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

Chapter 232 Make a friend
After dinner,

Li Yi accompanied the villagers of Luojiabao to take a walk in the garden to help digest their food. Little Pepper Li Shu couldn't stay in the house, so he held her in his arms.

She was not afraid of the cold. She was interested in everything while wearing a tiger-head hat. Her wet nurse had plenty of milk and made her plump and white. She had neither eczema nor jaundice. She was easy to take care of every day. She didn't cry at night and didn't make a fuss during the day. There was no one in the mansion who didn't like this eldest lady.

"Alang, someone is visiting,"

The doorman Ah Fu sent his son Li Shouren to report.

"The fifteenth day of the first lunar month has already passed, and there are still people coming to wish each other a happy new year?" Li Yi saw Shouren holding an exquisite rosewood box. When he opened it, there was a red envelope inside, which looked like a New Year's greeting card.

The envelope was opened and there was a card inside.

"It seems to be made of gold." Luo Dafu said in surprise.

The golden light shone brightly, and it really looked like gold, but Li Yi recognized it at a glance. "This is a red gold foil card, just hot gold foil on it."

On the back of this gold card are four big characters: "Celebrations All Over the World".

Turning it over, it turned out to be a business card, about a foot long and three inches wide.

'The Emperor, along with Yuwen Shiji, has come to the palace of the Marquis of Qianshui in Pingkangfang.
Lord Li, the founding marquis of Qianshui County, respectfully submits his petition,
On the 16th day of the first month of the second year of Wude, the petition was submitted to Yuwen Shiji.

Li Yi was not unfamiliar with the name Yuwen Shiji.

This is the third brother of Emperor Xu, the regicide, and the eldest son-in-law of Yang Guang. His eldest brother, Yu Wenhuaji, was captured by Dou Jiande in Liaocheng, Hebei. Even his wife, Princess Nanyang, and his son, Master Yuwen, were captured.
But this man was in Jibei, which was only separated from Liaocheng by the Yellow River. Some of his subordinates said they wanted to cross the Yellow River to rescue people, while others said they wanted to defend Jibei.
But he ran away with the Internal Secretary Feng Deyi, neither wanting the troops and territory in Jibei nor caring about his wife and son in Hebei, and ran to Chang'an in one breath.

He did not forget to bring his sister Yuwen with him. After arriving in Chang'an, he quickly presented his sister to Li Yuan.

Li Yuan and the Yuwen brothers and sisters were cousins; their mothers were both daughters of Dugu Xin. Yuwen's cousin was 28 years old and a beautiful widow who had been married before. Li Yuan had originally blamed Yuwen Shi and his brothers for regicide, saying they had murdered the regnal and were heading north, then west to Guanzhong. If you brothers had fought back to Chang'an, would you have let us go?

Yuwen Shiji was also very capable. He quickly said that we were cousins. In the past, you were the Junior Eunuch of the Palace, and I was your Imperial Charioteer. We had discussed the current situation in secret when we were in Zhuo County and Fenyin Palace. After Your Majesty became emperor, I wanted to serve you and presented you with a golden cup.

Li Yuan laughed heartily and said to Pei Ji and the others, "This man indeed discussed world affairs with me six or seven years ago. You are all still behind him."

In joy,

Li Yuan took his cousin into the palace and made her Zhaoyi, and also made Yuwen Shiji Shangyitong.

The Shangyi is also a sixth-level honor, regarded as the fifth grade.

Although the official position given by the emperor to this cousin and brother-in-law was nominal, he was new after all, and his brothers had killed the king, so he had to take things step by step.

Li Yi didn't expect that Yuwen Shiji would come to visit him today.

Looking at the red gold foil in his hand and the respectful tone, he even guessed the other party's intention.

The eight-acre house in Pingkangfang originally belonged to the Li Mu family, and later fell into the hands of Yuwen Shu, who gave it to his third son Yuwen Shiji and Princess Nanyang as a villa.

Later, when their brother Jiangdu killed the emperor, Li Yuan confiscated his cousin's house and sold it with the government. Li Yi bought it for 800,000 coins.

"I'm going to meet a guest."

