A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 1 Change of Dynasty
Midnight,

In the study, Li Yi was still sitting in front of the computer, typing away on the keyboard. There was a half-full pot of strong tea on the table, and the ashtray was full of cigarette butts.

Snapped!
The room suddenly fell into darkness.
out of battery.

Li Yi cursed under his breath, grabbed his phone and turned on the screen. It was 2:03 in the morning. Why was there a power outage at this time? He stood up and looked out the window. There was no light in the building opposite, and even the street lights downstairs were out.

It seems that the power outage was not at home.

Grabbing the cigarette and lighter, I left the room and went to the terrace.

A cool night with sparse stars and pale moon.

It was very quiet at two o'clock in the morning, as if he was the only one who hadn't fallen asleep yet.

Leaning on the terrace railing, lighting a cigarette,

He smoked half, and the wind smoked half, half went into the breeze and half went into his throat.

After smoking a cigarette, the battery still didn't come back on. The lack of power and internet made him anxious and very uncomfortable.

On this quiet night, he looked up at the starry sky boredly and found that it seemed like he hadn't looked at the starry sky in the night breeze for a long time.

Suddenly, a meteor streaked across the sky, leaving a long tail and shining brightly.

Some people say that if you make a wish when a shooting star passes by, it will come true.

"If only I could be a teenager again,"

It’s a pity that flowers may bloom again, but people can never be young again.

Li Yi sighed as he looked at the shining meteors. He felt helpless when he reached middle age. It was not easy to take care of old parents and young children. Even the passion between husband and wife had long been worn out by the daily necessities of life, and life was dull and uneventful.

I can't win no matter how I roll, and I can't lie flat no matter how I lie.
The burden on my shoulders is so great that I can hardly breathe.
He was still writing novels as a side job in the middle of the night.

The shooting star shines brightly,

"Fuck!"

Li Yi looked at the meteor in shock, which seemed to be heading towards him.
In a flash, a meteorite as big as a fist hit Li Yi. It was too fast and there was no time to dodge.

…………

Midsummer countryside,
Li Yi stood there blankly.

There are rice fields crisscrossing and poplar trees towering before you.

The breeze blows gently, the rice seedlings sway, and the egrets fly.

The wind carries the unique freshness of the rice fields.
What a charming scenery of the Jiangnan water town, but some confused memories in his mind reminded him that this was not Jiangnan, but Yusuku River in the south of Chang'an City.

It is backed by the majestic Shenheyuan and faces the winding Hehe Beach. Forty miles to the north is the capital city of Chang'an, and not far to the south is the majestic Qinling Zhongnan Mountains.

Li Yi could not imagine that there was such a water town at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain.
What was even more unexpected was that after he was hit by a meteor that night, he became a completely different person when he woke up.

An eighteen-year-old Taoist priest named Wu Yi, an ancient man who lived more than a thousand years ago.

Li Yi replaced Wu Yi and became a Taoist priest at Wuji Temple in Yusu Township, Shenheyuan, south of Chang'an City.

"Master Wuyi!"

Hearing shouts from afar, Li Yi looked up and saw a skinny young man with his hair tied into two corners, bare back, and wearing only knee-length trousers running towards him.

"Master Wuyi, Guo Erlang is looking for you and is in the temple."

Li Yi recognized the young man as Heiwa, the shepherd boy of Village Chief Guo Erlang's family.

"Ah."

Li Yi walked towards the Wuji Temple on the hilltop at the foot of the cliff at the head of the village.
Wuji Temple has long been in ruins, but according to Taoist Li, it has a long history. It was built by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, to commemorate the meritorious official Ji Xin. It was originally named Yutian Wuji Palace.

In the past, there were also constant incense offerings.

But six years ago, an evil dragon broke out in Shibianyu, upstream of the Hehe River, destroying 24 villages along the Hehe River, submerging countless fertile fields, and gravel and silt also destroyed more than ten miles of riverbed paddy fields.

That year was the eighth year of Daye, and also the beginning of Emperor Daye's three expeditions to Goguryeo. The people on both sides of the Hehe River were hit even harder and had no choice but to leave their homes and beg for food to survive.

Later, the old Taoist took the ten-year-old Taoist boy Wuyi away from Wuji Temple and began to travel around. He was gone for six years and just came back not long ago.

But when I came back, something went wrong.

Because the section of Shenheyuan where Wuji Temple is located is also known as Juelongling, it is as steep as a cliff. A few days ago, there was a heavy rain and the cliff collapsed. Wuji Temple and half of the cave dwellings of Luojiabao at the west end were destroyed, resulting in heavy casualties.

Taoist Li is dead.

Wu Yiben was also dead, and Li Yi resurrected him by using his body.

There is a tall soapberry tree in front of Wuji Temple, with a crown like an umbrella. It is said that it was planted by Emperor Gaozu of Han after he built the Yutian Wuji Palace for his meritorious minister Ji Xin. If this is true, then the tree has a history of more than 800 years.

The trees are still lush, but the Wuji Temple has long been dilapidated. Originally it had two courtyards, east and west, and covered an area of ​​more than two acres. Now it has long been abandoned. Half of the roof of the Sanqing Hall has collapsed, and the buildings have also collapsed, leaving only a few walls.

For this reason, after the Taoist priest and Wu Yi came back, they had to clean up the earthen cave under the cliff behind Guanhou where they had originally stored miscellaneous items and temporarily live there. As a result, a heavy rain caused the cave to collapse.

Muramasa Kuojiro, wearing a black hat, stood under the big soapberry tree waiting for him.
"This section of cliff has collapsed for the third time in the past hundred years, resulting in hundreds of casualties." Guo Erlang shook his head. "I never thought that Taoist Li would encounter this incident right after returning."

