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

Chapter 112 The fragrance of rice is just in season

The autumn wind blows at the foot of Mount Zhongnan, and the fragrance of rice fills the air.

Early in the morning, Li Yi packed up and returned to the countryside of Yushukawa. The rice was ripe and it was time to harvest.

Only Ah Fu and his wife were left to guard the Pingkangfang house, and the rest of the people followed him back to the countryside.

Even for the nobles, the annual harvest was a big day, and the head of the family had to participate in person, especially when the sickle was started on the first day.

On both sides of the Hehe River, thousands of acres of rice have turned golden, and the rice ears are heavy, which makes people happy to look at.

The scarecrows in the fields also protect the rice fields to prevent birds from stealing food.

"This year is a bumper year," Liu Heizi said excitedly as he rode his horse. He was also a good farmer and used to farm for others. This year, he had been allocated land, and after the autumn harvest, the thirty acres of land would be officially handed over to him.

He had already made up his mind, and after harvesting the land he quickly turned the soil and planted a crop of wheat.

It's not too late at this time, and the rainfall this year is pretty good. The soil moisture conditions on Shenheyuan are suitable. You just need to add more seeds for late sowing. You can buy some manure from Alang's house and the yield will still be guaranteed.

Li Yi looked at the rice fields on both sides of the He River and really smelled the fragrance of rice.

"The millet and soybeans on Shenheyuan are ripe."

People take food as their heaven,
Seeing the abundant harvest in the fields, everyone was in a good mood.
Passing by Weiqu,

Li Yi even took everyone to the market to buy vegetables.
Weiqu has a market every day. Unlike the two markets in Chang'an which open in the afternoon, the market here opens very early. Villagers from nearby areas come here before dawn, bringing their own agricultural products or handicrafts to sell in exchange for what they need. The market usually disperses at noon.

It is bigger and more lively than the one in Wangqu.

Especially when Duqu and Wangqu are not gathering, there are more people here.

The group was shopping as they walked around. They would start harvesting rice tomorrow, so they needed to buy some sickles and other things. Meat and vegetables would have to be bought tomorrow morning. They would be difficult to preserve without a refrigerator, and they would not be as fresh if left in the well overnight.

Today I bought some live ducks and eggs.
There's everything for sale at the market.

Some people were selling eggs, some were selling roosters, and some were selling chicks, ducklings, kittens, puppies and goslings.

"Would you like to buy some chicks, ducklings, and goslings?" asked Ji.

"Is it appropriate to raise these chicks and ducklings now? It's going to be cold soon."

"It's the autumn harvest season now, so it's okay."

People usually hatch chicks in spring and autumn, avoiding summer and winter. The temperature is good for hatching at this time, and the hatched chicks are easy to survive. By winter, they are already quite big.

"Okay, then catch some." Li Yi felt that one had to raise some chickens, ducks, geese, cats, dogs, pigs, and cows in the countryside. Firstly, there were conditions to raise them, and secondly, it was convenient for them to eat themselves. Even if they were sold, it would increase income.

Li Yi handed the task of buying chicks, ducks and geese to the wives of Agui and Awei, and went to look for the puppies himself.

I have always said that I want to buy a dog to guard the house, but I never have the time to buy it.

Heizi said that when raising a dog, you have to start with puppies, and you can't raise a big dog well.

There are quite a few people selling puppies in Weiji. Li Yi doesn't know much about dog breeds, but Liu Heizi is very familiar with them and can recognize them at a glance. He said this one is a Chinese Greyhound, that one is a Chow Chow, and the most common one is a Shiba Inu.
"I didn't expect to see pugs from Liaodong and mastiffs from Qiang land here."

"Pug?" Li Yi often heard this name in later generations, but it mostly became an adjective.

"Well, it's also called stupid dog in Liaodong, and there are quite a lot of them in Hebei. This dog has a big and round head, a short and wide nose, round and bulging eyes, a strong body, thick limbs and belly, smooth fur, and is the most cold-resistant. It's a pity that this litter of pugs is not pure, and it looks like they have been mixed with local dogs," Liu Heizi shook his head.

Li Cunxiao and his few Red Qiang surrounded a litter of mastiff puppies.

"This is the Qiang people's mastiff. It has a ferocious and aggressive temperament, but is very loyal to its owner. The Qiang people like to raise it, and in the Central Plains, this dog is also called the Qiang dog.

This kind of dog is too fierce and not suitable for keeping at home."

But Li Cunxiao and his four red-lined Qiang were reluctant to move. When they saw this group of Qiang dogs, they seemed to see old friends from their hometown.

Li Cunxiao also gestured while talking to Li Yi, meaning that he wanted to buy it.

Cunli translated, "They say this dog is a most loyal friend. Once it grows up, it's very fierce. It can guard the house and protect its owner. It's also very good at hunting. Two mastiffs can attack a tiger together and can easily hunt wild yaks. They want each of them to raise one. They have all raised mastiffs before and know how to train them. They can train them into good guards."

