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

Chapter 810 Manor
The weather is cold at the end of the year.

On a rare sunny day, Concubine Pei suggested going for a stroll at the Chanhe Manor.

“Alright, perfect timing for a little break.” Li Yi agreed with a smile while eating millet porridge. He knew that Madam Pei had a special affection for this manor, after all, the manor with its three thousand acres of land had once belonged to her father, Pei Renji.

She also spent a considerable amount of time at this estate.

Later, her father opposed Wang Shichong's attempt to assassinate the emperor and seize power. His plot was exposed, and he was killed along with his elder brother Pei Xingyan and others. She also ended up being sent to the inner palace.

When Pei saw that he readily agreed, a smile appeared on her face. "I'll make you some egg tea, my lord."

She took fresh eggs, cracked them into a bowl, and whisked them into an egg mixture.

Boil water, add tea leaves,

Pour the boiling tea into the egg mixture and stir quickly.

Instantly, a bowl of clear, fragrant egg tea is ready.

Pei placed a green mugwort leaf on the egg tea and then added rock sugar.

"No need to add rock sugar."

Li Yi waved his hand.

Rock sugar was ridiculously expensive, which is why the nobility loved it so much. They added rock sugar to tea and to desserts.
The nobles of the Tang Dynasty, especially those from the Guanzhong region, still retained some of the extravagance and ostentation of the border generals of the Six Garrisons.

Compared to the five surnames and seven clans of Shandong, they do indeed seem like nouveau riche.

But this stuff is really lucrative!

In fact, Li Yi's plan to plant sugarcane and produce sugar in Lingnan was very wise. Although the output has not yet increased, the sugar produced by the Li family, including brown sugar, white sugar, and rock sugar, has already surpassed the Tianzhu frost sugar that previously dominated the Tang Dynasty market in terms of technology.

Especially white sugar and rock sugar, which were the favorites of the nobility.

Although Li Yi believes that brown sugar should actually have a higher nutritional content.

But the logic of the nobility is to pursue the rare and to like the expensive.

Rare, expensive, good—the idea is that simple and straightforward.

Li Yi picked up the egg tea, which he liked very much even without sugar.

The ancients called boiling water with eggs "Vermilion Bird Soup," believing it to be highly nourishing and even medicinal. Li Yi thought it made sense, as most people in this era were actually malnourished, and eggs were rich in high-quality protein.

For malnourished people, eating egg drop soup for ten days to half a month would be a great way to replenish their vital energy.

"You should also eat more eggs, whether boiled or poached. Eating one or two every morning is very nutritious."

“Everyone has food,” said Madam Pei.

The Li family's children have eggs for breakfast every day, usually boiled, and occasionally in egg drop soup. Sufficient nutrition helps children stay healthy and less prone to illness.

When Luo Sanniang heard that they were going to Chanhe Manor, she also wanted to go.

Although she was only a concubine in the household, even lower than a maidservant, she came from a peasant family and had been helping to manage the family's farm affairs for many years, and her performance was excellent.

Now that she's in Luoyang, she also wants to visit all the estates owned by the Li family.

"Third Sister, speaking of eggs, next year, we need to raise as many chickens and ducks as possible on all our estates," Li Yi instructed.

Luo San Niang was a little curious.

The Li family's estate is also a diversified business, not only growing crops but also raising livestock and having some processing workshops.

In terms of animal husbandry, we raise cattle, sheep, pigs, and of course, chickens, ducks, and geese.

They not only raise them themselves, but also cooperate with surrounding farmers and tenants in raising them.

These livestock and poultry can be sold directly or processed into various kinds of preserved meats for winter.

This kind of management yields much greater profits than a typical farm. Although managing a farm is more complex and requires a larger investment, if done well, the returns are indeed higher.

"Ah Lang, our family's estate also raises chickens and ducks, and the number of each is fixed."

Li Yi sipped his egg tea. "I know, but next year will be a special case. Many places in Guanzhong and Guandong will experience drought next spring, and locusts will inevitably follow the drought."

"Let's raise more chickens and ducks. When the locusts appear, we can herd them to eat them, protecting our crops, fattening them up, and increasing our egg production—a win-win situation."

Upon hearing this, Luo San Niang asked worriedly, "Will the drought really continue like this? Will there be another locust plague?"

