Chapter 3: Two Hundred Coins for a Peck of Rice

  Early in the morning, a ray of sunlight came through the window, and outside, a rooster crowed to announce the dawn.

  Li Jiong closed his eyes and reached out to feel for his phone, but after feeling around for a long time, he couldn't find anything. Then, he suddenly woke up, opened his eyes, and sat up, and what entered his field of vision was a three-sided wooden frame bed with a straw mattress that rustled when he moved. Even the quilt covering him was made of burlap stitched into a cover filled with dry straw.

  The room is relatively spacious, with a wooden bed frame, a four-fold red lacquer screen in front of the bed, and a large bookshelf with nearly 100 volumes of thread-bound books neatly arranged on it. On one side of the bookshelf is a jujube wood desk, as well as several armchairs. Apart from these, there is only a large wooden cabinet that is about the height of a person left.

  Outside, the sound of weaving continued to hum, Li Jing remembered that he had been thinking about how to solve the family's food problem until late at night, but the weaving sound had not stopped. Unexpectedly, when he woke up early in the morning, the loom was still humming. His heart felt heavy, this year's severe drought had almost resulted in no harvest, and his whole family relied on the few women who worked day and night to weave and raise silkworms just to barely make ends meet.

  What should I do, what must I do now?

  There were several knocks at the door outside, then Yuanni pushed open the door and came in.

  "Third Brother, your sister-in-law has cooked egg drop soup for you, hurry up and eat." Although Yuanyu was originally from Silla, she had been living in the Li household for nine years and her speech and actions were no different from those of a local person. At home, Madame Han always treated her like a daughter, so she also addressed her as if they were family members. To Li Jing, she usually called him Third Brother or older brother.

  "Alright." Li Jing smiled and responded with a voice as he got out of bed.

  Li Jiong lifted the quilt, and he couldn't help but shiver at the sight of himself wearing only a pair of shorts. It was already quite cool in the early morning of October 10th. He looked down at his shorts and couldn't help but smile wryly. These shorts were similar to the triangular underwear of later generations, made from two feet of cloth, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, with holes on both sides, just enough to cover his buttocks and hips.

  It is said that during the Han Dynasty, the great talented scholar Sima Xiangru, who eloped with Zhuo Wenjun, was forced by poverty after their elopement. In Chengdu, he bought a wine shop and let his wife Wenjun be in charge of it. He himself wore only a pair of shorts to wash wine utensils in public, which eventually forced his father-in-law to acknowledge the marriage.

  Li Jiong took a pair of pants from the headboard, in the late Tang Dynasty, although men mainly wore round-necked robes, they also wore pleated pants underneath. Not only did men wear pleated pants, but women also wore them. These pants were influenced by the Hu people and developed from there. However, these pants were different from modern-day pants, as they were very loose, especially the two pant legs, which were made to be very wide, so they were often called "big-mouthed pants". The top that went with the pants was called a pleat, but it was made to be more form-fitting. These two garments together were called pleated pants, originally used for military travel, convenient for marching, and later gradually became the common clothing of ordinary people.

  However, as Li Jing knew, the trousers worn by women in late Tang were different from those of men. The biggest difference was that the trousers worn by women had narrow legs and were said to be open-crotch, with only a tie at the crotch for convenience when using the toilet or urinating. As for underwear, women in late Tang did not have any.

  He put on his riding trousers, and then took a cord about three feet long, with which he tied the knee of the trouser leg tightly. This made it very convenient whether he was riding or walking. The cord also had a name, called "kun jiao".

  After wearing the pleated pants, knee-length pants were worn again. Knee-length pants are also known as xié yī in Hanfu, which refers to leggings that cover from the knees to the ankles. During the Qin and Han dynasties, xié yī was a close-fitting garment, but by this time it had evolved into knee-length pants that were worn over the pleated pants.

  He put on his knee-length trousers over his undergarments, then socks. Finally, he wore a round-necked robe, leather belt, silk scarf and black boots. This dressing took as long as it takes to drink a cup of tea. If not for the twenty years of memories of Li Jing in his mind, just wearing this attire would have left him at a loss.

  Li Jiong dressed and went out of the room to the main hall, where he saw that the elder sister-in-law in charge of household chores had already brought up the dishes with Yu'er. A large ceramic basin of wild vegetable congee, a stack of pickled vegetables in front of each seat. The elder sister-in-law smiled at him and said: "Quickly go brush your teeth and wash your face, then come eat."

  Li Jiong and his elder sister-in-law exchanged greetings, then he turned to go into the courtyard to wash his face and brush his teeth. As soon as he went over, Yuanner had already quickly helped him fetch a bucket of cool well water from the well, and also brought him a towel and toothbrush.

  Looking at the toothbrush handed over by Wan'er, Li Jing still had some resistance. At this time in late Tang Dynasty, there were already special toothbrushes for brushing teeth, made of horsehair, called "tooth-brushing son". At first, Li Jing did not notice the difference between this tooth-brushing son and the toothbrush of later generations. As a result, the first time he brushed his teeth, he ended up with a mouthful of blood. The horsehair brush was very hard, if one wasn't careful to brush according to the method of later generations, it would be a big loss.

  He took the toothbrush and picked up a small amount of green salt from the small wooden box beside him, rinsed his mouth with water first, then carefully started brushing his teeth. In the late Tang Dynasty, most ordinary people had the habit of brushing their teeth, and toothbrushes were only worth one or two cents. However, ordinary people could not afford to use green salt for brushing teeth. Salt was more expensive than rice in the late Tang Dynasty, with a hundred catties of salt costing over 100 coins. If it was high-quality green salt, the price would be even higher. The Li family had been wealthy and had this habit, but they still maintained the habit of using green salt for brushing teeth.

