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

Chapter 5 Taking risks

The purple-red cow is tied under the poplar tree outside the straw shed.
The two brothers Gousheng and Shitou were circling around the cow curiously, and Lanxiang had even cut some grass to feed the cow.

Luo Sante and the men of Luojiabao gathered around the cow and observed it, praising it highly.

"It has a square head and short horns, long shoulders and a large body, a straight back and waist, and strong limbs. It's a genuine Qinchuan cow. It's only three years old, can plow the land and pull carts, a good cow."

Luo Sanze smiled and said to Li Yi, "This cow is carrying a cub in her arms. It's been a few months."

Luo Er, the tofu seller, took a closer look and said, "It really is. Buy one, get one free."

Li Yi didn't know much about cows, but he thought this cow was quite strong. However, it looked a little strange, more like a beef cattle, not as handsome as ordinary oxen.

This cow's leg looks very short, strong and clumsy. Luo San said it weighs about 600 kilograms.

This cow is worth ten pieces of silk.

Li Yi asked his uncle and the others in confusion, "This cow weighs 600 kilograms. After skinning, deboning and removing impurities, it should yield 300 kilograms of pure meat, right? How can it be worth only 10 pieces of silk?"

With the current grain prices, ten pieces of silk can only buy one dan of rice? Three catties of beef is only worth one catty of rice?

Luo Er chuckled and said, "You kid, do you still dare to think about killing cattle and selling meat? I tell you, this is illegal.

This cow can indeed produce 300 kilograms of meat, but it cannot be slaughtered and no one dares to kill it, so it can only plow the fields and pull carts. Nowadays, there is turmoil and famine, and many people have abandoned the famine to escape the disaster. The food that can survive is the most valuable, so this field and cow are not so valuable.

Ten pieces of silk for a cow is a high price even in peaceful times, but it is strange when compared with the price of grain.

"We are all starving and can't survive. Why don't you dare kill the cattle for meat?" Li Yi asked.

Everyone laughed.

Those truly starving wouldn't have cattle; they'd be lucky to have some seeds. At that time, anyone with cattle was at least a landlord. Landlords were wealthy and powerful, so they wouldn't go so far as to kill cattle to satisfy their hunger, and therefore wouldn't risk breaking the law.

The imperial court law: Anyone who steals horses and cattle from the government and kills them will be sentenced to two and a half years in prison... Anyone who kills horses and cattle himself will be sentenced to one year in prison.

A mouthful of beef, two years in prison.

This is no joke. Killing your own horses and cattle will result in a one-year prison sentence.

There are people selling beef on the black market, but this is a criminal act as most cattle are stolen.

"If my cow falls and dies, can I kill it and sell the meat?"

"No, it has to be reported to the government. The government will send people to verify the facts. Even if the ox is old, sick, disabled, or dead and needs to be slaughtered, it must be slaughtered by a butcher designated by the government. The horns, hide, and tendons must be handed over, and the beef must also be purchased by a designated butcher."

That is why a cow is only worth one stone of rice now, but it can be sold for five or ten times the price on the black market.

Luo San reminded Li Yi, "This cow originally belonged to Guo Cunzheng's family and was registered with the government. I'm selling it to you now, but it's still on the list. If you sell it privately or slaughter it privately, you'll be held accountable."

"Such a good cow, if well cared for, can plow fifty mu of land, and it can even give birth to a calf this year. Calves under one year old don't need to be kept so strictly."

Slaughtering cattle is a serious crime, even as serious as minting counterfeit money and armed robbery. Like the ten evil crimes of plotting rebellion and being disobedient and unfilial, it cannot be pardoned even in a general amnesty.

Those who are not allowed to take office or redeem themselves through bribery, and those who commit crimes as lowly servants in public or private life, will first be sentenced to sixty strokes of the cane.

But in fact, it is possible to play a trick, that is, calves are not clearly prohibited from slaughtering, so some nobles and officials have their eyes on calves, saying that calves are not cows,
Dishes such as 'Water-Refined Calf', 'Soft Beef Intestines with Lamb Paste and Marrow', and 'Roasted Calf' were brought to our dining tables openly.

Nowadays, a dou of rice costs 360 coins, a pound of pork costs 150 coins, and a pound of mutton costs 200 coins. As for beef, it also costs 200 coins per pound on the black market and is sold secretly.

Li Yi's cow can be sold for 60,000 coins just for the beef, not including the hide, tendon, bones, etc.

This is really a huge profit, but most people really don't dare to do such a thing.

But pork at one hundred and fifty coins per pound is still quite astonishing.

A big goose sold for more than a thousand coins, a chicken or duck sold for six or seven hundred coins, an egg was six coins each, and a duck egg was eight coins each.

The worst coarse salt sells for more than 30 wen per pound, while better salt sells for 100 wen per pound.

Vegetable oils, such as sesame oil, hempseed oil, neem oil, rapeseed oil, and safflower oil, range in price from over 200 yuan per catty to around 100 yuan per catty, which is much more expensive than lard and mutton fat.

The prices right now are just crazy.

People like the Luo San family can't even afford salt, let alone oil. They have millet porridge twice a day, which is so thin that you can see your reflection in it, mixed with wild vegetables. They usually catch some fish, shrimp, snails and frogs and cook them together, which is considered meat.

But they are quite satisfied with their current life.
At least they don't have to leave their homes to escape famine. Fleeing famine is the real misery. When Luo San fled famine, his wife died of illness on the way, his eldest daughter was sold, and his youngest son starved to death. On the way, there were people starving to death everywhere. People were numb to that kind of despair.

evening,

Li Yi cooked another half bucket of millet and specially invited Luo San, several village heads, and several neighbors from the same group to have dinner together. They had also helped as witnesses before.

