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

Chapter 149 Meeting an old friend again
Li Mi arrived in Puzhou.
Ahead is the Yellow River ferry crossing Pujin Pass.
During wartime, this place is a natural barrier where one man can block the passage of ten thousand, but in peacetime, it is a golden road for merchants and travelers.

Li Mi looked at the huge stone bull statue at the ferry ahead and the Tang Dynasty officials waiting to greet him, and stroked his beard and sighed.
"I command a million men. Once they lay down their arms and return to their farms, there are hundreds of cities in Shandong. If they learn I have entered the pass and send people to recruit them, they will surely all surrender. My achievements are comparable to Dou Rong of the Han Dynasty. How can I not assign him an important position?"

Someone said, "At least he should be made a Grand Marshal and appointed as the governor of a province."

Li Mi led his troops across the floating bridge,
Hou Junji led his troops to the scene and ordered Li Mi's troops to hand over their armor and weapons.

Li Mi's army had more than 20,000 people, and in addition to his family members, there were also many soldiers and horses. He was very dissatisfied after hearing the news.

Li Mi was no longer in a good mood.

Wei Zheng persuaded him that since they had entered the pass, they had to obey the court's arrangements.

Li Mi had no choice but to order the surrender of armor and weapons.

Qin Wang Li Shimin has not shown up yet.
Food was not delivered until all weapons and armor were collected.

But it’s just simple millet rice with some pickles.

Li Mi's subordinates were extremely dissatisfied with such food.

The food provided to Li Mi was also very simple, with only a pot of turbid wine, a bowl of cold-cut mutton, a bowl of pork, a fish and a soup.

Li Mi felt that Li Shimin was deliberately insulting him. How could he let him eat pork?
In Luoyang, he was also the Grand Marshal, the Minister of the Central Secretariat, the Minister of the Southeast Circuit, and the Duke of Wei.

"Duke Wei, perhaps this was done intentionally by the Second Prince to test you, Lord Ming."

Li Mi already regretted coming to Guanzhong.
I could only pour a cup of wine and drink it angrily.

After dinner,

Another official came and asked the soldiers under Li Mi to stay in Changchun Palace for reorganization and training, while the rest of the officers and their families could go to Chang'an with Li Mi.

Li Mi got angry again.
Then, under everyone's persuasion, he had no choice but to accept it.

That night Li Mi could only stay outside Jincheng.
It was not until the next morning that he was invited to Changchun Palace to meet Li Shimin, who had defeated Xue Ju in Longyou.

"I had to go out of town for an inspection yesterday on urgent business. I didn't expect Duke Wei to arrive yesterday. I'm sorry I didn't come to greet you."

Li Mi was very angry, but he couldn't show it.

Li Shimin held a banquet in Changchun Palace and entertained the guests with great hospitality. He prepared very sumptuous food and wine, many of which were famous palace dishes.

Compared with yesterday's cold pork, it's a world of difference.
Li Mi finally felt a little better.

The next day, Li Mi, Wang Bodang, Wei Zheng, Jia Runfu and others went to Chang'an. Li Shimin even sent 200 cavalrymen to escort them.
Most of the more than 20,000 people brought by Li Mi stayed in Tongzhou temporarily, and nearly 10,000 of them were reorganized on the spot.

Chang'an,

Autumn sowing is still going on.

Li Yi now runs around some iron workshops under the Shaofu Supervisor every day, responsible for supervising the production of new plows.

The first batch of new plows was completed and the emperor was very satisfied with it. He distributed them to the homes of officials and nobles, and Li Yi also received a new plow.

However, he had used his position to build a plow shop for his family, hired blacksmiths and carpenters, and selected some young and strong people from the refugees he recruited to work as engineers and apprentices.
Although it is a makeshift team,

But it is not difficult to make a Wude plow by following the same pattern.

Because the ironwork consists of only two parts, it is very quick to make, especially since it is cast using a clay mold, which is much faster than hand forging.

The biggest limitation is actually iron.

