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

Chapter 273 Bamboo Paper
Moved to a new house.

It occupies a corner of the northwest of Shengyefang, with a house, garden, and polo field, totaling 72 acres. It was the residence of Yu Shiji, a powerful official of the previous dynasty, and every aspect of it satisfied Li Yi.

After a simple packing, the family officially moved in while Li Yi was back in Beijing.

The day before, Li Yi went to the ancestral temple in Yonglefang in the south of the city to worship his ancestors and informed them of the relocation matters according to custom.

This ten-acre ancestral temple, built by imperial decree, was quite imposing. Its structure was essentially that of an ancestral hall, though at the time, there were no clan ancestral halls. It adopted the house-hall system and was arranged much like a residence, with the main hall serving as the main hall and the east and west wing rooms as auxiliary halls.

There are three temples enshrined inside, namely the ancestor Li Chong, the Zhao Li Yuantong, and the Mu Li Xiaoan.

I specially brought pig heads and sheep heads as sacrifices to these people,

The ancestral temple, covering an area of ten acres, was actually quite grand. Shi Niang specially arranged for two families of servants to guard and clean the house.

Li Yi also specially allocated 3,000 acres of land to the ancestral temple as sacrificial land.

This is equivalent to setting up a trust fund for the descendants in advance. The rent of the three thousand acres of land will mainly be used for the expenses of future family temple sacrificial activities.
The sacrificial fields have their own special features. Even if Li Yi commits a crime in the future, or even if his property is searched, the sacrificial fields will not be confiscated by the government. This is actually equivalent to leaving an insurance policy. In case his descendants are not good, there will still be some foundation.

The income from sacrificial fields can also be used to build private schools within the clan in the future, to subsidize the education of clan children, to provide relief to the orphans and widows, or to subsidize clan members' marriages.

These three thousand acres of land are listed under the family temple, which is similar to the Wuji Society. The income can be used to continue buying land and making profits.

Make a contract and report to the officials, and you are not allowed to pawn it.

When Li Yi purchased these 3,000 acres of sacrificial land, he had already set a rule that his descendants were not allowed to mortgage these 3,000 acres of land.

the next morning,
It was an auspicious day, and we chose the hour of Chen, when the dragon and snake were moving on the water day, to officially move.

Clean the room before entering.

Sprinkle glutinous rice and salt in the corners of the wall, drill wood to make fire in the lobby, and light a brazier to drive away the unclean air. Li Yi is quite experienced and uses elm wood to make a new fire.

This time was much smoother than the first time we made fire by drilling wood in the straw shed.

After rubbing it for a while, smoke came out. I quickly blew it to light the fire, and the elm and willow branches started a blazing fire.

After doing these,

Li Yi returned to the old house and the family began to move.

Knowing that Li Yi was moving, Liu Heizi, Luo Dafu and others naturally came to help. Even Li Dejiang, Qiu Shenyan, Zhao Yongan, Ji Sigong, Wu Junya and others naturally came as well.

"In less than a year, Wuyi has moved his house several times. The house gets bigger and bigger, and it becomes more and more prosperous!" Liu Heizi sighed.

Last summer, we moved to the rice fields on the south bank of the Hehe River and built a simple straw shed by the canal to live in.

Not long after that, he rebuilt Wuji Thatched Cottage and moved in.

Later, he went to Beijing and bought this eight-acre house in Pingkangfang.
After the Qiang Rebellion, the emperor ordered the reconstruction of Wujiyuan and added a high fortress wall. Wuji Thatched Cottage became Wuji Fort.
And Li Yi in this spring,

They moved from their house in Pingkangfang to a mansion covering 72 acres in Shengyefang.

This mansion occupies a corner of the neighborhood and cost seven million yuan. When Liu Heizi heard this number, he felt a little breathless and couldn't even count it.

What's more, Li Yi has more than just these two houses in Chang'an. He also has a large house of 17 acres in Wubenfang, and seven houses in Huaiyuanfang and other blocks, not to mention the one under Du Shiniang's name.

Even Madam Ji has her own small courtyard in Chang'an City.

With so many houses in Chang'an, how can this family live there?

Du Shiniang handed him a red cloth bag containing five copper coins and five eggs, which were to be kept in the old house.

"Leave wealth and blessings behind."

"Leave wealth and blessings." The wives and concubines said together.

After moving to the new house, this place will become a separate courtyard and someone will stay to look after it. I have no plans to sell it for the time being.

"The auspicious time has come!"

Qiu Shenyan laughed and shouted. This young master of the Qiu family has now become Li Yi's loyal younger brother. He has recognized Li Yi as his elder brother, even though Li Yi is much younger than him.
The Qiu family has many male members, so even if he is the eldest son, it is of no use. His grandfather is still the prefect of Jiaozhi and is a subordinate of Xiao Xin of Jiangling.

