A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 595 The teacher’s kindness is tempting

"Cheng Qian is a little impatient."

"The prince is only 11 years old,"

Wu Huaiyu and Li Shimin practiced the Eight Parts of Vajra in the morning light.

"You return to Youzhou later and teach the prince more in Chang'an. I found that the prince particularly likes to be with you and he listens to your teachings."

"I am just following the instructions. The prince is pure in nature and smart by nature."

"I will return to Chang'an in a while. I will ask the prince to stay with you in this village for a few more days. You can take him around and truly understand the people's sentiments."

Li Shimin also liked to stay in the countryside and walk around, but he also knew that he could not leave the court for a long time. In the morning, he still had a simple peasant meal of sweet potato porridge with some pickles. After the emperor had eaten his fill, he returned to Chang'an surrounded by hundreds of horsemen.

Once the emperor left, the prince became much more active.

Cheng Qian even wanted to experience pig feeding himself. The pig food stewed in the big pot was very fragrant. He chopped the sweet potato vines, added some pigweed pulled from the ground, and then added some sweet potatoes. After cooking in a big pot, Some bran, distiller's grains, and soybean meal are also added into it. Although not much is added, it is the key to pig fattening.

I followed the example of the swineherd, tapping the pigsty with a spoon a few times, and calling out a few times. The two pigs who were sleeping in the pen immediately got up and hurriedly came to the pig trough with a groan. .

After spoonfuls of pig food were poured into the trough, the two pigs began to eat fiercely, one eating sweetly and the other eating loudly.

"They taste really delicious." Cheng Qian said with a smile.

The old man Zheng on the side said immediately, "These pigs eat as well as people. I think there were no auspicious crops like sweet potatoes, corns and potatoes before. Whenever there was a shortage of crops, we could only find some wild vegetables everywhere to eat. The wild vegetables were mixed with chaff and eaten with bran. Vegetables, even bran, cannot be eaten,

Now the pig eats wild vegetables, which not only contain bran, but also good things like distiller's grains and soybean meal. In the past, not to mention the lean years, they might not be able to eat even in normal seasons.

And these sweet potatoes, such good sweet potatoes are fed to pigs, how fragrant and sweet they are. "

Since we have auspicious crops such as sweet potatoes and potatoes, we can finally fill our stomachs every day by eating them as staple food. These sweet potatoes and potatoes have high yields. Although they are not very hungry and like to fart, they are much better than eating bran-pharyngeal vegetables.

The pigs raised in Wujiabao actually eat so well. Old man Zheng, who has just become the head of a small farm in Wujiabao, Fanchuan, is really envious.

The sweet potatoes stewed in the big pot are so fragrant, the wine grains are still exuding the aroma of wine, and even the soybean meal is still exuding the aroma of soybean oil.

As he spoke, Old Man Zheng fished out a large piece of sweet potato from the pig food bucket and ate it directly.

"This is pig food." Cheng Qian was surprised.

"They're all clean. They were cooked in a big pot."

"And there's a lot of hogweed."

"Everyone can eat whatever pigs can eat," Old Man Zheng said with a smile. The sweet potatoes were quite delicious.

"Uncle Zheng, didn't you have breakfast just now?"

"Eat, eat, it looks so good and I'm greedy again." The old man ate very deliciously and didn't feel dirty at all.

The steward of the Wujiapu pig pen who was accompanying him said with a smile that in fact, the people raising pigs in the pig pen often eat sweet potatoes and other things in the pig food. It's not that the Wu family doesn't let everyone eat enough. When you come to Zhuangzi to work, you will be full with rice, but the sweet potatoes are really delicious, just like a snack.

Today, Huaiyu accompanied the prince back to the Wujia Fort on the Shenhe Plain. The Wu family has been running it here for more than two years, and it is much better than when Fan Chuan took over.

"Your Highness picks the pig, and we will kill it later and make a vegetable to eat."

