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

Chapter 57 Successfully Attracted the Prince's Attention
East Palace.

Crown Prince Li Jiancheng poured Wang Gui a cup of tea and said, "Tell me about Li Yi."

Wang Gui took the teacup with both hands and thanked the prince. "Li Yi is young and talented. His lean body is full of personality, and his iron-like strokes and silver-like hooks are full of pride."

Li Jiancheng pinched his chin. "He's young and full of energy, and arrogant because of his talent. It's normal for a sixteen-year-old. I heard that he met Shi Min before coming to the Eastern Palace, and Shi Min even invited him to work in the Qin Palace."

Wang Gui, who had just been promoted to Prince Zhongyun, nodded and said, "Yes, I did. I only found out about this after he resigned. Your Majesty previously transferred Du Ruhui, the military officer of the Prince of Qin's Palace, to the position of Chief Clerk of the General Administration of Shanzhou. When the Second Prince learned about this, he went to see Your Majesty and asked to keep Du Ruhui..."

At Du Ruhui's house in Duqu, Li Yi met the Second King, who invited him to be the clerk of the Qin Palace, but he directly refused. The Second King gave him a golden knife, which he accepted.

Jiancheng listened quietly.

"Erlang just likes to give people golden knives. I don't know how many golden knives he has stored in his house," there was a hint of sarcasm in these words.

The relationship between the two brothers was good before, but now the eldest son of the Duke of Tang has become the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty, and the former Erlang has become the second king. Li Jiancheng has to start considering some things.

"Although many people were transferred out of the Prince of Qin's Mansion before, Du Ruhui could not be transferred. What a pity." Jiancheng said again.

What made him feel even more regretful was that after Shi Min's great defeat at Asamizuhara, he was able to turn the situation around.

Li Yi, a commoner whom he missed the last time he left the capital, helped Shimin turn the tables.

"When a soldier suddenly fell ill, Shimin had no choice but to hand over military power to Liu Wenjing and Yin Kaishan, who knew nothing about military affairs. Those two men lost many soldiers and generals, and harmed the country. It's really despicable.

Fortunately, thanks to Li Yi's magical medicine, Shimin's condition improved in time, allowing him to stage a remarkable comeback.

"Shu Jie, although Li Yi resigned from the position of Crown Prince, he has been to the Eastern Palace before, and can be considered as someone who left our Eastern Palace.
This time, thanks to him, he not only healed my compatriots, but also saved my Tang Dynasty from a dangerous war. It's a pity that I didn't see him last time, otherwise I might have been able to keep him.

I will prepare a generous gift to thank him properly."

Wang Gui understood the meaning of the prince's words. He was now promoted to the Prince's Zhongyun, which was the deputy of the Zuo Shuzi of the Zuo Chunfang of the Eastern Palace, equivalent to the Huangmen Shilang of the court. He was deeply trusted and relied upon by the prince Jiancheng.

He then said, "Your Highness's action is worth a fortune. I think that not only should we prepare a generous gift as a thank you, but it would be best if Your Highness could recommend him to the Emperor at court for a position that is both clean, noble, and prominent."

Li Jiancheng said, "This boy is arrogant. Isn't it too much to praise him?"

"A thousand gold coins are enough to buy horse bones. The more so, the more it shows that the prince loves talent."

Jiancheng chuckled, "Then what position should I recommend? Last time, I looked down on the ninth-rank Crown Prince's Clerk. This time, I can't arrange for a ninth-rank Crown Prince's Proofreader."

"At least he must be a seventh-rank official, to show the prince's affection."

"Yongzhou Silu Army General?"

Wang Gui shook his head, "This position is important but not clear."

"Secretary of the Secretariat?"

"This official is clean and I don't want him."

Wang Gui proposed an official position, "The Crown Prince can recommend Li Yi in the palace as a seventh-rank senior imperial censor. An imperial censor will supervise all officials according to court regulations and participate in the management of the three departments. He is both clean and noble."

The Assistant Censor has great power, and the key lies in supervising all officials. If an official breaks the law, he will be impeached, and the impeachment must be implemented, so the Censorate, as a supervisory agency, actually has the power of supervision, prosecution and trial. This is the power of the Assistant Censor.

