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

Chapter 171 Private Castle
The loess walls contrast with the white snow, and the trees are covered in silver.

It's like an ink painting unfolding before your eyes.

"Alang,"

The villagers who were hibernating at home heard the sound of carriages and horses and came out to check. When they saw Li Yi and his party standing there, they hurried over to greet them.

Soon, villagers came one after another.

Luo San smiled and said to him, "Are you satisfied?"

"Well, I'm really satisfied. I'm even amazed. I didn't expect Wujiyuan to be built like this. I thought it was just four high walls."

Liu Heizi also rushed over,

"It's more than just four high walls. It's completely transformed, like a sparrow transformed into a phoenix. The fortress walls are four meters high, the moat is two meters wide, and there are eight towers on the fortress walls."

Li Yi never came back to build Wuji Fort, so he asked Luo Er, Luo San and Liu Heizi to help him take care of it.

Accompanied by Liu Heizi, Luo San and others, Li Yi entered the fort.

"Alang's Wuji Fort is thirty zhang long from north to south and twenty zhang wide from east to west, covering an area of a little over ten mu. It faces south and has a gate. Inside are three large courtyards: the central courtyard, the east courtyard, and the west garden. The two central and eastern courtyards each have three courtyards, plus the front and back gardens on the west side, making a total of eight courtyards."

Inside the tall yellow rammed earth walls, the general layout of the original Wuji Courtyard is preserved.

The east and west courtyards did not change much, except for the addition of a back room, and the two courtyards became three.
A garden was added to the west.

It still has the layout of a quadrangle courtyard and has not been changed into a corridor courtyard of the Tang Dynasty.

"The main house in the central courtyard has three rooms with two side rooms, the east and west wings have three rooms each with one side room, the south house in the front yard and the back house have five rooms each, for a total of eighteen rooms. The back house in the front yard has one room with a door, so there are actually seventeen rooms."

The two courtyards have the same layout and have thirty-four rooms.

The garden is divided into two gardens, front and back, and there are several warehouses and utility rooms inside. There are more than 40 rooms in the castle in total.

There is also a livestock yard with stables and cattle pens.

"The trench outside the wall can also be used to keep livestock."

All the roofs were replaced with small green tiles.

The yellow walls and green tiles immediately make it look better.

"All the beams and pillars that were damaged by the fire have been replaced. The materials used are all very good. We have confirmed it with our own eyes.

The wall of this fort is not only high but also thick. It is more than two zhang thick at the bottom and the walkway at the top is eight feet wide.

Li Yi climbed up the city wall from the livestock yard in front along the sloping horse path.

Trails up to two meters wide can accommodate horse racing.

On the outward side, there is a protective wall, which is eight feet high and half a meter thick. The wall is covered with arrow holes, two holes in a group, with the inner one larger and the outer one smaller, separated in the middle. People on the city can easily shoot the enemies below the city, but it is difficult for enemies outside the city to shoot the defenders behind the small holes.

There is a parapet on the inner side, blocking the view into the courtyard and protecting the privacy of the fortress.

There are patrol houses for lookout built in the northwest and northeast corners. Some of them are projecting outwards and are equipped with holes for throwing bricks and stones to injure the enemy when encountering them.

The entire city wall is wide at the bottom and narrow at the top, and narrows at the bottom and narrows at the top.

The ramming method uses wooden boards as molds and fills the soil to compact it.

Luo San also told Li Yi, "After each section of rammed earth, they laid a layer of red willow branches along the wall. They also placed vertical wooden stakes at the four corners and every other section into the wall. Red willow is very tough and can prevent the wall from cracking. Driving the stakes into the wall also makes it more stable."

"Those people were all imperial craftsmen. They built the walls of Chang'an. This wall looks high, but it's actually thick and solid."

On the entire wall of Wuji Fort, except for the gate in the middle, there is a gatehouse.

There are seven pavilions on the four corners of the fortress wall and on the other three walls.

These seven places are all protruding pier sections of the city wall. The towers on top can be used for observation and as defensive arrow towers.

It can also be used as a library for storage, and you can also enjoy the scenery.

There is a pavilion at each of the four corners and sides.

"In the middle of the west wall is the Moon Viewing Courtyard, in the middle of the east wall is the Mountain Viewing Pavilion, in the southwest corner of the fortress wall is the Library Pavilion, also known as the Wen Tower, and in the southeast corner is the Wu Tower.

In the middle of the south wall is the fortress gate and gatehouse.
In the middle of the north, corresponding to the fortress gate, is the Wuji Pavilion, and in the northeast and northwest corners are the patrol towers.