Although the Yuwen brothers had a bad reputation, Yuwen Shiji, who abandoned his wife and ran to Chang'an, had a very promising future. Not only did he soon become the prime minister of Li Yuan's dynasty, but after the Xuanwu Gate Incident, he also remained strong in Li Shimin's dynasty for many years.

He gave his sister to Li Yuan, and Li Yuan also arranged for him to marry his cousin, Princess Shouguang, from the royal family.

This person is adaptable and cautious, and is a powerful figure.

Li Yi put the red gold foil back into the prayer box.

"Why did Lord Yuwen give you all the gift boxes?" Li Yi asked with a smile.

The visiting box is used to store visiting cards to prevent them from getting wrinkled. Of course, it is also used to store blank writing paper and even pens and ink so that visiting cards can be written at any time.

Who would give this thing away together with the post?

"This little box is very delicate and heavy," said Li Shouren.

Li Yi was moved when he heard this and took the box again.

Upon closer inspection, I discovered that when I opened the box, I found a hidden layer underneath, which contained a thick stack of gold leaves.

There were hundreds of paper-thin gold leaves.

This one is worth one tael, and it has a stamp of Chen Erlang Shifenjin on it. Each page is divided into five equal parts, making it convenient to tear and cut out for pocket money.

Making gold into this thin leaf gold is not only convenient to carry and make change, but more importantly, it can prevent the adulteration of gold ingots. Thin leaf gold is not easy to be mixed with lead, silver, etc.

One hundred taels is more than six pounds. No wonder this small box is so heavy.

What a generous gesture, spending a hundred taels of gold.
He spent 800,000 coins to buy this house, and now Yuwen Shiji directly gave him 800,000 coins.

It seems that he wants to take this house back?

Li Yi met Yuwen Shiji in the front yard living room.
He looks to be in his thirties, very tall, with a mature and elegant air.

He was standing in the living room, looking at the Three Character Classic and Disciple Rules written by Li Yi hanging on the wall, as well as the portrait of Li Yi painted by Shi Niang.

"Duke Yuwen, I apologize for not coming to greet you."

Yu Wenzhi turned around, smiled, and bowed, "I'm sorry for coming here without permission."

"Sit down." Li Yi handed the red sandalwood gift box to Yuwen Shiji, "My servant was ignorant and just took away Yuwen Gong's gift box."

"It's a small gadget I brought back from Kanto. It looks exquisite, and I specially gave it to Qianshui Hou."

"This box is indeed exquisite, and the materials are good. But Lord Yuwen may have forgotten what else is inside: one hundred taels of gold leaves."

Yuwen Shiji sat there, smiling and stroking his beard. His five long strands of beard looked very delicate and beautiful.

"It's just a small token of my appreciation, not a token of respect."

"How can that be done?"

Li Yi was making tea while Yuwen Shiji was looking at him.

Yuwen Shiji's life can be said to be extremely rich and noble. His father Yuwen Shu was a general of the Sui Dynasty. Later, he became Yang Guang's confidant and had great power in the court. He was known as one of the Five Nobles of Daye.

When Yuwen Shiji was young, he was granted the title of Duke of Xincheng County for his father's merits. Later, he married Princess Nanyang, the eldest daughter of Emperor Yang of Sui, and was appointed as the Duke of the Imperial Household, and later promoted to the Junior Secretary of the Ministry of Rites.

Although his brothers failed in their business ventures, he had already left a way out. He presented a golden cup to Li Yuan early on, and now he even presented his sister. He also successfully entered the Tang Dynasty again.

Although he has not yet obtained any real position, he is not Li Mi, so he will not be so anxious. He believes that sooner or later he will have his day to come to the fore.

"Duke Yuwen is here today, isn't he just to revisit his old place and take a look at this house?" Li Yi asked.

"To be honest, this house used to be my villa. Although I have several houses in Chang'an, I like this one very much and spent a lot of time to rebuild and decorate it. Now that I have returned to Chang'an, I learned that the house is now in the hands of Qianshui Hou.
I want to buy it back. I know Qianshui Hou also likes this place. As long as Qianshui Hou is willing to give it up, I am willing to pay double the price to buy it back."

"Also, please accept this small gift." As he said this, he pushed the gift box over again.