Cheng Qian looked at the black pigs that were engrossed in eating pig food. They were already quite fat. There were two pigs in each of the rows of pig pens.

Wujiabao raises [-] pigs, with different batch sizes. Basically, a batch of pigs can be slaughtered every few days.

“How much can a pig sell for now?”

Cheng Qian looked at the pig who was eating happily and had no idea that a disaster was coming.

"The price of pigs also goes up and down. During the Wude period, there was a shortage of various materials and the price of pigs was high. Now in the third year of Zhenguan, all prices have fallen. This year, the cost of a bucket of rice is only [-] to [-] yuan, and the price of pigs has also dropped a lot.

The latest pig price in Chang'an is about three hundred yuan for a pig weighing more than [-] kilograms, which is just enough to make a piece of silk."

"Isn't that pig worth ten shi?"

Ten stones of rice weigh more than a thousand catties, and a pig weighs more than a hundred catties. The prices are the same, so which one is more cost-effective? Cheng Qian is confused.

"One acre of sweet potato planting can raise three pigs. If you add more pigweed, you can raise four pigs,"

Four pigs can be raised on one acre of land, but sweet potatoes are generally grown on dry land, which can only earn one and a half to two kilo of grain income at most. Pig raising also has a by-product of pig bedding manure. In theory, raising pigs is directly growing wheat. , many times the income of the valley.

With three hundred cents, you can now buy a bolt of raw silk, a Tongzhou sheep, or ten chickens.

In addition, a mason in Chang'an City only earns [-] yuan a month.

In the third year of Zhenguan, prices of various commodities plummeted, and when things were cheap and money was expensive, three hundred yuan was still very valuable. Although some commodities were quite expensive, such as wine, tea, and sugar, some basic living necessities such as grain , cloth, etc. are relatively cheap.

"Where's the cow? How much is a cow worth now?"

"It depends on the type of cattle. For example, castrated fine bullocks cost about [-] yuan, while small bullocks cost about [-] yuan. There are also lower-grade rough bullocks, which are cheaper."

Many goods in Datang are generally divided into three grades, fine and coarse.

Cheng Qian didn't know much about cattle, pigs and sheep, but he knew a bit about horses. There were many types of horses in Chang'an Horse Market. They were thick and strong and could only carry four or five guan of money, while those that could be ridden were at least [-] guan. ,

A good horse is at least [-] strings or more.

As for those thousand-mile horses, or the precious Dawan sweat-blooded horses, there are hundreds of them.

The cheapest straw horse can be bought for about ten pieces of silk, which is the same price as a cheap slave.

"So the price of pigs is not high. The price of such a big pig is about the same as that of a sheep. It has to be raised for such a long time and requires two cooked pig meals a day." Cheng Qian said.

However, Old Man Zheng felt that if the price remained this way, he would definitely make a fortune by raising pigs. A craftsman like a mason could only earn three hundred cash a month, including food and accommodation.Planting five acres of land, one harvest of rice only yields about [-] dan, and can only be sold for [-] yuan. They are ordinary farmers, no matter how hard they work, they will not have much spare money at the end of the year.

The family planted [-] acres of mulberry and hemp and raised ten baskets of silkworms. They worked hard all year round, but in the end they could only weave five or six pieces of cloth and about ten pieces of silk. This required the hard work of two or three women in the family.

For these fifteen or six pieces of silk, you still need twenty acres of land, and you need to plant mulberry, hemp, and raise silkworms. If you don't have so much mulberry land, you have to buy mulberry leaves.Therefore, landless tenants like his family grow six acres of mulberry and hemp. The land is rented and they have to pay rent. Apart from their own use, not much can be exchanged for the cloth they weave.

The old man has been a tenant farmer for many years and has very low requirements.

I just want to be able to make ends meet and support my family.

No matter how hard you work on farming these days, if you don't have your own land, there really won't be much left. In comparison, raising pigs is good.

