Chapter 8: Living Worse Than a Dog
The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Yuan Ye was woken by the cold.
In the winter of Japan’s Guanzhong region, you could say it’s cold, temperatures of five or six degrees Celsius don’t easily kill people, but you can’t say it’s not cold either, as this temperature is definitely not comfortable for humans, especially when sleeping under covers at night.
In medieval Japan, even sleeping was an ordeal.
Yuan Ye, longing for cotton quilts, heating, and air conditioning, got up and checked Meng Ziqi’s condition. He found that his situation was still the same, still in a deep sleep, and felt disappointed, but there was nothing he could do but continue to wait.
As soon as he made a sound, a corner of the straw curtain in the earthen floor room was lifted. Yayoi, her small face red from the cold, peeked in and then asked respectfully, “Lord Yuan Ye, are you getting up now?”
Yuan Ye was surprised that this young girl was already waiting at the door so early and quickly responded.
Yayoi directly rolled up the straw curtain and hung it above the door frame, then brought hot water and cotton cloth, soaked it, wrung it out, and prepared to help him wash his face and hands.
“I can do it myself,” Yuan Ye said, feeling a bit unaccustomed and quickly refusing.
Ever since he could remember, even as a child, he had washed his own face and brushed his own teeth. He hadn’t had many such experiences. After all, his father was a drunkard who not only neglected him but often beat and scolded him when drunk. His mother was said to have run off with someone long ago, so he didn’t even have a memory of her. His entire childhood was mostly spent at his uncle’s house and Meng Ziqi’s house. He was relatively independent from a young age, and once he had the ability to take care of himself, no one had ever helped him wash his face.
Yayoi hesitated, feeling it was different from what her mother had taught her, but she didn’t dare to insist on helping.
Yuan Ye ignored her, washed his own face, carefully wiped Meng Ziqi’s head, face, and neck, then retrieved his jacket and covered him with the quick-drying clothes. As soon as he finished, Yayoi quickly rushed to pour out the water. Yuan Ye didn’t stop her and took out a piece of tooth cleaning gel to replace brushing his teeth. This bottle would only last a little over a month, and he would have to consider how to maintain his dental health later, as there were no dentists to be found in this era.
He thought to himself as he put on his shoes, and also put on his hiking backpack. When Yayoi returned, she was surprised and said, “Lord Yuan Ye, breakfast is almost ready, are you going to…”
“Breakfast isn’t urgent, I’m going out for a walk.”
“Ah, this…”
Yayoi was somewhat bewildered but didn’t dare to stop him. After thinking for a moment, she cautiously followed behind him. Yuan Ye didn’t mind and walked straight out of the village, crossed the bridge, and followed the Odaigawa River towards the mountains.
Thirty minutes later, he stood on the mountain ridge, looking out at the Mount Ise Range again. Faint mist occasionally drifted through the mountains, but it was still very far from the dense mountain fog he had encountered before, when he couldn’t even see three feet in front of him.
“Lord Yuan Ye, are you going into the mountains?” Yayoi still followed behind him, asking with some worry, “There are bears, wild boars, and wolves in the deep mountains. Can you manage by yourself?”
Wild boar is another name for wild boar. At that time, the Emperor of Japan prohibited the consumption of meat, mainly four-legged animals, which led to the extinction of domestic pigs in Japan. Wild boars were also forced to change their names and become a type of fish – at that time, Japanese people considered whales to be fish.
Similarly, rabbits became birds, with their large ears being wings. Even in modern times, rabbits in Japan are counted by “feathers.”
Furthermore, the Onmyoji of the Heian period played a role in this, leading Japanese people to consider eating animal meat as impure, equating it to eating corpses. Yin-Yang Dao believed corpses were impure, and shrines did not allow cemeteries. Funerals were always handled by monks, making it a custom for the Japanese people not to eat animal meat, which lasted for nearly a thousand years. This also led to widespread malnutrition among people in ancient and medieval Japan, with everyone appearing to be only 1.4 meters tall.
Of course, this was just a custom. When people are starving, they eat anything. They didn’t always abstain from meat, especially the samurai class, who did eat meat and even considered it a medicine or supplement.
Therefore, there was a significant gap in height and weight between the samurai class and commoners in Japan. There were many “tall people” – a height of 1.7 meters was considered “tall” in Japan. Yuan Ye, at 1.79 meters barefoot, was definitely among the “tallest of the tall” in Japan, belonging to the absolute peak tier in terms of height.
