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

Chapter 517 One Hundred Thousand Stones

North of Dingzhou City

Li Yi couldn't wait to arrive at Tanghe Wharf.
In March, the Tanghe River is like a jade belt, its blue waves rippling and winding, like a dragon rushing towards Baiyangdian Lake.

One of the eight scenic spots of Dingzhou, Tangshui Qiufeng, is the beautiful scene of the grain fields on both sides of the Tang River during the autumn harvest.

The Tang River, originating from the Taihang and Hengshan Mountains, flows through Dingzhou and is the mother river of Dingzhou. It not only irrigates countless farmlands on both banks but also plays an important role in transportation.

"I'm coming."

Huo Yu smiled and pointed to the Tang River.
A mighty grain transport fleet came sailing in. The Tang River in the Dingzhou section is relatively wide and the current is relatively gentle, making it very suitable for navigation. Boats carrying hundreds or even thousands of shi (a unit of dry measure) can sail there.

"Now you should feel at ease, right?" Huo Yu said with a beaming smile.

The fleet docked at the pier.

Li Yi's guards had already cleared the dock.

When the first grain ship docked, Li Yi jumped directly onto the bow and personally went into the hold to inspect the grain.

A cargo hold of wheat, in bulk.

It's not packaged in a bag.

Huo Yu explained that the grain purchased from the Jianghuai region was transported by both water and land, but it was transported in bulk, which was more convenient.

Even the horse-drawn carriages and oxcarts used for land transport were modified so that each carriage could carry ten shi of grain, and a full carriage would contain exactly ten shi, thus eliminating the need for weighing and checking during transport.

On the river, each boat carried 300 shi of grain, also in bulk.

Li Yi worked tirelessly, inspecting the grain in more than ten ship holds. It was all last year's grain, well-preserved, not old or moldy.

A boat of three hundred stones,

More than three hundred ships brought the 100,000 shi of grain.

"Originally, this batch of grain was planned to be transported to Mingzhou. We would have transferred it to land transport at the Huanshui Wharf on the Grand Canal, then transported it to Yecheng, and finally to Mingzhou via the Zhanghe River."

As a result, we received your message halfway through the journey that the grain had been diverted to Dingzhou. We then traveled along the Zhang River all the way to Zhao Prefecture, and from there, we transferred it by horse-drawn cart to the Hutuo River.

"In order to deliver the grain as soon as possible, we took a detour, first going along the Hutuo River to Raoyang in Shenzhou, then by land to Boye in Yingzhou, and then into the Tang River, and transported it by water to Dingzhou City."

"If we need to transport grain to Dingzhou again next time, we can consider going directly along the Grand Canal to the south of Youzhou, and then going up the Daqing River to Dingzhou. This way, we can travel entirely by water. Although it takes a longer route, it will be much faster than several water-land transfers."

Li Yi grabbed handfuls of grain.

The more I look, the more I like it.

With grain in hand, don't panic in my heart.

However, this batch of grain was indeed quite complicated. It was purchased from the Jianghuai region and then transported via the Grand Canal. But when it reached Dingzhou, it couldn't be transported entirely by the Grand Canal; it had to be transferred to the Zhanghe River, Hutuo River, and Tanghe River. The transportation cost exceeded the cost of purchasing the grain.

If it weren't for the current severe grain shortage and high grain prices in Hebei, this business would be a complete loss.

"I haven't been eating or sleeping well along the way. Do you know how many people have been eyeing this batch of grain?"
Both the legitimate and criminal worlds want to take a bite out of you, but luckily your reputation is useful. You managed to bring over several important officials along the way in advance, including Li Daliang, the governor of Xuzhou. He was a great help, sending people to protect the grain along the way, but he didn't ask for any benefits, neither for public nor private gain.

Furthermore, when I invited his son to join our group, Li Daliang refused.

Li Yi nodded, "Food is scarce everywhere, so food is life."

With so much grain, who wouldn't want it? Hungry people wanted to rob it, bandits and pirates wanted it even more, and even local officials along the way wanted it.

Back in Li Yi's time, during those years, even face masks were forcibly confiscated and misappropriated when passing through a certain city, let alone grain.