"That's what the Imperial Observatory predicted, and many experienced farmers say the same thing. It's always good to be prepared."

On the way to Chanhe Manor,
Li Yi then gave more instructions to Luo Sanniang, who was in charge of the family's farm.

"These locusts prefer to eat crops with awns, such as wheat, millet, rice, sorghum, sorghum, and corn."

Actually, it's soybeans.

Locusts don't like to eat sesame seeds, hemp, peas, mung beans, taro, mulberry leaves, or sweet potatoes and yams.

The locusts rise in the spring and summer, just as the wheat is about to ripen.

This year's wheat,
The winter drought and lack of snow have led to numerous pests and diseases. If spring drought and summer locust plagues follow, many crops will likely be lost.

Now we need to consider the crops for spring planting.

Next spring, let's not plant millet, sorghum, corn, or similar crops.
Plant relatively drought-resistant crops like sweet potatoes, potatoes, taro, and beans, which locusts don't particularly like to eat.

These things are not afraid of locusts, and they have a high yield, which is just what we need to fill our stomachs during years of famine and disaster.

Looking at the wheat fields by the roadside,
"If these wheat crops don't look good when it's time for spring planting, I think we should just plow them down and plant sweet potatoes, potatoes, taro, beans, and the like."

Downstream of the Chan River,

We have arrived at the Li family's Chanhe Manor.

Three years ago, after pacifying Luoyang, Li Yi acquired 2,000 mu of land here, and later purchased another 1,000 mu next to it.

A manor with 3,000 mu of irrigated farmland was located just outside Luoyang. This manor also originally had a water mill.

In the past, there were small workshops for textiles, winemaking, sauce production, and blacksmithing. After the Li family acquired this estate, they gained an additional thousand acres of land.
Two new water mills were added, processing 200 shi (a unit of dry measure) of wheat per day.

Fifty acres of new vineyards and fifty acres of cherry orchards were built, and the winery was also expanded, producing more than eight thousand dou of wine, cherry wine, and persimmon liquor annually.

They also built granaries to buy grain when prices were low during bumper harvests and sell it at a fair price during lean years. Alternatively, they would lend out grain at interest.

The estate also has a pig farm, where sows are raised to produce piglets for sale, and pigs are also raised, fattened, slaughtered, sold, and processed.

In recent years, the number of workshops such as blacksmith shops, carpentry shops, and pickle shops has increased.
The number of industrial workers employed on the estate has also increased significantly.

The estate kept over five hundred slaves.
There are also many industrial workers.

Upon entering the territory,

There was already a gate tower standing by the roadside, with boundary markers at its base.

The roads are wide, neat, and well-maintained.

As you walk further in, you can see that the fields of the Li Family Manor are in better condition than those you saw on the way here.

The head of the village arrived early; he was also surnamed Pei and had once been a member of the Pei family.

"Our Chanhe Manor now has 3,000 mu of farmland, and for the past three years we have mainly grown corn, sweet potatoes, yams, as well as new crops such as pumpkins and peanuts."

After the harvest, the best seeds are selected for sale, and vegetables, flowers, and medicinal herbs are also grown.

Pei Zhuangtou said the estate's income was quite considerable.
And it gets higher every year.

"Situ treats his subordinates with kindness and generosity, and provides them with excellent benefits. The farmhands are provided with food, lodging, and clothing and shoes for several seasons."
The houses here are spacious, and the rows of houses are so beautiful. The wages are generous, with bonuses for good work, and they even get a share of the profits from a good harvest.
The farmhands' parents, wives, and children would also be given some work to earn money and food.

Our manor even has a school where the children of the hired laborers can study for three years. Where else can you find such treatment?

Pei Zhuangtou has been managing this manor for the past few years and he has been very happy. He feels a great sense of accomplishment as he sees the manor developing better and better. Moreover, Li Yi has given him generous money and provisions, and even commissions.

Those rows of houses, though they had mud walls and thatched roofs, were relatively spacious.

Those who brought their families were allocated a house to live in, while single people shared a house.

The only requirements here are to follow the rules, be diligent, not to cheat or be dishonest, and especially not to steal or be dishonest.

As long as you are willing to put in the effort, you will definitely be rewarded here.

“I remember there used to be tenant farmers here?” Li Yi asked.