Luo San pulled Li Yi aside and whispered, "There's a secret passage inside the Moon-Watching Pavilion in the middle of the west wall. It's built along the fort wall and leads to the He River outside the fort. In case of an emergency, we can escape from here."

The door faces the green mountains and the house faces the green water.
It is in line with the Feng Shui principle of facing mountains and surrounded by water.
This place faces Zhongnan Mountain, with the Hao River flowing in front of the door and Shenheyuan behind it. It is indeed an excellent place.

The terrain was originally high, and it seemed even more commanding, overlooking the Mijuku River.

The only downside to the wall being four feet high is that it makes the fort seem a bit oppressive. Fortunately, there is a quadrangle courtyard inside, and the ten acres of land is large enough to accommodate a large garden, making the fort feel less cramped.
The lighting is still good, but the high walls will block some of the light.

When Guo Erlang heard that Li Yi had returned, he also came specially. He climbed up the wall of the fort and praised Li Yi highly, "Wu Yi, your manor is small at the top and large at the bottom. It is dignified, regular, solemn and quiet. It is like a respectable and modest gentleman.

Standing in the distance and looking at Wuji Fort,

It also seems like a beast that stands proudly among its peers, ready to strike.

"Before the door is the He River, where water flows all year round. Water represents wealth, and it is like flowing gold and silver, bringing more children and wealth."

"Uncle said it well."

Li Yi laughed loudly.
Guo Erlang also blushed a little when Li Yi called him uncle.
At first, they had asked Li Yi to call him "Second Uncle," but later he said they wanted to call each other "brother." Now that Li Yi had married his wife's niece, it was okay for Li Yi to call him "Uncle." However, he also knew that his wife was only the daughter of a maidservant of the Du family's illegitimate son and had no status. Du Shiniang was the legitimate daughter of the legitimate son of the legal wife, Madam Guo. Unless Li Yi and his wife asked, they wouldn't dare call themselves Li Yi's uncle.

Wuji Castle is hidden in the countryside, yet it is very imposing.

"If we had this Wuji Castle last time, we wouldn't have to hide in Feng Liulang's manor. Even if the rebels came, we could just stand on the city wall and beat them hard. We wouldn't have to be afraid at all." Guo Erlang said excitedly.

In fact, seeing Wuji Fort being built day by day, Guo Erlang was extremely envious.

Guo Erlang can only live in a cave. During the last war, all the dozen thatched and wooden houses in the front yard of his cave were burned down, forcing him to rebuild it all over again. Meanwhile, Li Yi doesn't have to work hard in the countryside.
The emperor ordered the construction to be completed without spending a penny himself.

I got such a big bao, and a small bao came with it.

A circle around the fortress wall is three hundred meters long.
Down the fort wall,

Li Yi looked around the fort.
After entering the fortress gate, there are two outer courtyards, east and west. On the west side are the hay barn, mill, and stables, while on the east side are the housing for servants, coachmen, and farmhands.

Following the corridor from the fortress gate is the original east courtyard of Wuji Thatched Cottage, which is now the main courtyard in the center. The fortress gate faces the front gate of the main courtyard. The main courtyard has three courtyards and seventeen rooms.

To the east is the east wing, which also has three entrances and seventeen rooms. To the west is the garden, with two courtyards in front and back.

The layout is very regular, retaining the original east and west courtyards. When the fortress wall was built, it was built with the original east courtyard as the central axis.

The main courtyard has six courtyards, the garden and the outer courtyard have two courtyards each, so there should actually be ten courtyards.

In addition, there are some unknown secret passages, interment rooms, underground secret rooms, etc.

Xiao Wuji Castle covers an area of six acres, excluding the garden, two three-entry courtyards, and no outer courtyard, for a total of six courtyards.

Back to the familiar East Courtyard,
The layout remains basically unchanged, even the elm, ginkgo, jujube, and persimmon trees are still there, only the doors, windows, and furniture have been replaced, and the blackened walls have been repainted.
Some windows are made of oyster shell tiles.

The original West Courtyard was a school and a workshop. Now that the school has moved to Xiao Wuji Fort, the West Courtyard has been used as a workshop. It happened that the scale has been expanded during this period, and more stoves and manpower have been added.

Smelling the familiar bean fragrance,
Li Yi always felt like something was missing.
The sound of reading aloud or something else?
"Meow!"

There was a cat's meow, and then a tabby cat with a rope hanging from its neck and a small stone chain tied to one end of the rope actually chased out from the backyard, dragging the stone chain with it.