"Your Highness is the one who has not yet been fed, so he will get a free meal." Old Man Zheng felt very sorry for those delicious pig food. Since he was going to slaughter the pigs, he didn't need to feed them another meal. It wasn't to weigh them and sell them for money. If he was selling pigs, , it must be fed as soon as possible before selling, so that the pigs are full and weigh more.

"Okay, just that end."

Cheng Qian picked one end.
The pig was running around in the pen waiting to eat, but it was chosen by the crown prince.

Huaiyu looked at this pig. It was very different from the pigs of later generations. It had a big head and a small body, a long mouth and a wide nose, and high ridges on its back and legs. It looked more like a wild boar. This pig looked quite aggressive. Although these are carefully selected pig breeds by the Wu family, they are relatively docile, easy to fatten and grow meat, and are of good quality.

There were still many pig breeds in the Tang Dynasty, including white pigs from Liaodong and spotted pigs from Lingnan. Pig breeds in different places were very different.

Black pigs are still the most popular breed at this time.

Pang Xiaotai once told Huaiyu that the pig breeds in Yulin, his hometown in Lingnan, were good, with black backs and white bellies, silver collars, and red white skin. This pig was said to have been cultivated in the Han Dynasty, and was also spread to Rome through the Silk Road. ,
Up to now, these pigs are of good quality, resistant to rough feeding, highly adaptable, sows with high fecundity, early maturation and easy fattening, and the meat is fresh and tender.
There are also disadvantages, that is, they grow slowly.

This kind of pig is short, fat, wide, round, with a short head and a compact body. Pang Xiaotai's hometown raises this kind of pig, which is basically free-range. It digs up the soil everywhere and rolls in the mud, but it eats everything.

Wu Huaiyu has asked Pang Xiaotai to get some of these pigs from his hometown in Guangxi, so that they can be raised and cross-bred to create new varieties.

"Is this a boar or a sow?"

Cheng Qian saw several pigherders entering the pen, some pulling earphones and some grabbing their tails. The pigs screamed and resisted fiercely.

"The pigs raised in the fort will be castrated within half a month after they are born. Both males and females will be castrated. This way they will grow faster and the meat quality will be better."

Cheng Qian didn't expect that pigs would be castrated when they were young, and he would learn some serious and useless knowledge.

Pig killing is very exciting.

There are many skilled butchers in Zhuangzi. They use a long hook to hook the pig's throat, and then drag the pig to the open space outside the pen with his own strength.

With a hook in one hand and a sharp knife in the other, he slashed down, and blood flowed out and flowed into the wooden basin that had been set up in advance.

"This butcher is so strong. He can control this big pig with just one effort. Just now there were four or five people in the circle arresting him."

"Practice makes perfect."

After the blood is drained here, the water is boiled over there. Put the pig on the big wooden basin, pour hot water on it, and then shave the pig's hair.
The pig bristles, which are as hard as needles, are all carefully collected. These are good things and can be made into brushes.

The black pig hair has been shaved off, but there is still black skin inside.

The butcher was so powerful that he immediately picked up the pig, which weighed more than [-] kilograms, and hung it on a hook. He then skillfully disemboweled the pig and divided it into pieces.
Remove the pig head, separate the legs, take out the internal organs, and pull off the suet...
Wu Huaiyu was directing from the side, sending people to clean the intestines, add salt to the collected pig blood to solidify the blood tofu, chop the pig's trotters, chop the ribs, cut the pork belly...

Add rice wine and some rock sugar to stew Dongpo pork in a casserole, fill the clear intestines with some pig blood to make blood sausage, stew winter melon with ribs, stew pig feet with soybeans,
Twice-cooked pork must be arranged, as well as sauerkraut stew.

Then braise some pig ears, simmer pork liver, stir-fry shredded pork...
A big black pig, in a short time, turned into a pig-killing feast.

Pot after pot of dishes, Wujiabao Zhuangzi is also full of fragrance today, everyone has a share, and meat is available as an extra meal.

