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

Chapter 488 Watching Ice Play in the Snow
"The little Jiangnan of the North has transformed into a winter wonderland in the blink of an eye; the scenery is truly beautiful."

Jin Yushu, dressed in a sable fur coat and brocade robe, was overjoyed as she rode an ice sled on the frozen moat outside Mingzhou City.

Her hometown is Jinju, Silla, where it snows in the cold winter, but not this much, and the river doesn't freeze this thick.

"A timely snow promises a bumper harvest." Zheng Rou Niang came out to sit on an ice cart, still holding a copper hand warmer in her hands.

The scenery in Mingzhou after the snow was indeed beautiful. Li Yi also put aside his official duties today to accompany his concubines on an outing. They didn't go too far, just played on the ice of the moat in Mingzhou, which is a hundred meters wide.

There weren't many people playing on the ice.

It's not unusual for locals; they all stay home to keep warm in this freezing weather. Who would want to stand on the ice and suffer in the cold wind?

Enjoy ice viewing, snow play, and river freezing.

This was a leisurely and refined pursuit that only the gentry could possess.

Li Yi accompanied his concubines on the ice sled for a while, then let them play by themselves.

Qi Shanxing, the advisor to the Prince's Palace, came over and said, "Your Majesty."

"Everyone's here?"

"The main officials of the eight prefectures have all arrived."

Some tents have been set up on the frozen surface of the moat outside the South Gate. Li Yi has invited officials from eight states to ice fish today.

The tent provides shelter from the wind and cold.

Li Yi entered the main tent, and a group of officials stood up to greet him.

"Please sit down, everyone. Don't be shy. It's snowing heavily today, so I invited you all to ice fishing. I hope you won't scold me for it," Li Yi asked with a smile.

The governor of Zhao Prefecture, Zhang Zhi'ang, stood there and laughed, "It's rare that the Minister of Works has such refined tastes, taking time out of his busy schedule to invite everyone to exercise together. We are overjoyed."

Chen Junbin, the prefect of Xingzhou, also expressed his enjoyment of ice fishing.

The ice cave has been carved out.

Fishing gear is also ready.

Li Yi sat down with a smile, lowered the fishing hook from the ice hole, and waited for the fish to bite, while chatting with the others.

Originally, of the eight prefectures under the jurisdiction of the Grand General of Mingzhou, half were appointed as prefects by former generals from Hebei, and the other half were generals from the Hebei military camp who remained in their posts. For example, Fan Yuan, the Left Minister of Dou Jiande, was previously recommended as the prefect of Mingzhou.

Nowadays, many former Hebei generals, such as Fan Yuan, have remained in Hebei.

Although Qi Shanxing has returned, he was originally the Inspector General of Jizhou, but has now been demoted to the Military Advisor of Li Yiwu'an Prince's Mansion.

Only Chen Junbin and Zhang Zhiang, who had previously been jointly recommended by Li Yi and Li Shimin to be appointed as governors of Xing and Zhao respectively, remained unchanged.

Li Yi concurrently served as the prefect of Mingzhou, thus reducing the eight prefectures to three, leaving no room for other prefects.

A stove was lit inside the tent.

A coffee table was also set up.
Chen Junbin, the governor of Xingzhou and the Duke of Shanyang, who came from the imperial family of the Southern Chen Dynasty, personally brewed tea for everyone.

Knowing that Li Yi preferred loose tea, he boiled water and brewed rock tea.

This tea was something he had specially bought from the Li family's tea shop when he was in Chang'an. It cost one tael of gold for one tael of tea, and it came from Wuyi Mountain in the southeast. It was called Oolong tea.

Such expensive tea is extremely rare and hard to find.

He finally managed to get a few ounces, and the tea shop gave him a free tea set.

The cup is as small as a walnut, and the pot is as small as a citron.

Loose tea does not require roasting, grinding, sifting, or boiling, nor does it require the addition of various seasonings.

When hot water is poured over it, the aroma of this rock tea is rich and the tea soup is orange-red. Chen Junbin was somewhat intoxicated by the aroma.

It's definitely a good product.

"Sikong, have some tea."

A delicate little teacup, just three sips of tea, to be savored slowly and to appreciate the unique flavor of the rock tea.

