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

Chapter 263 Blacklist

The setting sun dyes the pine forest of Nanshan Mountain,
Li Yi fixed his eyes on a deer that was fleeing in panic. He drew his bow and arrow from his shaking horse. The bowstring sounded, and the deer let out a mournful cry and fell down.

Dozens of riders rushed out from one side, guarding Crown Prince Li Jiancheng.

There were two arrows stuck in the deer.
One was shot by Li Yi just now, and the other was shot by the prince earlier.

The deer had been hit by the prince's arrow and was running in front of him, so he shot it dead with another arrow.

Jiancheng looked at the fallen deer and said to Li Yi with a smile, "I chased this deer across three mountain ridges, but I didn't expect it to end up in Wuyi's hands."

A pack of hounds barked.

"Pull back!" the prince waved his hand.

The prince asked Li Yi's personal soldiers to take the deer, saying that the deer should belong to him.

Wang Gui laughed and said, "Your Highness, hunting has its own rules. Hunting in the mountains follows the rule that if you come, you get a share, and if you leave, you lose a share.

The first one to be shot will get the first share.

If you are hunting a wild boar, you first divide the bristles. Whoever hits the boar with the second arrow gets the pig heart, whoever hits the boar with the third arrow gets the pig eggs, and whoever finds the animal's tracks gets the pig stomach.

If you bring a dog, the dog will get half the share.

The one who kills the wild boar with a fatal arrow will get the pig's head and the remaining 20% of the meat.

The rest is shared among the other hunters and their hounds."

According to this rule, Crown Prince Li Jiancheng would first get the deer skin, Li Yi would get the deer head, then they would get 20% of the meat, and the rest would be divided together.

"I've had a great harvest today. I'll give this deer to Wuyi."

"Since there are rules, then we should follow them. This deerskin naturally belongs to Your Highness."

Li Yi's harvest today was not bad. He had the help of the old hunter Zhao Yongan, and his personal soldiers were surrounding him. Although he had no hunting dogs, he had many soldiers who knew how to hunt.

As for the last deer, Jiancheng took a deerskin and a leg, Li Yi took the deer head and a leg, and the rest was divided among everyone.

The dusk is falling,

Everyone returned with a full load.

Li Yi and Jiancheng rode side by side.

"Has anyone come to you to surrender?" Jiancheng asked with a smile.

"not yet."

The memorial that the prince had given to Li Yi previously actually contained no evidence of collusion with bandits. It was just a list of the wealthy and powerful families in Zhouzhi County and Hu County.

Li Jiancheng was just accepting Wang Gui's plan to defraud the wealthy families and successfully obtained 10,000 dan of grain. In the end, he threw the list to Li Yi and asked Li Yi to clean up the mess. However, Li Yi told them to come forward and explain the situation to atone for their sins.

"I believe you and will wait for your good news." Jiancheng laughed. Seeing Li Yi stumped, he felt a rare sense of relief in his heart.

He was the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty, but he did not receive the respect he deserved from Li Yi. Li Yi was even lukewarm in his attempts to win him over.

He was recommended to lead the army to suppress the bandits and was expected to be promoted and rewarded for his meritorious service, but he immediately sent his confidant Wei Tingke to Shizhou, three thousand miles away.

This guy is like a civet cat. He looks inconspicuous, but he is actually very ferocious. No matter how you feed him, he seems to never be tamed.

When the setting sun is about to fall,
In Yishou Palace,

Li Yi has already cleaned up the wild deer, rabbits, pheasants, etc. that he hunted today.
Pheasant soup was stewing in the earthenware pot, and venison was roasting in the iron cauldron.

Li Yi used the Taibai wine sent by Louguan to stew the rabbit meat.
Liu Heizi, Luo Wu and other personal soldiers gathered there, sniffing hard, while Dafu was guarding the stove and adding firewood.

"Cook more rice. The food is so good today, I have to eat at least five bowls!"

"This is the army, and military rations are rationed. Each person gets two liters of millet a day, and you want to eat five bowls in one meal."

