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

Chapter 269 The Troubles of Being Full
If a person is not full, he will have only one worry; if he is full, he will have countless worries.

The sound of gongs and drums for closing the market came from the East Market next door. After living here for a while, Li Yi had become accustomed to the sound of the drums and drums. At noon, the East Market opened the market with 300 drums, and at seven quarters before sunset, the market closed with 300 drums and drums.

Looking at the sky, it was spring and the sun set early, so the market was probably just before closing at Youshi. The gates of Chang'an's city walls and city gates still had seven-quarters of an hour to close, just as the sun was setting. Then, the boring Chang'an night would begin.

Everyone was locked up in closed areas and was not allowed to walk around at night, otherwise they would be breaking the curfew and the consequences would be serious.

To this day, Li Yi still dislikes this system. As soon as the sun sets, he has to stay at home, and this is in the capital.

What about a rich and wonderful nightlife?

The nobles could still entertain themselves behind closed doors. For example, the two brothers, the King of Longxi and the King of Bohai, were young, but each of them had more than a hundred beautiful and charming singing and dancing girls. They were so happy at night.

Li Yi is back.

Dinner should be much richer.

With the Li family's current status and wealth, they can eat all kinds of delicacies every day, but Shi Niang is in charge and still advocates simplicity and avoids extravagance and waste. The standard meal usually consists of four dishes and one soup.

But Li Yi would not compromise himself. There was no need to compromise on the desire for food.

Today's dishes are very rich and include a lot of fresh ingredients.

The yellow mud bamboo shoots that Si Zhuyuan brought back can be braised in oil, fried with bacon, and pickled with pork and preserved vegetables. You can enjoy the same bamboo shoots in three ways.

Then there is the elm seed rice that is steamed with fresh elm seeds mixed with flour.

Wolfberry head lean meat soup, Chinese toon scrambled eggs, shepherd's purse dumplings, dried tofu and amaranth,
Plus the most delicious steamed mandarin fish in February,
Add vinegar celery, lamb stew, cold cuts of lamb and lamb soup,
The cook of Qianshui County's mansion now has cooking skills that are very much to Li Yi's liking. With a lot of guidance from Li Yi, the dishes she makes are delicious and fragrant.

It has even surpassed its predecessor.

Ji Lingyi sat at the dining table with her hands on her belly, looking at the steamed mandarin fish and said with a smile, "Mandarin fish in February is at its plumpest. It just so happens that Fourth Brother and Sister-in-law sent some today. Ah Lang is in for a treat.

Why don't you have a plate of fish? It's not sea bass, but if it's made into golden minced meat and jade sashimi, it should be very good to go with wine."

Li Yi has always been resistant to sashimi, which is a favorite of Tang people. This thing is too easy to be infected with parasites, and it is difficult to treat once infected.

"You should eat less fish, or better yet, not eat it at all. Although it's sweet and fresh, raw fish is prone to parasites. Eating it may even cause parasites to grow in the liver, lungs, and brain, making it difficult to treat.

In fact, it is also delicious when steamed, braised or pan-fried.”

"Today's steamed mandarin fish is seasoned with Wuyue rice wine and a little lard. You can see that the steamed fish meat is light and elegant in color, and tastes like crab meat, tender and delicious, plump and tasty.

Sujun, you should eat more. Steamed mandarin fish can replenish qi and blood for pregnant women, and it can also help with fatigue. Your fourth brother and his wife sent this fish, which is a great gift."

Ji Lingyi smiled and said to Sanniang who was still standing beside her, "Sanniang, you must remember what Alang said and tell the kitchen that we will not eat dried fish in the future."

Li Yi invited the still somewhat reserved Luo Sanniang to sit down, "Please sit down. You are so polite even in my own home. Are you used to it when you come to my house?"

Luo Sanniang blushed, "It's a habit. Madam, Sister Ji, and Yu Shu are all very kind to me."

Shuying came in, "Alang, the princess said she wants to eat vegetarian food, so she will eat in the Buddhist hall and let you eat."

Li Yi frowned: "It's rare for me to come back, please invite her over, she can also eat vegetarian food when she comes."

There are so many dishes on the long ebony table in the restaurant. If the lady doesn't come, the atmosphere will be a little lacking.