Compared to the two prefects, Chen Junbin and Zhang Zhiang, whose positions remained unchanged, and the calm and relaxed generals of the Central Guard, Qin Wutong, Li Xuantong, and Zhang Shigui,

Officials in the other eight states were not so calm.

The eight prefectures were merged into three, and the position of governor was eliminated.

The remaining staff will also be streamlined. The previous performance evaluations, plus this performance review, will determine who will be promoted and who will be demoted.

When it comes to one's career, no one can remain calm.

Even if an ounce of Wuyi rock tea or oolong tea costs one ounce of gold, they simply cannot taste the "rocky flavor" (岩韵).

He was equally distracted while ice fishing.

“Recently, there has been some chaos in our area. I know that Hebei has been newly annexed and people’s hearts are not yet at peace. But as officials of the imperial court, we have the responsibility and obligation to stabilize the area as soon as possible.”

Although it's winter now, we can't afford to be complacent.

"Sikong, we've got a fish on the hook!" General Wang Xingmin of the Left Guard reminded Li Yi. Li Yi turned his head and saw that the fish had taken the bait. He lifted the rod and caught a big carp, very fat, weighing at least six or seven pounds.

"Sikong's fishing skills are amazing! He caught a big fish right away." Wang Xingmin looked at the big carp jumping around on the ice, put down his fishing rod, and helped Li Yi untangle the fish.

Wang Xingmin, Qin Wutong, and Li Xuantong were all third-rank generals of the Imperial Guards. After the war, they remained in Hebei and were assigned to govern the three regions of Ming, Xing, and Zhao, each commanding three thousand elite central government troops.

Li Yi and Wang Xingmin were old friends. In the Battle of Hedong, Li Zhongwen was the commander-in-chief and Wang Xingmin was the chief clerk. The two fought side by side in Hedong. Later, he followed Pei Ji to defeat in Jiexiu and they never cooperated again.

In recent years, Wang Xingmin had defended against Liu Wuzhou in Luzhou and accompanied Crown Prince Jiancheng on the campaign against the Buluoji Hu in Weibei. Now he has come to Hebei and is once again partnering with Li Yi, stationing troops in Mingzhou.

Over the past few years, Wang Xingmin has made many contributions and endured much hardship, yet he remains only the Left Guard General, while Li Yi has long been someone he can only look up to. His attitude is now very clear: he is both a member of the central army stationed in Mingzhou by the imperial court and a sharp blade in Li Yi's hand.

He would never hesitate to kill whoever Li Yi told him to.

He was counting on following Li Yi so that he could rise another level through his connections.

Li Yi looked at the large carp.
Suddenly, I didn't want to waste any more words arguing with those officials.

Most of these governors, military advisors, and military counselors were former subordinates of Dou Jiande, and were generally below the fourth rank.

Li Yi had no impression of this group. Most of them were locals from Hebei, and many even came from local powerful families, some even from the Five Clans and Seven Families.

Few came from humble backgrounds or grassroots origins; after all, most held clerical positions. Those from humble backgrounds mostly held military or military positions.

"Consultant Qi, why don't you announce the results of the assessment to everyone?" Li Yi said to Qi Shanxing. This brother-in-law of Dou Jiande was the former Left Minister of Xia State and was somewhat familiar with a group of former officials from Hebei.

The assessment is divided into three levels: upper, middle, and lower. Each level is further divided into upper, middle, and lower, resulting in a total of nine levels.

The assessment includes past performance and the evaluation of the interview in Mingzhou, with a total score of nine levels.

Those in the top three ranks will retain their official positions and be assigned to the three prefectures of Ming, Xing, and Zhao. Those in the very top ranks may be transferred to the Grand General's Office and promoted with increased salary.

Those in the middle-tier category will be downgraded.

Those in the lowest rank were directly dismissed from their posts and sent to Chang'an to guard the selection process.

They wielded the swords and chopped fiercely.

Qi Shanxing read out the results in the ice fishing tent, first announcing the assessment scores and then announcing the new transfer order.

Some people were promoted and entered the Grand Steward's Office.

Some people were transferred to other states at the same level to continue in their original positions.

Some were demoted, and many were even dismissed.

The officials had various expressions.

Some are happy, some are sad.
Li Yi didn't care anymore; anyway, the knife had to be wielded, and the corruption of officials had to be rectified first.

Without this cut, nothing can proceed smoothly.

