Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 152: Peaceful and Prosperous Times
Li Tangqing went home to rest after get off work.

The family lived in the northern part of Luonan County, about 30 li from the outer city gate of Luoyang. The seven family members lived in a long house with three rooms.

His wife, Lin, was reading a newspaper at the doorway, and his six-year-old grandson, Li Xun, was reading the newspaper with him.

Li Xun, who was not paying attention, first noticed Li Tangqing.

"grandfather!"

The grandson stood still and called out, then, seeing that Li Tangqing had nothing in her hands, continued reading the newspaper and recognizing characters.

When Lin looked up and saw that Li Tangqing had returned, she slowly stood up and began to nag as usual.

"Sir, why are you so late getting off work today? The food's all cold. Did you eat out?"

Li Tangqing walked into the house. "No, go heat up the food."

Lin scolded, "It's good enough that you can eat!"

Li Tangqing had no choice but to go inside and eat, since he couldn't argue with the woman.

Sun Xun followed his grandmother into the house, then saw his grandfather sitting at the table eating, and quickly went over to him.

The meals were simple: steamed buns made with mixed grains, bean and mixed grain porridge, and pickled vegetables and radishes.

"Grandpa." The grandson put his finger in his mouth.

Li Tangqing smiled and said, "Bring some chopsticks over, let's eat together."

"Okay!" The hungry child quickly grabbed chopsticks and happily sat down.

Looking at her grandson who was already eating on his own, Li Tangqing didn't put on the airs of an elder from a typical large family.

After eating a couple of bites of thin porridge, pickled vegetables, and steamed buns, Li Tangqing saw his wife folding up the newspapers and putting them together.

"Why don't you cook more food? Food isn't expensive."

Lin was furious, she said, “We’ve eaten it all! How are we supposed to celebrate the New Year? How are we supposed to hire a tutor for the children? You’re practically killing me just because I asked you to do something. The people from Luoyang who raise cattle on the street behind our house arrived a few days earlier than us. They’re registered as a public household, and their children can go to school for a fee.”

"You call yourself an official! I have to put up with all this humiliation every day working for you!"

Li Tangqing continued eating, seemingly already used to such remarks.

His wife, Lin, was a well-educated and reasonable person in her younger years, but he doesn't know when she became like this.

As times changed and the family fortunes declined, the little bit of ancestral property they still had was looted and destroyed by the rebel soldiers. Now they have managed to settle down in Luonan County, but they have no desire to go back.

The houses here are in rows, but the original courtyards and private fields are gone. The nearby fields are all used to grow vegetables and grains to supply Luoyang.

Most of the villagers are employed and have regular production quotas each month.

Not all children of communal households could attend school. In the early days, there weren't enough schools, so the focus was mainly on the earliest communal households to join.

Li Tangqing couldn't help but explain, "That cattle farmer has been raising cattle for more than ten years. There are too many cattle and horses in Luoyang that need to be taken care of. Every village has a lot to look after. There are few people who understand this."

Lin looked at Li Tangqing and said angrily, "You've studied all your life, and you're not even as good as a cowherd!"

These words left Li Tangqing speechless, and she lowered her head to eat with her chopsticks.

Lin muttered a few more words and went into the inner room, where she did nothing.

The room quieted down. Li Tangqing looked at his obedient grandson who was eating quickly and exclaimed, "Leave some for Grandpa! Why are you eating like you haven't eaten at all?"

Li Xun put down his chopsticks, wiped his mouth, and said, "I ate. I ate two steamed buns and drank three bowls of bean porridge."

Li Tangqing took the last steamed bun, broke it in half, and gave half to Li Xun.

"Come on, eat up. When Grandpa gets his salary, I'll go to the city and buy some fried dough sticks to try."

Li Tangqing is now almost at the age of death, coaxing her grandson, but she still has a job that can support her family.

Li Xun said happily, "Yes! Grandpa gets paid on the 15th, right? There are still six days left!"

"Yes, let's wait a few more days." Li Tangqing stroked his beard and smiled, then reached out and touched the child's short hair.

Nowadays, very few children have that kind of small tuft hairstyle; they all have simple short hair.

Both Tatars and Han Chinese began to learn from the mountain farmers and changed their hairstyles, no longer wearing braids.

You can just cut it with a pair of scissors; nobody really cares if it looks good or not.

Not long after, Li Tangqing's son, Li Anmin, walked in.

"Dad, why are you only eating now?"

Li Anmin greeted his father politely, unlike his mother and son who were more casual with each other.

Li Tangqing was not authoritative in front of his son; "he was talking to someone and was delayed for a while before returning."

Li Tangqing felt that submitting articles to answer questions was definitely out of the question, so she didn't mention it and didn't want her family to know.

Li Anmin usually didn't talk much with his father, and they would usually just go inside to rest. Today, however, he had some things to discuss, so he sat down and said, "Dad, I heard that next year will still be tax-free, and we have more grain than we can eat this year."

Li Tangqing ate a steamed bun and slowly poured a basin of cold water over it. "If we can't finish it, we'll have to spend money to buy more. Our family doesn't farm."

The grandson asked curiously, "Dad, Grandpa, why don't we farm? Farming would be enough to feed us. We wouldn't have to spend money on food, and we could grow as much as we wanted."

