Chapter 7

As a student who had been orphaned in childhood and came from a poor family, Li Shan maintained an image of being a good-natured, diligent, and kind person, but he also had the characteristic of being a miser.

Watching Zhu's family generously share their first pot of gold with over two hundred households in the village to help pay four years of back taxes, Li Shan smiled warmly at everyone, saying that this was the right thing to do!

In this era, although social classes were almost fixed, "righteousness" was a hard currency, whether in the upper or lower classes. With the reputation of righteousness, one would be looked upon more favorably wherever they went. This was also the main reason for Zhu's generosity... Without the reputation of righteousness, how could Dou Jiande have gained the support of the heroes in Hebei?

Throughout the day, almost every household came to express their gratitude. Everyone knew that if they had to pay four years of back taxes, they would have to sell their houses and fields, and possibly even their children. If the male members of the household had died in battle, the family would be ruined.

When everyone was in a panic, Li Shan so "generously" contributed this secret recipe... What a man of righteousness!

According to Uncle Seven, this kind of secret recipe was a treasure that could be passed down through generations!

Adding to the rescue of Zhu Jie the previous day, Li Shan's reputation was thoroughly rehabilitated through the joint efforts of himself and his mother, Lady Zhu.

Facing Uncle Seven Zhu Wei's gratitude, Li Shan smiled, but his heart was like a knife being cut, and he felt as if his spirit had died...

As a穿越者 (time traveler), he had the ability to dig for the first pot of gold.

If one pot wasn't enough, he could just change to another one!

But could he change his mother?

Choosing tofu as his starting point, Li Shan had given it deep thought. On one hand, he was familiar with the trade, and on the other, he discovered that tofu was not yet popular in the Tang Dynasty. More importantly, he found that soybeans were not expensive.

Almost every household in the village stored soybeans because, compared to other vegetables, soybeans were easy to store long-term. Soybeans had a short growing period, and the main way to consume them was as bean porridge, which even commoners did not particularly enjoy. The villagers of Zhu Family Gully mainly stored soybeans to make fermented black beans.

Therefore, soybeans were very cheap at the time.

With so many people in Zhu Family Gully and so many cheap soybeans, plus the novelty of soy products, Li Shan could quickly accumulate his first pot of gold.

As a student who had relied on scholarships and poverty assistance to pay tuition and live during high school and college, having an empty pocket made Li Shan feel as if he could not survive from one day to the next.

In the room, Lady Zhu and Zhu Wei sat at the head of the table, while Li Shan, Zhu Ba, and a middle-aged man sat below. The little monk was still holding a bowl, drinking soy milk... It was neither sweet nor salty, and it was unclear how he could drink so much.

The middle-aged man was Zhu Wei's eldest son, Zhu Qi, who usually peddled goods from village to village and frequently went to the East and West Markets. Today, he and Zhu Ba had taken the tofu pudding... no, the "Jade Dew" to the city to inquire about the price.

Zhu Qi excitedly said, "When we showed it to the eldest son, he said it could be sent to the taverns, and it would sell for one coin per bowl..."

"Cough, cough." Zhu Wei coughed to remind his son.

"One coin?" Li Shan seemed not to have caught the significance, only finding the price a bit puzzling. What kind of price was this?

Zhu Qi explained a few things. After the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the old wuzhu coins were abolished, and the new Kaiyuan Tongbao coins were minted. One coin was one wen. It didn't sound like much, but in reality... a dou of rice now cost only four coins.

A dou in the Tang Dynasty was equivalent to about 12.5 catties in modern times, meaning that the price of rice was roughly one coin for about 3.5 catties, which would be about 10 yuan in modern terms.

"Too little?" Li Shan was a bit dissatisfied. "At such a low price, will it be enough for the 218 households in the village to pay four years of back taxes?"

In Li Shan's view, this was a quick profit, and it would be hard to keep it a secret. If the price wasn't set a bit higher, the first pot of gold would be a bit meager.