His father was the Duke of Meicheng County and General of the Left Guard, but his father's title would be inherited by his elder brother Qiu Yingqi in the future.

Following Li Yi wasn't bad either. When he first met Li Yi, Li Yi was the village chief and he was the team leader. Now Li Yi was the Silver and Green Guanglu Doctor and the Duke of Qianshui County, and Qiu Shenyan had become a captain of the Cavalry Mansion, a seventh-rank official.

This speed of promotion has already surpassed his elder brother.

Li Yi smiled and picked up the rice bucket that was eight-tenths full.

Du Shiniang held an iron cauldron with two carp in it, while the concubine Lingyi held a forged iron pot with a small bag of black pepper. The concubine Jin Yushu held a wooden steamer for steaming rice, the concubine Luo Sanniang held a griddle for making pancakes, and the concubine Shuying held a rice spoon and a spatula.

The Tang people were relatively pragmatic, and their moving customs also focused on ensuring they had enough food and clothing and had surplus every year.

Don’t move into the house empty-handed.
Therefore, all the friends and subordinates who came to help either carried rice or oil, or brought chickens and ducks into the red house. Each of them also brought a red envelope filled with money, which symbolized wealth and prosperity.

Enter the door.

The housewife Du Shiniang picked up a new broom tied with red cloth and swept the house herself, which was called "getting rid of the bad luck and welcoming the new year". The concubines placed the bamboos prepared in advance on both sides of the door, which was called "step by step promotion".

Li Yi took the lead in worshiping the house god of the new house, while Du Shiniang offered yellow paper facing the direction of the land god, and then the couple walked around the house holding incense sticks.

It took a long time to walk around the nearly 40,000 square meter mansion.

Everyone marveled at the luxury of Li Yi’s mansion.

After all, Chang'an City was built during the Sui Dynasty, and it had been several decades since then. Although high-ranking officials in the capital could be granted residential land, there wasn't much vacant land in Chang'an City today, especially in the East and West Districts. Unless one was willing to live in the south of the city.

Generally, a fifth-rank official can have a residential plot of about ten acres, and a fourth-rank official's residence is about fifteen or sixteen acres.

A third-rank official's residence could occupy one-sixteenth of a ward, the small area divided by the large and small cross streets. A first- or second-rank official could often occupy one-eighth or even one-quarter of a ward.

Li Yi now occupies the northwest corner of one sixteenth of Shengyefang.

But Shengyefang is much larger than the other fangs in the south of the city. This corner of it has a total of 72 acres of land, which is something that many third-rank officials today may not be able to obtain. After all, it not only occupies a large area, but also has a good location.

It is close to the imperial city and next to the East Market.

Generally speaking, nowadays, a third-rank official, such as a general, a minister, or one of the nine ministers, would be lucky to have a house of thirty or forty acres, not to mention the several districts where nobles and princes gather.

Li Yi's mansion is really enviable.

However, the reason why this house was sold cheaply to Li Yi was not that others could not afford it. Seven million coins was expensive but not that expensive. It was just that if one did not reach the third rank, one would not be qualified to live in such a big house. And dividing and selling it would inevitably destroy the value of such a luxurious house that Yu Shiji had spent so much effort to build and decorate.

"That polo field is really nice, as smooth as a shaved stone. I heard that the ground was compacted with glutinous rice paste. It also has stone stands and viewing pavilions, as well as complete stables, drinking pools, and changing rooms." When talking about these places, Li Dejiang, Qiu Shenyan and other noble children were very excited.

The sons of generals in the Sui and Tang dynasties were all good at riding and shooting, and they also liked polo, a noble sport.
The polo field at Li Yixin's home is very large, covering an area of nearly 10,000 square meters. One can ride horses to his heart's content. It is also fully equipped with stands, stables, etc. Such a large field is rare in Chang'an City.

The ancestral home of Li Dejiang's family in Pingkangfang is located in the southeast corner of the block, occupying one-eighth of the block and owning more than 80 acres of land. However, the polo field of Li Dejiang's family is not so large and luxurious.

"I will definitely come here to play ball in the future."

Li Yi welcomed him with a smile.

Li Dejiang and his friends said with a smile that they wanted to form a polo team.

The top princes and nobles in Chang'an not only like to play polo, but also have polo teams. The teams of the princes and nobles compete with each other.

Li Yi can't play polo, mainly because his riding skills are too average. Polo is a relatively fierce competitive sport. Those noble children are not the empty-headed young men in later generations who are powerless. Nowadays, most of the noble children, especially those in Chang'an, are good at riding and shooting.

