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

Chapter 680 The Bearded Stranger's Good News

After dinner,
Du Shiniang announced in a very domineering manner that Ah Lang would be resting in her courtyard tonight.

After dinner, he played "Eagle Catches Chicks" with the children under the moonlight for a while, and then Du Shiniang came to urge him to rest early.

After taking a shower,
Du Shiniang couldn't wait to drag him off to study the origins of life.

Round one ended.
Li Yi remained calm and composed, while she was already flushed with a rosy glow.
She still remembered the little remedy and quickly took out a cushion. Today, she was using a new cushion specially embroidered with a chubby baby holding a golden carp.

"What's the name of the girl that Ah Lang and Mrs. Huo raised?"

"Little Jade".

"When can we bring them home to meet their family? We can also let their siblings visit each other more often in the future."

Li Yi, resting his head on his arm, couldn't help but ask curiously, "Aren't you angry?"

“What’s there to be angry about? There are plenty of capable men and women, especially a capable man like Ah Lang.”

"Neither Huo nor Li can be brought home; otherwise, I would have personally brought them home as concubines."

Du Shiniang, who came from a prestigious family, was well aware of the difference in social status.

She was Li Yi's principal wife, a status that no woman could threaten. The concubines in the household, such as Zheng Rou Niang, Ji Ling Yi, and Du Gu Shi, who were also from prestigious families, were not suitable, and naturally, the concubines like Luo San Niang and Du Shu Ying were even less so.

Women like Huo and Li were merely women from other households and posed no threat to her.

As for the children, whether they are adopted or biological, even if they agree to be recognized by their ancestors, they are at most illegitimate children.

She doesn't need to be angry with her husband over this.

Instead of getting angry about this, you should seize the opportunity to have a child yourself.

She must get pregnant during these precious three days.

"Actually, just let nature take its course. You don't need to be so anxious. If you don't get pregnant this month, there's always next month. I won't be leaving Beijing for the time being, so there will be plenty of opportunities."

"I want to get pregnant as soon as possible, and give birth as soon as possible. I also want to have a son first, because the title of Prince of Dai must be inherited by the eldest son."

The eldest son inherits not only the title but also the lineage.

Du Shiniang lay down in an awkward position and chatted with Li Yi.

"I heard from Third Sister that Ah Lang is planning to sell some of the family's land?"

"Yes, our family now owns tens of thousands of acres of private land, which is too much. I plan to keep only a thousand acres in Guanzhong and Longxi, and also transfer some of the farmland in Henan, Shannan, Jianghuai, Hebei, Hedong and other places, leaving only three or four thousand acres."

Du Shiniang said with some concern, "The nobles and officials of the court are all buying up land everywhere. We don't need to buy any more land, do we? We don't need to sell all our land."

Li Yi told Shi Niang what he had said to Luo San Niang.

“Farmland is particularly easy to attract attention. We don’t necessarily have to keep so much farmland; we can invest in other places.”

"You remember the second son of the Duke of Yongkang, right?"

"Li De Award?"

"Yes, his master, Zhang San, the Kunlun Slave, has been in Southeast Asia for several years and has finally returned."

Zhang San, the bearded stranger, accompanied Li Jing and his son to the battlefield in Jingzhou that year. He traveled with Li Yi and they became friends.

Zhang San was originally a large merchant who came to Chang'an to compete with Sogdian merchants and others.

Li Yi suggested that he go to the South Pacific islands to find the spice islands, find the source of spices directly, find a new shipping route from there, and transport spices back to Guangzhou, and then transport them back to the two capitals.

If this spice trade route can be opened up, Zhang San and his group will have a huge advantage when competing with Sogdian merchants.

The spices traded by Sogdian merchants went through many middlemen and were transported thousands of miles along the Silk Road to the Central Plains, increasing the cost many times over and thus the selling price.

A few years ago, when the Silk Road was disrupted, black pepper could sell for as much as an ounce of gold. Even now, they can still sell a pound of black pepper for an ounce of gold.

Other products, such as frosting sugar from India, were sold at extremely high prices when transported to the Central Plains.

Zhang San was determined to find the Spice Islands and open up a spice shipping route, but he ended up being gone for five years.

