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

Chapter 775 A Thousand Cups of Wine

A steamed bun costing twenty coins.

There's nothing special about them; they're no different from the two-qian ones in Chang'an—just steamed buns made from flour.

Wang Zhengbing took the steaming hot steamed buns out of the steamer, wrapped them in dried lotus leaves, and handed them to Li Yi and the others, saying, "Be careful, they're hot, sirs."

“My steamed buns are all cracked in a cross shape.”

When Tang Dynasty people ate steamed buns, those with a cross-shaped crack were considered the best.

Li Yi took the four steamed buns wrapped in lotus leaves and asked Enze to pay. The young man reluctantly took out a string of coins from his satchel, counted them for a long time, and came up with four hundred coins. Looking at the string of coins, nearly half gone, he grumbled in distress, "One steamed bun in Luoyang can buy ten in Chang'an, and before the Mid-Autumn Festival, it can even buy forty, enough for two steamers!"

Li Yi held a steamed bun wrapped in a lotus leaf in one hand and picked one up with the other to eat.

On a winter's day, it feels really good to eat a hot, steamed bun with a blooming shape when you're hungry.

These steamed buns are soft and chewy, with a subtle sweetness and aroma of wine.

"Wang Dalang, what did you use to ferment your steamed buns? Did you use yeast to leaven the dough?"

"Oh my, you're quite something, sir. You can tell just by taking a bite. My steamed buns are indeed made using the fermentation method. First, I cook white rice into porridge, then add fermented rice wine, heat it up, filter it to get the juice, and use the juice to make the dough. The dough rises and I make the buns," Wang Dalang said casually, adding that using white wine to ferment the dough would add a lot to the cost.

Li Yi just smiled and said, "You don't need to do this every time. You can save some of the dough you've fermented this time to make the starter dough for the next batch. Why do you need to use yeast every time?"

The steamed bun maker was surprised that this young man knew the tricks of making dough, so he could only smile and lower his head to count the money carefully. He counted it twice, and it was correct.

While eating the steamed buns with the flowers on them, Li Yi asked Li Enze to give the vendor another twenty coins as a tip.

"Wang Dalang, let's chat for a few more minutes."

He inquired about the current prices in Luoyang, especially grain prices, the business situation of the three cities in Luoyang, and the people's opinions on the Luozhou Governor's Office, etc.

Having received a reward of twenty coins, Old Wang readily shared everything he knew.

"When Liu Sima was in charge, things weren't this chaotic. The various guilds in the three major markets were all quite law-abiding."
Because Wei Biaoqi had two older cousins ​​who were imperial concubines and consorts in the emperor's harem, he became arrogant and domineering. As a result, he was beaten to death in the street by Liu Sima.

But later, Liu Sima was dismissed from his post and removed from office, and the three cities fell into chaos again.

"You've come from Chang'an, do you know how Liu Sima is doing now?"

"Are you referring to Liu Rengui, the former Sima of the Luozhou Governor's Office?"

"Yes, Liu Sima is a good official who can stand up for the people."

Li Yi smiled and said, "Liu Sima has now been appointed by the court as the Grand Master of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and the Chief Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. He will be the ambassador to the Western Regions, leading a delegation to escort the great monk Xuanzang, who will travel through Tuyuhun, Bailanqiang, Tibet, and Nepal to India."

Upon hearing that Liu Rengui had been granted another official position, Wang Zhengbing was overjoyed for Liu Rengui.

"If only Liu Sima could be reinstated and return to Luoyang."

"Your steamed buns are good, give me twenty more." After eating four, Li Yi still felt unsatisfied, so he ordered twenty more.

Li Enze painfully counted the money again.

Li Yi pointed to the string of coins that had just been broken up, "There are still 580 coins left in this string. Give them all to him. 400 is for the cakes, and the remaining 180 is for tips."

Wang Zhengbing waved his hand repeatedly, but insisted on giving them thirty steamed cakes, each one with a cross-shaped crack, plump and white.

"If you enjoy the food, please come back to buy it next time you visit Nanshi."

