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

Chapter 103 Kaifu Yitong Sansi

When Guo Erlang heard that Li Yi had returned, he specially brought a duck.

"This duck is fat, just right for welcoming you."

Guo Erlang was becoming more and more polite to Li Yi. Li Yi didn't want to be polite to him either. He called Xiuzhi and said, "Kill this duck. I'll make beer duck later."

"Wuyi, what's going on with this expedition?"

The news of Qin Wang's great victory in Jingzhou and the annihilation of the Xue family in one fell swoop spread back to Chang'an as soon as possible, and the court also specially sent people to announce it to all counties and townships.

As the news became public, the people of Guanzhong cheered.

Finally, there was no need to worry about the Longyou army coming to Guanzhong, and as a result, prices of all kinds of goods in Chang'an also fell, especially the price of grain, which finally returned to the old price of a bushel of rice and a piece of silk before the war.

Guo Erlang thought about how Li Yi had easily earned more than 200,000 yuan by pulling more than ten carts of grain, and he couldn't help but slap his legs with regret.

"This battle was quite intense, even a bit tortuous."

Li Yi sat under a jujube tree in the front yard and began to speak to everyone. He was quite eloquent. He talked about how Li Mi of the Central Plains defeated Yu Wenhuaji before the expedition, how Liu Gan, the governor of Jingzhou, was defeated and killed, and his entire army was annihilated just before the expedition, and how Chang Da, the governor of Longzhou, was kidnapped by the Longzhou army after pretending to surrender, leading to the fall of Longzhou.

When he talked about how Liang Shi led 5,000 soldiers out of Gaocheng City and stationed them on the high ground of Qianshuiyuan, resisting the fierce attack of the Longyou Army for seven days, and how Pang Yu led 5,000 soldiers out of the city to reinforce, but was almost defeated by Zhai Changsun's armored cavalry,
Everyone exclaimed from time to time,
When he heard that the King of Qin was leaving the city, he personally led dozens of brave cavalrymen to go around the enemy's rear, attacked the enemy from the side and rear, defeated the enemy in one fell swoop, and then led two thousand elite cavalrymen all the way to the foot of Zhecheng City, trapped Xue Rengao, blocked the defeated soldiers from retreating into the city, and finally forced Xue Rengao to surrender.
Guo Erlang was so excited when he heard this.

"It's really incredible. The road is so bumpy and unpredictable. If you're not careful, the consequences will be disastrous."

Li Yi looked back at this battle and thought it was quite remarkable.

Li Jing's suggestion to lure out the enemy and tire them out was crucial.

But the most amazing thing was that after defeating the enemy at Qianshuiyuan, Li Shimin did not listen to Dou Gui's advice to wait and see, but seized the opportunity and immediately rushed to Zhecheng City and surrounded Xue Rengao, neither allowing him to escape nor to gather the defeated troops.

Thinking back to the last battle at Qianshuiyuan,

The Tang army was badly defeated, with more than 30,000 of the 50,000 soldiers killed. However, the Xue army did not seize this opportunity and failed to rush to Changwu City with its elite cavalry to surround Changwu and intercept the defeated soldiers. This is why Li Shimin later relied on the defeated soldiers he had gathered and the few soldiers in the city.

Li Shimin managed to launch a surprise night attack to turn the tide.

Liu Heizi said to his former owner Guo Erlang with some pride: "My son has made great contributions this time and has been awarded the fourth rank. Now he has accumulated seven ranks and is now a Kaifu Yitong Sansi, a fourth-rank official. He has also been awarded the post of Bingyi Wei, an eighth-rank official.

Your Majesty also gave my son Alang a silver belt, two brocade robes, a jar of imperial wine, a hundred bolts of silk, two fine horses, and four slaves."

Guo Erlang was shocked, his eyes full of envy.

"Wu Yi also put on his armor and went into battle to kill the enemy? Is this to kill the general and seize the flag?"

"Hahaha, I don't have that ability. I just help make fried rice for the military supplies and do some clerical work."

"Seventh level of honor, with ten hectares of honorary fields!" Guo Erlang exclaimed.

"Really? I didn't notice that." Li Yi really didn't understand.

"Of course there are. Although an official's nobility land, honorary land, and permanent land are not given together, but only the highest one is given, you were originally only a county baron, and your permanent land was 500 acres. Now you have been promoted to the seventh level of honor, and your honorary land is 1,000 acres, so the court will grant you another 500 acres of land." Guo Erlang slapped his thigh, more excited than Li Yi.

