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

Chapter 768 Li Chunfeng's Prophecy
October 1st

Shuo Ri Dynasty.

Before dawn, Li Yi was still asleep when Xiao Diaochan, Wei Tant, gently woke him up, "My lord, it's time to go to court."

Li Yi opened his eyes, still feeling somewhat sleepy.

The light outside was dim, with only a little warm light coming from the lanterns under the eaves.

"Today is the first day of the lunar month, and there will be many people attending court. Ah Lang, you should leave early to avoid getting stuck in traffic."

"Shengyefang is close to the palace gate, so there won't be any traffic jams."

Li Yi yawned and got out of bed.

Seeing Wei Tant, who turned around to get his clothes, and noticing her exquisite figure revealed beneath the thin nightgown, Li Yi couldn't help but pull her into his arms, his arm around her waist.
“Ah Lang,” Wyndham called softly.

"It's still early, let's do some morning exercise first."

Xiao Diaochan half-heartedly resisted.
After a long while, when the maid came to call him for the third time, Li Yi finally finished his morning exercise. Little Diao Chan was already limp and didn't want to move at all.

Li Yi let out a long breath, his body covered in a fine layer of sweat, yet he felt exceptionally energetic.

Cover her with a light blanket.

Li Yi went to take a bath.

When he came out looking refreshed, Du Shiniang called him to have breakfast.

"You're showing now, and you're heavier, so you should sleep more and don't need to get up so early."

"If you go to bed early, you'll wake up early too. If you sleep all the time, you'll be like a pig. Look at me, I've gained a lot of weight recently."

"My wife, this is called being plump," Li Yi joked with a smile.

"Today is the first day of the tenth lunar month, the Cold Clothes Festival. We have all made new clothes for you, Ah Lang. Would you like to wear some more clothes?"

Li Yi felt that the weather was unusually warm this year; it was already October, but he still didn't feel cold.

Moreover, today is the Minor Snow solar term.

The weather was warm, almost like during the Mid-Autumn Festival. It was still quite sunny at noon, and not cold at night either.

It doesn't feel like winter at all.

He doesn't need to wear any more clothes right now.

Because of the grand court assembly today, Li Yi ate some beef jerky and then went out.

The morning court sessions on the first and fifteenth of each lunar month are quite long, so you can't go to the toilet in between and have to go on an empty stomach, especially by drinking less water.

Otherwise, it would be a huge loss to be impeached for improper conduct by the Imperial Censor.

Li Yi exited through the second gate.
Li Enze quickly ran to the gate to tell the convoy to prepare to depart.

When Li Yi boarded the carriage, he discovered that a stove had been lit.

"Why are you lighting the stove on such a warm day?"

"Prime Minister, today is the first day of the tenth month, which is both the Cold Clothes Festival and the Stove Opening Festival."

The first day of the tenth lunar month is a very important day. On this day, wives will give their husbands and children new clothes for winter, and children and grandchildren will burn winter clothes for their deceased ancestors.

On this day, people worship their ancestors and drink wine from the stove.

Government offices also turn on their stoves for heating on the first day of the tenth lunar month each year, and remove the stoves on the first day of the second lunar month.

The Prince Wei's residence also followed the usual practice.

A stove was added to the carriage today.

Li Yi laughed and said, "It's still so warm lately, you added fuel to the stove a bit too early. I'm going to break out in a sweat. You should take it off now."

Li Enze quickly carried the stove downstairs.

"The weather this year is a bit unusual; could it be a mild winter?"

A mild winter might be easier for ordinary people, as it can save a lot of fuel and charcoal, and even if they lack warm clothes, it won't be as unbearable.

But a mild winter is not necessarily a good thing.

It is said that a timely snowfall promises a good harvest. In winter, as long as the snowfall does not cause disasters, it is actually very beneficial to agriculture. Firstly, the snow can freeze and kill insect eggs, and secondly, the melting snow can increase soil moisture.