That string of cash bought a total of fifty steamed buns.
These prices make one feel as if they've returned to the war-torn years ago.

But this is a Kaiyuan Tongbao coin, not a Daye Baiwuzhu coin. One Tongbao coin can be worth several Baiwuzhu coins. If you calculate it this way, five people would have spent several thousand coins eating this meal of steamed buns.

"This has already eaten half a cow."

"Stop muttering like that," General Li Cunyi said, annoyed with Li Enze.

Even Li Cunli, the head steward of the Li family, thought the boy was too long-winded.

Cunyi was one of the four Chipai Qiang who were bestowed upon Li Yi by the emperor. Now he is a fourth-rank Imperial Guard Lieutenant General and the commander of the Imperial Guard accompanying him this time.

Li Cunli's original name was Chen Liang. He was a starving refugee who was kidnapped by the Wei family. They forced him to come to Wuji Temple to poison the animals. He was captured by Liu Heizi and later followed Li Yi. Because his family was originally in business, he was in charge of the Li family's external business.

Li Cunli thought Li Enze was too stingy.

"You rascal, Ah Lang is willing to take you by his side, this is a tremendous opportunity. Listen, observe, and learn more, and don't nag."

One person ate ten steamed buns that had blossomed open.
Continue exploring Nanshi.

Li Yi looked around and asked questions, buying quite a lot. Li Cunli even went to the gold and silver shop to exchange gold for copper coins and silk.
Li Enze was in charge of carrying the money.
Shopping spree all the way!

The money was flowing like water, and the heartbroken young Enze's mouth trembled the whole way, but he dared not say anything more.

"Ah Lang, we've run out of money again."

They had just exchanged ten taels of gold for copper coins and silk, worth eighty thousand coins. The four of them each carried several strings of copper coins and some silk.

One string of copper coins weighs six jin and four liang. If you carry six or seven strings, it will weigh thirty or forty jin.

Although a bolt of silk weighs only twelve ounces, it still takes up a lot of space and is not easy to carry.

Li Enze initially thought that too many changes were being made.
As a result, in less than half an hour, the pile of money and silk that had been exchanged for ten taels of gold was all spent.

Eighty thousand coins!

Li Enze trembled as he calculated that this amount could buy ten horses or twenty cows.

But they didn't buy much.

Fifty steamed buns cost a thousand coins.

I also bought some firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, tea, wine, as well as silk, porcelain, books, paper, writing brushes and ink, and so on. I bought a little bit of almost everything I saw.

There was too much stuff, so we hired two more cars.

We arrived at a restaurant that used the name "Drunken Immortal Pavilion" as its front.
"Shopkeeper, do you have any wine?" A waiter in a gray jacket greeted him with a smile. "Sir, how could a restaurant as big as ours not have wine? What kind of wine would you like?"

"I've heard that the lamb wine brewed by Zuixianlou in Luoyang is very famous, and I'd like to buy some."

"Yes," the waiter readily agreed.

"Didn't the imperial court issue an edict banning private brewing?"

"That's right, but we still have some left over from the brewing we did before."

Zuixianlou brews several kinds of wine, including not only lamb wine, but also various other barley wines, millet wines, glutinous rice wines, baijiu (Chinese white liquor), huangjiu (yellow wine), and shaojiu (distilled spirits), etc.

Even some other well-known wines on the market are sold here.

Prices have increased significantly.

When Li Yi mentioned wanting to order another batch of homemade millet wine here, the shop assistant went to fetch the manager. After some discussion, the manager agreed to take on the order for one hundred jars of homemade millet wine.
They completely disregarded the imperial edict.

In the shopkeeper's words, "Sir, you don't need to worry about those things. Just pay the deposit now, and you can come and pick up the wine later to pay the rest."

As for the price, he said that's how it is now.

"Now the prices of glutinous rice, millet, and wheat are all rising, and the price of yeast is also rising. It will continue to rise."

"I heard the emperor is coming to Luoyang, so we won't dare sell this wine like this anymore."

Ordering custom-made millet wine from Zuixianlou costs two hundred coins per cup.
One jar of wine is one dou (斗), and one gu (觚) is two sheng (升).