The newly reorganized officials of the Grand General's Office and the three prefectures were basically carefully selected by Li Yi, Yun Dingxing, Qi Shanxing, and others.
Regardless of their background or family history, we should first look at their past political achievements and their abilities.

The capable ones go up, the mediocre ones go down.

Li Yi even emphasized that talent is paramount.

Even if someone lacks ability, being a moral exemplar is not Li Yi's first choice for selecting officials this time.

"Song Yi".

“Your Majesty,” Song Yi stepped forward.

"Bring the prepared copper pot; let's eat mutton hot pot in it."

After the announcement, a meal still had to be held, both to congratulate the promoted individuals and to bid farewell to those who were dismissed.

Eating hot pot and mutton in a tent on the ice of the moat in the dead of winter is quite nice.

After eating and drinking his fill, Wu'an King Wei Ma Zhou came out of the tent, his face flushed. He had two great passions: books and wine.

Today's copper hot pot meal, with mutton and persimmon liquor, made him very satisfied. He even felt a little hot. When the cold wind blew, he suddenly thought of Wang, who sold fried dough at the dock.

Li Sikong has already helped Wang Shi rent a shop in the market area of ​​Mingzhou City. Compared to being exposed to the wind and cold at the dock, the shop in the market area is much better.

He rode his horse and arrived at the East Market with two attendants, going straight to Wang's Fried Food Shop. He hadn't personally helped choose this shop.

The store is doing good business today.

Now the shop not only offers pan-fried and grilled tofu, but also sells some barbecue and alcohol.

"Business is good," Ma Zhou greeted with a smile.

"Ah, it's Master Ma! Please come in."

"No need to be so polite, just call me Old Ma."

Although he had eaten and drunk his fill, he still went into the shop. Wang immediately gave him some wine, a plate of tofu, and a plate of fried broad beans.

"What kind of barbecue would you like? We have both meat and vegetables. I just learned how to make it, so please don't be picky."

"Anything you like," Ma Zhou said.

Wang was busy.

Soon they brought out a sizzling, oily grilled lamb skewer.

"Master Ma, do you have any news about my son?" Madam Wang sat down across the table, using chopsticks to help Ma Zhou turn the grilled tofu, and couldn't help but ask.

Facing her expectant gaze, Ma Zhou paused for a moment, then said, "I've sent people to inquire from various sources. Based on the current information, Assistant Instructor Liu should still be alive."
But he is neither in the Zhao Prefecture prison nor in the city of Zhao Prefecture.

"Then where did my son go? He's a living person, he can't just disappear like that, can he?" Wang asked anxiously.

"I have a bad feeling about this. Don't be alarmed, though. Maybe I'm wrong."

"Please speak, Master Ma."

"Your husband may have gone into the mountains with bandits and become an outlaw."

Wang was stunned and didn't come to her senses for a long time.

"No, that's impossible. My brother is a scholar. How could he possibly go into the mountains and become a bandit? You must be mistaken. It's absolutely impossible. You can't smear his reputation and ruin his name."

Seeing that Wang's face turned red,

Ma Zhou quickly explained, "Don't worry, I said I might have miscalculated, but according to current information, he did indeed leave Zhao Prefecture with a man named Liu Wei."
Our investigation revealed that this Liu Wei was formerly a subordinate general under Dou Jiande, and at the end of the Daye era, he was a bandit at Fenglong Mountain in Zhao Prefecture. Your husband might be at Fenglong Mountain right now.”

Wang said urgently, "Master Ma, my son must have been kidnapped by Liu Wei. He's been coerced. You must help rescue him."

Ma Zhou comforted him, "Don't worry, Sikong already knows about this matter and has given special instructions to send people to Fenglong Mountain in Zhao Prefecture to investigate. I believe the results will be back soon."

Once it's confirmed that Assistant Instructor Liu is indeed at Fenglong Mountain, troops will definitely be dispatched immediately to rescue him.

Wang breathed a sigh of relief.

But she immediately became uneasy and hesitated, saying, "If, if my husband is coerced into joining the rebels, will the court hold him accountable?"

"Sikong has issued an order to grant amnesty. Whether they joined the bandits voluntarily or were forced to do so, as long as they surrender before the end of the year, their past transgressions will be forgiven."

(End of this chapter)