"Wuyi, what are your plans next?"

Li Yi still hasn't come back to his senses.

Guo Cunzheng patted his shoulder.

"I have something important to tell you. The dynasty has changed. Seven days ago, that is, on May 14th, the Emperor of Chang'an Yining abdicated the throne to the Prime Minister, King Tang, and was demoted to the Duke of Feng. Yesterday, the new emperor ascended the throne in the Taiji Hall, offered sacrifices to heaven and earth in the southern suburbs, issued a general amnesty, named the country the Great Tang, and changed the second year of Sui Yining to the first year of Tang Wude." Li Yi was shocked by the news again.

Change of dynasty, founding of the Tang Dynasty?
The meteor suddenly took him back more than 1,400 years.

"The imperial court has also ordered local prefectures and counties to investigate hidden households, resettle refugees, and carefully select monks and Taoists, forcing those who are fake to return to secular life. You don't have a monastic certificate, do you?"

Li Yi shook his head. He knew from Wuyi's memory that Wuyi was an abandoned baby picked up by Taoist Li in Chang'an City, brought back to the Taoist temple and adopted and raised. Although Wuyi had been wearing Taoist robes since he was a child, he did not have a certificate of ordination issued by the government.

"If you don't have a certificate of ordination, you must return to secular life. Otherwise, you will be punished with 100 strokes of the cane and a year of imprisonment, unless you spend 30,000 coins to buy a certificate of ordination now."

"I want to return to secular life." Li Yi answered directly. He didn't have 30,000 yuan and didn't want to continue being a Taoist priest. He might as well take this opportunity to return to secular life.

Guo Cunzheng nodded with satisfaction. He also came here with a mission today.

When the Tang Dynasty was first established, it urgently needed to increase the population, especially the households that had to pay taxes and perform military service. However, monks, nuns, Taoists, and nuns, who were monks, did not pay taxes or perform military service. In particular, many landlords and powerful people registered as monks in name only to evade taxes and military service.

This is something the court cannot allow.

The tasks were pressed down layer by layer from above, and as the village chief, he had no choice. Wuyi agreed to return to secular life so readily, and naturally everyone was happy.

"Then I'll go find Li Zheng Wang to register your ID and report it to the county for naturalization."

Guo Cunzheng completed the task and left with satisfaction.

Li Yi squatted alone under the big soapberry tree, feeling confused.

How did I travel through time to the Tang Dynasty? What will happen to my parents, wife and children at home?
He hasn't even paid off the mortgage on the house he bought for over one million.

My stomach is rumbling, I'm hungry.

But Li Yi looked at the Wuji Temple in front of him, which had been abandoned for six years and was already in ruins, and the earthen cave behind him that had collapsed and buried him.

Speechless.

He had no place to stand.
It can be said that apart from this person, I really have nothing.

This is too tragic.

It was after the summer solstice, and the rice seedlings in the rice fields on both sides of the Hehe River were green and growing well. There were also many villagers in the fields, leaning on sticks and weeding with their feet.

The He River in front of us is one of the eight rivers in Chang'an.

It originates from Shibianyu in Zhongnan Mountain, flows from the southeast to the foot of the plateau, makes a big turn, turns to flow northwest, and finally merges with the Xiu River into the Xiao River.

The banks of the Sanshilihe River, which flows out of Shibianyukou, were once fertile rice fields covering tens of thousands of mu.
The bend of the He River is wider than the river of Fanchuan. Therefore, this river was formerly called the Fu River. It is very wide and has a strong flow.

But after the Nielong mudslide, gravel and sand accumulated in the river channel and riverbank. Many of the originally fertile rice fields have now turned into sand and have had to be converted into dry fields. Large areas were even left barren due to the Sui Dynasty chaos.

On summer nights, the sound of frogs fills the air, turning the beach into a toad beach.

At this time, many new straw sheds were built along the sand canal on the south bank.

They were the disaster victims from Luojiabao, west of Wuji Temple. There were originally 24 households there, but more than half of their cave dwellings were destroyed, and six households were wiped out.

The villagers temporarily moved to the south bank of the rice field and built straw huts with straw.

The towering mountain in the south is Mount Zhongnan.
To the east is Shenheyuan, one of the four ancient plateaus in Chang'an, and is as famous as Bailuyuan and Shaolingyuan.

Chang'an has been the capital of emperors since ancient times because of its one mountain, two rivers, three passes, four plateaus and five towns.

My stomach was rumbling non-stop and I was so hungry that I felt like my stomach was so sore.

Li Yi looked at the water of the He River and thought, why not try to catch some fish or shrimp to solve the problem first.

I stood up, and my vision went dark.
When he regained consciousness, Li Yi discovered that there was something more in the depths of his consciousness.

It turned out to be his own house.

Between thoughts,

The divine consciousness appeared on the terrace,

I chose this house because of the terrace garden and spent tens of thousands of dollars more on it.

There was fog all around.

Back inside, it was dimly lit.

I went to the study and found my spare cell phone, unwilling to give up.

After a long time, Li Yi found out in despair that there was no water, no electricity, no internet, no natural gas, and no way to leave.

This once warm home is now cold and dark.

The hunger pangs came again.
Li Yi found a pack of White Elephant bone soup instant noodles in the kitchen.
The next moment, his consciousness returned to normal and he was still under the shade of the big soapberry tree in front of Wuji Temple.

It's like a dream,
But the instant noodles in my hand are real.
Looking at the green mountains and clear waters in front of him, Li Yi actually breathed a sigh of relief.

"Brother,"

In the distance, a thin, small, yellow-haired girl with two buns was walking towards us under the sun.

"My father asked you to come to my house for breakfast."

　I have just started a new book, please support me. I hope to write a different story this time.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)