The Silla maid observed Li Yi's expression and immediately served him a bowl of rice.

A white porcelain bowl from the Xing Kiln in Hebei Province is filled with crystal rice filled with osmanthus balls.

Ji Lingyi also changed the subject: "After the New Year, my fourth brother followed Alang to conquer Guzhou and then suppress the bandits in Sizhuyuan. He received three honorary titles and was promoted to the military officer of the Changle Cavalry Bureau, a real position of the eighth rank. Now he is higher than my eldest brother's official position as the head of the Ministry of Personnel. Yesterday, my sister-in-law came to see me and kept saying thank you."

Ji Sigong was lucky. Following his brother-in-law Li Yi, he won two military merits in a short period of time.

"Your fourth brother is also capable and willing to work."

Luo Sanniang sat beside him and thought of her second brother Dafu, who was also selected as a government soldier through Li Yi's connections, and then followed him to conquer Guzhou and suppress the Sizhuyuan bandits. He also received three promotions. Although he has not yet received a real job, he has already received the ninth-rank Lixinwei.
Although honors and titles were rampant at the beginning of the country and scattered positions and official titles were worthless, for ordinary people, being able to obtain honors and titles was still a great achievement.

Luo Dafu has now been awarded the rank of Lixin Wei. Although he has no real job, he can already serve in the Ministry of War. After accumulating enough years of service, he can go for the selection, and if he passes, he can get a real job.

In other words, he now has a background.

Shuying finally invited Shi Niang, who was dressed in plain clothes, over.

Li Yi pulled out a chair for her. "We still have to eat. It's more lively when we eat together. We have quite a few vegetarian dishes today, and they're all seasonal wild vegetables. Let's try some."

The Li family's restaurant is also full of Li Yi's personal style. On the wooden floor are various high-legged furniture, a long high-legged table, armchairs with backrests, sideboards, etc.
Li Yi felt that high-legged furniture was more comfortable to use. He did not like to sit on his knees. Even with a table for support or a heel support between his calves, kneeling was still uncomfortable.
Sitting cross-legged or with legs spread out is not elegant.

The high-legged seat with legs hanging down is relaxing and natural, especially with a backrest and armrests, which is what we call leisure and relaxation.

He also dislikes the separate dining system, thinking it's too alienating. It's also nice for the family to sit together and eat together, since using serving chopsticks and spoons is just as hygienic.

Although Ji Lingyi had advised Li Yi that this would make people think the Li family was nouveau riche, Li Yi didn't care. As long as his family was well fed, he could do whatever he wanted.

He likes the atmosphere of sitting around and eating together.

Sometimes Li Shimin, Du Ruhui, Li Jing and others came to visit him, and everyone was happy to accept whether they had a meal or a barbecue.

As for those who couldn't accept it, Li Yi didn't invite them to dinner anyway, so he didn't care.

"The Chinese toon in this season is the freshest and most tender. You should eat more."

Scrambled eggs with Chinese toon are fresh and delicious.

"I just ran into Mr. Li next door at the door. He said that although our family's Wutou Gate has expanded, the courtyard is still a little small. I think that makes sense. The house next door in Wubenfang is quite large, with a garden of 17 acres, which is twice as large as this one. It was also where Shi Niang lived before.

How about we pick an auspicious day and move to Wubenfang?" Li Yi picked up some stir-fried amaranth with dried tofu for Shi Niang. This wild vegetable, with a slightly purple-red stem, is a unique dish when blanched and mixed with dried tofu. It has a fresh and tender texture, with the fragrance of amaranth and the richness of dried tofu. It tastes sweet and refreshing, and you can directly taste the breath of spring.

Shi Niang looked at her husband and said, "The house in Wubenfang is not very big, but the waterscape in the South Garden is well built. I have also asked people to look for a few houses recently.
One of them is located in the northwest corner of Shengyefang, north of the East Market, covering an area of 48 mu. It was originally the residence of a high-ranking official of the previous dynasty. If we buy it, we can move in without making any major changes."

Du Shiniang was unwilling to move to the old house of the Du family.
The house in Shengyefang that she had her eye on was originally the residence of a minister of the third rank or above. It not only covered an area of 48 mu, but also had water from the canal introduced into it. It also had a beautiful garden landscape and two courtyards in the north and south.

