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

Chapter 415 Big Brother, I'm Going to Kill Yin Ashu
Li Yi inspected the area outside Luoyang city.
Suddenly, a large number of starving people arrived, and Li Yi ordered relief to be provided to the victims.

“Most of these starving people come from the Five General Administrations east of the Grand Canal, and some come from Hebei and Huainan. Now that food is scarce, so many people are flocking here, and we can’t possibly provide them all,” Lu Chengqing suggested. He proposed that they set up roadblocks to intercept them. “The more porridge we distribute, the more starving people will come here, and we can’t handle it.”

Chief Secretary Yuwen Shiji also thought it made sense. "We can't even take care of ourselves. If everyone flocks to Luoyang and there's no food, it's easy for them to gather and rebel. We should order the officials of each prefecture and county to strictly guard their respective borders and prevent the people under their jurisdiction from wandering out."

Li Yi looked at the endless line of starving people on the official road.
"Zhang Sima, what do you think?"

Zhang Liang, the Sima of the General's Office, came from a poor family and had served in Wagang. He was a terrible fighter and was not valued by Li Mi. Later, he gained Li Mi's trust by informing on others and was appointed as a General of the Cavalry, under the command of Xu Shiji.

Later, he surrendered to the Tang Dynasty with Li Mi and was appointed Prefect of Zhengzhou. However, Zhengzhou was quickly captured by Wang Shichong, and he could not take office, so he fled to Gongcheng Mountain. Later, he was reassigned as Inspector of Dingzhou. But with the fall of Hebei, he had to flee again.

He's no good at fighting, but he's very good at running away.

He followed the connections of Li Yi's uncle, Zhang He, and was recommended to Li Yi. Li Yi felt that Zhang Liang was not good at fighting, but he was quite good at logistics.

He was recommended to be the Sima of the Luozhou General Administration Office. Zhang Liang had thick eyebrows and big eyes, and had a kind and honest appearance and a forthright personality.

"I believe that the Grand Councilor is not only the Governor-General of Luozhou, but also the Pacification Commissioner of Henan and Hebei, and even more so the Grand Councilor and Minister of Works in the court. His vision should not be limited to the Governor-General's office in Luozhou, but should also extend to the entire Henan and Hebei provinces."

The area west of the canal has gradually stabilized, but the area east of the canal is still governed by local warlords, and the situation there has not improved much.
During the lean season, many people suffered from famine, and these powerful local leaders could only let the people go out to find food.

The people know that the Attendant-in-Ordinary is in Luoyang, that there is grain here, and that the Attendant-in-Ordinary governs with benevolence; that's why they all come here. If we set up roadblocks to intercept them now...

That would mean many people would starve to death, inevitably leading to mass rebellions by starving people, and even the tragedy of cannibalism.

Li Yi was quite satisfied with Zhang Liang's view, praising his broad perspective.

“What Zhang Sima said makes sense. Since the starving people have come, we must find a way to provide relief. They are all subjects of the court, and we cannot stand by and watch them die, turning them away.”

"But we don't have that much grain!"

"This is the responsibility of us officials; we need to demonstrate our capabilities. If there is no grain, we should open the granaries, borrow from powerful landlords, and encourage merchants to transport grain."

Li Yi pointed to the starving people.

"Immediately increase the number of porridge distribution points, and send officials and local militia to organize and maintain order; we cannot allow chaos to occur."

Settle down one facility for every thousand or so disaster victims, ensuring that porridge is provided daily.

Two meals a day, the porridge must be so thick that a chopstick inserted into it won't spill, and it must be so thick that it won't leak when wrapped in a towel; absolutely no starving people should be allowed to die under the walls of Luoyang.

Li Yi forbade disaster victims from entering the city or moving around freely.

Once they arrive, they must be dispersed to different locations, people must be assigned to organize and maintain order, names must be registered, and even small groups of five or seven households must be established.

"Actually, you shouldn't always think of these starving people as terrible or a burden. With so many people flocking here, as long as we can settle them down, they are all valuable human resources."

"With people, everything is possible; with a sufficient population, Los Angeles can recover quickly."

Given Li Yi's status and position, he said that starving people should not be refused entry, and that no one should starve to death. He insisted that the starving people should be able to drink relief porridge, and that the porridge should be able to hold chopsticks upright. So everyone had to find a way to do it.

How exactly to do it is a matter of individual ingenuity.

