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

Chapter 832 Conferred God
The flowering water hyacinth was invited by Emperor Li Shimin to the Luoyang Palace and kept in the Huiyou Hall.

On the Lantern Festival, the emperor canceled the grand celebrations, not wanting to be extravagant. He thought it more practical to save the money and buy more grain from the south to prepare for famine.

"Guanyin's maid,

This is the immortal herb, its stem like a gourd and its flower like a phoenix eye.

Look at these petals, pinkish-purple with blue patches in the center, and yellow in the middle—doesn't it resemble the eye-like markings on a peacock's tail feathers?

Empress Zhangsun looked at the flower that her husband cherished so much and went up to examine it closely. The flower was indeed beautiful, especially the blue and yellow patches on the petals, which were just like those on a peacock's tail feathers.

"Is this thing really that magical?" the Queen asked.

Li Shimin laughed and said, "Li Yi said that this was left behind by his master, Master Li, so how could it be false?"

"This is a treasure! Just throw one flower into the water, and it will multiply and cover five or six acres of water in a hundred days. The tender stems and leaves can be eaten as vegetables, or fed to chickens, ducks, cattle, and sheep. They can also be ground into powder for disaster relief. The dried stems can be used to weave mats and baskets."

The entire plant can be used medicinally.

He's a treasure trove from head to toe.

Growing grains and vegetables requires land, management, and even fertilizer. But this requires none of that, growing quickly and producing such high yields.

"Wu Yi said that we should raise these animals, grind them into powder, and mix them with grain and locust powder to make disaster relief grain, which will be called 'three-in-one flour'."

The emperor pointed to a row of empty jars displayed in the hall.

"Wu Yi said that this one plant can be multiplied into dozens or even hundreds of plants in a month. Look at all the large vats I have prepared."

In summer, if kept in a pond, a single plant can multiply into thousands.

The emperor was there teaching the empress what stolons were, explaining that they could grow into new plants after separating from the mother plant.

Furthermore, it can reproduce through seeds.

“Your Majesty, there is a stone pond outside the Huiyou Palace, which is fifty paces from east to west and forty paces from north to south, covering an area of ​​more than eight acres.”

I heard that during the previous dynasty, there was a golden flower grass in the pond, with purple stems and green leaves, red flowers and green fruits, which tasted sour and were edible.

"Once the weather warms up, Your Majesty can move this magic gourd to the stone pond outside the palace to keep it."

Li Shimin smiled and said, "That's exactly what I was thinking, so I specially placed it in Huiyou Hall to raise, because I liked the pond outside."

It's January now. If we nurture it until March, there are still more than two months left. This one plant can then be divided into at least several hundred plants.

"When we release the fish into the stone ponds, those eight-acre ponds should be full in a little over a month."

"Wu Yi said that as long as the temperature is suitable and the nutrients are sufficient, this fairy gourd can reproduce a new plant every five days, and the new plant can continue to reproduce, so that life goes on."

"A mu of water surface can produce tens of thousands of jin of fairy gourds every year, which can be used as pig feed for twenty or thirty pigs."

Neither the emperor nor the empress considered the possibility that such a prolific plant might become rampant. In their view,

Since this substance can be used as medicine, cooked, and fed to pigs, cattle, chickens, and ducks,

There's no need to worry about it becoming rampant; even if it does, it can still overwhelm the mouths of hundreds of millions of people.

If we can't finish eating all the food, there's still pork, beef, chicken, and duck.

This is a good opportunity for people to raise pigs, so they won't have to worry about running out of pig feed. Raising pigs has many benefits: pig manure fertilizes the fields, and pork can be sold for money.

"I even suspect that this celestial gourd was stolen from the Heavenly Palace by the True Man Li, just to benefit the people of the mortal world."

Empress Zhangsun said, "Then Your Majesty should bestow divine status upon Master Li, include him in the national sacrificial rites, build a temple and statue for him, and order officials and common people to offer sacrifices to him in all four seasons."

"That's right!" Li Shimin clapped his hands in approval.

Throughout history, each dynasty has had its own set of sacrificial rites, recording various officially recognized gods, from the Supreme God of Heaven to the God of the Land and Grain, and then to the City God, the Earth God, the Mountain God, the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas, and so on.

Once a ritual is performed, the state will hold a sacrifice.