"Is this mastiff purebred?" Li Yi asked. Li Yi saw that the puppies in this litter had different fur colors. There were seven puppies, three of them were black, but four were gray, and the eyes of the other four were blue.

"Pure," Li Cunxiao said affirmatively while holding the puppies. He also pointed at the four gray ones and said that these four were better.

But Li Yi heard from the dog seller that both parents of this litter of puppies were black.

Li Cunxiao gestured and Cunli translated, saying that these four gray dogs were of the best quality, a throwback to their ancestral species. This kind of dog is extremely rare, but it is better.

"Since you like them, buy one each."

"Cunli, why don't you raise one too? You five are in a group, so you should raise one together." Li Yi said with a smile.

Cunli was a little scared when he heard that these Qiang dogs could weigh over 100 pounds when fully grown and could even attack tigers. But in the end, four of his familiar Red-line Qiang patted him on the shoulder and urged him to raise one, even asking Liu Heizi to get one as well.

So, six out of seven dogs were bought, and one was left.

"Alang, why don't you buy this one too and keep one for yourself."

Li Yi looked at the only remaining pure black puppy.
"Okay, I'll buy this one too."

Liu Heizi actually wanted to buy a Chinese hound or a Chow Chow. The slender Chow is a great hunting companion, especially skilled in pursuit. The blue-tongued Chow Chow, also known as the Lion Dog, is a native Chow with naturally long fur. It was the emperor's hunting dog during the Han Dynasty. Also known as the Bear Lion Dog, the name suggests its fierceness. It's completely different from the Chow Chow Li Yi later encountered, a foreign hybrid.

According to Liu Heizi, the Chow Chow and the Chow Shih Tzu are the two most common dogs raised by the nobles in Chang'an. They can be used as guard dogs and are also good hunting dogs. However, the Chow Chow Chows sold at the market today are not pure enough.
It’s not good to mix too much.

The most common dogs at the market are local dogs, which are raised by ordinary people to guard their homes. They come in black, yellow and red varieties. Li Yi likes this kind of small dog called local dog very much. The Tang people in the north also call it Shiba dog, and the people in the south call it grass dog.

The cubs are even cuter and more furry at this time.

He thought of the dog Dahuang that his grandfather raised when he was a child. This kind of dog was docile and very loyal, and was a good guard dog.

"Pick a yellow dog,"

"I haven't encountered any wolfhounds, but they're actually pretty good. The offspring of a female dog and a wolf are called wolfhounds. They look like wolves, but are more ferocious than Shiba Inus," Li Yi said curiously. "There really are wolf-dog hybrids out there. Can they be raised well?"

"It's hard to raise, but if you raise it well, it's very valuable. It's a pity I didn't see one today. This kind is still relatively rare. I guess you have to go to the village at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain to find it."

Li Yi had no interest in raising wolfhounds or anything like that, not even those mastiffs. He liked local dogs.

Li Yi specially named the newly bought local dog Xiao Huang: "Your name will be Wangcai from now on. Get along well with our Zhaocai."

Wangcai is a little male dog.
Li Yi also gave the other little black mastiff a name, "Let's call you Lai Fu."

I bought seven mastiffs and a local dog at once.
Turning around, Ji and the others had also picked out chicks, ducklings, and goslings. They bought thirty chicks, thirty ducklings, and ten goslings.

The women were quite experienced and picked out many females but few males.

"You should raise chickens together with geese. Geese can not only guard the house, but also you don't have to worry about weasels." said the woman from Agui's family.

Li Yi wanted to raise more chickens and ducks at home so that he could eat local eggs more often and make salted duck eggs. He could also eat local chickens and ducks conveniently.
However, we don’t know how many of this batch of seedlings will survive in the end.

Li Yi also went to see the bean curd sheets and bean curd in the market. The Wei and Du families both had shops in the market, with shops in the front and workshops in the back.

The workshop that was previously sealed off by the Wei family has reopened. It is still owned by the Wei family. It seems that the seal was lifted after the fine was paid.

The bean curd sheets and tofu bubbles sold by the two shops are no different from those sold by Li Yi's workshop. The price is around one hundred coins, and the sales volume is hard to tell. Ordinary people can't afford this stuff. Who would be willing to buy tofu at the price of meat?

Just like bath beans, it is only for the nobles and wealthy.

Judging from the employees in the two stores, sales should be pretty good. There are a lot of people and they are very busy.

Li Yi was in a good mood. Facing the attack from a top family like Wei Du, he at least got one hundred taels of gold for the prescription. It was good enough that he was not completely taken away by them.

The Wei family had spent five taels of gold to poach Li Yi and get the recipe, but in the end their own workshop was closed down and their two managers were imprisoned. They also had to pinch their noses and send fifty taels of gold to Li Yi.
After sending the money that time, the Wei family didn't seem to take any follow-up action. Maybe they just remembered it for the time being.

