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

Chapter 89 The Bearded Guest

Li Yi entered Li Jing's house with a sword in hand.
"Mr. Li, by order of the King of Qin, the Western Expeditionary Camp Assistant Commander Li Yi has come to summon Mr. Li to join the camp and appoint him as the Camp Assistant Commander."

After saying this, he handed the gold and silver-decorated sword to Li Jing, "This is what His Highness asked me to give to Lord Li."

Li Jing stood there in shock, and it took him a while to come back to his senses. He took the gorgeous sword, but he still couldn't believe it.

The knife is very beautiful, with a shark skin scabbard and a handle also wrapped in shark skin. The scabbard is decorated with gold and silver and is inlaid with red and green gems.

"Did the King of Qin really summon me to join the army as a military advisor?"

"How could this be false? How dare I falsely teach the King of Qin's teachings?"

Li Jing took a long breath and drew his sword out of its sheath. The blade was two feet and six inches long and was made for cutting.

The edge must be revealed,

This is a good sword, made of iron, and it is obvious that it was forged by a famous master. Li Jing was not happy about getting a good sword, but that his old sword was finally going to be unsheathed.

"Thank you," Li Jing expressed his sincere gratitude to Li Yi. He knew very well that he had been sitting on the bench for so long and had not been on the army twice. Yesterday, Li Yi said that he would recommend him to the King of Qin to join the army, and now he was really recruited. It must be because of his contribution.

"I admire Mr. Li's knowledge of military affairs. The country is fighting on the front line, and this is the time to use men."

Li Jing sheathed his sword and said, "Let's go."

"Mr. Li, don't you want to equip yourself with some food and clothing, and take some of your sons and servants with you?" Seeing how anxious he was, Li Yi knew that he had been holding it in for too long.

When he was young, he once discussed military affairs with Han Qinhu, the god of war of the Sui Dynasty. He was so ambitious that even Han Qinhu said he was amazing.

Who is Han Qinhu? He was born as the founding god of war, and became the King of Hell after his death.

But thirty years have passed in the blink of an eye.
In the blink of an eye, I am almost fifty years old. Most people would have accepted their fate long ago.

After Li Yi reminded him, Li Jing turned around and went to the inner courtyard.

"I'm going to join the army. Madam, take care of yourself at home."

In the center of the inner courtyard, a middle-aged woman was reading a book. She was wearing a red skirt, a narrow-sleeved blouse, and a round-necked short-sleeved top of the same red color. She looked graceful, elegant and generous.

The small and delicate half-arms tightly wrapped around the plump figure.

This is Zhang Chuchen, the heroine in the story of Hong Fu's night escape that has been circulating among the people for many years.

She was originally the daughter of a high-ranking official of the Southern Chen Dynasty. Due to the destruction of her country and the ruin of her family, she became a singing girl holding a red whisk in Yang Su's mansion. She fell in love with the young Li Jing and took the initiative to meet him at night to express her feelings. Li Jing actually took her away.

In the blink of an eye, more than 30 years have passed. The brave and even reckless young couple have now become grandparents.

However, Hong Fu Nu is still in very good condition. Time has not destroyed her, but made her more elegant.

"I know Alang has great ambitions and I'm unwilling to remain silent. Go ahead."

Li Jing thanked his wife for her understanding. She had followed him all these years and had not enjoyed any wealth and glory. She had served as a clerk, a county magistrate three times, and a county magistrate once, plus the term of office and election. Thirty years had passed in a flash.

"I plan to take Dalang and Erlang with me,"

Zhang looked at her husband and said, "Da Lang is fat, not good at riding and shooting, and knows nothing about military tactics. You don't need to take him with you. Let Er Lang go with you. Er Lang has always enjoyed wielding swords and is also good at riding and shooting. Perhaps he can join you in the army and make a name for himself with military merit."

Li Jing and his wife had only two sons, the eldest, Dejian, and the second, Dejiang. The eldest, nearly thirty, had already married and had children, while the second, Dejiang, in his early twenties, was a knight-errant and sociable man.

"Okay." Li Jing had long since given up hope for his eldest son's military career and could only rely on his second son. Unfortunately, Erlang only thought about being a knight-errant in Chang'an, spending his days in debauchery and making friends everywhere.