Zhang Liang asked directly, "The Attendant-in-Ordinary said he wanted to borrow grain. How will the borrowing be done, what will the interest be, and what if he refuses to lend it?"

This wasn't him trying to shift the blame, but rather demanding an attitude and determination from Li Yi. As long as Li Yi was resolute, Zhang Liang would have countless ways to borrow grain from local powerful families.

“There are two ways to borrow grain from powerful families. One is to borrow grain directly, borrowing in the spring and returning in the autumn. If you borrow one shi (a unit of dry measure), you will return one and a half shi, with an interest of five dou (another unit of dry measure).

You can also borrow money or silk, still borrowing in spring and repaying in autumn; borrowing one thousand and repaying one thousand five by the due date.

This is something we can discuss and negotiate; if they refuse to lend, then we'll have to resort to some tactics.

In practice, officials need to be careful to maintain a proper balance. For example, they need to know how much money and grain a wealthy household has, and they must leave enough food for others before lending out a portion. They cannot lend out all of someone else's food.

Those who actively borrow money and grain, and those who borrow a lot, may have their fathers and grandfathers posthumously granted honorary titles, or be awarded honorary official ranks or meritorious titles.
They could also grant their children the qualifications to attend the Imperial Academy and local government schools.

Active individuals were naturally given priority in being granted official positions in prefectures and counties, as well as positions such as township heads, village chiefs, and ward chiefs.

on the contrary,

If a local tycoon's son holds a minor official position in the government, you'll be assigned tasks related to borrowing money and grain. If you fail to complete these tasks, you're out of a job.

Zhang Liang hadn't expected Li Yi to be so determined.

Is it worth offending local powerful officials for the sake of disaster victims?

"Tell them that we are in the same boat and will get through this difficult time together."

As long as grain can be obtained, the starving people are not a threat; on the contrary, they can help Luoyang recover quickly. We can provide work relief and organize government-run agricultural settlements.
It can also absorb refugees to settle in Luozhou, distribute land and grant land, and even a group of nobles and powerful people can take the opportunity to recruit refugees as tenants to cultivate more land, as well as mine and open workshops, all of which cannot be separated from labor.

With so much cheap labor pouring in, there is both crisis and opportunity.

It all depends on whether Luoyang can seize the opportunity.

Faced with the large influx of starving people, Li Yi remained calm, because he already had a plan.

Meng Haigong of Caozhou has recently become quite unsettled.

After Wang Shichong of Luoyang surrendered, he immediately surrendered to the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty did not hold a grudge and still appointed him as the governor of Caozhou, and also granted him the title of Duke and Grand Pillar of State.

Meng Haigong originally thought things could remain the same as before.
But now he truly felt the difference. He had previously submitted to Li Mi and also surrendered to Yuwen Huaji and Wang Shichong. When Dou Jiande's army besieged the city, he also surrendered and submitted, but then turned around and surrendered to the Tang Dynasty.

He surrendered to the Tang Dynasty twice, but no matter who he surrendered to before, it was only nominal submission. In the two prefectures of Cao and Dai, he still called the shots, appointed his own officials, and commanded his own troops.

With his 30,000 troops and territory in two prefectures, Meng Haigong once proclaimed himself King Yi of Song.

"Your Majesty, that Yin Ashu has come to cause trouble again,"

"What trouble is he looking for this time?" Meng Haigong frowned.

Yin Ashu was appointed Chief Secretary of the Caozhou General Administration by Li Yi. Relying on being the father of Consort Yin, he brought a group of Yin family members and relatives, and was very arrogant and domineering.

They immediately began to seize land everywhere, and would force anyone who wanted to buy or sell the land they desired.

Not only that, they also openly solicited bribes from Meng Haigong and others.

Meng Haigong gave him a lot of gold and silver, but this man was not satisfied at all and wanted to interfere in the affairs of the general manager's office.

First, they wanted to reduce his 30,000 troops to 14,000, and then, under the pretext of surveying the land, they demanded grain from the landowners.

The largest landowners in Cao and Dai prefectures now, besides the original powerful clans, are of course Meng Haigong and his followers.

Li Yi built granaries in various parts of Henan, levying two sheng of granary grain per mu of land. However, when it came to Yin Ashu, the levy was five sheng per mu.

Those three liters were equivalent to his fire consumption.

"Yin Ashu also said that the household should be classified into nine grades, and the household tax should be levied accordingly. The highest grade household would be taxed 4,000 coins, and each grade below that would be taxed 500 coins less. The seventh grade would be taxed 1,000 coins, the eighth grade 700 coins, and even the lowest grade household would be taxed 500 coins."

