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

Chapter 65: The Empire is Conquered

In the melon field,
Du Sanlang picked a large melon and patted it with his palm. "Is this melon ripe?"

Du Zhuangtou smiled and said, "This melon is not ripe yet." He bent down and knocked a few melons, then picked one according to the sound: "This one is guaranteed to be ripe and sweet."

"Cut it open."

The village head took out a small knife from the belt around his waist, cut two pieces of the green melon skin, lifted up a small piece of the skin to create a gap, and then used both hands to split the melon in half.

The yellow flesh and red seeds are particularly tempting.

"Which is better, the red-fleshed melon or the yellow-fleshed melon?" asked Du Sanlang.

"Our melons, whether red or yellow, are delicious. Unlike those grown by other families, which have white flesh and are watery and bitter, not sweet. Our melons are famous in the two capitals."

Du Sanlang took a piece and took a few bites.

"it is good,"

Every bite is sweet and juicy, relieving heat and thirst, and refreshing.

Du Zhuangtou boasted, "Our winter melons are so delicious that even saints would praise them. They are round, thick, sweet, heavy, and juicy. Even the winter melon sauce we make is just as pure and sweet. It has always been a tribute to the palace."

Du Sanlang gnawed several pieces in a row.
The village head Du asked quietly, "Sanlang, there's something I don't understand. That tofu skin workshop is so profitable, why didn't our Du family take it over? Instead, why did we tell the Wei family about it?"

Du Sanlang wiped his mouth and threw away the melon rind, but Du Zhuangtou picked it up immediately. The melon rind was a good thing. It could be made into melon rind soup, used in cooking, and even used as medicine to make winter melon green clothes.

"Li Yi's tofu skin workshop is indeed very profitable, but he only produces about 100 kilograms a day, so he can probably only make around 10,000 yuan."

"Ah Lang, if we could master the secret recipe for making yuba, it wouldn't be a problem to produce a thousand kilograms a day. Wouldn't that mean we could make a hundred thousand dollars a day? That's a lot, right?"

Du Sanlang smiled and said, "It's not all about money. Li Yi has a good relationship with Erlang Keming from our eldest branch, and there is also Shi Niang. If we directly steal Li Yi's bean curd skin secret recipe, Keming and Shi Niang will blame us, so let the Wei family take the lead in this matter.

When the Wei family also opens a tofu skin workshop and squeezes Li Yi out of profit, we will step in and buy the house or do something else. Li Yi, Ke Ming, and Shi Niang can't directly blame us."

"But if the Wei family knows how to make yuba, then we won't make that much profit from it if we do it in the future."

Du Sanlang knew this, but for Old Lady Guo, this interference had nothing to do with making money. It was Li Yi's ignorance of the current situation. The old lady's move was to directly cut off the source of the fire, hitting the snake at its most vulnerable point. A country boy, even if he had the nominal title of county baron, but no official position, if he had no money, he would be nothing.

He admired Mrs. Guo very much. She was eighty years old, but she was still steady, accurate and ruthless in her actions.

"Let's wait for good news from the Wei family."

Du Sanlang picked up another piece of winter melon and started eating.

Chang'an, Tai Chi Palace.

Li Yuan was boating in the sea pool of Taiji Palace, accompanied by several prime ministers including Pei Ji. Today's guest of honor was Qin Wang Li Shimin.

This victorious one,

Li Yuan personally cut open a winter melon with red flesh and black seeds, and handed it to his second son.

"Thank you for your hard work, Jiro."

"Thank you, Father."

The war in the northwest has temporarily entered a stalemate, but Li Yuan is no longer in a hurry. After Xue Ju was defeated in Changwu, he retreated to Zhecheng City. Although he continued to besiege Jingzhou City,
But they were already weak and their food supplies were running low.

In addition, he had previously divided his troops to harass Fufeng and Beidi counties, but had not made any progress. Xue Rengao personally led elite troops to attack Ningzhou, but was repelled by Ningzhou Governor Hu Yan.

Zhang Changxun of Wuyuan, who made Li Yuan very worried, was still loyal to the court and did not turn to the Turks again. He even withstood the attack of Xue Ju's troops.

