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

Chapter 73 Punishment
At the foot of the cliff, in front of Aunt Pang’s cave.

A group of villagers blocked the door and cursed the bald man.

The news had spread, and everyone knew what the bald man had done. The villagers were filled with righteous indignation and wanted to hang the damn bald man up and beat him.

"Let's make way,"

"The village chief is here, everyone make way."

Luo Er shouted loudly in front, making way for Li Yi.

Uncle Shi Gou came over and said, "Village Chief, I didn't expect such a thief to appear in my village. I, Shi Gou, feel sorry for the care you always gave me."

"Village chief, I suggest that we drag the bald guy out and hang him on a tree and whip him for three days and three nights to see if he dares to do such a disloyal thing in the future." Shi Gou said hatefully. As the village chief, he was now in charge of Li Yi's fields and earned several buckets of grain a month.

I don't want to lose this job because of this.

Liu Heizi rolled up his sleeves, revealing his two strong arms. "Da Lang, I'm going to drag that dog slave out. I'm going to teach him a lesson today. I'm going to break a few of his fingers."

He looks like a complete bootlicker.

Li Yi brought Liu Heizi back to Luojiabao and had already registered his ID card with Wang Lizheng. With the help of King Qin, Wannian County was informed, so it became very easy for Heizi to settle down in Liujiabao.

Li Yi arranged one of the three caves under the cliff behind him for him to live in, and promised to take him to Sanqiao in a few days to pick out a young woman who had fled famine to be his wife.

Now even if Li Yi asked Liu Heizi to kill people and set fire, this guy would probably dare to do it.

"Neighbors, please be quiet. What Baldy did this time was truly inhumane, shameful, and completely devoid of conscience. However, everyone makes mistakes. As the village chief, I am willing to give him another chance. I hope everyone will supervise him and help him reform."

After saying that, Li Yi came to the bald man's cave.
The door was blocked from the inside by the bald man, and he was afraid that he would be dragged out and beaten by the villagers.

"Bald, open the door. I'm Li Yi."

"Village chief, I, I'm sorry, I won't dare to do it again," the bald man said anxiously inside.

"Come out, I'm here to call Aunt Fatty back to work."

The door creaked open.

Bald head with haggard face and uneasy eyes,
Aunt Pang was crying in the house, and the three children looked helpless.

"Auntie Pang, are you feeling better?" Li Yi walked into the room.
Aunt Fat refused to raise her head, feeling ashamed. During the time she worked in the workshop, it was a rare occasion for her to have a full meal every day with oil and salt for every meal. She used to be very thin, but now she suddenly gained weight and got a new nickname, Aunt Fat.

She really liked this job in the workshop. Working in front of the stove all day in the hot summer was very tiring and hot, but she could earn seven dou of millet a month. She even received two bonuses and got three more dou of millet, which added up to a total income of one dan of millet.
Such a good thing, how many people are watching,

But because of her husband's greed, they had lived a very dangerous and miserable life these past few days, and the prescription had been handed over. How could she have the face to see Li Yi?

"Auntie Fatty, it's over now, don't dwell on it. The workshop has received ten new flat-bottomed pots, bringing the total to forty pots. We're short of manpower, and you, a skilled worker, can't be lazy. Hurry up and get to work. There are people lining up to get the goods."

Aunt Fat looked up, blushing.
"Village chief, don't you blame me? I spread your secret recipe."

"You were forced to do this. I know it all. You weren't bought off with just a few ounces of gold. I don't blame you."

Aunt Pang cried bitterly and wailed loudly.

Aunt Fat has a strong sense of morals and is very simple. Baldy is really not worthy of Aunt Fat.

"Village chief, I will go to work right away and compensate you for all the wages."

"No need. If your injury is okay, go back to work. You get paid for every day's work. And your children should go to school if they need to. Just remember not to be greedy in the future."

Aunt Fat knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Li Yi.

This caught Li Yi off guard.
"do not do that."

The bald man was in a daze the whole time, and only now did he come to his senses and kneel down to kowtow.

Li Yi helped the fat aunt up, but ignored the bald man.

In fact, there will always be such people in every era and every place.

The bald man is not only greedy, but also stupid, and dares to seek the skin of a tiger.

"Bald, you have brought shame not only to your family but also to the whole village.

It also corrupts the moral atmosphere of the village.
As the village chief, I have no choice but to punish you. Hanging you up and whipping you for three days and three nights, or breaking one of your legs, is a bit excessive, but punishment is necessary. Merit should be rewarded and faults punished, otherwise there will be no warning to future generations.