"Didn't those powerful people say they would send food to support the army? There are more than 10,000 dan of food. How can we still be short of food?"

Several people were chatting, and they were in a good mood. This time they followed Li Yi to suppress the bandits. As personal soldiers, they only felt the war at close range, but still had no chance to take action.

But he was also awarded a medal after the war.

The speed at which they were awarded medals was really fast. At this rate, if they continued to fight a few more battles with Li Yi, they would also have the opportunity to become officials.

"Wu Yi."

Li Jing and his father came over to eat. He stayed in the camp today and did not go hunting. "I can smell the aroma of your meat from far away."

quickly,

Qin Qiong, Luo Shixin and even Qiu Shenyan and other officers also came to him.

"You guys have gained a lot today."

"Hey, none of us has your cooking skills. We can only stew a pot of random things. It's nothing compared to yours. We still come to you to eat, but it's not for nothing," Luo Shixin smiled and put down a deer leg.
Cheng Yaojin threw down a string of pheasants.

Everyone brought something.

"Are you guys processing supplied materials? Then I'll charge you for your work."

I'm not afraid of the crowds.

Just dig a few simple stoves on the spot, and there are also iron pots and pottery pots, and light a fire.

Chop the venison into pieces, chop the deer meat into pieces, and cut the hare and pheasant into small pieces. It is also simple to make and does not require blanching. First, add a little oil and fry until the water is dry. Then add some seasoning. The seasoning in the army is also limited.

Stir-fry with rice wine, add water and simmer.

Cheng Yaojin looked at Li Yi's familiar posture and couldn't help asking, "I'm starting to doubt whether you really learned Taoism from your master, Master Li. You look more like you've been learning cooking for sixteen years."

Luo Shixin, who loved cutting off people's noses on the battlefield, nodded repeatedly: "We stew meat similarly to you, frying it in oil first and then stewing it, but why does it just not taste right?"

"Talent," Li Yi said with a smile.

Night came,

In Yishou Palace,
Bonfires lit up, and delicious dishes were cooked. Although it was simply cooked without any seasoning, even Qin Qiong praised Li Yi for his ability to turn decay into something magical.
Even Li Jing gave a thumbs up: "This wild boar can be stewed without any smell and still be so tender."

After winning a great victory and receiving rewards, everyone was in a good mood and their appetites were greatly increased.

There is so much meat today, but these guys are better at making it than the other, they really eat a lot.

Eating with these big-bellied warriors, I ate too much without realizing it.

Li Yi and Li Jing took a walk together to help digest their food.

"You have an empty list in your hand. It seems no one has taken the bait." Li Jing said.

Although the prince asked these people to donate 10,000 stones of grain during the day, Li Yi asked them to come to him, but no one came.

"I guess they're still hoping for the best. Do they think I've wiped out so many bandits and still can't find any evidence of collusion between the bandits and the wealthy?"

As long as Li Yi knows a few names, he can break through one by one.

No matter whether they are in contact with Zhu Shanhai, Zhang Zihui, or any other bandits, they are all in contact with bandits.

"Since they won't come, I'll invite them by name."

Li Yi called Liu Heizi, who had eaten seven bowls of rice, and said, "You must be full. Send me some notes to help you digest the food. Don't overeat and upset your stomach."

"Hehe, it's a rare day for me to eat as much as I want today, and it's wild game that A-Lang personally made, so I have to eat more."

The heads of the He, Zhou, and Zhao families were all panicked after receiving Li Yi's business card.

The He brothers gathered together to discuss quietly.

"Could it be that Li Yi really has evidence of our dealings with the mountain?"

"We saw with our own eyes that the prince handed the evidence to Li Yi, so it must be true."

"What should we do? We've been dealing with the people in the mountains, selling them grain, salt, cloth, cattle, and horses. We even secretly sold them iron and copper. If this is investigated, our He family will be wiped out!"

One person complained, "I told you not to be greedy for those petty profits and not to trade with bandits, but you didn't listen."

Boss He said angrily, "You're talking nonsense now, after the fact? Has the money earned from trading with the mountain people decreased over the years? Did you get less share?

