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

Chapter 107 Picking up four treasures

Pingkangfang, Li Yi's house,

In the front yard, a willow basket of mutton Hu pancakes was piled in front of four Red-line Qiang. Li Yi kept his word and ordered exactly sixty-five Hu pancakes, each made with three taels of mutton.

"Eat it, this is the reward you deserve," Li Yi said with a smile.

Four red-clad Qiang slaves stood there covered with felt, and there was some surprise in their eyes when they saw a real pile of Hubing.

"eat!"

Li Dejiang was translating beside him.

After hesitating for a moment, the four of them hurried forward to take them, not caring that they were still very hot after coming out of the oven. They took several at once, biting one in their mouths and holding several in their hands.

"Eat slowly, don't rush, it's all yours."

At this time, Ji Sujun brought the women from Afu's family and Agui's family, and brought a small bucket of soup.

"Eat mutton offal soup with Hu pancakes. Don't choke."

Ji placed a basket of meat pancakes on the stone table and said, "This is for you, Alang."

Li Yi invited Li Dejiang to eat together.

Li Erlang didn't hesitate to grab one and started eating it in big mouthfuls.

Ji said to Li Yi with red eyes: "Thank you, Alang."

"Why thank me? You are my woman. If you don't want to go back, no one can force you. This is my home, and it's your home too."

These words made Ji cry.

Thinking back to her grand wedding, her uncles and brothers were all very kind to her. But less than a month after the wedding, her father-in-law was involved in a treason case, and all the uncles and brothers of the Ji family changed their attitude, even ignoring her own brothers.

Not only did they avoid it, they also took the initiative to declare that they were severing ties and drawing a clear line.

After she was sent to the palace, she did not receive a single letter or greeting from home for five years. Even after she had been out of the palace for so long, no one from her family came to see her.

But today, a group of Ji family servants suddenly came and wanted to take her back.

Ji refused, and they wanted to take her away by force. Fortunately, Li Erlang from next door helped to stop them.

"For my sake, Alang offended them. It's all my fault..."

"Don't say those words. I don't regret it. I said you are my woman. If you don't want to leave, I won't let anyone else take you away.

Besides, the fact that they broke into my house today and brought people with them shows that they don’t take me, Li Yi, seriously. In that case, why should I be polite to them?

Even if the case is brought before the emperor, I am not afraid."

"Hurry up and eat your pancakes. It's past dinner time." Li Yi gave Ji a mutton pancake and a bowl of mutton soup.

Today, the servants of Li's house also benefited from the presence of four Chi Pai Qiang.
Ah Fu's three couples, Liu Heizi and Chen Liang also had the privilege of eating meat pancakes.

"Brother Wuyi, you actually put pepper in this mutton Hu pancake. How generous." Li Dejiang praised. Pepper is so precious, yet he actually put it in the Hu pancake for the servants.

Li Yi chuckled. The last time he cooked for Li Shimin and the others in Jingzhou, he took the opportunity to replenish some food. He still had plenty on hand.

The four Qiang slaves devoured the food voraciously. They were really good eaters. Out of the sixty-five of them, they managed to finish it all and each of them drank several large bowls of soup.

Looking tall and thin,
Unexpectedly, they could eat so much. Li Yi was worried that they would die of overeating, so he specially made some hawthorn water for them to help digest the food.

If you die from overeating, it would be funny and a big loss.

But he was obviously redundant.
After eating, these guys wiped their mouths, patted their bellies, and then lay down on the porch. They pulled up their blankets and fell into a deep sleep.

It can be seen that he has not eaten or slept well these days.
After eating and drinking, he fell asleep directly.

"These beast slaves are really free and easy." Li Erlang, who was determined to become a hero in Chang'an, laughed.

Liu Heizi chuckled a few times, "I said I would practice with them after I'm full."

"You just saw what they're capable of, and you still dare to brag about taking on four alone?"

Facing Li Yi's direct gaze, Liu Heizi didn't dare to brag anymore. "In terms of strength, none of the four of them are my match, but looking at their attacks just now, they were all very fierce. If it weren't for Alang saying that we can only knock them down and not kill or cripple them, I think these people could kill one of them in a few moves."

Li Erlang laughed beside him, "Those are truly fierce Qiang warriors. They must be the elite soldiers around the chief. They are not ordinary Qiang herdsmen. These are veterans."

"Wuyi, you've picked up a treasure. You actually picked up four elite soldiers."

Li Yi was also a little surprised. He originally thought that the Chi Pai Qiang were just tough, but he didn't expect them to be so tough.

The only headache is that they don't speak Chinese and can't understand.
"This is easy to solve. Just buy another Qiang slave who can understand and speak Chinese."

"Ah, these four are from the Chipai Qiang tribe. They are from different tribes, so they probably can't speak the same language, right?"

"The Qiang tribes in Longyou all speak similarly, but their speech is quite different from that of the Qiang tribes west of Jiannan. There are actually still many Qiang tribes in Longyou in Chang'an."

"After our last victory in Jingzhou, many Qiang people under Xue Rengao surrendered. Among them was a chieftain named Pang Yidi. He and his 3,000 Qiang soldiers have been summoned to Chang'an by the Sage. He said they would be relocated to the Nanshan area and incorporated into the military headquarters as Qiang cavalry."

Since Li Yuan became emperor,
The Tang army had also been reorganizing its troops. After entering Guanzhong, the number of troops they recruited, including the Hedong rebel army, totaled more than 200,000.

