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

Chapter 470 Good harvest and peace
Autumn is high and fresh.

The Osmanthus-scented Crystal Rice at Hama Beach, thirty miles below the Shenhe Plain, has begun to be harvested.

According to Li family tradition, the whole family must go to the fields during harvest time, and they must first offer sacrifices to the god of millet before starting to harvest.

"My lord, many farmers from Shuofang have come to harvest rice this year, and many of them are old farmers from previous years." Luo San, who now carries the imperial edict of the Prince of Wu'an, arrived early.

The Li family owns thousands of acres of fertile land, which are scattered in various places. In the twenty counties of Guanzhong and the capital region, there are more than 20,000 mu of land. There are also thousands of mu of paddy fields in Yusu Township, thousands of mu in Jiangjunying, and a lot of land on Shenheyuan.

Every summer during the wheat harvest, the wheat in Guanzhong ripens earlier than that in Shuofang and Longyou, so some people from Shuofang come to Guanzhong in groups to work as wheat harvesters.

Because the Li family had always treated the migrant workers well, the migrant workers who had worked for the Li family would come back the following year, even during the autumn rice harvest.

The Li family has many tenant farmers, but they still hire these migrant workers every year. After all, they need to seize the harvest time; the earlier they harvest and store the grain, the better. Li Yi doesn't mind giving these migrant workers work.

"The same old rules apply. We'll give priority to hiring the regular migrant workers from previous years, and try to use the other migrant workers as well. We'll make sure to provide good food and accommodation. It's not easy for anyone to be away from home."

The work of migrant laborers was very arduous. They traveled thousands of miles, carrying simple bedding, in groups of three or five, to reach Guanzhong. They endured wind and rain and slept in the open along the way, all in order to exchange their labor for some food to take home.

Luo San nodded.

Previously, when Li Yi was away on campaign, he was in charge of making arrangements for the family's summer and autumn harvests. The Li family has always been generous and kind; during the harvest, they would slaughter pigs and sheep and arrange lodging for everyone, instead of letting them sleep directly in the straw piles on the threshing ground.

"Grain prices have gradually fallen in recent years," Luo San sighed. Although the drop in grain prices made people happy to buy grain, it reduced the profits for the Li family, who were large landowners.

A few years ago, a dou (a unit of dry measure) of rice cost more than 300 yuan, and a shi (another unit of dry measure) of rice cost as much as several thousand yuan, so many people had to go hungry.

"Our Osmanthus Ball Rice from the Haohe River beach may not have a high yield, but it tastes great and sells very well in Chang'an. Some villagers take the Osmanthus Ball Rice to Chang'an to exchange for millet, sorghum, and wheat. It's hard work, but they can get more in return."

This variety of rice is indeed quite good, and Li Yi likes to eat it.

The area at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain in Chang'an, along the banks of the rivers, is a rare rice-producing region, with a total of 200,000 to 300,000 mu of rice fields, producing 300,000 to 400,000 shi of rice a year.

Most of them grow Osmanthus Ball Crystal Rice.
However, most people couldn't bear to eat it themselves, so they carried it to Chang'an to exchange for it.

Many officials in Chang'an came from the south and were accustomed to eating rice, but rice from the Jianghuai region was difficult to transport, increasing costs and prices. As a result, rice produced at the foot of the southern mountains in Guanzhong was particularly popular.

The royal family, the court, and the nobility also have a great demand for it.

While rice may not seem to yield a high yield per acre, its value is much higher than that of wheat or millet. If the weather is favorable, it can be quite profitable.

There are so many rice paddies at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain, but few of the people who grow rice can actually eat it. They sell it or go through the trouble of going to Chang'an to exchange it for wheat or millet, just to get a little more.

Rice is planted on the riverbanks, while potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn are grown on the plateaus.

The Li family had long been a major landowner and grain producer in the capital region. In addition to growing grain, the Li family also grew vegetables, such as water chestnuts and lotus roots, which were supplied to Chang'an and surrounding counties and towns. In fact, growing vegetables was more profitable than growing grain.

but,

These days, grain production is the top priority. Good farmland can't be used to grow vegetables or fruit trees at will, otherwise the government will bother you every day.

Li Yi changed into a short-sleeved cloth outfit.
But this seemingly simple cloth garment is made of fine cotton, costing several times more than silk, a low-key luxury.

