A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 592
After returning from Changning Palace to offer incense, the emperor specially took the prince to Wu Huaiyu's newly built Zhuangzi.

The river flows from Zhongnan Mountain to the north of the plateau. On both sides of the river for more than [-] miles, there is Fanchuan, where the nobles and villas of Chang'an are spread.

However, the local people prefer to call this place Toad Beach, because on summer nights, in the rice fields of Fanchuan where rice is grown, the cries of toads can be heard loudly, even on the plateaus on both sides.

Pei Ji's elegant property here, as well as a thousand acres of rice fields, have now been renamed and deeded, and now belong to Wu Huaiyu's name.

The wheat on the plateau is already golden, but although the ears of rice in Fanchuan thirty miles below the plateau are already heavy, they are still green.

The water of the Jiaohe River is not deep, and the river is not wide. Except for the fall when there are heavy rains and floods, the river becomes dangerously turbulent, and the rest of the time it flows gently and quietly.

Before the Tang Dynasty, the Yanhe River left Zhongnan Mountain and traveled more than [-] miles between the Shaoling Plateau and the Shenhe Plateau, passed through Weiqu and Duqu, and then went north around Han Chang'an City to enter the Wei River. However, it has now reached the Shenhe Plateau. To the north, it joins the Jiaohe River and merges into the Fengshui River.

"The embankment of the Jianhe River protects the rice fields on both sides. It fell into disrepair after the Sui Dynasty. In the early years of the Republic of China, the embankment was washed away by flash floods. Previously, when Huaiyu was the envoy of Duzhi, money was allocated to repair the eight rivers in Chang'an, and it was repaired for thirty miles. As for the river embankment, last autumn there were continuous heavy rains and floods, and the embankments downstream of the Jiuhe River have been stabilized," Li Shimin said to Cheng Qian with satisfaction as he looked at the water of the Jihe River under the Jihe River embankment.

Along the Jiaohe River, both sides of the long embankment have not only been heightened and reinforced, but many poplars and willows have also been planted. There are also small patches of reeds on the banks of the quietly flowing Jiaohe River, which is full of green. The embankment has also become a thoroughfare.

On both sides of the embankment, there are stretches of rice fields. This is the small Jiangnan in the eyes of Chang'an people.

You can see the villas and manors of nobles everywhere, as well as pavilions and pavilions, and even many Buddhist temples have been built here.

On the day Cheng Qian wanted to refuse the emperor's arrangement, the Su family made the emperor drop his cup. Later, he became a little panicked and regretted it. Yesterday, the emperor suddenly asked the guards to send back a dish at a fast speed, and also asked him to accompany him to Changning Palace for a night. Uneasy, he rushed to Wujiabao early in the morning. After seeing the emperor's smiling face and Wu Huaiyu's nod to him, he breathed a sigh of relief.

We had breakfast at Wujiabao, including corn pancakes and tea eggs, and visited the pig farm and chicken farm in Wujiabao. We saw the lives of villagers and villagers in Xiangji Temple next door, and then went to Changning Palace not far away.

Jin Wanxiang did not stay long, although Wu Huaiyu wanted to go to the legendary Shenheyuan Juelong Ridge. Legend has it that in the third year of the Yin Shang Taishi Wen Zhong's expedition to the west, all his mounts died and all his disciples were defeated. He returned to Chaoge to bring reinforcements. , was led into Juelong Ridge by the Xiqi Army disguised as a woodcutter, and was eventually burned to death here.

Later generations remembered the story of Taishi Zhongqin and mourned him, so they dug a cave under Juelong Ridge and built Taishi Cave. In the cave, Taishi Wen Zhong was enshrined and offered sacrifices at all times.

This Taishi Cave has been passed down from generation to generation. Although it has not been included in the dynasty sacrificial ceremonies, it is very respected in this area and is very popular. People come here whether they are asking for a child, asking for marriage, or praying for blessings.

