Chapter 251 Death in battle
Li Yuan looked at the mashed potatoes and couldn't wait to scoop a big spoonful.

It feels just the right thickness and goes down smoothly in one gulp, with almost no rough grains. It has a rich milky flavor and the salty aroma of potatoes, giving it a mellow taste.

"This is the smell!"

Li Yuan praised it highly.

Li Yi smiled and thanked the emperor for his praise.

Mashed potatoes may look simple, but they are actually not that easy to make. They require milk, ghee, and an appropriate amount of salt and black pepper.

After eating several large spoonfuls of mashed potatoes in one breath, the emperor quickly stopped eating and said, "Hurry up and bring the rest up so that you can enjoy the auspiciousness together."

The Minister of Rites, acting as Li Yi's assistant, shouted, "Serve the meal!"

One potato dish after another was served.

The roasted potatoes crack like lotus flowers, the potato starch is crystal clear like snow, and the summer pills are golden like pearls.
Xiao Yu, the internal historian, picked up a potato chip and bit into it with a crunching sound: "It's thin and crispy, much crispier than sesame cakes." Chen Shuda, the minister of justice, tasted the chips carefully: "The skin is crispy on the outside and the inside is soft and sticky, which is better than fried cakes."

You Pushe Pei Ji dipped French fries in mashed potatoes and wrote the word "Feng" on the empty plate.

Shangshu Ling Li Shimin, chomping on a pan-fried potato, exclaimed, "Since this auspicious food can be grown in both the north and south, and even yield two or three harvests a year, then where troops are stationed at the border, they can reclaim wasteland and plant this auspicious food. Wouldn't that mean the border areas can be self-sufficient in the future, eliminating the need to transport food thousands of miles from the interior? Even if it only provides a partial supply of military rations, it would be truly remarkable."

Li Yuan was delighted as he tasted all kinds of delicious golden potatoes.

"The imperial decree was passed that the Sinong Temple establish a new supervisory post for the cultivation of golden potatoes, with one supervisor of the seventh rank and one assistant supervisor of the eighth rank, as well as recorders, prefects, historians and other non-official officials, specifically responsible for the cultivation and management of golden potatoes.

I'm going to plant golden potatoes on my one and a half mu of land this year!"

The emperor also gave ten potatoes to each of the left and right garrison troops, asking them to plant them in the Beiyuan. He also gave ten potatoes to each of the twelve guards and four prefectures in the Nanya. This was the beginning of military settlement.

Li Yi harvested about 200 potatoes.

The emperor also rewarded him with one hundred taels of gold.

Pei Ji smiled and asked Li Yi for the recipe of golden potato.
"Pei Jian, these golden potatoes are treasures. You should plant the harvested golden potatoes first and don't eat them."

Xiao Yu immediately took over and asked the emperor to send an imperial censor to inspect the golden potatoes. All the golden potatoes of the ministers should be registered and inspected regularly. If anyone was greedy and ate them, they would be impeached and punished.

"Inspector of the Potatoes?" Li Yi wondered if it was such an exaggeration, but Li Yuan actually agreed with a smile.

Li Yi thought that he couldn't give it to Shi Niang and the others to eat.

"Your Majesty, I think it would be better to centrally manage these two thousand kilograms of potatoes in the Imperial Garden, select and germinate them together, and then sow and manage them.
"Each minister should allocate a plot of land to plant his own golden potatoes. Officials at the Golden Potato Station can not only help with planting and caring for the crops, but also record and study the methods of golden potato cultivation and management, which will facilitate their promotion throughout the country in the future," Li Yi proposed.

"Okay, plant it in the Imperial Garden."

Six pounds of potatoes, made more than a dozen dishes,
The emperor and his ministers shared the meal, which was actually just a taste test, but it won unanimous praise.

Wu Shiling, the Shaoqing of the Sinong Temple, was ordered to lead people to start registering potatoes.

"Your Majesty, I impeach Zhao Wenke, the Water Supervisor and Duke of Xinxing County, for secretly hiding golden potatoes in his sleeves and openly defying the imperial edict!" Imperial Censor Li Suli pointed at Zhao Wenke and shouted.

