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

Chapter 498 Below Five, Above Ten Thousand

December 23rd
The day for worshipping the Kitchen God.

Even in Mingzhou, everyone remembered this custom. Zheng Rou Niang directed everyone in making Zao Tang (a type of sweet soup), and she finally stopped experiencing morning sickness and felt much more energetic.

With the princess in Chang'an, Zheng Rou Niang, as a concubine of the Prince of Wu'an, naturally took charge here.

Naza and Jin Yushu also followed along, giving instructions.

Jin Yushu had only been pregnant for a short time, but she would often put her hands on her hips to constantly remind others that she was pregnant.

Li Yi walked around outside for a while, then went to the front office.

The yamen is closed for the day. Wu'an King Wei Ma Zhou and Military Advisor Liu Xian are on duty. They are roasting sweet potatoes over a charcoal fire in the room.

"Your Majesty has arrived just in time! These sweet potatoes are freshly roasted and smell delicious. Would you like some?"

"it is good,"

Li Yi sat down by the stove, where a small pot was placed, brewing tea with roasted red dates and walnuts, as well as goji berries and salt. He enjoyed warming himself by the fire while drinking tea.

Ma Zhou brushed the ashes off a roasted sweet potato and handed it to Li Yi. "I never expected the court to send the Crown Prince on a personal expedition, clearing a path for him. Why bother going the long way around?"

How much time will be wasted waiting for them to depart from Chang'an? And then the Crown Prince will issue an order for us not to act without permission, but to wait for their arrival and follow his orders.
That's really unsightly eating.

Li Yi was not surprised at all when he received the imperial decree from Chang'an.

It can only be said that the Crown Prince is not entirely incompetent; he does possess some ability and knows to suppress the King of Qin, preventing him from having another opportunity to lead troops and achieve merit.

Since Li Yi had always been estranged from the Crown Prince, he naturally had to be kept in check.

The crown prince personally led the expedition to gain military merit, and incidentally befriended heroes in Hebei and placed his own men in positions of power.

Previously, the Crown Prince had recruited Gao Kaidao and appointed Li Yuan to govern Youzhou, both of whom were recommended by the Crown Prince. Now, one of them has rebelled and the other is incompetent, so the Crown Prince also bears some responsibility. His personal intervention to clean up the mess shows his sense of responsibility.

No matter how much you say, it can't hide the fact that he stole credit and suppressed the King of Qin and Li Yi.

Tap the sweet potato and gently peel off the skin.

The sweet potatoes were roasted over charcoal, and the heat was well controlled; they were only slightly burnt.

"These sweet potatoes taste better when roasted than the red and purple ones. They're more powdery and delicious. The red ones are too watery when roasted," Liu Xian said with a smile. "These are really good things. They're just as good as the golden sweet potatoes, although they're not as drought-resistant. But the yield is quite high. If all the people in the world could grow some golden sweet potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn, and eat them with their staple foods, their food problem would be solved, and they wouldn't have to go hungry."

Ma Zhou laughed and said, "Sweet potatoes are not as good as golden potatoes. Not to mention they are not as drought-resistant, eating too many of them can also cause flatulence."

"Hahaha."

Currently, the Li family grows the most auspicious coarse grains in the entire world. Estates everywhere are planting them, taking advantage of the fact that they haven't become widespread yet. They sell seeds and seedlings, and although they are not as valuable as gold at the beginning, they are still several times more profitable than planting wheat and rice.

We planted more, and gradually we were able to eat some of it.

Sweet potato noodles and potato noodles, along with starch, are now popular high-end products of the Li family, just like pea flour, rice noodles, and other noodles, and they are quite famous.

Eating roasted sweet potatoes and drinking tea from a pot,
They were discussing the current situation.
Despite the freezing weather, Mingfu was relatively peaceful, but there were already refugees coming from the north, many of whom came from Yizhou.

Although Shuang Shilu, the governor of Dingzhou, stabilized the Dingzhou defense line, several Turkic light cavalry units still penetrated deep into the two prefectures of Ding and Heng.

Zhao Prefecture, the northernmost prefecture under Li Yi's jurisdiction, is currently safe, and no enemy has yet appeared on the border.

He could only order Zhang Zhiang, the governor of Zhao Prefecture, and Qin Wutong, the central army stationed in Zhao Prefecture, to strengthen border defenses and increase vigilance.

“The Crown Prince will probably not leave Chang’an until after the New Year, right? By the time he gets to Hebei, it will be February by then,” Ma Zhou said.

