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

Chapter 798 Wolf Cub

The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month

Li Yi held a joint celebration between the army and the people of Baiguwu, where he cooked eight-treasure porridge and slaughtered a pig to cook meat dumplings.

The tenants, now freed from their circumstances, regard Li Yi as more revered than Buddha, and wish he would stay permanently. However, all good things must come to an end.

Li Yi would eventually have to return to Luoyang.

This meal of eight-treasure porridge and braised pork was also a farewell feast.

It was a sunny midday, and the wind wasn't too strong.

Open-air banquet
They spread some pine needles on the ground, without even needing to lay out reed mats, using the open air as their mat.

Each person gets a bowl of eight-treasure porridge, a bowl of minced meat, and a bowl of cabbage and tofu soup.

The villagers felt that this was already an incredibly abundant feast.

Everyone happily squatted down, eating and chatting, with laughter filling the air.

The grease on their lips revealed their joy and satisfaction.

"Hey soldier, come here and sit down to eat with us."

Ten-year-old Zhang Bing shaved his head completely because he had too many lice in his hair, and also changed out of all his old clothes.
She was wearing Li Enze's clothes.

Li Enze was older and more muscular than him, so his clothes were a bit too big for Zhang Bing.

The boy took the deworming medicine prescribed by the doctor and had worms in his stool for several days.

Now there's some color back in his face.
She was still too reserved; she would eat alone, huddled in a corner.

Li Yi beckoned him over.
Did you wash your hands before meals?

"washed."

Li Yi looked at his hands; they were quite clean, and there was no longer any black grime under his fingernails.

"Remember to keep things clean in the future. Let's sit here and eat together."

Seeing that he had finished the chunks of meat in his bowl and all the tofu and cabbage soup, Li Yi said, "Aren't you full? Go get some more, just don't overeat. Eat until you're about 70-80% full."

Add more if needed.

That soldier has a huge appetite and can eat a lot.

Li Enze said, "I'll take you to get some."

Liu Heizi was holding a large chunk of meat in his hand. The meat, with bone and skin, was cooked and then sprinkled with some salt, but it was still quite satisfying to eat.

"That kid is really lucky to have been taken in by Situ."

Although Zhang Bing has shaved his head and changed his clothes, making him look clean and tidy, his eyes and demeanor still carry a hint of restraint and unease, even a touch of awkwardness and unsophistication.

But everyone knows that this little guy's luck has turned around.

Just like that kid Li Enze, he spent a few years at the Li family's charitable institution, and now he's a servant running errands for Li Yi. His words and actions are already quite extraordinary. Li Enze's future is definitely not bad; at the very least, he'll be a steward for the Li family. If he does well, he might even become an official like Liu Heizi, or even be granted a title.

Li Enze and Zhang Bing each brought back another portion.
Both of them ate very voraciously.

They devoured the food with incredible speed.

They ate those chunks of meat one after another without stopping, finishing a piece in just a few big bites. Watching them eat was sometimes a pleasure.

"Such a small creature, yet it eats like a wolf. Well, as long as it can eat, it's tough." Liu Heizi sighed, as if he saw his younger self in him. It's a pity that he didn't meet Li Yi when he was young.

There was no meat to eat back then; we only suffered.

After finishing the second serving,
Zhang Bing didn't go to get any more food. He finished all his soup and porridge, and even carefully licked the bowl clean, not wasting a single drop of food.

"I am full?"

"full."

How full are you?

"I'm about 90% full," Zhang Bing replied softly. Situ had said that eating until you're 70-80% full was enough, but he still greedily ate a little more.

Li Yi smiled and waved his hand, and Li Enze then asked him to go wash the dishes together.

"Enze is a pretty good kid these days," Xiao Shier praised.

"The more experiences one has, the more mature one becomes."

The opportunity has been given, but it remains to be seen whether they can seize it. The two boys strolled in the afternoon sun, patting their bellies contentedly as they recited the Three Character Classic, with Li Enze teaching them a line and Zhang Bing repeating it.

An Yuanshou kept his father's teachings in mind: listen more, observe more, and speak less.