In front of him, a fat dog was running away.

Li Yi looked at this scene in surprise.
That raccoon dog weighed about seven or eight pounds? He was dragging a stone lock of similar weight, clanging all the way out of the backyard, chasing a mastiff weighing fifty or sixty pounds.
But this fat, shiny black mastiff was still running away in a panic.

"Attract wealth?" Li Yi called out tentatively.

The tabby cat stopped and looked at Li Yi.
"Meow?"

"Zhaocai, it's really you." He looked at the black dog that fled to the outer courtyard, "Is that Laifu?"

At this time, a yellow dog weighing about ten pounds ran out from the backyard.
"Are you Wangcai?"

Liu Heizi's woman chased out from behind and stopped immediately when she saw Li Yi and the others.

"Heizi's bride, what's going on?" Li Yi pointed at Zhaocai.

Cao Yanxiu said helplessly, "I have no other choice. This tabby cat got lost last time and came back after a long time. But it refused to eat even when I fed it. It ran away again when I wasn't paying attention. It always comes back after a few days.
We all know that this cat was raised by A Lang. He was afraid that he would lose it, so he tied it with a rope. But he couldn't tie it up, so he bit and did bad things everywhere. I don't know how many things he broke.
I had to tie an eight-jin stone chain to it, and then drag it around the yard every day to stop it from biting me."

"Is that fat dog Lai Fu the one I bought earlier?"

"Well, that dog is a big eater and grows fast. It's already 50 or 60 kilograms. It just likes to provoke people who want to make money, but it always gets beaten."

Li Yi walked towards Zhaocai, but it didn't move.

The markings on the little guy's body became darker, his fur became shinier, he had grown a lot bigger, and he could still recognize him.

I picked up Zhaocai and untied the rope, but it didn't run away.

"If I had known this earlier, I would have sent someone to take Zhaocai to live in Chang'an."

Wangcai followed Cao Yanxiu, but seemed to have forgotten Li Yi.

As for Lai Fu, the mastiff who liked to provoke Zhao Cai and was beaten every time, he was peeking out of the inner courtyard door again, looking sneaky.

"Zhaocai, you are really awesome. A cat weighing six or seven kilograms dares to chase and bully a mastiff weighing fifty or sixty kilograms every day. The most awesome one even drags an eight-kilogram stone chain around his body. How can you be so awesome?"

"Meow!"

Zhaocai looked arrogant and disdainful towards Lai Fu who was standing at the door.

Li Yi held Lihua in his arms and asked Luo San, Heizi and the others, "Is everything okay at home?"

"It's good. We now have hundreds of people working in our tofu skin workshop. Although the prices of tofu skin and bean curd are cheaper now, we are now well-known and our sales are more than before. We also supply the shops in Chang'an and other cities.
Even in winter, the yuba has to be baked in a drying room, which affects the production."

The East Courtyard now has a tofu skin workshop on one side and a persimmon wine processing workshop on the other. Both workshops employ more than a hundred people, all of whom are villagers from Luojiabao and the disaster-stricken tenants recruited by Li Yi.
In this cold winter, they can work every day, have two meals a day, and their wages are paid on time every month. Because business is good, there are rewards. Those who do not take leave will also receive full attendance rewards. Everyone talks about Li Yi's good things every day.

Luo San is still collecting persimmons. Not only him, but also Luo Wu and several other villagers in Luojiabao, and even Guo Erlang are leading people to collect persimmons. The collected persimmons are sent to the workshops in Luojiabao, or directly to the wine shops and workshops in Chang'an.
This job is just a little bit hard, but Li Yi left them some profit margin, so it is still worthwhile.

The fields outside the village in winter are covered with white snow, creating a bleak scene.
But Li Yi's Wuji Castle was bustling with activity. The small Wuji Castle next door had not yet closed for the holidays. With nothing to do in the winter, they had changed the half-day classes to a full day, and even provided an extra free meal.

We have now opened a literacy class for villagers, teaching them how to read and write for a while every evening. Any villager who wants to go can attend.

Li Yi felt that he was somewhat negligent in his duties as the principal and had not been in charge for a long time. Now Dong Qilang had been promoted to vice principal and was helping him manage the school.

Li Yi, feeling deeply ashamed, decided to buy another 200 acres of land for Wuji Academy, making a total of 500 acres, and then recruit a few poor families to be tenants. In addition, he would give more welfare bonuses to teachers such as Dong Qilang, and select some outstanding students to give them scholarships.

Anyway, the society has plenty of money in its account, so spend it when you need to.

(End of this chapter)