Even on the anniversary of the legendary grand master’s death every year, there will be opera singers and fairs here.

It's a pity that Li Shimin only likes Bigan and doesn't like Wen Zhong, and he is unwilling to worship Taishi Wen.

"You guys put on your casual clothes and come with me for a private visit."

The emperor asked the guards of the accompanying brigade to stay behind, with only some of his entourage in plain clothes, intending to pay a private visit to the people. He also specifically told the prince, "As a king, you must not be aloof. You must go deep into the people, understand the people's conditions, and understand the sufferings of the people." , Only in this way can we become a wise king,
If a large group of guards crowd in front and behind, how can we see the true sentiments of the people? "

Although the prince made Li Shimin unhappy that day, his anger has subsided now, and he is willing to teach the prince well if he has the opportunity to go out for a walk.

Under the god's grassland, there is the Yin of the water.

Wu Huaiyu, the emperor, the prince and his entourage traveled in simple carriages and paid a private visit incognito.

When I got close to Zhuangzi, I saw many people crowding in front of Zhuangzi. These were the original tenants of Fanjiazhuangzi. The land of Fanjiazhuangzi, a thousand acres of land, was originally rented out by tenants. There were two Zhuangzi on the left and right of Fanjiazhuangzi. It is said that they were all refugees in the late Sui Dynasty. Later they settled here and worked as part-time workers for the landlords in Fanchuan. Some of them who showed their hard work became long-term workers, and some even rented the land and became tenants.

Today, there are more than 300 households in these two villages, with a population of more than [-], but basically few of them own their own land. Most of them are tenants, or even long-term and short-term workers.

The owner of this land suddenly changed, and these people were naturally panicked. Seeing that the managers of the manor and villas had changed, they all brought some vegetables and fruits to inquire, mainly because they wanted to know if they could continue to rent this land in the future. If so, will the rent change?

"Uncle, what's your surname?"

"Old man, my surname is Zheng, and I am from the village. Are you from the family of the new master of Zhuangzi?"

Old Man Zheng is dark and thin. He wears a coarse cloth jacket full of patches. He doesn't even have a pair of straw sandals on his feet. His skin is tanned by the sun and his beard and hair are messy. The old man's face is full of wrinkles, engraved with the wind and frost of the years. The heaviness of life.

There was a turban wrapped around his head, which was also old and dirty.

"I am from Chang'an No. [-] Grain Shop. I came to the countryside to see Xia Liang. I heard that the owner of this place has changed?"

"Well, the owner used to be Prime Minister Pei, but now he has changed to Prime Minister Wu, and they are all from the prime minister's family,"

"I heard that Mr. Wu also has a thousand-acre farm next to Xiangji Temple in the west of the plateau. It is very prosperous. His tenants and even nearby farmers have benefited a lot from raising pigs and chickens."

"I've been to Wujiapu, and it's really prosperous. I even bought a nest of chickens there before, and sold firewood there,"

Old Man Zheng was quite looking forward to the new owner of the village, the Wu family, but he was a little uncertain and worried. Now he came with everyone, also wanting to get some certainty and peace of mind.

"Brother, are you a tenant of Zhuangzi's land? How much land do you own?"

Old Man Zheng smiled bitterly, "You can also see here that the houses in our upper and lower villages are all straw huts, not even an earth house with rammed earth walls. We people used to be refugees, basically Escaped from the north,"

Huaiyu looked towards the Shangcun and Xiacun not far away, and sure enough, there were many thatched huts set up not far away from the Jianhe River, and some people dug some simple cave dwellings at the bottom of the slope to live in.

"The imperial court equally divided the land, but you didn't grant the land?"

"This is thirty miles away from Fanchuan, a small Jiangnan area in Chang'an. The land here is the best fertile land. The landowners are all relatives of the emperor, senior officials and ministers in Chang'an City, or members of prominent families like Weidu who have been in power for hundreds of years. We, It would be great if the lowly refugees could settle down here and be taken in as tenants or long-term and part-time laborers. There is no land to allocate."