Li Yi was only a few years older than him, not even ten years older, but his father said that Li Yi's achievements were something that even the two brothers combined couldn't match.
Therefore, An Yuanshou must treat him with the same respect as a teacher. If he can take this opportunity to get closer to Li Yi, he will benefit immensely.

An Yuanshou, a young nobleman, was puzzled by Li Yi's various actions in Baiguwu, but he still kept his father's words in mind.

at night,

The cold wind howled.

Li Yi wrote a letter to Luo San in Yusu Township, describing the situation in Baiwu Valley. He asked Luo San to arrange for some people to come over and teach them how to grow sweet potatoes and corn next year.

We also plan to build a pig farm here, encouraging villagers to cooperate in pig farming. Additionally, we can purchase and process the medicinal herbs grown here.
You can also plant tea and build tea houses in Tea Fairy Valley.

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

The Li family sent people here to provide assistance, hoping to create a virtuous cycle so that the villagers, after acquiring land, can not only have enough to eat and wear, but also become self-sufficient and prosperous.

The Li family won't help for nothing. Although they won't buy land, they can develop tea gardens and medicinal herb gardens, or engage in cooperative pig and cattle farming, which is a mutually beneficial and promising venture.

It's not always necessary to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.

The Li family's model in Yushu Township was very successful and can be replicated here.

After writing the letter,
It was still early, so Li Yi sat down in front of the stove and personally taught the two boys, Li Enze and Zhang Bing, some lessons.

It was a quiet night outside.
"What do you want to do in the future, soldier?"

"I want to be a soldier." The big-headed boy still remembered the meaning behind his father's name. Soldiers were very prestigious, and they didn't have to bow their heads to the monks in the temple.

"Alright, then you'll have to practice martial arts diligently. Starting tomorrow, I'll have my guards teach you, beginning with the basics of horse stance."
Practicing martial arts is very tough.

“Ah Lang, I can endure hardship,” Zhang Bing said, though he was still quite reserved, his words were resolute.

These past few days, his life has undergone a dramatic transformation, and he doesn't want to go back to the past. Every night, Li Enze would tell him about the outside world, about Chang'an and Luoyang.
The outside world is so vast, and the monks of Shaoshi Mountain Villa are so insignificant.

He couldn't even believe it when Li Enze told him that he used to be a homeless beggar.

He was incredibly surprised to hear that the burly and imposing man from Lantian County, now a fourth-rank General of the Cavalry, was once just a tenant farmer in the Li family.

"Good, as long as you can endure hardship, that's good. Only by enduring the bitterest of hardships can one rise above others," Li Yi encouraged the young man.

Li Enze glanced at Li Yi secretly, "My lord, I also want to learn martial arts."

"You also want to become a soldier and then a general?"

"I want to learn some martial arts skills so that I can always protect Ah Lang."

Li Yi smiled and said, "It's good to want to learn skills. Once you've mastered both literary and martial arts, you can sell your skills to the emperor. In our Great Tang Dynasty, military merit is the most important thing."

From now on, you two should practice martial arts diligently. If you perform well, I'll give you a horse to practice riding and archery. But I have some advice for you.
Don't abandon literature just because you've learned martial arts.

Culture needs to be learned too.

The two boys excitedly agreed.

It was late.

Li Yi went to sleep.

The two boys then stayed inside the house, with one taking turns keeping watch during the night.

There were imperial guards on duty outside the house, and family retainers protecting it; no one could get close to the house.

But the two boys still volunteered to guard it.

It's cold outside, and the night is chilly.
Zhang Bing's heart was burning with excitement as he was about to leave this small mountain village. Although the outside world was full of unknowns, he was not afraid.

Following Li Situ, he felt like he had found a guiding light.

Even on this cold night,

He stayed by Situ's side, and he felt as if the sun was constantly warming him.

Enze once told him that the boys of Puji Temple all regarded Situ Gong as their second father, and were willing to go through fire and water for him, even to die for him, and were willing to take the blows for him.

Zhang Bing felt he could do it too.

(End of this chapter)