Chapter 6

As Li Longji saw and thought.

Indeed, Li Yi thought this way.

It's just a cucumber in spring, I know you have cucumbers in winter too.

So what?

This winter, I will grow them. I don't have a hot spring, but I can build a greenhouse.

I have my own kiln, and I can make glass with mercury in the summer.

Then, using the floating method based on the different densities of mercury and glass, I can obtain glass sheets.

This is called float glass, do you understand?

Li Longji had no idea who he was dealing with.

He dipped the grilled meat in soy sauce, took a bite, and asked with a smile, "The soy sauce is good. Could your estate keep the secret recipe?"

Thump, thump, thump, the sound of kneeling echoed one after another.

The tenants and servants who were helping as waiters all knelt down.

The steward also knelt, raising his head to say, "Master, we will die rather than speak."

A tenant man gritted his teeth, "Master, protect my two children, and I can die right now."

"Brother Li San, that's not right, scaring my family for what?" Li Yi said, looking unhappy.

Turning to the others, he said, "Get up, it's just soy sauce. If anyone catches you, tell them what you know."

He added, "What's soy sauce? There are many more secret formulas to make money this year, year after year. Your life is more important. Without your help, I wouldn't care about wealth."

"Master!" The steward bowed his head.

"Master." The others followed suit.

"Get up, go to work." Li Yi said.

The crowd got up, wiping their tears, and went to work.

"Brother Li San, how about this? If you want something, ask me, don't make it hard for my family." Li Yi said to Li Longji.

Li Longji stood up, clasping his hands, "Brother Yi is righteous, it's my fault."

Li Chengqi felt as if he were in a dream. His own prince's mansion couldn't be like this.

An estate, a word, and everyone pledged their loyalty.

He was envious, no, jealous.

How many of the third brother's people were in his mansion? How many were loyal?

He didn't understand what charisma was, but he knew what it felt like when forty-two scholars angrily gathered around.

Indeed, the scholars were eating and drinking, and when they saw something happening, they immediately rushed over.

Li Yi explained as quickly as possible, "This is my third brother, Li San. He asked me about the loyalty of my household and wanted to discuss secret ways to make money."

"Oh~~" The scholars understood, clasped their hands, and went back to eating and drinking.

From their expressions, they seemed even happier. Making money is good, if the master makes money, they would live in peace.

Li Longji continued to observe Li Yi, thinking, this person would be a good official if he were in office.

Li Yi also observed the two men, noting their demeanor, which suggested they were from wealthy families.

Moreover, they knew people in the palace and had brought out the cucumbers.

He should get to know them well and use them to increase his lifespan.

"Today, we only killed one sheep, so there are two kidneys. Cut them, and we'll each have half."

Li Yi stood by the grill, cooking two skewers of kidneys, taking down three, and leaving one.

The other half was given to a male tenant who always had back pain, actually due to a stomach problem.

Li Yi saw that a box of stomach medicine, which would last for an hour, and decided to take out two tablets and put them with half a kidney for the tenant to eat.

This medicine works quickly. If the tenant feels better, the next step would be to feed pig kidneys.

The idea is to eat what you need to supplement what you lack.

Li Longji took a bite of the kidney, smacked his lips, and asked curiously, "Why isn't it gamey?"

Li Yi opened his mouth but hesitated.

It turned out they didn't know how to handle the gamey smell.

Isn't this like asking the Germans about how to remove bubbles from telescope lenses during World War I?

At the time, the British paid a high price to finally get the secret: stirring.

Stir the glass to remove the bubbles and make the telescope lenses.

Now?

Why aren't the kidneys gamey? The same two words.

"Marinate." Li Yi hesitated and then said.

Soak the kidneys in water overnight, and they'll be fine, simple, right?

I don't even need ethyl maltol because I don't have it.

"Is it that simple?" Li Chengqi was surprised.

Li Longji didn't speak, but his expression showed the same thought.

"Simple?" Li Yi smiled.

He turned back to the house and brought out a boiled egg.

"Brothers, how can a boiled egg stand up?" Li Yi asked.

Li Chengqi and Li Longji exchanged glances.

Li Chengqi said, "Impossible, I can only make a raw egg stand on the vernal equinox."

Li Yi slowly turned the egg in his hand and said, "I say it's possible."

Then he placed the larger end of the egg on the table and smashed it down.

The larger end of the egg broke, and it stood up.

"It's that simple." Li Yi spread his hands and said.

The two brothers exchanged glances again, and then Li Longji stood up, "Brother Yi, Third Brother understands."

As he spoke, Li Longji's pores opened, he was amazed.

He knew that whether the egg stood up or not wasn't important; the key was how one could think this way.

Li Yi smiled and said, "Simple things are indeed simple, the hard part is who discovers them."

Li Longji sat down, ate the kidney, and said, "The kidney today is delicious."

"Delicious." Li Chengqi was also surprised. He planned to go back to the prince's mansion and play this game with the concubines.

He thought it was too much fun, who would think of smashing it?

"Thousand miles of wind and clouds, a moment of shared heart. Deep friendship is formed, and the mundane worries are gone. The grass is still green in the cold, the flowers bloom red at night. Only with the calmness of water, can one bow to the ancient style."

Li Yi and the two brothers chatted, and the scholars and literati began to recite poems.

Clearly, they were enjoying their food and drinks.

Li Yi looked around, observing his estate.

The land of the estate was flat in some places, concave in others, with slopes and heights.

