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

Chapter 471 Joke
September 9th
Double Ninth Festival.

In the Tang Dynasty, this was a very important festival, a day for families to go on outings and climb mountains. The people of Chang'an liked to climb Leyouyuan in the south of the city, where they could have a panoramic view of the entire city.

Prince Qin, Li Shimin, summoned his brother-in-law, Changsun Wuji, early in the morning and informed the eighteen scholars of the Prince Qin's residence. However, Prince Qin did not go to Leyouyuan to climb the hill today, nor to Longshouyuan north of Taiji Palace; instead, he went to Changning Palace on Shenheyuan.

It is both a way to climb high and enjoy the view, and a way to pay respects to one's deceased mother.

"Has Your Majesty heard an interesting story?" the chubby Changsun Wuji asked his brother-in-law with a smile.

"Is there anything new happening in Chang'an?" Li Shimin replied casually.

"It's related to Li Yi."

These words immediately lifted Li Shimin's spirits. Liu Wenjing had been killed, Qu Tutong had been transferred to Xiangyang, Yin Kaishan had already died of illness, and Changsun Shunde was still being held captive by the Turks.

There are very few important officials in the court that Li Shimin can rely on now.

Among the prime ministers, only Feng Deyi and Li Yi stood out. Li Shimin would pay close attention to Li Yi's situation, both because of his abilities and his relationship with him.

"What happened to Prince Wu'an?" Li Shimin asked with concern. The Crown Prince had the Emperor's favor and the full support of the old man Pei Ji. Xiao Yu, Chen Shuda, and Yang Gongren would not abandon the Crown Prince to support a mere prince.

Although the Crown Prince committed a foolish act of inducing surrender and killing prisoners in the north of the capital, it would not shake his position as Crown Prince. The Emperor even said that Zhang Changxun and Guo Zihe's entry into the court was due to the Crown Prince's merit.

To hell with the credit! Handing over the Hetao and Fengsheng prefectures to the Turks like that, this act of ceding territory and losing sovereignty, is actually considered a merit?

But he happened to be the crown prince.
Therefore, Li Yi, the Grand General of Youzhou and Prince of Yan, Li Kaidao, the Prince of Beiping and General General of Weizhou, and Li Da'en, the Grand General of Daizhou and Prince of Dingxiang, who came to court to meet the emperor this time, all accepted the Crown Prince's offer of allegiance and became part of his faction.

Even Zhang Changxun and Guo Zihe actually supported the Crown Prince.

Li Shimin felt quite aggrieved.

Changsun Wuji flicked his braid and laughed, "This is very interesting. When I first heard it, I thought it was a rumor."

He lowered his voice and recounted how Zheng Shanguo had planned to send his daughter to marry Li Yi as a concubine the day before, and how he had sent his son to Yusu Township to discuss the wedding with Li Yi, and then a series of events that had occurred.

"The Zheng family sent out invitations all over Chang'an, but Li Yi didn't give them any face at all. Instead, he demanded that the Zheng family give him one million as compensation for the difference in their social status."

Haha, he actually said the Zheng family of Xingyang was inferior to him! He's at a disadvantage! Oh my, this Prince Wu'an has truly broadened my horizons! You say the Zheng family of Xingyang originated in the Western Han Dynasty, and was prominent since the Wei and Jin Dynasties—a distinguished family among the five surnames and seven clans!

Zheng Shanguo wasn't some collateral descendant; he was a direct descendant of the third branch of the Northern Ancestor, and currently the head of the Xingyang Zheng clan.

To think that Li Yi would treat him with such contempt.

"Is Li Yizhen really demanding a million in compensation?"

"Yes, it's absolutely true. Could it be that this kid still remembers the one million dowry he paid when he married the Du family and is trying to make up for it here?" Changsun Wuji laughed, his fat jiggling. Asking the Zheng family of Xingyang for compensation was indeed unprecedented.

"And then?" Li Shimin stroked his short beard, feeling that things were definitely not as simple as they seemed.

"And what happened next is even more unbelievable. It's said that after Zheng Erlang returned home, Zheng Shanguo flew into a rage. He originally wanted to see the Crown Prince and the Emperor to cancel the marriage, but his daughter, Zheng Rouniang, said that she was already a member of the Li family and would rather die than be a ghost of the Li family."
He hired a donkey cart, carried over a dozen potted plants, and went alone to Yushu Township to find Li Yi.