The women in the family all went out in cotton dresses today.

Li Yi first offered sacrifices to the god of millet at the edge of the field, presenting pig heads and other offerings. Then he went into the field, took a sharpened sickle, and was the first to begin the harvest.

Li Yi cut a row of rice. Even though he was very strong, he was not used to farm work. After bending over and cutting for dozens of steps, his back was very sore.

Du Shiniang and the others wrapped their heads in floral cloth, carried willow baskets, and picked up scattered ears of rice along the edge of the field.

Little Chili Li Shu also carried a small basket, her head wrapped in a floral headscarf, and followed behind, looking quite serious. Meanwhile, the twins, Ping An Lang and Ru Yi, barely picked a few ears of rice before their attention was drawn to the grasshoppers and small frogs in the field.
They caught grasshoppers and toads, and even snails from the cracks in the rice paddies.

Once Li Yi finished cutting one row, he considered his task complete. He stood at the edge of the field, supporting his back, watching the farmers and herdsmen wielding their sickles and harvesting the crops with swift, skillful movements.

"This year's rice ears are heavy and slender, with basically no lodging and few pests such as planthoppers. The yield will be at least three bushels!"

"That's because they use a lot of manure. The biggest advantage of raising pigs in pens is that they use a lot of manure. It's well fermented and composted, and when it's put into the fields, it increases the yield by at least one shi (a unit of dry measure) per mu (a unit of land area).

No other family has as much manure as the Li family.
The Li family's pig farm, along with their partnerships with local people to raise pigs, provided them with ample manure. In addition, the Li family built a roadside pavilion every two miles along these main roads, and next to it, a public toilet. Naturally, the manure also belonged to the Li family.

Don't underestimate this stuff. These days, manure is hard to come by. The Li family's land has pig manure, cow manure, and human excrement. They even use oil cakes from oil mills as fertilizer. Compared to land without manure, their yield is much higher.

Everyone can see the benefits, but the villagers can't follow suit.

"Shouldn't the potatoes and sweet potatoes on this plateau be ready for harvest soon?"

"Yes, those have higher yields and are excellent for supplementing our food supply."

Li Yi told Luo San that he wanted to take some to make starch, which would then be used to make sweet potato noodles and potato noodles. These things are scarce now, so they can be sold at a high price, making it a profitable business.

The Li family's noodle and vermicelli workshops have been expanding in recent years, providing livelihoods and increasing incomes for the tenant farmers and villagers, and also boosting the Li family's income.

“I think next year we should just stop planting wheat and millet on our plateau land and plant sweet potatoes, yams, and corn instead. They have higher yields and are more cost-effective.”

These coarse grains are still relatively scarce nowadays. Whether sold directly, processed into starch, or made into vermicelli, the profits are far higher than those from growing wheat and millet.

"Okay, Third Uncle, you can make the arrangements."

The sun was blazing at noon, and the weather was very hot, but no one complained. Instead, they chanted their special wind-calling chants, hoping that the good weather would last a few more days.

Everyone was racing against time to harvest.
The scene was truly bustling; the vast fields were filled with people rushing to harvest, with entire families pitching in.

Wuji Academy also gave everyone a 15-day autumn harvest holiday, and they all went home to help with the harvest.

"Time to eat!" The women in charge of cooking at home had already prepared the food and brought it to the field.

"How was the meal today?" Li Yi asked with a smile as he went to check.

The millet porridge was very thick, golden in color, and topped with a layer of rice oil. A chopstick inserted into it stood firmly.

The dishes include minced meat, stewed pumpkin, braised eggplant, braised green beans, winter melon stewed with bone broth, and braised pig's feet with soybeans, offering a variety of meat, vegetables, and soups.

"dinner time."

He called everyone who was working hard, sweating profusely, to the tree by the canal.
The staple food was millet porridge and steamed cakes, while there were several kinds of side dishes. Each person had a large bowl, and after lining up to get their staple food and a spoonful of each side dish, they would squat down on the ridges of the paddy fields and start eating.

After a busy day, I'm hungry.
My appetite has increased.

Some of the migrant workers came from Shuofang and had been there for several years. They would definitely come to the Li family's house first because of the host's generosity and the good food.

The few meals the Li family eats after a few days of work will be something they can reminisce about for a year, until they come back next year.

Li Yi ate the same thing as everyone else, taking a small bowl and squatting to eat. With so many people around, everyone's appetite improved.

