grand General by the imperial court, which was actually a three-time promotion.

As the steward trusted by Li Yi, Luo San's words carried far more weight in the village than those of the village head or the neighborhood chief.

He now only wants to support his sons' education and has no interest in pursuing an official career.

Luo San came this time to personally deliver a batch of oxen, Wude plows, and some potato seeds. Li Yi has newly added 20,000 mu of land in Shannan and Henan, some of which also need to be plowed in the spring, and these are in great need.

In addition to sending supplies, Luo San also plans to renovate the manor here, building new mills, oil mills, weaving and dyeing workshops, iron and woodworking workshops, etc. He will also raise pigs and collect manure, and raise cattle, sheep, chickens and ducks, etc., following the economic model of the Li family's manor in Guanzhong.

Farmland is just the basic foundation; to achieve higher output, it is naturally necessary to develop a manor economy, with both animal husbandry and handicraft workshops.

They even recruited refugees and tenant farmers, and purchased and kept slaves.

A mature manor economy of a noble and powerful family would even need to engage in finance, lending, and mortgages. The Li family tries to avoid these things, but other things are indispensable.

Luo San was more experienced, and Li Yi trusted him.

“The two thousand mu of land along the Chan River is basically a single, intact plot, and there are also several hundred mu of cherry blossom valley upstream. It’s a convenient place to set up a manor,” Li Yi instructed. “What I hope you can do first is to demolish the shacks of the thirty-odd tenant farmers along the Chan River.”
The plan is to build a new estate, with a series of traditional courtyard houses. They don't need to be large or luxurious; simple foundations, walls, and thatched roofs are sufficient. Several rooms should be built, including a hall, a kitchen, a latrine, pigsties, and a warehouse.

Luo San nodded, "Repairing some simple courtyard houses like these doesn't cost much. The tenants can provide the labor themselves. All you need to do is hire a craftsman and buy some beams, pillars, and other materials."

After Li Yi's houses were repaired, they were given to the tenants to live in for free, although the property rights remained with the Li family for the time being.

Li Yi instructed Luo Sanbang to improve the tenants' living conditions, even lending them oxen, piglets, and providing them with chicks and ducklings.
This is actually part of the manor economy; men till the land and women weave, creating more income beyond the traditional profits from the fields.
Ultimately, the majority of the profits went to the Li family.

On the other hand, if the tenants could increase their income and improve their living conditions, the Li family manor would have a more stable workforce.

Li Yi found the traditional method of renting out land to be too inefficient, and the lack of security for tenants and frequent changes in tenants also affected the stability of the land's income.

In fact, many landlords in the countryside would rent land from tenants. If it weren't for turbulent times, it wouldn't be easy to rent land from a landlord. You needed to have a certain level of credit and stable financial resources. Otherwise, the landlord wouldn't just hand over the land to you to rent.

Some even require a deposit upfront.

Even for long-term laborers, priority is usually given to family members or relatives. This is a secure job, and ordinary people can't become long-term laborers. They can only do short-term work during the busy farming season.

In the past two years, Li Yi's family manor has developed a more mature management system, and will invest more resources to drive the upgrading of the manor's industry in order to obtain higher returns.

Instead of simply relying on collecting more rent and sharing the profits, or exploiting tenants and villagers by lending them money and then squeezing them again and again.

Li Yi felt that such a practice was just the trick of a petty, nouveau riche, and too low-level.

“We need to establish a number of workshops and raise cattle and pigs, so the current thirty-odd tenant households are definitely not enough.” Luo San proposed to recruit more refugees and even directly buy slaves to raise.

"You can handle these things as you see fit." Li Yi only needs to be in charge of the general direction. The Li family has its own development direction and rules of conduct. Just do things within that framework, and leave the specifics to Luo San and others to carry out.

"There are three markets in Luoyang, and I've heard they're gradually recovering and prospering. Should we buy more shops and residential land in Luoyang first?"

“Sure, we can open shops here to sell our persimmon wine, soap, bamboo paper, as well as pharmacies, clinics, and bean products.” Li Yi nodded, and also mentioned two points about the farm in Luoyang: “This year, we should plant more sweet potatoes here.”
Secondly, our family had already started trial planting cotton in Guanzhong, and this year we can plant more in Shannan, Henan. We can also start setting up cotton processing and textile workshops.
Let's gradually gain experience in planting and processing.
Cotton and cotton cloth are still rare commodities, costing several times more than silk. Our family has seized this opportunity, so we must develop it quickly, especially cotton spinning technology. Even if others follow suit with planting, if we control the processing and textile technology, the lion's share of the profits will still be in our hands.

An economic foundation is very important. Whether it is an individual, a family, or even a government or a country, if you want to do something, you must first have an economic foundation.

“Nibusheshibobi has now been appointed as Tuli Xiao Khan by the new Great Khan of the Turks, Jieli. Before the New Year, he sent people to give us a lot of New Year's gifts, including fine Turkic horses, Khitan silver saddles, Kumoxi carriages, old ginseng from the Baishan Mohe, sable fur from the Heishui Mohe, and even a gyrfalcon.”