“They used to be, but later they all wanted to be long-term laborers, saying it was good because there was a fixed salary and wages, and if they did a good job, they would get bonuses and commissions. Their parents, wives, and children could also do some work in the workshop to earn money.”
Compared to renting and farming their own land, it's more profitable for them to work as long-term laborers for us. They don't need to buy anything, their income is guaranteed regardless of drought or flood, and their food and supplies are good. Many of the laborers calculated that if they rented land themselves, the rent for the land, the rent for the cattle, the cost of irrigation water, and the purchase of seeds and farm tools would add up to very little.

It's much more profitable to work as a long-term laborer for us, so later they all requested to return their leases to become long-term laborers. As a result, there are no tenants now. The three thousand acres of land and the hundred acres of orchard are all staffed by hired laborers.

There are many workshops in our village, so we can manage to hire more workers. During the busy farming season, we even need to hire some odd jobs.

A large plantation consisting of slaves and hired laborers
With thousands of acres of land, more than a dozen workshops, and a large number of livestock and poultry raised, the profits are considerable.

Especially in recent years, they have been planting new crops and selling seeds, and the harvest from the fields is much higher than that of ordinary crops.

Growing vegetables, fruits, flowers, and medicinal herbs and then selling them in Luoyang, or processing them at home, is more profitable than growing grain.

Old Man Pei even told Li Yi something with a touch of pride.

Of the five hundred slaves on the manor, more than three hundred children were born in the past three years. After accounting for those who died young, there are still about two hundred left.

"These are all domestic slaves. In a few years, they will all be able to work. When they are around ten years old, whether they are sold or left to work on the estate, we will have made a profit."

When Pei Zhuangtou talked about these things, it was as natural as when he mentioned the cattle and pigs raised on the estate, how many piglets they could produce in a year, and how much money he could earn each year.

Slaves were like cattle and horses. Young slaves had to be paired up and made to reproduce. This was also a way for slaves to generate value. The children of slaves belonged to the slave owner from birth and were the property of the slave owner.

These small slave plantations would help care for the slaves as they grew up, which also contributed to the appreciation of assets.

The head of the estate didn't treat slaves as human beings.

In their eyes, these slaves were merely property; once they reached marriageable age, they were to be married off so that they could have many children.

Ideally, a maid should be able to give birth to one every two years, and it would be best if she could give birth to eight or ten.

This kind of thinking is very common nowadays. Some slave owners might even specifically buy a few extremely strong slaves to breed with their slaves, and even charge others for breeding them, just like raising breeding cattle or pigs.
This was to ensure that the female slaves could continue to reproduce and that the children born would be healthy.

The Li family manor was extremely kind to allow eligible slaves to marry and become a family, with children to be born.

Not to mention, the Li family actually allowed the slave children to attend school for another year and even gave the slaves some wages and bonuses.

After listening to Pei Zhuangtou's report, Li Yi
He couldn't help but fall into deep thought. He had visited the manor when he first took it over and set many rules, such as the style of the houses where the slaves and laborers lived.

He also personally recruited the first batch of tenant farmers from among the refugees.

Unexpectedly, in just a few years, all these tenants became long-term laborers.

In three years, more than two hundred newborn maids have been born.

This estate is thriving.

The money and grain were lent out and interest was collected, although the monthly interest rate was only two percent, which was far lower than most interest rates today. For example, the monthly interest rate for government money was eight percent, and the monthly interest rate for temples was generally four percent.

Although the Li family's loan interest rates were low, there were many borrowers, and the money and grain were turned over quickly, resulting in considerable annual interest income.

This Chanhe Manor,

The combined profits from all aspects were astonishingly high. This was even after Li Yi forbade the manor from purchasing any more land. Otherwise, the manor's profits alone could have been used to expand it into a large manor of 10,000 acres in the past few years.

When Li Yi came, he said that if the wheat didn't grow well, he could simply plow it up and plant potatoes and sweet potatoes in the spring. Who would have thought that these three thousand acres of fertile land were not planted with wheat at all.

But those three water mills alone could grind 200 shi of wheat a day, and their processing efficiency and profits were very high, even exceeding the grain yield of 3,000 mu of land.

"Don't plant corn next year, plant more sweet potatoes and yams, and raise more chickens and ducks..." Li Yi said absentmindedly as he stood at the entrance of the manor.

(End of this chapter)