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

Chapter 778 Silent Snowfall
Liu Risheng, the head of the rice trading company, walked out of the governor's mansion.
His back was already soaked with sweat.

A gust of north wind blew, and I couldn't help but shiver.

With the image of the more than thirty dead, unseeing heads of the gang leaders flashing through his mind, Liu Risheng found it hard to breathe.

"yeah!"

His son came looking for him.

"Help me, help me into the car, let's go home, let's go home first," Manager Liu said, trembling.

As the carriage began to move and gradually moved away from the governor's mansion, color slowly returned to Liu Risheng's face.

"Father, what happened?"

Old Liu sighed, "Minister Li killed thirty-six gang leaders in one go, their heads hanging in a row under the eaves of the Governor's Mansion..."

On the way home,

Old Liu felt dizzy and quickly had his concubine help him take a hot bath and change his clothes, but he still had a terrible headache.

Even as he lay on his couch, he didn't forget to call over his sons and his household stewards.
"Today at the Governor's Mansion, Minister Li flew into a rage and killed more than thirty gang leaders in one go."
The three market offices in Luoyang, along with our 220 trades, re-evaluated the prices of all kinds of goods. General goods were priced in three grades, while some rare and precious items were priced in nine grades.

For the next ten days, all sales must be conducted at this price, with fluctuations allowed not exceeding 10% or 20%. Violators will be severely punished.

The price of japonica rice is threefold: the highest price is 31 qian, the middle price is 30 qian, and the lowest price is 29 qian.

Starting tomorrow, you must immediately change the price tags and sell the rice at these prices. Under no circumstances should you sell it at any other price.

Upon hearing this, the second manager of the Zengjing rice shop exclaimed in surprise, "Today, the price of japonica rice in Luoyang is almost 130 coins per dou (a unit of dry measure), and several shops in the North Market have raised the price of glutinous rice to 240 coins per dou!"
"Sell it for thirty coins tomorrow?"

Liu Risheng took a sip of ginseng soup. "You're talking about Zhao, the owner of Ju Risheng Rice Shop in Taipei, who sells glutinous rice for 240 coins per dou (a unit of dry measure)?"

His head has been moved today; it was borrowed by Li Situ and hung under the eaves of the Governor's Mansion. Tomorrow it will be hung on the gate of the North Market.

"You want to be like him too?"

The second manager gasped in shock, "Ju Risheng Rice Shop is backed by the Wei family of Jingzhao!"

"What happened to the Wei family? Liu Rengui, a Sima from a humble background, dared to publicly flog and kill Wei, a fourth-rank cavalryman."

Now, the guests are none other than the Three Dukes of the Court, the Prime Minister, and trusted ministers of the Emperor. Killing a mere shopkeeper of the Wei family is as easy as killing a chicken!

At the Governor's Mansion, when the group of business leaders were negotiating prices with the city magistrates of the three cities, they did consider trying to negotiate, but Li Yi's ruthlessness really frightened them.

Drinking the northwest wind for two hours is nothing.
But in one fell swoop, they beheaded thirty-six gang leaders.

That's terrifying! Who wouldn't be afraid of being next? That guy really does kill without saying a word.

It's true that they have nobles, powerful families, or officials backing them up.
But Li Yi didn't care about any of that.

"That killing machine, a few years ago when Luoyang was just pacified, he served as the Pacification Commissioner of Henan and Hebei Circuits and concurrently as the Governor of Luozhou. Back then, he even dared to lay a hand on the Zheng family of Xingyang."

It's only been a few years, and everyone has almost forgotten about it.

Now that he's back, let's all go along with him.

Whether the grain store makes money or not is no longer important; keeping your head is the most important thing.

Today, those thirty-six gang leaders not only lost their heads, but also had their homes confiscated.

Most of the money they made from the price increases during this period actually went into the pockets of their backers. They didn't make much money themselves, and as a result, they ended up dying and having their property confiscated.

With Li Yi here, no amount of powerful backing will help.

Manager Liu's backing wasn't strong. He relied on the Yuan family of Luoyang, which had some influence in Luoyang, but it was nothing compared to Li Yi.

The issue is no longer about making money, but about survival.