Li Yi nodded.
In the eyes of the imperial court, Gao Kaidao's rebellion was not a big deal. Beiyan Prefecture and Tan Prefecture were originally Gao Kaidao's territory, so it was not surprising that he was able to take them over.

As for the fall of Yizhou, it wasn't actually that serious.

After all, Hebei has been repeatedly lost in recent years, sometimes even losing the entire territory. What's the big deal about losing Yizhou now?

As for the lives and deaths of ordinary people,

In the eyes of the emperor and his high-ranking officials, it was nothing special.

Li Yi had gotten used to it, but he was still dissatisfied.
They have no regard for the people at all; it's truly a case of cattle and horses in prosperous times, and pigs and dogs in chaotic times.

The Gao Kaidao rebellion attracted the Turks' army, ravaging several prefectures. The court could have handled the situation much better, such as sending the Hebei armies to suppress it or sending Li Yi north, which would have quickly brought the situation under control.

But the emperor insisted that the crown prince personally lead the expedition.

If the Crown Prince is going to lead the campaign himself, then he can attack Hebei first. But Li Jiancheng insists that Li Yi and others not be allowed to launch an attack without authorization.

We had to wait for him to come, but it turned out he would stay in Chang'an until after the New Year before coming.

So many people are losing their lives, yet the Crown Prince is only concerned with celebrating the New Year.

"Grain prices in Mingzhou have started to skyrocket again."

Li Yi knew this was inevitable; in the event of war or natural disaster, grain prices would be the first to be affected.

“We need to control this,” Liu Xian said. “Most of those grain merchants are backed by powerful families. They are also large landowners with vast tracts of land and plenty of grain. Now they are taking advantage of the situation to hoard grain and speculate, hoping to make a fortune from the war.”

Li Yi shook his head.

“Simply relying on administrative measures to prohibit price increases is not an option. Doing so will result in local grain merchants not putting their grain out for sale, and outside grain merchants not transporting grain to the market.”

Conversely, if grain prices rise, outside grain merchants will be more profitable and will actively buy and sell grain.

"However, soaring grain prices are detrimental to people's livelihoods."

Li Yi replied, "Didn't we already introduce the household registration grain ration book? We set a grain ration quota based on household registration, which allows people to buy grain at the Changping Granary at a fair price." "But we don't have much grain stored in the Changping Granary."

"Then continue to purchase and transport grain over."

Ma Zhou suggested, "Why don't we buy rice from these local wealthy and powerful families, especially those grain merchants who have raised prices?"

Buying rice from large grain merchants is essentially a form of robbery. During wartime, when grain prices are soaring, they would certainly be unhappy if you bought grain at a fair price.

"never mind,"

Li Yi shook his head. With the Gao Kaidao rebellion underway, they shouldn't push these powerful clans too far, otherwise even if they don't dare to cause trouble openly, they will cause trouble secretly.

Fortunately, Li Yi had already stockpiled a batch of grain and implemented a system of rationing grain based on household registration. Although it only provided a quota and buying grain still required money, at least it ensured that the price was reasonable.

The only measure was to prevent the hard-won grain from being bought up by powerful and wealthy families who would then resell it to the common people at a higher price.

"I'm afraid that if a flood of refugees comes in, the grain stored in the granaries won't be enough."

Ma Zhou then discussed the imperial court's gazette, which reported that Yang Shilu, a local chieftain from Lingnan, surrendered Xun and Chao prefectures to the Tang dynasty, and that Tang envoy Wang Yitong had persuaded Quan, Mu, and Jian prefectures to surrender.

Meanwhile, Zhang Shan'an, the bandit leader of Yuzhang, surrendered with five prefectures including Qian and Ji, and was appointed as the governor of Hongzhou.

In the south, the situation is very peaceful.

Before the New Year, King Du Fuwei of Wu had already entered the court and handed over the Jianghuai region to his adopted son Wang Xiongdan, but not to his brother Fu Gongshi, who had raised an army with him. He entered the court alone.

The emperor appointed Du Fuwei as the Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, while he retained his position as the Minister of the Southeast Circuit, placing him above Prince Yuanji of Qi.

Du Fuwei became the fourth most important figure in the Tang Dynasty.

Li Yi, the Grand Minister of Works and Attendant-in-Ordinary, and Prince of Wu'an, can only be ranked sixth for now. The seventh is Pei Ji, the Grand Minister of Works, Left Minister of Works, and Duke of Wei.

Originally, Du Fuwei was only a first-rank Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince, inferior to Pei Ji and Li Yi, who were first-rank Ministers of Works.
However, Du Fuwei also held the title of Prince of Wu, a first-rank official.

