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

Chapter 93 Haidong Luzon
Li Yi opened the tent and walked out, stretching himself.

The journey from Chang'an to Gaocheng City in Jingzhou was over 500 li, and it had taken these 20,000 people ten days to reach their destination. Apart from being a little slow, Li Yi felt that it was not too bad.

Anyway, he has soldiers and servants, and he has horses to ride on when he marches, so he doesn't need to do any chores himself.

The food is a bit simple,
Fortunately, he could secretly open a small kitchen, and Li Jing benefited from him. He cooked some bacon today, steamed some sausages tomorrow, and made some noodles later.
The golden crow fell in the west, illuminating half the sky red.

Li Erlang, holding his bow, greeted Li Yi with a smile, "General Li, what are you having for dinner today?"

This boy is a very active person. In the past, when he was in Chang'an, he would call his friends and wander around freely all day long. He was very carefree. Since he entered the military camp, although he was Li Jing's son, he was a son of a soldier and not a formal soldier or a commoner. He had no tasks to bear.
But the military camp is an important place, and we can't just walk around casually.
Going out for horseback riding or hunting is not allowed.

He could only practice martial arts and play chess with his master Zhang San all day long. The only thing he cared about these days was Li Yi's special treatment.

"Lao Zhang went to buy horse meat. Let's eat horse meat tonight." Li Yi said with a smile.

Such a large army has many war horses, draft horses, mules and donkeys, etc., and it is easy for them to die or become disabled accidentally. When encountering such a situation, the general military practice is to send an officer to check and verify, identify the marks, confirm which battalion the horse belongs to, why it died or became disabled, and then allow it to be skinned.

The skins of the horses and mules were kept as military supplies, and the horse meat was cut up and sold on the spot.

Because we are in the military, the price is very cheap.

Even after skinning a horse, you can still get more than 200 kilograms of meat, bones, and internal organs, but it can only be sold for two pieces of silk, which is only worth two dou of wheat.

But now a leg of mutton is worth the meat of two dead horses.

Such a low price is actually a benefit for the soldiers.

Soldiers could buy some horse meat cheaply out of their own pockets as a snack.

As for why the dead horse meat was not directly given to the soldiers as food, it was because although there were dead and disabled people on the road, there would not be too many.

"Horse meat isn't tasty. Why don't I go to the rear camp and buy a leg of lamb?"

When the army went out to fight, it was followed by the imperial court's baggage and logistics camp, as well as merchant caravans. Most of these merchant caravans had obtained permission from the army to follow the march, sell goods, and even bring prostitutes. After the army occupied a city or defeated the enemy, these merchants would purchase the spoils.
Although joining the army is risky, the profits are also very high.

Not to mention lamb legs, they have everything to eat, drink, use and even play with.

Li Jing emerged from the tent and said, "It's good enough to have horse meat to eat, but you're still so picky. Do you think we're in Chang'an?"

Li Erlang was glared at by Laozi and had to smile awkwardly and stop shouting.

Soon Zhang Yiquan came back.

He carried about ten pounds of horse meat.

Li Erlang added, "We only bought this much, and there are more than 20 of us."

Zhang Yiquan knew that Li Erlang was from a prominent family, so he could only laugh and say, "A pack horse injured its hoof. It was useless if it wasn't taken care of properly, so we slaughtered it and skinned it. Although it only had over 200 kilograms of meat, many people wanted it."

"I only managed to get these ten pounds of horse meat by calling out for Li Canjun's banner. It cost me a piece of silk."

Li Erlang immediately said, "That's not right. Isn't it said that a whole dead horse's meat is only worth two pieces of silk?"

"That one was dead and sick. This one was slaughtered alive, but its hoof is broken. The price has tripled. I sold it for six rolls of silk."

Six pieces of silk can buy about 200 kilograms of horse meat, which is also very cheap, only ten cents per kilogram.

Zhang Yiquan paid the equivalent of thirty-six coins per pound for the horse meat. He explained that the horse meat was bought by a team leader with six pieces of silk, and then divided and sold.

"Hey, then wouldn't he have made a quick profit of fourteen bolts of silk? That's definitely not possible, right?"

Li Erlang shouted dissatisfiedly,
Li Jing glared at him again.
Selling dead horse meat for the price of two dou of wheat is a common practice in the army. This price is always the same, but there is definitely room for manipulation. For example, the team leader directly bought the horse meat and then sold it at a higher price.

Although this seems unreasonable, it does not violate military regulations.
But any discerning person could see that there must be some behind-the-scenes dealings involved. For example, the team leader must have given benefits to the person responsible for selling horse meat in order to get the deal first.

You even have to bribe certain officers to avoid interference.

Li Erlang was young and hot-headed, and he felt that the team leader was not a good person. Wouldn't it be good to give some horse meat to the brothers as a benefit? You wanted to make a fortune from it.

Originally it was ten cents per jin, but you raised it to thirty-six cents per jin, and you even increased it several times.

Li Yi ignored Li Erlang and prepared to make horse meat buns.