  Brushed teeth carefully, this time finally didn't get a mouthful of blood. Back in the house, everyone was already there, only Er Sao was still reciting scriptures in the room.

  In the past, when Father was still around, women in the house were not allowed to eat in the main hall, they had to eat inside. However, now that the Li family has fallen on hard times and there are only men left at home, after Li Juang said a few words, Han Shi also agreed to come down and no longer follow those old rules of etiquette. When stores are full, one knows etiquette; when clothes and food are sufficient, one knows honor and shame. For the Li family, who now have trouble even getting enough to eat, many rules are no longer necessary to follow. It is said that etiquette does not apply to common people, ordinary people can barely make a living, how can they care about those rules?

  "Mom, I want to go into town today."

  "Alright, you've been cooped up at home since the last incident. It's good for you to get out and take a walk around town. You can also go to Fahua Temple to burn incense and fulfill your vow. Your mother made a vow to Bodhisattva when you were in trouble last time. Now that you're better, it's time to repay the vow. Just donate ten catties of oil!"

  Li Jing didn't believe in Buddhism, but he couldn't refute Han's belief in it. He nodded his head in agreement, and the ten kilograms of fragrant oil, although not a small amount for this household, was worth it to put Han at ease.

  After dinner, Mr. Han went into the house and came out with a piece of silk and two pieces of cloth in his hand.

  "My son, take this piece of cloth to the town and buy whatever you want. Also, take these two pieces of fabric to the grain store in town and exchange them for some high-quality millet. And here's a string of money, bring it with you too."

  Li Jing looked at these things and understood that this was almost half of the family's assets. During the Tang Dynasty, silk fabrics were used as currency in addition to copper coins. The emperor had also decreed that any transaction over ten guan must use silk fabrics.

  At that time, 200 coins could buy two dou of rice, and 800 coins could buy a pi of cloth. One dou of rice is about ten liters, which is equivalent to about seven and a half kilograms in later times. A pi of cloth is forty feet long and one foot eight inches wide, which is equivalent to twelve meters long and half a meter wide in later times, enough to make two robes.

  One dou of rice is worth 200 coins, equivalent to 26 coins per kilogram. One piece of silk is worth 800 coins, equal to 30 kilograms of rice. At this price, three dou of rice can be exchanged for five dou of millet or six dou of high-grade millet. The Li family's piece of silk can be exchanged for six dou of high-grade millet, and two pieces of cloth can also be exchanged for ten dou of high-grade millet.

  Sixteen pecks of high millet is equivalent to one hundred and twenty catties in later generations.

  In the Tang Dynasty, border soldiers were given 2 sheng of rice per day, and women and children were given 1 sheng and 1 he. According to this standard, a family of seven like Li's should have had a daily ration of 7 sheng and 7 he, consuming 5 jin and 7 liang of rice per day. Even 16 dou of high-quality millet would only yield 120 jin of rice, enough for just 21 days.

  But nowadays, the Li family can't possibly eat so much grain every day. Most of it is porridge and thin soup, mixed with bran and rice husks to save a meal or two per day, trying to maintain about one catty of rice per day. This 120 catties of millet can last for four months, enough to get through the Lunar New Year next year. If the women at home work hard to weave cloth, and Li Ju does some odd jobs, they might be able to make it until next year's wheat harvest.

  "Mother, I know, I'll go early and come back early."

  Ps: Tang "Warehouse Order" grain standard: All grain allocations are based on provincial symbols. A male adult, one person, is given 2 sheng of rice and 2 ge 5 zhua of salt per day. Wife, concubine, and middle-aged men and women (referring to those over 18 years old), 1 sheng 5 he of rice, 2 ge of salt. Old and young men (referring to those over 11 years old), middle-aged women (referring to those under 17 years old), 1 sheng 1 he of rice, 1 ge 5 zhua of salt. Young boys and girls (boys referring to those over 7 years old, girls referring to those under 15 years old), 9 he of rice, 1 ge of salt. Young boys and girls under 6 years old, 6 he of rice, 5 zhua of salt. Old, middle-aged, and young men who are officials or students at the Imperial Academy, doctors, or acupuncturists, follow the same standard as adult males, even if they have not yet reached adulthood.

  PS2: The Tang Dynasty's system of measurement, the Tang Dynasty's one foot is approximately 30 centimeters, and one step is 1.5 meters. There are also two units for dou, one for volume and one for weight. Volume is ten sheng per dou, while weight is ten dou per stone, these two are not interchangeable.

  As a unit of weight, according to the actual measurement and calculation of Tang Dynasty coins by modern experts, one liang in the Tang Dynasty was 42.5 grams, one jin (16 liangs) was 680 grams, and one dan (120 jin) was approximately 80 kilograms. This dou is equivalent to about 8 kilograms.

  As a unit of volume, one dou is equal to ten sheng. Modern one sheng weighs 1.25 jin, so one dou is equal to 12.5 jin. However, the sheng in the Tang Dynasty was equivalent to only 0.6 modern sheng. Therefore, one dou of rice in the Tang Dynasty weighed about 7.5 jin in modern times.

  Ordinary people's rice-buying peck is a wooden measuring container of one dou, which is equivalent to 7.5 jin in modern times, or about 5 jin and 5 liang during the Tang Dynasty.

  Vote for recommendation!