Zhu Qi counted on his fingers, "There are 218 households in the village, with 327 adult males. Each adult male needs to pay two dou of millet, one dou of millet costs three coins, and each household needs to pay two zhang of silk and three liang of cotton. One bolt of silk is equivalent to one dou of rice, and one catty of cotton is half a dou of rice..."

While Zhu Qi was still counting on his fingers, Li Shan had already calculated it in his head, "Each year, the adult males need to pay a total of 1,962 coins, and each household needs to pay 654 coins for silk and cotton, making a total of 2,616 coins."

"Over four years, that's 10,464 coins, or 10 guan and 464 coins."

"The Jade Dew sells for one coin per bowl, and if we sell 100 bowls a day, after deducting costs, we would make 70 coins a day, which would take 150 days."

"Would the government wait 150 days if the taxes really needed to be paid?"

Zhu Wei and his son looked at Li Shan in amazement. In this era, such arithmetic skills could qualify one for the imperial examinations, especially the mathematics section.

Li Shan himself didn't think much of it and was still calculating in his mind, "It might not be necessary to pay four years of back taxes, but we can't be unprepared... Uncle Seven, what if I can prevent the temple from being abolished?"

"Really?!"

"If we have to pay four years of back taxes, that's one thing, but the corvée labor..." Li Shan whispered, "Yesterday in the city, I heard that Liu Heitan in Hebei had defeated the Tang army, and Dingzhou, Qizhou, and Jizhou had already fallen..."

The meaning of this was simple: if the temple was abolished, whether Zhu Family Gully provided 100 soldiers or performed corvée labor, they would most likely be sent to Hebei, where the chances of survival were slim.

Zhu Wei paced back and forth, then waved his hand and shouted, "Call everyone, and follow the young master's instructions!"

Two hours later, Li Shan, Zhu Wei, and others climbed the mountain to the temple. Li Shan walked around the temple, making the dozens of monks and the villagers who accompanied them run around.

"The ground is clean... just fill that pit with gravel from the river!"

"Bring more gravel, there's plenty by the Jing River, and pave the mountain path outside."

"Hey, why haven't you put away the cured meat on the wall?!"

"What are these chicken feathers for... Uncle Dumb, take them back and make a duster!"

Zhu Wei looked at this scene in confusion. Was this enough?

"Of course not." Li Shan crossed his arms and put them in his sleeves. "First, the Buddhist scriptures. A temple without Buddhist scriptures is a joke."

"They've been gone for a long time." Uncle Six, who had been cold to Li Shan the day before, was now particularly attentive, as his eldest son, Zhu Jie, had been saved by Li Shan.

"Does the village have ink, paper, and brushes?"

"Yes."

Li Shan's grandfather in his previous life had been a Buddhist believer, though Li Shan himself was not. However, he was not unfamiliar with Buddhist scriptures and had even recited them before his time travel, just to find peace of mind. He wasn't sure if the scriptures he knew had been published yet.

"Second, we need an old monk who is well-versed in Buddhist teachings to preside over the temple. When high monks visit, they must discuss Buddhism."

Uncle Six waved his hand in disappointment, "If we had an old monk who was well-versed in Buddhist teachings, would we be worried about the temple being abolished?"

Li Shan pondered for a moment. He couldn't take the lead himself... a 16-year-old abbot would be too fake, and shaving his head would be cold in winter.

Calculating, he remembered that Xuanzang was still young at the time and had only started his journey to the West during the Zhenguan era. As the imperial brother, he was already very interested in the scriptures from India at this time.

However, just offering the scriptures without a high monk to discuss Buddhism seemed a bit light.

Pacing back and forth, Li Shan saw Uncle Dumb helping outside and suddenly had an idea, "Uncle Dumb, I have a good job for you!"

What was this?

This was a desperate plan.

Watch how you discuss Buddhism!