He planned to make steamed buns today and needed an oven. But there was no need to worry about it. Cao Daxing came back soon. He went to the rear camp and bought a Hu stove from the merchant caravan.

A not-so-big oven, about the size of a wooden rice steamer, is enough for making baked buns.

Li Yi had eaten horse meat baked buns when he traveled to Tianshan before. They were called Samusa and tasted very good.
Roll out the dough, prepare the fillings, sprinkle some salt water into the heated naan pit when baking, and the buns will not fall off once they are stuck to it. They will be baked in about ten minutes at most.

Golden and crispy, with crispy skin and tender meat, it tastes fresh and fragrant.

Of course, to make the baked buns delicious, in addition to baking them well, the key is to adjust the filling well. Lamb leg with even fat and lean meat is best, horse leg is also OK. Too lean meat is not good either, as it will be woody when baked.

Seasoning is also very important. In addition to fine salt, cumin powder and pepper powder are also indispensable. Add some horse fat and onions, and it will definitely be fresh and delicious without any fishy or muttony smell.

A chopping board was set up in front of the tent.

Knead the dough and let it rise, then cut the horse leg meat into cubes, add salt, cumin, sesame oil, and some onion and ginger water to marinate.
Li Erlang insisted on helping, so Li Yi took out two onions, cut off the roots, and asked him to cut them.

He took the two cut onions, looked at them, and found that the roots were still fresh, so he asked Zhang Yiquan to go to the rear camp and buy two small clay jars, and plant the cut onions directly in them, and they would soon take root and sprout.

"What is this thing? Why is it stinging my eyes and making them cry?" Li Erlang had just cut an onion when he realized something was wrong.

He was a tall and strong man who aspired to be a hero in Chang'an, but he actually burst into tears while cutting vegetables.

“It’s an onion.”

"Onion? How can an onion grow like this? I've seen big and small scallions, but nothing like this."

People in Guanzhong also like to eat onions. There is even a very famous kind of onion in Guanzhong, the Chishui onion, a specialty of Huazhou. It is as tall as a person, with thick and long white parts, crisp and tender flesh, sweet and slightly spicy, strong and fragrant flavor, and easy to store. It is quite famous in Guanzhong.

One family stir-fries onions, and ten families smell the same.

It's delicious even eaten raw.

Li Erlang had never seen onions with round bumps and purple skin.

"This came from across the ocean."

"Why isn't it called shallot?" Li Erlang called over to his teacher, Zhang San. "Master, you've been sailing for many years and have seen all sorts of imported goods. Have you ever seen the onion that Li Canjun is talking about?"

The bearded guest came over and looked at the onion for a long time. The cut onion had an extremely strong smell, which even made his eyes tear up. He picked up a small piece and put it in his mouth. It tasted crispy, sweet and slightly spicy.

"This onion tastes good, but I've never seen it before. Where did Li Canjun get it?"

Li Yi lied without hesitation, "I traveled around the world with my master, and even went to Lingnan and Jiaozhi. I got this from a Hu merchant once."

"Where did the Hu merchants come from?"

"He said he lived in the east of the sea, in a place called Luzon, but he also got these onions from merchants who came to Luzon from the eastern ocean." East of the sea, Luzon, and the ocean further east.
These successes aroused the curiosity of Qiu Ranke. He often traveled to the sea and knew more about the maritime situation than the people in the Central Plains. For example, he knew about Liuqiu Island, which was conquered by both Sun Quan and Yang Guang, and Qiongya Island, which had long been established as a county in the Central Plains.

There is also a large island in the sea further southeast. During the Three Kingdoms period, officials of the Eastern Wu were drifted to the island by a storm. Later, the Southern Dynasties also sent many ships there.
Maybe the Luzon Island that Li Yi mentioned is there.

But he had been there before. It was a wild and desolate place. It was a loss to trade goods there. Apart from catching some slaves, there were only coconuts and dried fish.

Chop the onions and prepare the fillings.
Making dumplings is actually very simple. Just fold them into a square shape like a quilt. There is no need to make them as complicated as big meat buns.
This kind of unripe bread has a very thin crust, which becomes even thinner and crispier after being baked.

The Hu stove is also heated up. Sprinkle salt water on it and put the buns on it. After ten minutes or so, the buns are baked and out of the oven.

Shiny golden,

The fragrance is so fragrant.

Li Jing also came over with his own stool.
There are so many people, so each person can only try one first.

Then bake the second batch.

A bun contains three taels of stuffing, normally it should be half meat and half onion, but Li Yi didn't have that many onions, so he took out two.
The rest was replaced with Huazhou Chishui scallions, which were also bought from the merchant caravan accompanying the army in the rear camp. The price of that thing was the same as that of horse meat, but it was indeed tall, thick, and tasted sweet.

Let's work together.
Under Li Yi's guidance, I made about a hundred buns.
Every time a batch is baked, each person gets one and it’s finished in no time.

There were eighteen people on Li Jing's side, and five on Li Yi's side, a total of twenty-three people. Although they could pack faster with more people, they could eat even faster.

"I didn't expect that horse meat is so delicious." Li Erlang was still unsatisfied and smacked his lips.

