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

Chapter 32 Apprenticeship
The tenth day of the sixth lunar month,

In Fengjiabao private school, Li Yi became a disciple of Dong Xiucai.

Witnessed by all the guests and fellow villagers invited by Dong Xiucai, Li Yi was dressed in a new and formal outfit today.

The morning sun rises,

Li Yi wore a scarf on his head and a bun on his hair. His top was a brown linen short shirt with a cross collar and narrow sleeves. He tied a leather belt around his waist and wore wide-legged hakama.

He strode up to Mr. Dong and said, "Mr.

Dong Xiucai was wearing a brand new wide-sleeved robe today. "As the ancients said, dress properly first and then understand the truth. You are dressed very neatly today." As he said this, he took out a black headscarf and wrapped it around Li Yi himself.

The scarf on Li Yi's head is actually a bamboo lining. Wrapping the head with cloth directly has no shape, so people later added a scarf to pad it inside to add shape.

Officials mostly used paulownia wood to make towels, and most ordinary people were too lazy to use towels.

The headscarf that Dong Xiucai took out had four cloth straps on the four sides. The headscarf was wrapped around the head, two of which were tied behind the head, and two were tied on the top of the head.

After tying it, it becomes a futou.

However, the legs of his fuku were very short, which were the two straps at the back. Dong Xiusheng's fuku legs were longer, and some of the guests' fuku legs even looked like two long tails, extending past their shoulders.

This is why the higher the status, the longer the futou legs.
This kind of futou with feet is also called soft-foot futou because the feet are soft.

There are no hard-footed futou now, so people can talk to each other without worrying about fights among the futou.

Mr. Dong took Li Yi to the school.
There is a statue of Confucius in the school.

First pay respect to Confucius, then pay respect to Dong Xiucai.
Li Yi prepared a gift for his apprenticeship today.
When Gousheng, Shitou, Mensuan and Menzhu saw Li Yi waving at them, they hurried over with the gifts of apprenticeship.

"Ten bundles of clothing and four pots of yellow rice wine."

Shuxiu is a bundle of ten pieces of dried meat.

Li Yi also bought these ten pieces of dried meat at the market, three pounds each, a total of thirty pounds. They were specially selected high-quality pork belly dried meat, three hundred coins per pound. This bundle cost him nine thousand coins, which is not cheap.

Dong Xiucai smiled and said, "Just give me two kilograms as a token of my appreciation. Why are you giving me so much?"

"This is a ritual that has been passed down since Confucius, so how can a student be without it?"

Four pots of yellow rice wine, each pot containing one dou, each costing a thousand coins per dou, which is considered a mid-to-high-end wine.

There were also ten pieces of silk and ten pieces of cloth.

This apprenticeship gift cost 17,200 coins.

Feng Liulang smiled and said to Dong Xiucai, "Brother Dong, this student is good. He is sensible and polite." He had a reason to say that. Generally, when a great scholar accepted a student, the customary practice was to give him a pot of wine, five pieces of dried meat and a piece of cloth.

Dong Xiucai accepted the apprenticeship gift.
The apprenticeship ceremony was completed, and a student from the private school brought a basin of water.

"Wuyi, wash your hands once on both sides." Dong Xiucai ordered.

Li Yi put his hands into the water as required, washed them front and back, and then dried them.

"I'm asking you to wash your hands, which means cleansing your hands and your heart. I hope you can be free of distractions and study hard in the future."

After the ceremony, all the guests and fellow villagers clapped and cheered.

Dong Xiucai also took Li Yi's hand to introduce his new student to everyone.
"This child's name is Li Yi, courtesy name Wuyi. He was abandoned outside the Xuandu Temple in Chang'an City sixteen years ago, shortly after he was born. He was picked up and raised by Taoist Li of the Wuji Temple..."

Li Yi's life story is quite simple. He grew up in a Taoist temple with Taoist Li. Taoist Li taught him to read and write, and even took him to travel around the world for six years.

