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

Chapter 833 Is there really such a good thing?
The emperor boiled a pot of water on the charcoal stove for brewing tea.

Once the water in the silver kettle had boiled, he took out a cake of relief food from the wooden box.

How much does one loaf weigh?

"Half a jin (250 grams)."

Half a jin is eight liang, nearly three hundred grams. This biscuit grain is pressed very firmly using a tea cake mold.

Li Shimin ordered a palace attendant to bring a golden melon hammer, which was used to break the cake into several pieces, which were then thrown into a pot to cook.

"It smells quite good."

The emperor watched the dried food cakes melt in the pot and smelled the aroma they emitted.

Li Yi didn't find it fragrant; he thought it had a slightly fishy smell.

He picked up a long-handled wooden spoon and stirred it in the pot to prevent it from sticking, slowly turning it into a pot of porridge.

"Is it ready? Let me try it."

"Your Majesty, adding more salt, ghee, and cheese curds would make it taste even better. Adding some chopped green onions and pepper would also be nice."

Li Shimin waved his hand, "This is disaster relief grain, meant to save the lives of the disaster victims. The people have received it, but we don't have the means to add this or that. I'll just try it as is."

Li Yi then picked up a white porcelain bowl and filled it with a small amount for the emperor, saying, "Your Majesty, please be careful, it's hot."

He served himself a bowl as well.

He had actually tried this thing back in the village.

It's edible.

But it's definitely not delicious, especially without oil, salt, or other seasonings.

The taste is hard to describe.

It's called "Four Treasures Pill," but it's actually made by mixing and pressing together corn flour, wheat flour, alfalfa flour, and locust egg powder.

Moreover, in order to save food, the corn husks were not removed, and the bran was also retained in the wheat flour, which made the mixed flour very rough in texture.

It has neither a good appearance nor a good taste.

The emperor blew on it to cool it down before starting to drink.

One sip after another, the emperor lowered his head and drank half a bowl in one go.

"It's better than I expected."

"It makes you feel warm after eating it."

He inquired about the formulation details and concluded that it was a good disaster relief food.

"In a few months, when the water hyacinths grow, we can use them to replace alfalfa powder."

Not only can water hyacinth powder replace alfalfa powder, but the rivers, lakes, and seas of the south also have abundant fish, shrimp, snails, and clams.
People can be organized to salvage the locusts, dry them, and grind them into powder, which can be used as disaster relief food, just like locust meal.

Adding alfalfa and locust eggs actually saved some grain.

"While the Ministry of Agriculture was checking the warehouses and recovering the deficit, it was also stepping up efforts to produce disaster relief grain reserves, as the lean spring famine was fast approaching."

The Ministry of Revenue also needs to hurry and arrange the grain rations and quotas according to the household registration.

"Your Majesty, regarding the matter of organizing northern people to temporarily settle in the south, the Council of State has decided to establish settlements in various prefectures in the south and make point-to-point contact with the prefectures in the north that will be affected by disasters."

For example, the Guanzhong Road connects to the Shannan Road, Jingzhou connects to Yongzhou, Liangzhou connects to Qizhou...
The Longyou Road leads to the Jiannan Road.

Following the principle of proximity, the Jingzhou government designated arable land and prepared farming tools and seeds, while the Yongzhou officials organized the people and led them there. Once there, they were all settled in the designated farming areas to begin their agricultural work…

Li Shimin thought this was a good idea. "Going out to find food is a last resort, but if we just lift the road restrictions and allow people to go out to find food, the people will just rush out in a chaotic manner, fleeing famine and begging for food."

"Without organization, things won't work. The current situation, where the imperial court and government are taking responsibility, is a good thing for the refugees fleeing the famine and for the southern prefectures and counties."

The emperor also had his own concerns: could such a big undertaking be accomplished?

"Your Majesty, do your best. It's better to do something than nothing."

"Yes." Li Shimin nodded. "Go all out, because they are all subjects of the Tang Dynasty. The Sui Dynasty was tyrannical, and the people were suffering. The Tang Dynasty overthrew the tyrannical Sui Dynasty, so we can't be like the tyrannical Sui Dynasty and ignore the lives of the people."

