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

Chapter 4: The Bride
Although the straw shed is simple, it is also a new home.

Luo San specially taught Li Yi some rituals,
First worship the four corners to greet the land god, then go into the house to call people and go into the temple to worship the gods.

Then he brought a bucket of water and placed it in the straw shed. Mountains control population and water controls wealth, which is called prosperity.

Then he scattered a handful of old soil from Wuji Temple on the new house, saying that it could cure water and soil indigestion.

The last step of the ceremony is to light the fire.

Luo San gave Li Yi a piece of jujube wood and asked him to drill it to make fire.

Li Yi was quite surprised to hold the jujube wood. He thought Luo San was so poor that he didn't even have a flint to make fire, but he didn't know that was not the case.

This is a traditional custom.

In the Tang Dynasty, before Qingming Festival, there was the Cold Food Festival, when people would extinguish old fires at home and eat cold food. The next day was Qingming Festival, when people would drill flint to rekindle fires and relight the fire.

Whenever they moved to a new house, they would extinguish the fire in the old house and then drill a flint to make fire in the new house.

Different woods need to be drilled to make fire in different seasons. In spring, fire is made from elm and willow trees; in summer, fire is made from jujube and apricot trees; in late summer, fire is made from mulberry and jujube trees; in autumn, fire is made from oak and ash trees; and in winter, fire is made from locust and sandalwood trees.

The wealthy and powerful families would change their fire five times a year.

Every year after Qingming Festival, the emperor would give new fire to his ministers as a sign of special favor.

It's difficult to make fire by drilling wood.
The concubines and palace maids of the Northern Qi Dynasty once put sulfur on wooden sticks and used flint to ignite the Yin fire into Yang fire.

Li Yi didn't have this kind of matches, and he couldn't take out a lighter in public, so he could only sharpen a wooden stick and rub it with his palm.

His palms were almost smoking from rubbing.

Under Luo San's guidance, he put in a lot of effort and finally rubbed it until it started to smoke.

A new fire of jujube wood is kindled on the straw,

Li Yi breathed a sigh of relief and quickly added straw and branches. After the fire stabilized, he put up a clay pot to boil water and started cooking.

Two carps, one stewed and one fried.

The fish is scaled and gills removed, tendons removed, belly cut open, viscera removed, and chopped into strips. The process is expertly executed. Water is boiled in a black pottery, and lard and a handful of scallions are added before the fish is stewed.

Turn around and clean the other fish, cut it into pieces, and marinate it with salt and green onions.

The fish was cooked after being stewed for about twenty minutes. Li Yi secretly added some chicken essence and fine salt while they were not paying attention, as well as some vinegar and sugar. Finally, he added some oyster sauce and sprinkled some tender green onions on it.

Use another casserole, scoop a spoonful of lard into it, and fry the marinated carp pieces slowly over low heat.

"Wow, it smells so good."

Shitou and Gousheng, brothers who were chatting outside under the poplar tree, had very sharp noses and followed the scent to the fire pit without fear of the heat.

"Why does this fish smell so good?"

Gousheng was a little bit unbelievable. Luojiabao was right next to the He River. There were all kinds of fish in the river, and in the rice fields and canals on both sides, there were also all kinds of fish, loaches, toads, etc. People often got some fish and shrimp to eat, but few people, from adults to children, liked to eat fish and shrimp.
Fish and shrimp have many bones and are fishy, and they are not filling.

In fact, to put it bluntly, fish must be cooked with oil for it to be delicious. Whether it is fried, boiled or deep-fried, it must contain oil and salt. Too little is not enough. It is best to add onions, ginger and garlic to remove the fishy smell. However, fish and shrimp themselves lack fat, so they are not full.

But poor families generally lack oil and salt, so the fish and shrimp they get are just stewed in a pot, and even the onions, ginger and garlic are not prepared properly. How can the food taste good?

Li Yi added a lot of ingredients to the fish today. For example, the fried fish pieces were fried in a casserole, so he used a lot of lard. If he used less, the fish would stick to the pan. He also secretly added secret seasonings when marinating the fish.

"It's made with lard." Li Yi smiled and fooled the two boys.

I cooked a pot of millet rice and then cooked some water spinach. This thing is the familiar water spinach. I didn’t expect it to have existed in the Tang Dynasty.

Let’s have some wild vegetable soup, three dishes and one soup.

Li Yi's new home didn't even have a table, so he placed the vegetables under the shade of the trees outside the shed, and everyone got some leaves to sit on the ground.

Guo Erlang was also surprised when he saw the three dishes and one soup that Li Yi served him. They looked simple, but why did they smell so good?

"Today I am offering you this flower, I hope Second Uncle won't despise it."

Luo San sat on the side to keep them company, while his three children brought bowls and chopsticks from home, filled them with millet rice and some dishes, and ate while standing on the side.

