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

Chapter 811 Stop Kneeling

In the manor,
Pei Zhuangtou had already arranged for someone to light the stove in the hall.
As soon as the person entered the hall, he ordered the maids to boil water, make tea, and serve snacks.

"My lord, I have a suggestion: don't buy Kunlun slaves anymore, at least don't send them to the estate. Although these Kunlun slaves are tall, they are also very docile."
But they were all castrated, and there were only male slaves, no women. Keeping these castrated men was simply not cost-effective; they couldn't reproduce.

Pei Zhuangtou kept muttering to himself, constantly complaining about the Kunlun slave.

"These Kunlun slaves are quite expensive, one of them is worth several barbarian slaves and maids. But it's really better to buy barbarian slaves. A young barbarian slave couple can have a child in two years, and some can have two in three years. Once these children grow up, they're worth quite a bit..."

The Kunlun slaves who came through legitimate channels were basically all castrated by the slave traders.

They said the castrated Kunlun slaves were docile and obedient, and could be safely used in the mansion. However, the bearded Zhang San had revealed the true bottom line to Li Yi.
The main reason why slave traders castrated Kunlun slaves before selling them to the Central Plains was because Kunlun slaves were very valuable there. The slave traders wanted to monopolize these Kunlun slaves. After castration, they could not reproduce, so the Kunlun slaves sold to the Central Plains would not reproduce and increase in number.

The nobles and powerful families of the Central Plains had no choice but to continue buying from them.

This naturally allows it to always be sold at a very high price.

This is a very sad fact.

The nobles of the Central Plains also favored castrated Kunlun slaves.

Only the emperor could use eunuchs.
Ordinary nobles and powerful families are not qualified to serve eunuchs, but if this Kunlun slave was already castrated when he was bought, then it doesn't matter.

The Kunlun slaves, who were very popular among the nobles, were disliked by Old Man Pei because he disliked that the Kunlun slaves could not mate and reproduce like other slaves.

Starting from near Chanhe Manor,
This place constantly subjected Li Yi to shocks.

When he took over the estate, he recruited displaced people as tenants, built houses for them, and provided them with advances of food and cloth, so that these people suffering from war and famine could have enough to eat.

But now, things seem very different here.

The tenants became long-term laborers.
The slaves worked while simultaneously trying to give birth.

This manor is very profitable, making a lot of money, even surprising Li Yi.

Moreover, the farmhands and slaves here seem quite content with their current lives, but Li Yi always felt that something was not quite right.

The monthly interest rate of 2% for lending money and grain may seem low, but if the debt cannot be repaid on time, the manor will still pursue the debt without hesitation. There have even been cases where debtors who could not repay their debts were forced to use their wives and daughters as collateral.

Pei Zhuangtou had the estate's accountant bring the account books.

Then they made the warehouse hand over the keys.

The accounts are impressive; this estate is incredibly profitable.

The warehouses were filled with money, grain, and silk.

Luo San Niang, accompanied by several female managers, was reviewing the accounts and was very satisfied with the manor's profits.

Li Yi held the teacup, but was lost in thought.

Pei Zhuangtou stood to the side, "Actually, I think the manor is still treating these farmhands and slaves too well."
None of the aristocratic estates around here are as nice as ours.

Putting everything else aside, just take this loan as an example. How many places don't start at 4% interest, and some even offer compound interest based on the return on the loan? Only ours offers 2% interest, and we're serious about it. Not to mention, there's no interest compounding on the maturity date.

They never engaged in practices like lending grain in small measures or borrowing large measures, or lending coarse grain and returning fine grain.

Just look at the food our family provides for our slaves and farmhands—no other family can compare.

They rebuilt schools so their children could receive an education.

Slaves even received wages and bonuses.
Actually, there's no need for that at all. If we were to compete on par with other companies, our annual expenses would be significantly reduced, and our profits would increase considerably…”

Li Yi came to his senses.
He looked at Pei Zhuangtou, who was from Pei Shi's old family home; he still had to give him face.

