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

Chapter 87: The Old Neighbor Li Jing
Li Yi bought three-acre houses in Liquanfang and Huaiyuanfang in Xicheng, spending only 100,000 yuan each. He had originally planned to buy a few shops in Xishi, but most of them were only rented out.

He turned around and asked his broker Wei Liulang to take him to the south city to buy some land. That place was a real ghost town. Most of the towns in the south of the lower city were surrounded by walls, and most of them were planted with wheat, vegetables and fruit trees.

There are thousands of acres of land in a town, with only a few thatched huts built by farmers.

It is said that there are not only wild boars but also foxes and wolves in the southern districts of the city.
The land in the west city costs twenty or thirty thousand coins per mu, and the land in the south of the city costs one tael of gold per mu. In Wang Dalang's opinion, it is too expensive. Since the Sui Dynasty, the wheat fields in the counties around the capital have only cost one or two thousand coins per mu. The irrigated rice fields in the counties at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain are more expensive, but at most half a gold coin per mu.

Li Yi's interest was not in growing vegetables or flowers and fruits in the south of the city.

It is a ghost town now, but it is still within the city of Chang'an. It just hasn't been developed yet. Once it becomes stable in the future, it will definitely not remain deserted. By then, whether there are more residents and new residential areas are built, or temples or workshops are built, its value will double.

The silk in your hand will not increase in value if you keep it there.
Once you buy land, its value will continue to rise.

He decisively bought fifty mu of land in Jinchangfang and Qujiangfang respectively. One of these two fangs later became the site of the dilapidated Big Wild Goose Pagoda, and the other was right next to Qujiang Pond.
There will definitely be good development in the future. Now one tael of gold can buy an acre of land, which is only equivalent to 8,000 coins per acre. In the future, it is very likely to be 30,000 to 50,000 yuan per acre, or even 60,000 to 70,000 yuan per acre.

After completing all the formalities and holding the contract, Li Yi took Ji and Wang Dalang to the East Market to do some shopping and bought a lot of daily necessities.

You can move into the Pingkangfang house right away, but you still need to buy sleeping mats, towels, and toothbrushes.

"By the way, buy a few servants. Such a big house requires doormen and servants to guard the house, maids to do laundry and cooking, gardeners to take care of the garden, maids to serve tea and water, and coachmen to drive the car and feed the horses," Wang Dalang said to Li Yi, counting on his fingers.

"This place is not like the countryside. Although there are Wuhou Shops and Wuhou on the streets, as well as patrol riders, and there are also wardens and night watchmen in the neighborhood, you still have to be extra careful."

Hearing what he said, Li Yi knew that the security in Chang'an City was probably not very good now. It was normal, with such a large population and a mixed crowd, it was easy for city foxes and rats to breed, and there were also many thieves and scammers.

"Then let's go to Kouma City and have a look."

At this time, Li Yi felt that he, a Taoist priest, had no foundation and did not even have anyone he could trust and use.
Even if you have some money, slaves are easy to buy, but they are difficult to trust in the short term, and there is a lack of reliable managers.

It was not uncommon for slaves to bully their masters, and some even murdered them.

Yu Shu was originally in General Guo's mansion. Didn't that favored Silla maid poison her master, steal gold and silver and run away?

After a stroll around the slave market in the East City,
Following Wang Dalang's suggestion, Li Yi bought slaves from three families, all of which were one family, two with three people and one with four people, a total of ten people, four young and strong, two old, and the remaining four young people.

Ten slaves cost a total of 180 pieces of silk.
Li Yi couldn't help but sigh that human life was as worthless as grass, and so many people were worth eight taels of gold.

After paying an additional 600 yuan in tax and signing a red deed, the slave owner handed the chains on their bodies to Li Yi, and from then on they became Li Yi's personal property.

"Within three days, if these slaves become seriously ill or die of illness, they can come to the market office with the contract, and the buyer will be held responsible for compensation. After three days, we will not be responsible at all." The market official told Li Yi.