Actively intervene in disaster relief,

There is a huge difference between ignoring it and not caring about it.

Disasters and famines are terrible.
However, it would be much better if the imperial court could coordinate and actively provide relief.

The emperor and his ministers talked for a long time.

Every life saved means more vitality for the revival of the Tang Dynasty.

The chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty had already killed too many people.

People are the most precious resource of a nation.

Li Shimin did not want to be Yang Guang.

He wanted to be a wise ruler, even a sage ruler.

"Send me some of these relief cakes. From now on, I'll eat one soupy meal and one solid meal every day. When I eat the soupy meal, I'll eat this."

"Send more so that Jiancheng and Yuanji can also have some."

The emperor went to Luoyang for meals, while the retired emperor remained in the Da'an Palace in Chang'an, where he was protected by imperial guards.

However, the emperor brought Jiancheng and Yuanji, who had been imprisoned in the imperial city, to Luoyang, where they continued to be imprisoned in the imperial city.

He kept his promise to the retired emperor and spared the lives of the two brothers.

But there was no indication of any pardon.
The retired emperor had repeatedly hoped that Li Shimin would consider their brotherly bond and enfeoff them to the frontier, allowing them to live as idle vassal kings far from the court.

Li Shimin never agreed.

Perhaps in ten or twenty years, he will lift their imprisonment, but not now.

Even their sons were placed under house arrest in the capital.

Their freedom was restricted. Jiancheng and Yuanji, the two families, were confined to a courtyard within high walls, with only simple meals provided.

But that's already merciful enough.

···
In the afternoon,

Li Yi was basking in the sun in his family's library.

Sunbathing is more comfortable than sitting by a fire; the midday sun in the first month of the lunar calendar warms people up.

A cat appeared on the wall.

It stared at the pastries on the coffee table in front of Li Yi.

Dried meat, dried shrimp,
The cat's gaze remained fixed on Li Yi, reluctant to leave, yet also filled with fear.

Meow.

The cat meowed, as if asking Li Yi for something.

“Come on,” Li Yi stood up, picked up a dried shrimp and beckoned to the cat.

It hesitated for a long time.
In the end, he still jumped.
He walked a few steps away from Li Yi, then stopped.

Crouching there, somewhat wary,
Seeing this, Li Yi threw the dried shrimp over.
The yellow cat snatched it up and wolfed it down.

"Have you become one of the starving people too?"

After finishing one of the cats, it looked at Li Yi again.

"Come here." Li Yi beckoned to it, and it took a few steps forward, but stopped after maintaining a distance.

Li Yi threw another one, which it quickly finished eating.

When Li Yi threw it the third one, it picked it up but didn't eat it. Instead, it leaped onto the wall and disappeared.

Li Yi smiled and continued basking in the sun.

After a while,
But then the yellow cat returned, this time carrying a kitten and placing it in front of Li Yi.

"What are you doing?"

The yellow cat looked at the shrimp on Li Yi's table.
Li Yi threw it one.
It picked it up and ran away, leaving the kitten meowing.

Li Yi was both amused and exasperated. Selling kittens for money?

This seems similar to the starving people who sold their children for a bushel of millet.

He took a dried shrimp, tore it into pieces, and fed it to the kitten.
Just as I was feeding them, the yellow cat came again, still carrying a kitten in its mouth.

She put the kitten down and looked at Li Yi.

Li Yi gave it another dried shrimp, and it put down the kitten and left again.

After a while, it brought back another one.

In no time,
The yellow cat brought five kittens.

They also exchanged a plate of dried shrimp with Li Yi.

The sun is setting in the west.

Li Yi stood up. "Take your child back with you."

He returned to the library; it was a bit cold outside as the sun wasn't out.

The mother cat carried each of her five kittens to Li Yi's door, then ran to a distance to watch them.

Li Yi opened the door and let it take it away, saying, "The dried shrimp was a gift for you; I'm not trading it for a kitten."

The mother cat came over, picked out the little yellow kitten that looked most like her from among the five kittens, and brought it to Li Yi's feet.

Li Yi waved his hand.
The mother cat then took the little yellow kitten away and brought it back in its place.