There were also many cattle, sheep, camels, sheepskin blankets, and other items.

Li Yi was not surprised by the enthusiasm of his second brother from the grasslands. Chuluo died suddenly and Jieli succeeded him. Apart from Chuluo's eldest son Yusheshe being the most dissatisfied, Shibi's eldest son Tuli Khan should also be extremely dissatisfied.

He was also eligible to inherit the Khanate.
Jieli and Princess Yicheng joined forces to outmaneuver the sons of Shibi and Chuluo Khans.

Shibobi became a minor khan, but his territory and followers remained unchanged. He was very dissatisfied with his uncle Jieli. He was so close to Li Yi in the Central Plains not only because he wanted to continue the wine and horse trade with Li Yi, but also because he wanted to find an ally in the south.

In case Jieli wants to harm him one day, or he wants to harm Jieli, or if Jieli dies in the future and he wants to compete for the position of chieftain of the grasslands, it would be good to have a strong ally in the Central Plains.

At this stage, the main goal is to continue trade, especially to monopolize Li Yi's persimmon wine. In the Tang Dynasty, even though persimmon wine is now offered as tribute to the imperial court, it only has a market in the low to mid-range market, favored by soldiers and low-level laborers.

Scholars and officials rarely enjoyed roasted persimmons.

But the nomadic people on the grasslands quite liked it. Firstly, it was difficult for traditional wine merchants to travel there, and it was also expensive. Especially in recent years, with the famine in the Central Plains, there were bans on brewing wine in various places.

The persimmon wine from the Li family has a significant price advantage, and its strong flavor is especially popular among nomadic people on the grasslands. While a pot of yellow wine isn't enough for a meal, a pot of persimmon wine can satisfy a group of people for a meal. It's also more affordable and more enjoyable.

Tuli now monopolizes the sale of persimmon wine on the grasslands. Other tribes have to buy their goods from him, and he, as the middleman, is making a fortune. He can also sell his own tribe's furs, cattle, horses, and medicinal herbs to Li Yi.

Thanks to the trade, Tuli no longer needed to go through the trouble of raiding southwards.

Trade is much easier, while plunder is both arduous and dangerous. If it fails, the tribe will suffer heavy losses, and it will also affect one's status, and may even lead to an attack by others.

Tuli's appetite is growing, and he's asking for more and more persimmon wine.

Li Yi is now starting to research brewing liquor using ingredients other than persimmons, such as mulberries, apricots, pears, and even sweet potatoes.

The problem of seasonal temperature was solved by using caves, cellars, and other methods.

The wine and horse trade not only made Tu Li a fortune, but Li Yi also made a lot of money. The Tang Dynasty was in dire need of horses at the time. Both the court and the people had a great demand for military horses, riding horses, and pack horses. It was even more profitable than the slave trade.

"Is the gyrfalcon still there?"

"Yes, Tuli Khan even gave him four falcon slaves as a bonus."

"Present the gyrfalcon and these four falcon slaves to the Emperor."

"Those that could be used as warhorses were sold to the imperial court at a price slightly lower than the market price."

"Furthermore, we will take ten percent of the net profit from our transaction with Tuli and present it to the Emperor."

Luo San was somewhat surprised, "That's quite a lot."

"It is precisely because there are so many that we must do this."

Luo San didn't quite understand, but he still unconditionally obeyed Li Yi's arrangements.

"I'll be staying in Henan for a while this time. Do I need to buy some more land?"

"Don't buy the fields yet. You can buy some land, houses, and shops in big cities like Luoyang, Bianzhou, Zhengzhou, Huaizhou, and Shanzhou first."

"Not buying land?"

"I won't buy it for now." Land is more likely to be watched by others.

"We can recruit more refugees as tenant farmers and workers for the manor, and we can also buy some slaves from the Eastern Yi, Western Hu, and Southern Barbarian tribes."

Luo San then asked, "Grain prices are quite high in Henan right now. Should we transport some grain from Guanzhong to sell?"

“Now that it’s the lean season, we have a surplus of grain stored in Guanzhong. We can sell some of it directly without having to transport it to Henan. There’s no need to make extra money from the price difference.”

"Furthermore, if our fellow villagers, especially our own workers and tenants, are short of food, we will give them priority in selling or lending it to them."

"We keep some of our sweet potatoes and yams for home planting as seed, and we can sell the rest."

Although golden potatoes are no longer a rarity among the nobles of Chang'an, they are still a novelty for most people. Selling them now is still a good deal. In a few years, golden potatoes will truly become potatoes, a very common crop that will be worthless.

"How is Shi Niang?" Li Yi finally asked his wife.

"The lady was very saddened to hear the news of her father and second brother's passing."

Li Yi nodded. He had used Du Yan and Du Jingtong as pawns to kill them. He knew Shi Niang would be upset before he did it, but he still did it anyway.

He wouldn't give Du Yan a chance to turn the tables and get back at him.

(End of this chapter)