"Be careful with the fish bones and eat slowly." Li Yi reminded.

Carp has many bones and a strong earthy smell, but the bottoms of the Hehe and Fuhe rivers are both gravel and sandy, so this fish is not too fishy. After being seasoned with Li Yi's secret recipe, even Guo Erlang, a landlord who owns hundreds of acres of land, praised the fish.

“I never thought carp would be so delicious whether stewed or fried. It’s amazing.”

The three kids over there had no manners at all when eating, and Gousheng even had fish bones stuck in his throat twice.

The wild vegetable soup was also quite delicious. Li Yi secretly sprinkled the remaining seasoning packet from the instant noodles he had eaten yesterday into it. This was the seasoning packet for bone soup, and the taste was even more delicious.

The taste buds of the village chief and others were repeatedly shocked, unprecedentedly.

Li Yi cooked four liters of millet,
One liter of rice produces two liters of cooked rice, which fills a large earthenware pot.

Li Yi originally thought that two bowls of rice would be enough for him, but he couldn't stop eating. He ate five bowls of rice and drank two bowls of soup.

He is a complete glutton.

A landlord like Guo Cunzheng also ate five bowls of rice and drank two bowls of soup.

Luo San also ate five bowls of rice and drank three bowls of soup, but it was obvious that he only ate half full before putting down the bowl.
There are three kids, each with three bowls of rice and two bowls of soup.

Gousheng and Shitou even said that they were not full yet, and as a result, each of them was scolded by Luo San.

This little brat is really eating my father out of poverty.

Li Yi quickly understood that the main reason was that people of this era lacked oil and water, and coupled with a lot of physical labor, their appetites were large. They usually drank thin liquids for two meals a day, lacking oil and salt, and there were no side dishes or fruits.

The imperial court stipulated that all soldiers were to receive two liters of rice per day and six dou of rice per month. The standards for official households, foreign households, and miscellaneous households were the same, all receiving two liters of rice per day. The middle-class households received one liter and five he, and the small-class households received six he.

Li Yi's meal consisted of three small and three small dishes. The standard meal should have been three liters and ninety percent full, but everyone was only seventy percent full.

"Don't bother," Village Chief Guo and Luo San both stopped Li Yi with a smile, "This dish is rich in oil and water, it will fill you up."

Luo San also said with satisfaction that he would eat sparingly.

Speaking of appetite, Guo Cunzheng said that his younger brother Guo Sanlang ate the most. He once ate three liters of rice in one meal. Not three liters of rice, but three liters of rice.

Luo San said that he could eat so much, but he had nothing to eat because the price of food was too high.

"We in Guanzhong are still relatively well off. Do you know what the situation is like in the Sanhe area of Guandong, especially Henan? A dou of rice costs a thousand coins, but there is nowhere to get it. There is even more famine in Luoyang City. A piece of silk is only worth three liters of millet, and a piece of cloth is only worth one liter of salt. Wang Shichong even used gold and silver to exchange for food with his enemy Li Mi, which is also a great wonder in the world." Village chief Guo said that the price of grain in Luoyang is five or six times higher than that in Chang'an.

Li Yi was not too surprised when he heard this. It was only the first year of Wude, and Wang Shichong had not yet proclaimed himself emperor. Later, the Tang army surrounded Luoyang, and a dou of rice was worth ten pieces of silk, and there was no demand for it.

Village Chief Guo looked at Li Yi's thatched hut.

"When Tian is invited down, life will be stable. Your house is just missing a woman."

"Wuyi, do you want a new wife? If you do, just ask and I'll send one to you."

Li Yi was stunned. He wasn't Cao Cao either. It was only after Guo Erlang explained that he finally understood that the "new wife" in Tang Dynasty usually refers to a bride, wife, or daughter-in-law. Guo Erlang was asking him if he wanted to get married.

Luo San said, "Yes, it's better to marry a wife as soon as possible. A woman at home can wash clothes and cook, and understand the needs of the family. How can a village chief find someone suitable?"

Village Chief Guo laughed and said, "Now Henan, Longyou, and Shuofang are full of hungry people fleeing to Guanzhong. Outside Chang'an, there are hungry people everywhere. One bushel of millet can be exchanged for a child, and three bushels of millet can be exchanged for a young girl.

Many women who have lost their husbands and have children are willing to live with a man as long as he can provide them with food."

"Wu Yi is young, has food in his house, and will soon be divided into lands. If he shouts in the refugee shacks outside Chang'an, countless people will rush over. Even if you, Luo San, go around and take a woman back."

Luo San's two previous wives were actually refugees brought back during the famine.

"Thank you for your kindness, Uncle, but I'm not in the mood for it right now." Li Yi quickly refused.