It’s a headache just thinking about it.

"Let my brother go with you."

The elder brother Zhang was talking about was named Zhang San, with a full beard. People in Chang'an called him the Bearded Man. He was both Zhang's sworn brother and Li Dejiang's master.

Zhang San's origins are quite legendary. He was the son of a wealthy Jiangnan merchant, but his father wanted to kill him at birth because he was ugly. In fact, anyone who has seen Zhang San's appearance knows why his father wanted to kill him. He was very dark-skinned, with a face full of curly beard, which showed that he was not Han Chinese at all.

It was obvious that when the merchant was out at sea, his concubine had an affair with a Kunlun slave and became pregnant.

Anyway, Zhang Haishang doesn't believe that if a woman eats too much soy sauce during pregnancy, her baby will be born dark-skinned.

Zhang San was drowning, but luckily survived and was rescued by a Kunlun slave, his biological father, a skilled sailor under the command of Zhang Haishang. Zhang San traveled extensively with the Kunlun slave, even trading goods at sea, and learned some impressive skills.

Once, Zhang San and Kunlun Slave were besieged by pirates at sea and were nearly killed. Fortunately, Chen Dynasty general Zhang Zhongsu showed up in time to defeat the pirates and rescue them. Kunlun Slave was grateful for the favor and would take Zhang San to Zhang's mansion every year to pay his respects and celebrate the New Year.

It was at that time that young Zhang San met Zhang Chuchen.
Later, the Southern Chen Dynasty was destroyed and Zhang Zhongsu died in battle. Zhang Chuchen, like many families of Southern Chen nobles and officials, was taken to Chang'an. Zhang Chuchen was also given to Yang Su.

Later, Li Jing took Hong Fu away, and Zhang San also came to Chang'an.

Today, the bearded man Zhang San no longer travels abroad, but stays in Li Jing's house in Chang'an, and accepts Li Erlang as his apprentice. However, this bearded man is not living under someone else's roof. He has his own shops in the two cities of Chang'an, and still has his own ships and caravans in the southern sea. This bearded man has no name in the Chang'an officialdom, but he is very famous in the Chang'an business community.
If you want imported goods from the sea, find him.

Even Zhang San is the main seller of Kunlun slaves in Chang'an. If you want excellent Kunlun slaves, find him.

He stayed in Chang'an for two years, and many of the wanderers in Chang'an called him their elder brother.

The big sea businessman who spends money like water has the support of Li from Danyang, Longxi. He has both backers and money, and he is generous and open-minded, so he can naturally get along well.

"My eldest brother has been feuding fiercely with several major Sogdian merchants lately, and it's getting more and more extreme. It would be a good idea to have him stay with me in the military camp for a while." Li Jing nodded. "And Erlang, you need to control your temper too. You're already in your twenties. You can't just hang around in the streets all day. You need to enter the officialdom and find a good marriage."

Li Jing was already a Gongcao in Chang'an County when he was sixteen years old, but this kid was still fooling around all day long.

Countless merchants gathered in the East and West Markets of Chang'an. Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes. Merchants are also divided into factions. There are business houses and chambers of commerce organized by industry, and there are also those organized by region, such as the Sogdian merchants. Among the Sogdian merchants, there are also Gaochang Sogdian merchants, Qiuci Sogdian merchants, Zhaowu Sogdian merchants, and even Liangzhou Sogdian merchants who moved east and settled in the early years, Hebei Sogdian merchants, etc.

Zhang San is a maritime merchant. He belongs to the southeastern maritime merchants in Chang'an.

The relationship with the Sogdians has always been bad, because they are all engaged in foreign trade, one is through the Silk Road, the other is through the sea, and many goods businesses overlap, so the fighting is fierce. In the past, the Southeast Sea Merchants were small and were suppressed by the Sogdians. After Zhang San came, he was like a fierce dragon crossing the river.
He managed to unite the sea merchants and defeated the Sogdian merchants many times.

But this time, a Sogdian merchant named Kang Po, a saboteur, found a powerful backer in the then Prime Minister Pei Ji. Kang Po was a descendant of the royal family of Kang State. His great-grandfather, Kang Luo, had moved his entire family to the Northern Wei Dynasty and settled in Luoyang. His family had been saboteurs for generations.