At the beginning of Wude, the imperial court also mobilized some refugees to return to their place of origin. Of course, people like Old Man Zheng, whose family was on the Loess Plateau, were already poor and did not want to return. It was actually okay to stay as a tenant tribe and farm land for these famous nobles. It's okay, at least you don't have to serve and pay taxes.

"No land allocated?"

"There is no land to be divided. The land is all in the hands of the famous nobles. Even if dynasties change and some noble officials decline and fall, there will also be new nobles. The land will just change from one noble to another, just like Now, isn't this thousand acres of Zhuangzi also transferred from the name of Mr. Pei to Mr. Wu? Will the court still use such precious land to share it with us?

Even if it is divided, it will be given to the officials and the imperial guards first, and it will never be our turn. "

"Actually, we don't want to divide it."

Cheng Qian was shocked when he heard this. How could he still be unwilling to divide the land?

"Why, wouldn't it be nice if you don't have to pay rent on your own land?"

"Because you can't get much if you want to divide it. Look at the counties in Yongzhou, Gyeonggi Province, and the counties farther away from Chang'an. In the early years, if they were lucky enough to have equal land, they could only get thirty or fifty acres, or even only two or three acres. Ten acres, but this land is allocated to good citizens who are naturalized and are subject households. In the future, they will have to pay rent and serve as regular servants. No matter how many acres are allocated, the rent will be levied according to ding. Two ounces of stone, two feet of millet, three feet of silk, three ounces of cotton, these are all unchanged. You also have to serve 20 days of free service a year. This is only on the surface. In fact, the burden is more than this. The imperial court rents and transfers regular service If you want to serve, the prefecture will also send levies, the county will also send them, and even the villages will often charge a fee to do the work, which is too much." Old man Zheng waved his hand.

It would be better to work as a tenant for the nobles and not even register as a household registration, thus eliminating the need for renting and transferring to regular service. Although there are still some apportionments in the countryside that cannot be escaped, at least the bulk of it will not be taken.

"Paying rent to the court or paying rent to the nobles is not always paying rent."

The old man even thought it was more cost-effective to pay rent to the landlord's family, because the landlord's rent was divided according to the land you rented. Even if the share was more, it was divided according to the acre. However, the court collected rent and mobilized conscripts. According to Ding, as many Ding as there are, it doesn’t matter how much land your family has. It doesn’t matter whether you have more land or less.

In the early years of the late Sui Dynasty and the early Republic of China, many good households even cut off their own hands and feet to avoid service and avoid paying taxes. Now in the upper and lower villages, there are still many such people with disabled hands and feet, called He was blessed with good hands and feet. If he hadn't cut off his limbs and gone to Liaodong, or been drafted into the army to suppress the refugees, he would have been gone long ago.

The old man's words had a great impact on Li Shimin. Although he knew these situations, it was still different when he heard them with his own ears.

The young Prince, His Highness, was even more shocked. He always thought that the Tang Dynasty destroyed the Sui Dynasty and unified the world, which was great, and the people should also live a good life, especially now that everyone has to pay two or three dollars for rice. Many people say that it is great. The Tang Dynasty was so great and the emperor was so wise. This was a prosperous age.

He didn't expect that the people in the prosperous age would have such thoughts.

"I heard that the imperial court has repeatedly defeated Fanhu in the past two years. There is a large amount of land in the border areas that can be allocated for farming. The imperial court also encourages people to immigrate to the border areas and wide villages. A ding is at least a hundred acres of land. There are even travel expenses and settlement expenses. In the past Farming not only equalizes the land, but also provides interest-free loans such as seeds and farm tools..."

