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

Chapter 814 Old Subordinates

It's the end of the year.
The local governors and prefects also arrived in Luoyang one after another to pay homage to the emperor.

Li Cunxiao, Su Dingfang, Liu Heizi, Luo Dafu, Qiu Yingqi, Qiu Shenyan, Ji Siwen, Ji Sigong, as well as Li Daoxuan, Li Dejiang and a group of others had arranged to visit.

These are all old subordinates who fought side by side with me in Hedong back then.

Liu Shiche, who is now serving as a secretary in the Imperial Secretariat, and Lu Chengqing, an assistant director in the Ministry of Personnel, along with several other staff members from the military camp, have also arrived.

"Knowing you were coming, I specially slaughtered a few ducks."

As the year drew to a close, Chanhe Manor delivered some live ducks, as well as processed braised ducks and pressed ducks. Hearing that his old subordinates were coming to visit, Li Yi ordered the ducks to be slaughtered and roasted ducks and salted ducks to be made.

Lu Chengqing smiled and said to everyone, "You officials here may not know that the Situ family's ducks are now famous throughout Luoyang."

These ducks are raised on a farm outside Luoyang, in a pond, and are fattened up to be ready to eat after about ten days. They are roasted over a fire with a fork until the skin is red but not burnt, and this is called roast duck.

The duck is coated with soy sauce and then boiled until the flavor is fully developed; this is called soy sauce duck.

I think the most delicious dish is salted duck. It's light yet flavorful, fatty but not overpowering. Salted duck is made by braising in aged brine, resulting in plump skin and fragrant bones. In the golden autumn when osmanthus flowers are in bloom, the duck meat is exceptionally tender and has the aroma of osmanthus. It's at its most delicious at this time and is also known as Osmanthus Duck.

In winter, ducks are salted, brine-cured, and air-dried to become pressed duck. When boiled or simmered, the meat becomes tender and juicy, with a refreshing, savory flavor that is pleasant and not greasy.

When Lu Chengqing talked about the Li family's ducks, he spoke with great expertise.

Li Dejiang, who had just returned from Lingnan, laughed and said, "It seems that Master Lu really likes the Situ family's ducks. We are in for a treat today, as we can enjoy a whole duck feast."

Su Dingfang's hometown is Hebei, where donkey meat is the most famous product.

Ducks are not eaten very often; northerners prefer to eat geese.

"Is this duck really that delicious?"

Li Yi smiled and invited them to sit down. "Actually, it's not as amazing as Brother Lu described. He said there are many chickens and ducks raised on the estate, especially ducks, because they are easier to raise and grow quickly. They are free-range in the ponds and eat snails, fish, and shrimp, and they grow fat in a hundred days."

With so many ducks raised, people naturally start thinking about ways to cook them.

Noble families loved to eat mutton, considering it the finest food, and disliked pork.

The Li family now raises many pigs, but the nobles and officials still eat very little, or even none at all. However, they don't seem to mind chickens and ducks as much. Li Yi stepped in and taught them some delicious ways to cook duck.
Now they process and sell the products themselves in Luoyang.

The fame has already been sold.

Roast duck, braised duck, pressed duck, and salted duck—even Lu Chengqing, a high-ranking official from one of the five prominent families, praised them highly.

In addition, duck blood vermicelli soup is also highly praised.

In addition, duck fat sesame cakes are also a popular item with long queues. These flaky cakes, made with duck fat, come in both filled and unfilled varieties, and are both fragrant, crispy, and have a lingering aftertaste.

What was originally an ordinary duck has become a thriving business for the Li family, and they even plan to make salted duck eggs next year.

Fresh ducks can also be made into delicious dishes such as braised duck, plum duck, ginger plum duck, dried tangerine peel duck, and dry pot duck.

Of course, duck down can also be made into clothes and quilts.

Liu Shiche sighed, "In the past, pork was cheap, the rich disdained to eat it, and the poor didn't know how to eat it. But ever since the Situ family started raising pigs..."
There are many delicious ways to cook pork, and even the pork from the Situ family is better.

Braised pork belly, sweet and sour pork ribs, steamed pork with rice flour, sweet and sour pork, braised pork belly with preserved mustard greens, twice-cooked pork, pork belly with garlic sauce, braised pork knuckle... Oh dear, I can't even begin to describe it, just thinking about it makes my mouth water.

Luo Dafu continued, "I still remember when Situ first returned to Yusu Township, he slaughtered a pig to thank the craftsmen when he was building his house. The boiled pork chunks were only sprinkled with a little salt, but I still find the taste unforgettable."