I propose to convene a meeting of the villagers of Luojiabao.
Each of them will give Baldy two lashes, and then you will be sentenced to sweep the village roads for a year."

"Are you willing?"

The bald man shuddered when he heard that he would be whipped twice by every villager. However, he also knew how much trouble he had caused this time. The village chief had actually asked the King of Qin to come to his aid. The Jingzhao Wei family had already apologized to Li Yi. He could only bite the bullet and agree.
"Thank you, Village Chief, for forgiving me. I will never do anything wrong again. I will leave it to you to deal with."

"Very good. Tomorrow, we will hold a village meeting. We have nineteen households, one hundred and three people in our village. We will lash you with two hundred and six lashes. I don't think you can handle so many lashes, so we will lash you with twenty lashes every month until all the lashes are gone. Heizi, you will be responsible for carrying out the punishment."

When the bald man heard this, he felt like the sky was falling.
Two hundred and six lashes, and Liu Heizi, that beast, was allowed to do the whipping. I thought that since each person was given two lashes, the old people and children would definitely not feel any pain, but who knew that Heizi was allowed to do the whipping.

"Of course, if you don't want to be whipped, you can pay a ransom. Each whip will give you a bushel of rice or a piece of silk. It's your choice."

The bald man had no money, and the five taels of gold were eventually taken away by the Wei family.

"I admit it,"

Li Yi had no sympathy for this guy. He beat him to set rules. Otherwise, if everyone acted like Baldy in the future, it would be disastrous.

After this matter was settled, I was too lazy to care about him anymore.

He took the opportunity to announce that the workshop would be hiring six more people. "Four women, hardworking and able to endure hardships, and two young men, to be responsible for delivery and odd jobs."

"The monthly salary is seven dou of millet, and if you perform well, you will receive additional rewards."

One stone stirred up a thousand waves,

The villagers began to scramble to sign up.
"Everyone, please sign up with Uncle Luo,"

Li Yi picked up Aunt Pang and went back. With Liu Heizi, the strong lackey, around, no villagers could surround Li Yi.

Take a walk around the workshop.
Li Yi left.

"Ah Lang, the Wei family is going too far. Isn't that forced buying and selling?"

Li Yi chuckled, "That's all for the sake of King Qin, otherwise the Wei family wouldn't have given the fifty taels of gold."

"Is that the end of the matter?" Liu Heizi said indignantly. He lowered his voice and said, "How about I sneak into the Wei family's house tonight and set it on fire?"

"Don't mess around! We are the Jingzhao Wei family, and we are the Tianchiwu. How can we let you do what you want? If you get close, you will probably be caught. Then you will be skinned and chopped up and fed to the dogs. No one will even know when you die."

Liu Heizi said: "I just feel unconvinced."

Li Yi was calm. The Wei family was indeed quite bullying. They asked a middleman to throw down fifty taels of gold, saying that it was to buy a secret recipe and a gift, and also said that it was not worth much money.

He looked so reluctant and aggrieved, as if Li Yi had cheated on his Wei family.

Come to think of it, the Wei family, the most powerful one among the six major surnames in Guanzhong, has now fallen to the point where they have to apologize and pay compensation to a small village chief. It is really aggrieved. They don’t think they are wrong, but they are afraid of Li Shimin. They can’t afford to offend the second prince.

Take out the Xishan Bailu tea given by Du Ruhui,
Li Yi brewed a cup for himself and slowly pondered the whole thing.

He has sorted out the cause and effect.

It was because of Du Shiniang that Mrs. Guo couldn't stand this, even though Li Yi had promised her that he would not do anything to Du Shiniang.
But Mrs. Guo was worried, so she used such a cruel trick.

This old woman was quite clever. She didn't let the Du family take action directly. Instead, she used a knife to kill someone else and instigated the Wei family to take over his business.

But the old woman never expected that things would take such a turn.

Since Guo did not keep his promise, Li Yi felt that the recognition he had given to Guo before was automatically invalid.

He felt that he needed to fight back, otherwise Guo might do something unexpected.

People who are good are bullied by others, and horses who are good are ridden by others.

"Heizi, let's go to Chang'an Third Bridge and find a woman for you first."

Liu Heizi was both excited and a little embarrassed. He had been an orphan since childhood and had lived tenaciously like a weed all these years.

I'm used to being looked down upon or being treated coldly.

But I'm not used to being treated so well.

"I, I'm not in a hurry either."

"How old are you?" "Twenty-five this year," Liu Heizi said awkwardly.

