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

Chapter 99 Alone in a foreign land, a stranger

In the small courtyard,
Li Jing was fast asleep at his desk.

Li Yi sat on a small stool and looked at the bright moon in the sky. In this strange night in Jingzhou City,
The longing in my heart suddenly grew like weeds, and like the endless rushing of a river, or like the Yellow River flooding that was out of control.

"Being a stranger alone in a foreign land, thinking about family every holiday season."

Li Yi poured himself another glass of wine.

The wine is yellow wine brewed from millet, with a strong millet aroma, slightly sweet at first and a mellow aftertaste.

The wine is yellow with red.

It has a higher alcohol content than glutinous rice wine and has a stronger aftertaste.

Li Dejiang and his apprentice Zhang San had no idea where they had gone and no one could see them. He had to take care of his father himself.

Tomorrow is Mid-Autumn Festival.
So much time has passed in the blink of an eye. Perhaps my wife and children in the other world have already started a new life. During this Mid-Autumn Festival reunion, will they miss me again?

After drinking one glass, pour another one.

"A toast to my hometown, a toast to the distant place,"

"One cup to the moonlight, one cup to the rising sun!"

"A toast to tomorrow, a toast to the past!"

"One to freedom, one to death."

······
The yellow wine brewed from soft millet is indeed very good. Li Jing's wine is the imperial wine that the Emperor Li Yuan of Chang'an specially sent people to reward his meritorious officials.

When I first drank it, I felt that the alcohol content was not high and the taste was slightly sweet.

After drinking for a while, I got a little drunk.

By the time you realize something is wrong, it's too late.

When the wind blows,
Li Yi also lay down.

Wake up again,
I found myself lying on a couch, with a dim oil lamp in the room.
sit up,
I found myself sleeping on the same bed with Li Jing,

"you're awake?"

A voice came from the side.
Li Yi turned his head and saw the bearded guest sitting there. The room was too dark and he hadn't noticed the Kunlun slave just now.
If he hadn't opened his eyes and mouth to speak, he would have been well hidden in the night.

"Thank you, Mr. Zhang."

"Why are you being so polite to me? Just call me Zhang San, or Third Brother." The bearded guest said with a smile, "I heard you just now that the pharmacist wanted to ask you to become sworn brothers. The pharmacist and I are brothers. If you don't mind, we can still be brothers."

It turns out that Zhang San has been here tonight.

Just didn't show up.

"I want to thank you on behalf of the pharmacist. He has suffered a lot these past few years. I know he has a lot of talent, but nowhere to display it."

"Gold will always shine. Lord Li is at most a late bloomer. He will surely go down in history in the future."

"I think so too." Zhang San said with a smile.

Li Yi found some water to drink.

Unable to fall asleep for a while, Zhang San and I brought a small stool to the courtyard and sat there to enjoy the moon and chat.

Zhang San has a complicated background and a legendary experience.
He is a famous maritime merchant in the southeast, and his wealth has long surpassed that of his father.

Li Yi was quite interested in his experience and asked him where was the farthest he had ever been at sea.

"I've been to Goguryeo, Baekje, Silla, Wakoku, and even Ryukyu in the east of the sea. They were all barbarians.

As for the South Sea, they went to Linyi, Funan, and even as far as the country of Gantuoli.

When he was young, he traveled all over the world and earned his wealth through repeated battles on the sea. However, he no longer travels to the sea in recent years, and his captains and sailors do the traveling.

Li Yi chatted with him casually.

He could also talk about mountains, rivers and seas all over the world in great detail, which surprised Zhang San. Li Yi used the excuse that his master, Taoist Li, had taken him on a world tour. In fact, after two lifetimes, the travel experiences he had gained, and even the knowledge he had seen on the Internet, were quite amazing.

"Pepper and other spices are extremely expensive in Chang'an. In recent years, one ounce of pepper has even sold for one ounce of gold, and camphor has even sold for three ounces of gold. The Sogdians all say that pepper comes from India, and from India, you have to cross the Great Snow Mountain, then go to Tokharistan, then cross the Pamir Mountains to the Western Regions, and then pass through the Hexi Corridor, a journey of tens of thousands of miles to Chang'an, so it's so expensive.
But India doesn't necessarily have to go through the Western Regions before it can reach the Central Plains, and the main production area for pepper isn't in India, but on some islands in Southeast Asia."

Zhang San was surprised.

Li Yi also said that since Zhang San was engaged in maritime trade, why not directly purchase spices from the ports of South China Sea islands such as Gan Tuoli, ship them back to Jiaozhou and Guangzhou, and then transport them to Luoyang and Chang'an. The cost would definitely be lower than that of the Sogdian merchants.

"Starting from Jiaozhou, heading south along the coast, passing Linyi, reaching Funan, and continuing south to the southern strait, that's the country of Kantoli, right? I've heard that many Persian and Indian merchants come from the west by sea, buying pepper and other spices in Kantoli and Funan, and then shipping them west, but they all claim the spices come from India or Lion Country.
Merchants from Funan and Kantoli bought spices from the islands of Southeast Asia, processed them, and then shipped them to the major ports of Funan and Kantoli, where they sold them to merchant ships from India and Persia. They would simply claim that the spices were produced locally...