"The Zheng family was supposed to hold a big banquet yesterday, but they were suddenly notified that it was canceled, causing a huge uproar and making them lose face."

"Cui Shishu of Qinghe Cui family in Yanling originally said that he had sent his daughter to the Li family yesterday. Li Yi also asked them to compensate for the family's expenses. Then Cui Shishu sent someone to find Li Yi to break off the engagement. Li Yi also wrote a letter to return the Cui family's daughter."

Even Li Shimin was a little puzzled.

Making such a big fuss completely offended the third branch of the Zheng family in Xingyang and the Yanling branch of the Cui family in Qinghe. In the end, they accepted the Zheng family's daughter but returned the Cui family's daughter.

What was His Majesty's reaction?

"We don't know for now, but it's said that the Crown Prince was furious."

When Li Shimin heard that Jiancheng was furious, he laughed heartily.

Changsun Wuji sighed, "Li Yi is really bold. He dared to ask Zheng He of Xingyang and Cui He of Qinghe for a dowry, and he was serious about it. This is good. He has completely torn off the mask. We don't have to worry about whether he is reliable in the future."

Li Shimin corrected him: "Even before Wu Yi entered officialdom, he was already of one heart with me. He always refused the Crown Prince's position, and his loyalty is beyond doubt."

The wind was gentle, the clouds were light, and the sky was high and clear.

Perfect for a picnic.

The eighteen scholars arrived quickly, and Li Shimin thoughtfully prepared comfortable carriages for each of them.

Both were two-horse carriages, with spacious cabins and comfortable seats.

These eighteen people were mostly civil officials from the Qin Prince's Mansion and the Tian Ce Mansion, and some also held concurrent positions as Grand Administrators.

The most important of them were, of course, the vigorous and capable Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui, his right-hand men, Fang strategizing and Du making decisive decisions. Among the other scholars, six were over sixty years old, and Lu Deming was even seventy. In addition to the original Qin Prince's men, many of them were people who had surrendered to the court after the elimination of other forces in the past two years and were assigned to his command.

For example, Lu Deming and Kong Yingda, two great Confucian scholars, were originally assistant instructors at the Imperial Academy in Luoyang. Now that they have come to Chang'an, they are still assistant instructors at the Imperial Academy and have not taken up positions in the Prince of Qin's Mansion or the Tian Ce Mansion.

Su Shichang was originally a subordinate of Wang Shichong, serving as the Minister of the Xiangzhou Administrative Office.

Chu Liang was once a Gentleman Attendant at the Palace Gate under Xue Ju; Yu Shinan was a Gentleman Attendant at the Palace Gate under Dou Jiande; Xu Jingzong and Wei Zheng were both once secretaries to Li Mi; Xue Yuanjing and Xue Shou, along with Xue Deyin who was executed in Luoyang, were uncle and nephews, known as the Three Phoenixes of Hedong, and were relatives of Consort Xue in Li Yuan's harem...
These eighteen people all held part-time positions as scholars in the Prince of Qin's mansion. The highest-ranking original official, Yu Zhining, was a junior official in the Tian Ce Mansion, a fourth-rank official. Then there were Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui, who were junior officials in the Grand Secretariat, a fifth-rank official.

Most of them were officials of the sixth or seventh rank, such as clerks, registrars, military advisors, literary advisors, and clerks.

It was precisely because these people originally came from various powerful factions, and although their official positions were not high, their reputations were quite high. Most of them held prestigious but unwanted official positions. Li Shimin drew up this list, saying he wanted to establish a literary academy so that they could study in peace in Chang'an.
Li Yuan readily agreed.

If the King of Qin stayed in Chang'an, spending his days hunting with a group of fierce generals, Li Yuan might not sleep soundly.
Li Yuan was probably more than happy that the warlike King of Qin would have to study with a group of civil officials who had little real power.

Among these eighteen people, there were those skilled in classical studies, those who specialized in genealogy (known as the "Meat Manual"), and those who compiled history books.
There were also teachers at the Imperial Academy, and of course, there were also masters of calligraphy.

They have good reputations and are even masters in some areas, but they don't hold any important positions.