Everyone here has eaten Tuotuo meat before. Back when we were fighting in Hedong, conditions were rudimentary, and we ate Tuotuo meat when we celebrated our victories. It's simple to make, but tastes great.

"Many nobles in Chang'an have started eating pork now, but they only eat the pigs raised on the Situ family estate."

Now, people in Luoyang are starting to adore the ducks from the Situ family again.

“Then we’ll have to raise more, otherwise there won’t be enough to eat. Just in Chang’an and Luoyang alone, there are hundreds of thousands of people. How many ducks will they eat every day?” Li Yi said, “Yes, we need to raise more.”

He wasn't lying. Before, they raised chickens and ducks on the farm, which was just ordinary farming. But ever since they learned about the potential locust plague next year…

When Li Yi suggested proactive prevention policies to the emperor and the court, one of them was to raise more chickens and ducks to control locusts. He also made the decision to raise more chickens and ducks in his own household the following year.

Even before the New Year, the Li family's various estates were already in action.

They searched everywhere for people who had experience raising chickens and ducks, selecting diligent and intelligent young people, and organizing them into an organization.

To teach and learn chicken and duck raising techniques.

Expand the chicken and duck farm.
Although the chickens and ducks can only be hatched after winter, it doesn't prevent us from making overall plans in advance now.

That way, when the time comes, everything can begin in full.

Next year, the scale of chicken and duck farming in various parts of the Li family will expand many times over.

They even devised a plan that when a locust plague occurs, ducks should be driven to chase the locust swarms, following them wherever they go.

An adult duck can eat more than two hundred locusts a day.

It is said that when locust plagues occurred in the Western Regions in later generations, ducks were transported to kill the locusts. The ducks could eat five times a day, consuming sixty or seventy at a time, and could kill three or four hundred locusts a day.

Ten thousand ducks from Zhejiang, just 45 days old, were sent to the Western Regions to exterminate locusts. They showed no signs of acclimatization problems and performed exceptionally well. As a result, more ducks were subsequently transported, and a total of 100,000 Zhejiang ducks were sent to the Western Regions, ultimately eliminating locusts on one million acres of grassland.

The locusts were eliminated, and the ducks grew fat.

“Erlang,” Li Yi said to Dejiang, “you are now serving as an official in Lingnan. Although the weather in Lingnan is hot, it is a water town, which is most suitable for raising ducks.”

I plan to raise ducks in Lingnan next year, and I hope that more ducks will be raised there as well. If a locust plague strikes the Central Plains in late summer or early autumn, we can send ducks from the south to the north to help control the locusts.

Everyone thought Li Yi was joking.

Li Yi replied with a serious expression, "I am serious. The imperial court has already issued an official document to encourage people in various regions to raise more chickens and ducks. There will be subsidies, and if we can successfully eradicate locusts next year, there will be rewards."

"The water towns of the south are perfect for raising ducks. A single duck can eat half a pound of locusts a day. 100,000 ducks can eat 50,000 pounds a day, which is two to three million locusts. In a month, they can eat a hundred million locusts."

Even the locusts that blot out the sky are afraid of being eaten by ducks.

Especially during their early stages, before they grow wings and can fly, ducks are practically their nemesis.

Li Dejiang and others were all military generals.

Hearing this sounded somewhat unbelievable, but they believed in Li Yi. Back then, Li Zhongwen suffered a crushing defeat in the ambush at Sparrow Rat Valley, leaving only the rear guard led by Li Yi.

The situation was extremely critical, but Li Yi led his logistics and supply troops to stabilize the situation in Baohedong. Even after Pei Ji's army suffered another major defeat, it was still Li Yi who led them to turn the tide.

When the Turks invaded the border, it was Li Yi who led everyone to defeat them and capture Jieli.

They believe whatever Li Yi says now.

"Since you have money and manpower, you can send people to my house to learn chicken and duck raising techniques together. Next year, we can hatch and raise chickens and ducks in large quantities to combat locusts and alleviate disasters."

Once the locusts are gone, the ducks will be fat.

The generals all laughed and said, "Thank you for your help, Minister. We'll make the arrangements later."

Li Yi said, "Don't worry, these ducks are easy to raise. Once they're fattened up, you won't have to worry about finding a market for them. I can take care of it all for you."

My family's braised duck, pressed duck, roast duck, and salted duck are very popular, and we need a lot of ducks right now.

The dishes are ready, and the wine is prepared.
Li Yi beckoned his old subordinates to the table, saying, "Come and try these ducks, I guarantee you'll rave about them."

(End of this chapter)