If Huo Yu hadn't already been granted the title of Lady Wen, and his son hadn't been the Duke of Wen and the Governor of Weizhou, and if this batch of grain hadn't belonged to Li Yi, the Prince of Wu'an, the Minister of Works and Attendant-in-Ordinary, and also included the Governors of Huazhou, Xiangzhou, Xuzhou, and Weizhou, etc.

Even if an ordinary merchant could buy 100,000 shi of grain in the Jianghuai region, it would be impossible to transport the grain to Hebei. It would have been smuggled out along the way by various means, and the merchant might even end up in prison or die under mysterious circumstances.

The long-distance trade of goods, more than two thousand miles long, involved essential commodities like grain, especially in those days.

"That's just how Li Daliang is. Oh well, I'll remember this favor and help his family in other ways in the future." Li Yi knew Li Daliang's character well; he was a man who truly regarded money as dirt.

Li Yi was at the dock.

I watched as boatloads of grain were loaded onto trucks and transported to the Changping Warehouse at the dock.

That night,

Li Yi rewarded Huo Yu twice more.

the next morning,
Li Yi was still radiant and full of energy.

Council Hall of the Dingzhou Grand General's Office

"Has there been any progress in Yang Changshi's efforts to procure grain?"

Yang Gongdao was a little embarrassed. He could only rob Peter to pay Paul, but now Hebei was suffering from famine and food was scarce everywhere. Where could he possibly squeeze out tens of thousands of bushels of grain all at once?

"We can spare three thousand shi of grain for now," he said somewhat awkwardly.

Looking at his purple robe and jade belt, Li Yi realized that this man, a dignified third-rank official and chief secretary of the Grand Steward's Office, was truly just a figurehead.

Zhang Liang stepped forward. "Minister," he said, "I dare to propose that the 30,000 shi of grain be distributed among the officials of the six prefectures, with each prefecture receiving 5,000 shi. Then, the prefectural and county officials can further assign tasks according to their ranks..."

When he announced the plan, he felt the piercing gazes of many of his colleagues. It was a way to offend people, but Zhang Liang had no other choice.

Even if Yang Gongdao failed to complete the mission, he came from the Hongnong Yang clan. His elder brother was the Grand Secretary and Minister of Personnel, his younger brother was the Imperial Son-in-Law and Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and Vice Minister of Personnel, his third daughter was married to the Prince of Qin as a concubine, and his other daughters were all married into prestigious families.

Li Yi couldn't do anything to this kind of person, but Zhang Liang couldn't. Zhang Liang's future depended on Li Yi's support, so naturally he had to solve the problem for Li Yi, even if it meant offending people. "This humble official is willing to take on the task of 1,000 shi (a unit of dry measure)." Zhang Liang volunteered to take on the task.

Li Yi glanced at him and saw his confident demeanor. It seemed that his trip to Lotus Manor yesterday had been fruitful.

I don't know how he managed to curry favor with Madam Lu and get a thousand shi of grain from Ru Lianhua. At that time, a thousand shi of grain was a lot of money. Whether borrowed or bought, being able to get grain was a great skill.

Yang Gongdao and the others were very embarrassed.

Some of them were even a little angry inside.

You, Zhang Liang, a fifth-rank Sima, are assigned a task of 1,000 shi (a unit of dry measure). If everyone here is of a higher rank than you, wouldn't they all have to take on tasks of 1,000 shi or more? Where would everyone get their grain?

You son of a bitch, Zhang Liang, you deserve to die!

Li Yi looked at the troubled expressions on everyone's faces.

He picked up his tea and savored it slowly. He had just received 100,000 shi of grain, but he was in no hurry to announce it.

"What Zhang Sima said is not without merit, but I still hope that everyone can be more proactive. Even if tasks are assigned, we cannot simply and crudely pass them on or shift them to others, let alone oppress or coerce the people."

Outside the Grand General's Office in Dingzhou, I have had a petition drum erected. If any commoner has a grievance or feels wronged, they can come and strike the drum to appeal their case. The Grand General's Office will receive them and investigate the matter thoroughly.

Li Yi looked at Yang Gong, who was lost in thought.

"Yang Changshi,"

Someone next to him tugged at his sleeve, bringing him back to his senses.

"The subordinate is here."

"I will trouble you and Chief Secretary Li to immediately go to Youzhou to pay respects to Grand General Li, the Prince of Lujiang, on behalf of the Grand General's Office of Dingzhou."

Tell him that the Turks have launched a major invasion of Hedong, and Daibei is in grave danger. We cannot stand idly by.

