A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 206 Homecoming
When Li Shimin left, he packed corn tortillas and fried potatoes, but he resolutely refused to ask Huaiyu to put chili noodles, not even slightly spicy.

Not only packed a few snacks, but also asked Sinong Temple to take away almost all the potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes that Huaiyu had already harvested. Fortunately, the emperor did not take them in vain. A pound of potatoes and sweet potatoes was exchanged for a stone of wheat, and a pound of corn was exchanged for a stone rice.

Huaiyu was very satisfied with this transaction. The family's several hundred catties of coarse grains were exchanged for several hundred shi of rice and wheat.

"I didn't expect these humble crops to be so expensive." Lao Wu looked at the piles of grain sent by Taicang, and couldn't help but sigh.

Wu Liu said directly, "Mingchun, our land should be planted with these, but now they are all taken away, what shall we plant next spring?"

"Don't worry, mother, isn't it still growing in the greenhouse? It's very convenient to plant sweet potatoes. You can just cut the vines and plant them. It's also convenient to grow potatoes. One potato can be cut into many pieces for planting. I still have some Potato seeds can also be cultivated..."

Wu Liushi announced that he could no longer eat corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes, and they had to save them for seeds. A corn only had two or three grains, and it could not be ground into flour to make a few cakes, but it could be used as seeds. If five or six hundred seedlings are grown and ten corns are used as seeds, one mu of corn may be planted.
The old lady's arithmetic skills are not bad. Now if she eats a piece of corn, she will eat up a portion of the land.

Although Huaiyu said that there is no need to be in such a hurry, the old lady thinks that the rest of her hand should be kept as seeds, and the deal of a catty for a stone is too cost-effective, even if Huaiyu said that this is a one-hammer deal. The Nongsi took so many kinds, and there was no need to find a Wu family to exchange them in the future.

But the old lady still thinks that if the court can spend such a large amount of money in exchange, then this thing is a treasure, and other landlords and people don't want it?
At that time, they can be sold to others as seeds when they are grown by themselves.

Lao Wu looked at the piles of food at home and was very satisfied.

He and Huaiyi also went to collect their salary and land rent successively. Although they each cost tens of shi, but now the Wu family has obtained a lot of food successively, and there are more than 1000 shi in piles.

"It's a pity that the price of grain has fallen sharply now. If it was half a month ago, this bucket of rice would have been worth tens of thousands of dollars."

"Mother, a thousand dollars of rice is secretly sold in small quantities in the black market. Whoever really wants to sell a thousand stones of grain will be arrested by the Yongzhou Yamen, the grain will be confiscated, and the person will have to be exiled to the frontier, or even beheaded."

Now that the grain has dropped, and the price of silk has dropped in summer, although it is still a bucket of rice and a piece of silk, a piece of silk is only about [-] yuan now.

The drop in food prices is indeed severe, but this is normal.

In the past, there were various influences such as wars, but now the Turks have retreated after the autumn harvest. In addition, the imperial court has made every effort to transport grain into the customs, open warehouses to flatten the market, and the grain and silk have fallen back.

Huaiyu estimated that in the next few years, there should be another wave of food price increases, but it should not rise too much. In the next few years, as in history, there will be no major accidents, and food prices will continue to fall.

Twenty or thirty dollars per bucket of rice was the normal price of grain in the real Taiping years. In the third or fourth year of Zhenguan in history, it even fell to two or three dollars per bucket of rice. At that time, a piece of silk could even be exchanged for ten stones of rice.

This is actually a bit abnormal. Although it is due to the continuous harvest of grain and the absence of wars, it is also related to the lack of mintage after the imperial court issued new coins, which led to a shortage of money, and money is expensive and goods are cheap.

But in any case, food will continue to fall in the future.

It is no longer the situation where food is as expensive as gold in the past few years.

"I heard that because of the drop in grain prices, many people who lent grain before now say that they will be charged at the original grain price instead of borrowing grain and paying back grain."