Everyone looked at Zhao Wenke.

This is one of the emperor's seventeen Taiyuan Yuanmou heroes,

He was originally the Sima of Yingyang Mansion in the Sui Dynasty. At the beginning of the Taiyuan uprising, he was the right third commander and an old subordinate of Li Yuan.

This Duke of Xinxing, dressed in a purple robe and jade belt, was caught in public by Li Suli hiding golden potatoes. His face flushed, and he sheepishly took out the stolen potatoes from his robe. He blushed and defended himself, "I didn't steal them. They were my own golden potatoes. I just wanted to take a few home to my mother, wife, and children to taste this auspicious delicacy."

"How can it be called stealing if I take my own things?"

Li Suli was the censor who wrote a letter to the emperor to strongly advise him to execute Gao Er and others, and the emperor finally did so according to the law. He was promoted eight levels by the emperor because of his advice.

"Duke Xinxing, His Majesty has just issued an edict, and you immediately disobeyed it. Your crime is even more serious." Li Suli said loudly.

Zhao Wenke was a military man, while Li Suli was a scholar. He was also a descendant of the famous Li family in Zhao County, one of the Five Surnames. They were no match for him in verbal arguments.

Li Yuan had no choice but to stand up and speak for this old subordinate.
But Li Suli still refused to give in, saying that he was disobeying his orders.

"Then confiscate the four golden potatoes that Zhao Wenke stole, and fine Zhao Wenke twenty catties of copper."

"Li Suli is upright and will be rewarded with two golden potatoes."

Zhao Wenke harvested eight jars of golden potatoes this time, weighing dozens of kilograms, or about a hundred potatoes. He didn't feel bad about having four of them confiscated, but he felt a little embarrassed in public. He stared at Li Suli with his big eyes, but there was nothing he could do.

However, with the example of Zhao Wenke, the others did not dare to make any more small moves and had to leave all the golden potatoes behind.

arrive home,

Li Yi told Shi Niang and the others that the golden potato harvest was good.
"We harvested over 100 jin of potatoes from our eight vats. The largest one weighed 1.5 jin. The most we harvested from a vat was 24 jin..."
Unfortunately, these golden nuggets have to stay in the Forbidden Garden for the time being and need to be cultivated and managed in a unified manner. They can’t be eaten casually now. We can only wait until the summer harvest, then we can make potato delicacies for you ladies.”

Shi Niang is not that greedy.

"It's right to save the seeds first. One golden potato can grow into several kilograms or even more than ten kilograms. It's the same whether we eat it in the morning or in the evening.
These 100 or so kilograms of golden potatoes can cover one mu of land, and the summer harvest can yield several thousand kilograms."

Li Yi said that the emperor had rewarded him with another 100 taels of gold. Du Shiniang's eyes narrowed with laughter. "Then use it to buy land and slaves. Land is cheap now, but the price of land is already rising. It will definitely get higher in the future. Buying land now is like finding a bargain."

Li Yi owned more than ten thousand acres of land, but Du Shiniang still had a great desire to buy land.

After buying the land, she also needed to buy slaves. She felt that slaves were cheap now and buying them was cost-effective.

"Recruit some more disaster victims to be tenants." Li Yi felt that recruiting disaster victims as tenants would also be dependent on the Li family, which was better than slaves, especially the Liao slaves and Qiang slaves, who could not even speak the language.

"We can recruit some disaster victims as tenants, but we also have to buy slaves. Using slaves in manor workshops is cost-effective, and in some places, using slaves can also help keep secrets."

Seeing how she is actively buying land and slaves, she seems to be gradually getting over the sadness of her grandmother's death, which is a good thing.

at night,

Although they had been separated for a long time, she was still very polite and let Yu Shu accompany Li Yi.

She had to observe mourning for her grandmother for a year, not eating meat, not wearing wedding clothes, and not sharing the same room.

Li Yi actually felt that a whole year was a bit long.

