Tang Dynasty: A Guide to Avoiding Pitfalls for Li Er at the Start

Chapter 79: You're being asked to be a manager in the Ministry of Civil Affairs?
"It's hard."

Seeing Li Shimin's eagerness, Wen He understood his meaning.

Nowadays, the meat available to the Tang Dynasty is mostly mutton or poultry, and if you live by the sea, you can also have fish.

Ordinary people may not see any meat on their dinner table all year round.

Ever since Guan Zhong said, "The king regards the people as heaven, and the people regard food as heaven," wise rulers and sage kings throughout history have pondered this matter.

How to ensure that everyone in the world has enough to eat.

In the eyes of people of this era, why were the Xiongnu of the past, the Turks of today, and those nomadic peoples who disappeared in the long river of history so powerful?

Because they eat a lot of meat, even though the lower classes often go hungry, nomadic peoples are used to hunting, so meat will still appear on their tables.

The upper-class Turks mainly ate beef and mutton and flatbread.

However, it was almost impossible for the Central Plains dynasties to find meat that could be consumed by ordinary people.

In ordinary households, people mostly eat dog meat or chicken and duck, but this is considered a sign of wealth.

Wen He understood that Li Shimin wanted him to find a way to make the pork taste better, at least not as smelly as it was now, making people want to vomit.

"Didn't you say last night that you could eat pork?"

Li Shimin made no secret of the fact that he was monitoring Wen He.

This was something they tacitly understood between them.

Wen He stretched and let the maid who had been waiting for a long time tidy his robes and hair.

"It is indeed edible, but the pork back then was not like this now. I originally thought that as long as the pig was castrated, it would be fat and healthy."

"Later, I saw on a forum that the reason why the pigs were so white and plump at that time was because they were crossbred with pigs from a country to the west."

Li Shimin was a little confused and said impatiently, "Just tell me, can you make pork taste better?"

“Okay.” Wen He nodded.

"Castration, cleaning the pigsty, and feeding the pigs with bran—whether it will work or not depends on the outcome, since I've never raised pigs before."

“But you’ve eaten it, haven’t you?” Li Shimin chuckled, leaving Wen He speechless.

Everyone says they've seen pigs run even if they haven't eaten pork, so why is it the other way around for him?

"Since you're free anyway, I'll entrust this matter to you. I'll build a pigsty in the side courtyard of your mansion, and I'll send people to do it for you... What's with your eyes?"

Li Shimin was speaking when he noticed a glint in Wen He's eyes and frowned.

Wen He smiled, pursing her lips, and blinked: "A raise?"

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin's forehead creased with three black lines. Pointing at his forehead, he said, "You rascal, how can you be so greedy? How about I promote you and put you in charge of the Ministry of Revenue?"

"No way, I have no desire for officialdom. I'm content to live a simple life tending my few acres of land. Besides, I'm only ten years old. How could I be an official at that age?"

Wen He quickly shook her head in refusal, as if the official in charge of the Ministry of Civil Affairs were poisonous.

Li Shimin chuckled: "You are just lazy. Gan Luo of the pre-Qin period was appointed as a high minister at the age of twelve, and I was able to wield a sword and mount a horse at the age of ten."

"I'm just an ordinary person, how can I compare to Gan Luo and you? Please don't make things difficult for me." Wen He's resolute attitude left Li Shimin helpless.

Finally, he promised that if the matter was settled, Wenhe would be given an additional thousand acres of fertile land.

With what he already has, he has almost taken over half of Gejiazhuang.

Li Shimin did not linger and left after finishing his business, but he kept Li Lizhi behind.

Wen He saw him off at the mansion, watched his carriage drive away, then turned around and went back to her room to change her clothes.

His clothes were soaked with cold sweat from those words.

Li Shimin seemingly casually announced his intention to appoint Wen He to an official position.

But he knew in his heart that this was definitely a test from Li Shimin.

Gan Luo became a high-ranking official at the age of twelve, but what was his fate?
There is no record of this in historical books, but the widely circulated story is that he was killed by Ying Zheng, who was then the King of Qin.

Li Shimin was able to wield a sword and mount a horse at the age of ten, but who is he now?

The Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty, the future emperor.

"Luckily, I reacted quickly."

Wen He patted his chest and let out a long sigh of relief.

Fortunately, he is still young and can use his carefree personality to disguise himself.

As for the future, as long as he continues to show that he has no ambition, Li Er's wariness of him will gradually dissipate.

Even high-ranking officials like Li Jing and Yuchi Gong were able to meet their ends peacefully. How much more so could he?

As long as he doesn't get involved in military power or form factions, what could Li Shimin possibly fear about him?
Do you really think rebellion is so easy?

This is the Tang Dynasty!

The person sitting on the throne was named Li Shimin.

"Brother, breakfast is ready!"

Outside the door, Wenrou, who had been waiting for a long time, couldn't help but call out.

Li Lizhi, standing next to her, was already pouting and had her hands on her hips.

"Wen He, time to eat!"

"I'm coming."

These two little foodies, can't they wait a little while?
"You're too slow. I'm hungry. If you don't give me something good to eat, I won't come again!" Li Lizhi snorted twice, thinking she had threatened Wen He.

Little did she know, Wen He was more than happy for her not to come.

Well, at least for now, I don't need to come so often.

Otherwise, he couldn't keep Li Shimin with him all the time; his fragile heart couldn't take it.

There was no money left at home, so at noon Wenhe used the leftover dough and tofu from yesterday to make a tofu dumpling soup.

Everyone in the entire household, regardless of whether they were masters or servants, received a share.

However, Wen He knew that she absolutely could not just sit around and do nothing.

"How about we continue with the soap business?"

Given the current situation, things like what happened before shouldn't happen again in Chang'an.

"Young master, when His Highness came earlier, he brought five hundred strings of cash with him. This old servant was thinking that after we finish eating, I would like to take some people to purchase the cash, would that be alright?"

"They paid?" Wen Zhong brought up the matter with Wen He as soon as he had the idea of ​​starting a business.

Why did Li Er act so quickly?
They provide meals and accommodation, assign land, and you don't have to do any work, yet you still earn over 100,000 yuan a year.

This is such a pleasant life.

Those classmates from my past life are probably still out there looking for work under the scorching sun.

"Yes, they paid." Wen Zhong was both amused and exasperated; he had never met such a greedy person.

"Then I'll leave it to you. Oh, by the way, go see if they sell piglets. Also, do you know anyone in the palace?"

Now that we have the money, we can put off making soap for now.

Once he successfully raises pigs, he won't need to buy mutton fat to extract animal fat.

It can also save you some money.

But his words almost scared Wen Zhong half to death.

"This old servant dares not, this old servant absolutely does not know anyone in the palace."

If he were just an ordinary steward, it wouldn't be a problem. But his identity is special. If he were to collude with the palace eunuchs, that would be a capital offense.

Seeing that he had misunderstood her, Wen He quickly explained, "What I meant was that raising pigs requires people who know how to castrate them. Never mind, you should report this to His Highness truthfully, and he will find someone."

Cutting off a person's testicles and cutting off a pig's testicles should be about the same, right?

Anyway, the time-travel novels he read in his previous life all seemed to be very easy.

At worst, some pigs will die. Although it will stink, beggars or poor people will certainly not mind.

It's a pity there were no chili peppers, otherwise we could have pickled it and used the spiciness to mask the odor.

"Brother, brother, there's something interesting to see outside!"

Not far away, Wenrou pulled Li Lizhi towards him.

"Lizhi said she was from the Inner Palace Department, and the two young ladies and the eldest lady across from her got scolded."

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(End of this chapter)