I request that Youfu join forces to send troops to the rear of the mountain, Youzhou send troops to attack Jundu Pass and seize Beiyan Prefecture, and our Dingfu send troops to Feihu Road to seize Wei Prefecture.

"We must completely wipe out that bandit Gao Kaidao, thus crippling the Turks and deterring them from launching a large-scale southward invasion."

"I, Li Yi, will personally lead 20,000 troops out of Feihu Pass, and am willing to send 5,000 troops northward to assist him in attacking Jundu Pass and Beiyan Prefecture."

However, Dingfu had just suffered extensive looting by rebels and was now short of food and supplies.

"Our 30,000 troops still need a month's worth of provisions from Youzhou, so please allocate 50,000 shi of grain."

Yang Gongdao was stunned.

"Minister Sikong, I'm afraid Youzhou might not be willing to supply us with 50,000 shi of grain."

"That's why I specifically asked Chief Secretary Yang and Chief Secretary Li to personally go to Youzhou to persuade the Prince of Lujiang in person."

"As long as Chief Secretaries Yang and Li can complete their tasks, you will no longer need to assign them the task of procuring grain."

“I believe the Prince of Lujiang is not an unreasonable person. Tell him that last time, because Youfu failed to stop Gao Kaidao from going south, the prefectures of Yiding, Hengshen, Mo, Ying, and Cang were devastated. Also, because they failed to defend Jundu Pass, the Turks were able to plunder Hebei.”

Finally, because they failed to block Jundu Pass, many rebels and Turks fled back to the mountains. Furthermore, because they did not send troops to retake Beiyan Prefecture, Gao Kaidao and the Turks attacked Dingxiang King from both sides, resulting in the annihilation of 20,000 troops in Shuozhou Xincheng.

Now, Dingzhou is willing to send 30,000 troops, which is also to make amends for them.

Moreover, Gao Kaidao and the Turks killed the Prince of Dingxiang. Who knows if Gao Kaidao would lead the Turks to make a comeback?

If Youzhou refuses to provide us with provisions, we won't be able to reclaim Beiyanzhou. Then Gao Kaidao can attack Youzhou again, and Youzhou shouldn't come to us for help again.

Regardless of whether Yang Gongdao was willing or not, Li Yi still assigned him the task and ordered him to set off north that very day.

After the meeting,
Li Yi called Zhang Liang to his study.

"At the Tanghe Wharf in the north of the city, 100,000 shi of grain have been newly stored in the Changping Granary."

Zhang Liang looked at Li Yi with a puzzled expression.

"This grain was transported from the Jianghuai region. The Ever-Normal Granary bought it all at four thousand coins per shi (unit of dry measure), but we don't have the cash to pay right now. You don't need to worry about these things."

The 100,000 shi of grain currently in the granary are all intended for this battle. You should begin preparations now to transport the grain to Weizhou, Shanxi.

This batch of grain was hard-won. Our Dingzhou Grand General Administration still owes us money. I'm entrusting this grain to you. You must manage it well and make no mistakes.

I know that warehouses inevitably have hamsters, and that some people, blinded by greed, will take risks and embezzle.
You keep a close eye on them. If anyone dares to reach out, chop their head off too.

"If even a single bushel of grain is missing from the granary, I will hold you responsible."

Zhang Liang was stunned for a long time. Suddenly, 100,000 shi of grain fell from the sky, and he was so happy he could die.

"Sikong, now that we have 100,000 shi of grain, why did you send Chief Clerk Yang and the others to Youzhou to ask for more?"

“We send troops, they provide food; it’s only fair. We still have a huge food shortage, and Wang Junkuo has just plundered the three prefectures of Ping, Ji, and Tan, so he has a lot of food in his hands. We should get a share of that too.”

Furthermore, sending them to Youzhou was more about getting Youzhou to send troops to the mountains.

At the very least, we need to let them tie down the enemy forces; that way, we'll have a better chance on Flying Fox Road.

Zhang Liang, still thinking about the 100,000 shi of grain, couldn't help but ask, "Minister, who is the mastermind behind those 100,000 shi of grain?"

Li Yi smiled slightly, but remained silent.

Looking at Li Yi, Zhang Liang suddenly understood. He admired his young superior even more; he truly possessed extraordinary abilities.

(End of this chapter)