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

Chapter 731 Kicking the Tip of the Blade
In front of Luojiabao Bridge,

A long line of oxcarts, loaded with grain, formed.

Beyond the bridge, next to Wuji Fortress, lies the newly established Yusu Town Granary. Originally, granaries were to be located in the prefectural or county seat, but Yusu Town received a special imperial decree to establish one in the town itself.

Yesterday, after drinking with the emperor and his ministers, and even being granted a rank of nobility, the local gentry and landlords had already discussed it on their way back.

Today we must pay the grain from this granary.

Everyone went home, and that night they gathered the farmhands and tenants to weigh the grain from the granary, which was then loaded onto carts and delivered early the next morning.

On this side of the bridge,
Mayor Guo Er and Deputy Mayor Luo San knew about this incident last night and made preparations well in advance.

Today, Luo Er, dressed in a crisp, starched long gown, walked toward the two town mayors.

"When the granary was established, I, Luo Lao Er, came to pay the first grain tax. My family owns 800 mu of fertile land on and around the plateau, and another 2,000 mu of land outside Yusu Township."

According to the new regulations, grain should be paid in the area where the land is located.

"I've brought the grain from 800 mu of public granary today. Each mu yields two sheng of millet, totaling sixteen shi of millet."

Guo Erlang laughed and said, "Brother, you're really enthusiastic! Are you paying taxes in millet, wheat, or rice?"

“My family grows wheat on the plateau and rice below, and I pay taxes on wheat.”

Guo Er then asked, "Is it the new wheat from this summer or the old wheat from the granary?"

Luo Er glared at him. "Mayor Guo, what kind of person do you take me for? Of course, I'm the new wheat harvested this summer."

"Alright, alright, as is customary, three dou of wheat is equivalent to five dou of millet. For your eight hundred mu of land, you should pay sixteen shi of millet, but if you pay with wheat, you will receive nine shi and six dou of wheat instead."

"Du Cangdu, take the men to measure the grain."

The newly appointed granary supervisor is surnamed Du, and is a member of the Du clan of Jingzhao in Fanchuan, which is next door. Like the market magistrate, the granary supervisor of Yusu Town is an official outside the regular government system.

However, the authority they hold is still quite significant.

Du Cangdu and Guo Er were also relatives. Du Cangdu smiled and called to the market official to bring the granary measure.

To ensure fairness, they also brought out the market measuring cups and the household measuring cups from the market, and checked them together. It turned out that the measuring cups were indeed not of the small or large size.

The farmhands from Luo Er's family drove over in two oxcarts and were the first to pay their taxes.

The land area hasn't been officially measured yet; Luo Er and his group are submitting their own reports. The difference will be adjusted later after the land area is officially measured.

“Measure it. This year’s new wheat, these two carts of wheat, each cart weighs five shi (a unit of dry measure), is piled high when measured at home.”

The farmhands unloaded the grain from the oxcart.
Du Cangdu began inspecting the grain, checking for mold, staleness, and whether it was mixed with stones, mud, ash, etc.

Only after the inspection and approval process is completed can the weighing begin.

The grain must be counted one bushel at a time.

Wheat was poured into the granary bins. After they were full, the granary officials would, as was customary, kick the bins. Du, the granary supervisor, and these other granary officials were all transferred from the Chang'an granary; they were all veteran granary officials.

The granary official's skill in kicking the measuring cup was his livelihood. When inspecting and weighing grain, kicking the cup would make the grain inside more compact and allow for a larger quantity to be stored.

When distributing grain, they don't kick the buckets, and by doing this back and forth, they can get a lot more grain, which is their gray income.

Kicking a bucket is an art. Some people can kick it several times but not make much room, while others can make a lot of room in a full bucket with a seemingly insignificant kick.

Du, the warehouse supervisor, stopped the warehouse clerk who had changed into shoes with iron-lined toes today.

“The Minister of Works has decreed that the granaries shall accept grain and, upon receiving it, shall allow the households to weigh it themselves and not skimp on the grain.”

"Anyone who dares to accept more than one bushel of flour shall be punished with one hundred strokes of the cane!"

Du Cangdu's two seemingly casual words left the granary official, who was preparing to display his prowess, stunned.

“Supervisor of the granary, kicking the grain and pouring water from the top is a routine procedure,” the granary official argued.

"Are you going to talk to Situ about this routine?" Du Cangdu glared at him.

Don't you even know where you are? This is the Yushu Town Granary next to Wuji Fort.

The first person to come and pay the grain from the granary today was the father of Li Situ's concubine. Last night, the emperor had a banquet at Luo Er's house with all the prime ministers and even bestowed upon him a first-rank noble title.

Did you kick his chopsticks and drench his chin?
Nowadays,

We absolutely cannot play that game.

