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

Chapter 266 Kaiyuan Tongbao
Time is tight and tasks are heavy.

Li Yi felt a headache, but put it aside for the time being. The prince had already led his troops to break camp, and Qin Qiong and other generals would also leave.

He will give a banquet to celebrate for them.

Beside the Yishou Palace and the Blackwater River, Li Yi personally cooked a lot of delicious dishes. Roasted venison, stewed wild boar, roasted lamb, pheasant soup, stir-fried rabbit...

Old Cheng took a wrist-cutting knife with a thick back and a thin blade and cut off a large piece of freshly grilled lamb chops. "Wuyi's lamb is grilled to perfection. It's still sizzling with oil when it's served. It smells so good. When I cut it, the outside is golden brown, and the inside is tender and juicy. The smell makes my mouth water.

If you ask me, I really don't want to leave now. Following Wu Yi here, not only did I get promoted to the second rank of General, but I've also become very picky about eating and drinking delicious food every day."

Luo Shixin, who had been directly awarded the rank of Supreme Pillar of the State for his meritorious service, was even more straightforward. He directly picked up the wine jar and poured himself a large bowl of persimmon wine. "Here, toast to you!"

Li Yi was a little scared when he saw his attitude. "We are brothers, just be casual and drink slowly. This persimmon liquor is strong."

"I like the strong taste of this, Shaodaozi. I like the name better. Shaoshizi sounds like it's for women." Luo Shixin took a big sip without hesitation. "Whatever you want."

Qin Qiong also took a big sip. After the battle of Guzhou, he was awarded the title of Grand General. This time, with the second promotion, he was directly promoted to Grand Pillar of the State.

Li Jing was holding a bowl of pheasant soup. He was old and could not compare with these young men.

Luo Shixin was only nineteen years old, and he had fought on the battlefield for five years, having cut off hundreds or even thousands of noses. Li Yi was even younger, at only sixteen, but he had already risen to the rank of Shangzhuguo based on his military exploits.

Compared with them, Li Jing, this old man in his fifties, seems really outdated.

At such an old age, he was promoted to General of the Central Army and was awarded the title of Pillar of the State.

"Wuyi, your stir-fried rabbit meat today is a little different. It's extra spicy. Not only did you add pepper, but you also added hot pepper grass, right?" Niu Jinda was sweating profusely because of the spiciness. He liked to eat stir-fried rabbit meat, which was fried in oil first and then stir-fried, but today's dish was fragrant and spicy.

"Polygonum hydropiper is used to make wine yeast, not to stir-fry directly. Today I added chili peppers."

"It's spicy," the old cow quickly drank water.

Wu Heita handed him a piece of Hu Bing and said, "Hurry up and eat a couple of bites."

Everyone laughed, but when they tried the rabbit stir-fried with dried chili peppers, their faces turned red.

Li Dejiang and Ji Sigong even had runny noses from the spicy food.

"Do you think the Turks are really going to march south in large numbers?" Qin Qiong asked.

"Looking at the situation, yes," said Liu Demin. His eldest brother, Liu Dewei, was currently serving as Sima of Bingzhou, assisting Prince Yuanji of Qi. "But I heard from my brother in his reply that Taiyuan City is strong, well-stocked, and has a large number of troops. The Turks also invaded Taiyuan in the past, but they could only sigh in despair."

"Mr. Li, what do you think?" Li Yi asked Li Jing who was drinking pheasant soup.

"I think if the Turks really turn against us, Taiyuan will be in danger." Li Jing said the surprising result very calmly. After all, he had been the county magistrate in Mayi, and he had a relatively good understanding of the Turks, Liu Wuzhou, and Taiyuan.

"Although Taiyuan is a city with high walls and strong defenses, the Turks are strong in both men and horses, and most of Liu Wuzhou's men are from the northern border. Taiyuan is a large city, but to defend it, we must first defend the outer border passes such as Loufan Pass and Yanmen Pass.
But now, those border crossings were either in the hands of Liu Wuzhou or lacked generals and heavy troops to garrison them, making them useless to the Turks, and they could move freely.