If I buy it back at double the price, it would be 1.6 million. The thought here is worth 800,000, so I buy it back at triple the price.
Li Yi made 1.6 million in less than half a year after buying it, which should be considered a very worthwhile deal.

"Lord Yuwen, it's not that I don't want to help you, it's just that this house is the first property I've ever been to since I came to Chang'an. My wives and concubines all like it very much."

"Two million, I'm willing to pay two million."

Yuwen Shiji directly raised the price by 400,000.

"This isn't a matter of money. Although I'm not from a prominent family, I'm not short of money right now."

"I'm sorry for being so presumptuous. I hope you'll forgive me." Yuwen Shiji didn't insist. After Li Yi made it clear he wasn't selling, he withdrew his intention to buy the house back, but he still pushed the box towards him. "When I returned to Chang'an, I heard a lot about the deeds of Qianshui Hou. They all said that Qianshui Hou was a very loyal man. I'll give you a little token of my appreciation and make friends."

"I like making friends, but I'm not happy with what you're doing. You can take the gold, but you can give me the box. I'm in need of such a delicate little box.
You are welcome to come here often in the future, Lord Yuwen. Just bring some tea or something, there is no need to be so formal."

"it is good."

Yuwen Shiji took out the hundred taels of gold and left the box.

Li Yi took him around the house, and Yuwen Shiji felt a little sad that things and people had changed.

When he left, Li Yi gave him some homemade persimmon cakes, bean curd sheets, noodles, soap, etc.

When Ji Lingyi heard that Yuwen Shiji was willing to spend 2.8 million to buy back the house, but Li Yi did not sell it, she was not surprised. Her husband was sometimes very vulgar and loved money very much, but sometimes he could treat money as dirt.

"That Lord Yuwen is quite respectful to Alang." Ji Lingyi's grandfather, Ji Wei, was once attached to Yuwen Shu, and then switched from being a close minister of Crown Prince Yang Yong to joining Yang Guang's army, becoming a powerful figure in Daye. The Yuwen family and the Ji family also had frequent exchanges. "Yuwen Shu's third son, Yuwen Huaji, was known as the frivolous young man of Chang'an and a playboy. The second son, Yuwen Zhiji, was a dandy and scoundrel, vicious, cunning, and extremely greedy.

Only that Yuwen Sanlang, suave and dashing, erudite and talented, whose father was a high-ranking nobleman in the court, and who married the eldest princess, was very cautious and low-key.

"If it were the other two Yuwen Young Masters who wanted to redeem the house today, I would definitely persuade Alang to sell it, even if it was only for the original price. It is better to offend a gentleman than a villain."

Li Yi said, "I didn't sell it because I knew Yuwen Shiji wouldn't force a sale, and certainly wouldn't retaliate. After talking with him today, I'm sure he'll rise to prominence in the future, and his achievements might even surpass his father's."

Yuwen Shu was granted the title of Duke of Xu and was promoted to General of the Left Guard. Later, he participated in government affairs and had great power, but he was too greedy.

"Ah Lang, are you saying that Yuwen Sanlang will be able to become a prime minister in the future?"

"Well, almost."

Ji Lingyi chuckled, "I've heard Ah Lang say that Du Erlang, General Li next door, and Fang Xuanling and Zhangsun Wuji who came to our house last time can become prime ministers in the future. Today he said that Yuwen Sanlang can become prime minister. Last time he also said that Hou Junji, the guard of the King of Qin, can also become prime minister.

It's not that easy to be a prime minister. You've already spoken six prime ministers."

"Haha, I was just saying it casually, you can't tell anyone else."

"Don't worry, I know the seriousness of this matter. I won't tell these words to anyone, not even to Shi Niang."

Li Yi pulled her into his arms and said, "The pregnancy reaction hasn't been that severe lately, has it? Are you still vomiting?"

"Much better. As long as it's not something too greasy, it won't."

"I've made an agreement with Pharmacist Yang that he'll come check on you every ten days. You're pregnant with twins, so you need to be extra careful."

"I will pay attention to it."

"I have to start preparing a nanny, wet nurse, etc. for you now."

"Why is there such a rush?"

"Be prepared for any eventuality?"

(End of this chapter)