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

Chapter 206: New Year's Blessings

On the morning of New Year's Eve,
Snowflakes fluttered all over the sky, and soon the ground was covered with a layer of white gauze.

"Auspicious snow indicates a good harvest, good snow."

Li Yi was still sleeping in on the warm kang when Shuying said that many people had come to visit him early in the morning.

"It's New Year's Eve. Why are you here so early in the morning instead of changing the peach charms and preparing the New Year's Eve dinner at home?" He didn't even open his eyes.

"It's the end of the year now, and those who work for us should come and congratulate us. And those who have borrowed money and food from us should come and say hello..."

People do not blame.

"Is it snowing heavily?"

"Well, it's snowing heavily. Get up quickly."

Li Yi's sweet dream in the morning was disturbed, so he had to get up reluctantly. Those annoying guys wouldn't let him have peace and quiet during the New Year.

After he changed his clothes and washed up and came to the living room in the outer courtyard, he found it was very lively.

Crowded with people,

The house is warm.

Liu Heizi, Luo San, Du Pingan and others were helping to greet the guests.

As soon as Li Yi came in,

Everyone stood up and bowed to him.
"Hello, Alang,"

"Good morning, Mr. Li,"

"Shallow Water Boan,"

Li Yi smiled and said, "Early, early, everyone, take a seat and be at your leisure."

Most of the people who came were fellow villagers, many of whom worked in Li Yi's family, and most of them were managers. Even though they were on holiday now, they still came to pay their respects and say hello on the morning of New Year's Eve, hoping to continue working for the Li family next year.

Some of them borrowed money and food from the Li family.
Some people's debts haven't matured yet, but they still have to come and ask about it and explain things at the end of the year.

There are also cases where debts are not paid off by the due date or where one is unable to repay, and this must also be explained.

Li Yi is a good person. Before the New Year, he only asked the managers to go door to door to ask about the debts, and did not ask for repayment too much.

There is a saying in the countryside that if you want to collect debts on New Year’s Eve, you won’t come to your house on New Year’s Day.

Many creditors, as the year draws to a close, press for debts more intensively, sometimes even using violence to collect debts. Some even take away livestock, belongings, and even wives and daughters to pay off debts on New Year's Eve.
Therefore, some people who are in debt start hiding at the end of the year.

But Li Yi would not allow his family to do so.
After the Little New Year, he stopped asking for debts and said he would talk about it after the 15th day of the lunar year.

Whether you have money or not, just celebrate the New Year first.

If he doesn't have the money to pay back, no matter how urgent the debt is, it's useless. He can't really use other people's wives and daughters to pay off the debt.

Li Yi is kind and righteous, and his fellow villagers are grateful to him.

Before the New Year, everyone came to visit Li Yi to greet him, and paid back as much as they could, and if they couldn't pay back, they would explain the reason.

"I understand everyone's difficulties. Everyone has difficulties. I believe that difficulties are temporary and will be resolved soon." Li Yi is very generous.

Anyway, he doesn't make money by lending money and collecting interest.

He did not care about the little money and grain borrowed by his fellow villagers. He had already made a rule for lending money: to help in emergencies but not to help the poor. If there were any fellow villagers who were in urgent need, he would lend money to help them.
The interest rate isn't very high, limited to six months, at 40%. If you can't repay by the due date, the interest won't compound. At most, the interest will be double the principal, and then it will stop. After 25 months, a debt is completely settled, and no more interest will accrue.

Of course, if the old debts are not repaid, new debts will not be borrowed in the future.

Some people brought gifts, although they were just worthless things, such as willow baskets or bamboo baskets woven by themselves, or a load of firewood, or a basket of radishes and cabbages, or two bundles of straw.
Greet each one of them,
Everyone was very happy to be able to talk to Li Yi, especially those who still owed Li Yi money and food. When they heard Li Yi say there was no rush, they felt relieved.

Dealing with wave after wave of people,
The wind and snow outside were getting stronger and stronger, but the villagers didn't stop coming.

