Chapter 1

In the second year of Kaiyuan, in April, the willows were green at the tips of their branches.

Outside the Tonghua Gate to the east of Chang'an, the Ba River flowed through.

On the east bank of the Ba River, there was an estate.

A group of people watched a young man in front of a copper tube.

Then the young man brought a small burning torch close to a ceramic object with many small holes.

With a light "pop," a flame appeared on the ceramic object, which was as thick as a thumb and an inch long.

"It works. You can use it to light up your rooms at night, but remember not to let it near water," the young man said with a smile to the surrounding students.

The students gathered around, and one of them, after observing, clasped his hands and bowed deeply to the young man: "Brother Li Yi, you have provided us with the light of candles, and we have nothing to repay you. We are truly ashamed."

The other students also bowed, their eyes filled with gratitude.

The young man waved his hand: "Brothers, there's no need to thank me. When you become wealthy, don't forget those who suffered in the cold."

"Brother, your righteousness is great, and we will remember it," the person said again.

The group bowed once more.

Then they watched Li Yi close the screw on the copper tube, and the flame went out.

They excitedly ran back to their rooms in the estate.

It was still chilly in Chang'an in April, but their rooms were warm.

In addition to the wooden bed that was different from the usual sleeping platforms, there were heating channels built along the walls.

The channels connected from room to room, and there was a brick chimney for every six small rooms.

Six small rooms shared one stove, and the students took turns adding coal, making the rooms warm and comfortable.

Leaving the students aside, Li Yi, who had ignited the biogas lamp, hurried back to the main house.

He entered the house, closed the door, and bolted it.

Li Yi silently said, "Come out, let's see how much longer I have to live."

As he spoke, a screen appeared in front of him that no one else could see.

The screen displayed a number: 1550

Li Yi patted his chest: "I made it through again. Good, it increased by 1200."

He wiped the sweat from his forehead, still feeling a bit nervous.

The number before was 350.

This meant he had 350 hours left to live, which is 700 hours.

In days, it was a little over 29 days.

When the time came, he would disappear, and his life would end.

The system he brought with him when he traveled through time last October worked like this.

As long as he could promote the development of society, the system would reward him with more life.

At the same time, the time of life could be exchanged for the technical information and physical items he needed.

For example, the method for making the biogas tank and the simple biogas lamp was something he had exchanged for with his life.

It cost him 400 hours to get it.

A better biogas lamp was too expensive to exchange for.

But he wasn't in a hurry. The use of biogas was a series of processes, and there would be more income in the future, a steady stream.

This place was in the eastern suburbs of the capital, and the estate covered 1,000 acres.

When Li Yi arrived, his documents were complete, and no one suspected him.

There were 42 students from outside Chang'an living in the estate for free, providing Li Yi with more life.

The students studied hard, gaining knowledge, and he gained more life.

To provide the students with a good learning environment and more knowledge,

He had the tenant farmers and the officials he bought build the heating walls.

"It's spring now, I need to think of ways to make money, or I won't be able to support everyone," Li Yi said, feeling a bit relieved when he saw the number.

He owned 1,000 acres of land, leaving 800 acres for 10 tenant families.

As the landlord, he provided oxen and plows, and the rent was 20%, lower than the 30% charged by others.

He also took care of the taxes and levies for the tenant farmers, and the 10 families were happy to come, beating out other competitors.

The winter wheat was planted last winter and would be harvested in another one and a half months.

It was time to pay the summer grain to the court.

The 20% rent was not enough to cover the taxes and levies.

So Li Yi had to think of other ways to make money.

Fortunately, he hadn't been idle all winter and had made some preparations.

***

In the evening, the steward, Song De, called everyone to come for dinner.

In the main house's meeting hall, the 42 students also came.

Usually, every ten days, the landlord, Li Yi, would invite the students to a meal with meat to supplement their nutrition.

The students stayed for free, and Li Yi didn't provide anything else.

However, in the winter, four students caught a cold and had a fever.

Li Yi exchanged two hours of his life for a box of cold medicine.

He secretly mixed it into ginger soup and gave it to the students, and they got better.

Two tablets per person were enough, and there were still many left in the box.

He was afraid that if he called a doctor, the herbal medicine would take too long and might spread to others.

At this time, there were five tenant families with three people each, young couples with a child.

Three families with four people each, young couples with two children.

Two families with five people each, young couples with three children.

One steward, four male servants, and four female servants.

In total, there were 46 people in the household, including Li Yi, making 47.

It had only been six days since the last gathering, not ten.

But now that they had the biogas lamp, they could celebrate.

Mainly, Li Yi wanted to try something new and see if everyone liked it.

Today, they were eating "lao wan," which are dumplings.

The dumplings were filled with pork and garlic sprouts, which were grown on the estate.

Today, they were eating garlic sprouts to prepare for planting garlic.

They would start planting in April and harvest around September, and they could plant another crop.

Li Yi set aside 100 acres for garlic, and the base fertilizer had already been applied.

When one of the three biogas tanks was used up, he would use the biogas fertilizer to top-dress the garlic.

Now came the main event. Whether he could make money depended on whether people liked this new thing.

The steward, Song De, brought a large bowl filled with a yellowish-black liquid.

It smelled of five-spice.