Those not included in the official sacrificial rites are considered lewd gods and evil spirits not recognized by the state. Even if some local people believe in them, they are often banned or destroyed by the government.

The sacrificial rites of the Tang Dynasty were divided into major sacrifices, medium sacrifices, and minor sacrifices. The major sacrifices were of the highest standard and included the Supreme God of Heaven, the Five Emperors of the Five Directions, and the God of Earth.

The central sacrifices are the altars of the land and grain, the sun, moon and stars, mountains and rivers, the emperor and the altars of the land and grain, and the first silkworm.

The minor sacrifices are for wind, rain, thunder, lightning, auspicious stars, mountains, forests, rivers, lakes, prefectures, counties, and the state.

There are also other sacrificial objects, including ancestral temples, the Sacred Relics, King Wenxuan, King Wucheng, and many temporary sacrificial objects.

During the Sui Dynasty, there was a general named Mai Tiezhang who came from humble beginnings. He was originally an umbrella carrier for the emperor of the Southern Chen Dynasty. He would walk hundreds of miles a day, often carrying an umbrella for the emperor during the day and then going to distant places to steal at night, returning overnight without interrupting his work of carrying an umbrella during the day.

This man, like Lai Huer, later crossed the river and joined the Sui army. He rose through the ranks to become a general and accompanied Yang Guang on his campaign against Liaodong during the Daye era.
He died in battle while crossing the Liao River.

After his death, many people built temples and statues for him, and built temples to worship him. It was also said that he could protect the peace of the area and was very effective.

of course,

In some rural areas, temples have even been built for locusts, called Locust God Temples or Insect King Temples.

Master Li Yi, or Master Li Zhenren, absolutely deserves to be worshipped by the state.

The many precious new crops he left behind, such as corn, sweet potatoes, and yams, are already quite remarkable.

"Yes, I will order the construction of a new Wuji Temple on Shenhe Plain to enshrine Master Li, and bestow upon him the title of Marquis Xiansheng!"

Since the Northern and Southern Dynasties, people have believed in ghosts and gods and were fond of licentious shrines.

The Six Dynasties also set a precedent of exchanging official titles for divine protection. For example, Jiang Ziwen, who served as the Commandant of Moling at the end of the Han Dynasty, chased bandits to the foot of Zijin Mountain, died in battle, and was buried at the foot of the mountain. According to folk legend, he became King Qin Guang, the first of the Ten Kings of Hell.

In the early years of the Wu dynasty, someone saw Jiang Ziwen riding a white horse on the main road, holding a white feather fan, with attendants following him on both sides, just as he had in life. So Emperor Sun Quan of Wu built a temple for Jiang Ziwen, conferred upon him the title of Marquis Jiang, and renamed Zijin Mountain to Jiang Mountain.

Later, Sun Wu changed his title to Marquis of Zhongdu, and during the Eastern Jin Dynasty, he was given the title of Chancellor. During the Liu Song Dynasty, he was enfeoffed as King of Zhongshan, and during the Southern Qi Dynasty, he was honored as Emperor.

Jiang Ziwen wielded considerable influence in the former territory of the Southern Dynasties, from the Sun Wu period to the Sui and Tang dynasties. Even in the Song Dynasty, he was granted the title of Marquis of Fengli. In the Ming Dynasty, he was enshrined in one of the Ten Temples of Nanjing and received official sacrifices from the Yingtian Prefecture.

For example, Li Jing's uncle, Han Qinhu, was born as a high-ranking official and died as the King of Hell.

It is said that before he was seriously ill and dying, an old woman from next door saw a grand procession in front of his house, like a royal palace. The old woman was surprised and asked about it. The people who came only said that they had come to welcome the king, but they were nowhere to be seen.

Not long after, someone fell seriously ill and, in a daze, went to Han Qinhu's house, saying he wanted to see the king. The servants around Han asked which king, and the person said that he was Yama, the King of Hell.

It is also said that,

One day, Han Qinhu suddenly summoned his entire family and said that the Five Paths Generals had brought him a Heavenly Talisman to invite him to become the Lord of the Underworld, as he was going to the Underworld to become Yama, the King of Hell.

Not long after, a man in purple and a man in scarlet arrived on dark clouds to greet the king, claiming that they were from the Heavenly Court and the Underworld and had come to invite him.