Li Yi was both amused and exasperated. "Take them all back with you."

As a result, the mother cat persisted, bringing all five kittens to Li Yixuan in turn.

Li Yi didn't want to exchange dried shrimp for kittens. "I said I'd give you food, no need to exchange kittens."

But the mother cat was very persistent, insisting that Li Yi choose one of them, and even hoping that Li Yi would keep them all.

When Luo San Niang came over and saw this scene, she smiled and told him, "The mother cat is giving her kittens away. Many mother cats have this habit of giving their kittens away."
When the kittens are old enough to be weaned, it will choose a good home for them.

"This mother cat thinks you're a good person and trusts you."

"I thought they were trading kittens for dried shrimp."

Third Sister looked at the cats and said, "Since they've all been delivered, why don't you keep them, Ah Lang? Cats can catch mice."

"Okay," Li Yi agreed, considering it fate.

it's dark.

Old Wang made it back to Luoyang before the city gates closed, and quickly returned to Tongji Ward.

"Honey, why are you back so late today?"

"It's getting harder and harder to dig up locust eggs. I didn't dig up many today. I heard that the Li family at Chanhe Manor got more grain in exchange, so I went there specifically to exchange."

Upon hearing this, the woman quickly asked, "Can I really exchange more?"

"Yes, the government exchanges one jin of locust eggs for three jin of millet, while the Li family exchanges one jin for three jin and three liang." Old Wang said, putting down his bag. "One jin can be exchanged for one liang of millet."

"That's good. A little millet can make a pot of porridge." The woman said, talking about her cat running away. "It took all five kittens with it and disappeared without a trace."

"Let them run away then,"

The family's yellow cat is a master at catching mice. With grain prices soaring recently, the Wang family has been struggling financially, so they started targeting the cat. Several times, they snatched the mice from the cat's mouth and cooked them for themselves.

The cat just ran off with the kitten in its mouth, and there's nothing Old Wang can do about it.

Anyway, there are no rats to catch now. If a rat dares to come, it's a good opportunity for the whole family to catch it and fill their stomachs.

The woman poured the millet she had exchanged into the rice jar.

The golden millet flowed into the jar, but only accumulated in a thin layer at the bottom.

"Honey, the price of grain has gone up again, and now the only time you can buy grain is right when the market opens at noon. It sells out in an hour."

"How much does a peck cost now?"

“A dou of rice costs 120 coins, and millet costs 90 coins a dou…” The woman sighed as she spoke.

There was no surplus food or money at home.

"What can we do?"

Old Wang recounted the news he heard at the Chanhe Manor today: "I heard the imperial court is going to send people to the south to cultivate land."
"As long as they are willing to go, the imperial court will arrange their food and drink along the way. Once they arrive and begin cultivating the land, they will be provided with rations, which will be repaid after the autumn harvest..."

"We'll come back after the famine is over."
Those who respond to the call to go south to reclaim land will be exempt from this year's rent and tax.

He scratched his head and said, "If you're willing to settle there, every able-bodied man will be given 100 mu of land."

"Many people in the house, after hearing about it, are planning to go to the south."

First, one should enlist to cultivate land in the south for a year.
Given the current situation, the summer harvest is hopeless, and the price of grain is still unknown. Our family can't hold out for more than a few days.

It would be better to go south and try our luck; at least the imperial court could provide food, and the family wouldn't starve.

If things are really alright over there, we can consider getting land there and settling down. If not, we can come back next year when the famine situation improves.

Old Wang's new wife remained silent.

She was reluctant to leave her homeland, even though this dilapidated house was worth a fortune. The south was too far away and unfamiliar. She was truly terrified and frightened to travel hundreds of miles with her family.

“Go now. The government will provide rations along the way, and there will be a place to settle down when we arrive. If we stay here, we’ll soon have to flee to beg for food, and then we’ll be completely on our own,” Old Wang advised.

When people fled famine, they fled south. Now, when people settle down to cultivate land, they also go south. Old Wang thinks this is a way to survive.

Old Wang's wife asked worriedly, "Is there really such a good thing?"

(End of this chapter)