However, this had nothing to do with Yuan Ye. He didn’t care if Japanese people were short or not. Seeing no signs of fog in the mountains, he turned and walked back down the mountain, saying to Yayoi, “Don’t worry, I’m not going into the mountains, I’m just coming out for a walk.”
Yayoi, who was only a little over a meter tall, ran up the mountain with her short legs. She hadn’t even caught her breath yet, but Yuan Ye stood on the mountain ridge for two minutes and wanted to go down again. She became even more bewildered and even felt dizzy – a result of malnutrition.
But she couldn’t do anything about it and could only follow him back.
Yuan Ye wasn’t too disappointed that the mountain fog didn’t reappear. He had only come to check with a slim hope and was prepared for a protracted battle. If the mountain fog reappeared, he would immediately go back and carry his foolish son into the mountains, gambling on whether he could return to the Modern Era. But since there was no fog now, he would begin executing his survival plan!
When he reached the vicinity of Hibitsu Village, he saw the environment he hadn’t clearly seen in the dark the previous night.
The village was surrounded by a rough wooden fence, with a simple wooden watchtower in one corner. Surrounding the village were large fields, which were more orderly near the Odaigawa River and more fragmented as they went towards the hills.
It was late winter, and the paddy fields were mostly dry, filled with the stubble left after harvesting rice. It was unclear whether the winter irrigation technique had not yet reached this area or if this area was unsuitable for such agricultural techniques.
There were also rows of bamboo frames by the fields, with many straw bundles hanging on them.
These were also important production materials. It was assumed that after the rice harvest in autumn, the straw was hung here to dry, and it could be used as needed without worrying about rot or mold.
This was also the main fodder for livestock such as cattle and horses in the following year. It could also be used for making straw bags for grain, repairing houses, and making torches.
Yuan Ye became interested as he watched and asked Yayoi, “How much land does the village have?”
Yayoi immediately replied, “There are 78 cho and 2 tan of fields.”
Yuan Ye was stunned for a moment, not quite accustomed to the various units of the Muromachi period: 5 square feet is 1 bu, 360 bu is 1 tan (6×60 or 12×30), also called 1 jo due to its shape, 10 tan is 1 cho, and 1 square cho is 1 tsubo, 6 tsubo is 1 ri.
This was the land area unit determined when Japan, based on the Tang Dynasty’s Land Equalization System, implemented the Handing Over and Receiving Land System. It was also called the Jo-ri system and was generally used until the end of the Muromachi period. There were several revisions and name changes in between, but the overall difference was not significant.
Yuan Ye calculated in his mind for a while, thinking the area was a bit small and wouldn’t be enough to support so many people in the village.
Yayoi seemed to sense something and cautiously added, “Lord, the village also has over 310 cho of dry fields and over 140 cho of gardens.”
Yuan Ye realized that at this time in Japan, “fields” referred only to paddy fields, dry fields were called “hatake,” and land not used for grain cultivation was called “sono” (gardens).
Among these, fields were further divided into grades such as upper-upper, upper, middle, and lower, with harvest yields differing by more than double. Dry fields also had similar grades but included abandoned land and fallow land. Gardens and residential land were remnants of the Handing Over and Receiving Land System. Residential land was for housing, and gardens were for cultivating economic crops such as mulberry, hemp (sesame, perilla, ramie, etc.), cotton, lacquer, bamboo, and indigo plants (a general term for various dyes).
Yuan Ye was not in the mood to delve into the agricultural planning policies of medieval Japan. He simply asked curiously, “How is the harvest, and is the annual tribute… well, the tenant rent… high?”
“It’s alright…” When it came to this topic, Yayoi became more cautious, stealing glances at his expression, and said in a low voice, “My father says it’s currently five parts for the lord and five parts for the farmer.”
“So, 50% of the harvest has to be handed over?” Yuan Ye nodded in understanding. Ten percent tax was a bit more than the roughly 30% combined tax rate of personal income tax, consumption tax, and urban construction tax in later generations, but it was better than he had imagined. He then asked with concern, “Will the rest be enough to eat?”
Yayoi wanted to speak but stopped, confirming again that Yuan Ye was indeed a noble person who knew nothing of the hardships of the world.