But the Wei family must feel more aggrieved than Li Yi about this matter. They have lost more than a million dollars and lost face. But with the King of Qin around, they dare not act rashly now. They are probably so frustrated that they are vomiting blood.

The old lady of the Du family hasn't bothered him recently.

But Li Yi knew clearly that these top families were not the kind of people who would suffer losses. Even if they did not attack now, they would settle the score sooner or later.

But Li Yi is not the kind of person who is willing to suffer losses.

At first, others also advised him not to accept the fifty taels of gold from the Wei family, and even opposed him taking the initiative to sell his son to the Du family, but Li Yi did it anyway.
He wouldn't turn his right cheek away if someone spat on his left cheek.

The group returned to Wuji Thatched Cottage.

The thatched cottage suddenly became lively.
Luo Er, Luo San and others, come here immediately.

"Looking at the weather, the next few days may be good weather, which is a good time to harvest rice. After harvesting, we can quickly dry the rice for a few days while the weather is clear and store it in the warehouse. If you don't come back, I will go to Chang'an to tell you." Luo San said.

"The harvest will begin tomorrow,"

It didn't take Li Yi much effort to grow thirty acres of rice.

However, the school still has 280 acres of land, including 120 acres of rice fields, and 100 acres of millet and 60 acres of soybeans on the plateau that need to be harvested.

"We have to seize the opportunity. If we miss this nice sunny day and it rains, the grain will rot in the fields, or it will sprout when we harvest it and it will be fatal." Luo Zhongsan is a good farmer. He suggested hiring some people to harvest and thresh the grain temporarily and store it in the warehouse first.

Li Yi originally wanted to wait until the villagers finished harvesting before inviting everyone to come and harvest the school fields, which could be considered as providing the villagers with a job to earn some extra money.

Now after listening to what Luo Sanyi said, I think it makes sense. The weather won't always be sunny. If it rains continuously, the losses will be huge.

It is important to take advantage of the right time and store the grain in the warehouse first.

"Uncle San, what do you think? Should we hire some local villagers to help us out, or should we go directly to Sanqiao and Baqiao to recruit some young and strong disaster victims?"

"During the busy farming season, each household has divided the land equally and is busy harvesting rice, rushing to catch up on time.

But there is no need to go to Sanqiao and Baqiao to look for the disaster victims. A few days ago, when the rice was ripe, many disaster victims came here one after another, attracted by the fragrance of rice. Now they are setting up straw huts on the bank of the He River, waiting for work.
Just shout and you'll get as many people as you want."

Uncle San is experienced. "We'll calculate it by the acre. In previous years, during the busy harvest season, there would be people coming to harvest rice. No matter how many people are in their group, we'll just give them the amount of grain per acre."

"In the past, a skilled wheat harvester could harvest one acre and two mu of rice a day. This year, so many people are looking for work. Even with two meals provided and two liters of rice per acre, people are still rushing to get it."

Li Yi felt that harvesting rice was a very hard job. Only two liters of rice per acre was too little. To be honest, if one person could harvest one acre a day, he would have to be a very skilled young man.

We cannot deliberately exploit people just because there are many people looking for work.

They are all poor people. They have been forced to leave their homes and flee due to war, natural disasters, etc. It has not been easy for them.

"So, for every acre of land you harvest, you'll get three liters of millet and two meals. It's hard work, so we'll have to eat well. Tomorrow morning, we'll buy some meat and stew some pig's head and pig's trotters with soybeans. We have to make sure everyone is well fed so they have the strength to work."

"Another thing is, since so many disaster victims are here looking for work, we shouldn't be picky. As long as they are young and strong, families of all ages can come along."

Luo Er said from the side: "Village chief, although it is calculated by the acre, two meals are still provided, and both meat and vegetables are required. If the whole family, young and old, work together, the young and old will not be able to do much work, but they will have to eat less. It's not cost-effective."

Li Yi smiled and said, "It's not easy for them either. They come to us to make a living. I will help them as much as I can."

"Village chief, there is one more thing. It's the autumn harvest and the school said it will be a half-month holiday. What should we do with our workshop?" Luo Er asked. Although the workshop is not as profitable as before, it is still making money and business is pretty good. If it stops working, it will suffer a considerable loss every day.

Li Yi thought about it and said, "How about this? The workshop will continue to operate, and the people in the workshop will continue to work. The workshop will pay and hire people to replace them to go home and harvest rice and grain. What do you think, Second Uncle?"

Hire a young and strong man to replace the woman working in the workshop or at the bridge stall to go home and harvest rice and grain. The workshop may even have to pay for the wages.

"This is so bad. The workshop has to pay twice. It has to pay the wages of the female workers and also pay them to hire workers." Luo Er said quickly.

"The workshop has stopped working, and we've also suffered losses. Hiring people to do the autumn harvest for them is just a benefit for everyone who works so hard in the workshop."

"This benefit is too good," Luo Er exclaimed.

(End of this chapter)