The old man looked at Cheng Qian and said with a smile, "You are a boy from a grain store, you are so ignorant. Who wants to go to the frontier? What is the difference between that and exile? Let alone a hundred acres of land, it is a thousand acres of land." I don't want to go either. No matter how much land is divided among them, will I be able to survive and be safe?

Where is this, this is Chang'an, this is Fanchuan, how wonderful it is here, even if you are a tenant, you are under the emperor's feet. No matter how powerful the Turks are, they can only attack the Wei River, but they have not crossed the Wei River and attacked us in Fanchuan. "

Unless absolutely necessary, not many people are willing to immigrate to the border areas. Now the court mainly recruits some poor people near the border areas, or releases some original slaves and tribes, then moves them to the border areas, or recruits some When bachelors and other bachelors go to farm to reclaim wasteland, they are not forced to settle down. At most, it is equivalent to going to work in reclaiming wasteland.

Those who are really willing to go to the border areas are actually those wealthy and powerful families who send out their branches and concubines to open up wasteland, but their conditions are much better than those of ordinary people.

"At the end of the previous dynasty, I fled all the way from Jingzhou to Fanchuan. It was so hard for a refugee to escape famine. Immigrating to the frontier was no better. It was extremely difficult to get out. Even though I am just a tenant here now, with only three thatched huts. At least I have a place to live, a wife, children, a family, and a job."

I chatted nonchalantly with Old Man Zheng for a long time.
In the end, Li Shimin was silent, the prince was deeply shocked, and Wu Huaiyu got used to it.

The nobles and relatives are connected with each other powerfully, but many common people have no place to stand.

What’s even more astonishing is that up to now, under the feet of the emperor like Chang’an and in the capital, there are still a large number of people who would rather be tenants or subordinates of the powerful nobles and depend on them than be registered as registered households or even have twenty or thirty acres of land. I don’t want to be granted land,

The reason is also very simple. Once you become a good citizen by naturalization, you will also become a subject, and the burden will be heavier.

Therefore, everyone would rather be a fugitive and a tenant than a good citizen.

Before the temple land was cleared, there were a large number of tenants and tribes from the original temple. They were lucky enough to be allocated a lot of land and became the main tenants, or they were granted permanent lease rights and became customers. Whether they were allocated land or permanent tenants, the land was divided. Quite a few,

These people make Old Man Zheng envious, but it can only be said that they are lucky enough to catch up.

"We are now hoping that after the Wu Xiang Gong's family takes over this place, it will be like the Wujia Fort in Xiangji Temple. The rent can be lowered, and we can even make more money by raising pigs and chickens. Our family If the girl and boy can still be favored by the Wu family, go to their workshop to work or learn something, and they will have a job in the future."

Li Shimin took Cheng Qian with him to chat with some villagers.

It's basically the same as what Old Man Zheng said. There are more than 300 households in the upper and lower villages. It is true that they were all refugees from other places in the past, so they have all kinds of surnames. Zheng Wang Ren, Liu Yang, Wang Zhang all have the surnames. Everyone has almost the same idea. , I am willing to guard this Fanchuan Xiaojiangnan and this Toad Beach, because as long as you work hard here, you can always fill your stomach. This is a fertile land with guaranteed harvests despite droughts and floods, and your efforts will always be rewarded.

In your spare time, you can also go to Zhongnan Mountain to carry wood, burn charcoal and other things to make money.

Border immigrants and the like, whoever wants to go there can go. Anyway, they don't want to suffer this or that.
Just live a good life here, raise your eldest children, then build a few houses, find wives for your sons and marry off your daughters, and this life will be over.

Seeing that it was noon, Old Man Zheng greeted Wu Huaiyu and the others warmly, saying that he would invite them to have a light meal in his thatched hut. Old Man Zheng fled from Jingyang, and his wife starved to death, and his parents and a baby also starved to death. , and later sold a girl for some millet, so that he and his son could survive.

