Chapter 8

At nine in the morning, Li Chengqi, feeling quite depressed, came over.

He was indeed very depressed. He had sent people to contact the major households in the taverns.

The people he sent returned and said that those families had already gone to buy soy sauce.

Feeling that he hadn't been of much help, Li Chengqi came over to take a look. What he saw was a group of people queuing up to buy soy sauce.

"Don't sell it, don't sell it. Call out your boss, I'll buy it all," someone shouted anxiously.

The people from the manor ignored him and continued selling, limiting each person to ten pounds.

If someone didn't bring a jar, the manor had them available.

Initially, Li Yi thought that ten pounds at a time was good, so he had specially made many small jars that could hold ten pounds.

Now they came in handy. Fill a jar, cover it with oil paper, tie it with a rope, and take it away.

A ten-pound earthen jar cost 120 coins.

The jars had no patterns, and the surface was rough.

In Chang'an, similar jars cost 100 coins.

When the crowd arrived, few had brought their own containers.

Now, seeing that the price wasn't too high, they bought them, otherwise, they would have to go back home to fetch their containers and queue up again.

Li Yi, who was sitting in the restaurant with his chopsticks in hand, now deeply regretted it.

If he had made jars that could hold one pound, limited each person to ten pounds, selling jars would have been more profitable than selling soy sauce.

At this moment, those who had bought soy sauce quickly sent people to deliver it back, and then they queued up again.

Nearby, there were people who had unrolled silk. They wanted to pay for the jars with a bolt of silk or brocade.

The manager refused, saying that cutting the silk into small pieces would make it useless for the manor.

If it weren't for the boss saying that silk and brocade couldn't be refused, he would have only accepted copper coins.

The manager, who was collecting the money, was in a bad mood. What kind of rags were these? They were all worn out, and the merchants were unscrupulous.

Li Yi also knew the quality of the silk was poor, but it didn't matter. It would be used to pay taxes to the government.

Rent had to be paid in grain, but taxes could be paid in cloth.

"Brother Yi, why aren't you eating?" Li Chengqi came over and saw Li Yi sitting there, flipping through a book.

The book he was reading was the "Yonghui Code," the legal text used at the time.

Li Yi put down the book: "Big Brother has come, please sit down."

As he spoke, he went to make tea, using boiling water to steep it, rather than boiling it.

At this time, all tea was fermented, and there was no green tea.

Lu Yu, who wrote the "Classic of Tea," had not yet been born.

No one had yet applied the phrase "unmoved by the wind and rain, the face becomes more beautiful after frost and snow" to tea.

After making the tea, Li Yi also put a plate of dried fruit on the table, and the two sat facing each other.

"Brother Yi, why aren't you eating?" Li Chengqi asked again.

"I haven't eaten either. I had just taken a few bites when the soy sauce buyers arrived. I was too busy to eat, and it's hard to eat when you're idle," Li Yi replied.

This was a habit he had formed, eating with his employees.

If he suddenly received a series of calls and the employees immediately went to work, would he dare to eat alone? Would he dare?

Li Chengqi looked at Li Yi in surprise and then nodded gently: "Brother Yi is right."

"Big Brother, are you free today? Haven't you gone to collect stones?" Li Yi found a topic to talk about.

"I sent someone to do it. I wanted to invite people to buy soy sauce, but I learned that someone had already come at dawn. Last night, in Pingkang Fang, everyone was talking about soy sauce."

Li Chengqi explained the situation. Last night, it was all about soy sauce.

Li Yi smiled, thinking that it seemed he hadn't wasted the meals he had provided for so many people.

Li Chengqi, however, didn't smile. He asked, "Brother Yi, can you keep the soy sauce recipe secret?"

"Prevent the people from the manor from going out. Once I make more money and have new products, the soy sauce won't matter anymore."

Li Yi hesitated for a moment and came up with a solution.

He was afraid that if the people from the manor went out, they might be kidnapped.

"People won't go out, but can we prevent bad people from coming in?" Li Chengqi shook his head.

"Big Brother, teach me." Li Yi understood that his big brother had a solution.

"Local tribute." Li Chengqi said two words.

"Is there a way?" Li Yi was hopeful.

"Have you forgotten that we are royal relatives?" Li Chengqi emphasized their status.

"How much tribute, per year?" Li Yi planned to send soy sauce to the emperor.

Then, even if others managed to steal the soy sauce recipe, they wouldn't dare to sell it, as they would be investigated for how they learned it.

"One thousand pounds, and the rest will be bought by the palace from the manor." Li Chengqi held up one finger.