If a real war breaks out, the Turks can directly surround Taiyuan City. Taiyuan can be defended for three to five months, but it is impossible to defend it for three to five years. Even if there is no general guarding it, it is impossible to defend it for a year.

When Emperor Yang was besieged at Yanmen by Shibi Khan, the cities of Yanmen County fell one after another, leaving only two cities. If the troops from various directions had not arrived in time to support the emperor, Emperor Yang would have almost become a prisoner.

"I think what Lord Li said makes sense. I'm not optimistic about Taiyuan's defense either. I even dare to assert that within six months, Taiyuan will fall. This time, the Turks will not only invade on a large scale, but may even fight all the way to Puzhou."

"If we capture Puzhou, won't the entire Hedong be lost?" Qin Qiong was surprised.

Li Yi shook his head. "That's not the case. Even if the Turks strongly support Liu Wuzhou, they can be arrogant for a while, but they won't have enough stamina. As long as the court uses the right people, then the court will eventually be able to fight back and recapture Hedong."

"In this great war, you, Brother Cheng and Brother Luo, will be able to demonstrate your abilities. If you can defeat the generals and seize the flags, you will become famous throughout the world."

Qin Qiong picked up a piece of hot Hu pancake, cut it in half, spread the chopped roasted lamb on it, and added some shredded Chishui green onions. He ate while falling into deep thought.

Li Yi's words were somewhat shocking, but Li Jing also held this attitude, which inevitably made Qin Qiong believe it a little.

"If the Turks really march all the way to Puzhou, countless people in Hedong will suffer and be displaced by the war. Sigh!"

The Wagang generals all sighed together. They had been fighting in Guandong for the past few years and had truly witnessed the tremendous destructive power of war.

Soldiers pass by like combing a bush, and bandits pass by like rakes. The people in the war zone are worse than cattle and horses, and human lives are worthless.

"Come on, drink!"

Everyone was in a somewhat heavy mood that night, and Li Yi also drank a few more glasses.

After waking up from sleep,
The generals have already gone down the mountain and left.

Liu Heizi said, "General Qin and the others said they won't bother you anymore. He will host us next time we meet in Chang'an."

Li Jing also left and returned to Chang'an.

He actually wanted to go to Yuanzhou with the Crown Prince, or to go to Changchun Palace with the King of Qin, but the Crown Prince did not seem to think much of Li Jing, who was over fifty years old.

"Ah Lang, what are we going to do next?"

Here in Yishou Palace, there are still 1,000 Yulin Imperial Guards left to obey Li Yi's command.
In addition, there were many refugees captured by Prince Jiancheng when he suppressed bandits and destroyed villages.

Li Yi rubbed his face.
Although I drank a little too much last night, the homemade persimmon-flavored Erguotou was still good and I didn't have any aftereffects of a headache.

Thousands of thoughts,

One after another.

"First, call the managers of the private foundry."

The spring rain continues,

Li Yi brought the managers and craftsmen of the private foundry and came to the private foundry again. With his previous orders, the protection here was relatively good.

Although the workshop has been shut down for a long time, the furnace tools, craftsmen, workers, and even various materials such as copper, lead, tin, and charcoal are still there.

You can start work at any time.

Li Yi announced the establishment of the Heishui Money Supervisor by the imperial court and told the emperor the task assigned to him.

In one and a half months, 20,000 strings of coins had to be minted, and there had to be a profit of 3,000 strings.

"Minting new coins?"

"We need to have some coins first, but there's no time like that. Besides, even with enough manpower and materials, our coin casting furnace can only cast about 300 strings of coins a day..."

A group of craftsmen have been treated well by Li Yi these days, and they dare to speak frankly in front of him.

"What if we add a coin furnace? For example, if a crucible can originally smelt material worth a thousand coins at a time, and if we enlarge the crucible, it can only smelt material worth two thousand coins at a time, wouldn't that increase the speed?"

"You are all veteran coin minters, having been minting coins since the previous dynasty, some of you have been minting coins for decades. You must know the techniques better than I do.

If you have any suggestions to increase speed and reduce costs, feel free to tell me. I will reward you as long as they are useful.
If it is of great use, I will recommend you for credit.