"Wu Yi has now been ordered to return to secular life and become the village chief of Luojiabao. Although he is young, he has a sincere and kind heart. He has set up a primary school in Luojiabao and has now enrolled 60 children. Not only does he not charge any tuition, but he also teaches everyone and provides a free lunch. He also buys paper and pens for the students with his own money..." Dong Xiucai praised the student profusely.
It attracted praise from everyone.

"Wu Yi is only sixteen this year, still very young. I hope that all my old friends and fellow villagers can take care of me and support me in the future."

Naturally, everyone agreed.

At this time, Du Ruhui came with a lot of people.
"Sorry, I'm late." Du Ruhui said to Dong Xiucai, and then gave Li Yi a gift.

The Nine Classics, comprising the Three Rites, Three Commentaries, and the Book of Changes and Poetry, were essential for the imperial examinations. These books weren't cheap; any single classic could be worth thousands of coins. This set, clearly a hardcover edition, must have cost tens of thousands.

Li Yi was very surprised by the precious gift. Although he went to Fengxiang Marquis Mansion to visit Du Ruhui yesterday and met Qin Wang Li Shimin, Du Ruhui also gave him a few tea cakes and a set of tea sets when he left, which were also worth tens of thousands.

Although the Du family is a prominent family, their wealth did not come from the wind.

Unexpectedly, Du Ruhui not only came in person today, but also brought a generous gift.

"Mr. Du has given me such a generous gift, I don't know what to say."

"Brother Dong is already my good friend, and since you are his student, I must prepare a gift for you. Besides, I like your pot very much."

Du Shiniang also came,

He was actually dressed as a man, wearing a black turban, a round-necked robe, and a fake beard, but Li Yi still recognized him at a glance. He was so handsome and suave.

She gave Li Yi a set of four treasures of the study, and judging from the packaging, you could tell they were valuable items.

Her uncle Du Sanlang gave Li Yi four sheets of paper, each containing a hundred sheets. They were made of top-quality jute paper, which was used for official documents of the imperial court. It was of very good quality and not cheap.

"Wu Yi, let me introduce some elders to you." Dong Xiucai pulled Li Yi in front of a man with long legs and a bun. He was tall and burly, probably in his early thirties, but after listening to the introduction, he felt very extraordinary. This man turned out to be the legal officer of Wannian County, a seventh-rank official, in charge of judicial litigation.

But what surprised Li Yi even more was that Sun Fujia was a Jinshi of the Sui Dynasty.

But before he took the imperial examination, he was a local clerk. This Hebei native had a legendary experience. He was not from a prominent family, but as a clerk, he took advantage of the imperial examination and passed the difficult imperial examination. The imperial examination in the Sui Dynasty was much more difficult than the imperial examination.

As the saying goes, at thirty, one is old enough to become a scholar, and at fifty, one is young enough to become a Jinshi.

Moreover, the imperial examinations during the Sui Dynasty were not fair in selecting candidates based on their talents. Instead, candidates had to submit their applications to the powerful and be recommended by others, and their background and connections were more important.

Sun Fujia was a minor local official, but he managed to pass the imperial examination and become a Jinshi.

After passing the imperial examination, he worked his way up to his current position as the legal officer of Wannian County. This legal officer was actually an official from the Sui Dynasty, and he continues to do the job in the Tang Dynasty.

Originally, at the county level, there were no military officers in the six departments, only assistants and historians. Lower counties even had only the household department and the law department. Chang'an Wannian, as a capital county, had six county lieutenants, and the six departments below them were also specially equipped with military officers, and each department also had a large number of assistants and historians.

The fact that he was able to manage half of the judicial system of Chang'an City from the capital, and that he remained unchanged despite the changes of dynasties, shows that this Jinshi Sun was very capable.

Sun Fujia gave Li Yi a set of law books.

"When I came to Chang'an to take the imperial examination, I stayed at Master Dong's house in Fengjiabao."

It turned out that Sun Fujia had once studied under Dong Xiucai's senior brother, so they had a fellow disciple relationship. "When you come to Chang'an in the future, remember to come to Wannian County Office to find me. We are also from the same school."

Li Yi was more and more amazed at Dong Xiucai's wide network of contacts.