"Old Pei."

"Our company does offer better compensation, but does that better compensation also greatly increase their enthusiasm for work, and ultimately make our production efficiency higher?"

If you buy an ox to plow the fields, you know you need to build a good shed and feed it during busy farming seasons.

Those who are employed should be treated with even greater respect.

Our Li family prioritizes people.

Li Yi was somewhat disinterested and didn't want to continue the conversation. "Chief Pei, I'm giving you a task: our village will buy locust eggs from the nearby villagers. For every pound of locust eggs, we'll buy three and a half pounds of millet."
Let the local people who have free time go and dig up locust eggs. We'll buy as many as they dig up, and pay them on the spot.

"We exchange locust eggs for grain."

I was in a good mood when I arrived.
But now Li Yi felt a little heavy-hearted.

Chanhe Manor is developing very well, but this makes Li Yi unhappy.

“My lord, Master Pei has put in so much effort and managed the estate so well; he deserves a reward,” said Luo San Niang.

"Well, Chief Pei, what reward do you want?" Li Yi asked.

Pei Zhuangtou hesitated.

"I have a grandson who is sixteen years old this year. He can read and write some characters, do some math, ride a horse, and has also learned hunting and archery."

If the Minister doesn't mind, may I, his grandson, pay my respects to him? And if the Minister finds him worthy of service...

I hope Situ will keep him by his side as a close attendant from now on.

Li Yi looked at the somewhat thin old man. Despite his advanced age and gray hair, he managed the manor very well and made it so profitable. He was indeed very capable.

The Pei family of Hedong, as a top-tier noble family in Hedong, has produced very capable managers.

The request he's making now fully demonstrates the old man's formidable nature.

He refused any monetary reward or other material gifts.

But he was seeking an opportunity for his grandson to stay with him.

It may seem insignificant, but Pei Zhuangtou knew that if his grandson could stay by the head of the family's side, even for just a few years, his future would be paved with success.

If one performs well and gains the favor of the family head, that would be even more remarkable.

"Okay, call your grandson over."

Pei Zhuangtou's grandson was very sturdy. He was very polite to Li Yi, neither reserved nor self-conscious. He also had a rather handsome appearance, which pleased Li Yi.

"What is your name?"

"I was the thirteenth child in my family, so I was always called Pei Shisan (Pei the Thirteenth).

"Don't you have a proper name?"

"No," the young man replied, neither humble nor arrogant. "Please bestow a name upon me, Master."

Looking at the opportunistic young man, Li Yi chuckled. He seemed dull, but he was actually quite clever.

"I'll give you the character 'Du'; from now on, you can be called Pei Du."

Pei Zhuangtou quickly instructed his son to kowtow to Li Yi in gratitude for the name bestowed upon him.

"Stop kneeling, Pei Shisan. From now on, you will follow me."

"I'm a little tired, I'm going to take a nap." Li Yi got up, waved his hand, and left the hall.

The success of Chanhe Manor did not make Li Yi happy.

Pei followed and went to serve Li Yi.

While Luo Sanniang was still checking the accounts, Li Yi heard Pei Zhuangtou see him off at the door and then turn around and whisper to Luo Sanniang, "Sanniang, our manor still has too little land. The land prices in the surrounding area aren't high these days. If we just raise the price a little, we can acquire quite a lot of land."

"There's no need for the government to allocate any more funds; there's enough money and silk on the estate to buy land..."

Without even looking up, Luo Sanniang stared at the ledger. "Chief Pei, do you know how much land our Wangfu sold this year? Thousands of hectares, and they're all fields in Guanzhong and Henan."

Forget about buying land; just focus on managing these three thousand acres well.

The estate has plenty of money and grain in its accounts; it can invest in workshops and animal husbandry. It could build a few more workshops, raise more cattle, horses, chickens, and ducks, and even buy some slaves to keep as livestock.

(End of this chapter)