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

Chapter 28: Bamboo Gate vs. Bamboo Gate

A hit.

Wujifang’s bean curd sheets and fermented tofu were sold out quickly, and word of mouth spread, with constant positive reviews.

In the west wing, the number of large frying pans for cooking soy milk and bean curd sheets has increased from one to ten. Sanniang's two sisters-in-law are each responsible for five pots and are busy all the time.

They are very skilled in peeling the soy milk skin.
Luo Er has now become the manager of the workshop. He excitedly told Li Yi, "We have too few pots. Now we have to get up before dawn to boil the pulp and peel the bean curd. One pot can make about 30 sheets, and it takes about two hours to finish. Ten pots can make more than two stone of beans a day, and can produce 60 kilograms of dried bean curd sheets..."

As long as the weather is good, the workshop's output can steadily reach 60 kilograms. On rainy days, it can only be baked, which wastes firewood and labor, but it can still guarantee 60 kilograms.

There is still a lot of room for improvement in production. By adding more manpower, the output can reach 80 to 90 kilograms a day.

Li Yi nodded as he looked at it.

This small workshop is now on the right track, and the output of bean curd sheets has increased. At the beginning, one pound of beans could only produce half a pound (eight ounces) of bean curd sheets, but now it can reach about nine ounces.

“There are still too few pots.”

Luo Er sighed, "The profit on yuba is so high. Selling it to Mati Temple for 360 coins per jin, after deducting the 120 coins he gave Hui Le as a kickback, there's still 240 coins left per jin. The beans that go into yuba cost only a little over 40 coins per jin, which is much more than what he made selling tofu before."

It's the production limit.

But Li Yi had already tried his best. He ordered nine frying pans at Feng's workshop in one go, and they also worked very hard to complete them.

Now ten pots are cooking non-stop, and every day the bamboo poles in Wuji Courtyard are filled with golden bean curd sheets.

He also bought a bigger stone mill and two donkeys to pull the mill, which was a considerable investment.

The whole house is filled with the aroma of beans.

After leaving the room where the bean curd skins were being peeled, we went to the next room where two large iron pots with seven seals were frying tofu. After the old tofu was dried, it was soaked in the prepared salt water for another quarter of an hour, and then dried before frying. This way it would be more resilient and less prone to breaking.

Fried tofu soaks very quickly, and three pots can be fried in half an hour.

"We can now make 20 taels of fried soybeans from one pound of dry beans, and one pound of fried soybeans requires five taels of oil."

The whole house here is filled with the aroma of oil, it smells very good.

The person in charge of frying fried tofu in this room is Luo Wu's wife. In addition to frying the tofu, she is also responsible for soaking beans, grinding soy milk, cooking the milk and making the braising sauce together with Luo Er's wife.

There are quite a few people in the entire workshop now.

There are five people in Luo Er's family, including the couple, two daughters-in-law and a daughter. Then there is Luo Wu's wife, Luo San's daughter Lanxiang, and Li Yi's maid Xiuzhi, making a total of eight formal employees.

The children of Gousheng, Shitou, Mensuan and other families also help with odd jobs in the workshop.

"We can't supply yuba anymore, and Mati Temple said they wanted more yesterday."

"For now, we can only supply 20 kilograms of dried bean curd sheets to Mati Temple every day, but we can provide more fried tofu."

There are still many restrictions on the production of bean curd sheets. First, the process of boiling the pulp and peeling it cannot be done quickly. It has to be cooked slowly with heat, and it takes several hours to pull a pot of bean curd sheets. Second, it needs weather to be dried in the sun. It is even more troublesome to bake it in bad weather.

We also need to build a large baking room as soon as possible.

There are not so many restrictions on soaking oil beans, but the price is there. Now the sales volume is dozens of kilograms a day, which is already very good.

Li Yi went to the East Wing to see the processing of salty fermented black beans.