Our brothers' estates will also be requisitioned; even ordinary soldiers, who are at least sixth-class households, will be subject to a tax of 1,500 coins per household.

"That's not all. He also said that the household tax must be paid in copper coins, and it must be paid in Kaiyuan Tongbao coins. Damn it, where are we going to find so many copper coins? And we have to pay in Kaiyuan Tongbao coins. We've never even seen them around here."

The highest-ranking households pay 4,000 coins, and the lowest-ranking households pay 500 coins. Meng Haigong has occupied the two provinces of Cao and Dai for six or seven years, and he has never collected so much money and grain.

"Even if it's reduced tenfold, people still think this household paid too much. Damn it, Yin Ashu, he's just here to cause trouble."

When Yin Ashu arrived in Caozhou to serve as the Chief Clerk of the General Administration Office, he treated himself as the General Administration, issuing orders one day and policies the next.

Meng Haigong was starting to find him unbearable.

To cut more than half of his troops is to eliminate his core forces.

Meng Dangui rushed over in a hurry, "Big brother, I'm going to kill that bastard Yin Ashu."

"what happened again?"

"That bastard demanded bribes from me, and I gave him plenty, but now he's actually saying he wants to fire Dai Zhou."

Damn it, Daizhou has been abolished, so what am I, the prefect of Daizhou, going to do?
"That damned donkey, it dares to demand three thousand bushels of grain from me? What right does it have?"

Since taking office, Yin Ashu has already merged several counties, and now he even wants to abolish Daizhou.

"Several of my old brothers, who at least hold the rank of general, have followed me through thick and thin over the years and have been rewarded with some land by you."

Now Yin Ashu is forcing them to pay taxes, one dou per mu, claiming it's five sheng of grain from the public granary, five sheng being imperial grain. The worst part is that he's demanding it start from the first year of the Wude era, making us pay three years' worth at once—three dou of grain per mu.

“Zhang Xian and Gao Xiaohu are my right-hand men. Now, just because they were dissatisfied with Yin Ashu’s collection of grain, they complained a few times, and he actually sent his men to arrest and imprison them. They were also severely tortured. In the end, their families had to spend a lot of gold to get them back.”

Yin Ashu, the donkey-grass seller, would only release people if he received gold; each person paid one hundred taels of gold.

“Zhang Xian and Gao Xiaohu are already planning to flee. Brother, if this continues, we’re all doomed.”

“Brother, back then we rose up in rebellion because we were dissatisfied with the corrupt emperor and treacherous officials in the court, and the corrupt officials in the local areas.”

Meng Haigong gritted his teeth.
He knew that his men were extremely dissatisfied with Yin Ashu, and by extension, with the Tang Dynasty court.

As long as he gives the order, everyone will follow him to rebel against the Tang Dynasty again.

However, he needs to think it over carefully.

After all, tens of thousands of brothers have followed him for so many years; he can't just act on a moment's pleasure.

night,
Meng Dangui brought one person to see Meng Haigong.

"Lord Meng, we meet again." The newcomer lifted his cloak, and Lord Meng Hai's expression was somewhat complicated. "General Fan, greetings."

The visitor was Fan Yuan, a general under Dou Jiande. Previously, when Dou Jiande crossed the Yellow River to conquer the south, Zhang Qing's special troops in Jizhou were defeated and surrendered, while Li Shiji, Li Wenxiang, and others rebelled but were defeated and fled alone.

Dou Jiande led his army south to Caozhou. Meng Haigong led his troops to fight against the Xia army, but he was no match for them. He seized the opportunity and surrendered decisively.

Dou Jiande accepted his surrender and returned to attack Luo Yi in Youzhou.

Fan Yuan was appointed as the Minister of the Henan Provincial Government by Dou Jiande, and Meng Haigong came under his command. However, the Tang army quickly swept through Henan, and Du Caigan of Puzhou killed Bing Yuanzhen, the Minister of the Huazhou Provincial Government, and surrendered to the Tang. Wang Shichong's generals in Zhengzhou, Bianzhou, Songzhou, and Chenzhou also surrendered to the Tang. So he took the opportunity to switch allegiance to the Tang Dynasty.

"When King Xia heard that Duke Meng was in trouble, he was willing to put aside past grievances and help Duke Meng."

"King Xia appointed Duke Meng as the Prince of Jiyin and the Governor-General of Caozhou."

(End of this chapter)