"We merchants have always been pigs raised and leeks grown by the court and the powerful. They slaughter us when we're fat and cut us when we're too tall."

After finishing a bowl of ginseng soup,
Manager Liu felt his eyelids grow even heavier, but he still forced himself to keep talking.

"Tomorrow, donate one hundred shi of rice to the Governor's Office."

"Donate another hundred strings of cash."

He paused, gritting his teeth and enduring the heartache, "The Governor's Office will issue bonds, and we'll claim another hundred strings of cash."

His son, Liu Dalang, trembled with heartache, "Father, our Tongri Zeng Grain Shop, although it has shops in three markets and its rice business is quite large..."
But spending so much money and grain at once will also take a toll on our resources.

"Damage to vital energy? Let's get through this first; survival is the priority."

As long as I can survive this ordeal, I can continue to make money in the future.
I'm afraid they'll end up like Manager Zhao and his group, with their heads chopped off and their homes confiscated.

"Father, in our family business, the Yuan family owns 30% of the shares, and the other 30% was distributed to those officials."

Would they accept a price of around thirty coins per dou (a unit of dry measure) of rice?

The business seems to be booming.
In the end, the Liu family only received 40%.

Old Liu said, "They can understand."

Finally, drowsiness overcame him, and Old Liu closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

This night,
Many of the leading merchants and business magnates who attended the banquet at the Governor's Mansion fell ill upon their return; some succumbed to physical ailments, while others were psychologically traumatized.

Countless people are unable to sleep at night.

Li Yi had his own residence in Luoyang.

Back when he captured Luoyang, the emperor sent Consorts Yin and Zhang to Luoyang to reward him with a large mansion and beautiful women.

The mansion occupies dozens of acres and was once the residence of a nobleman from a previous dynasty.

Although Li Yi has not lived here for the past few years, he has maintained it very well, and there are also a number of servants such as guards and gardeners in the mansion.

Killing thirty-six merchants had no impact on Li Yi.

He slept very well that night.
He doesn't mind sleeping in the same bed.
The house has a heated wall, and the kang (a traditional heated bed) is warm, so we slept very comfortably.

It is said that a kind heart cannot command an army, and righteousness cannot manage finances. Without taking drastic measures, it will not be easy to quickly stop this unhealthy trend in Luoyang.

The north wind is blowing hard outside the window.
All night until dawn.

When Li Yi woke up in the early morning, he yawned and stretched. Li Enze told him that it had snowed last night.

After Li Yi finished dressing and went out,
But I didn't see a single snowflake on the ground.

"It snowed for a while, but it wasn't heavy, and it melted as soon as it hit the ground."

This was the first snowfall in Luoyang in the sixth year of the Wude era.

Unfortunately, no trace was left; Li Yi didn't even see it.

The north wind howled.

It's getting a bit cold. Breakfast is already prepared at home.
The mutton soup started simmering in the middle of the night.

Served with baked flatbread, steamed bread with a cross-shaped slit, sweet potato porridge, and some pickled vegetables,

Li Yi praised the food, especially the spicy and sour kelp strips, pickled cowpeas, spicy cabbage, pickled mustard tuber strips, dried radish, pickled cucumbers, sweet and sour ginger, fried peanuts...

This side dish is very plentiful and appetizing.

After breakfast,

Li Yi went to the Governor's Mansion.

He wanted to visit the three markets first, but like the east and west markets of Chang'an, the three markets in Luoyang only opened for business at noon.

Li Yi had always felt that this market system, while having its advantages—the concentration of various goods, which was beneficial for management and trade in the context of an underdeveloped economy—also had its merits.

However, such markets should primarily focus on wholesale, with retail as a secondary activity.

We should also develop street markets, such as those serving the general public, including restaurants, hotels, and shops selling daily necessities.

There's no need for everyone to crowd into the big market.

We could set up some street markets outside of the traditional market districts.

It also makes things more convenient for the people.

The residential wards were similar to modern-day neighborhoods and could be managed in a closed manner.

However, it is not necessary to keep all the walls of the neighborhood. Some of the walls can be demolished and transformed into street-facing shops, with shops in the front and workshops in the back, which would be more convenient for serving the people.

Inside the Governor's Mansion,

The liveliness of last night was gone.
It was spotless, without a trace.