"Those guys are really treacherous, they penetrate every corner, and they don't let go of any profit." Lao Wu disliked this. Although borrowing food and paying back the money can make a lot of money, Lao Wu told his son that the money borrowed by the Wu family It is better to let everyone repay the rations, and pay back the amount agreed at the beginning, and do not change it.

"Don't worry, I understand this."

Now the Wu family is in the stage of rapid improvement, and a good reputation is more valuable than that little money to the Wu family.

"These grains, let's transport a thousand stones back to Longqiao Fort, build kilns and build courtyards to ask the neighbors to work, and also eat grains. In addition, if everyone is unable to pick up grains, they can come to borrow grains if they need it." Old Wu said.

"Yes, our family now has more than 1000 stones of food, and the rest will be given to the clan to learn [-] stones. In addition, the patriarch said last time that we want to build a righteous warehouse in the clan. Let's donate [-] stones, and the rest will be sold to Qianjintang , there are so many guys who need a lot of money every month, so it’s easy to buy.”

Qianjintang belongs to Wu Huaiyu's partnership with Fatty, Changshengtang is a partnership with Fan Xuanfu and Zhang Anan, and Baoyutang is owned by Huaiyu himself.

In Gaia Restaurant in Xishi, there is even a capital investment from Huaiyu, which can be regarded as a shareholder.

Lao Wu is relatively open-minded about these things, Huaiyi and Huaiyu brothers own their respective properties, the granted land under their names, etc., all of which belong to them personally, and the income also belongs to them.

The Lumi of the two brothers has to be handed over to the public, and the salary and other expenses are also owned by the individual.

The dinner was sumptuous, and Li Shimin packed some martial arts snacks for Empress Zhangsun and the prince. The empress was very satisfied, and specially rewarded Huaiyu with a deer, two sheep, and two wild ducks.

The sheep are still from the same state.

Now that Wu Huaiyu has been promoted to the position of fifth-rank army commander, he can enjoy the supply of nine sheep every month. No one thinks that the deer rewarded by the queen should be kept as pets. He found that people in this era are actually very cute. Quite pragmatic.

When dealing with livestock and animals, the concept is also very simple, that is, food.

This is good, there is no overflowing Virgin Mary's heart, in this family, only Huaiyu's two dogs can enjoy some pet treatment.

If it weren't for Huaiyu's insistence, the two dogs would have to return to their duties and be two hunting dogs instead of two pets.

It is very enjoyable to eat sheep in winter, especially the sheep from the same state rewarded by the royal family.

The fresh mutton is cut into large pieces, and no water is needed, so I put it in a pot and stew it. There is no need to put anything except onion and ginger. As long as it is stewed for a long enough time, the mutton will be very tender.

Sprinkle some fine salt and green onion when eating, and it will become a delicacy.

Today, mutton is served with wild rice, which was also a gift from the queen.

The rice is purple and black and slender as needles, and Huaiyu is no stranger to it. This is not the fruit of the wild rice stem before it was infected with the mutation. At this time, the wild rice stems of the Tang Dynasty will bear seeds like rice, and the stems do not bear wild rice stems. It is hard to see wild rice in later generations, because once wild rice is infected with some kind of fungus, it will mutate and spread a large number of infections. The stems will grow wild wild rice, but wild rice will no longer be produced.

In later generations, the wild rice that was often eaten in the Tang Dynasty had to be imported from abroad, which was surprisingly expensive.

The taste of wild rice, in Huaiyu's opinion, is actually quite average, not as good as rice. If you really want to say that it tastes better after cooking, it is still glutinous rice, which is softer.

Wild rice tastes better than millet rice and barley rice.

When he was eating wild rice, he even missed water cabbage a little bit. It was crispy and tender, shredded cold, or stir-fried beef was delicious, and it was crispy when eaten raw.