Li Anmin immediately scolded, "I'll take you with me when we go farming later, then you'll know why we don't farm anymore. We make you work in the fields every day!"

At this moment, Madam Lin lifted the curtain and came out, looking at her husband, son, and grandson.

“Don’t we have fifty acres of land? It would be great to rent it out next year and earn some money to supplement our household income.”

Li Tangqing remained silent, while Li Anmin said impatiently, "Mother, you don't understand at all. Grain is very cheap now. If the harvest continues to be bountiful next year, the price of grain can drop to one coin. At most, an acre of land will only yield 150 or 160 catties. We still need to save seeds and buy farm tools."

"Without oxen, you can only cultivate about twenty acres of land. Do the math, that's not much money at all! Less than three thousand coins! Even if it were given away for free next year, nobody would want to farm it."

Li Tangqing sighed, "Low grain prices hurt farmers."

Li Xun felt confused; how could a six-year-old child already be able to think for himself?

"Grandpa, food is so cheap, how come we still don't have enough to eat?"

Madam Lin walked over and scolded, "Who told you not to eat enough? I asked you if you were full, and you said you were, but you were playing and wouldn't eat properly. You child, you can't eat properly when you're alone; you have to fight for food before you'll eat!"

Li Anmin kicked his own son in the butt, yelling, "Go find your mother! She's been taking your sister to bathe all day, why isn't she back yet!"

Li Xun, who had been kicked, covered his buttocks with both hands and shouted, "Good, Dad!"

Lin called out to her eldest grandson, who was about to leave, "Don't go. The bathhouse is crowded, and you'll probably have to wait in line. There's only one bathhouse in the village, and people have to queue every day."

A bath costs ten coins for admission, which isn't expensive, but it's so popular that there are often long queues.

Especially for women who were once from humble or wealthy families, taking a bath is something they can't refuse.

Li Tangqing knew very well that this was King Wu's income, and couldn't help but sigh, "All the little money he earns in a day has been handed over."

Li Anmin didn't realize his father was marveling at King Wu's ability to make money; he thought his father was just being stingy.

"Ten coins isn't expensive. It's just half a day's work in the production team. My mother-in-law gets thirty coins a day, and I get forty coins a day. That's enough for me."

Li Xun said with a smile, "Grandpa earns three taels of silver a month, and Grandma earns one tael of silver a month. When my sister and I grow up, we'll earn money to buy fried dough sticks too!"

"What fried dough sticks?" Li Anmin didn't understand what the child was saying.

"It's nothing." Li Tangqing pondered his family's affairs, then looked at his only son. "Your brothers were unlucky and died young. It's not good for you to do manual labor all day. I met an official who was a sub-prefect a while ago. I'll ask someone to write a letter to him tomorrow to see if he can help you find a job."

Li Anmin immediately said, "Good! Father, when did you meet this high-ranking official? Is he from our hometown?"

Li Tangqing was worried that her son's matter might not be resolved, so she dared not make any promises.

"I met him on the road, we talked for a bit, I learned his name, and then I went to busy myself with harvesting wheat and planting beans. I don't know if he still remembers me."

Madam Lin quickly said, "Then let's give it a try. If it really doesn't work, we can go to Zhengcheng to take a look. We are Han Chinese after all, and we might be given important positions if we go to Zhengcheng."

Li Anmin said with frustration, "I've been a Han Chinese for decades and I've never been given any important position. Besides, I don't have an immigration permit now, so where can I go?"

The family exchanged a few words, but then couldn't agree and went to rest.

The Li family had three rooms: a kitchen in the middle, sleeping rooms on either side, and a public toilet located in the fields a hundred meters away.

Both chamber pots in the house were purchased, as were the water vat, pots, pans, and dishes. King Wu initially allocated funds from the national treasury as the initial start-up capital.

Li Tangqing lives in one room with his wife, a grandson, and two granddaughters, while his son and daughter-in-law have their own room.

The room was small, unlike the large houses and courtyards of the past, but for those who came to take refuge, this free room was already quite good.

Li Tangqing couldn't sleep at night, listening to his wife's snoring and coughing, as well as the noises from his son and daughter-in-law next door, worrying about the future livelihood of his entire family.

The son had little knowledge or culture to begin with, and the mountain farmers completely disdained reciting poems and composing couplets, believing that they had no use for agriculture, industry, or governance.

I know some math, but I'm not very good at it. The important thing is that many things in the mountain farming tribe depend on household registration.

With a public household registration, especially one directly under the King of Wu, one could earn a hundred or so coins by selling newspapers in the city for two hours.

Li Tangqing then thought about the various expenses her family members would incur.

Taking a bath, buying grain, oil, salt, coal, vegetables, clothes, newspapers, pots and pans, tea...

Even in the countryside, even the most frugal person would try every means to earn money and then give it to King Wu.

But in return, they gained enough food, clothing, and fuel to eat and wear, and enough to take a bath and live a decent life.

The family may not be extremely wealthy, but they live a peaceful and stable life, accumulating savings year after year.

Isn't this a peaceful and prosperous era?
Li Tangqing suddenly discovered that he was living in a peaceful and prosperous era that countless literati had dreamed of for hundreds of years.

It had been less than two years since his family was destroyed, and his elderly parents, son, and relatives had all died tragically.

(End of this chapter)