I didn't expect there is after-sales service.

"Let's go buy them some food first."

After walking for a while, Li Yi saw Zou Luotuo, the man pushing a cart and selling Hubing, in the East Market.

"Twenty vegetarian Hu pancakes first, and six meat Hu pancakes."

Li Yi gave each of the ten new arrivals two vegetarian Hu pancakes with sesame and green onions, and Li Yi, Ji Shi, and Wang Dalang two mutton Hu pancakes each.

They took the hot pancakes from the oven and devoured them one by one.
Take them back to the new house in Pingkangfang,

Li Yi inquired about their background carefully. They were basically Han people, a family of four, with two men over fifty and two boys and girls aged thirteen or fourteen. They were originally private slaves of others, and their masters paired them up, and their children were also born into the family as slaves.

Now that he is old, he has been sold out by his whole family.

The family took the surname Liu from their previous owner.
"From now on, you will be called Ah Fu and will be in charge of the outer courtyard. Your wife will be in charge of washing clothes and sweeping the floor."

The other two male slaves were in their thirties, both very thin. "You will be responsible for feeding the horses and driving the carriages in the east wing stables, so you will be called Agui. You will be responsible for guarding the house, so you will be called Awei."

Their wives were named after them, Afu, Agui, and Awei.

The women in Agui's and Awei's families are responsible for cooking and taking care of the garden respectively.

There were four young men, two boys and two girls, all around eleven, twelve or thirteen years old. The maids were sent to the inner courtyard to serve tea and water, and they were named Chunhua and Qiuyue. The other two young men were sent to the outer courtyard to serve as attendants, and they were named Shouren and Shouyi.

Made some simple arrangements.
He would make adjustments later depending on the situation. Anyway, he was going to join the army soon, so he planned to leave Ji and Yu Shu to take care of things here first.

"This is Su Jun, who will be the manager of this house from now on. You must all obey her arrangements. As long as you work hard, I, Li Yi, will not treat you unfairly. I will ensure that you have enough food and clothing. If you work diligently and conscientiously and perform well, you will also receive rewards."

After Li Yi finished speaking, Ji asked them all to clean up first.

"Wuyi, you don't have to be polite to them. You can't be too nice to slaves. If they don't obey, whip them and starve them, and they will naturally behave."

Wang Dalang also has quite a few servants at home, so he has some experience in managing them.

In the eyes of the Tang people, slaves were no different from cattle and horses. They were just property and not considered human beings at all.

"These people are only fit for service. In the future, Wuyi, you still have to buy Silla maids and Kunlun slaves. That's what aristocratic family should do." Speaking of this, Wang Dalang was quite excited. "If these Silla maids and Kunlun slaves are trained well, they can be sold for a lot of money."

"And there's that Persian girl from the Western Regions. She's tall, has delicate skin, and is good at singing and dancing. Her eyes are big and bright, some light blue, some dark brown, completely different from us Eastern women.

"And the women of Fulin are even more blonde, blue-eyed, fiery and bold. How about tomorrow, I take you to the Hu Jiusi in the West Market to see these Persian and Fulin girls?"

Li Yi looked at his eyes, which showed that all men understood, and shook his head with a smile.

"I'm busy recently, let's talk about it later when there's a chance."

He spent a lot of money today and almost emptied his family's savings.

A large house of eight acres in Pingkangfang cost 800,000 coins, and a small house of three acres each in Huaiyuanfang and Liquanfang cost 200,000 coins.

Then he bought fifty mu of land each in Jinchangfang and Quchifang in the south of the city, spending one hundred taels of gold.

He also bought ten slaves, spending 180 pieces of silk.

Wang Dalang was a little confused by the generosity of spending money, but he admired it very much. The feeling of spending money lavishly made him, a money-grabbing clerk who dealt with money every day, envious.