However, Li Yuanji was the Prince of Qi, Minister of Works, and Attendant-in-Ordinary, and should have been above Du Fuwei. But the emperor issued an edict placing Du Fuwei above the Prince of Qi, which was a special favor bestowed upon him.

They were all above Prince Qi and Grand Minister of Works, so naturally, Li Yi and Pei Ji, the two Ministers of Works, and Li Gang, the Junior Guardian of the Crown Prince, were all below him.

Not to mention the other prime ministers, the Grand Secretary and the Attendant-in-Ordinary were only of the third rank, and the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat was only of the second rank.

Both were warlords who controlled their own territories, and both entered the imperial court, but Du Fuwei was far superior to Luo Yi. Both were granted the imperial surname, but Luo Yi was the Prince of Yan, while Du Fuwei was a king. One was the Minister of the Southeast Circuit, while the other was appointed General of the Left Guard upon entering the court—the difference in their ranks was significant. Ultimately, Du Fuwei now controlled the entire Jianghuai region, stretching from the Huai River in the north to the Five Ridges in the south.

With a large territory and many soldiers, one's treatment and status naturally increase.

Although Luo Yi voluntarily submitted to the Tang Dynasty in the first year of the Wude era, he only held onto the territory of Youzhou and never made any progress. He was constantly being beaten down by Dou Jiande, and to the north there were powerful Turks, as well as separatist forces such as Gao Kaidao and Yuan Junzhang.

Luo Yi couldn't get an erection; the emperor issued an edict that he had to go to court.

Du Fuwei, however, managed to hold out until now, only entering the court after the surrounding forces were wiped out one by one.

But Li Yi knew that
Whether it's Du Fuwei or Luo Yi, these rebel kings all met with bad ends under Li Yuan.

Du Fuwei is currently more influential than Luo Yi, and holds a higher official rank, so he will die sooner.

Duan Decao, the governor of Yanzhou, and Liu Lancheng, the prefect of Fuzhou, joined forces to attack Liang Shidu's Shibao City. Liang Shidu personally led his troops to its rescue. Duan Decao formed ranks and fought against him outside the city. In the heat of battle, Liu Lancheng led his cavalry out and defeated Liang Shidu. He escaped back to Xiazhou with only sixteen horsemen.

After Duan Decao and Liu Lancheng captured Shibao City, they took advantage of the victory to attack Xiazhou and captured the east city of Xiazhou. Liang Shidu retreated with several hundred cavalry to defend the west city. Just when they were about to take it, Turkic reinforcements arrived, and the two generals Duan and Liu had no choice but to withdraw their troops.

It's a real pity.

Not long ago, the Emperor sent Su Gui, the Duke of Hanyang, as an envoy to the court of the Turkic Khaganate in Dingxiang. Khagan Jieli was arrogant and made many unreasonable demands, including asking the Tang Dynasty to send a princess for a marriage alliance.

Su Gui overturned Jieli's table in the Golden Wolf tent, and was subsequently detained, joining Li Chen, Zheng Yuanzhu, and Changsun Shunde as the fourth group of detained envoys.

The Turks raided and attacked along the long border, turning the Tang Dynasty's borders into a sieve.

From Hexi to Lingwu, then to Daibei, and finally to Hebei.

Always on the defensive

This puts us in a very passive position.

In the evening, Li Yi went to the bathhouse for a soak. A hot bath in the cold winter was very comfortable, and he had the means to do so anyway. Unlike ordinary people, who often didn't bathe at all during the entire winter—it was wasteful of water and firewood, and also made them more susceptible to illness—he was much better off.

These days, if you're not careful, you might get pneumonia, and then you could easily meet your maker.

A little dirt on your body can actually increase your ability to keep warm.

Li Yiguang lay sprawled out in the bathtub, looking completely relaxed.

The maid, Pei, called softly from outside and pushed open the door to come in.

"No need to serve me, I can soak in it myself for a while," Li Yi said.

"Madam Zheng asked me to serve my husband."

Soon, Madam Pei, wearing only her undergarments, stepped into the hot spring and stiffly approached Li Yi to massage his shoulders.

This Pei woman looks to be under twenty, but she has a lot of strength in her hands.

"Which prefecture or clan is your ancestral home, Pei?"

"My ancestral home is the Pei family of Hedong, and I was born into the imperial family..."

Li Yi had no idea that she was actually Pei Renji's daughter and Pei Xingyan's sister, a peerless warrior. Her father and brother were killed after their plot to kill Wang Shichong was exposed, and she was thus taken into the inner palace.

(End of this chapter)