Li Shimin originally wanted to include Sun Fujia, Zhang He, Su Wei, Li Gang, Yun Dingxing, Pei Shiju, and others in the Academy, but Li Yuan directly crossed out these names, saying that Sun Fujia and Zhang He had important duties and no time to serve as academicians, Su Wei, Li Gang, and Yun Dingxing were too old, and Pei Shiju was serving in the Eastern Palace, etc.

Finally, Su Wei was replaced by his grandson, Su Xu. Li Gang was replaced by Su Shichang, and Pei Shiju was replaced by Cai Yungong...

The new Qin Palace in the northwest of the Forbidden Garden is still under construction.
Li Shimin still lived in the southwest corner of Chang'an City, occupying a ward all to himself. Although the place was spacious, the south of the city was known as the Ghost Ward, and the surrounding wards were full of vegetables, grains, and fruit trees, where foxes and wolves roamed.

Getting out of the city is convenient.

Once you exit the neighborhood gate, you'll reach the city gate.

Li Shimin rode a horse, while the eighteen scholars rode in carriages.

Eight hundred members of the Qin Prince's personal guards and staff accompanied him.

"Are we going to Wuji Fortress later, or should we inform Li Yi to come to Changning Palace?" Changsun Wuji asked on the way.

"Forget it, Li Yi probably won't have a peaceful time these next few days either. Many people are watching him, especially the Crown Prince. Let's not have anything to do with Li Yi."

Li Shimin really wanted to summon Li Yi to Changning Palace for a long chat, but he restrained himself.

"Wu Yi deliberately broke ties with Zheng Shanguo and Cui Shishu for my sake," Li Shimin sighed.

On the ninth day of the ninth lunar month,

The osmanthus-bearing rice on the banks of the Gaohe River in Li Yi has been harvested; with many people, it's quick. Although his family owns a lot of land, the plots are neatly arranged, and with so many people, the harvest was completed in a flash. Then, the rice was carried back to the threshing ground, where large livestock pulled rollers back and forth to thresh the rice.

It's much faster than threshing by hand, pounding the grains in buckets one by one. It just requires large livestock, which most ordinary households don't have, so they have to do it manually.

Harvesting, threshing, and threshing are all done, followed by three days of drying. The grain is then stored in the granary, and the dried straw from the fields is also carried home and piled up.

After the rice harvest, the paddy fields can be dried in the sun before being plowed and planted with rapeseed.

This year, Li Yi's rice harvest was good, with a yield of three shi per mu, which can be considered a bumper harvest.

On the Double Ninth Festival, I took my family to climb Mount Nanwutai in the Zhongnan Mountains, which was also a kind of family vacation.

That day, Zheng Rou Niang brought eighteen basins of tea into the Li family's house.

After learning the truth, Du Shiniang, Ji Lingyi, and other wives and concubines did not refuse her. On the contrary, they felt sorry for her and admired her courage, especially since she was loyal to the Li family. So they naturally welcomed her into their household.

Even without a dowry, or even clothes and jewelry, the Li family wouldn't lack those things. Li Yi's demand for a million-dollar dowry and a million-dollar compensation was nothing more than a deliberate attempt to cause trouble for the Zheng and Cui families and sabotage the marriage.

Now that the people have arrived and stayed, Du Shiniang and the others have brought them jewelry and clothes, among other things.

Zheng Rou Niang was originally a cold and aloof person, but she was also softened by the gentleness of Shi Niang and the others.

last night,

On the originally set wedding day, Shi Niang specially arranged for the Qinglu bridal chamber and invited neighbors and friends to hold a banquet. After the festivities, the two were allowed to enter the bridal chamber.

Last night, on their wedding night, Zheng Rouniang hugged Li Yi tightly afterwards, tears streaming down her face as she expressed her gratitude.

"Thank you, Ah Lang, I didn't lose the bet."

In the morning, Li Yi wanted Zheng to stay at home, since they would be climbing mountains and he was worried that her body wouldn't be able to handle it, but she insisted on going with him.

Several red plum blossoms bloomed on the white silk last night.
She wanted to go to the Guanyin Bodhisattva on Mount Nanwutai to offer incense and make a wish, praying that Guanyin would grant her a child.

(End of this chapter)