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

Chapter 145: Qianshui County offers a valuable national treasure

Li Yi recruited more than 300 people at once.

On that day, Liu Heizi, Li Cunli, Luo Er, Luo Sanda, and even Luo Wu and Shi Gou accepted the mission and each led a newly recruited team to Li Yi's fields.

Fortunately, Li Yi is now a founding county prince, even famous throughout the country, and has a good relationship with Xin Chujian, the magistrate of Wannian County. In addition, his senior brother Sun Fujia helps to greet him.

The passage of several teams was smooth sailing.

Li Yi and Shi Niang were personally responsible for the military camp, which had a thousand acres of land, and settled twenty newly recruited households. In name, these people were long-term workers, but in fact they were just retainers.

Since ancient times, General Camp has been a vital thoroughfare connecting Bashu in the south and Chang'an in the north. It faces Fanchuan in the east, the Yuhe River in the north, and sits on the head of Shenheyuan.

It was once a prosperous village with more than 200 households.
As a result of the war, only one in ten people survived.

Li Yi and Xu Xiuzhi became the new landlords here, and Li Cunxiao and four Qiang slaves also became masters.

Li Yi took his twenty long-term workers with him and settled them directly on the edge of the plateau. He dug a hole in the cliff, the simplest earth cave, and built a shed with straw in front. In this way, a simple residence was completed without much effort.

Covered with straw, it can also be a small nest that can keep out wind and rain.

After writing to Xiuzhi, Li Yi also gave the Shitou brothers a thousand acres of land and recruited twenty tenants.

So, not far from the ruins of Jiangjunying Village, forty families moved into several layers of scattered earthen caves.

They are all disaster victims from outside the Great Wall or Longyou.
Li Yi used the money Xiuzhi left to buy cattle and farming tools.

Oxen, plows, harrows, hoes, shovels, and hoes,

The two thousand acres of land of the two families in the general camp were divided into two manors, with five households in each group and four groups in each team.

Each group worked together to cultivate 250 mu of land.

Li Yi bought oxen for farming according to the military settlement standard, which was one ox for every 150 mu of soft soil, one ox for every 120 mu of hard soil, and one ox for every 80 mu of rice paddies.

The land in the general's camp was of good quality and needed to be cultivated intensively, so Li Yi also assigned one ox to every eighty mu, and a group was assigned three oxen.

The Li family brigade was equipped with twelve oxen for plowing, and the Zhang family brigade was also equipped with twelve oxen for plowing.

Fortunately, the price of oxen is not too expensive now. Ten pieces of silk are needed for one ox, and twenty-four oxen only cost two hundred and forty pieces of silk.

However, farm tools such as plows and hoes are more expensive.

Each ox must be equipped with a plow and a harrow, and each household must be equipped with two each of a hoe, a shovel, a pickaxe, and a sickle.

Li Yi was purchasing from Feng Xiangzuo's blacksmith shop. Although he was an old acquaintance and a big customer, he still wanted a hoe, a plow, and a harrow for a hundred coins even after the discount. He actually wanted five pieces of silk, which was equivalent to half a cow.

The two thousand acres of land owned by the generals and the two families were agreed to be used to plant wheat.

The soil fertilizer here can produce about two stones per mu, but more seeds are used, with three liters per mu.

Two thousand acres of land would require sixty dan of seeds alone.

Li Yi felt like a colonist in the Age of Exploration.
He took a group of bankrupt farmers from his hometown and ran to a newly discovered place to open up wasteland and cultivate land.

For several days,
Li Yi settled down in the general's camp.

The commander arranged for these forty households, numbering more than one hundred people, to dig earthen caves and build straw sheds, which were not only for them to live in, but also for the oxen to live in, and also for tool sheds.

They started a collective farming life.

Five households form a group and start a fire together. Each group selects an older person who looks honest and has more farming experience as the group leader.

Li Yi will arrange one of his own people to supervise and manage the four group captains, and select a deputy captain.

Ploughing the land and sowing seeds,

Busy as hell.

Although the work was tiring, these disaster victims, having just had a full meal, cherished it very much. Men, women, even the elderly and children all went to work in the fields, leaving early and returning late.

The cooked meals are all delivered to the fields.

Fortunately, one group arranged three oxen to plow the land. It was much easier to plow the land with oxen. After plowing the land, it had to be loosened and leveled two or three times.
Then a plow comes to sow seeds, shaking the soil as it goes, and digging furrows and sowing are done at the same time, which is quite efficient.

After sowing here, stone plows are used to compact the wheat ridges loosened by the plow to prevent the wind from drying out the moisture in the soil.

There is no mechanization, it all depends on manpower.

Especially this year we were in a hurry and did not prepare manure, so we can only apply it later.

Li Yi also squatted on the ground every day,

Everyone worked very hard, but many of the disaster victims had been suffering from long-term hunger and malnutrition, and the sudden busy farming season was a bit too much for them to handle.
Even the newly bought cows are not yet in sync.

Moreover, Li Yi found that the plows used nowadays were a bit too clumsy, with long and straight plow shafts. He vaguely remembered watching villagers in his hometown ploughing the land when he was a child. The plows were very small and made of iron, with curved and short plow shafts, and even the plow head was equipped with a freely rotating plow disc.

Obviously, such a curved plow has a smaller and lighter plow frame, and is also easier to turn and revolve. It is flexible to operate and greatly saves manpower and ox power.

The plow we use now is too heavy. It is difficult for one person to lift it, not to mention that the oxen have to pull the plow to plow the land deeply. It is also very difficult to lift the plow every time to turn.

Wait till lunch time,
Li Yi gathered the tenants together and discussed the plow with them.