Zhang San looked at Li Yi with interest. This young man even knew all this.

In fact, Zhang San only knew that spices were available for sale in the ports of Gantuli and Funan, but he didn't know where the spices came from.

Even the spices from Southeast Asia have always been monopolized by merchants from India, Persia, and Sri Lanka. Merchants from the Central Plains who can travel there generally have passed through the hands of merchants from India and other countries.

I'm still drunk.
Li Yi said a little more.

"If you can directly find an island that produces spices, trade the spice raw materials directly with the local indigenous tribes, and transport them back to the Central Plains, it will definitely be very profitable."

"And sugarcane. The sugarcane that sells well in the Central Plains right now is all frost sugar from India brought in by Sogdian merchants. It's incredibly expensive and the profits are huge. But places like Lingnan also grow a lot of sugarcane, but the sugarcane they make is less sophisticated. Why don't you send someone to India to find the recipe for frost sugar?

As long as you're willing to work hard and spend money, you can get the Indian sugarcane recipe for a good sum of money, right?"

Zhang San smiled,

"In fact, my fleet went to Southeast Asia, and the main commodities we brought back were gold, silver, ivory, rhino horns, gemstones, camphor, coral, deerskin, tortoise shells, etc."

What he brought out to sea were porcelain, silk, some lacquerware, paper, medicine, etc.

Although sailing is risky, the profits are also high.

However, it is not like what Li Yi imagined, that it can sail directly to the Mediterranean, Indian Ocean, and Persian Gulf. Although there are ships that can go that far, most ships run on fixed routes.
For example, from Jiaozhou to Linyi, or from Linyi to Funan, or from Yangzhou to Silla, Mingzhou to Waguo, Dengzhou to Liaodong, etc.

Different caravans do different businesses.

Zhang San's ships to Southeast Asia mainly traded gold, silver, jewelry, ivory, rhinoceros horns and other things. Spices were not his main business.

He would also do some slave trade, Kunlun slaves and Silla maids, which were very profitable.

"But your suggestion is very good, maybe I can give it a try."

In the past, Zhang San used Yangzhou as his base camp, but in recent years he has also started to operate in Luoyang and Chang'an.

If we could really find the Spice Island in the South Seas, open up a new cargo route, and get a foothold in the spice trade, it would indeed bring huge profits.

After chatting for a long time,

Li Yi felt sleepy and went back to sleep.

Tianming,

Li Yi woke up and found it was quite late. Li Jing and Zhang San were not at home.
I rubbed my aching temple. I got drunk with Li Jing last night, and then chatted with Zhang San for a long time. I don’t seem to remember what we talked about.

out the door,

Liu Heizi, Chen Liang, Zhang Yiquan and Cao Daxing are all here.

"Mr. Li said you were still sleeping and told us not to disturb you, so we'll just wait outside," Liu Heizi said. "Have you had breakfast?"

"not yet."

"Then go look outside and see where you can buy breakfast."

Li Yi took four people out,

Jingzhou consists of two cities, inner and outer, in a Lü-shaped structure, each with sixteen wards.

There are also special markets in the city.
The five of them headed straight for the East Market.

The urban layout of this era is similar.

There are markets in the city, and all shops are concentrated in the market.

They are all colleagues who gather together to sell food, so they basically open their shops together, except for those who push carts and sell their goods.

When I came to the food street, it was so lively.

There was a long queue in front of one of the stores.

"That's the one." Li Yi pointed at the shop with a long queue. If people can queue up for a long time, the food must be delicious. People in the Tang Dynasty would never use the trick of asking for favors and queuing up repeatedly at a milk tea shop.

When I got closer, I realized it was a sub-store.

Li Yi stretched his neck to take a closer look. The shop owner had placed a stove at the door and was frying food.

It is not a fried dough stick, but a fried cake. In some places, it is also called sugar-oil cake, and people in the Tang Dynasty called it fried. The appearance is not exactly the same in different places, but the key is that it must be fried. It can have stuffing or not, but it must be fried until bubbles appear. Or in some places, it is directly fried into a round ball with sesame seeds on it.

They are now queuing up for this store,
There are several types of fried food, some are usually fried into bubbles, and some are fried into balls.
Obviously, it is more difficult to fry a small piece of dough into a big ball with a lot of sesame seeds on it, so this kind of dough is also the most expensive, and the bigger it is, the more expensive it is.

I looked up at the sign, hey, "Wang Mazi Fried Food Shop," the name is easy to remember, and the owner's face is indeed covered with pockmarks,

I don't know if he was born like this, or if it became like this from the oil splattering while frying.

After waiting in line for a while, it was finally their turn.

Li Yi ordered all kinds of stuff in the store, whether they were stuffed or not, square or round.
There are fried ones made with flour and glutinous rice.