This thing is also called pulled beans, and it has been produced since the Qin and Han Dynasties. Because it was produced in the natto room of a Buddhist temple and stored in jars and barrels, it was later spread to Japanese temples by monks, so the Japanese called it Donatto. Later, it flourished and developed into local natto specialties with local characteristics.

It is not difficult to make. The soybeans are first steamed, then wrapped in straw and fermented.

There is Bacillus subtilis, also known as Natto bacteria, on rice straw. As long as the rice straw is boiled in boiling water in advance to kill other bacteria, and then cultivated in a high temperature environment of about 40 degrees, Natto bacteria can quickly ferment the cooked soybeans to produce sticky filaments.
When eating, stir it, add some soy sauce, or mix it with some green onions and raw eggs. It has a unique flavor when eaten with rice.

Of course, people who are not used to it will think it is spoiled stinky beans.

It has a slightly stinky smell and a slightly sweet taste.

In fact, Li Yi missed water-fermented black beans more. It is made from fermented soybeans with salt, chopped pepper, chili powder, Sichuan pepper powder, and minced ginger. It is sour and spicy, and is perfect for stir-frying, porridge, or rice. Unfortunately, there were no chili peppers in the Tang Dynasty.

A room in the east wing is now a warehouse.

It is filled with soybeans and millet.

"Wuyi," Luo Sanniang called him from outside, "Master Huiliao of Mati Temple is here."

Fat Hui was wearing a bright red monk's robe and came in a horse-drawn carriage that was carrying a cart of grain.

"Half soybeans, half millet." Hui Liao smiled. "Donor Wuyi, twenty pounds of bean curd sheets a day isn't enough. We need to add more."

Hui Liao had mentioned increasing the supply of bean curd sheets several times, but Li Yi had not agreed. Today he came in person.

"Twenty kilograms of dried bean curd sheets a day should be enough for Mati Temple, right?"

"That's not enough. You don't know that bean curd sheets are now the most popular dish among donors in our Mati Temple's dining hall. Even the monks in the temple like it." Mati Temple now not only uses bean curd sheets to entertain donors who come to burn incense and make donations every day, but also regards it as a specialty gift of Mati Temple. Donors also give some when they leave.

Mati Temple also sends bean curd sheets and fermented soybeans to Sanjie Temple and other temples. Everyone who has eaten them says they are delicious. The demand for bean curd sheets, a specialty of Mati Temple, has increased greatly, and twenty kilograms a day is not enough to deliver.

"You have to give me at least 50 kilograms a day." Hui Liao Shizi asked for a big ask. He added several popular specialties to the Horse-Tied Temple, which was also a great honor for him. Moreover, he could also secretly take a kickback of 120 coins per kilogram, which gave him both face and money.

"I can increase the production of tofu skin to 50 kilograms, but making yuba is too difficult. To be honest, the entire workshop can't even produce 50 kilograms of yuba in a day right now."

"Then hurry up and make more," Hui Le knew very well that bean curd sheets were very profitable, and he was also willing to take more kickbacks.

"It's difficult. For this piece of bean curd, you need to soak the beans, grind the beans, boil the pulp, peel it, dry it in the sun, and bake it. Each process is extremely time-consuming. Just boiling the pulp and peeling the skin requires a pot of simmering and pulling for several hours. Drying and baking also depends on the weather..."

Hui Liao visited Li Yi's Wuji Courtyard, and finally forced Li Yi to increase the supply of bean curd sheets to 30 kilograms per day, fried tofu to 50 kilograms per day, and natto to 15 kilograms.

Just by selling bean curd and pickled beans, eight stone of grain can be sold in a day. Hui Le can get a kickback of 9,600 coins, and Li Yi can also get 19,200 coins of grain.

Because a lot of grain was being exchanged now, Li Yi also asked to settle the bill later, partly with soybeans, wheat, millet and rice, and partly with silk and money. Hui Le readily agreed.

"Donor Wuyi, please make more bean curd sheets. If you can provide me with 50 kilograms a day, you can earn more."

After Hui was sent away, the warehouse had more food. Luo Er looked at the food and sighed. He had been making tofu for most of his life, getting up early and going to the market and villages with a basket of tofu on his shoulder. As a result, the profit was small and he could only make a living.