He even suggested in a tactful way that if Li Yi had some spare money and wanted to lend it out for interest, he could let him take care of it. He could give Li Yi a 4% monthly interest rate and guarantee that there would be no risk.

He was the money collector of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Revenue. He could use Li Yi's money as public money to lend, with a monthly interest rate of 8%, which meant that he gave Li Yi 4%, and he could still get 4% interest for nothing.

This is how Wang Dalang made his fortune. He lent money with private capital as if it were public capital. Although he had to make arrangements with people from all walks of life, he did make a lot of money.

Back to Sun Fujia's house,
Sun Fujia, who had just returned from his shift, was also extremely surprised when he heard him talk about his crazy real estate purchases. He was surprised at Li Yi's generosity, and even more surprised that Li Yi had made such a large sum of money in such a short time.

"No wonder you've always been reluctant to become an official," Sun Fujia smiled and shook his head. "A ninth-rank official, the annual salary of a prince is only 25 stone of rice, plus the rent of 200 mu of official land, which is not much.
Even if I work for ten years, it won’t be as good as two months in your workshop.”

Li Yi also laughed,
What can you do with that little salary? "The court has decided to first destroy Xue Rengao and take over Longyou, then take Shannan, Jingxiang, Bashu, and finally march into the Central Plains, Henan, and Hebei."

Starting with the easy and then moving on to the difficult is the correct strategy.

The key is to develop slowly and don’t join a team too early.

Sun Fujia said he wanted to go and see Li Yi's new house, get acquainted with it, and give him gifts to celebrate.

This senior brother gave Li Yi several of his own calligraphy and paintings.

"It turns out that your new house is next to Pharmacist Li's house." Sun Fujia stood outside the Wutou Gate of Li Yi's house, looking at the next door.

"Pharmacist Li, is this the Li Jing that Senior Brother mentioned?"

"Yeah, don't you know that Li Jing's house is next door?"

"The real estate agent brought me this house today, and I bought it because I liked it. I don't even know the neighbors yet."

Li Yi never expected that he would live next door to Li Jing in Sanyuan.
Li Jing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, you are wrong, this is not the world of Investiture of the Gods. Li Jing of the Tang Dynasty is not famous now, but he will become the military god of the Tang Dynasty in the future.

Sun Fujia's evaluation of Li Jing was not very high.
After listening to what Sun Fujia said about Li Jing's past, Li Yi felt that his evaluation was indeed correct.

Li Jing was born into the Danyang branch of the Longxi Li family, residing in Sanyuan, north of the Wei River. His family had been military commanders for generations. His grandfather was the governor of Yinzhou and was granted the title of Duke of Yongkang. His father was the prefect of Zhaojun and married the sister of Han Qinhu, a famous general of the Sui Dynasty.

Li Jing's elder brother Li Duan inherited the title and was also a famous general. Unfortunately, he failed in the political struggle, was dismissed from office and died in depression.

Li Jing became Gongcao of Chang'an County at the age of sixteen, so it can be said that his starting point was quite high.

Yang Su patted the couch and said to him, "In the future, you will eventually sit in my position." Yang Su's singing girl Hong Fu ran away with Li Jing at night, but Yang Su didn't care.

But later on, he was still implicated by his brother, and Li Jing was demoted from the position of Yuwenlang of the Imperial Guard to the position of county magistrate. He was not promoted even after serving as county magistrate for three places.
It was not until the end of Daye that he was promoted to the position of Yanmen County Magistrate.

However, Li Jing not only did not get along with Li Yuan, who stayed behind in Taiyuan, but after realizing that Li Yuan was going to rebel, he ran to Jiangdu to file a complaint with the emperor. As a result, he finally reached Chang'an, and Li Yuan then led his troops to capture Chang'an, and he was almost beheaded by Li Yuan.

Li Shimin saved Li Jing.
Li Jing, who was nearly fifty years old, was transferred to Li Shimin's court and only served in the sinecure position of Sanwei, a guard.