The Sogdians had strong autonomous management rights.

This Kang Po was extremely wealthy and had great influence among the Sogdians in Chang'an. He took the initiative to submit to Pei Ji and was appointed by Pei Ji as his official to help him manage his property. In fact, he became Pei Ji's glove.

Although Zhang San has the Li Jing family behind him, Li Jing himself is now sitting on the bench every day. Although the Danyang branch of the Longxi Li family is famous, it has no real power in the new dynasty.

Li Yi first returned to his new house across the street.

Sujun and Yushu were a little surprised that Li Yi left and then went back, thinking that the expedition would be postponed again.

"I am worried about you, so I am going to take you with me to join the army."

Yu Shu was actually a little excited after hearing this, "Isn't it forbidden to bring women into the army?"

Ji Shi said, "There have always been women in the army. Many armies would bring prostitutes with them when they went to war. However, they had to stay with the baggage camp, not the main camp. Some generals would also bring their concubines or maids with them to the baggage camp. When they were stationed or resting, they would go to the baggage camp to meet up."

"Will it be dangerous to follow the army? There are thousands of men. What if someone has bad intentions towards us?" The look on the Silla maid's face made people want to laugh.

"I'm kidding. Marching and fighting isn't an outing. It's dangerous and tiring. I can't bear to torture you like this. And Yu Shu is right. There are thousands of men in this military camp. After a long time, even an old sow will look like Diao Chan. You two delicate beauties are just tempting people to commit crimes."

There were many cases of soldiers violating military orders and committing adultery on the battlefield.

We chatted for a while at home.
The servant of Li Jing's family across the street came to invite him over.

"I'm leaving now. You all take good care of yourselves at home. If you really need anything, you can go to Daningfang to find my senior brother Sun Zhongcheng, or go to Changshoufang to find Wang Lingshi, or go directly across the street to ask the Li family for help. I'll say hello to them later and ask for your help."

"Don't worry, Alang, we will take good care of ourselves. You should also take good care of yourself when you are outside." Ji tidied Li Yi's clothes.

Li Yi hugged the two of them in his arms, hugged them on both sides, and kissed each of them, which caused the Silla maid to exclaim exaggeratedly. However, Ji just blushed and lowered her head.

Li Yi laughed and went out.

In ancient times, men of status really enjoyed themselves. They didn't need to talk about love at all, and they didn't have to rack their brains to think about how to please and pursue girls.

How wonderful are Ji Shi and Yu Shu?
Why bother to compete with the Du family? There is no need to provoke that little girl Du Shiniang. If the two of them can't succeed in the end, she will be ruined.

Arriving at the front yard of Li Jing's house,
"Li Daizhao, I'm ready," he said, introducing himself, "This is my brother Zhang San, and this is my son Dejiang."

Li Yi was surprised to see the man whom Li Yi called "brother", but whose surname was not Li and whose face was obviously not that of a Han Chinese with a big curly beard.

"Zhang San, also known as the bearded guest, please take care of me from now on."

When he opened his mouth, Li Yi felt a little uncomfortable because his Chinese was so authentic.

Li Dejiang also came up to greet me, "Just call me Li Er."

Li Jing brought these two with him on this expedition, and they were considered his disciples. He also brought 15 other soldiers with him.

They stood there, not all of them looked like wrestlers. They were all tall, short, fat and thin, and seemed quite ordinary. But their eyes gave people a sense of restrained murderousness.

He knew that these people must be the loyal soldiers of the Li family, and they might be surviving veterans who had killed many enemies on the battlefield.

This is the heritage of a wealthy family.
You can easily bring a special forces team,
Li Yi could only bring along the former farmhand Liu Heizi and the former shop assistant Chen Liang.

When he got out of the door, Li Yi was shocked again.

There were eighteen people in Li Jing's family, and each of them brought three horses, one for riding, one as a spare, and one for carrying equipment.

Everyone carried a bow and a sword, and Li Jing and his son also had a horse lance.

I guess if the imperial court hadn't banned the private possession of armor and crossbows, they would definitely have one set each.

Each of the three members of the Li family led a five-man special forces team. Li Yi was envious and drooled. Even if they suffered a major defeat on the battlefield, they would still be able to escape.

(End of this chapter)