"This is the soy sauce developed by our landlord. Please try it with the dumplings," Song De introduced solemnly.

The students and tenant farmers looked serious, waiting for the steward to distribute it.

The steward picked up a spoon and gave each person a spoonful, pouring it into ceramic dishes.

Each person got a spoonful of soy sauce, used chopsticks to pick up a dumpling, took a small bite, and then...

"It's delicious, Brother Li Yi is truly talented," one student praised.

The others echoed, saying it was good, very good, and it had to be good, even if it wasn't.

There was no way to repay the favor of living in the house for free.

Besides, there were free lights tonight.

The other tenant farmers, except for two children who couldn't eat dumplings and had to eat porridge, the other 17 children also showed proper manners.

The children were learning with the students, and Li Yi provided them with pens, ink, and paper.

So the 10 tenant families, in addition to farming, also offered to do other work for the landlord.

Li Yi tasted the soy sauce, hmm! It tasted good, pure brewed soy sauce was better than the mixed kind.

After the meal, Li Yi rested and prepared to sell the soy sauce.

The students returned to their small rooms and, following Li Yi's instructions, lit the ceramic lamps on the small copper tubes that extended into their rooms.

The rooms instantly became bright, much brighter than candles.

Each person held a book and studied hard, occasionally jotting down their thoughts.

The next morning, because they were planting garlic today, the people on the estate started having three meals a day.

The children drank millet porridge, ate a boiled egg, and went to the school to study on their own.

"Earth is black, the universe vast, the sun and moon wax and wane, the stars and planets align, cold comes and goes, autumn harvests and winter stores..."

The clear recitation sounds came from the school.

Hearing the sounds, the tenant farmers felt energized.

In a nearby estate, a man in his thirties was listening intently.

After a moment, he pointed to Li Yi's estate and asked, "Who is that?"

A person nearby, who had been bowing, replied in a high-pitched voice, "They were originally a clan, but most of them died, leaving only a few. Then they took in the orphan Li Yi, and soon, the few remaining members also passed away."

"Why are there children reciting the Thousand Character Classic?" the man asked again.

"Lord, Li Yi is just entering his youth, not yet of age. However, he is knowledgeable and educated."

"Last winter, he recruited 10 tenant families and bought 9 slaves."

"Then he built a kiln to make bricks, and in the winter, he built houses, allowing students from the capital to stay for free."

"The students, in gratitude, taught the children of the tenant farmers to read and write."

The man, called Lord, smiled and said, "Is there such a young man? Let's change our clothes and go see."

"Lord..." the person hesitated.

"Is there any danger?" the Lord asked.

"Not really."

"Then let's go."

The two men changed into ordinary clothes, didn't take horses, and took a roundabout way to the estate.

At this time, the 42 students also got up, washed up, and went to clean the cowshed, pigsty, and chicken coop.

The two men arrived just as the students were doing farm work, and they were quite surprised.

The Lord became interested and wandered into the cowshed.

Before he saw the cows, he saw a couplet.

Upper line: Frowning, I face a thousand critics

Lower line: Bowing, I serve the young like a calf

"Good couplet, good calligraphy," the Lord praised after careful consideration.

Turning around, he went to the pigsty, where he saw the same couplet.

Upper line: No pigs, no home

Lower line: Without the state, the clan cannot survive

The Lord took a deep breath.

Now, the clan came before the state, but this couplet said that without the state, the clan would be lost.

He clenched his fists and went to the chicken coop.

The chickens had already been let out, and the students were cleaning the upper and lower layers of the coop.

The upper layer didn't need cleaning, but the chicken droppings from the lower layer were scooped out.

Then the Lord saw another couplet.

Upper line: Each morning, the rooster crows and flies away

Lower line: Every evening, the birds call and return

He closed his eyes and sighed, "Ah~~~"

He thought of his position as Lord, which was given to him by the emperor's brother.

The emperor's brother didn't want any more fratricide, so he put his brothers together.

In court, the emperor's brother was the dragon, like a phoenix soaring in the sky.

After court, the emperor's brother was just a brother.

The rooster has the ambition of a phoenix, but it returns at dusk. Is it because of family?

"A couplet expresses ambition, another expresses the relationship between the state and the clan, and another expresses family ties. What talent."

The Lord was deeply moved.

Clearly, it was just an ordinary farm, but he felt a grand presence.

Who was that young man?

The continuous sound of children reading was like heavenly music.

This, were the people of the Tang Dynasty?

"The first to create writing, the first to wear clothes. The abdication of power, the rule of Yu and Tang." The children's voices continued.

The Lord suddenly smiled. Yes, the abdication of power, was this talking about himself and his father?

As he thought, a student who had finished cleaning the chicken coop came over and bowed: "Sir, are you also here for the fields?"

The Lord was taken aback but then understood.

The student was subtly asking if he was also without a place to live and had come here.

But he thought about it and realized it made sense.

The winter wheat had not yet matured, and the stored grain from last year was almost gone.

So the grain prices were high, making life difficult for the students who had come to Chang'an.

In a month, it would be a truly difficult time.

"I came to see, I wonder if the landlord is here?" he said vaguely.

"He's planting garlic. If you're not in a hurry, wait for him to come back at noon," the student pointed in a direction.

"Thank you, but I'll go to him." The Lord bowed and went in that direction with the person beside him.