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

Chapter 674 It’s cold at high places

How much land does our family own now?

Li Yi asked Luo San Niang, who only knew that there was a lot of land now, but didn't know exactly how much.

“Aside from the commercial settlements, Alang owns over 10,000 hectares of land.”

hiss!
Li Yi was astonished; the speed of land annexation was simply too fast. He had only been wealthy for a little over five years, yet he already owned tens of thousands of acres of land.

One hundred acres
Owning millions of acres of farmland,
This doesn't even include the commercial land purchased or rented under the name of a business, or the sacrificial land such as ancestral graves and family temples (not considered private land), or the school land of the clan school. There are quite a few of these lands.

In addition, under the names of various associations such as the Bridge Association, Road Association, and Society Association, they also bought a lot of land. Although it was not officially privately owned, the Li family had the final say on everything from renting it out to the income and distribution.

Having land means having control over people.

From tenant farmers to slaves, and then to long-term and short-term laborers, personal dependence relationships could be established. Furthermore, the concentration of land allowed for the creation of manors, enabling not only farming but also animal husbandry and the establishment of handicraft workshops.
The manor also engaged in lending, lending out grain, money, and even pawning.

Those powerful and influential families were built on these foundations.

The speed at which Li Yi amassed his fortune surprised even him.

In just a few years, through rewards and sales, taking advantage of the cheap land after dynastic changes and chaos, the Li family annexed far too much land.

"There's too much land."

"Ah Lang, isn't having more land a good thing?" Luo San Niang used to be the daughter of a small family. Her family rented some paddy fields from a landlord and usually made tofu to sell. She longed for land the most.

If someone had any spare money, they would definitely be reluctant to eat or drink, and would save it up to see if they could buy two acres of land. Only with land could they have the foundation to make a living and settle down. Otherwise, as someone else's tenant, they would not only have to pay rent, but also frequently work for the landlord for free.
They might even decide not to rent it at all; everything depends on how others feel.

"Too much of a good thing is bad. Our family has expanded our land too much in recent years. The bigger the tree, the more the wind will blow against it."

"But these weren't stolen or robbed. Our family has never done anything like seizing or plundering people's land; we bought them all..."

Li Yi smiled and said, "Sometimes, the process is not important; what others look at is the result. The result now is that our family owns thousands of acres of land."

This number is quite alarming; if someone with ulterior motives seizes upon it, they could use it as leverage to attack us.

"So what? Ah Lang is now the Prince of Dai, one of the Three Dukes, the Prime Minister, and the chief minister who made the greatest contribution to the enthronement of the Crown Prince."

Li Yi frowned slightly upon hearing Luo San Niang's words.

Although what she said was true, it would be dangerous if the Li family all thought this way.

The higher you climb, the colder it gets.
The greater one's achievements, the more careful and cautious one must be.

Every move is watched by countless people, and even the slightest flaw will be magnified many times over.

land,

In feudal dynasties, it was always a scarce resource, and naturally it easily became a target of public criticism.

"We need to make some adjustments. Land is good, but we can't monopolize it all. Now that the world is unified, land prices are gradually rising."

Especially the farmland in the capital region and the Central Plains, there is no worry about selling it.

Sell ​​off the scattered plots of land gradually.

"Each state and county, don't leave too much land. Let's consolidate the land, leaving some well-maintained fertile fields, and integrate them into manors to develop a manor economy."

Be prepared for danger in times of peace.

Li Yi is now enjoying immense prestige in the eyes of outsiders, having replaced Pei Ji and become a top-tier new elite, second only to the emperor.

But the higher you climb, the colder it gets.

He has no idea how many people are watching him.

Li Yi felt that developing a diversified estate economy was more promising than simply buying land and renting it out to the people.

By releasing a reasonable amount of land and transitioning to a manor economy, he, as a top-tier newcomer, can also present a good image and avoid being attacked for massively annexing land.

During the Wude era, the country was founded and unified, so there was no time to deal with domestic affairs.

But now that Li Shimin has ascended to the throne, he will definitely focus more on domestic affairs, and the issue of land annexation will certainly be one of the main contradictions in domestic affairs.