If it weren't for Li Jing's family background, who would care about such an old man who was almost fifty years old and was only a third-rank guard? People mostly remembered the scandal of Li Jing abducting Yang Su's concubine when he was young.

Li Yi looked around Li Jing's house.

It was much larger than his, occupying a corner of the southeast corner of Pingkangfang, one sixteenth of the whole block, and about sixty acres of land.

This is the ancestral home of the Li family. Being able to own such a large piece of land in Pingkangfang, although it is far less than the Li Mu family's land of more than 200 acres in the northwest of the square, it also shows that the Li Jing family was quite prestigious during the Sui Dynasty.

Wu Yi and Li Jing's homes happened to be separated by a small cross street. Although their walls were not touching, they were still neighbors next door.

Although Li Jing's Wutou Gate is still there, it is taller than Li Yi's.

But Li Jing couldn't even keep his ancestral title of Duke of Yongkang County, and he had no reputation in the Prince of Qin's Palace. In any case, Li Yi had never heard that Li Jing was under Li Shimin before.

Li Shimin did not bring the old man Li Jing with him when he fought in the Battle of Qianshuiyuan last time.

This is like treating a treasure as a weed.

Sun Fujia took a tour around Li Yi's new house and was full of praise. He said that the 800,000 yuan was well worth it. Although it was not as big as his new house in Daningfang, this eight-acre house with a garden was already very good.

When seeing off Sun Fujia, he happened to see an old man dismounting in front of Li Jing's gate. He was wearing a green robe, his hair and beard were a little gray, and he was very tall.

Li Yi guessed that he might be Li Jing. He was a little older than he imagined and did not look like a famous general. He looked more like an old official in charge of logistics in the government office.

Li Yi stood there looking at Li Jing,

As a result, Li Jing also looked over.

Li Yi smiled at him and walked over.

"Li Yi from Yusu Township just bought this house."

"Li Jing of Sanyuan," the old man was indeed Li Jing. He even knew Li Yi. "You are the man from Qianshui County who His Majesty offered you two official positions but refused to accept them, right?"

"It is me, Lord Li, just call me Wu Yi."

Li Yi was quite kind and polite, and he didn't put on airs. Although he held a low official position now, he was from a prominent family after all.

"Would you like to come to my house for a cup of tea?" Li Jing invited.

"Okay, Mr. Li, please wait a moment." Li Yi turned back home and took out a box of Xishan Bailu loose tea that Du Ruhui gave him last time.

When he came to Li Jing's door again,

"Why is Li Daizhao so polite?"

"It's my first time here, so I'd rather not come empty-handed."

Li Jing brought him into the mansion and entertained him in the living room in the front yard, but did not enter the inner courtyard.

This front yard alone is much larger than Li Yi's. It is obvious that Li Jing's family also has east and west courtyards, a garden, and may even have a polo field and a martial arts field.

Li Jing actually took out the Go board.
I didn't get to see the legendary Red Buddha Girl, so I don't know if she was really that beautiful that a top-notch aristocratic family kid like Li Jing would be so moved that he would do something as against aristocratic etiquette as kidnapping Yang Su's concubine.

"His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin is about to leave the capital to fight against Xue Rengao. I will be accompanying him this time. Lord Li also works for the Prince of Qin's Palace. Will he be accompanying him this time?"

Li Jing shook his head.

There was a hint of disappointment on his face.

Although he escaped death from Li Yuan's attack, he was sent to the Qin Palace as a third guard with no authority. The Qin King might even have forgotten him long ago.

"Does Lord Li want to join the army?"

Li Jing was stunned for a moment, and the chess piece in his hand remained in the air for a long time without falling.

"If Lord Li wants, I can recommend him to the King of Qin. We two neighbors can serve as companions in the army."

"Hahaha, okay." Li Jing didn't take it seriously and agreed with a smile.

(End of this chapter)