The positions of Supervisor, Deputy Supervisor, and Supervisor are all officials of the seventh, eighth, and ninth ranks. Recorder, Prefect, Historian, Director, and Supervisor are all outside the official ranks, but they are also official posts. As long as you perform well, I can recommend you for promotion."

As soon as these words came out,
A group of old craftsmen couldn't help but get excited.

Although I had no choice but to join the bandits here before, it was also because of the pressure of life. If given the opportunity, who wouldn't want to be an official, who wouldn't want to live a normal life.

"really?"

"really!"

Li Yi discussed with them for a whole day, studying various technical issues. He gained some results, but not much. Finally, he proposed,

"Why do we keep trying to fix this casting method? Whether it's an open mold, a single-sided mold, a double-sided mold, or a stacked mold, I don't think there's much improvement.
I thought of a technique, the sand casting method. Have you heard of it?

Why don't we make mother coins, and then use the mother coin casting method to make more mother coins at a time, and use sand molds instead of clay molds, which saves the process of making mother molds.
There will also be no problems with mold stripping and uneven casting. Moreover, sand is cheap, easy to obtain, and can be reused, which not only saves costs but also improves efficiency."

A group of craftsmen immediately followed Li Yi's idea and began to discuss the feasibility of the mother coin casting method. Li Yi gave them guidance.
After breaking through that layer of window paper, these old craftsmen who had been immersed in this industry for decades immediately found a new way.

"feasible,"

"We have to make a copper master coin first, and then we can use it for casting."

Just do it,

The old men immediately started to experiment.
Li Yize also began to take care of other matters.
To expand the staff, order a batch of new crucibles, and select some young and quick-handed people from the refugees to supplement and increase the number of supervisory workers.

Li Yi still needs to come up with a sample of money first.

"First, carve a coin sample."

"What about size and weight? Which coin should I use?"

"We won't use the Sui or Han wuzhu coins. Our new coins will weigh one liang per ten coins, and six jin and four liang per thousand coins. Each coin will contain 68% copper, 22% tin, and 10% lead."

Zhao Feng, the old craftsman with a white beard, stroked his beard and said, "First, carve a coin pattern out of ivory. Ivory is fine and clean."

First, a coin sample is carved from ivory and sent to the court for review and approval. Then, the ancestral coin is carved from refined copper. After the ancestral coin is confirmed, it can be used as the mother coin.

Then use the mother coin for sand casting.

Li Yi drew a picture of money on paper.

"Kaiyuan Tongbao?"

The five-zhu coins of the Han and Sui dynasties only had the two characters "五竺" (Wu Zhu) on them, but the coin pattern painted by Li Yi had four characters on it.

"Well, it opens a new era,"

"Then just call it Kaiyuan coins, why add Tongbao?"

Of course, Li Yi would not say that the first currency after the Tang Dynasty was Kaiyuan Tongbao, which marked the beginning of Tongbao coins.

The old craftsman asked Li Yi to write down those four words.

He was personally responsible for carving the mother coin out of ivory, but the words had to be written by Li Yi.

Li Yi did not refuse and wrote down the four words "Kaiyuan Tongbao".

"Good calligraphy! These four characters are well-proportioned, steady and dignified, yet dynamic and flowing. They are very suitable for carving on coins."

Li Yi smiled. These words were written in a unique Bafenshu font, which was derived from Lishu but incorporated the meaning of Kaishu, and was very majestic.

Although Zhao Feng was old, his skill in carving sample coins was still amazing. He completed the carving of the ivory sample coins in just one day. When he handed the sample coins to Li Yi, Li Yi liked them at first sight.

It was the Datang Tongbao coin he wanted, which was much larger and more imposing than the Wuzhu coin.

Those four characters are more beautiful than the two characters of "Wu Zhu".

"I will now send the sample money to Chang'an for the sage's review."

Zhao Feng was very confident in his work: "This Kaiyuan Tongbao is better than the Sui Wuzhu, and it will definitely satisfy the saint."

"From now on, we will definitely use this new Kaiyuan Tongbao coin, and the four characters 'County Lord' will be passed down through the ages!"

(End of this chapter)