The Censorate had its own prison called the Taiyu. The Assistant Censors tried the cases assigned by the emperor, which was called the Zhiyu. It formed the Three Departments with the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple, and had the nature of a joint trial. It even became a senior trial agency above the Dali Temple.

Li Jiancheng shook his head. "Li Yi is only sixteen years old, and he's a Taoist priest who just returned to secular life less than two months ago. It's not appropriate for him to be the Imperial Censor."

"Your Highness is only responsible for recommending him in the palace. As for whether His Majesty and the court will appoint him as the Imperial Censor, that is another matter." Wang Gui said with a smile.

Li Jiancheng understood instantly that he just wanted to make a gesture.
"Actually, I still want to recruit this boy into the East Palace."

"He can refuse once, but I'm afraid he won't accept it a second time in the short term." Wang Gui reminded the prince.

Li Jiancheng nodded. "You should make arrangements and see when to bring him to see me." He then put the matter aside for the moment and asked, "Shujie, do you think Xue Ju can make a comeback after this defeat?"

“It’s hard to say. Although the Second King fought beautifully, he only killed a few thousand of them, captured over ten thousand, and seized over ten thousand horses. He only managed to recapture Gaocheng City.

However, Xue Ju retreated to Zhecheng and continued to besiege Jingzhou. Hearing that Xue Ju could not break through Changwu, he sent his son Xue Rengao to lead troops to attack Ningzhou. If Ningzhou was lost, Xue Jugao could seize food and supplies and advance south without passing through Changwu.

"Our army was defeated first and then won, but it was still badly damaged. Xue Ju is still strong, so if we really fight hard, the result is hard to say."

"What do you think about waiting for Shimin to return to Chang'an and then I will ask His Majesty to lead the troops north to attack Xue Ju?" Li Jiancheng asked. After the uprising in Taiyuan, Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin were respectively appointed as the left and right commanders-in-chief, each leading troops to fight all the way into the pass.

After capturing Chang'an, Li Yuan also appointed Jiancheng as the Marshal of the Eastern Expedition and Shimin as the Marshal of the Western Expedition, allowing the two brothers to fight in the east and west.

Jiancheng has rich experience in commanding troops, and it can be said that his current military achievements are not inferior to Shimin.

But now that he has been canonized as the crown prince, as the heir to the throne, it is naturally no longer suitable for him to lead troops to war frequently. He has to stay in the court to assist in the administration.

It was only this Battle of Changwu that gave Li Jiancheng the strong urge to go into battle again, and even to personally attack and destroy Xue Ju and seize Longyou.

"Your Highness is the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty, the heir apparent to the throne. Your duty is not to lead troops in battle, but to assist His Majesty and learn the government." Wang Gui opposed Jiancheng's decision to lead the attack on Xue Ju. Firstly, Xue Ju would be difficult to defeat, and secondly, with Shimin's victory already under his belt, even if Jiancheng won, others wouldn't consider him particularly impressive; they might even see him as just picking peaches. But if he lost, his reputation would be ruined.

It's not worth taking the risk.

After being persuaded by Wang Gui, Li Jiancheng gave up the idea of commanding the troops.

While staying in the countryside, Li Yi had no idea that a small figure like him would be talked to for a long time by the crown prince and his confidant Wang Gui, who would even recommend him to be an important official, the Imperial Censor.

He is busy now.

Wuji Primary School is planning to enroll 40 more students. This matter has become even more heated due to Li Yi being named a founding baron.
Dong Xiucai's grandson Dong Qilang has joined the school and officially became the second teacher.

Forty new student places are temporarily limited to children from the seven villages in Xingshengli. Priority will be given to boys aged five to seven. If there are remaining places, they will be opened to children aged seven to nine, and so on until they are twelve years old.

The villagers of several villages have long envied the children of Luojiabao, Sanzi Village and Gaojiabao who can go to school for free and have a free meal.
Now that I finally have the chance, I won’t miss it.

Not only does it provide free education and a free meal, but one of the two gentlemen is a founding baron and the other is the grandson of Dong Xiangzuo. Studying under their tutelage is also a way out.

Those who had children at home all came.

Even villagers from several surrounding villages came after hearing the news.

The area in front of the west courtyard of Wuji Thatched Cottage was packed with people.

There are five villages and five hundred households in Yusu Township. Which family doesn’t have one or two children?
Li Yidu was caught off guard.

