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

Chapter 178: Rural sages and gentry
Winter is a good time to hold banquets and do good deeds.
Firstly, everyone has free time, and secondly, the weather is cold in winter and food doesn’t spoil easily.

For many days, Luojiabao was full of happy events.
After their marriage, Xiao Shisan stayed for only two days before returning to Hebei with Guo Xiaoke, reluctant to leave his wife Yu Niang. Yu Yu Niang wanted to go with them, but Xiao Shisan refused, saying that the situation there was still chaos and constant fighting, and entrusted his wife to Li Yi.

He left with the winter clothes that Yu Youniang had sewn for him, and also took some persimmon cakes.

He also liked this wine, and Wei Zheng also liked it. When he came back, Wei Zheng repeatedly reminded him to bring him more.

"When you're out, be careful. If the situation changes, protect yourself first and help me protect Brother Wei."

"Don't worry, Wuyi,"

Xiao Shisan is very skilled in martial arts and very confident.

However, Li Yi also knew that Hebei was not at peace. Xu Shiji now occupied Liyang and, although he had submitted to the Tang Dynasty, Yu Wenhuaji still led tens of thousands of troops in Weizhou. To their north lay Dou Jiande in Hejian, Luo Yi in Youzhou, and Gao Kaidao and his men.

The entire Hebei region was still leaderless, with warlords fighting each other.
In addition to Wang Shichong of Luoyang, Liu Wuzhou of Mayi, Zhu Can of Shannan, etc.

The situation over there can be described in one word: chaos.

Even in the fourth year of Wude, after Dou Jiande was defeated at Hulao, Hebei was not pacified. Liu Heita still rebelled against the Tang Dynasty and even rebelled twice. It took the brothers Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin to lead the troops twice to pacify the rebellion.

Li Yi also understood that Xiao Shisan was eager to achieve great things, to have his wife and children honored, and to restore the glory of his family, so he did not persuade Xiao Shisan not to return to Hebei.

After Xiao Shisan left,
Life in Luojiabao went on as usual.

Luo San got married, Li Cunxiao got married,

There are banquets almost every day.
The entire Luojiabao now has 25 households with the addition of Xiao Shisan and Yu Youniang's family. However, this winter, more than ten households are holding weddings at once.

Nine families marrying wives, five families marrying daughters,
There are also those who have given birth to sons and have more work this year, so they also hold a hundred-day or one-year-old party. There are also those who have built a new house and hold a beam-raising party.
Everyone wants to have fun.

No matter how rich or poor the banquet is, what matters is that it is lively and joyful.

Those who have money will do better, those who don't will do it more frugally, and the villagers will not deliberately compare themselves with each other.
Whether you have eight big bowls, or meat balls, or just a few ordinary dishes, or simply a glutinous rice banquet,

Anyway, I am happy.
Relatives and friends came to celebrate together.

No matter who has a good thing, they will invite Li Yi. Li Yi has a banquet every day. It is not just the wedding in Luojiabao. There are five villages and dozens of villages in Yusu Township.

From the landlords and powerful people to the common people, everyone would come to him to ask for help.

If Li Yi could come, it would definitely bring honor to the host family.

Li Yi also tried his best to go and congratulate, and also gave a gift.
Li Yi is now in Yusu Township. He is definitely a new upstart who is extremely popular and respected.

In the defense of Fengjia Nanzhuang, all seven villages in Xingshengli were saved by Li Yi, and everyone thinks highly of him, not to mention that many children can go to school for free.

During this time,

He drinks at weddings every day and interacts with the wealthy people in the village every day.
Everyone mentioned two things to Li Yi.

First, I hope that Wujibao Primary School can recruit more students. After all, the school is now bigger, and the high walls surround six acres of land.
Secondly, everyone is very positive about the militia training camp. After suffering losses last time, this time they got the title of militia training camp from above, so they thought about recruiting soldiers and making it bigger and stronger.

But all of this requires Li Yi's support.

Before the winter solstice,
Li Yi held a meeting of the society in Xiao Wuji Castle, inviting all the honorary presidents, directors, supervisors, honorary directors, honorary supervisors, members, honorary members, etc.

They were all local wealthy people, and some were even officials in the government office.

They also have a common identity, local celebrities.

These people also donated money, food and supplies to the Wuji Society, and some even donated land.

At the end of the year, we always have to hold meetings to settle accounts.

The year-end summary is to let everyone know the operation of the school this year and the situation of the school this year.

early in the morning,
In front of Xiao Wuji Fort, people were slaughtering pigs and sheep.
morning,

Members of various school associations arrived one after another.

This time, some wealthy and powerful people from the surrounding areas also took the initiative to request to come, and Li Yi also agreed to let them attend.

The most important topic of today's society meeting is not the review or summary, but whether to expand enrollment.

As the principal, Li Yi first gave an opening speech, briefly talking about the donations received by the society this year and how they were used, and then the number of students enrolled, the teaching situation, and the students' grades.

They were all very good and won warm applause.

Then came Vice President Dong Qilang, who gave a more detailed report, especially on teaching.

Li Yi now spends most of his time in Chang'an. Wuji Primary School is mainly run by him, and he is doing quite well. After all, he has Li Yi and Dong Xiucai to guide him.

The entire Wuji Fort now has 500 acres of school land, some of which were allocated by the imperial court, some were donated by local people, and some were purchased with the funds of the school.