Han Qinhu then passed away.

Even now, many people still build temples for Han Qinhu and offer sacrifices to him in all four seasons.

For example, Xiang Yu was revered as the King of Chu in his hometown.

Since the Six Dynasties, when the dynasties bestowed titles upon deities, many of these titles were merely official ranks and noble titles. For example, Marquis Jiang was promoted to the rank of Chancellor and Grand Commander of the Military Affairs of the Interior and Exterior, and was granted special honors, becoming the King of Zhongshan with a fief of ten thousand households. This was really no different from bestowing titles upon meritorious officials.

Li Shimin is now bestowing the title of "True Man Li" upon Li Zhenren, not some kind of "Guardian Master of the Nation" or anything like that; it's more like granting him a marquisate.

Being granted the title of Marquis is the third rank among princes, dukes, and nobles.

In general sacrificial rites, the mountains, towns, seas, and rivers are mostly associated with the title of Marquis, and some are even only associated with the title of Lord.

This is already much higher than Master Li Yi's title of Marquis Xiansheng.

However, Li Shimin thought about it and felt that simply bestowing upon him the title of Marquis Xiansheng was not enough.
"Let's add another title for a True Person, no, let's add another title for a True Monarch, and call him the Boundless True Monarch Manifesting Sage Marquis."

The temple was granted a title and honorary name, and its worship was incorporated into the national sacrificial rites.
Li Zhenren was thus deified.

Chanhe Manor

Li Yi celebrated the Lantern Festival at his own estate.
The manor was decorated with a variety of colorful lanterns, adding to the festive atmosphere. There were carp lanterns, rabbit lanterns, and lanterns made of various animals and flowers. The craftsmen who made the lanterns were very skilled and full of creativity, which made the children very happy.

Li Yi also specially wrote many riddles on the lamp.
Whoever among the concubines and children can guess correctly gets the lantern.

Everyone had a great time.

After helping him solve the riddles, Li Yi also took the time to call over Pei Zhuangtou and the other managers from the manor.

"How much locust egg powder have you collected recently?"

Pei Zhuangtou replied with some heartache that the grain piled up almost filled an entire granary.

"We've replaced all the grain in our three granaries with locust eggs."

Li Yi ignored his heartache, "Are they all dried and baked properly?"

"Yes, they've all been ground into powder and stored in the warehouse."

Li Yi took out a piece of paper and handed it to him, "These are some recipes for famine relief grains. Follow the recipes and process the coarse and fine grains, miscellaneous grains, locust powder, etc. in the warehouse."

Pei Zhuangtou took it.
There were several recipes written on it. The first one was called Shoushan Liang, which involved steaming radishes and glutinous rice, mashing them into a paste, shaping them into bricks using a mold, and then drying them.

The second one is black bean and persimmon balls. Black beans are steamed, dried, and ground into powder three times, then mixed with persimmons and pounded into balls.

The third is the Four Fruit Pill for Famine Prevention, which is made by steaming equal amounts of chestnuts, red dates, walnuts, and dried persimmons.

The fourth is Li Zhenjun's famine relief formula: seven dou of soybeans and three dou of sesame seeds. Wash them clean, steam them first, then dry them in the sun. After drying, remove the shells, steam them again, dry them again, pound them into a paste, and make them into pills.

These are all made from grains or dried fruits, etc.

The fifth prescription contained locust powder, and Pei Zhuangtou examined it very carefully.
The recipe is very simple: two parts corn flour, one part wheat flour, one part alfalfa flour, and one part locust flour. Mix these ingredients together, add an appropriate amount of water, stir, and then dry them.

This recipe contains not only locust powder but also alfalfa powder, which is used to feed horses.

"Don't worry, it's edible, and it's even more effective than the other prescriptions," Li Yi said. In fact, this was a prescription he often made in the past.

However, he used to prepare this not for himself, but to feed his goldfish.

This recipe is quite nutritious for feeding goldfish.

The protein content is significantly higher than that of conventional feed, with a high proportion of crude protein in the dry matter. The fat content is moderate and rich in unsaturated fatty acids, and the calcium-to-phosphorus ratio in the minerals is also ideal.

Locust meal can be substituted with fish meal or used in combination.

What pigs can eat, humans can eat as wild vegetables.