It was reorganized from the original three commanders on the left and three commanders on the right to the current twelve guards, four prefectures and ten commanders of the prince.

At present, there are about 160,000 troops stationed in Guanzhong, and they are also recruiting and reorganizing troops in Hedong, Shannan and other places.

For example, when Li Yuan went south, the Hedong righteous army, after he became emperor, settled some of those who were willing to stay in Guanzhong in the seven counties of Weibei, and granted them the best farmland. There were about 30,000 people, and they were called the Emperor's Yuancong. Fathers, sons, and brothers were allowed to replace each other, so they were also called the Father-Son Army.

These 160,000 people were divided into various cavalry and chariot cavalry offices, and were affiliated with the Twelve Guards, the Prince's Ten Commanderies, etc., and were stationed in a cross-distributed manner. The large office was called the cavalry office, and the small office was called the chariot cavalry office.

These reorganized soldiers were stationed in various places, granted land, and their families were also settled with the army. The place where the military headquarters was located was called a dituan.

The soldiers worked on the farm during the busy farming season and trained during the slack season. They took turns guarding Chang'an or guarding the border. In the event of war, they would be recruited and assembled, and had to provide their own food and clothing.

In general, the Tang army was very efficiently integrated. From the Sui official army in Guanzhong to the bandits, local militias, and hostile separatist forces in various places, they integrated wherever possible and absorbed the elite, making the Tang army more and more regular and more capable of fighting.

Especially after defeating Xue Ju this time,

Suddenly, they had many war horses and elite cavalry, which greatly alleviated the shortcoming of Li Tang's long-standing shortage of cavalry and war horses.

It turned out that some of the elite Qiang tribal soldiers under Xue Ju, Tang Bi and others were also reorganized into the group.

The Pangyidi mentioned by Li Dejiang was also the leader of a Qiang tribe in Longyou. He had 3,000 elite Qiang cavalry under his command and had followed Xue Ju and his son to fight. Now Li Yuan heard of his bravery and specially summoned him and his 3,000 soldiers to Chang'an.
He was given official titles and his three thousand Qiang cavalry were also to be recruited.

"If these Qiang people were recruited during wartime, it would probably be fine. But it's not appropriate to move them directly to Chang'an and reorganize them into a Qiang military headquarters, right?" Li Yi said.

"We don't have the final say on the decisions of the court officials." Li Dejiang smiled.

"Brother Dejiang, what are your plans for the future? Are you going to take up a government post?"

He shook his head. "My father wanted me to go to the Three Guards first, work there for a few years to gain some experience, and then go to the Cavalry House to start as a deputy, or find a job as a soldier somewhere, but I really don't have that idea.
The army is too boring, I prefer to be a knight-errant."

Li Yi laughed heartily. Li Dejiang had a good family background, the Danyang branch of the Longyou Li family. His master, Zhang San, was a wealthy sea merchant. With wealth and power, he could spend money lavishly and naturally attracted hundreds of people to follow his lead.
If you have no money and power, it will not be easy to survive in this world. Any bad guy in Chang'an County may force you, a ranger, to stand at attention, or even become his informant.

But Li Dejiang has such conditions, which are also the resources accumulated by his ancestors through generations of hard work.

"Brother Wuyi, what about you? My father told me that the emperor summoned you yesterday and offered you an official position again, but you still refused?"

"I'm only sixteen. I've been a Taoist priest for sixteen years. I just returned to secular life and don't know anything yet. I'm confused and just want to roll around in this world for a while and live a carefree life. As for the rest, we can talk about it later."

Li Dejiang pulled him to become sworn brothers, "Wuyi, you really suit my taste. I like people with a kind temperament like you. We must become sworn brothers."

Li Yi thought to himself, what kind of tradition is your family? Li Jing got drunk that day and insisted on asking me to become sworn brothers with him. Later he said it was a pity that he didn't have a daughter, otherwise he would marry his daughter to Li Yi.

Now Li Dejiang wants to become his sworn brother again,

"Erlang, you are of different generations. Your father calls me brother, and your master also calls me brother.
Now that you want to be sworn brothers with me, then you, your master, and your lord, will be on equal terms with your lord, right?"

Li Dejiang smiled bitterly,
"Well, I don't think we can be brothers. Although we can discuss our own affairs, I am afraid that my father will whip me with a whip.

Forget it, I have something else to do, so I’m leaving.” Li Dejiang left with a bit of helplessness.

Li Yi looked at this guy, he was so free and easy.

"Heizi, I'm leaving these four people in your care. Take good care of them and send them to the East Cross Courtyard. Don't let them run away.

Also, we have offended the Ji family today, beware of their revenge, and keep a close watch on the gate."

at night,

Ji is exceptionally gentle.

Not only did she fetch water to help Li Yi bathe, she also took the initiative to sleep with him at night.

Also particularly proactive and passionate.

Critical first step,

Li Yi almost forgot an important thing.
He took out an ultra-thin one, and took good protective measures.

Ji had served Li Yi several times and already knew what this thing was. She frowned slightly.

I quietly requested, "Alang, please don't use this today, okay?"

The beauty's whispers are as gentle as water and indescribably moving.

But Li Yi paused, still stroking her face and said: "I'm not ready yet."

Ji felt lost. She thought Alang despised her lowly status as a slave and therefore did not want to give her a child.

Maybe Alang wants to wait until his wife gets married and leave the first child to her.

But she also wanted to have a child with Alang.

If only that thing weren't so strong.

It's so thin, but how come it won't break?
(End of this chapter)