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

Chapter 195 Becoming a Dad
After you're done,
Ji Sujun quickly pulled a pillow over to prop herself up, as the pregnant women in the village said it would make it easier to get pregnant this way.

"My dear, is it because my land is not good enough? Like some saline-alkali land, crops cannot grow on it." Ji said self-reproachfully while lying there.

In the past few months, I have been counting the days every month to sow the seeds, but every time I am full of expectations, I end up disappointed. There is no movement in my belly, and the menstrual water always comes as scheduled in the next month.

She didn't doubt that Li Yi's method of calculating the days was wrong, nor did she doubt Li Yi's seeds, but she doubted the quality of her own land.

"Let nature take its course. It won't take long to prepare for pregnancy."

"It's been a long time. It must be that my land is not good enough."

What she said made Li Yi start to doubt himself. He used to use condoms, but since Shi Niang always wanted to have a baby in the family, he, Su Jun and Yu Shu stopped using them. It has been two months. Logically, he should have had four chances, but he didn't succeed once.

But then I thought, I'm so young and healthy, there's no reason for that.

It's still a matter of probability. After all, a person only has two chances, and one in ten is very high, but it's still not enough.

"My dear, I heard two prescriptions today, one for changing the womb and the other for having a baby."

Li Yi covered her with a blanket and lay beside her, entering sage mode.

"What's the belly change?"

"Luo Wu's wife said that if a daughter hasn't given birth for a year or two after marriage, or has given birth to daughters continuously, the woman's family will choose an auspicious day, buy a pig's stomach, stew it, and put it in a teapot. The woman's mother or an older woman will send it to the son-in-law's house in a thank-you basket. When they arrive home, they won't talk to anyone. They will go straight to the daughter's room, put the teapot with the pig's stomach on the bed, and then go home without saying a word. The daughter and son-in-law will eat the pig's stomach together in the room. This is called the stomach change, and the son-in-law will give birth to a son."

Li Yi wanted to laugh when he heard it. It was completely unscientific.

"What about adding a child?"

"Tie the nails with red string and place them under the bed."

Li Yi smiled and said, "I think these folk remedies they mentioned are unreliable. I might as well try my best again."

"Is my husband okay?"

Li Yi was displeased when he heard this and stood up. "I'm a strong and energetic young man, do you think I can do it? Of course I can. I'm going to plant it for you today. Others use two liters of wheat seeds per acre, but I use five liters. I don't believe that no seedlings will grow."

"Wait a moment,"

Ji Sujun stopped Li Yi, "They said that after one session, you have to use a pillow to lift your hips for at least 25 minutes. Wait a little longer, you can't waste the seed."

······
A hard night's work.

At dawn, Li Yi was still catching up on his sleep.

Su Jun's maid Hong Xian came in and whispered something to Su Jun.

"What are you talking about?" Li Yi was woken up.

"My dear, there is a child in front of our castle."

"What's this?"

"A baby, someone abandoned a baby girl in front of our castle."

Li Yi sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"what happened?"

No sleep at all,

Li Yi dressed and went out with Ji. People in the courtyard were already discussing the matter.

Arriving at the fort gate,
Sure enough, many people gathered around.

Du Shiniang was holding a child in her arms.
"A baby girl, probably just a few days old, skinny and tiny, not crying,"

When Liu Heizi opened the gate of the fort in the morning, he saw a willow basket placed in front of the door. When he took a closer look, he found that there was a baby inside.

I immediately informed the hospital.

Shi Niang has already wrapped the baby in fox fur.
Li Yi took a closer look.

This little guy is so small, but he looks pretty pretty and not as ugly as a newborn baby.

He estimated that the baby might weigh less than five kilograms and was too thin.

Everyone was discussing,

"Who has a child but doesn't raise it?"

"As for girls, I definitely can't afford to raise too many of them."

"Maybe she wants to have a boy."