Li Yi makes so much money by making tofu.

Sanniang has been very busy recently. Her breakfast stall at the bridgehead is very popular. She not only sells soy milk and soy bean curd, but also millet porridge and tofu. She also sells bean curd sheets, bean curd foam, natto, etc. to passing merchants. Although the stall looks inconspicuous, it makes quite good profits.

The plan for the Qiaotou service area that Li Yi had originally mentioned is being implemented step by step. Clean and sanitary public toilets have been built, and the temporary stalls have been turned into several straw sheds, so even if it rains, it will not affect the stalls.

She even hired two aunties from the village to help with her stall.

Now, the four households under Li Yi's protection, including Luo Er, Luo San and Luo Wu, have all increased their income significantly.

After Luo San and Luo Wu went out to work, life at home became better.

The workshop provides two meals a day for the regular workers, and one meal for the two temporary workers who work half a day at the bridgehead stall, and the wages are not bad.

Luo Er and Sanniang were managers, and their monthly salary was one dan of grain. Other regular workers were paid seven dan of grain a month, and temporary workers were paid three dan a month.

Even with this salary, Luo Er and the others felt it was too much.

After all, they work in the workshop and can also take care of the fields at home. For a strong laborer, ten or twelve stone of grain a year is the maximum he can produce.

Li Yi felt that the wages were too low, but he wanted to give them more but they refused to ask for more.

The villagers have seen the recent prosperity of the workshop, but there is not much jealousy. However, there are many people who come to borrow money or want to work.

Since everyone was really in trouble, Li Yi didn't refuse.

However, he did not simply lend them money and grain. Instead, he changed the model. When people came to borrow money and grain in difficulty, Li Yi asked them to help manage the fields, pay them by the day, and use the wages to offset the borrowed money and grain.

If the fields need weeding and tilling, Luo Er will be asked to help arrange it, giving priority to the more needy families in the village.

Sometimes the workshop is very busy and we will ask a few villagers to help.
The villagers were very grateful for this, and the villagers of Luojiabao also increased their income.

Li Yi's income has increased, his living conditions have improved, and his living standards have improved significantly. If the villagers catch fish, trap rabbits, or catch voles or frogs, they will bring them to Li Yi, and he will buy them and add some meat to the workshop.

As long as there is a full granary of food at home, there is no need to worry.

He also prepared to hire a carpenter to make doors and furniture, and a craftsman to dig a well in the yard.

"What did Guo Erlang do this morning?" Sanniang asked.

"Well, I'm running errands for the Du family. They want some yuba (bean curd skin) and salty fermented black beans. They want a lot, but we don't have any in stock."

Sanniang said with a hint of jealousy, "You're running errands for that Du Shiniang, aren't you? She's really nice. The daughter of the Jingzhao Du family, yet she's so caring towards you, sending people to buy things for you every now and then. I heard she even gave you a painting as a gift?"

Li Yi laughed, "The Du family is now a major customer of our workshop."

"You haven't mentioned the painting yet."

"Oh, Du Shiniang asked me for some calligraphy, so I gave her a painting in return. It's just a matter of reciprocity."

Sanniang gritted her teeth and said, "You have to think it through. She is the daughter of the famous Jingzhao Du family. Marriage should be based on equal status. A rich family matches a rich family, a poor family matches a poor family..."

Li Yi interrupted her, "I'm going to the Fengjiabao Blacksmith Shop to order a few more pots. Please consider hiring a few more people. Once the pots arrive, we'll add a few long-term regular workers. Priority will be given to those in our village who are in more difficult conditions and are diligent and efficient."

After saying that, Li Yi went out.

Li Yi had already seen through the yellow-haired girl's thoughts, but he didn't mean that.

With a house, land, and a profitable workshop, Li Yi has now established a firm foothold. As the village chief, he has even gained some reputation in Luojiabao, a village with only 19 households.

(End of this chapter)