"That's because General Li's stuffing is so good. Ordinary horse meat is not tasty. It's not only dry but also sour." Li Jing said, stroking his beard.

Zhang San discovered that the stuffing of the steamed buns contained pepper, cumin powder, and other ingredients. "This steamed bun is indeed different from ordinary Hu pancakes. The least expensive of these ingredients is actually horse meat. The pepper, cumin powder, even refined salt, onions, and red water scallions are all more expensive than this horse meat."

"Bao Bao Zi, this name is quite unique, and sounds better than Rou Hu Bing."

Li Yi was just thinking about whether to send some to Li Shimin, but Li Shimin came over by himself.

"I can smell the delicious food from your place from afar. What delicious food have you made? Give me one too." Li Shimin came over with a hearty laugh.

"Better come early than arrive at the right time. There's a horse in the camp next door with a broken hoof. They killed it, skinned it, and sold the meat. I bought ten pounds of horse meat and made some baked buns. Come and try some."

Just then, one furnace was ready.

The steaming hot buns just scooped off the table were golden and shiny, which made Li Shimin's appetite increase greatly.

Crunch, crunch, Li Shimin couldn't stop eating one bite after another.

Eat until your mouth is full of oil,

"It's delicious, Ruhui, you guys should try it too."

Du Ruhui, Hou Junji, and Xu Luoren all praised the dish highly after eating it.

One person ate two.

The horse meat buns have all been roasted and eaten.

"More."

"Well, I'm done eating."

"Sanshui, go to the rear camp and buy two live sheep from the merchant caravan, and some more Huazhou green onions."

Li Yi reminded, "You should also buy more pepper, cumin powder, and green salt."

"Yes, buy more. We must enjoy the baked buns to our heart's content today." Li Shimin said with a smile.

"Your Highness is so happy, but is there good news from the front line?" Li Yi asked.

"Well, after Liu Hongji rested in Changwu, he successfully entered Jingzhou City with 5,000 infantry and cavalry, as well as 10,000 dan of grain. The bandit Xue tried to intercept him, but was repelled by Liu Hongji. The King of Changle also came out of the city to support him, and a battle took place outside Jingzhou City.
Xue Rengao didn't gain any advantage. Liu Hongji said that Xue's army was short of food and the soldiers had no fighting spirit.

Xue Jun couldn't even stop Liu Hongji's five thousand men, and it seemed that he was about to collapse.

Li Shimin was happy and wanted to eat as much baked buns as he wanted tonight. Li Yi naturally tried his best to satisfy him, and Li Jing was also dragged along by him.
The bearded guest Zhang San and Hou Junji were in charge of slaughtering the sheep, Li Yi and Li Erlang were in charge of mixing the stuffing, and Du Ruhui and Li Jing followed suit to make the dumplings.

Liu Heizi is responsible for baking the buns.

Seeing that there were so many people, Li Yi simply asked Zhang Yiquan to borrow two more large pots, build two new stoves, and make hand-pulled mutton rice.

Carrots, mutton, rice, and Chishui green onions.

It is simple to make, but the taste is unique, with rich layers of texture and a delicious and unique flavor. The rice absorbs the flavor of lamb and spices, making it very soft, glutinous and rich, while the carrots add a fresh sweetness.

When the rice is cooked,

Li Shimin, who was already full of baked buns, wanted a big bowl after taking two bites.

Li Yi served him a small bowl and scooped a small bowl of clear mutton soup from the pot.

Li Shimin was in a good mood as the siege of Jingzhou had been lifted, and his appetite was also great. He ate two small bowls of pilaf and a large bowl of mutton soup.

Li Yi was also well fed and satisfied.
Also cut back on a lot of food ingredients,

I secretly put a lot of cumin, pepper, and salt into the space, and even stuffed some mutton, mutton bones, green onions, and carrots into it.

Anyway, they can’t tell that this meal is made in a big pot.

Besides, what kind of chef wouldn’t eat or take anything?

As the old saying goes, a cook won’t harvest the crops unless he steals them, and a tailor won’t straighten the clothes unless he takes them.

Even if there is three years of drought, the cook will not starve to death.

He has been busy for half a day, so it is only natural for him to replenish some food.

Liu Heizi and Chen Liang also benefited from this and had a big meal today, with barbecued meat buns, pilaf, and mutton soup to their heart's content.

Li Yi handed the two small clay jars to Chen Liang.
"The onions grown here are a treasure. Your job is to take good care of them."

Chen Liang looked at the two cut onions. The roots were already buried in the soil, with only a small cut showing.
"Don't worry, Alang. I'll take it with me wherever I go. I won't lose it."

Liu Heizi was still worried, "Alang, why don't you let me carry it on your back?"

"Then each of you should bring a clay pot,"

Now there are two onions, and in the future one will give birth to two, two will give birth to three, and three will give birth to all things. In the future, perhaps Yusuku River will have another world-famous specialty, the Yusuku River Heshui onion, which will be as famous as the Huaxian Chishui scallion.

　Brothers, please support me with your monthly tickets.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)