Cheng Qian also ate very well, and felt that every dish was so delicious. Although pork was considered cheap and could not be served at the royal banquet in the past, today he personally helped pull off the pig's tail and ate this pig-killing dish, which was particularly delicious.
"It smells so good, teacher. I didn't expect pork to be so fresh and sweet."

Wu Huaiyu was quite happy to eat the big bone.

"Teacher, you must have hundreds of hectares of land now,"

"Well, there are [-] hectares in Shuofang, more than [-] hectares in Hebei, and [-] hectares in Guanzhong. Shannan, Hedong, Longyou, and Shuzhong combined also have [-] hectares. Calculating, there should be [-] hectares."

Eight hundred hectares of land, that's more than 8 acres. Although it is not comparable to the thousands of hectares of land that Pei Ji was given at one time, this amount is already amazing, and it definitely belongs to one of the top landowners.

Cheng Qian asked curiously, "The teacher occupies [-] acres and is a big landowner. Why did the teacher propose the two-tax law? The two-tax law does not make the landowners pay more taxes, but allows ordinary people, especially the landless, to benefit. ?

[-] acres of land is just for the free grain. If you pay two liters per mu, you will have to pay an extra [-] shi of grain. And if the two-tax law is implemented in the future, the land tax will be increased several times per mu. Isn't it right? Don't you have to pay five or six thousand stones of food a year?
Why is the teacher willing? "

"Why are others unwilling? Why does Your Majesty still say that the two-tax law cannot be directly implemented? What is the court afraid of?"

Wu Huaiyu gnawed on the stick bone and smiled when he saw Cheng Qian's sincere request for advice, "Your Majesty once said that water can carry a boat and also capsize it. I wonder if your Highness remembers that?"

"Remember, Mr. Kong told Gu that the ruler is like a boat and the people are like water. Water can not only allow the boat to sail safely, but also overturn and swallow the boat and sink it in the water. It means that if things are used properly, they will be beneficial, and vice versa. .”

"The common people are like water. Your Highness, do you think these common people include big landowners like Ru Chen?"

Cheng Qian fell into deep thought.

"The two-tax law is naturally beneficial in the long run. Today's tax-free modulation actually has big problems and urgently needs to be changed. However, any change in the system will inevitably touch many vested interests. On the contrary, it will cause opposition. If it is simply enforced, it will arouse contradictions and cause conflicts.

For example, the previous dynasty, the Sui Dynasty, unified the world and ended hundreds of years of strife since the end of the Han Dynasty, which was great.Emperor Yang was also a very capable emperor. He was ambitious and introduced many reform methods. However, he was too conceited. As a result, his reform methods touched the most fundamental ruling class of the Sui Dynasty.
The final result was also seen by His Highness, the Guanlong nobles all raised troops one after another,"

Wu Huaiyu reminded Cheng Qian that not only should you not do things too hastily, but you also have to remember where your butt is sitting, and you cannot violate your roots.

Although the Two Taxes Law is good, the biggest problem we are facing now is that it will damage the cornerstone of imperial power, that is, the foundation of rule, which is the aristocratic, bureaucratic, gentry group, and even the local powerful landlord class. All those with assets and land will be here. The new two-tax law has been damaged rather than benefited, which means that this policy is destined to face great resistance now.

If it is simply enforced, the hidden dangers will be great.

Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it. Just like the Guanlong noble group, they can establish the Western Wei Dynasty, the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and even the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
Of course, they can also establish another new dynasty.

Therefore, even though Emperor Li Shimin had long understood the many shortcomings of the current fundamental national policy of the Tang Dynasty, even if it was very urgent, he did not dare to just slap his head and do whatever he wanted. He was cautious, a little bit of testing, and even all kinds of Deals and compromises.

"Why is the teacher willing?"

Faced with this question, Huaiyu smiled and said, "Everything my Wu family has now is inseparable from the Tang Dynasty. If the country is prosperous and stable, my Wu family can also prosper for a long time. If we are prosperous, we will suffer losses."

(End of this chapter)