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

Chapter 744 The Housewife

Huo Yu accepted the gold-embossed letter paper.

This was sent by the Princess Consort. It was written in gold powder on plum blossom paper and decorated with cloud patterns.

Lady Wen:

Du Shi Niang, the tenth daughter of the Prince of Dai's Mansion, respectfully inquires about your well-being.

It is September, the Double Ninth Festival. Today, we are climbing Leyouyuan to enjoy the autumn scenery. We respectfully invite Madam and Xiaoyu'er to join us...

Huo Yu smiled and asked, "Where is the person who delivered the invitation?"

The maid replied, "We'll serve you tea in the lobby."

"Bring him here; I want to ask him a few questions."

Huo Yu asked very carefully, "Will the Prince of Dai also come?"

"Yes, my Prince and Princess, along with all the concubines, young men and women in the mansion, will come to Leyouyuan to climb the mountain."

"Yes, thank you for your trouble. Here's a reward of two coins."

"Thank you for the generous gift, Madam," the servant of the Prince's mansion said, his mouth agape with joy at receiving two silver coins. He quickly expressed his gratitude.

"By the way, the Princess also invited Lady Li from Qujiang Furong Garden to accompany us today."

"Give him two more silver coins," Huo Yu beckoned.

After sending the person away,
Huo Yu immediately summoned the female steward of the manor.
"Li Lang will be arriving soon, as will the Princess Consort and Xiao Yu'er's brothers and sisters. Quickly prepare to welcome them."

We must be fully prepared and cannot afford to be even slightly impolite.

After repeated explanations,
She then summoned a maid to do her hair and makeup.
Hairstyle, jewelry, makeup, clothing...

Huo Yu carefully selected and meticulously dressed herself.

Today, as we ascend Leyouyuan, not only will Princess Du, the Princess Consort of Dai, be coming, but all of Li Yi's dozen or so concubines will also be there, and even Li Rulian from Qujiang Furong Garden will be coming.

Do I have crow's feet at the corners of my eyes?

Is this lip gloss color suitable?

"Is the color of this dress a bit too bright?"

Looking at herself in the mirror, Huo Yu felt somewhat unnatural and insecure.

This woman on the battlefield was no less capable than any man. She could shoot with both hands while on horseback, and once even led a female cavalry guard to charge directly into the enemy's encirclement, killing several times.

But now,
But I got nervous.

She never regretted getting together with Li Yi.
But time waits for no one, and they can't compare to those in their prime at twenty.

I'm in my thirties now, and crow's feet wrinkles have started to appear at the corners of my eyes.

Even that woman in Qujiang is much younger and prettier than me, and she can get pregnant without any fear.

"you say,
"How about I have a child too?" she asked her personal housekeeper, a woman of similar age who had been her personal attendant in the past. The woman had fought her way out of bandits and still bore a scar on her face and had one of her breasts cut off.

The housekeeper smiled slightly, "I've never seen the Grand Madam so nervous before. She wasn't even this nervous when we raided the enemy camp at night."

"Actually, there's no need for that. That Princess Consort is quite nice. You've been to the Prince's residence several times, Madam, so it's not like it's the first time you've met and spent time together."

"As for having children, the old lady is still young, so she can have them."

Many women give birth in their fifties or sixties; if you want to have more children, you could give birth to seven or eight for the Prince of Dai.”

Huo Yu suddenly laughed.

"If you keep talking nonsense, I'll tear your mouth apart."

"How is that nonsense? You're in your thirties, you can have children until you're fifty or sixty, one every two years, or even two every three years, and having seven or eight more wouldn't be too difficult."

Huo Yu stood up and reached out to actually tear the housekeeper's face off. The two laughed and joked around, so she wasn't nervous anymore.

"I still have seven or eight more children. In two more years, I will be old and faded, while Li Lang will still be in his prime. I'm afraid I'll find him repulsive when I see him then."