"Erlang, your great victory in Changwu has shaken the northwest. Yulin Guo Zihe has sent an envoy to Chang'an to submit his allegiance." Li Yuan laughed heartily.
Guo Zihe, a native of Tongzhou, served as the Left Guard during the Sui Dynasty, but was later exiled to Yulin for his crimes. A few years earlier, during a famine in the prefecture, Guo Zihe and his brothers led 18 brave men to capture and execute the prefectural governor, opening the granaries and releasing grain. They proclaimed themselves the Yongle King and established a new era name. Later, they allied themselves with Liang Shidu in the south and served the Turks in the north, sending their younger brother as a hostage. Shibi Khan initially bestowed upon him the title of Prince of Pingyang, but he refused, so he awarded it to Wulishe instead.

Guo Zihe, who occupied Yulin, and Zhang Changxun, who occupied Wuyuan, were both heroes who took advantage of the chaos in Hetao during the late Sui Dynasty to establish their own regimes.

However, both of them are not strong, and they both relied on the Turks in the early days, but now they are optimistic about Li Yuan who occupies Chang'an.

Especially after Li Shimin's great victory in Changwu, Guo Zihe immediately sent his brothers south to Chang'an to submit his allegiance.

"Erlang, what official position do you think would be appropriate for Guo Zihe?"

When Li Shimin came back this time, he was not dismissed from his military post and remained the marching marshal.

"Our Great Tang Dynasty will abolish counties and restore prefectures. Yulin County can be restored to Yunzhou. The court can appoint Guo Zihe as the governor and governor of Yunzhou. Following the example of Zhang Sunxun of Fengzhou, he can be conferred the title of Duke of the county. Yulin is isolated outside the Great Wall, with the Turks to the north, Liang Shidu to the south, and Liu Wuzhou to the east. Although it has a small army, it can serve as a check on Liang Shidu in the north."

Pei Ji raised a question, that is, Zhang Changxun of Fengzhou and Guo Zihe of Yunzhou in the Hetao region are both relatively weak and actually separated from the imperial court. If they abandon the Turks and return to the Tang Dynasty, they are likely to face attacks from the Turks.

"Your Majesty, why not issue an order to allow them to lead their troops and civilians south for resettlement? After they retreat to Guanzhong, they can also increase the military strength in Guanzhong."

Pei Ji even believed that they could not conflict with the Turks at the moment and still needed to rely on their support. Therefore, if necessary, they could cede the Wuyuan and Yulin counties to the Turks.

Li Shimin put down the melon in his hand and said, "Prime Minister Pei is mistaken. Zhang Changxun of Wuyuan and Guo Zihe of Yulin have been willing to lead their people to surrender. This is a rare opportunity. The Hetao area has been part of our Central Plains Chinese territory since the pre-Qin period. Now that they have surrendered, how can we give them away again?"

Pei Ji just smiled, "King Qin, calm down. The situation is complicated now and time is of the essence. Li Mi of the Central Plains has accepted the title bestowed upon him by Luoyang and has sent troops to fight against Yu Wenhuaji. He has already won several battles in a row. It won't be long before Yu Wenhuaji is destroyed. When Li Mi enters Luoyang, the situation in the Central Plains will change dramatically."

But now we haven't even been able to defeat Xue Ju, let alone other people in Longyou and Hexi, even Liu Wuzhou in Hedong, Zhu Can in Shannan, and Liang Shi in Shuofang are all threats.

If we temporarily cede the Hetao region in exchange for the full support of the Turkic army, we can quickly defeat Xue Ju and cut off the support of Liang Shidu and Liu Wuzhou. This will allow us to quickly pacify Guanlong, then march east to seize the Central Plains and unify the world."

"The country is built by oneself, and it is impossible to expect others to give it to you." Li Shimin raised his eyebrows.

Li Yuan waved his hand and said, "Pei Jian, Erlang, eat melon, eat melon."

"Erlang, the prince also recommended Li Yi, whom you strongly recommended to me before, to me several times, and even recommended him for the prestigious position of Shiyushi, the seventh rank.