However, some older people, such as Luo Er, were very calm. He said that in the past, no one knew how many dead babies were thrown into the dead baby ditch near Fengjiabao every year. Not only dead babies were thrown away, but baby girls were also often abandoned there.

It's all sin.

But these days, there are many cases of drowning infants, especially female babies, and sometimes they are abandoned alive after they are born.

The reasons are very realistic.

"This child's family had the good sense to send him to Wuji Fort. They know that our Alang is kind and righteous."

No one had ever left a baby on his doorstep before.
This is the first time.

Du Shiniang held the child tightly and refused to let go. She loved children very much and had always longed to have one. Now Li Yi was a fifth-rank official of the ninth rank and also the Earl of Shallow Water. His family also had thousands of acres of land and several workshops and shops.
There is no shortage of money, but there is a shortage of people.

Although Li Yi was not anxious at all, Du Shiniang was very anxious and felt that it was her fault as the eldest wife.

Today this baby girl was brought in,

She thought it was a good sign, "My dear, let's adopt this child."

Yu Youniang also laughed and said, "This girl is so pitiful. She was abandoned at such a young age. Adopting her will also be a good deed."

Luo Er's wife said: "If you raise this, you will definitely be able to bring the child here."

Li Yi had only heard that dogs could bring wealth, but had never heard that babies could also bring pregnancy.

But it is not a big deal for the Li family to adopt a child now.

Ji Lingyi also liked this child. She felt that Alang had worked so hard to sow seeds last night, and a child came this morning, so it must be a sign that she was pregnant this time.

"My dear, please adopt him."

Li Yi nodded, "Okay,"

He took the child from Shi Niang's hands. Several women laughed and said that Li Yi was good at holding the child. They didn't know that Li Yi had also raised two children before.

"We need to find a wet nurse. The child is so young and can't live without milk." Li Yi looked at the little guy. He was really pitiful. He was abandoned at such a young age, just like Wu Yi in the past. "Also, we still need to send someone to find out who the child belongs to and find out what happened. Was he lost or abandoned? We have to find out and explain it clearly."

Liu Heizi agreed, "I'll ask around, but I might not be able to find out. It would be the same if I report to the township after the full moon."

Shi Niang said, "First, find a wet nurse quickly. Find several and keep the one that's suitable."

For a time, Liu Heizi, Luo Er, Luo San, Luo Wu and others were mobilized to go to the surrounding areas to look for wet nurses. In those days, wet nurses were a very good job, even more common than midwives.

The main reason was the high demand. When women from wealthy families gave birth, they would often hire a wet nurse. Some did so because they didn't have enough milk, while others didn't want to go through the hardship of breastfeeding.

Most of the wet nurses were common women from small families. Some of them gave up their own milk to breastfeed the children of wealthy families in order to get better treatment. Some of them gave birth to children who died young and became wet nurses. Some of them had grown up children and took advantage of their milk supply to breastfeed other people's children to make money.

Nowadays, wet nurses not only breastfeed the baby but also take care of the baby like a confinement nanny. It is very hard work, but the treatment is still good.

"Pick a young and healthy one with good breast milk. The wages are negotiable." Shi Niang instructed.

Li Yi said directly: "You will have food and lodging at my place. I will also provide you with two sets of clothes, hats, shoes and socks a year, and a stone of millet every month."

The wages were already very high, and the women in the village were very envious when they heard about it, but unfortunately they couldn't take this job because they had no milk.

Liu Heizi and a few others went to find out who the child belonged to and to look for a wet nurse. Du Shiniang asked an experienced woman to give the child a hot bath, cooked rice soup for the child to drink, and borrowed some small clothes from each family.

This child is very special. She doesn't cry even when she is given a bath, and she eats rice porridge.

"Isn't he a mute?"

"Your eyes are quite lively, that shouldn't be the case."

Everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief until the child was full and had wet his diaper and was crying out of discomfort.

The voice is very loud, fortunately he is not mute.

"My dear, please give the baby a name."