Now, he has finally returned.

He had heard some news about the Spice Islands, but hadn't been able to find them directly yet. However, he had already located some native spice merchants in Southeast Asia.
You can also get cheaper spices from them.

Transporting goods from Southeast Asia back to Jiaozhou and Guangzhou, and then north to the two capitals, could yield substantial profits.

However, this is a new shipping route, with storms, reefs, pirates, and other competing merchants.

To establish a mature and safe new shipping route, Zhang San still needs to invest a significant amount of manpower and resources.

We need to build more ships and recruit more sailors and guards.

Even when spice ships reached Guangzhou and then entered the two capitals inland, they still needed strong backers for protection along the way.

In the two capitals, they had to compete even more with the Sogdian merchants who originally controlled the spice market.

"This sounds a bit far-fetched," Du Shiniang said. The South Seas, the Spice Islands, and seagoing vessels were indeed somewhat distant and unfathomable to her.

“I’m quite optimistic about this business. I think our family can invest some money and become a shareholder.”

Shipbuilding, navigation, and trade
As long as this shipping route remains stable, it will be a continuous flow of wealth.
Furthermore, besides the spice trade, other goods could also be traded, offering enormous potential and great opportunities.

Besides these,

Li Yi felt that, based on Zhang San's description of the current situation in Southeast Asia, although there were quite a few countries, they were relatively weak, and much of the world was still largely undeveloped.

To put it bluntly,
The Li family could potentially establish small-scale colonies there in the future, occupying ports and islands along the coast. Whether it's engaging in port trade or slave trading, there's potential for success.

This could even leave the family with a way out.

Maritime trade, from the Tang to the Song dynasties, had great potential for future development; it was risky, but also highly rewarding.

The bigger the waves, the more expensive the fish.

Imported goods are all very profitable. Why is it that in the wild and undeveloped Lingnan region, Guangzhou and Jiaozhou have been wealthy since the Han Dynasty?
It's all because of port trade.

“We can send some people to Guangzhou and Jiaozhou to develop the area, including farming, trade, shipbuilding, and maritime trade. These are all very good options.”

Although Du Shiniang felt that this matter was somewhat unreliable, she still said, "It is entirely up to you, my lord. I will listen to you."

Before Li Shimin's coup

Li Yuan planned to enfeoff Li Shimin as the governor of Nanning Prefecture in Nanzhong, while the four princes Li Yi, Li Xiaogong, Li Yi, and Li Daoxuan were also enfeoffed as hereditary governors, and Li Yi was enfeoffed as the governor of Zhenzhou.

Zhenzhou is located in Sanya, Hainan Island.

That place is now very desolate and almost undeveloped. Only along the coast are the Feng and Xian families from Lingnan doing some development there. The inland areas are almost entirely inhabited by uncivilized people.

Now that Li Shimin has ascended to the throne...

The practice of bestowing hereditary governorships upon meritorious officials was naturally abolished.

Li Yi and the others were naturally very fortunate to be spared from being exiled to the wilderness, but Li Yi sometimes thought that it would be quite nice to have such a fiefdom.

Hereditary governorship,
This means that Li Yi and his descendants will be able to enjoy this fiefdom.
He could become a feudal lord.

Consider the Yang family, the chieftains of Bozhou. They entered Bozhou in the late Tang Dynasty and then ruled as local emperors for seven hundred years.

None of the nobles and relatives in Chang'an were willing to accept this so-called enfeoffment of meritorious officials and hereditary governorships, as they felt it was a disguised form of exile.

Zhenzhou, that's Sanya! That's a great place.

Azure sea and sky, pristine white sand beaches, and the Coconut Dream Corridor.

Historically, Li Shimin also implemented a system of hereditary governorships for meritorious officials during the Zhenguan era, but it was abolished after only a few years due to the strong opposition of meritorious officials such as Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling.

Changsun Wuji and his group only wanted to stay in the central government; they didn't want to leave and be marginalized.

However, the truth is that although Changsun Wuji later became a regent, personally helped Li Zhi become emperor, and even held power in the court for ten years,

However, after wielding immense power in the court for ten years, Changsun Wuji met a tragic end. Not only did he die and end up in exile at a post station, but his entire family was also raided and their property confiscated.