Later, Duke Jiang asked me for him, and I appointed him as a proofreader in the Ministry of Secrets. Who would have thought that this fellow would directly refuse my offer of office once again?

The emperor mentioned Li Yi's name and changed the subject.

"If he doesn't want to be an official, then forget it. I won't force him. For his contribution in offering the medicine to you, I have also rewarded him with the title of Baron of Qianshui County. A bottle of medicine in exchange for a baron, this guy made a fortune, hahahaha."

The dragon boat slowly sails in the sea pool, creating layers of waves.

Luojiabao, Yusu Township,

In Wuji Thatched Cottage, Li Yi sneezed.

Xiuzhi, Lanxiang and others in the kitchen had already choked to tears and fled out the door.
"Brother, what are you doing?"

"I'll make you a fresh dish, boiled fish."

Today, Guo Erlang brought two big grass carps, and Li Yi thought of boiled fish, a dish he used to be good at. Planting peppers today happened to remind him of it, and he couldn't stop drooling.

Boiled fish is also very easy to make, as long as you have the ingredients.

He has a good way of butchering fish fillets. He marinates the cut fish fillets with egg white, appropriate amount of cooking wine, soy sauce, salt, onion, ginger and starch.

Fry the fish bones and fish heads and set aside.

Stir-fry bean sprouts until cooked and spread them on the bottom of a large bowl.
Fry the dried red peppers in a pan until fragrant, add the broad bean paste and stir-fry until the oil turns red, add water and scallions, then add the previously fried fish heads and bones and bring to a boil.

Then add the marinated fish fillets, control the heat, and serve with the soup when it is cooked.

The most important thing is the last bit of material and oil.
Sprinkle with minced garlic, crushed peppercorns, sesame seeds, and chopped green onions.
Then heat oil in a pan, add dried red chilies, fry until fragrant, then pour over the minced garlic and chopped green onions and you're done.

With a sizzling sound,
That spicy taste brings a long-lost satisfaction.

But for Lanxiang and the others, it was a bit too much.

"Come and try it! It's not greasy, spicy but not dry, numb but not bitter, and the meat is smooth and tender. This is a unique dish."

The fish is delicious, spicy and rich.

When they saw the big basin of fish that Li Yi brought out from the kitchen,

The soup is bright red, and the white fish meat is covered with a layer of red dried chilies. It was this thing that made them choke and cry just now. How can this be eaten?

Li Yi took the lead and put a chopstick into the bowl.
"Eat it while it's hot."

One bite and you’ll taste that flavor.

Lanxiang and the other children, as well as Xiuzhi, Sujun and Yushu, were half-believing and half-doubting. They took their bowls and chopsticks and gathered around the stone table. Each of them tried to pick up a piece of fish fillet and took a cautious bite to taste it.

"It's very spicy," said Shitou.

"It feels so numb," Gousheng sucked his tongue.

"Spicy, fresh and fragrant. After the spicy taste comes the freshness and fragrance." Li Yi smiled and ate with big mouthfuls of food.

Seeing how he enjoyed the meal, the others became bolder. After taking a few bites, they could taste not only the spicy flavor but also the tenderness and deliciousness of the fish, especially the fish fillets.

Even the bean sprouts inside are quite crisp and tender.

The kids kept snoring and exhaling, but they were reluctant to stop eating.

"This is chili pepper, it's really spicy." Yu Shu stuck out her tongue because of the spiciness.

Xiuzhi felt that Li Yi's cooking was indeed delicious, but too wasteful of ingredients. "Alang, this dish shouldn't be called water-boiled fish, it should be called oil-boiled fish. The oil used in this dish is enough for many families to use for a month."

A large grass carp weighing six or seven pounds was used to make a large pot of boiled fish. Everyone ate it up while sweating profusely, and there was a pot of red soup left. Li Yi wanted to pour it out, but Xiuzhi said to put it in a basket and hang it down in the well, so that they could continue to cook the fish tomorrow, as there was so much oil left.

Ji drank cold water continuously, and her face turned red.

Li Yi was very satisfied. He touched his belly with great satisfaction and got up to take a walk. Perhaps this was the taste of his hometown.

(End of this chapter)