And a mild winter
This often means that insect infestations will be severe next year, and in severe cases, it may even lead to a locust plague.

A mild winter may also lead to spring drought, resulting in reduced wheat production or even total crop failure.

The carriage was spacious, and Li Enze sat inside. He muttered to himself, "It's October and the weather is still so warm. Won't that affect our manor's charcoal yard?"
And what about the charcoal stove workshops? They've produced so many charcoal stoves, what are they going to do with them?

Li Yi saw that this young man had the air of a charcoal seller, wishing for cold weather so that charcoal would be cheap.

The Li family had already begun investing in the coal industry long ago.

As Chang'an's population grows, there is a significant shortage of fuel charcoal every winter, leading to a surge in fuel charcoal prices each winter.

Even the basic welfare of officials, such as firewood and charcoal, was often not guaranteed, and sometimes there was a shortage even in the palace.

In winter,
Not only the imperial palace, but also the various government offices and noble families had to send capable people and organize teams to procure firewood and charcoal from various places.

Ordinary people are pitiful; when things get tense, they have no choice but to shut down.

Therefore, every winter, many people in Chang'an would freeze to death, mainly due to a lack of fuel for heating.

Coal has long been known to be useful for heating.

It's just that it's not being utilized effectively.

It was generally used by royalty and nobility.
Li Yi established several coal mines in places like Tongguan in northern Wei, where he mined and processed coal before transporting it to Chang'an.
Here, the coal undergoes further processing: it is screened, made into coal cakes or honeycomb briquettes, and then sold.

They also built coke pits in the Weibei coalfield to process coke for use in workshops and smelting.

The small coal briquette stoves produced by the Li family workshop, when used with honeycomb briquettes for heating, are very durable and have a strong firepower.

These small stoves have a simple design and come in both sheet metal and clay versions. The sheet metal ones are lighter and more durable, while the clay ones are cheaper.

The furnace's inner walls are lined with refractory clay, and it has a square opening at the bottom equipped with a grate for support.

They can be burned as coal blocks or honeycomb briquettes, all handmade by workers at the Chang'an Coal Yard.

Honeycomb briquettes burn better.

For customers who order large quantities of coal, the coal yard will also deliver coal stoves.

While using coal has many disadvantages, it also has many advantages, especially when you buy high-quality honeycomb briquettes, which are smokeless and have little odor.

For the people of Beijing

Most people rely on buying fuel. Every winter, the prices of firewood and charcoal are high, and sometimes they can't even be bought. Coal is still a good option.

The Li family's business has also grown in size this year.
The number of coal yards in Weibei has increased, as has the number of miners. Coal preparation and washing processes have also increased, leading to a larger fleet of transport vehicles.

A steady stream of coal was transported to Chang'an.

To process and resell.
In preparation for the upcoming winter peak season, a considerable amount of coal stoves of various models, as well as various coal blocks and honeycomb briquettes, have been processed and stockpiled.

Originally, with the furnaces opening at the beginning of October, they would have entered their peak season.
But now, with this mild winter,

However, this prevents demand from increasing.

Li Yi wasn't in a hurry.
"This coal won't spoil. Even if it's not cold this winter, there's always next year. Besides, coal isn't just for heating; it's also fuel for cooking."

For Chang'an, the capital city, which was severely lacking in fuel,

There's never any worry about coal being unsold; at most, demand won't be as high, and prices won't skyrocket like in previous years.

The carriage of the Prince Wei's residence, escorted by imperial guards and household servants, arrived at the palace gate.

Li Yi got out of the carriage. It was still early, and the palace gates were still tightly closed. He went to the waiting room and heard several prime ministers talking about opening the furnace.

"Normally at this time of year, it's already quite cold, and sometimes it even snows. This year, the weather is very unusual."