Du Cangdu brought over a scraper, filled a dou (a unit of dry measure) and scraped the rim of the dou flat. "Uncle Luo, we scrape the rim flat after each dou is filled. We will never kick the dou and let the rim drip. What is scraped off is still your grain."

The granary officials stood aside, watching the grain being scraped away, and felt a pang of heartache.

According to the old custom, when they collect grain, they first kick the bucket to make the grain inside compact, then they fill it with more grain, piling it up into a cone, and finally kick it again.

If the grain spilled from the bushel but did not fall over, the spilled grain was considered a loss and belonged to them.

Don't be fooled by the small amount of money collected; to collect one shi (a unit of dry measure), at least two or three sheng (another unit of dry measure) have to be collected.

Each bushel was filled and then leveled, but the scraped-off grain did not belong to them; how could this not break their hearts?

"Twelve bushels and three bushels of summer wheat."

After taking the measurements, Du Cangdu announced loudly.

Luo Er said loudly, "We measured everything at home. My 800 mu of land should yield 16 shi of millet, which is equivalent to 9.6 shi of wheat. Adding 20% ​​for rat and sparrow damage, plus 1.92 shi, the total is 11.52 shi."

Including the kicking and rinsing, one stone plus three liters, plus three dou, totals eleven stones and eight dou.

I also brought five extra dou, making it exactly twelve shi and three dou.

Luo Er stroked his beard: "Du Cangdu's measurement is very accurate, not a bit off."

"Help me move the grain into the granary," he said to the farmhands at his home.

Du Cangdu, however, smiled and stopped him.
"No rush. Although my appointment as the granary supervisor of Yusu Town is just a lowly and insignificant post, I have had the privilege of meeting Minister Li and Minister Du."

Li Situ said that when the granary in Yusu Town receives grain, it is forbidden to kick the grain measure or pour out the grain, and it is also forbidden to use a large measure to put grain in and a small measure to take it out.
When collecting grain, the amount of grain rations for sparrows and rats should be uniformly increased by two liters per shi (a unit of dry measure), and no more should be added.

"Uncle Luo, your family owns 800 mu of fertile land in this town. You should pay 16 shi of millet to the granary, plus 3.2 dou of grain for pests and rats, for a total of 16 shi, 3.2 dou of millet. If you pay in wheat, it will be 9 shi, 7.9 dou and 2 sheng."

"Collect and deposit the taxes according to this figure; not a single penny more can be collected."

"You guys, measure out nine shi, seven dou, nine sheng, and two liang of wheat. Pack up the extra for Luo Erlang, and we'll take it home later."

Luo Er was a little surprised. "The grain has already been transported here, so there's no reason to transport it back home. I'm just following the usual practice: one shi plus two dou of surcharge, and each shi is about three sheng of flour..."

Du Cangdu stepped forward and took Luo Er's hand, "Brother, this is Yusu Town, specially established by His Majesty. This granary is also the first one set up below the county level."
This is something the emperor and the prime minister are watching closely; we can't afford to act recklessly.

Nearly nine shi and eight dou of wheat were delivered to the granary, becoming the first batch of grain stored in the Yushu Town granary. Registration, signature, and fingerprints were required, and a certificate for paying grain into the granary was issued.

This scene,
Everyone who saw it was quite surprised.

The local gentry and powerful were surprised.
The common people were even more surprised.

When did they stop trying to collect more grain during the grain requisition process and start pushing away the grain that was delivered to them?

Someone seemed to suddenly come to their senses and excitedly asked, "Du Cangdu, is only two liters of sparrow and rat feed added to this shi of grain?"

The "sparrow and rat losses" were nominally intended to compensate for storage losses, but in reality, they also served as a form of illicit income for local officials.
Even the exact amount of the additional tax is often determined by local authorities.
During the chaotic Sui Dynasty, the price of this bird and rat ash was increased by two or three dou per shi, and sometimes even by four dou.

Now, the surcharge for the "sparrow and rat" has been standardized, with only two liters added per stone. It has also been stipulated that this surcharge should be deposited into the public account and become public funds of the local government.

It will replace government funds for lending and interest collection, and will be used for government expenditures.

Originally, one shi (石) was increased by two or three dou (斗), or even four dou (斗), but now one shi is only increased by two sheng (升). This difference is not small.

In the past, each household had to pay two shi of land rent per year. However, the grain had to be delivered to the prefecture and county. As a result, the two shi of millet had to be supplemented with five or six sheng of flour and five or six dou of surcharge, which increased the actual burden by about 30%.

Luo Er was aware of all this, so he made extra preparations in advance today.

As a result, instead of kicking off the top of the bins, they only added two liters of stalemate per stone.

There were still two and a half bushels of wheat left.

Luo Er felt that this was because his son-in-law was the Minister of Works, and the emperor had drunk wine at his house yesterday, so he insisted on sending the remaining two bushels of wheat into the granary.

"Brother Luo, we really can't break the rules. You can donate your two and a half bushels of wheat to the community granary."