Fortunately, he is making farm tools, and he is in charge of this area now. With the convenience of his position, he can communicate with the Shaofujian and other relevant departments for procurement.

This new workshop was set up in the general camp. A straw shed was built, a mud wall was built, and a furnace was built.
Ding ding dang dang, just start working.
The carpenters over there, along with their assistants and apprentices, were also working busily. Li Yi even specially set up an assembly line operation.

Separate the different parts of a plow and make them.
Craftsmen only make one thing, so they can be more skilled and faster, and using standardized sizes for production greatly improves efficiency.

It is also more convenient to control quality. Whoever has a problem with a component is responsible.

New plows were in short supply,

Li Yi first used it for his own use, and then for other relatives and friends. There was no need to promote it. As soon as this good thing came out,

Word spread from one person to ten, from ten to a hundred, and everyone wanted one.

In comparison, it is indeed much better than the original plow. It is not only light and flexible, but most importantly, it saves labor. Even without an ox, a person carrying a Wude plow can move quite fast.

Women and teenagers can carry it on their backs.

For many ordinary people, they cannot afford to buy cows and can only rent cows from wealthy families. The rent for cows is very expensive, and they often directly ask for 10% of the income from the land.

But without cows, it would be impossible to farm the crops if people just had to carry the plow on their backs or shovel the land directly.

The workshop business is very busy.

Li Yi also repeatedly recruited workers to expand the facility, but the demand still couldn't keep up with the supply.
This thing has a pretty good profit, and it’s an additional source of income.

After delivering another batch of new plows to the Sinong Temple from the Shaofu Supervisor, Li Yi rode home. His job was actually very leisurely, and he only needed to check on it from time to time. The specific matters were all handled by people from their respective yamen.

When Li Yi passed Chunmingmen Street, he found that there were many people on the street today.
The number of Wuhou shops at the corners of the streets also increased greatly, there were also many guards patrolling the streets, and many people were standing on the roadside, as if they were waiting for someone.

"Is Uncle Qianshui returning home after office?"

Suddenly, a voice was heard. Li Yi looked over and saw an armored officer. It turned out to be Qiu Shenyan, the leader of the Zuo Xiaowei. "Ah, it's Brother Qiu. What are you doing?"

"Hasn't Lord Qianshui heard that Li Mi is entering the capital today and the emperor has issued an order to welcome him?"

I see,

Li Yi was in Chang'an and heard about the great war in the Central Plains. Li Mi and Wang Shichong, the mortal enemies, had been fighting for so long in Henan and finally the winner was decided.

But the result was beyond many people's expectations.

It was not Li Mi who had been pressing on the attack on Luoyang City that won, but this hero who had just defeated the regicide Yu Wenzhi who led his troops north not long ago,

In the end, he was defeated by his subordinate Wang Shichong, and suffered a crushing defeat.
After Yu Wenzhi was defeated in Tongshan, he fled to Weizhou, shouting "I would rather not be the emperor for a day", and ascended the throne to establish the country named Xu. However, after Li Mi was defeated, he did not think of reorganizing his troops and making a comeback. Instead, he went straight to Guanzhong to surrender to Li Tang.

far away,
A group of people came over,
Li Yi stood by the roadside and wanted to see this famous hero at the end of the Sui Dynasty.
Soon, Li Mi came over under the escort of a group of Tang army soldiers.

Qiu Shenyan also helped him identify, "The man in the white robe is Li Mi,"

Li Yi was surprised that Li Mi looked very young, probably less than 40 years old.

"How old is Li Mi?"

"Thirty-six, I suppose."

"Ah, only thirty-six?"

"Well, the descendants of the Eight Pillars of the State were once a prosperous family. His great-grandfather was Li Bi, one of the Eight Pillars of the State of the Western Wei Dynasty. He was promoted to Grand Tutor and Duke of Zhao during the Northern Zhou Dynasty."

Li Mi's grandfather was the Grand Tutor and Duke of Xing in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and his father was the Grand Pillar of the Sui Dynasty and Duke of Pushan County.