But the ancients paid attention to these things. They even had to observe the mourning period for three years. Many people built a straw hut and lived in it in front of their parents' graves for three years.

When he returned home, his wife and children could not recognize him. He was emaciated after the mourning period.

Live in a straw hut, sleep in a straw house, use stones as pillows, eat simple meals, and don't take a bath or change clothes.

It is said that there was a Jinshi in history who observed mourning for 24 consecutive years. After he finally passed the imperial examination, he had a bright future. However, eight of his close relatives died one after another. After each mourning period, he had to continue mourning for 24 consecutive years.

Li Yi had no choice but to go to the Silla maid's house.

He had no affection for Guo, and he wouldn't take her so seriously in observing mourning. Of course, according to the law, only during the period of mourning for one's parents could one not have sex and have children, otherwise one would be punished.

Guo was only his wife's grandmother. Li Yi could actually have children with Du Shiniang without any problem, let alone with concubines such as Silla maids.

"Ah Lang, are you going to fight again tomorrow?"

"Well, we have to go to the main camp tomorrow. The official departure will probably take another day or two."

The Silla maid worked very hard. She took a bath today and used the red pomegranate Safeguard soap that Li Yi was familiar with. She also changed into a silk pajamas that was smooth and sexy.

Seeing Ji Lingyi's belly growing bigger day by day, the Silla maid was very envious.

Li Yi had been on an expedition to Guzhou for more than a month, and now he had just returned to march west again. Tonight was a rare opportunity, so she was extremely proactive and worked hard, using all kinds of magic to obtain the true scriptures.

Now Luo Sanniang often comes to Chang'an, and Shi Niang has already sent a betrothal gift to the Luo family.

The wife of the household was very generous. Knowing that Sanniang was deeply in love with Alang, she gave the Luo family a betrothal gift of two Qinchuan yellow cattle, four piglets, one hundred pieces of silk and twenty thousand coins.

Nowadays, the cost of a maidservant of a Liao slave is only a few thousand coins, and the money for an ordinary civilian woman to be a concubine is only a few thousand coins.

Ten thousand coins can buy a concubine.
If they were the women victims of the disaster, a few buckets of millet would be enough.

Back then, Luo Er took the initiative to propose marriage, wanting to marry Sanniang to Li Yi, and all he asked for was a cow.

The betrothal gift has been paid and the contract has been signed. In fact, Luo Sanniang is now a concubine of the Li family. It's just that Li Yi is too busy to take her in.
After all, the relationship is special, so we have to hold a banquet to invite all the fellow villagers to have a lively time.

And Shi Niang also said that when San Niang officially gets married, Shu Ying will also be officially taken in as a concubine.

The Silla maid felt that she had to get pregnant before them, otherwise she would not have so many opportunities in the future.

Tianming,

Li Yi was still washing up.
The Prince's Right Guard Yitong Chang He is here.

"Have you eaten?" Li Yi asked, "I made pot stickers with mutton filling this morning. Let's have some together."

Chang He was not polite. "Although I have never eaten pot stickers, your food must be delicious. I must try it."

Wait for the golden and crispy pot stickers to be poured on,
Chang He laughed and said, "Isn't this made from boiled pills?"

"It's similar, but also different. Look at this pot sticker. The skin is only pinched in the middle, and the two sides are open. When frying, add a little oil first, then add some water. The most important step is to add a little flour mixed with water at the end, so that the thin and crispy layer at the bottom can be fried."

Chang He ate one bite at a time, making a loud crunching sound.

"Brother Chang, why are you looking for me?"

"These pot stickers are so delicious that I forgot about the main thing. Didn't His Majesty send General He Panren of the Left Tunwei to lead troops to suppress the Sizhuyuan bandit Zhu Shanhai yesterday? Something went wrong."

"what?"

"He Panren died in battle at Sizhu Garden yesterday,"

Li Yi was so shocked that he couldn't close his mouth. A third-rank general of the Zuotunwei Army went to encircle and suppress more than a thousand bandits right on the edge of Chang'an, but ended up killing himself?

(End of this chapter)

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