The courtyards all have three entrances and three spans, with an I-shaped hall.

The conditions in all aspects are very good, and there is even a big door directly opened on the wall of the block, so it is very convenient to enter and exit without going through the block gate.

Shengyefang is just north of the East Market and close to the imperial city. It is also where many nobles and high-ranking officials gather.

"If the price is right, I'll buy it," Li Yi was not picky. Since Shi Niang was willing to live in Wubenfang, he would buy another one.

"The land is two million, and the house, garden, and trees are three million, so the total is five million."

"That's not expensive, only five thousand strings of cash." Li Yi felt that the price was acceptable for a 48-acre house with such a good location, land, and a nice garden. Moreover, houses in Chang'an would surely become more and more expensive in the future, especially this kind of luxury house.

"If my wife thinks it's suitable, then we can transfer the ownership and exchange the deed."

Five thousand strings of cash, Li Yi didn't even blink an eye.

Luo Sanniang's heart was pounding as she listened to this. She thought about last summer when Li Yi had to work as a pot to exchange for food and followed her in the fried tofu and bean curd skin business, calculating every penny carefully, but now he was asking for 5,000 strings of cash to buy a house.

She felt that the gap between her and Wuyi was getting wider and wider.

"Yesterday, the nuns from Daxingshan Temple came to beg for alms," Shi Niang said another thing.

Li Yi picked up a piece of salted pork from the pickled pork with preserved vegetables, which tasted salty and fresh. He heard that Shi Niang had been chanting Buddhist scriptures and donating to some temples recently, which had attracted many nuns and monks. He was a little disgusted by this and took the opportunity to say, "In fact, when doing good deeds, why do we need to rely on others?

I see that my wife is in a bad mood recently. You might as well take your servants and run to the city to set up a porridge stall to distribute porridge. It's a lean period right now and many people are starving.
We are moving to Shengyefang, and my wife can also send some food and oil to the poor and lonely people in the neighborhood."

He said that when they were suppressing bandits in the Nanshan Mountains of Zhuyuan, there were countless refugees in the mountains, all of whom were peeling tree bark and digging up grass roots to cook and eat. Many children were starving like a piece of firewood.

People are so hungry that they can only see bones.

"My lady, please pick out some smart and clever orphans from the famine and adopt them to various farms and workshops. This can be considered as saving lives and accumulating merit. Let these children learn and work..."

Daxingshan Temple occupies an entire block of Chang'an City, covering hundreds of acres of land. It is located in Chang'an City and is close to Zhuque Street.

Are the monks there short of money?
Everyone knows that the Xiangji Kitchen of Daxingshan Temple lends money and uses the Changsheng Storehouse as collateral.

Even if you give them money and food as donations, they may not really use it to help the poor and the needy. Instead, they may use it to lend money, run a business, or even buy land and slaves.

It is better to do some real good deeds yourself.
Adopting some orphans, or recruiting disaster victims as tenants, or hiring some poor people to work would not only earn a good reputation, but also meet the Li family's growing employment needs. Even raising orphans themselves would give them more peace of mind in the future.

Ji Lingyi said: "The wealthy families, in times of famine, when there is a shortage of food, will give out porridge and lend money lavishly, and even take the opportunity to adopt orphans."

"Buy the house in Shengyefang as soon as possible and use the copper coins saved by the family first."

"Five million, all in copper coins? That would require tens of thousands of pounds of money, which would require dozens of cartloads."

"We don't have that many copper coins at home. Use the copper coins first, and then use silk cloth if it's not enough. Don't use the gold and silver, save them all." Li Yi instructed.

"Why?"

"Have you forgotten that I, your husband, am now the minter of the imperial court? The court is minting new coins, and these old coins will be difficult to use in the future. Besides, the court will have many new policies coming out soon, so we might as well use up the old coins now."

"You're also spending the good money? Those are all good money. The nobles and wealthy families collected these good money, but they just hoarded them and didn't use them."

"From now on, Wuzhurou is no longer considered a good coin. The court has newly minted Kaiyuan Tongbao coins. Ten coins weigh one liang and contain 68% copper. They are much better than Wuzhurou."

(End of this chapter)