He needs to take precautions in advance.

Third Sister was very reluctant to part with him.

“There are still many people who want to put their land under our names.”

"Absolutely not," Li Yi said sternly. He knew about this practice; to avoid taxes and corvée labor, some people would rather not be law-abiding citizens of the court.

If you don't register your household, you're not a taxpayer and don't have to pay rent or taxes. Even though the current rent, labor service and tax system seems to have reduced the burden, registering your household still grants you land.

However, in practice...
In the Central Plains, land allocation was often insufficient, with most land in the hands of nobles, powerful families, and landlords. The public land available for the imperial court to distribute was inadequate, and much of it had to be used for government offices, schools, and official positions. In addition, a significant amount was occupied by officials' permanent estates, soldiers' merit lands, and military lands for the garrison.
In the Guanzhong Plain, land was distributed and allocated a few years ago.

A household could usually only be allocated thirty or forty mu of land. It wasn't that a single able-bodied man was allocated that much, but rather that the entire family could only be allocated that much, with half of the family members inheriting the land.

With limited land and a large population, there wasn't enough land to distribute, and the amount of land available decreased over time.

Regardless of how many acres of land they could be allocated, the imperial court's tax system remained unchanged, levied based on the number of adult males. This meant that if a family had many adult males but little land, their tax burden would be very heavy.

Having just emerged from a period of chaos, many people were destitute. Even if they were allocated a few dozen acres of land, they lacked oxen and plows. Therefore, some people preferred not to register their households, not to become law-abiding citizens, and thus not to be subject to taxes and corvée labor.

Some people owned land, perhaps not much, but were still self-sufficient farmers. Unwilling to pay taxes and perform corvée labor for the imperial court, they exploited loopholes by donating their land to nobles, powerful families, or temples—though this wasn't truly a free gift.

Generally, this involves registering one's land under someone else's name while still cultivating it oneself, but having to pay the other party a commission, such as agreeing on one or two percent of the annual harvest.

The powerful and wealthy got a share of the rent for free, while the common people didn't have to perform labor service or pay taxes, which was a disservice to the imperial court.

Temples used to love playing this game.
The people donated their land to the temple and became its tenants. The temple nominally owned the land and its tenants, but did not have to pay any taxes. The people thus escaped taxes and corvée labor.

Many temples own vast tracts of land and countless tenants, but a large portion of them are involved in shady dealings.

now,

Dai Wangfu,
It also became a powerful figure in the eyes of many, and many people wanted to attach themselves to the Li family.
They voluntarily transferred their land, even workshops and shops, to the Li family in exchange for protection money, thus evading national taxes and corvée labor.

“Everyone does it this way. I’ve calculated it. If we accept these people’s patronage and add a thousand acres of land to our name, even if we only collect one or two bushels of rent per acre, we can still collect an extra ten or twenty thousand bushels of rent grain per year.”

“Ah Lang, you have now been granted a fief of 1,800 households, which is the most among the meritorious officials. Each household will receive the rent and tax of three adult males.”

The system of dividing fiefs into three parts stipulated that one-third of the rent and taxes levied on the fiefs were handed over to the state, while only two-thirds remained with the fief family.

In reality, this meant that 3,600 men could receive rent and taxes each year. According to the law, each man was required to pay two shi of millet as rent and two zhang of silk and three liang of cotton as taxes annually.

This fiefdom, in essence, receives an annual rent of 7,200 shi of millet, 1,800 bolts of silk, and 1,800 tun of cotton.

Luo San Niang was very quick at mental arithmetic.

“The income from Ah Lang’s real fiefdom in a year is not even as much as the rent from this nominal land.”

"That's not how you do the math. Don't get too greedy."

Upon hearing Li Yi's words, Luo San Niang's eyes suddenly reddened.

"What's wrong? I was just joking with you. I didn't mean to blame you. You work hard managing the family accounts."

However, other families are other families. We can't play the game of currying favor or seeking patronage. That would be undermining the imperial court, and we'd only attract attention if we were too powerful. There's no need for that.

