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

Chapter 22 Give in to others

Li Yi went to Nianzhuang,

He did not go directly to Wang Lizheng's house, but went to the water mill by the river first and ordered ten stone of soybeans directly from the shopkeeper.

"Why did Li Lang buy so many soybeans?"

The shopkeepers of Wang's Mill were a little surprised. Wang's Mill uses the water power of the Hehe River to grind hundreds of stones of wheat a day. It not only grinds wheat, but also processes rice, soybeans, etc. It purchases rice and wheat here for a long time, and then sells processed rice, flour, etc. It also sells rice bran, wheat bran, etc., and has a big grain business.

But he was still surprised that Li Yi bought ten stone of soybeans at one time.

"Let's open a tofu shop together." Li Yi smiled. "Is Li Zheng Wang home today?"

"at home."

"Then I'll just go visit."

The shopkeeper immediately took him to Wang's house. The rammed earth walls and green tile courtyard of Wang's house were still so tall. On a hot summer afternoon, Wang Li was taking an afternoon nap in the shade of a big tree, lying on a bamboo couch, with two little maids with buns on their heads quietly fanning him.

The light gauze cover will keep you away from flies.

There were also male servants in the yard holding long sticks to catch cicadas so as not to disturb the master's rest.

A young woman with a knife-like bun and wearing flowered silk clothes, who was also young and beautiful, stopped Li Yi and the mill manager and told them not to disturb Wang Lizheng.

"This is the village chief of Luojiabao, and he's here to meet Alang." The shopkeeper said politely to the woman.

"Take the guests to the living room to rest for a while. Alang will come to inform you when he wakes up." The woman said coldly.

The shopkeeper had no choice but to lead Li Yi to the west wing living room in the front yard to wait. A maid poured water for the two of them and then left.

"The one just now is the fifth concubine that our Alang has taken in this year. She was originally a maid in the Wei family, serving the old lady of the Wei family. Now she is very much favored by our Alang." The shopkeeper explained.

Li Yi nodded.
This time, Li Yi saw some things that he had not noticed last time, such as the fact that Wang Lizheng's family had many slaves and concubines.

The head of a village in the Tang Dynasty was only a minor official who did not even receive a salary, but he was actually a large landlord in the village. He not only owned 800 acres of fertile land, but also had a mill and an oil mill that were extremely profitable.

The shopkeeper sat with him for a while, but seeing that no one came to pay attention, he had to go back to the mill to get busy.

Only Li Yi was left sitting there alone, without even a cup of tea except the glass of water at the beginning.

In the eyes of Wang Lizheng's family, he, a mere village chief, is indeed not worth mentioning.

Li Yi sat there patiently. Today he had something to ask Wang Lizheng, so he couldn't just leave like that.

About half an hour later,

The girl who had poured water earlier finally came back and said, "My Alang has woken up. Please ask Li Cunzheng to come over."

"Uncle Wang, excuse me for disturbing you."

"My dear nephew, please sit down." Wang Lizheng, who had just woken up, was being helped to wash his face by the beautiful concubine. He was very happy to see Li Yi.

Li Yi also directly presented the gift he had prepared.

A set of imitation jade Gobang.

The chessboard and chess pot are made of high mountain bamboo, and the chess pieces are treated with melamine to imitate jade.

When Li Yi took out this gift, Wang Lizheng's attention was immediately attracted.

Li Yi had inquired before coming and knew that although Wang Lizheng was a local tycoon, he also liked to pretend to be cultured. He had a good relationship with the nearby Mati Temple. It was said that the Wang family donated dozens of acres of land to Mati Temple and also donated a lot of money and grain.

Wang Lizheng had a particularly good relationship with Monk Hui Liao, the head of the lower courtyard of Mati Temple, and often played chess with this head of the village, who was in charge of the affairs of Mati Temple's farmland, tenants, and rent.

When giving gifts, you have to cater to the recipient's preferences.
"Is this a jade chess piece?" Wang Lizheng said in disbelief.

"This chess piece resembles jade but isn't actually jade. It was refined from a type of seabed material that my master collected in Lingnan during his travels around the world. It's as smooth and delicate as jade, yet it's also very wear-resistant and drop-resistant.

The black pieces are as black as ink, delicate and soft, while the white pieces are as smooth as jade, clean and translucent.