He thought about spending time in the summer to build small ditches, flower beds, and artificial hills, and to channel water to the high places to play the game of floating cups.

Li Longji, seeing so many talented people reciting poems, praised, "This poem, 'Early Autumn Feast at Dou Liulang's House,' written by Lu Bingwang, is quite good."

"Compared to his 'Long Song on the Capital,' it is less well-known. Brother Yi, what do you think?"

Li Yi: "..."

He looked at Li Longji, meaning, what are you talking about?

He knew that he couldn't show his ignorance, so he quickly cheated with the system.

He silently recited, and a screen appeared that others couldn't see.

He communicated with the system: I want to see the poem 'Thousand Miles of Wind and Clouds' by the author. If it's good, I'll buy one.

The system immediately listed: 'Thousand Miles of Wind and Clouds' is from 'Early Autumn Feast at Dou Liulang's House' by Lu Bingwang.

'Lu Bingwang, styled Guangguang... has poems...'

Then Li Yi saw 'The Capital' with many characters, indeed a long song.

So he immediately said, "Yes, the land of a thousand miles, the city with nine gates. Not seeing the grandeur of the imperial city, how can one know the respect for the emperor? Just these four opening lines make one yearn."

After reciting, Li Yi felt relieved.

He was actually helpless inside, having memorized many poems and written quite a few.

But when it came to Lu Bingwang, it seemed that only 'Quack, Quack, Quack' was the focus, and no one would memorize the others.

But then he understood.

People now naturally talked about the poetry of the Four Great Poets of the Early Tang Dynasty.

What about Meng Haoran, Wang Wei, Li Bai, oh, plus Wang Zhihuan, Gao Shi, who were only in their teens.

And Du Fu was only three years old.

As for Bai Juyi and Liu Zongyuan, their fathers hadn't even been born yet.

Li Chengqi said, "Speaking of Lu Guangguang, it's a pity for Wang Zian."

Li Yi knew who this was, Wang Bo, styled Zian, the foremost of the Four Great Poets of the Early Tang Dynasty, with overflowing talent.

Unfortunately, he didn't even live to thirty, and he became an official before he was twenty.

Li Yi sighed and said, "The setting sun and the lone wild goose fly together. The autumn water and the long sky are of one color. And the poem, 'Where is the imperial son in the pavilion? The Yangtze River flows outside the railing.'"

As he finished speaking, the three men looked at each other and said in unison, "A thousand gold for a word, the Yangtze River flows in vain."

Then they burst into laughter.

After laughing, Li Longji asked, "Brother Yi, knowing that Wang Zian became an official before he was twenty and died young, do you still want to be an official?"

"Ah? Third Brother, do you have a way to submit a petition and present my work?" Li Yi's eyes lit up.

According to the current rules, the imperial examination wasn't something you could just take, and being an official wasn't something you could just become.

You needed a patron, and then you had to write a poem, a song, an essay, and present it.

The other party would see your sincerity and talent, and if they thought you had potential, they would help you.

The scholars and literati who came today were all without connections; those with connections wouldn't bother to come to an estate for a barbecue.

"It's not urgent, let Third Brother plan it for you, Brother Yi." Li Longji said with a smile.

Li Chengqi also laughed, at Li Yi, thinking, in front of the emperor, asking the emperor who to find? It would be a good story later.

Li Yi nodded, "Yes, I'll first get my estate in order. If the tenants aren't prosperous, how can I say I'm making the people's lives better?"

"Oh?" Li Longji looked at Li Yi with appreciation.

He asked, "Brother Yi, I see the tenants on your estate have rosy faces, especially the children. Is that enough?"

"Yes!" Li Yi answered, "Currently, I'm just supporting them, but they have no extra money or grain at home. They only stay on the estate and don't dare to go to the city because they are poor."

"How will Brother Yi handle it?" Li Longji asked again.

"Sell the soy sauce, give them wages, and after the wheat harvest, have them use the wages to buy crab seedlings. Plant rice on the estate, and let the crabs and rice grow together. Harvest the crabs in the fall to make money."

Li Yi gave the plan for the estate, letting the tenants use their wages to buy crab seedlings.

When the crabs are harvested, the money will be the tenants' own.

Li Chengqi was curious, "Can crabs be raised in the fields?"

"Rice is grown in water fields, this is the method." Li Yi answered.

"Is it feasible?" Li Chengqi asked.

"Yes!" Li Yi was confident.

He didn't need to ask the system for the technique; he already knew it, having raised crabs before.

He made money for a year, but then a flood came and washed everything away, and he hadn't bought insurance.

Heartbroken, he changed careers and stopped.

"Can my estate learn this?" Li Chengqi rubbed his hands.

His idea was simple; crabs are expensive, especially in the capital, Chang'an.

If they can be raised in rice fields, everyone can learn, and the people will be wealthy.

Li Yi shook his head, "It's too late, I have twenty acres of seedlings, which can be planted in eight hundred acres."

This time, both Li Longji and Li Chengqi were puzzled, what seedlings on twenty acres, then planted in eight hundred acres.

"Are the seedlings ready?" Li Longji asked urgently.

"Follow me." Li Yi stopped eating the skewers and led the two men to see the twenty acres of rice seedling fields.

When the three men arrived, the rice seedlings had already grown, and in a few days, they would be transplanted to other fields.

"Brother Yi, why do the rice seedlings on your estate look stronger than the ones I've seen before?" Li Chengqi noticed.

Like wheat, they grew better than others.