This homemade millet wine costs one string of cash per dou (a unit of volume).

Li Yi had Li Cunli pay three one-tael ingots as a deposit and had the shopkeeper write a receipt.

Walking out of the restaurant,

Li Enze couldn't hold back any longer, "Sir, our family brews all kinds of wine, including persimmon wine, grape wine, millet wine, glutinous rice wine, and barley wine. Why do you need to order from them? Two hundred coins per cup! How dare they charge that much?"
This newly brewed millet wine, how could it be worth a thousand liters for a jug of liquor?

"It is said that three catties of grain can brew one catty of wine, and the remaining lees can be used to feed pigs or be sold for money. Even though grain prices have risen now, the price of wine has not increased this much."

In Chang'an, a dou of rice costs 30 coins and a dou of millet costs 18 coins. Based on this, a dou of wine costs 90 coins, even after the price increase. Yet he dares to sell it for 1,000 coins!
Is it really some famous wine?

Li Yi knew what was going on.
After touring around Nanshi for a while, I discovered that prices in Luoyang have gone crazy and are rising out of control.

This isn't just a doubling or tripling; it's a tenfold or more increase.

Minsheng Department Store, everything is going up in price.

When asked why prices had increased so much, these merchants generally replied that either the prices of grain and cloth had risen sharply, or that the emperor was about to lead 100,000 officials and soldiers to Luoyang.

There will be a shortage of supplies at that time.
Many more said that there would be a famine next year.

In short, for various reasons, prices have soared.

Steamed buns that should have cost one coin for two are now selling for twenty coins each. Ordinary millet wine that should have cost less than ten coins a cup is now selling for two hundred coins.

In Chang'an, a dou (a unit of dry measure) of rice cost thirty coins, a price that had doubled.

In Luoyang, a dou (a unit of dry measure) of rice was already selling for 120 coins.

These price increases were certainly driven by fears of famine and anxieties about the shortage of supplies as the emperor was about to lead officials and 100,000 soldiers and civilians to Luoyang.

However, it is more obvious that unscrupulous merchants are deliberately inflating prices.

These unscrupulous merchants

They are profiting from the national crisis.

It is clear that the Luozhou Governor's Office is failing to act.

Li Yi let out a long breath, "To the Governor's Mansion of Luozhou!"

Qu Tutong, the governor of Luozhou, was racking his brains preparing to receive the emperor. This time, it wasn't the emperor coming for an inspection tour, but rather he was bringing tens of thousands of officials and soldiers.

At that time, many nobles from Chang'an will also bring their families.

So many people suddenly flocked to Luoyang.

Moreover, having to stay for at least six months is undoubtedly a huge burden.

But the imperial decree had already been issued, and as the governor of Luozhou, he had to be prepared to receive it.

The Ziwei Palace in Luoyang needs to be repaired as soon as possible.

The various departments and offices in the imperial city also need to be cleared out.

Similarly, with so many officials arriving, housing and barracks for the soldiers also needed to be prepared.
With so many people and horses to feed and drink, and even supplies of firewood and charcoal, it takes a lot of effort to prepare everything.

When the clerk reported that Li Pingzhang had arrived, Qu Tutong looked up in surprise.

"Where are we? How many miles are we from Luoyang?"

"Li Pingzhang is right at the entrance of the Governor's Mansion."

The nearly seventy-year-old Duke Jiang stroked his long beard, stood up, and said, "Let's go and greet Minister Li!"

Li Yi, dressed in plain clothes, stood at the main gate of the Luozhou Governor's Office with four attendants behind him, with two carts of goods he had just purchased.

When Li Cunyi stepped forward, took out his seal as Left Guard General, and announced that the Grand Minister of Works, Co-Chancellor, and Prince of Wei, Li Yi, had arrived,

The guards in front of the governor's mansion looked at the young man with a mixture of belief and doubt.

An old official happened to be out on business and recognized Li Yi at a glance. After all, Li Yi had served as the Pacification Commissioner of Henan and Hebei and concurrently as the Governor of Luozhou.

(End of this chapter)