Almost every household in the village came to visit, and many people from other villages in the village, and even from other villages, also came to visit specially.

The girl in the kitchen never stopped boiling water.

The girl who served tea and water made pot after pot of tea.
Various fruits, nuts, etc. were also served many times.

Although Li Yi felt that such social gatherings were a bit noisy, he also felt that they were full of human touch.

noon,

Cook the pimple soup and drink it.
Many fellow villagers voluntarily declined the invitation to dinner and went home. Only some managers, such as Guo Erlang and Feng Xiangzuo, stayed.

After a simple lunch and a cup of tea, Li Yi said goodbye to everyone.

He had to go back to Chang'an.

Tonight is New Year's Eve, and he can't stay home to celebrate the New Year.
The emperor will hold a banquet in the palace tonight and invite some princes, ministers, nobles and close attendants to attend the banquet and stay up together to celebrate the New Year.

Li Yi was among the invited guests.

Being invited to attend the palace banquet to celebrate the New Year is a rare honor. Moreover, there will be a grand court meeting tomorrow, New Year's Day, and Li Yi must also attend.

Before leaving,

Li Yi personally hung new peach charms for Wuji Fort.

The names of the two door gods, Shentu and Yulei, are carved on the peach wood board. The two door gods of later generations, Qin Shubao and Yuchi Gong, have not yet taken up their posts. One is now serving as General Longxiang under Wang Shichong in Luoyang, and the other is a general under Liu Wuzhou in Daibei.

Looking at the two door gods carved from mahogany hanging up,
Li Yi always felt that something was missing.

Couplets. The Tang people did not have the custom of pasting couplets, so he decided to post Spring Festival couplets and the word "Fu".

There is red paper at home.

Li Yi took out the red paper, folded and cut it.

Grind ink,

"What is Lang going to do?"

"Write Spring Festival couplets."

"What are Spring Festival couplets?"

Du Shiniang and Ji Lingyi came over.
"Spring Festival couplets are the art of parallelism and rhyme, and they are also blessings for the Spring Festival. They should be festive and auspicious, and more importantly, they should be well-balanced and echo each other." "I've never seen that before."

“I’ve never heard of it.”

The wives and concubines were chattering.

Li Yi wrote with ink.

"New Year brings more blessings,"

"Jiajiehao Changchun."

Horizontal banner: Peace and prosperity for the country and the people.

Li Yi's thin body, as sharp as iron and silver, was written on festive red paper.

"If you stick this long strip on both sides of the door, it becomes a Spring Festival couplet, and if you stick the four-character scroll on the lintel, it becomes a horizontal scroll."

Li Yi then wrote two more characters for "Fu".
"These two characters for blessing are posted on the two doors."

Li Yi then wrote a long couplet on the gate of Wuji Fort.

"As the years go by, people grow older, spring fills the world with blessings."

The horizontal banner reads "Auspicious star shines brightly".

"This is posted on the fort gate,"

Li Yi wrote more and more fluently. He posted the first five-character couplet on the inner gate of the main courtyard, and then wrote another one on the outer gate. "Happy to live in a treasured land for a thousand years, blessings shine on the family and everything will be prosperous. The horizontal banner reads: happiness, longevity, health and peace."

"Alang is really talented. The couplets he wrote are well-balanced and rhyme perfectly."

"This calligraphy is also good, Alang, it needs to be signed and stamped."

"Do you want to keep it attached?"

Facing the questions from his wives and concubines, Li Yi answered as he wrote, "Spring Festival couplets are posted during the New Year. They are posted on New Year's Eve and can be taken down after the Lantern Festival on the 15th."

"Then they must be signed and sealed. These are all treasures. After the New Year, take them down and frame them for collection."

There were many gates in the house, so Li Yi finally wrote Spring Festival couplets and blessing characters on the gates of the Big and Small Wuji Forts, the three gates of the Big Wuji Fort, the inner gate of the main courtyard, and the gate of the main room in the inner courtyard.
He doesn't have that much time to write about every door.