Li Yi said "oh".

He could get another 500 mu of land, which was a permanent property, not the kind of land that was allocated to the family and returned to the family upon his death. However, according to convention, he might be granted land in a wide area, that is, a place with a lot of land and a small population, and it was impossible to grant it in the capital.

If it is too far, these 500 acres of land can only be rented out temporarily to collect rent, with the income of six or eight dou or one shi per acre.

"Why wasn't he given an official position?" Guo Erlang sighed.

After chatting for a while, Li Yi asked Chen Liang and Heizi to invite Dong Xiucai, Feng Xiangzuo, and Wang Lizheng to dinner separately.

Xiuzhi prepared the duck, and Li Yi made a beer duck.

If you don't have beer, use ale, it works just as well.

The duck stewed with beer has no fishy smell but is very fragrant.

The ducks raised by Village Chief Guo usually eat snails, frogs, etc., and the meat is very good.

Add a piece of old ginger, two slices of dried mountain ash, two star anise, a small piece of cinnamon, and some green onions. You don’t need too many spices.

Putting less will bring out the original flavor of the duck.

Cook some bean curd sheets, some bean soup, some tofu pickles, and stir-fry some vegetables. Unlike the wealthy families, our home does not have an ice cellar, so not only can we have cold drinks in the summer, but we can also freeze some meat to keep it fresh.

"Add another dish."

Dong Xiucai came in carrying a piece of bacon.
This was the tuition fees he usually received from his students. Li Yi also gave him several pieces when he became his disciple.

"Why did you bring meat, teacher?" Li Yi said with a smile.

"Hurry up and do it, why are you talking so much?" Dong Xiucai was very happy to hear that the students had returned safely, and came over immediately.

"How about I make steamed bacon and stir-fried bacon with dried tofu?"

"I'll eat it the way you cook it." Dong Xiucai still has great faith in his students' cooking skills. He is very satisfied every time he comes to eat. Even a simple dish like Tuotuo meat can be delicious.

Guests arrived one after another.
No one came empty-handed. I knew we were here to eat, so I brought ingredients with me.

Feng Liulang, the deputy governor of Feng County, brought two carp. Li Yi braised one and pan-fried the other. Wang Lizheng brought a chicken and stir-fried it.

Village chief Wang brought a soft-shelled turtle, weighing about two or three pounds, and stewed it directly into soup.

Li Yi is very good at cooking. He has a smokeless wood stove, a large cast iron pot, and a small forged wok at home, which makes it very convenient for him to cook and he can make several dishes at the same time.

Xiuzhi helped him by washing and cutting the ingredients.

It's dark,

A table full of dishes is also ready,

Today's meal is quite late.

But the food is hard.

Beer duck, steamed bacon, bacon fried with dried tofu, bean curd and three delicacies stew, bean curd soup, pickled vegetable and tofu, braised carp, pan-fried fish, stir-fried chicken with red onions, turtle soup,

Add stir-fried water spinach and scallions, and there are twelve dishes, both meat and vegetables. It's truly luxurious.

"I brought back the imperial wine that Your Majesty gifted me from Jingzhou. Let's drink it together."

Yellow wine brewed from soft millet,
Although it was not a tribute wine for the imperial court, it was purchased by the royal family as a gift to the victorious soldiers, and it was of a better quality.

The seal is opened,

The aroma of wine is strong.

Dong Qilang helped pour wine for everyone.

Mayor Wang raised his glass and stood up, "This first toast is to congratulate Wuyi on his triumphant return and success."

Let’s raise a toast together.

In the eyes of the villagers, Li Yi had only been on the expedition for a month, but he had actually won the fourth-level honor, which was quite remarkable, not to mention that he also had an eighth-rank casual position.

Although it is a casual position with no duties, it is still an official position.

"I'll toast to everyone too,"

I drank three cups first.
Dong Xiucai said, "Stop drinking and eat. Wuyi worked so hard to prepare such a big table. Don't get drunk and forget to eat the delicious food."

Everyone laughs,

So I picked up the chopsticks to pick up the food.

Li Yi's dinner party still followed his old habit of eating together, unlike other wealthy families or scholarly families who had separate meals.
Li Yi felt that it would be more lively if everyone sat around a large table and ate together.

As for cleanliness and hygiene, just put out two pairs of serving chopsticks.