Yuan Ye noticed her expression and asked strangely, “Is that not right?”
Yayoi whispered, “Lord, you haven’t accounted for the rice for oxen, interest rice, additional land tax, soldier’s rations, and directly managed fields.”
“Rice for oxen, interest rice, additional land tax, soldier’s rations, and directly managed fields?”
Yayoi secretly observed Yuan Ye’s expression again. Seeing that he was merely curious and showed no signs of anger due to ignorance, she cautiously said, “The village needs to borrow oxen from the temple every year. After the harvest, we have to pay the temple rice for oxen, about one stone and two dou per ox.”
In this era, before planting, the land had to be tilled to turn in rice stubble, weeds, and other debris, and then water had to be stored. Only then could a new round of planting begin. This was a laborious task and an important factor affecting the harvest. Unless the family had sufficient strong laborers, it was best to use oxen. However, raising oxen was also expensive each year. Even if an ox didn’t work, it ate about 4 kilograms of straw, or 15 kilograms of green grass, or 3 dou of beans and buckwheat per day.
Let alone working. Dry grass, green grass, beans, and wheat had to be given together, otherwise, it would start to lose weight rapidly.
In addition, a large amount of salt was needed for the oxen to perform heavy physical labor continuously. About 100 grams of salt was given per day, sometimes even increased to 200 grams. During normal use, about 30 grams per day should be ensured, otherwise, the oxen would not work efficiently, get sick, or even die.
All these miscellaneous expenses added up, and raising an ox for a year was not a small sum. Moreover, they were easily stolen, so ordinary farmers dared not raise them and had to rent them instead.
After Yayoi’s detailed explanation, Yuan Ye understood and asked, “What about interest rice?”
“Sometimes, when the village encounters a bad harvest and cannot store enough grain before winter, they borrow grain from the temple. No matter what they borrow, they have to repay it with rice,” Yayoi explained cautiously. “Most of the time, they have to repay one loan with two, and sometimes one loan with three. If it cannot be repaid in one year, it will be repaid over two or three years, but interest rice is added every year.”
100%—200% interest? Or compound interest?
Are the monks so black-hearted? What about the promised compassion of Buddha? However, it seems that monks in all countries engage in usury, not just in Japan. No wonder monks are beaten in all countries and dynasties…
Yuan Ye muttered in his heart and continued to ask, “Then what are additional land tax and soldier’s rations?”
“Additional land tax is a reward for the samurai lords who work hard to manage the rice we pay, and it is not included in the five parts. It is shared by the entire village,” Yayoi said, becoming more cautious and frequently stealing glances at Yuan Ye’s expression. “Soldier’s rations are rice collected temporarily during wartime, and it is also not included in the five parts. It is… a token of our filial piety to the samurai lords who protect us.”
Management fees for low to mid-ranking samurai? Temporary war tax?
Yuan Ye pondered for a moment and then asked, “What about directly managed fields?”
“Directly managed fields are lands cultivated by labor conscripted by the main family, and all the harvest belongs to the main family,” Yayoi continued to explain to the “young master who knows nothing of the hardships of the world,” pointing to the best paddy field by the riverbank. “The more than thirty cho there are directly managed fields, which my father is responsible for leading people to cultivate. The annual harvest is entirely counted as annual tribute.”
Yuan Ye was speechless.
Alright, the feudal lords of medieval Japan are indeed cunning, even more so than capitalists. Besides various exorbitant taxes and levies, they directly conscript labor to farm and reap all the benefits for free. Their hearts are so black they don’t even reflect light anymore, do they?
Yuan Ye shook his head, looked at the dry fields far from the Odaigawa River, and asked again, “What about the dry fields? Besides the five-five split, is there anything else that needs to be paid?”
“No, but many dry fields have poor harvests, and if calculated in rice, it would be even less. After paying the annual tribute, there isn’t much left,” Yayoi, perhaps because her father was a low-ranking magistrate responsible for the village’s farming and tribute payment, was very clear about these matters. “In addition, our village has to pay feathers, fish glue, lacquer, lacquer seeds, straw bundles, hemp, hemp seeds, dried radish, dried turnips, bean paste, bamboo, wood… and some other things, I can’t recall them all right now. I’m sorry, Lord.”
She spoke softer and softer. Even though she was only ten years old, even though she was still a child, when she spoke of these things, it was as if a heavy mountain pressed down on her heart, making her involuntarily feel dejected.