The housekeeper said, "When the Prince of Dai met you, you were more than ten years apart in age, but he still liked you back then. Several years have passed in the blink of an eye, and the Prince of Dai is still the same. You are just too concerned."

Huo Yu looked down and saw that it was still quite erect.

“Wenxiang has several children already, and I’m a grandmother now.”

"What's so strange about that? Some women are already great-grandmothers and they still have children. Look at you, your breasts haven't sagged yet, and you have two good milk sacs, so you'll definitely have good milk when you have a baby..."

Huo Yu was about to tear her mouth open again.

"Go ahead and have the baby! I'll help you take care of it, no problem!"

···
Qujiang, Furong Garden.

Li Rulian was taking a walk; she had gained a lot of weight since becoming pregnant.

When Li Yi visited her last time, he specifically told her to exercise more and not to eat too well, fearing that the fetus might be too big and cause difficulties during childbirth.

Although Li Rulian had been married before, she had never been pregnant or given birth. This was her first child, and although she was only in her early twenties...
But in the Tang Dynasty,

This is already considered an advanced maternal age pregnancy, considering that most women in this era get married at fourteen or fifteen and have children at fifteen or sixteen.

Since Lianhua had no experience, she was worried that her baby wouldn't grow properly, so she took a lot of supplements. Li Yi's reminder made her even more worried.

Now, control your diet and exercise more, eating only four small meals a day.

I take walks in the morning and at noon, aiming to walk 10,000 steps a day.

Li Yi also taught her to practice Tai Chi and Baduanjin.

A maidservant came to report that she had delivered an invitation from the Princess Consort. Upon seeing that Li Yi's entire family was going to Leyouyuan to climb the mountain, and that the Princess Consort had invited her to join them, Li Rulian immediately accepted.

Since successfully becoming pregnant
Li Rulian is now more proactive in her interactions with the Prince's residence, visiting them every few days with various gifts, showing no fear that the Princess might be displeased.

All of this was for the sake of the child in her womb. She hoped that the child could be recognized by his ancestors after birth, rather than becoming an illegitimate child born to another woman.

When the time comes, the child will have to recognize Du Shiniang as his legal mother and call her "Mother," so Li Shi will definitely have to get along with her first.

He ordered that carriages and horses be prepared, along with food and pastries.
They also prepared an exquisite gift for everyone in the Prince's Mansion.

"Have you heard that the Prince of Dai's mansion is going to sell another thousand acres of land?"

"Why don't we buy all this land?" the butler suggested.

Li shook her head, "No, we won't buy a single acre of land that the Prince of Dai's Mansion is selling this time."

“These are all lands in Guanzhong and Sanhe, so land prices will definitely rise in the future,” the steward said.

"Didn't you see the imperial court's land limit decree? We've already exceeded it. Besides, even the Prince of Dai has been selling land, so why should we buy any more?"

"I think the imperial court's land restriction order will definitely not last long."

Madam Li waved her hand, "I trust Li Lang more. He is the smartest man I have ever met. And don't forget, he is the Minister of Works and the Chancellor of the State Council. In just a few months, he has sold thousands of acres of land."

When Li Yi came last time, she asked him about selling the land, and he explained it to her. Li Rulian owns over a thousand hectares of land, so there's no need to sell it.

But selling the land is also an option. The money from the land sale can be invested in other areas, such as shipbuilding in Guangzhou, sugarcane cultivation and sugar production in Lingnan, cotton cultivation and textile manufacturing, or even purchasing mines for mining and smelting, etc.
Both are better than buying land in the Central Plains at this stage.

The Tang Dynasty had unified the country, and internal and external stability was gradually being achieved.

Grain prices have begun to fall across the board. From the past, when a bushel of rice was worth a bolt of silk, prices have been falling. Soon, a bolt of silk will be worth more than ten bushels of millet.

Farming is no longer as profitable as it was a few years ago, not to mention the many policy restrictions imposed by the new government.