The chessboard and chess pot made of high mountain bamboo have clear texture, great weight, fine texture, and are sturdy and durable.

Wang Lizheng played with the chess pieces one by one, and he liked them more and more. He liked this thing even more than the essence of flavor that Li Yi gave him last time.

Although it is magical that clear water can turn into chicken soup, Wang Lizheng's family is not short of chicken to eat.

"Isn't this really jade? Why does it look like jade to me?"

"The jade chess piece is more transparent and lighter, while this piece is smoother and heavier, and it won't break when dropped." Li Yi took out a black piece and slapped it hard on the table a few times.
Wang Lizheng felt a little frightened when he took the photo, but after careful observation, he found that the chess piece was indeed intact.

If it were made of jade, it would have been broken into pieces by those few hits.

Especially these jade-like chess pieces, each one is evenly distributed and round, which is not possible with ordinary jade pieces.

"Next plate."

Li Zheng Wang invited Li Yi to play a game of hands and couldn't wait.

"I've only just started playing chess,"

Wang Lizheng didn't care about that. When he was in the mood, he forced Li Yi to play. In fact, Li Yi's Go skills were pretty good. He had an ex-girlfriend who was a kindergarten teacher and also worked part-time as a teacher in a children's Go interest class. When Li Yi was dating her, he learned Go from her for a while and with her guidance, his skills improved a lot.

This chess set was bought at that time. It cost 98 yuan per set, with 361 black and white pieces, and four spare pieces were given. Since the breakup, Li Yi had not touched this chess set for many years.

Wang Lizheng let Li Yi play black first.
After a while, Li Yi could tell that Wang Lizheng was just an amateur among amateurs.

Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, rulers have appointed officials based on Go and established a nine-rank system for Go. This was especially popular in the Southern Dynasties, which made Go popular among the people.

However, Go is a game that requires talent.
Wang Lizheng's talent is average, and Li Yi is sweating profusely. It's not that he can't beat Wang Lizheng, but that he has to work hard to figure out how to give in to Wang Lizheng without being too obvious.

Finally, Wang Lizheng won, his face flushed with excitement, while Li Yi breathed a sigh of relief. This game of chess was really tiring.

"I never thought that my nephew Wuyi is so good at chess. Your level should be at the ninth rank."

"Uncle Wang is truly a master at chess. I admire him greatly. I heard that Uncle Wang is the best chess player in this town, and no one can beat him."

Wang Lizheng laughed excitedly, clutching the chess piece. "I wouldn't say I'm the best in this town. Master Hui Liao of Ma Ti Temple and I are evenly matched, and we often win and lose." "If I get a chance, I'll definitely watch and learn from him."

Wang Lizheng was flattered. "I'll send someone to invite Master Hui Le to play chess. I just happened to have this precious chess set, so I'll let him admire it."

Li Yi also took the opportunity to bring up the matter of buying beans and took out three taels of gold.

"I just bought ten dan of soybeans at the mill, but I haven't paid yet. Uncle Wang, please take it."

Ten dan of soybeans cost eighteen thousand coins, which is equivalent to two taels and two and a half coins of gold.

Li Zheng Wang was used to Li Yi paying with gold every time he bought food. He even knew where the gold came from. He had exchanged his master's treasure for ten or so taels of gold and a cow from Guo Erlang.

"Wuyi, you call me uncle, and today you gave me this precious chess set. How can I ask you for such a small amount of money? This is too polite. Hurry and put the gold away."

"This chess set of yours was handed down from your master, so I can't take it for nothing. You said you were going to open a tofu shop, so you're going to need a lot of beans. I'll have someone send you these ten stone of soybeans later, and I'll also prepare another ten stone for you. When you run out, just ask the mill to send more."

Twenty stone of soybeans in exchange for this set of imitation jade chess pieces.

Wang Lizheng was very magnanimous and would not take advantage of others for nothing. This set of chess pieces was equivalent to his offering four and a half taels of gold.

"Uncle, how can this be possible? This chess piece is a gift from me to you. I'm not here to exchange it for beans."

"If you want to be polite to me again, take the chess pieces back."

Wang Lizheng asked Li Yi to play another game, and this time Li Yi still played black first.