Among the guests today are two fifth-rank officials, Du Ruhui, a member of the Qin Palace, a military officer, and the chief officer of the Shaanxi Prefecture General Administration Office, and Sun Fujia, a legal officer of Wannian County.

More than a dozen village heads and village assistants from the surrounding villages have come, and many of the village’s landlords and wealthy families have also come today, and they all give face to Dong Xiucai.

After the apprenticeship ceremony, there is the apprenticeship banquet.

Li Yi had already made preparations and specially asked Luo Er to buy him a sheep and a pig. He also bought some chickens, ducks and fish to slaughter and set up a banquet at Fengjiabao Private School.

It's much richer than his grand ceremony.
There are not only chicken, duck, fish and meat, but also new dishes from Li's workshop such as bean curd sheets, bean curd foam and tofu.

Bought a lot of wine.

This banquet cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Originally, Dong Xiucai thought that there was no need to be so extravagant, but Li Yi felt that since the teacher had invited so many people, he was introducing his own connections to him, so of course he had to show his appreciation.

For a nobleman like Du Ruhui, this banquet was only average, but for many rural landlords, this banquet was even very luxurious.

After all, this is not a peaceful and prosperous era.

Everyone also had a deeper impression of Li Yi's generosity.

Dong Xiucai brought Li Yi to toast everyone one by one.

Midway through the banquet,
Du Ruhui said that Li Yi's righteous act of running a school was admirable, and he expressed his support.

He donated ten stones of grain to Wuji Primary School.

With Du Changshi taking the lead, everyone naturally expressed their opinions. The head of Yusu Township, Wang, even said with a red neck that he would allocate ten acres of land to Wuji Primary School to be used as school land.

As a village chief, he still has some power, and there is still public land to be divided in the village.

Some gave food, some gave land, and some gave money.
For a time, the wealthy supported the event with money, the land-owning ones supported the event with land, and some donated books and paper.

A pleasant surprise.

Li Yi had originally listened to Dong Xiucai's suggestion and planned to open a private school. He thought that he would pay for it out of his own pocket, but it would be worth it if he could improve his reputation. However, he did not expect to receive so much money, food and other items today.

After Du Ruhui finished his meal, he said goodbye and left.

"Originally, His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin had said he would come today, but the situation on the front lines in Jingzhou was tense, so His Royal Highness rushed back to Jingzhou today. His Royal Highness was very grateful for the elixir you gave him yesterday.

He specially selected a Turkic horse and asked me to bring it to you."

Yesterday at the Du family's, Li Yi thought that Li Shimin might be defeated by illness this time, but he couldn't remember what acute illness he had. Finally, he picked out a few common medicines from the family medicine cabinet, including paracetamol for fever and colds, Rendan for heatstroke, berberine for acute gastroenteritis and dysentery, montmorillonite powder for diarrhea, and chloroquine phosphate tablets for preventing and treating malaria.
These are tablets and pills. If we remove the packaging and wrap them in paper, they won't reveal any flaws.

Li Shimin was a little surprised that Li Yi gave him these pills. Li Yi's reason was that he had traveled around the world with his master for six years and knew that it was not easy to go out. It was easy to get headaches, snake bites, insect bites, diarrhea, dysentery, etc. It was always better to be prepared with some medicine on hand.

Li Shimin said that there were military doctors in the army, but in the end he still accepted the pills from Li Yi.

Since I can’t attend the apprenticeship ceremony today, I specially sent a Turkic horse as a gift in return.

The Turkic horse was very majestic and was equipped with a nice saddle, and even a bow and arrow hung on the saddle.

"This bow and arrow was also given by His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin. This is not a standard military bow and arrow, but a set of hunting bows. You can go hunting in the mountains when you are free."

"Please thank Your Highness for me." Li Yi did not refuse. Li Shimin invited him to work as a clerk in the Qin Palace. He refused, but it was not because he disliked Li Shimin.

On the contrary, Li Yi actually admired Li Shimin very much.

"Run your Wuji Primary School well. If you need anything, you can write to me." Du Ruhui hoped that Li Yi could run this primary school well.

It is quite rare to set up schools for poor children. Du Ruhui admires this young man very much.

(End of this chapter)