Even the children of the so-called noble families, such as the Five Surnames and Seven Families, were not weak scholars. They were all good at riding, shooting and fencing.

These guys play polo so aggressively,
In this era, even women of the nobility liked to play polo, but they rode ponies, mules, or donkeys, so the competition was not as fierce.

When you move into a new house, you naturally need to warm up the house and the pot.

Those who are familiar with Li Yi know that the food in the Li family is delicious, and it is completely different from the food in ordinary aristocratic families.

Spring bamboo shoots in season are indispensable, including braised spring bamboo shoots in oil, stir-fried spring bamboo shoots with bacon, pickled bamboo shoots with preserved vegetables, spring bamboo shoots and chicken pot, and double bamboo shoots and shrimp.

Li Yi can easily prepare a banquet consisting entirely of bamboo shoots.

"I never thought bamboo shoots could be prepared in so many ways. This dish is called Yan Du Xian (preserved bamboo shoots with preserved vegetables)? Fresh spare ribs, pickled bacon, tripe, spring bamboo shoots, and lettuce are all cooked together into a soup. The soup is surprisingly thick and savory."

"Yeah, it looks like a random stew, but the meat is crispy and fat, and the bamboo shoots are fragrant and crispy. It's a delicious dish."

Fresh broad beans in season are also delicious when grilled.

Li Yi pointed at the bamboo shoot dishes on the table and said, "I have tens of thousands of refugees under my command now, which is a headache. Although they have been organized into villages to reclaim wasteland, it will take several months before we can harvest. It is not a problem to rely solely on the imperial court to allocate grain.

It is said that you can live off the mountain. In Zhouzhi County, the most famous place is Sizhu Garden, which has bamboo forests covering hundreds of miles and tens of thousands of acres. There is nothing else in Weichuan that has the most bamboo.

Now that spring bamboo shoots have sprouted, I'm thinking of organizing some people to dig them up and send them to Chang'an. We can pay tribute to the imperial court with some, and sell the rest in the two markets."

Selling bamboo shoots for rice,

You can't just sit and wait, you have to find a way yourself.

Not only bamboo shoots can be dug and sold, there are also many wild vegetables in spring, such as toon, elm seeds, and shepherd's purse, which can also be picked and sold. The more you can sell, the better.

"These bamboo shoots are indeed very fresh, you can give it a try." Qiu Shenyan supported.

In later generations, the bamboo sea no longer existed in Zhouzhi County. It was turned into grain fields in the Weichuan Plain and kiwi fruit was grown extensively. However, now, the ten thousand mu bamboo garden is still quite spectacular.

This is the first bamboo planted by King Mu of Zhou, according to legend, and it has stood for thousands of years.

In such a large bamboo garden, just making bamboo mats and baskets and digging spring bamboo shoots has not fully tapped the potential of bamboo. Bamboo can also be used to make paper.

Bamboo paper is made from young bamboo, also known as rough-edged paper. It has the advantages of slender fibers, smoothness and flexibility. The best quality ones can even be as famous as Xuan paper. Bamboo paper itself was first made in the Tang Dynasty and became popular in the Song Dynasty.

Paper was still very expensive in the Tang Dynasty. The various hemp papers and parchment papers of the north were beyond the reach of ordinary people. Guarding a bamboo garden of 10,000 mu, if young bamboo could be used to make bamboo paper in addition to traditional bamboo products, it would unlock even greater potential.

Now there are tens of thousands of acres of bamboo forests and countless refugees with cheap labor, so the conditions are ripe for setting up a bamboo paper workshop.

If this is done, it will help the refugees from Nanshan and even the people of Zhouzhi make money.

But Li Yi was still thinking about one question.
If the bamboo paper workshop was government-run, he would definitely be reluctant to do so. But if Li Yi ran it himself, it would be very complicated.
Papermaking is firmly controlled by the aristocratic families.
He felt that if he wanted to do it, he might be able to bring along friends like Wu Jun, Ya Qiu Shen Yan, Li Dejiang, and Ji Sigong, as they also represented several nobles.

Wu Junya is the son of Wu Shiling, and the Wu family is now the new elite in the court.

Li Dejiang is the son of Li Jing. The Li family is the Li Danyang branch of Longxi, an old Guanlong family.

The families of Qiu Shenyan and Ji Sigong were also nobles with military merits in Guanlong.

If they are not enough, then you can consider calling the brothers Li Boyi and Li Fengci, who are genuine members of the royal family and nephews of Emperor Li Yuan. You can also call Prince Yi'an Li Xiaochang, after all, he is now his nominal uncle.

With so many powerful partners, Li Yi believes that he won’t have to worry about others snatching over the bamboo paper industry.

(End of this chapter)