He and Li Yuan both inherited their father's title at a very young age, but Li Yuan inherited the title of Duke of Tang at the age of eight, while he inherited the title of Duke of Pushan during the Kaihuang period.

However, Li Mi adopted retainers at a young age, treated talented people with courtesy, helped relatives and friends, loved reading, and studied under a great scholar. He also left behind stories such as hanging books on ox horns.

At the beginning of Daye period, he was appointed as the Eastern Palace's Qianniu Beishen. Yang Guang felt that this black boy with a sharp square forehead was not well behaved as a guard and was always looking around, so he asked him to quit.

Li Mi also resigned from his official position and concentrated on studying until he was 30 years old, when he did something big. Yang Xuangan rebelled against Yang Guang and specially invited his good friend Li Mi to be his military advisor.

Li Mi offered three strategies, but unfortunately Yang Xuangan was defeated soon. Li Mi went into hiding from his father. It is said that he fled to Huaiyang County and became a teacher there. He was even noticed by a wealthy family and married their daughter.

But later, because of his sentimental poems, he was found to be abnormal and reported, and he had to wander around. At that time, anti-Sui sentiments were surging in various places, and Li Mi later went to Wagang.
Zhai Rang treated him very well, but this guy later killed Zhai Rang. It can be said that although he seized the foundation of Wagang, the moment he fought with Zhai Rang, he also planted the seeds for his current defeat.

In terms of origin, Li Mi should be no worse than Li Yuan.
But in terms of ability, he may be much worse than Li Yuan. Li Yi thinks that their gap is mainly in the pattern.

"Qianshui Bo thinks that when Li Mi surrenders, what official title will His Majesty grant him? He will probably be made a king, or at least one of the Three Dukes."

Li Yi chuckled and looked at Li Mi, who was riding on a horse, wearing a white robe deliberately but looking somewhat proud. He wondered what he was proud of.

You're just a lost dog.

But he can't put himself in the right position. Isn't this just asking for death?

Thinking that this person would indeed die soon, he did not respond.

Li Yi didn't know any of Li Mi's group, but he might know a few of them if they were named.

That loyal minister Wei Zheng should be among them,
Just don't know which one it is.

While he was thinking this, a middle-aged man in Li Mi's team saw Li Yi on the street, wearing a scarlet robe and riding a white horse.
The man is handsome and the horse is strong.

The middle-aged man stared at it carefully, and the more he looked, the more familiar it seemed.

"Impossible," he muttered.

Another young scholar nearby asked with a smile, "What did Brother Wei say?"

"I just thought I saw someone I know, but it might just be a mistake."

The young scholar followed Wei Zheng's gaze and saw a young man wearing a scarlet robe and riding a fine horse. He could not help but exclaim, "How young and handsome!"

"He's so young, yet he's wearing a scarlet robe and riding a handsome horse. He must be a young master from some aristocratic family in Chang'an, or perhaps a member of the imperial clan?"

"Maybe."

The team passed by,

Li Yi chatted with Qiu Shenyan for a few more words, then rode back to his home in Pingkangfang.

at night,

The emperor hosted a banquet for Li Mi and his entourage.
During the banquet, the young scholar saw the young man in scarlet robe who had entered the city today.

"Brother Wei, the old friend you mentioned today is here too. I've made some inquiries for you. His name is Li Yi, the deputy supervisor of the palace gardens, and he was granted the title of founding earl of Qianshui County. However, he is neither a descendant of a prominent family nor a member of the imperial clan. A few months ago, he was just a Taoist monk.

Brother Wei, you used to be a wandering Taoist priest, have you really seen this before?"

Wei Zheng was surprised. "Brother Xu, you said his name was Li Yi? Was he a Taoist priest?"

"Yes, Li Yi, formerly known as Wuyi, is only sixteen this year."

Wei Zheng almost exclaimed in surprise, could it really be him?

(End of this chapter)