But he still didn't expand the school. He couldn't teach too many students, and the cost of more students would be high. Paper, ink, and pens are really expensive. Even if the children practiced writing and arithmetic on the sand table, the cost of stationery for a hundred students was still not a small amount.

Besides, even if they only provide one meal a day, the food expenses are still very high.

Even a five-year-old boy can eat a few bowls of rice. One hundred students would need a stone of grain a day. Oil, vegetables, and firewood also cost money.

If it weren't for the money and food that the school had received before, Li Yi wouldn't dare to bear the expenses of these 100 students alone at this stage.

"We'll recruit forty students, not one more. Our conditions are set out. We'll recruit from the seven villages of Xingshengli and Benli. When conditions allow for the expansion of the school, we'll recruit from other villages."

"Principal, now many wealthy families within a few miles of our township want to send their children to study in our school. They are willing to pay for tuition, meals, paper and pens, and are even willing to donate some money to the school association." Dong Qilang found Li Yi with sweat on his forehead.

Those wealthy and powerful people went directly to Dong Xiucai. They were all well-known people in the local area. It’s not that their children were illiterate, but they also wanted to establish a relationship with Li Yi and let their sons become Li Yi’s disciples.

For this purpose, he was actually willing to donate money and food to the school council. This trick has been used in ancient and modern times.

"Principal, I think these are all well-known and wealthy people in our hometown. It would be bad to refuse them all. It is better to accept them. After all, they are responsible for the paper, pen, book and meal expenses, and they can also donate money to the school council. It won't have any big impact if we teach a few more." Dong Qilang was young after all, and he was surrounded by those local tyrants and landlords, so he couldn't bring himself to refuse.

“How many people want to come and study?”

"About twenty or thirty,"

"Sure?"

"Maybe thirty or forty."

"Be more precise,"

"If we collect them all, there should be forty or fifty."

Li Yi thought about it and decided that if he opened this loophole, he would have to collect all of them. Otherwise, he would offend people if he collected some and didn't.

"So, if any wealthy family in the township is willing to send their children to school at their own expense and pay a scholarship, and they are between five and ten years old, we will accept them. But only those from the township, between five and ten years old, must pay their own expenses and donate a scholarship to the school association."

“How much financial aid do you pay?”

"Six dou of rice a month. This rice is donated to the school council and used to make free lunch for students."

Six dou of rice a month is a lot of money, and ordinary people certainly cannot afford it, but it is no problem for landlords. Of course, this may also make some landlords who are reluctant to send their children no longer send them.

"Let's prepare to open another class, and it would be best if we could invite another teacher," said Li Yi.

The annual scholarship of seven stone and two dou of rice really stopped many wealthy families from enrolling, and only increased the number of self-funded students by more than twenty.

Wuji Primary School now has more than 130 students, who are reorganized into three classes.

In the front yard of the west courtyard, three rooms are used as classrooms and one is a teacher's office, while the inner courtyard is a tofu skin workshop and canteen.

"Wu Yi!"

Sanniang, who had been quite distant from Li Yi recently, came over and said, "My second and third brothers have already completed their fifty days of military service. They should have finished their service ten days ago. Even if the journey is far, it's been ten days now, so they should be home by now.

I heard that the imperial court had just suffered a great defeat in Jingzhou, with tens of thousands of soldiers killed and many civilians taken captive. My father-in-law, mother-in-law, and sisters-in-law were all very worried.
Are my brothers okay? When can they come back?"

Li Yi didn't know how to answer this question. In the defeat at Qianshuiyuan, many soldiers did die, and when Gaoqiong City fell, the civilians there must have also suffered casualties.

"I'm going to Chang'an tomorrow to do some business. I'll go to the Wannian County Office to inquire about the situation. Don't worry, they may have been temporarily requisitioned by the government, or they may be on their way home.

This place is more than 500 miles away from Jingzhou."

"Can you take me with you to Chang'an tomorrow? I want to go and ask clearly in person." Sanniang asked. Her two brothers had been gone for two months and never came back. Just then, they heard the news of the disastrous defeat at the front. Now the family felt uneasy and worried.

The eldest son's family of five had died unexpectedly in the cliff collapse caused by the rainstorm. If the second and third sons could not come back, the Luo family's sky would really collapse.

"Row."

(End of this chapter)