In the Tang Dynasty, four households formed a neighborhood, five households formed a group, one hundred households formed a village, and five miles formed a township.

In each natural village, the household and four surrounding households form a group, which has a group leader. The five households in this group are deeply bound together.

If a neighbor's fire breaks out, and you fail to report it when you should, or to help when you should, you will be punished. If a neighbor is robbed or murdered, and you fail to help when you report it, you will be punished with 100 strokes of the cane. If you cannot help, you must report it immediately. Failure to report will also be considered a failure to help. Failure to report when you should report will be punished with 60 strokes of the cane. If a neighbor needs to leave the county, they must go to the government office to register, and all the guarantors must sign a guarantee, and they will be jointly liable if anything goes wrong.

The most important one,
If someone in the bao escapes, the neighboring bao has the responsibility to track down and capture him. If they fail to track down and capture him within three years, the taxes and labor service for the person who abandoned his registered residence and fled will be borne by the neighboring bao.

This protection covers five households, and their interests are truly connected.

Distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors.

Dinner was simple. I cooked half a bucket of millet and made it into a drier porridge, which made about sixty or seventy bowls.

Then cook a big pot of water spinach, a pot of fish and shrimp soup, add some tofu dregs given by Liang San, the tofu seller, and mix with green onions and cook the whole pot.

They are all simple dishes, but Li Yi secretly added secret seasonings, such as fine salt, chicken essence, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, pepper, cooking wine, etc.

This little taste comes up as soon as you scratch it.

For the villagers who had been eating porridge with wild vegetables and a bland diet all day long, this meal almost made them cry.

Everyone was very impressed with this young man who had grown up in their eyes and returned to secular life after six years.
Everyone thinks that Li Yi is generous and easy to get along with.

Several villagers even took the initiative to propose marrying their daughters to Li Yi. For example, the old man Luo Er, who sold tofu, said that his daughter Sanniang was sixteen years old this year and was good at both housework and outdoor work. She was willing to marry Li Yi and did not ask for any dowry. Just a little payment of the yellow ox would be enough.

Li Yi declined them one by one, saying that he was not in the mood to think about these things at the moment.

Now that he had eleven taels of gold in his hand, Li Yi thought about it and decided that he should renovate Wuji Temple first. The east and west courtyards had been in disrepair for a long time, but the foundations were still there.

First, we need to repair the east courtyard, replace the roofs of the three main rooms, and reinforce the walls before we can live in them. The walls and beams of the side house need to be rebuilt.

But when he asked Luo Er and Luo San, they both said that he just needed to buy some wood, which was not valuable now. If he bought wood from an old house, it would be ready to use, which was cheap and did not need to be dried in the shade.

The rest of the labor costs are also cheap. To hire a craftsman, one bushel of millet a day is enough. For other skilled workers, half a bushel of millet a day is enough.

As for the remaining helpers, they asked the neighbors in the village for help and only provided them with one meal a day.

Repairing the east courtyard, three upper rooms, and three side rooms on the east and west sides are basically enough to meet living needs. The main expenses are wood, then the wages of the craftsmen, and the food for the masters and helpers.

There is no need to build north and south side houses and ear rooms for the time being, but you can consider digging a well.

In fact, Luo San felt that it would be better to just clean up the cliff slope, repair or dig a few more earth caves. If he had money, he could use stones to make door and window interfaces, which would be practical, economical, and more comfortable to live in.

Li Yi felt that the cave was not as comfortable as a house, especially since the cliff had just collapsed once, so he was a little worried.

The gold in hand is enough,
Li Yi decided to build a new house and stopped hesitating.

"Tomorrow, please ask Third Uncle to go with me to buy food. Second Uncle, you have been selling tofu in the market for many years and have many connections. Please help me ask about the wood."

The roof doesn't need tiles, and we can't afford them.

The roof is made of yellowback grass, which is more durable than ordinary thatch or straw.

"Yellow-back grass is the best for thatching. The stems of this grass are long and solid. It is not only strong and durable, but also saves rafters."

To repair the walls of the house, earth bricks are used, which is called Huji. This is more efficient than directly building rammed earth walls. The earth and mud are dug to make Huji, and after drying, the wall can be built just like brick laying.

Villagers like Luo Er and Luo San used to often help others build foundations, rammed earth walls, and thatch roofs. They are very familiar with these processes and even know which master craftsman has the best skills.

So Li Yi entrusted the task to two people separately. Luo Er helped to buy wood and yellow grass, and Luo San hired craftsmen to help build the Hu Ji.

Luo San shouted,
The remaining 18 households in Luojiabao, regardless of gender, age or status, were all willing to help with the work, as long as they were provided with one meal a day.

"One meal of millet porridge a day is enough. We, the neighbors, should help each other."

"That won't do. We have to take care of two meals a day, and they have to be dry food. I'll go to the market with my second uncle tomorrow and buy some vegetables." Li Yi also ordered a box of tofu from Luo San on the spot, even including the tofu dregs.

"Gousheng, Shitou, I'll ask you brothers to help me herd this cow from now on."

"Lanxiang, come and help me cook."

Li Yi invited the three children of the Luo family to work, and their reward was two meals a day.

The third wife of the Luo family came over and said, "Sister Lanxiang, how can you cook for so many people by yourself? I'll come and help."

The girl was tall, though a little too thin, with her dry, yellow hair tied into a knot that looked like a knife on her head. She was generous and enthusiastic, not bothered by Li Yi's rejection of her father's earlier proposal.

However, in Li Yi's eyes, Lanxiang was a little yellow-haired girl, and Sanniang was an older yellow-haired girl.

"Thanks,"

"We are all neighbors, there is no need to be polite." The girl smiled generously, revealing two dimples.

(End of this chapter)