"Oh, is this the duck I just brought? How come it has no fishy smell, and the meat is not tough or dry but so tender?" Guo Lizheng praised it highly.

"It's stewed with beer and some dried hawthorn, which makes it cook faster and the meat more fragrant." Of course, he also added some peeled star anise, old ginger, garlic slices, and green onions.

The chicken fried with green onions is also delicious.

"If Wuyi wasn't so capable, he would have been a lord. Your cooking skills are good enough for you to be a head chef in Guanglu Temple." Guo Erlang sighed.

"With Wuyi's cooking skills, he must be admitted to the Imperial Food Bureau of the Palace." Feng Liulang said with a smile.

Both the Guanglu Temple and the Shangshi Bureau prepared imperial meals, but their duties differed. For example, the Guanglu Temple was primarily responsible for preparing imperial banquets, as well as meals for the prime minister and other court officials.

The Shangshi Bureau was under the jurisdiction of the Palace Province and was responsible for preparing imperial meals for the emperor. It also had the responsibility of tasting food.

There were a few luxurious oil lamps lit in the corridor.

And lighted pinewood torches,
Li Yi drank and ate meat while fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan. Although the conditions were a bit simple, the atmosphere was quite good.

We ate and talked until very late.

Send the guests away one by one,

Li Yi returned to the hospital.
Liu Heizi sighed and said, "I used to work as a farmhand for Guo Erlang in Guozhuang. Guo Erlang was the king of farmhands. Wang Lizheng, Wang Xiangzhang, Feng Xiangzuo, Dong Xiucai and others were all legendary figures, so far away and unattainable.
I never thought they would be so flattering to you, Alang. Even Guo Erlang was very polite to me. He just pulled me aside and told me not to bear grudges against him for beating me and driving me away in the past.

"We are all well-off people in the village, so we look out for each other. It can't be said to be fawning."

People are divided into groups, or in other words, people are divided into classes.

Of course, Guo Erlang couldn't be on close terms with Liu Heizi, but he could naturally be on close terms with Li Yi. In fact, as Li Yi's status continued to rise, he did try to curry favor with him.

"You should go back and rest early too. A short separation is better than a new marriage. But remember to take it easy, so you don't get sore back and weak legs tomorrow." Li Yi patted his arm and went back to the inner courtyard of the East Courtyard.

This night,
Little tabby flower slept with him,

The purring sound of the cat was particularly hypnotic, allowing Li Yi to sleep very peacefully and soundly.

When it was dawn, Li Yi washed up and went to Chang'an, taking only Chen Liang and Zhang Cao with him.

There's still a lot to do after I come back.

The fish token of the military officer in the field camp had to be returned, which was considered as the end of his job.

In addition, he had to collect the two horses, four slaves and one hundred pieces of silk awarded to him by the court.

Bridgehead,

Luo Sanniang has been busy for a while.
Li Yi said hello and didn't stop. He rushed for forty miles to Chang'an, sweating all over.

The person on duty at the city gate was an acquaintance of mine, Qiu Shenyan. They had known each other since the last time they bought grain. Li Yi, who often went in and out of the city gate, was also an old acquaintance of this Captain Qiu.

"Good morning, Li Daizhao,"

"Good morning, Captain Qiu."

Qiu Shenyan chatted with him for a while. His uncle Qiu Xinggong was also one of the commanders-in-chief of the last expedition. Now he was appointed as the governor of Lingzhou and led his troops to garrison Lingwu.

Qiu Shenyan always lamented that he was unable to participate in the last expedition, otherwise he could have earned a few medals. Last time, all those who went on the expedition were awarded one medal, and those who had meritorious service were awarded additional medals. It was so enviable.

This made Li Yi admire the martial spirit of the Tang people. From the nobles and sons of aristocratic families to the common people, everyone was eager to go to the battlefield and wanted to make meritorious deeds.

After finally getting away from his nagging, Li Yi rushed back to Pingkangfang.

When the Silla maid saw him after entering the inner courtyard, she dropped the needlework in her hands, threw herself into Li Yi's arms, and screamed excitedly.

Ji came out of the room upon hearing the sound, and when she saw Li Yi, she also smiled.

"Come here, let's cuddle."

Ji's face turned red, but she finally came over and hugged him.

"Alang,"

A woman from Ah Fu's family came over and said, "Someone from the Qin Palace is here to summon Ah Lang."

(End of this chapter)