An old man said that this kind of straight-beam plow has been used since the Han Dynasty and has been so for generations.

A disaster victim from Huainan also said that not all plows are like this. They have long curved plows in their hometown.

"The plows in our hometown have long curved shafts, which allow for deeper plowing." Li Yi had not expected that there were already curved shafts.

"No short-beam plow?"

"No."

Another disaster victim from Henan Province said his hometown had a type of plow called the Weili, a short-beam plow with a straight shaft. However, it was more flexible than a long straight-beam plow, making it easier to turn around and suitable for cultivating small plots of land.

Li Yi asked everyone to talk about the plows they had come from or seen.
Long straight-beam plow, long curved-beam plow, short straight-beam plow,
But there was no short curved plow.

Different plow components are not exactly the same. Some may add or subtract one or two parts, and each has its own characteristics.

Li Yi compared the short curved plow with his impression and felt that it could be improved.

Next, Li Yi observed his men plowing the land while drawing blueprints. He also consulted with the carpenters and blacksmiths who made the plows.

He began to make a plow.

Working behind closed doors.

After several modifications and updates, a new plow finally took shape.

It consists of eleven parts including the plowshare, plowboard, and plow bottom.
The long straight shaft was changed into a short curved shaft, with the addition of a plowshare and a plowshare stalk. Pushing the plowshare down would make the stalk go deep into the soil, while lifting the plowshare would make the plowshare go shallowly into the soil.
By organically combining the plowshare, plowshare truss and plowshare arrow of the curved plow, it can adapt to the different needs of deep or shallow plowing and is more convenient for intensive farming.

The plow wall not only breaks up the soil, but also pushes the plowed soil to one side, reducing the resistance to the plow's forward movement.

Looking at the newly completed short curved plow, Li Yi's heart was filled with emotion. He had been working in the fields these days, and he was also very sad about the low efficiency of plowing. Both the oxen and the people were very tired, and the efficiency was not good enough.

Li Yi excitedly took the new plow to try it out.
After using it, team leader Li Tiaoshun praised its ease of use. "The plow is light, yet plows deeply. It also turns very flexibly, and the oxen save a lot of effort and can move much faster."

"Zheng Chouta, take the original plow and come over to compare it with Li Tiaoshun."

Li Yi called another team leader.

So two team leaders each drove an ox, one using the original long straight-beam plow and the other using the new short curved-beam plow.

The two men waved their whips together and ordered the ox to plow the land on its back.

People gathered around to watch.

Soon, Li Tiaoshun left Zheng Chouta behind.

Zheng Chouta was a little unconvinced at first, but the two of them exchanged plows but not oxen and competed again. This time, it was still the same man and the same ox, but after changing to the new plow, he immediately and easily defeated Li Tiaoshun and his ox.

"This plow is so easy to use. Before, I had to lift the plow with both hands to turn it around, which was very strenuous. Now I can turn it around with just a light lift. Deep plowing is also much easier. After plowing the land this time, I felt very relaxed, like taking a walk, and the oxen felt much more relaxed too."

The improvement in efficiency is visible to the naked eye.

Deputy Captain Zhang Guzi also said frankly, "Our plot of land is large, and the ridges are very long, but they are not particularly obvious. It would be more useful to cultivate smaller plots of land, especially hillside wasteland, terraced fields, etc."

Ji pulled Li Yi and said, "Alang, you can present this plow to the emperor and he will surely be rewarded."

After his reminder,

Li Yi also realized it later. He had only thought about improving the plow to make it more convenient for his family and improve the efficiency of farming. However, he did not expect that in the farming era,
It is amazing that such a good agricultural tool can greatly improve the efficiency of farming and save manpower and animal power.

Li Yi excitedly carried the plow back to Chang'an City.

He took the plow and went directly to the home of Senior Brother Sun in Daningfang.
Sun Fujia, who had just returned from court, was completely confused when he saw Li Yi hurried in, covered in mud and carrying a plow on his back.

Da laughed and said, "Wuyi, are you coming to my house to plant winter wheat?"

"Brother, look at this plow."

"What's wrong with this plow? Hmm, it seems a little small. The shaft is curved, and it's so short. Can it be used properly?"

"It's very easy to use. Compared to ordinary long straight-beam plows, it's much more efficient, especially saving manpower and animal power."

Li Yi praised the plow and explained it in detail again. After hearing about the effect, Sun Fujia was also shocked.

"Brother, I would like you to write to His Majesty on my behalf, expressing my willingness to help the court promote this plow."

"Good, good, very good," Sun Fujia was also excited. In the farming era, this thing was too precious. Just look at the protection the court gave to oxen.

Many people could not even afford to buy oxen for plowing and had to use human power to pull the plow, which was even more tiring and difficult, and seriously affected production.

With the appearance of such a light and good plow, it is not so tiring even if people have to carry the plow. Anything that can improve agricultural production efficiency is a treasure.

"Don't bother writing letters. Bring the plow with you. I'll take you directly to the palace gate to present you with the treasure!"

Sun Fujia didn't care that he had just returned home, and pulled Li Yi and went straight to the palace.

As the Imperial Censor, he knocked on the palace gate and said that the founding prince of Qianshui County had a valuable national treasure that he wanted to present to the sage.

In Tai Chi Palace,

Li Yuan was interrupted while practicing finger-playing pipa techniques with the Cuis.
"The son of Qianshui County has presented a valuable national treasure?"

"Qianshuixianzi is Li Wuyi from Yushukawa, right?"

Li Yuan suddenly became interested. "Immediately summon Sun Fuga and Li Yi to the audience. I want to see what this national treasure is!"

(End of this chapter)