"What?" Li Yi was shocked. Twenty-five? He had thought this old black man was almost forty, but only in his twenties? He looked at him carefully. He was tall and strong, but his skin was dark and rough, his hair and beard were messy, and his clothes were very inconsistent, full of patches and holes.

"I need to take you to clean up first. Clothes make the man, and saddles make the horse. If you go to Sanqiao to look for a woman like this, I guess only widows with children will be interested in you, and they may have to be over 30 years old."

"It's okay if she's a widow over 30 with children. It's enough to have a woman to start a family with. I'm not picky." Liu Heizi said with a chuckle.

"You're really not picky. Wouldn't it be better to find a younger one? Just listen to me."

Liu Heizi didn't know how to ride a horse, so Li Yi asked him to ride a more docile mule, and the two of them went to Chang'an.

There are barber shops in both Chang'an and Chang'an.
Yes, Tangren also has a barber shop, but it does not provide haircuts. It mainly provides services such as combing hair and maintaining hair. It also provides services such as facial cleansing, beard trimming, ear hair plucking, and massage.

Many barbers also do bone setting. Yes, every barber has learned the skills of massage and bone setting. Whether it is a stiff neck or a dislocation, you can go to them. They can even treat bruises and injuries. They are all high-end talents.

Sometimes the army would call them up to accompany the troops on an expedition, and they would serve as military doctors.

I found a shop in the West Market.
The owner of the shop was an old master, and Li Yi asked the old master to help Liu Heizi clean up, including washing his hair, cleansing his face, shaving, trimming his beard, plucking his ear hair, cutting his nose hair, and giving him a massage, and also trimming his hair a little bit.

Wait until this service is finished.
Although Liu Heizi was still wearing the same old clothes, he seemed to have changed his appearance.

His face had become much paler, especially his temples, eyebrows and beard, which had been trimmed. His hair was also straightened and neatly combed. He had transformed from a rough and uncouth man into a powerful man with a majestic aura.

Liu Heizi looked at his own reflection in the water in the basin, feeling somewhat incredulous.

Li Yi was very satisfied with the craftsmanship of the old master, so he paid the money and gave him a little extra tip.

"Come on, I'll take you to take a bath, and then buy you some clothes."

There are public bathhouses in the West Market of Chang'an, and there are professional back scrubbers. I randomly found one with a pot hanging at the door, which is the sign of the bathhouse, and specially asked the back scrubber to rub my back.

It is said that there were more than 3,000 public bathhouses in Tokyo City during the Northern Song Dynasty. Even Su Dongpo loved going to bathhouses and even wrote a poem called "Ru Meng Ling", in which there is a line "I send my poem to the person who washes my back, who works hard day and night."

There were not as many bathhouses in Chang'an during the Tang Dynasty as in Kaifeng during the Song Dynasty, but I heard there were also hundreds of them.

This bathhouse is not small. The back is for bathing, and there is a leisure area in the front where you can order tea and drink wine. There are also blind people who bring little girls to sing and play the piano. It is very pleasant to eat and drink while listening to songs and watching music.

Li Yi was drinking tea outside, ordering two cakes and a pot of tea. He was a little disgusted with public baths, fearing that they were unhygienic and even more afraid of contracting onychomycosis, scabies or the like.

Instruct the person who is scrubbing Lao Hei's back to make sure he rubs it clean.

Li Yi was enjoying tea and snacks leisurely outside. The tea he bought was cake tea. The quality was average, but the price was not cheap.

Just as the tea was brewed, a little girl came with a blind old man to sing.

"Play a song,"

Li Yi felt sorry for them, as the girl was skinny and small, probably only about eleven or twelve years old, so he ordered them to sing a song.

The old man thanked him repeatedly, then sat down, holding the pipa horizontally and playing the plectrum sideways.

The little girl stood aside and began to sing.

The pipa playing was good, and the girl's singing was also good, which was beyond Li Yi's expectations. The two of them cooperated very well.

There was a hint of sadness in the little girl's voice, which aroused the sadness in Li Yi's heart. He couldn't help but think of his daughter. It was a pity that he could never see her again.

Singing a song only costs twenty cents.

Just the price of a steamed bun.

Judging from their appearance, this kind of singing life must be very difficult.
But Li Yi had read somewhere before that in ancient times, there were many blind men who brought little girls to sing for money, and most of these girls were bought by them.

After training them for a few years and taking them around to sing, when the girls are fourteen or fifteen years old, they will sell them and then buy a little girl to teach.

"How old is this girl?" Li Yi asked after listening to three songs.