After frying, control the oil and serve it on the table in the store.

Fragrant.

A bite of it is fragrant and crispy.
Fried foods are indeed always delicious, especially for people of this era, they are even more attractive.

The price is not cheap,
After all, Li Yi opened a workshop to fry tofu and sell it, so he knew very well that oil prices were high nowadays.

The flour ones are more crispy, while the glutinous rice balls are crispy on the outside and have a glutinous core on the inside.
Li Yi and others said it was delicious.
The shopkeeper Wang Mazi listened to their conversation and asked, "Are you gentlemen from Chang'an?"

"Um,"

After hearing this, the old man brought a stack of pickles and gave each person a large bowl of noodle soup.

"I have a daughter who went to Chang'an with her husband three years ago and opened a bakery in the East Market of Chang'an. She used to receive several letters from home every year, but this year I haven't received a single letter.

We are very worried, but this place is 500 miles away from Chang'an, and we really can't go there in person to take a look.

Could you please help me send a letter to my daughter? I just want to know if she is okay."

Li Yi said, "It's just a small favor. Do you need me to write a letter home for you?"

"That's great. I was planning to ask someone to write for me later. I'll treat you to the meal. No thanks," the old man said happily.

"Uncle Chen, take out the paper and pen. I'll help you write now."

Chen Liang took out paper, ink, brush and inkstone from the bag he was carrying, and took out some water-ground ink.

Li Yi spread out the paper and picked up the pen, and the old man dictated to Li Yi and wrote.

The old man missed his daughter whom he had not seen for three years. On this Mid-Autumn Festival, he asked his daughter why she had not sent him a letter for a year. He also told his daughter that although Jingzhou had been under siege for half a year, fortunately, the family was still doing well.
We experienced a period of food shortage and famine, but now it is over with the victory.

Their fried food shop has also reopened and business is still good.

After writing the letter, the old man asked Li Yi to bring ten pieces of silk to his daughter. He was worried that his daughter had encountered some difficulties in life since she had not written to him for so long.

"Please rest assured, old man. I will personally deliver this letter to your daughter."

Feng Dalang's Fried Rice Shop in West Market, the old man's daughter Wang.

After eating, the old man was reluctant to accept money, but Li Yi still gave it to him. The people of Jingzhou had just experienced a difficult six-month siege and had finally survived. This was just a small business. If Li Yi and his five companions did not pay for this meal, they would have worked for nothing today.

Keep the letter safe.

I walked out of the shop amid the old man's thanks.
Li Yi looked at the bustling market.
"Let's go find Dafu, Zhuzi and the others."

Dafu is Luo Sanniang's second brother, and Zhuzi is Luo Shigou's son. They are both villagers of Luojiabao. They were conscripted for labor service on the first day of May, and it has been more than three months. That batch of ten people came, and they all seemed to be in Jingzhou.

Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival. I will see if I can find them, bring them greetings from my fellow townsmen, tell them the news about their families, and take them out for a good meal.

I'm afraid they may not know that their family has gone through great changes, such as the cliff collapse, which wiped out seven families in the village, such as Luo Dafu and Luo Dagui, whose brothers and their family of five were crushed to death.

I hope these ten villagers are all fine and have made it through.

In a logistics camp in the outer city of Jingzhou,
The two brothers Luo Dafu and Luo Dagui were pounding millet husks. The brothers were working very hard. Although pounding rice was hard work, they were in a good mood.

The war was won,
The siege is over.

They no longer had to go hungry, and finally they could have two full meals a day. More importantly, they no longer had to worry or be frightened, as the war was far away.

Jingzhou City is safe, and they are safe too.

Then they will soon be able to end this long and extended service and return to their hometown to reunite with their parents, wives and children.

"Poor trees and mountains, they couldn't live to see this day," Dafu sighed.

There were ten people when we first came, and now there are eight left. The villagers Dashu and Dashan are both young men in their twenties, married with children. But this time, they can't go back.

"Luo Dafu, Luo Dagui, Luo Jinzhu..."

A steward came over and said, "Come here for a moment."

"Zhao Zhanggu, what do you want from us?" Dafu asked.

"Someone's here looking for you, saying they're from the same village as you." Zhao Zhanggu waved, "Everyone, hurry up and follow me."

The eight wealthy men were a little confused. Was he from the same village looking for them? Was there anyone from Luojiabao serving here as well?
"Zhao Zhanggu, can we ask who is looking for us? What's their name?"

"Lee County men joining the army,"

Everyone was confused. When did Lord Li, a Li Canjun, appear in Luojiabao?

"Is it a mistake?"

"Do you recognize Luo San, Luo Wu, Luo Erlunzi, and Luo Fugui?"

Upon hearing this, Dafu quickly nodded, "Luo San and Luo Wu are both uncles from my clan. Fugui and Erlangzi are our friends who grew up playing naked together."

"That's right, let's hurry up and don't keep Li Canjun waiting for too long."

(End of this chapter)