Fang Xuanling didn't have a good ending either. Although he died peacefully, his sons were involved in a rebellion, and the Fang family was ruined.

The capital city

It is the center of power.
It's also an arena.

The Li family wants to sell land.
They still need to sell a lot of land.

After the news spread in Chang'an
Everyone thought it was fake news.

When you say Pei Ji wants to sell land, people might believe it to some extent, after all, Pei Ji has lost power.

But Li Yi is currently in power.

The Wei family of Jingzhao, Yun Gong branch.
Wei Siyan was discussing matters with his uncles and brothers in the clan.

"We can't afford to offend Li Yi,"

"We won't bring Third Sister back for now, but we can't skimp on her dowry; we need to prepare more."

"What we originally ordered wasn't enough; we need to add some more."

As the head of the family, Wei Siyan decided to be tolerant after his wife brought back his two younger sisters from the palace.

The Wei family of Jingzhao, a prestigious family with hundreds of years of history, has no need to argue over such a short time.

“Take three more of the most fertile estates in the Weibei Baiqu area to make up 3,000 mu of land as dowry, and also include a millstone as dowry.”

"Add another 30% to the money, silk, cattle, horses, and servants."

"If Third Sister can gain a foothold in the Prince of Dai's mansion, or even win the Prince's favor, then it will be a blessing in disguise, and our Wei family will have another powerful ally in the court."

In the hall,
The men of the Wei family from the Yun Gong branch remained silent.
Even so, it still makes me furious. They are the Wei clan of Jingzhao, the head of the six clans in Guanzhong.

Li Yi, a newly rich man, is belittling them like this.

"Does anyone have any objections?"

Wei Siyan asked three times.

There was no sound.

"Since there are no objections, then it's settled."

"There's another matter. Our Wei family's Xiaoyao Mansion said they're willing to provide Third Sister with 800 acres of land, 800 strings of cash, 10 slaves, and 20 oxen as dowry."

The Xiaoyao Gong lineage and the Yun Gong lineage are closely related. The founder of the Yun Gong lineage was Wei Xiaokuan, while the founder of the Xiaoyao Gong lineage was Wei Xiaokuan's elder brother, Wei Xiong. He was a recluse in the Northern Dynasties. The emperors of the Northern Wei and Northern Zhou dynasties summoned him to serve as an official ten times, but he refused to obey. Therefore, he was known as Xiaoyao Gong.

The reason why the Xiaoyao Gongfang family has added so much to their dowry is not entirely because the two families are closely related.

All because of Wei Ting in the Xiaoyao Palace, who had been on good terms with the deposed Crown Prince Li Jiancheng since his youth, and later rose to the rank of General of the Left Guard of the Crown Prince and Inspector of the Left Guard of the Crown Prince.

However, he had a falling out with Li Yi a few years ago, and as a result, Li Yi set a trap and exiled him to Xizhou. If it weren't for the Crown Prince's protection, he would have lost his life back then.

Now that the new crown prince has pardoned Wei Ting and summoned him back to court, Xiaoyao Gongfang is naturally happy, but he is also worried about Li Yi.

Now, taking this opportunity to add to the dowry for Wei Sanniang, who is to be betrothed to Li Yi, is actually a way for her to save face, try to ease the tension with Li Yi, humbly apologize, and hope that Li Yi will let Wei Ting off the hook.

The Yun Gong family contributed 3,000 mu of land as dowry, while the Xiaoyao Gong family contributed 800 mu of land as additional dowry. They believed they were being quite sincere.

Wei Erlang said, "I heard rumors that Li Yi is going to sell land, saying he's going to sell half or even more of it."
"If we offer the land now, won't we be making a fool of ourselves by flattering them?"

An uncle said, "That must be a rumor. Who would sell land for no reason? Li Yi is so powerful now. Even if he had tens of thousands of acres of land, he wouldn't think he had enough. Now that he has power and influence, he will only buy land and acquire more. Why would he sell it?"

“That’s right. We’ll bring Third Sister 3,800 acres of fertile land in Guanzhong, as well as a millstone. That’s more than enough to show our sincerity.”

(End of this chapter)