He pushed a plate of uneaten cakes in front of the two of them and asked them to eat.

"Thirteen," said the blind old man.

"Thirteen is so young?"

"I often go hungry," said the old man.

"Did you buy this girl? Are you selling her?"

The old man was stunned for a moment. They usually wanted to raise the girls until they were older, and then sell them to brothels or to others as concubines or maids, so that they could get a price.

They are usually sold when they are fourteen or fifteen years old. Firstly, it is not easy to train a girl, and she will have to sing for a few more years. Selling her at fourteen or fifteen is also a last resort. Girls at this age are already difficult to control. If they accidentally run away with someone, it will be a complete loss.

The old man hesitated. He felt that the man opposite him was very generous and might be able to sell it for a good price, but he also wanted to let the girl sing for a few more years. The girl had a good voice, was talented in singing, and played the pipa well.

"Two taels of gold." Li Yi offered.
This price would be enough to buy an ordinary maid, but the old man has a carefully trained singer who can sing and play the piano. The only difference is that she is too thin and small because she hasn't grown up yet.

"Forget it if you don't want to sell it," Li Yi said with a smile.

"Sell," the old man finally decided. Ten-year-old girls usually fetched a few thousand coins at most. During famines and wars, they could be bought from refugees for just a few bushels of millet. He'd bought this one in exchange for a bushel of millet and had raised it for five years.

Two taels of gold can be exchanged for 16,000 pieces of meat, and five zhu of Daye can even be exchanged for more than 20,000 pieces.

"Is there a slave contract?"

"Have."

"Okay, I'll go to the West Market Office to find an official to sign the contract and sing a few more songs."

When Liu Heizi came out of the shower, the little girl was already following Li Yi.

"I just bought this girl. Let's go to the city office to sign the deed first, and then I'll buy you some clothes and shoes."

The imperial court stipulated that slave trades, like cattle and horses, required a written agreement and were not too cheap. Both parties first signed a private agreement, known as a white deed, and then used a public deed issued by the municipal government to formally sign a contract. After verification by officials, the contract would be stamped with an official seal and issued to the parties, becoming a red deed.

If a slave is bought and sold without a purchase agreement for more than three days, the buyer will be punished with thirty lashes and the seller with twenty lashes.

The purpose of establishing a red deed was not only to prevent human trafficking and forcing women into slavery, but the main reason was for the government to collect taxes.

The sale of slaves, like the trade of land, houses, cattle and horses, required a deed and an assessed tax of 4%, with the seller paying 3% and the buyer paying 1%.

Several people came to the municipal office and the signing of the contract went smoothly.

The maid's name was Hong Xiao, and she was thirteen years old. The two parties agreed on a price of 16,000 coins for the girl. The seller, Zhao Jiu, paid a tax of 480 coins, and Li Yi paid a tax of 160 coins.

Pay money, pay taxes,
The market certificate was stamped with a red seal, and Hong Xiao became Li Yi's maid, spending two taels of gold and one hundred and sixty coins.

Plus one hundred coins for five songs.

The blind old man put two taels of gold in his pocket and happily left with his cane, without even saying goodbye to Hong Xiao, whom he had carried with him for five years.

"Let's go buy you some clothes."

There was also a ready-made clothing shop in Chang'an, and they quickly got two sets of clothes and shoes for each of them in the West Market.

Hongxiao was reluctant to part with her tattered clothes and shoes, so she folded them carefully, wrapped them up and held them in her arms.

Both of them had a big transformation, especially Liu Heizi. He had a haircut, cleansed his face and trimmed his beard, went to the bathhouse to take a shower and have his back rubbed, and then changed into new clothes. He looked completely different, mighty and tall.

After changing into new clothes, the thin Hongxiao looked even more pitiful.

"You have met a noble person. You will know later how lucky you are to meet Alang today," Liu Heizi said to Hongxiao.

Hong Xiao was always very cautious and never said a word even after being sold out by her master.

"Next, let's go to Sanqiao and find a new wife for Heizi."

On the way, Liu Heizi was curious about why Li Yi bought such a skinny and small girl.

"I just felt that she was quite pitiful, and my family happened to be in need of a maid, so I bought her." Li Yi said. In fact, the main reason was that he missed his daughter when he saw her just now.

"Then just buy a girl at Sanqiao. There, you can buy ten girls of this age for two taels of gold."

"This one can play the pipa and sing music."

The Wei family compensated him with fifty taels of gold, and he spent two taels to buy a maid who could play the piano and sing. He didn't feel bad about it and just thought that the Wei family paid for it for him.

(End of this chapter)