Similarly, this fish feed recipe can also be used for disaster relief and to stave off hunger.

When there are more water hyacinths in the future, water hyacinth powder can be used to replace alfalfa powder.

If you don't have enough wheat flour, use soybean flour instead.
Even grains such as sorghum, millet, and sorghum can be used as substitutes.

You can even reduce the amount of grain and increase the amount of water hyacinth powder or locust powder.

In any case, this kind of disaster relief food is more practical than the tree bark, grass roots, and clay that people used to eat when they fled famine.

"Let's make a batch using this recipe first. Do you have corn flour, wheat flour, and alfalfa flour at home?"

“Cornmeal and wheat flour are readily available, and alfalfa powder can be ground into powder immediately from stored hay,” said Pei Zhuangtou.

"Okay, let's make a batch tomorrow, starting with this cornmeal-based one."

The first four recipes mainly consist of ingredients that help suppress hunger. Li Yi collected these ingredients from various places, claiming that one of them could keep you full for three days.

But he felt that,

None of these folk remedies are as good as his goldfish food.

The next morning, Pei Zhuangtou, along with the farmhands from the mill, prepared a shi (a unit of dry measure) of cornmeal and locust powder as disaster relief grain, following Li Yi's prescription.

Pei Zhuangtou gave it a nice name, Sibao Dan, commonly known as Sihe Mian.

"Ah Lang, actually I think it's fine to just grind all four into powder and mix them together. There's no need to add water or stir. It's the same if you dry them in the sun."

When eating it, cook it into a porridge or soup, add some wild vegetables, and it's no worse than the porridge distributed during disaster relief.

Li Yi looked at the Four Treasures Pills they had made. They were shaped into small, loose balls and didn't look very appealing, but they smelled quite fragrant.

"Make a mold and press it into a cake or brick shape. This will prevent it from getting moldy and make it easier to transport. When you want to eat it, just like brewing tea, you can break off a piece, put it in a pot, add water, and boil it."

Pei Zhuangtou immediately went to do it, but Li Yi stopped him, "You can try making several different proportions; the materials and proportions can be adjusted."
"Make some for me, please."

That day, Li Yi returned to Luoyang bathed in the setting sun, bringing back a cartload of disaster relief grain. There were many different formulas, but the basic ingredients were all locust egg powder and alfalfa powder.

Some add wheat flour and corn flour, some add soybean flour, some add rice flour, some add sorghum flour, and some add sweet potato flour, potato flour, or even acorn flour.

"We don't have enough locust egg powder,"

The whole family works together, but each family can only dig up a pound or two a day. After drying and grinding it into powder, there's not much left.

If the locust nymphs hatch, there will be a huge number of them.

Locust nymphs that haven't yet reached adulthood can't fly, making them easy to catch and non-toxic. They can be cooked, dried, ground into powder, and mixed with water hyacinth powder as the main ingredient, along with small amounts of cornmeal, soybean powder, and other grains. This way, a lot more disaster relief food can be produced.

The palace gates were about to be locked.
Li Yi, somewhat impatient, arrived at the gates of Luoyang Palace with a cartload of ten types of disaster relief grain, requesting an audience with the emperor.

"Please report to His Majesty"
I have brought you freshly prepared relief rations; please take a look, Your Majesty.

In the palace,
Li Shimin was observing the water hyacinth he was cultivating, while several eunuchs were recording the daily changes of this magical gourd with paper and pen.

That magical gourd that was brought along.

It has now become three plants.

Upon hearing that Li Yi had brought newly prepared disaster relief rations, Li Shimin immediately summoned him.

In the Huiyou Hall,

Li Yi opened a box.

Inside were ten cake-like objects; at first glance, one might mistake them for tea cakes.

"This is?"

“My village head calls this thing Four Treasures Pill, commonly known as Four-in-One Flour. The first one is made from cornmeal, wheat flour, locust egg powder and alfalfa powder, and the last one is pressed into a cake shape using a tea cake mold.”

"The others are made by combining other grains with alfalfa powder and locust egg powder."

Li Shimin looked at the ten biscuits and grains, "How are we going to eat them?"

"They can be boiled to eat, or if there is no firewood, charcoal, or stove, they can be soaked in cold water to fill their stomachs."

Li Shimin said, "Then I'll boil a piece and try it."

(End of this chapter)