In times of chaos, grain is as precious as gold; in times of prosperity, commerce and industry flourish.

Land is certainly important, but we don't need to focus on land in the interior. We can turn to the frontier, just like him. The frontier is vast and sparsely populated, with a lot of land that can be acquired in large tracts.

Although there is a shortage of people, slaves can be kept.

Just like in Lingnan, where it was common for barbarian tribes to kidnap and sell people into slavery, the situation was even more severe in Jiaozhi (Vietnam).

At that time, in Hainan Island, the inland tribes were even referred to as "savages." A large number of people there were involved in the slave trade, trafficking, abduction, and even armed capture of slaves. They also waged wars and engaged in maritime trade.
Lots of them, and they're very cheap.

The sea merchants brought Kunlun slaves across the ocean, and they even thoughtfully castrated them all.

This would both make these tall Kunlun slaves more docile and obedient, and also prevent these black commodities from multiplying in the Central Plains.

The input is all censored.

In this way, their business of selling Kunlun slaves can continue indefinitely.

It's the same as selling seeds in later generations, where you can't save your own seeds; it's useless even if you do save them.

Almost all the Kunlun slaves brought to the Tang Dynasty were castrated.

But in Lingnan, there were too many slaves, including the Wuling barbarians, the Li Liao barbarians, the Jiaozhi barbarians, and even the Liuqiu Island barbarians and the Zhuya Island barbarians.

Plenty and cheap,
The powerful families over there didn't take slaves seriously at all; if a slave could be used for ten years, it was more than enough.

Lianhua, for example, made a lot of money in the grain business by taking advantage of the border wars, Li Yi's connections, and the connections of Zhao Jun Li and Fan Yang Lu. She also made money in the border region by farming grain for several years.

Now that grain prices have fallen and there's no fighting on the borders...
Following Li Yi's lead and switching to other areas is definitely the right thing to do.

Li Rulian is pregnant with Li Yi's child, so how could she not trust Li Yi?

In recent years, she has been with Li Yi, and her net worth has skyrocketed.

Whether it was Li Yi having her sell grain, open trading posts on the frontier, or later have her engage in border market trade, she made a fortune from it all.
They even received commendation from the imperial court, after all, they had solved the problems of food and military supplies for the court.

"Did you complete the task of reporting the actual land area to the government last time?"

"We have already reported to each of the prefectures and counties where the land is located, applying for verification and inventory, re-registration, and confirmation of ownership through deeds."

"What about the grain stored in the granary? Has it been paid?"

"They've all been arranged to start paying their share, two liters per mu, not a single liter less."

The Li family owns over a thousand hectares of land in various places, making them a large, unassuming landowner. Now, they are required to pay over two thousand shi of millet.

Fortunately, millet is not worth much now. A few years ago, these two thousand bushels of millet would have been worth more than twenty thousand bolts of silk.

Gold can be exchanged for five hundred taels.

Now, however, it can only be exchanged for about twenty taels of gold.

Food is worthless now.

"My lady, although the court has issued new policies, most people are still observing and waiting."

Few people voluntarily reported their land area truthfully; they all concealed it if they could, and some even bribed local officials to find ways to hide their land area or pass off large acres as regular acres…

Li Rulian chuckled lightly, "That's them, no need to pay them any mind."

The maid came to report.
“My lady, Miss Liu from the Nanqu Zhangtai Courtyard in Pingkang Ward has arrived.”

Ru Lianhua frowned, "Why is she here?"

Liu Qingqing of Zhangtai Courtyard is now famous throughout Chang'an, but people only know that she comes from Hangzhou in Jiangnan, carrying with her a touch of the misty rain of West Lake.
However, no one knew that the owner behind Zhangtai Courtyard was actually this widow Li from Zhao County.

"Miss Liu said she had something important to report in person, and that it was related to Situ."

Upon hearing this, Li Rulian stopped in her tracks. "Bring her here."

(End of this chapter)