Fortunately, he was not the only one in the family who could write, so Du Shiniang called the accountant Du Ping'an, the housekeeper Fu'an and others, and asked them to learn how to write Spring Festival couplets and the word "Fu" by Li Yi, and write Spring Festival couplets, horizontal banners and the word "Fu" on every door.

Accountant Du, who has been memorizing abacus formulas every day lately, stroked his goatee and said, "These red spring couplets are so festive, and the sentences are so auspicious. Wuji Fort will have these spring couplets with the word 'Fu' on them this year, and next year will be prosperous."

Liu Heizi, Luo San and others helped to put up the Spring Festival couplets.

I also feel particularly festive.

When they have free time, they often go to the school to listen to lessons. Now they know a lot of words, and the more they read, the happier they feel.

They all asked Li Yi to give them a pair of Spring Festival couplets.

Li Yi was reluctant to refuse these trusted elders, so he picked up his pen and wrote a pair of Spring Festival couplets for each of them for the main gate. As for the couplets for other gates, he gave them red paper and asked them to write them themselves, or asked Steward Du and others to do it for them.

"I really have to leave. It's snowing heavily today, so it will take a while to get here."

"I'll take Alang there." Liu Heizi, Luo San and the others wanted to send him there.

"It's New Year's Eve, you should stay home to reunite with your family. I've brought my servants with me."

Li Yi originally wanted Shi Niang and Ji and Jin to stay here for the New Year to save them from traveling back and forth, but they refused.
"Alang celebrates the New Year in Chang'an, so we must also celebrate the New Year in Chang'an. It will be a lively New Year for the whole family."

In the snow,
He took his wife, a concubine and a maid, got on a carriage and returned to Chang'an accompanied by a group of servants.

Li Yi actually wanted to spend the New Year in the countryside.

Forty miles,

It took a lot longer than usual.

After returning to Chang'an, Li Yi went to the bathroom at home to take a bath. Shi Niang said that she wanted Shu Ying to give him a bath. Li Yi knew what she was thinking.
She had always wanted Li Yi to take Shuying's room and give this maid who grew up with her a status, even if it was just a concubine.

It's much better than being a maid.

"It's getting late. Just wash up. We have to go to the palace."

"You need someone to rub your back, so let Shuying do it."

Li Yi felt that he was being corrupted bit by bit.

The sugar-coated bullet was really hard to resist. Although Shuying was sharp-tongued, she was indeed very beautiful. She grew up with Shi Niang and had learned music, chess, calligraphy and painting. She had never lacked nutrition. In terms of figure, she was even better than Jin Yusu, the Silla maid.

"My dear, Shuying has been with me since she was a child, and we are as close as sisters. I have also asked her, and she is willing to serve me. She will be my concubine first, and when we have a child, I will give her a status..."

Li Yi said, "Although Shuying is a maid born in the Du family and is your dowry maid, I also know that you have a good relationship. I don't want to force her. We can let her go and become a good woman. With her looks and talents, even if she marries a minor official as his wife, it won't be a problem. It's better than being a concubine, right?"

Shi Niang took Li Yi's hand and said, "Actually, given Shuying's background, it would be difficult for her to marry an official, or even the son of an official. And if she were to marry a minor official or a commoner, it wouldn't necessarily be better than being Alang's concubine. After all, Alang has such good character."

"Am I just a good person, but not handsome enough?" Li Yi said jokingly.

"My husband is as handsome as Pan An."

"Okay, I'm going to take a shower first. It's getting late."

When Li Yi was halfway through washing, Shuying came.

Blushing face,
"Have you figured it out?"

"Hmm," she murmured.

The beauty scrubbing his body made Li Yi a little distracted. In a hurry, Li Yi had to restrain himself, and hurriedly finished washing, changed clothes and hurried out.

His appearance made Shuying, who was extremely nervous, smile and feel relaxed.

"I'll come back and deal with you, you little bastard." Li Yi scolded with a smile.

"Hmph, I'm waiting for Alang." Shuying became sharp-tongued again.

(End of this chapter)