Shi Niang and the others set up a curtain and spread out a felt mat under the shade of a tree, and ate with the children, which looked more like a picnic.

Luo San ate quickly, looking at the harvested rice in the field, and said, "If we have three more years of good harvests like this, Guanzhong will no longer have to worry about not having enough to eat."

This year, there are very few migrant workers from other places near Chang'an.

Henan, Hebei, Longyou, Hexi, Hedong, plus Shannan and Huainan, are now gradually pacified. The wars are over, the bandits are fewer, the wastelands have been restored to cultivation, and naturally there are fewer migrants begging for food.

Anyway, there are no idle fields or wastelands in Guanzhong now.

The ancients often said that three consecutive years of bumper harvests were needed to have enough surplus grain for one year, a state known as "abundance." Nine consecutive years of bumper harvests, accumulating enough surplus grain for three years, was called "a bumper harvest."

Eighteen consecutive years of bumper harvests, accumulating enough grain for six years' worth of surplus, are known as "Ping".

After 27 consecutive years of bumper harvests, with enough grain to last for nine years, the region was known as Taiping.

The harvest was plentiful, and there was enough grain in the granary for at least three years.

If the world is at peace, the country will have enough grain for at least nine years.

To achieve a prosperous and peaceful era, one must first fill one's stomach and accumulate enough grain for three years, which is already quite difficult in this era.

Having enough food to last a year is a remarkable achievement, especially in times of chaos like this.

The Li family owns over 100,000 mu of land, but even now, they haven't saved enough grain for a year's harvest. He doesn't like hoarding grain. After the harvest and storage, he lends out most of it, not intending to earn high interest.

The Central Plains are about to be unified.
But the world will not be at peace immediately.

When the formidable Turks launched a full-scale attack on the Tang Dynasty, the newly established Tang Dynasty would still face considerable pressure.

But God doesn't always have good weather every year. Droughts, floods, locust plagues—these natural disasters always come in large numbers every few years.

"Alang!"

Li Yi was discussing the harvest with Luo San and the others in the rice field when Zheng Rou Niang came looking for them next year.

She hired a donkey cart in Chang'an, carrying dozens of pots of chrysanthemums she had cultivated, and rode alone to Yusu Township, which was thirty or forty miles from the capital.

Although this was the capital region and the road was flat and wide, Li Yi was still surprised that she had hired a mule cart to come here.

At the head of the stone bridge in Luojiabao,
Li Yi saw her standing at the bridgehead from afar, with a gold hairpin in her hair and a green dress, dressed like a commoner woman getting married.

"This humble servant greets my husband,"

When Zheng Rou Niang saw Li Yi dressed like a farmer with his sleeves rolled up and trousers rolled up, she stepped forward, bowed, and called him "husband."

Li Yi had met her in Luoyang before and had a good impression of her.

He was momentarily stunned by her question. "Your brother came to visit me yesterday. Didn't he relay my message when he got home?"

Zheng Rou Niang said, "I know what my husband asked my second brother to tell you, and my parents are very angry." She briefly explained the situation.

Li Yi was amazed by the girl's strong will; she was able to come without regard for her family's attitude.

"Won't you regret doing this?"

“At home, one obeys one’s father; after marriage, one obeys one’s husband. Now that I have signed a concubine contract, I am already a member of the Li family. If my husband dislikes or despises me, he can simply send me away with a document.”

Li Yi glanced at the dozen or so pots of chrysanthemums on the carriage.
Zheng Rou Niang said, "I insisted on coming. I only have these eighteen pots of chrysanthemums as my dowry. I don't have a million-dollar dowry, nor a million-dollar compensation."

Li Yi smiled and said, "You're quite bold, but I admire you for it. Since you've come alone, I won't let you down."

"Come on, I'll take you back to Wuji Fort to settle in first. Tonight, we'll invite some neighbors and friends over for drinks, so you can meet everyone. From now on, this will be your home."

Zheng Rouniang's sudden arrival did indeed disrupt Li Yi's plans.

But the girl was so courageous, Li Yi felt he couldn't let her down. He'd deal with the Zheng family and the Crown Prince separately.

Previously in Luoyang, she took the initiative to visit Li Yi at Chanhe Manor, which made me think she was quite special. I never expected her to be even more impressive this time.

(End of this chapter)