Even our own land will gradually be transferred out.

Let me mention a few points first.

The stewards, managers, estate overseers, shopkeepers, servants, and teachers at the clan school who work for our family can be given priority in purchasing our land, and we can even offer them a reasonable discount.
Even if you don't have enough money right away, you can pay in installments, which is a kind of preferential treatment for our own family.

Then, neighbors and relatives can also sell a portion of the land to them…

Luo Sanniang wiped her eyes and lowered her head, saying, "I will listen to whatever you say, my lord. However, I suggest that we also set aside some land to establish associations or societies under the names of road associations, bridge associations, and societies. This land will become public land and will no longer be under our family's name."
But in reality, whether the land is leased out, rented, or loaned out, it is all under our control.

We control these roads, bridges, associations, and educational institutions. We use the profits from these lands to repair bridges, pave roads, and establish schools, which helps the people and brings prestige to our family.

Li Yi nodded.
“That’s a good idea. We can set up some primary schools, clinics and pharmacies in various places, and also set up some orphanages and sanatoriums to take in orphans and abandoned infants and bury the remains of the poor.”

"We can set up more orphanages and nurseries. It's not only a good deed, but it can also train people for our own family in the future."

Luo San Niang wrote down everything Li Yi said.

“Other nobles and even members of the royal family are desperately buying land, but our family is actually selling our land.”

Especially the farmland in the capital region, it's a highly sought-after commodity coveted by many.

Li Yi laughed heartily, "That's what you call vision. If your family also wants to buy land, you can get priority in buying some."

"However, while land is a valuable commodity, try not to buy too much within your means."

There's an old saying among country folk: "A family has three treasures: an ugly wife, a meager plot of land, and a tattered padded jacket."

The three greatest taboos in life are: being poor but having a beautiful wife, being powerless but wealthy, and being weak but precocious.

"Although your two elder brothers have made some military achievements and obtained military ranks of the sixth or seventh grade, in the capital region, the sixth grade is nothing."

Buy a few hundred or eight hundred acres of land, set up a few estates, and manage them diligently. Don't be greedy. Greed easily breeds envy and jealousy.

Luo Sanniang said, "A sixth-rank military officer in the capital region is indeed nothing special, but don't you have a first-rank brother-in-law like me?"

"Haha, don't use my name, I'm too big to be ignored."

"Once I'm done with this busy period, I'll go back to Yushu Township for a few days. It's been so long since I've been back," Li Yi sighed.

Luo Sanniang told him with a smile, "Wuji Fort has changed a lot now. Just across the Haohe Bridge, there's a bustling market. Luo Family Fort, Guo Family Village, Nianwan Village, San Family Village, Feng Family Fort, and Gao Family Fort are all connected together."

The original eighteen households in Luojiabao have all become wealthy in the past few years by following our family. The men and women all work as managers in our estates, workshops, and shops. Each family owns a hundred or two hundred acres of land, which they don't cultivate themselves but entrust to tenant farmers or hire long-term laborers to do.
The younger children studied at Wuji Academy, while the older ones learned trades in workshops. Life got better day by day.

"That's good. As the saying goes, the poor should cultivate their own virtue, while the rich should help the world. It's great that you can lead your fellow villagers to a better life." Li Yizhen couldn't wait to go to Yusu Township to see the place he had come from.

That small village back then,

Now it has become a market town, and even Luojiabao and the surrounding villages have dozens of young men who have become soldiers of the government, and some have even followed Li Yi in his campaigns to the east and west to make merits and receive honors, and some have even become military officers.

For example, San Niang's two elder brothers became very wealthy and powerful, and are now military officers of the sixth or seventh rank.

Liu Heizi has already been granted the title of Founding Viscount and become a fifth-rank General of the Cavalry. Even the four Qiang slaves, Li Cunxiao, who were originally rewarded to Li Yi, are now all county marquises and three viscounts, all of whom are fourth or fifth-rank military officers.

Not only did Li Yi emerge from Shenhe Plain, but he also brought out a large group of fellow villagers.

(End of this chapter)