Li Yi brought up the matter of buying beans in order to introduce the tofu shop, fried tofu and bean curd sheets. Unexpectedly, Wang Lizheng was so generous as to directly ask for twenty stone of soybeans in exchange for Go.

The game isn't over yet.

A fat monk with a fat head and big ears came in. He had a shiny bald head, a rosy face, a bright red monk's robe, and a pair of herringbone clogs on his feet.

Seeing the red robe, Li Yi knew that this must be Monk Hui Liao, the senior deacon monk of Ma Ti Temple.

Going further up, you will see the abbot of Ma Ti Temple who was given the purple robe.

Wang Lizheng greeted him and then continued to stare at the chessboard, undecided.

Li Yi's game was a bit difficult for Wang Lizheng, making him scratch his head. When Hui Le came, his eyes fell directly on the chessboard.

He first glanced at the chessboard with a faint smile on his face, as kind as Maitreya Buddha, especially his big belly that made it look even more like a Buddha.

Hui Liao took off his clogs, lay on the couch and watched.

He did not make a sound to disturb the two people playing chess. Instead, he watched for a while, then grabbed a few chess pieces from the chess pot and carefully observed and played with them in his hands.

There was surprise and love in his eyes.

After a cup of tea, Li Yi unexpectedly won a victory over Wang Lizheng.

Hui Liao smiled and challenged Li Yi to a game of chess, to which Li Yi agreed. Once again, Li Yi played black, and after a while, he realized Hui Liao's chess skills far surpassed Wang Lizheng's. However, Wang Lizheng said he and Hui Liao often played chess, and he could only manage to beat Hui Liao by half a piece.

It can be seen that Hui Le, the fat monk, had always been deliberately giving in to Wang Lizheng, the big donor.

After a long time,

Li Yi admitted defeat, "Master Hui Liao is indeed a master of chess. I admit defeat."

Wang Lizheng was itching to fight Hui, his former defeated general, and Li Yi gave way.

After watching for a while, he said, "It's getting late, so I'll go back first."

"Don't leave, nephew. Have dinner with me today."

"Then why are you so embarrassed?"

"Please keep Master Huile company for me. We can talk about chess while we eat."

Li Yi said, "Uncle, I've been running a tofu shop recently and have been thinking of some new products, including bean curd sheets, fried tofu, thousand sheets, and vegetarian chicken. I'll go get some to treat Master Hui Le."

"I'm familiar with Qianzhang and vegetarian chicken, but I've never heard of these fried tofu and bean curd sheets." Hui Liao asked Li Yi calmly while dealing with Wang Lizheng's relentless advances.

Li Yi was afraid that he would not respond, so he praised the fried tofu and bean curd sheets to the skies, saying they were even better than vegetarian chicken.

"I'll go back and get some bean curd sheets first. I'll make a few dishes for you guys to try."

"Ride my horse," Wang Lizheng ordered. "Go quickly and come back soon. I want to play another round with you later."

Li Yi rode Wang Lizheng's horse back home, feeling quite happy all the way. Things were going even better than planned. He had come to Wang Lizheng to sell him some yuba (dried bean curd sheets), and he had even exchanged his go for twenty shi of beans. This Hui Le had gotten on so easily.

After returning to Wujiyuan, Li Yi immediately asked Sanniang to pack some fresh fried tofu and high-quality dried bean curd sheets soaked in cold water, and also took the wrought iron frying pan sent by Feng's blacksmith shop.

He also has a secret sauce,

This vegetarian dish consisting mainly of bean curd sheets and fried tofu must impress Monk Hui Le and gain his praise. Then the bean curd sheets and fried tofu can be introduced to Ma Ti Temple and receive a long-term supply order.

Under the shade of the big tree at the bridge head,

Sanniang brought all the tools for grinding tofu and was grinding beans with her father Luo Er and her two sisters-in-law.

"Where?"

"Nianzhuang, it's almost done, wait for my good news."

Sanniang was delighted to hear this and said, "I'll go with you."

"No need. The mill in Nianzhuang will deliver ten stone of soybeans soon. You can help collect them." After saying that, Li Yi urged his horse to rush to Nianzhuang.

Luo Sanniang stood there staring at Li Yiyuan's back in a daze for a long time.

Luo Er pushed the millstone and looked at his daughter's absent-minded look, and couldn't help but sigh.

　Please read on, brothers.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)