Besides, this is just a matter of making money. If we hadn't been interacting with the mountains in recent years, could our He family, living next to Nanshan, have lived so peacefully and worry-free?
We even used the help of the people in the mountains to get rid of several of our sworn enemies and seize their property."

"Brother and the fourth brother, stop arguing. What's the point of saying that now? Let's talk about what to do. This Li Yi is not someone to be trifled with. Wei Ting is a direct descendant of the Jingzhao Wei family and a close confidant of the crown prince. He even dared to almost break someone's leg. He is like a dog in a cage.
Even the crown prince could not protect Wei Ting, and he was suddenly banished three thousand miles away.

Our Zhouzhi He family, at most, has a certain status in the county. Can we compare with the Wei family?"

"Then what do you think we should do?"

He Laosan gritted his teeth and said, "What else can we do now? We can only follow the path laid out by Li Yi. If he asks us to confess, we must confess honestly. If he asks us to help lead the way to destroy the village, we must work hard."

"But who can guarantee that he won't abandon the donkey after it's done its work?"

"Yeah, what if we confess everything and help him kill the thieves and he takes us all in? What should we do?"

"Give him money." The third brother said with a gloomy face, "I heard that Li Yi likes gold, land, and beautiful women. So let's give him gold, land, and beautiful women. As long as he can survive this disaster, he can only bleed."

"How much do you give?"

"If you want to give something, give more. Give one hundred taels of gold, three hundred acres of land, and a few young girls."

The second brother shook his head.

"If it were up to me, we should just send the girl from the fourth brother's family there."

"What? Give my daughter?"

"Why are you crying? Your girl is pretty good-looking, and fifteen is just the right age. If Li Yi really takes a liking to her, it would be her blessing. It would even mean that our family has found a backer."

In the past, the He family depended on He Panren, but now that He Panren is dead, the He family has no one to rely on.

The fourth brother frowned and said after a long while, "If you ask me, the five of us brothers all have daughters. Let each of us give one to Li Yi. No matter which one he chooses, or whether he wants them all, we will give them all. Since you want him to be your backer, then we should be more sincere."

As soon as these words came out,
The other four were silent for a while, and finally the eldest spoke up, "Okay, let's do as the fourth one says."

late at night.

He Laosan asked for a secret meeting.

Li Yi, who was drinking mountain slag water to help digest his food, smiled and said, "The fish has finally taken the bait."

As soon as they met, He Laosan said he would give Li Yi one hundred taels of gold, three hundred acres of land, and the five daughters of their five brothers.

"We did do some business with the mountain people before, but it was all due to the situation..."

Li Yi sipped the mountain slag water. The third brother stood there with his back bent and talked tremblingly for a long time. His mouth was dry, but Li Yi didn't say a word.

"There are five sisters in our family, all fourteen or fifteen years old, and they are pretty..."

Li Yi still ignored it.

"I, we will add another fifty taels of gold and two hundred acres of land, and ask for your mercy, General Manager Li. Our He family is willing to be his heir and pay tribute to him year after year."

Finally, when He Laosan had finished repeating the same old things over and over again and had nothing new to say, Li Yi put down his teacup.

"Write down all the transactions that the He family has had with the Nanshan bandits over the years. Write down every detail truthfully. Also, write down the locations of the bandit strongholds you have dealings with, their leaders, the number of people in the strongholds, and the routes they have taken."

He Laosan hesitated and wrote it down, which might be used as evidence in court.

Li Yi just snorted coldly.
He Laosan's scalp went numb, and he no longer dared to resist and quickly agreed.

Although he was like a local tyrant in the village, in front of the young man Li Yi, he was no different from the debtors in his family when he was chasing them for debts.

Life and death are in the hands of others.

He sighed in his heart, if He Panren was still alive, their He family would still have a backer, with a third-rank General of the Left Tunwei in the court protecting them, and they would not allow Li Yi to force them like this.

But now that He Panren is dead, they are like wild dogs without their masters, fat and greedy.

(End of this chapter)