Is it possible to find some wild rice stems that have mutated bacteria and cultivate them well, so that there will be wild rice cabbages to eat in the future?

There are still a few days left before the big wedding.

Lao Wu took the three Huaiyu brothers, the elder sister Ma Zhou, the two daughters, and the younger sister Wang back to Longqiao Castle in the countryside.

Fan Xuanfu heard about it at home, but he insisted on coming.

Originally, according to the rules, they were going to get married soon, and the two parties would not be able to see each other during this period of time, but now that Wu Huaiyu was not seen for a day, Fan Xuanfu couldn't eat or sleep well.

So, in the end, the four sisters Fan Xuanfu also brought their maidservants with them, and Huaiyu simply took Runniang, sisters Gao, and Irina with them.

Huaiyi also brought his concubine with him.

This is a mighty big team, returning home in good clothes.

The second-pole Xu Jizu and the four fellow villagers are still Huaiyu's body, and they will go back together today. Looking at this motorcade, they are extremely envious and emotional.

"When will we be like Erlang in this life?"

"Erlang doesn't dare to think like this, but it's enough if he can be like Dalang."

Wu Huaiyi is doing quite well now, he is in command of the fifth rank and leads the Qianqi Battalion general, and he also has the title of baron.

"We can get ahead at any time."

From Chang'an back to Longqiao, because many horse-drawn carts were hired to pull Qianshi's grain, the speed of the journey was not fast. We crossed the Weiqiao via Jingyang and returned to Sanyuan, and stayed in Jingyang for one night on the way.

Along the way, you can feel the huge damage caused by the Turkic looting of Guanzhong. Many villages were burned to ruins. Although some noble manors and rich family forts survived, many traces left by the war can still be seen.

Two days later, I returned to Longqiao Fort.

On the ground of the Wu Family's courtyard, there were still dried blood stains.

"Borrow pots and bowls, and treat the neighbors to a feast."

The first thing the Wu family does when they return home is nothing else, but visits from house to house, borrowing pots and pans from everyone, asking everyone to help cook a meal, and inviting everyone to have a meal together.

This meal is actually quite simple.

The Wu family brought back a thousand stones of grain, as well as two pigs and six sheep, all of which were slaughtered with the help of the villagers. The two pigs and six sheep were the main course.

The rest is to grind the wheat and flour to make noodle soup, shell the millet and steam the millet rice, grind the millet and mix it with steamed yellow buns.

The seasonal vegetables and wild vegetables from the vegetable garden and the field are brought in, and they are scalded in mutton oil soup, and they become a dish.

Longqiao Fort was breached by the Turks last time, and more than 30 young and strong died, and more than 20 women were old and weak, not to mention everyone's food and belongings were robbed.

After the war, many villagers went to their relatives to beg for food. The Wu family received many villagers in Chang'an and lent a lot of food. When they came back this time, everyone gave the Wu family a special welcome.

And the Wu family's bold killing of pigs and sheep to invite the villagers to a feast has even attracted a lot of praise.

The whole village ate ten stones of grain for one meal.

Many people haven't had a full meal for a long time, let alone eat a mouth full of oil and eat a belly. On average, one person eats two catties of meat and two liters of grain.

All of them ate their bellies round, and amidst the bouts of belching, the Wu family's reputation reached a new peak!
Lao Wu's face was full of red, and his legs were not so lame when he walked. He pointed to the grain piled in the yard and expressed to everyone that he would ask everyone to repair the five-hole kiln in Wu's house and the three holes next to it during the slack season. The caves continued to be repaired, and even stonemasons were invited to connect the stone surface of the kiln.

Villagers, regardless of gender, age or age, can come to work. They take care of two meals a day and pay extra wages, which can be converted into food.

"If someone's family is temporarily inconvenient, they can also borrow food first, and then the work will be paid for."

As soon as Lao Wu said this, there was another sound of admiration.

(End of this chapter)