"Wu Yi, if you want to marry a local girl, it's not difficult at all. A few strings of cash are enough for the betrothal gifts," Village Chief Guo said, going around in circles before getting to the point. "I really like your little mithril pot. Why don't you just sell it to me? I won't let you down at all."

As for me, I really like it and would like to give you another ten taels of gold to buy it. You don’t have to return the one tael of gold, one and a half dan of rice, and one piece of silk that you previously pawned.”

"Don't be so quick to refuse. You've returned to secular life now. You can't live in this straw hut forever. When the land is divided, you need to repair the house, buy farm tools, and even better, buy a cow. You also need to marry a wife while you're still young and have children soon. All of these things require money."

Li Yi lowered his head, looking embarrassed.

Village Chief Guo gritted his teeth and said, "Ten taels of gold is enough for you to build a few new houses, marry a wife, buy farm tools and even buy another cow."

"Uncle, this is what my master left behind. I..."

"I'll give you another three-year-old cow, which is worth ten pieces of silk." Seeing that he was a little hesitant, Guo Erlang immediately gave you another cow.

Luo San was very excited when he heard this. Ten taels of gold, plus a cow, and he didn't have to pay back the money and grain he had borrowed before.

Once this pot is sold, the family business can be established immediately.

"Wuyi, you don't really treat me as your uncle." Guo Erlang saw that he was still hesitating and looked extremely heartbroken.

"Second Uncle, since you like it so much, I'll sell it to you," Li Yi said helplessly.

When Guo Erlang heard this, he immediately became excited and his face flushed. He was afraid that Li Yi would go back on his word, so he wanted to sign the contract immediately.

Ten taels of gold, plus a three-year-old female yellow cow, and the one tael of gold, one and a half stone of millet, and one piece of silk previously borrowed do not need to be repaid.

A small pot was worth nearly twelve taels of gold.

Village chief Guo also called several security chiefs from Luojiabao to come over and witness it together.

Sign the deed, sign, and stamp your fingerprints.

"After this agreement is made, neither party will regret it. If anyone regrets first, he will be fined twenty taels of gold and made to look like someone who doesn't regret. To prevent people from breaking their promises, we have ordered each party to personally sign this agreement to serve as proof for the future."

The deed was signed on April 21st of the Wuyin year.

Village Chief Guo not only signed a formal contract, but also set a very high penalty for breach of contract to prevent Li Yi from going back on his word.

He didn't know that Li Yi was actually very happy. He bought a snow pan for 99 yuan and sold it for more than ten taels of gold, as well as a cow. This was really a huge profit. Although he had said before that one tael of mithril was worth two taels of gold, he was very satisfied with the aluminum alloy being sold at the gold price.

Village Chief Guo looked at Li Yi's signature and the red handprints of the crowd on the contract, and solemnly put it in his arms with satisfaction, "Let's go to my house to get the money and buy cattle."

Several village chiefs in Luojiabao congratulated Li Yi one by one.

"Wuyi, if your master still has any good things left, you can sell them to your second uncle in the future. I will definitely give you a good price." Village Chief Guo said, taking his hand.

Li Yize was thinking that with ten taels of gold, he could consider hiring someone to repair the Wuji Temple. It would be better than living in this straw shed. He even thought about whether he should take advantage of the current low housing prices in Chang'an and settle down directly in Chang'an?

　Note: Regarding shi, dou, and sheng, the weight of one shi of various grains is different.

　　First of all, one liter in the Tang Dynasty is equivalent to 0.6 liters today.

　　Secondly, different grains have different bulk densities. Each grain has different fineness grades. For example, the bulk density standard for first-grade wheat is ≥710g/L, second-grade is ≥690g/L, third-grade is ≥670g/L, fourth-grade is ≥650g/L, and fifth-grade is ≥630g/L.

　　The rice includes brown japonica rice: 770 kg/cubic meter, brown indica rice: 750 kg/cubic meter, japonica rice: 800 kg/cubic meter, indica rice: 780 kg/cubic meter, and broken rice: 675 kg/cubic meter.

　　The rice is about 600 kg/cubic meter.

　　Millet ranges from 600-650 kg/m650, and millet ranges from 780- kg/m.
　　A dan of fine, high-quality japonica rice in the Tang Dynasty would weigh 48 kilograms, or about 80.4 Tang jins. A jin today is 500 liang, 596.82 grams, while a jin in the Tang Dynasty weighed liangs, grams.

　　However, the processing in ancient times was not so sophisticated. If calculated based on 750 kg/cubic meter, one stone is 45 kg, which is equivalent to about 75.4 Tangjin.

　　If the rice density is 600 kg/cubic meter, one stone is 72 catties, which is equivalent to about 60 Tang catties.

　　In the Tang Dynasty, one dou of rice was about 120 liang, about 4500 jin (Tang Dynasty), about 450 grams, and one liter was about liang (Tang Dynasty), about grams.

　　Xiaomi is slightly less.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)