Ten households occupied 500 mu of school land, all recruited from disaster-stricken families. The school provided them with oxen, seeds, and farm tools. Each household rented 50 mu of land, 30 mu of rice fields, and 20 mu of mulberry and hemp fields. These people were effectively runaways, no longer registered as household members. Therefore, they received no land grants, nor did they have to pay rent or military service. They only had to pay rent to the school. Because they had nothing, their current share was small, but they paid more rent. Over time, as they accumulated capital and purchased tools, their share could increase.

The remaining money for the study of silk, grain, paper, pens, ink, etc. was quite a lot.
Most of the money and grain were lent out, because Li Yi stipulated that the interest rate for the society's loans would be the same as that of the Li family, which was a six-month term and a monthly interest rate of 4%, and compound interest was not allowed after the maturity date.

This interest rate is lower than the current government loans and temple loans, and even lower than private loans.

However, there are also conditions and restrictions for learning to borrow money, depending on the reason for the loan. Generally, loans are only given to local residents, and the main focus is on small loans.

"Uncle Qianshui, our Wuji Academy should recruit more students after the New Year. Now that we have such a large office space and the academy has sufficient funds and food, we should expand the scope of enrollment and no longer be limited to a few villages like Luojiabao."

Township Chief Wang spoke first.
He suggested that the entire Yushu Township should be included in the enrollment scope.

The admission age can be further standardized, for example, only boys aged five to ten can be admitted.

Feng Xiangzuo, however, believed that Wuji Academy should have a three-year curriculum, with students graduating after three years. If students had excellent grades and were talented, they could be recommended to study in the county school.

"I think that although the original intention of our Wuji Academy to provide free education is good, some children really do not have the talent. I think it is unnecessary for them to study for three years. They should have exams after studying for half a year or a semester. Those with poor grades do not need to continue studying and should be advised to drop out directly." said another honorary director, who is the brother of the village head Wang and the legal counsel of Chang'an County Cao Zuo.

"Good steel must be used for its blades. Everyone is raising funds and donating money and food to cultivate talents for the village. Qianshui Bo's idea of teaching everyone is good, but some children really don't have the talent. They will learn nothing even if they study all the time, which is a waste of time and school resources."

Although Wang Fazuo's words were a bit direct, they still made sense.

If Wuji Academy wants to become bigger and stronger and have greater influence, it must achieve results rather than just throwing money at it.

He proposed that students with poor grades in each semester's exams would be expelled, which was quite harsh.

Li Yi listened to everyone's suggestions patiently.
Although he founded the school, he had donations from everyone from the beginning and had established a society early on, so he had to listen to everyone's opinions.

Liu, the head of the neighboring Fenggu Township, also made suggestions.

He felt that the school should expand its enrollment and even allow students from other villages to study, but they should pay scholarships.

There are students in the school who pay scholarships now. These people are self-funded students. He means to expand the number of self-funded students.

The discussion was very lively.

The current Wuji Primary School is not just the original one. The current Wuji Primary School is registered with the emperor. The school was built by the emperor. Many court officials are paying attention to this school and have allocated money, grain, land, etc.

Who among these powerful rural landlords doesn't want to gain some fame through this?

After a lively discussion,

Li Yi spoke,

"I think what the fellow villagers said is very reasonable. To run Wuji Academy well, we need the collective efforts of everyone. Now that the academy has grown, we can indeed recruit more people.

I also give my opinion.

First of all, our Wuji Academy will be based in Yusu Township and serve the entire Wannian County. Starting next year, children aged five to seven in the township can sign up, as long as they are not born with intellectual disabilities.

Students aged five to seven from more than 40 other townships in Wannian County outside of this township can also register, but they will need to pay for it themselves and provide a scholarship.

Regarding the issue of girls going to school, I personally believe that they should also be allowed the opportunity to study."

Li Yi picked up the teacup and took two sips of tea.

He continued, "Secondly, I think the exam thing everyone just mentioned makes sense. We can have a small exam every six months and a big exam every year. If the results of the small exam are too poor and the students don't meet the standards on a regular basis, they can be persuaded to withdraw.

Each year, students must pass the exams to move on to the next grade. Otherwise, they will be expelled or held back. Repeating a grade requires personal expense, and students can only repeat one grade at most. If they fail again, they will be expelled.

Opportunities to study are not easy to come by, so you have to work hard.”

"Finally, I think Wuji Elementary School should have a three-year curriculum, with students graduating after three years. We could recommend students with outstanding academic performance to the county school, or we could establish a secondary school or a high school to teach more advanced knowledge such as the Nine Classics.

For students who are exempt from primary school education and have excellent grades, we can recommend them for admission to middle school, and they will still be admitted free of charge. For students who pay their own way, as long as their grades are satisfactory, they can be admitted to middle school, and they will still pay their own way.

Those free students whose academic performance was not outstanding could only graduate from primary school after three years.

For three years, there is free basic education, but there are exams every year. If the results are not satisfactory, you cannot continue your studies and will have to drop out.

"Considering that the enrollment range will be wide in the future and many students will live far away from school, the school can set up student dormitories and implement a boarding system for students who live far away. The school can also recruit people to help take care of these boarders."

Li Yi's proposals were supported by most people.

Of course, some people also mentioned some details, such as it is best for girls to only study for three years. If a girl studies for three years at the age of five or six, she will only be eight or nine years old, which is still young.

But it is not suitable to go to middle school again, otherwise boys and girls will not be in good shape when they are in their teens.

Li Yi proposed to set up a girls' middle school department, hire female teachers, and employ female cooks, school workers, etc., but there were still few supporters.

(End of this chapter)