"Yes, Fu Yi, the Grand Astrologer of the Imperial Observatory, said that this year will be a warm winter, and Li Chunfeng, the Assistant Director of the Imperial Observatory, even said that there will be no snow this winter, a severe drought next spring, and locusts in summer and autumn!"

Grand Secretary Wen Daya couldn't help but say, "Li Chunfeng is merely a low-ranking official of the ninth rank, a young man in his early twenties, yet I've heard he has some knowledge of calendar systems."

But how could he be so arrogant as to predict no snow this winter, a severe drought next spring, and locust plagues this summer and autumn?

At this moment, Fang Xuanling stepped forward and spoke well of Li Chunfeng, saying, "Although Li Chunfeng is young, he is indeed very talented. In the second year of the Wude era, he was recommended by Liu Wenjing to serve as a military advisor in the Prince of Qin's mansion, and he has worked with me for quite some time."

He was not only proficient in calendar systems, but also had considerable knowledge of mathematics and astronomy.

Fu Yi is the Grand Astrologer. They all say this year will be a mild winter, so we really need to make some preparations in advance.

The prime ministers were well aware of the dangers of a mild winter.

At best, next year's grain production will be reduced.
In severe cases, there could be a famine next year.

If a major locust plague were to occur, it would be even more troublesome. In severe cases, locust plagues can sweep across dozens of states, causing a nationwide famine.

That would mean not only a possible famine next year, but also a possible famine the year after.

If these disasters really occur,

With the Tang Dynasty's current grain and other reserves, it simply could not withstand the strain.

Now that the weather is favorable and the people are able to have enough to eat and wear, even if there are some small-scale disasters, the imperial court can still provide relief.

However, if a large-scale disaster or famine occurs, there won't be enough grain available for relief.

It is said that it takes three years of good harvests to accumulate enough for one year of surplus.

The country has just been unified.

Where can I save money?

The prime ministers were all deeply worried.

Li Yi was also having a headache. To be honest, if these situations really occurred, the imperial court didn't have many good solutions.

Wei Zheng then spoke up.
"If it really is a mild winter, we need to prepare in advance. What we can do is stock up on food for famine and stop unnecessary expenses."
For example, the campaign against Tuyuhun next year can be put on hold for now.

The general returned to court, and the soldiers returned to their residences.
Let the soldiers go home to produce.

Cease hostilities would also save a lot of resources, as a major war requires countless amounts of money and supplies.

The conscription of laborers and the enormous losses incurred in transporting them along the way were also significant.

At this moment, Li Yi made an even more surprising suggestion.

"If a severe warm winter does occur this year, then I believe that famine will inevitably strike first in Chang'an and Guanzhong next year."

Guanzhong was already struggling to be self-sufficient, and every year a large amount of grain needed to be transported from Guandong, which was costly.

I suggest,
At that time, Your Majesty may lead all the officials in the capital and the soldiers on the frontier to temporarily relocate to Luoyang.

This would alleviate the grain burden in Guanzhong, preventing further damage.

After hearing this, Du Ruhui said, "In the fourteenth year of the Kaihuang era of the Sui Dynasty, there was a severe drought and famine in Guanzhong. Emperor Wen of Sui led his civil and military officials to Luoyang for food."

There is precedent for this.

However, Emperor Wen was also known as the emperor who chased after grain because of this.

It's an unpleasant name, but in the event of a major famine, it could be a decent solution.

Wen Daya, however, felt that it was too early to say that there would be a mild winter or a famine next year.

"Perhaps it's just that winter is coming a few days later than usual, so why are you gentlemen so alarmed?"

Wei Zheng retorted bluntly, "Prime Minister Wen, do you not know the importance of being prepared for a rainy day? As the emperor's prime ministers, we should consider these matters in advance and prepare contingency plans, rather than being helpless when disaster strikes!"

Wen Daya was rendered speechless by Wei Zheng's words!

At this moment, an official came to announce that the time had come, the palace gates had been opened, and the prime ministers were invited to enter the palace.

(End of this chapter)