"We still have community granaries, which are entirely established by the village community itself, based on voluntary donations, managed by the community, and prioritized for helping its own villagers."

After some persuasion from Du Cangdu,

Luo Er finally decided not to take the remaining two bushels of wheat home, but to donate them to the Yusu Community Granary, which is managed by the villagers themselves and is not mandatory.

"I never expected that!"
The grain tax for this granary is two sheng of millet per mu, exactly two sheng. Two shi of millet for one hundred mu, plus four sheng of rat feed, and not a single hu of flour.

Everyone was talking about it, saying they had never encountered such a good thing before.

Aside from the community's granaries and the association's granaries that received grain, regardless of those, I've never seen grain collected by official granaries like this before.

I'm used to the old system, and now I'm suddenly feeling a little out of place.

Each household brought their oxcarts loaded with grain, and the grain was delivered one after another.

Almost every household prepared extra grain according to the old custom, and then no one harvested more.

With Luo Er taking the lead, none of the other gentry had the nerve to take back the remaining few bushels and bushels of grain and donate them all to the community granary.

Guo Erlang also took the opportunity to say to the villagers who were watching: "Fellow villagers, the new policies of the imperial court have benefited the people."

The grain for the granary is two liters per mu, and only two liters of rat feed are added per shi. There is no skimming or rinsing of the grain. The autumn harvest is coming soon, and everyone should pay the grain for the granary as soon as possible before winter.

We can pay here in our hometown, so there's no need to send it to Chang'an. It's very convenient.

Next, the town will begin a large-scale search and investigation to strictly investigate those who fraudulently claim to be elderly or young, those who conceal their population, and those without household registration must register as customers as soon as possible.
Customers no longer need to pay rent or taxes; once they have household registration, they are considered law-abiding citizens of the imperial court, and they no longer need to live in fear.

"This winter, we will also need to survey the land. All the land in the town will be remeasured, and then the ownership will be confirmed and the deeds will be changed. Everyone should inform each other, declare truthfully, cooperate with the measurement, and complete the registration, ownership confirmation, and deeds change. Anyone who hides land will have it confiscated."

···
In Puji Temple,

Under the big soapberry tree,
Ten boys and ten girls, twenty orphans from the orphanage, stood in two rows.

Dean Niu Yigan looked at the group of children and felt a pang of reluctance.

"These are new clothes sent by the Prince of Dai's Mansion. Go and change into them. In a little while, you will go to Wuji Fort and then follow them to Chang'an."

You are lucky to have been chosen by the Emperor and the Prime Minister for adoption. Whether you enter the palace or go to the Prime Minister's household, you must be self-reliant, have self-respect, and be independent.

Li Enyi stood there, listening to the dean's earnest teachings, but his gaze couldn't help but drift towards Li Enze beside him.

Li Enze is the class monitor of Class Two. He is the same age as Li Enze, also ten years old.

He will go to the Prince of Dai's residence to be adopted by the Prince of Dai.

Li Enyi envied him greatly; he had been chosen by the emperor to be raised in the palace alongside the sons of meritorious officials. But deep down, Li Enyi actually hoped that the Prince of Dai would adopt him instead.

In his heart, the Prince of Dai was his father.

If he could switch places with Li Enze, he would not hesitate.

On the other side, hundreds of students looked at the twenty lucky ones with envy.

Being adopted by the emperor or prime minister is like a sparrow rising to the top and becoming a phoenix.

Wuji Fortress.

Li Yi eventually had to return to the capital.
Not only was he reluctant to leave, but a group of children were even more reluctant to leave.

Where is Shuniang?

The little girl hid in a corner and wiped away her tears.

"What's wrong? Are you reluctant to leave here? We can come back whenever we have time. It's only thirty miles from the capital," Li Yi said, picking up the girl to comfort her.

"Father, Shuniang wants to ask you for a favor."

"Why are you asking your father for something? What's the matter?"

“I heard that the family is living a hard life. They have an old mother who is bedridden and takes medicine all year round, and the woman in the family is also in poor health. They have many children and are in dire need of food every year. They still live in a dilapidated cave dwelling. I thought, I want to use the money I have saved to buy them fifty acres of land and a cow, and then hire someone to repair a few of their dilapidated cave dwellings. What do you think?”

Li Yi knew that the girl was referring to her biological parents in the next village.

"I didn't expect you to have saved up so much money!" Li Yi said with a smile.

“I’ve asked around. If I buy fifty acres of land, a yellow ox, and repair a few old cave dwellings, I should have enough money saved up.”

Why do you want to do this?

Li Shu lowered her head, "After all, I was born to them."

"I didn't expect you to be so kind since you were a child. Okay, I'll have Luo San take care of this for you."

"Thank you, Father. Shuniang will always be your daughter. When I grow up, I will definitely take good care of you."

"Then kiss me."

(End of this chapter)