After arriving in Fanchuan, he built a simple shack and worked for the landlord. He was honest and diligent and established himself here. Later, he brought back a refugee woman whose husband had died with two buckets of millet. After paying two buckets of rice, he asked him to take the woman away. A boy was left behind, but the girl asked the woman to take her with him.

Old Man Zheng didn't mind it either, and he happily took the woman and the little girl back to his thatched hut. With his hard work, he later became a tenant of the landlord's family. When he arrived in the rice fields, he used the owner's oxen, horses, farming tools and even rations from the beginning. He could only share a very small amount of food. Later, he slowly started to take care of various things, and his share gradually increased.

He and the woman later gave birth to two more children, a son and a daughter. In the blink of an eye, more than ten years have passed. He is old and has raised four children. His small thatched shed has become a five-story house with a yard. He has a thatched cottage and even his own cattle.

He married the eldest son a few years ago, and proposed marriage to the second son last year. The girls the woman brought are also older. The old man is trying to find a good family for her. If you want to find a better family, you have to A decent dowry will do.
Therefore, Old Man Zheng now hopes that his new owner, Mr. Wu, can continue to let him farm the original land. He even wants to share more land, and hopes that the land rent can be reduced, or that he can seize some land from the Wu family. Just a little piglet, like Wujiabao, you don’t need to pay the piglet, you use the pig pen dung as payment...

"The price of grain is getting lower and lower. This summer, the price of rice is [-] to [-] yuan, which has never happened in these years. The grain collected has to be paid for rent, and rations have to be reserved. There are not many left. The price of grain is so low. Hey, it can't be exchanged. It’s difficult to make expenses when I have money, so I thought, why not plant an acre or two of sweet potatoes and raise a few more pigs? I heard that the Wu family’s piglets will be bought back when they grow up, and the price is not bad. After a year, the piglets will be more than It’s much better to grow land and sell food.”

Li Shimin accepted Old Man Zheng's warm invitation with a smile.

Shangcun, where Old Han Zheng’s family is located, is very close to Zhuangzi. There are more than 100 households in the whole village, with hundreds of people. The whole village is quite simple, with mostly thatched sheds and simple back kilns.
The villagers' clothes are basically patched, and they are basically barefoot in summer. Children are more likely to have bare buttocks. The sanitary conditions in the village are not very good.
Wu Huaiyu and Li Shimin were very calm, but Cheng Qian was not used to the dirty and chaotic village.

The old man invited me to dinner, but he didn’t actually treat me specially. There was porridge cooked in the morning, with a lot of sweet potatoes added. There wasn’t much millet, mostly sweet potatoes, and some corn steamed in the morning.

Old Man Zheng asked his woman to cook two dishes, which were actually boiled vegetables. A few vegetables were simply picked, cooked in one pot, and sprinkled with some salt at the end. They were very authentic, and of course there were no dipping sauces.

"There's nothing we can entertain at home, so we'll just make do with it," the old man said with a smile.

The old man has a large family, including four children, a husband and wife, plus his newly married daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren, a total of nine people.

It was a very simple meal, but they ate it quickly.

Li Shimin picked up a piece of corn and gnawed it. It was very dry and rough. Chengqian also picked up a piece of corn and took a few bites, but he choked and found it difficult to swallow.
Huaiyu scooped up some soup from the sweet potato porridge and handed it to him. Chengqian quickly took a few sips and then swallowed the rough steamed bun.

"Why is this corn steamed bun different from what I ate before?" Cheng Qian asked Huai Yu.

"This bun is filled with crushed corn leaves and corn cobs."

"Ah, what are you doing with these?"

Li Shimin glanced at his son helplessly, "The steamed buns with bean noodles or glutinous rice flour are not what the poor usually eat. Those with added sugar and dried red dates are the snacks of the nobles. Ordinary people's steamed buns will be added." It’s made from crushed corn leaves and cobs, which saves food and makes you fuller. Some even add some bran to it, but it tastes very dry and hard to swallow.”

(End of this chapter)