Yuan Ye was even more speechless, remaining silent for a moment, losing his interest in inquiring about the customs and traditions of medieval Japan.
Roughly calculating, the working people of medieval Japan worked hard all year round, but the wealth they earned could only be about 20%, or even only 10%. This was something he had not expected before.
He had only known from books that peasants in feudal times had heavy burdens, but he never imagined they were so heavy. It truly embodied the saying, “Those who farm have no rice to eat, those who weave have no clothes to wear, and they live worse than dogs.”
However…
Are Japanese peasants so tolerant? With over 80% of their wealth taken away, why hasn’t anyone rebelled yet? If this were China, daring to collect taxes to this extent would have long ago prompted someone to rally the people, regardless of whether they were lords or emperors, even gods or demons would have been dragged out and beheaded!
In any case, he couldn’t accept it. No matter who it was, if they dared to exploit him like this, he would definitely resist!
He held back for a moment, not saying “How have you endured this long?” After all, he was just a traveler passing through time and had no intention of starting a revolution in Japan.
He silently glanced at the dejected, sallow-faced little girl in front of him, stopped talking about things that made her unhappy, changed to a lighter topic, and began to ask her about some common farming knowledge in medieval Japan.
Yayoi, being young, was quick to shift her attention and soon cheered up. Perhaps she had become numb to living like a dog. She began to explain in detail how their village farmed. Currently, the Nobi region of Japan used a peculiar two-crop system.
Early rice was planted before the plum rain season, and another crop of rice was planted as the plum rain season neared its end. At the same time, dry fields were planted with buckwheat, various beans, radishes, turnips, and taro (not much) according to the season. Then, both paddy fields and dry fields were harvested before the typhoon season began in July. After the typhoons subsided in mid-August, they quickly planted a second crop of buckwheat and beans, as well as a batch of turnips and radishes. After the harvest, agricultural production stopped, and they prepared for winter.
Well, buckwheat is not wheat. One is from the Polygonaceae family, and the other is from the Gramineae family. They only sound similar. These two crops are actually unrelated. Compared to wheat, buckwheat is not very tasty. Its advantage is that it grows quickly, and a harvest can be obtained in just over two months, making it a good supplement after the typhoon season. Therefore, buckwheat was also an important crop in medieval Japan.
The tradition of eating buckwheat noodles on New Year’s in later generations of Japan may have originated from this. In Chinese middle school textbooks, there is a story called “A Bowl of Yangchun Noodles,” where Yangchun noodles refer to buckwheat noodles.
Yuan Ye listened and thought, enriching his knowledge reserve in this unfamiliar era, while also repeatedly praising Yayoi for knowing so much and being so remarkable. This made Yayoi more and more shy, and her mood involuntarily improved again, as if the hardships mentioned earlier were temporarily forgotten.
She quite liked chatting with Yuan Ye, always feeling that he was different from other samurai, but she couldn’t pinpoint how.
Perhaps it was because Yuan Ye was willing to praise her, willing to joke with her, and willing to treat her like a person?
She couldn’t explain it, she didn’t understand. She only felt that Yuan Ye was a very good samurai lord, unlike other vulgar samurai.
The two chatted like this all the way back home.
Yayoi’s mother, Aping, was still confused. She was cooking when her daughter and the distinguished guest disappeared, leaving only an injured person sleeping soundly. Seeing them return together, she finally felt relieved and quickly invited the distinguished guest to dine.
The meal was still as meager as ever, mainly consisting of brown rice, radishes, and miso. But after hearing about the heavy burden of peasants in medieval Japan, and then looking at this meal, and then at Yayoi, who was sallow-faced and looked like a little chick, and Aping, whose face was also sallow, Yuan Ye felt a sense of guilt. He found it difficult to bring himself to eat the meal.
He had originally planned to stay at Yayoi’s house for a while, partly to learn more about the current era and be prepared, and partly to let his foolish son recover and see if he could wake up naturally. But now that they were so miserable, unable to even afford food, and he couldn’t produce a single coin, continuing to eat for free felt like committing a sin.
If Yayoi’s family went bankrupt, he wouldn’t know where to go with his foolish son.
Therefore, he felt that the survival plan might need a slight adjustment. He had to go and get some money first, at least to ensure he had enough to eat and wear!