The three markets have not yet opened for business.
Of the 220 trades and thousands of shops, many had already lined up at the Governor's Mansion early in the morning.

"They all came to donate grain, money, and silk, and to subscribe to bonds. This morning alone, 220 trades have subscribed to more than 30,000 strings of cash worth of bonds."

Qu Tutong looked somewhat haggard, it seemed that he was getting old and his heart had softened. Yesterday's events had a significant impact on him, and he hadn't slept well last night.

Li Yi sat down.
The behavior of these businessmen was not surprising.

They had subscribed to over 30,000 strings of bonds in just one morning, but he shook his head, saying, "Two hundred and twenty trades, subscribing to 30,000 strings of bonds..."

That's a bit low, only a hundred or so strings of cash in total?

This is a bond; it pays interest.

Qu Tutong, however, felt that this was also the court squeezing merchants, as the interest rate on court bonds was not high, far lower than that of market loans.

If the heads of the thirty-six guild leaders hadn't been chopped off yesterday, these merchants wouldn't have been able to subscribe to the bonds.

A hundred strings of cash may not sound like much, but it's still over 100,000 coins, which is quite a lot for merchants.

"Were the shops and properties of the thirty-six gang leaders who were executed yesterday confiscated?" Li Yi asked.

"They've all been copied."

How much money was seized?

"He had a family fortune of several thousand strings of cash."

Li Yi sneered, "Lord Jiang, well, today your governor's mansion will see some bloodshed. These officials who went to confiscate your property seem to have embezzled quite a bit."

The thirty-six guild leaders were all heads of major guilds, and their businesses were the largest in their respective guilds. Yet, only a few thousand strings of cash were confiscated from their shops and assets.
These people are incredibly audacious; how much have they embezzled?

Li Yi hardly needed to investigate; with just a casual guess, he knew that the shops, goods, and family businesses of these thirty-six guild leaders were worth at least tens of thousands of strings of cash.

How could it only be a few thousand strings of cash?

Corrupt officials are incredibly audacious.

It's certain that some property was embezzled during the raid, but it wasn't just a small amount.

Li Yi estimated that they took more than half.

One of his duties as the Commissioner for Observing Customs was to examine officials.

Since we've already run into him, let's deal with it.

Qu Tutong said, "Please, Minister Situ, entrust this matter to me for investigation."

Li Yi smiled and said, "It's quite simple to investigate this matter. Although the thirty-six guild leaders were executed, their families, shopkeepers, and employees are not all dead."

Bring them all in for questioning. It's quite simple to find out how much merchandise and money each shop has, and how many businesses each has. A simple check will reveal how much has been embezzled.

At least who embezzled?

We can just examine them one by one.

Qu Tutong sensed Li Yi's murderous aura. "Situ, could you give them a chance? I'll summon them for a talk and have them return the goods voluntarily, how about that?"

Li Yi shook his head.
"We still need to kill a few corrupt officials, otherwise how will these people know to respect the law?"

"Lord Jiang, you don't need to worry about this. I will handle it myself."

Qu Tuzhi realized that he also bore some responsibility, and dared not say anything more to the imperial envoy.

In the afternoon,

The north wind is raging.

It's snowing again.

The snow melts quickly after it falls to the ground.

Li Enze bought steamed cakes and millet wine from the South Market, the same items he had bought yesterday, from the same vendor.

"Wang Dalang's steamed buns are still the same price today, one coin each, and the size, quantity, and taste remain unchanged."

"The millet wine at Zuixianlou is now selling for twenty coins a gob, and they say they'll only make it until it's sold out, and they won't be brewing any more."

"On the same day, the rice from the rice shop increased to thirty coins per dou for medium quality."

Today, all three markets reopened for business, and all prices plummeted, falling back to levels seen a hundred days ago. Compared to yesterday, prices have dropped more than tenfold, with some even falling twenty or thirtyfold.

Yesterday a steamed bun cost twenty coins, today it only costs one coin.

Li Yi picked up a dried lotus leaf package and opened it. Inside were steaming white flour cakes with four cross-shaped cracks, still steaming hot.

Pick it up and take a bite.
Mmm, it tastes just like yesterday.

(End of this chapter)