Three Kingdoms: Jiangdong is no longer a rat

Chapter 10 Inquiry
Wisps of smoke rose from the kitchen in the backyard.

The servants and maids of the Yan family rushed to Geqi Pavilion in the morning, cleaned up Yan Yi's bedroom, and prepared fruits, vegetables and meat in advance. Yan Yi only stood in the front yard for a while, and hot dishes were brought out one after another.

The bedroom was covered with soft carpets and furnished with an exquisite desk, on which were placed mouth-watering dishes and fine wines, and ivory chopsticks, silver bowls, silver spoons and other tableware neatly arranged.

Two attractive maids put on skirts and knelt obediently on both sides of the table. Their plump breasts formed an alluring cleavage as they sat, which was truly a feast for the eyes.

Yan Yi looked at the luxurious decorations in the bedroom, then at the horsemen sitting around the courtyard. He had just stepped over the threshold when he calmly withdrew his foot and ordered, "Light the fire, get the cauldron ready, and we'll eat in the courtyard."

The big cauldron was quickly set up, the fire in the brick stove burned very brightly, and the boiling water in the cauldron made a gurgling sound.

Chen Gan skillfully skinned and bled the two newly bought lambs. The boning knife in his hand flipped quickly, and pieces of chopped mutton mixed with various precious seasonings fell into the pot.

Soon, the rich aroma of meat filled the backyard.

Du Qiu and others were drooling with greed. The salary in the pavilion was meager, and they usually had simple meals, either bean cakes or rice porridge so thin that you could see your reflection in it. It was a rare opportunity to eat meat and drink wine once a month.

The pots full of meat and the jars full of wine before them were exactly the scenes they would encounter in their dreams.

With fine wine and delicious food in front of them, everyone had a relaxed smile on their face.

Yan Yi invited everyone to sit down on the reed mats, then stood up with a wine cup in hand. He looked around and said in a loud voice, "It is fate that we are all gathered here today. Please drink this cup to the full!"

Everyone responded with a roar of agreement, drinking the wine in one gulp, and the atmosphere at the table quickly heated up.

Compared to others who wolfed down their food, Yan Yi ate very politely.

Although he has been in this world for more than a month, he has not yet completely adapted to the food because food is too scarce in this era.

First of all, there was no cooking oil in this era, only animal fats and small-milled sesame oil.

Secondly, apart from salt, pepper, onion, ginger and garlic, there are basically no other seasonings. Don’t even think about chili peppers, MSG, cumin, etc.

Furthermore, without an iron pan, we couldn’t cook anything, and everything we ate had to be cooked in a cauldron or clay pot.

What made him even more speechless was that even the fruits in this era tasted a bit bland, and were generally not as sweet as those varieties improved by modern technology in his previous life.

Coupled with the lack of technology to produce sugar on a large scale, sweets became a well-deserved luxury.

It is not difficult to understand why, in history, Yuan Shu could not even drink a sip of the honey water he longed for when he was dying.

But for men, this world also has its lovely side. At least when they have power in their hands, the happiness is unimaginable.

Whether good or bad, whether active or passive, Yan Yi is rapidly adapting to this world.

Everyone enjoyed the meal to their heart's content. Even after the cauldron had been removed, Du Qiu was still licking the food, savoring the taste.

Even Wang Mai, who seemed to be quite wealthy, was very satisfied with the meal.

However, Yan Yi's next words immediately woke Wang Mai from his enjoyment of the delicious food and made him alert. "Wang Xiangzuo, how many refugee households have been recorded in the household registers in the past few days?"

Wang Mai wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "My Lord, it's about 200 households."

"Approximately?" Yan Yi frowned, seemingly dissatisfied with the answer. "Are the vacant houses rented or sold to refugees in accordance with the law? Have any disputes arisen?"

This question was easy to answer. Wang Mai breathed a sigh of relief, his voice rising a bit. "Everything is rented and sold according to the law of returning land and houses to extinct households. After the head of a household dies, if there are relatives within the third degree of mourning, the land and houses will be inherited by their relatives according to the degree of closeness. If there are no relatives within the third degree of mourning, the land and houses will be returned to the public, and the renting and selling will be organized by the township. There are no disputes."

Du Qiu glanced at Yan Yi secretly.

Yan Yi casually asked, "How much was rented and how much was sold?" This was not a casual question, but he wanted to understand the purchasing power and willingness of the refugees to live by the rent-to-sale ratio.

But when Wang Mai heard these words, he was caught off guard.

He only found out that Yan Yi was coming to recruit soldiers that morning. Time was running out and his mind was full of how to curry favor with the young master of the Yan family. He had no time to care about anything else and never expected that the other party would be so crazy as to ask such questions.

Is there something wrong with Shaojun's brain today?

Wang Mai secretly complained in his heart. He had met the original owner and had a certain understanding of her.

In his opinion, the young master of the Yan family was just a rough, lustful and dissolute man, and the so-called recruitment of soldiers was pure bullshit!
I've heard of Yan's kidnapping people and forcing them to serve in the army, but I've never heard of Yan's recruiting soldiers in a serious manner.

The Yan family has so many military leaders and so many ready-made troops. Does it need a cockfighting and horse-riding playboy to come out and cause trouble?

Most of the time he is tired of playing with the beautiful concubines around him and is out looking for a young wife, or he is short of money and is out hanging around, so he can pocket a lot of money.

Wang Mai thought he had seen through the original owner's heart, liver, spleen, lungs and kidneys, and he was blindly confident that if someone had not intervened and taken over his position, things would have really happened as he expected.

"How much good farmland is left that can be rented or sold? How much wasteland is left?"

Seeing his hesitation, Yan Yi's face suddenly darkened.

“We rented over a hundred rooms and sold 20 to 30.”

Wang Mai spoke hesitantly, but answered the previous question.

Yan Yi was already impatient, his expression turning cold: "Go and get the documents and the Tian family's money from the past few days."

Wenqi is a document that records house transactions, and Tianjiaqi records the situation of renting land. Pawning and selling require the seal of the county, but renting does not.

Wang Mai hurriedly said, "I remember now. We still have 190 mu of good farmland and 400 mu of wasteland."

Yan Yi sneered: "Is it a large acre or a small acre?"

"Big and small mu, yes, small mu." Wang Mai felt like he was going crazy.

Yan Yi snorted coldly: "All of them are Xiaomu? Is it such a coincidence?"

Wang Mai's head was buzzing, and he stammered, "I have a lot of acres too."

Du Qiu was dumbfounded watching from the side.

Yan Yi winked at Fan Yan, who called two cavalrymen, lifted Wang Mai's arms, and dragged him out.

A moment later, two cavalrymen carried an elm box into the backyard.

Cheng Yan followed behind with Wang Mai, who was a little dazed.

boom!
When the box fell to the ground, Wang Mai trembled slightly like a quail that was suddenly startled.

"This playboy can't understand these account books."

He whispered to himself as if to comfort himself.

(End of this chapter)