Li Yi smiled and said, "Why not call her Little Pepper?" He thought of his daughter, whose nickname was Little Apple. It was a pity that he would never see her again.

Shi Niang watched the wealthy wife skillfully change the girl's diaper and said, "Give her a Buddhist name so she can be raised more easily."

Since the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, it has become popular to take Buddhist names. For example, Li Jing next door, and his brothers Medicine King, Medicine Master, and Guest Master are actually all Buddhist names. Buddhism has Medicine King Buddha, Medicine Master Buddha, etc.

For example, the current crown prince's nickname is Bishamon, his wife's name is Zheng Guanyin, and Li Shimin's wife Zhangsun's nickname is Guanyinbi.

Giving a Buddhist name is the same as the intention of ordinary people naming their children Gousheng, Ergou, Shigen, etc.

There are actually many Buddhist names that girls can use, such as Zhiguang, Sala, Shudala, Buddha Image, Lotus Flower, Thousand Lights, True Suchness Sea, Amitabha, Sumati, Bodhisattva, Maitreya, etc.
Shi Niang wanted to name her child Ru Lianhua, but Li Yi objected.

Lotus is no longer a good word in later generations, especially white lotus.

"A thousand lights shine on the tree, and seven branches of flowers bloom. Let's call it a thousand lights."

Shi Niang thought this was a good name. She used to often accompany Mrs. Guo to worship Buddha and make donations. Thousand Lights is also a form of offering to Buddha. Believers light Thousand Lights in the temple to show their respect and gratitude, and pray in front of the Thousand Lights, praying for peace and protection for their families.

"You have a name now. Your Buddhist name is Qian Guang Zhao and your nickname is Xiao La Jiao. You will be the eldest lady of our Wujibao Qianshui Earl's Mansion in the future." Shi Niang was very happy holding the child.

Li Yi smiled and asked Ji Lingyi, who was standing beside him with a look of surprise, to take the baby and hug him. "Hold Little Lajiao and let her bring a little brother."

Liu Heizi found a wet nurse named Zhang Fengshi from Fengjiabao. She was not yet thirty years old and had four children at home. Her child was ten months old. She heard that Qianshui Bo of Wujibao was recruiting wet nurses, offering one stone of millet per month, food and accommodation, and two sets of clothes for a year, so she came quickly.

Luo San also found a woman from Gaojiabao.

Her child was half a year old and died not long ago, so she still has milk.

Shi Niang felt that it was not good for the woman from Gaojiabao to have her child die young, so she chose Zhang Fengshi.

Li Yi felt sorry for the woman from Gaojiabao, so he kept her as a nanny instead of a wet nurse. The wages were lower, but she was provided with food, accommodation, two sets of clothes, and seven dou of millet per month.

Gao Wang was very grateful.

"Go to the market and buy pig's trotters and crucian carp. Make a pig's trotter soup for lunch and a crucian carp fried egg and shredded radish soup for dinner. The wet nurse needs to eat well so that her milk will be good and the little peppers will grow well."

Li Yi, who was happy to be a father, was generous. Although Shi Niang and the rich new wife had checked Zhang Fengshi's milk and found that her milk bag was big and her milk was plenty, Li Yi felt that she still needed to supplement it.

"Mrs. Zhang, if you're worried about your child, you can bring your child here so he can keep Little Pepper company."

At the Li family, the food and accommodation conditions are definitely better, and Li Yi doesn't mind raising an extra ten-month-old baby.

Zhang Fengshi was extremely grateful. She weaned her own baby and went to breastfeed other people's children. She had no choice but to do so. She wanted to earn the monthly salary of a wet nurse, which was one stone. But who could really have her own child?

"Just help me take good care of the child. If you do a good job, you'll definitely get a gift during the New Year."

"Please rest assured, Uncle Qianshui. I have four children, all of whom are very strong. I am very experienced and will definitely raise my daughter until she is plump and white."

(End of this chapter)