Li Yi didn't think much of giving away one thousand pounds for free, but when he heard that the palace would send people to buy more, he felt a chill.

Because Old Bai had written, "A cart of charcoal, over a thousand pounds, the palace officials drive it away, and you can't do anything. Half a bolt of red silk and a yard of brocade, tied to the ox's head as payment for the charcoal."

The palace officials, for a thousand pounds of charcoal, would give half a bolt of red silk and a yard of brocade.

If this were applied to the manor, would they take a hundred pounds of soy sauce and leave two rags as payment?

After thinking for a moment, Li Yi asked, "I wonder who the two officials in charge of the palace kitchen are, and what their character is like?"

"Why are you asking about the palace kitchen?" Li Chengqi was surprised.

"If the palace needs more soy sauce, wouldn't they come to buy it?" Li Yi said.

Li Chengqi laughed and shook his head: "Brother Yi, you don't know. The palace's soy sauce purchases are managed by the officials from the Guanglu Temple's Rare Delicacies Office."

"Ah!" Li Yi suddenly understood. It wasn't just a eunuch who would come and take things by force.

Being an official was good; officials wouldn't dare to be too blatant.

"Thank you, Big Brother, for your efforts." Li Yi clasped his hands, thinking that his big brother was really great, able to secure a special supply quota.

"It's a small matter, not worth mentioning." Li Chengqi was happy, finally able to help his younger brother.

Otherwise, always taking things for free would make him feel guilty.

The two then discussed the "Yonghui Code."

Li Chengqi told Li Yi some classic legal cases as stories.

Outside, it was already noon, and the soy sauce sales had stopped.

No more sales today, ten pounds per person, and they had sold fifty large jars.

Each jar held two hundred pounds, so ten thousand pounds were sold.

The soy sauce earned 550,000 coins, mostly in rags, with a small portion in copper coins.

Then, a thousand jars were sold. Even if someone brought a jar, they couldn't just fill it with ten pounds of soy sauce, as that would mean washing the jar.

Everyone simply bought the jars, each costing 120 coins, bringing in 120,000 coins.

The manager told people that there were no more jars, and starting the next day, only two hundred pounds would be sold each day.

Those who didn't buy any left in anger.

Li Yi called everyone to eat, telling them to put the rags aside for now.

The crowd returned to the restaurant, seeing that the boss was still waiting, and their eyes welled up with tears.

Li Chengqi ate a bowl of noodles that had been left for a long time, and then left with a small jar of miscellaneous sauce.

"Pick out a few good bolts of silk and make some clothes for the officials."

Li Yi instructed the people moving the silk, thinking that with the money, everyone could get new clothes.

"Boss." The manager, Song De, wanted to advise.

"Knowing that I am the boss is enough." Li Yi insisted.

The manor relied on these people. Without benefits, they wouldn't work hard.

What he wanted was longevity; what good would a pile of money do?

"Yes, Boss." Song De agreed and turned to the others: "Work hard."

Everyone nodded vigorously, determined to do their best.

Li Yi strolled over to the small houses where the students lived.

It was warm today, and the sunlight was strong at noon.

The students had removed the shutters from the windows of their small houses and were reading with the windows open.

The houses had no window paper, just three wooden boards that could be joined together.

In winter, a warm wall would be used, and one board would be lowered.

Some even read outside and came inside to warm up when it got cold.

Each of their rooms had two calligraphy pieces written by Li Yi in瘦金体 (slender gold script).

One read: "In poor soil, plant pines and cypresses; in a poor family, let the children read."

The other read: "Without enduring the bitter cold, how can one enjoy the fragrance of plum blossoms?"

So the students were very diligent. Whether they would succeed in finding a master to study under was unknown, but if they didn't try, they would have no chance.

The students understood.

This was the capital, Chang'an, where many people couldn't find a place to stay and had to live in temples or shrines.

Those places weren't one room per person.

Initially, this young boss had wandered the streets.

He said: "Is there anyone willing to work for a farmer? You can come with me."

Then, when they couldn't bear it anymore, they followed the young boss, thinking that face didn't matter.

Unexpectedly, they got a place to live and didn't have to work in the fields every day, just helping to clean the cow sheds, pigsties, and chicken coops.

The young boss had led the way in building the houses and working.

Later, those who wanted to come couldn't. Only the forty-two of them were allowed.

Because the boss said he didn't have time to build more houses, not that he didn't want to, but next year.

Now, seeing Li Yi come over, they all greeted him.

"Today's earnings are good. Go find Mei, Lan, Zhu, and Ju to measure everyone for silk clothes. In the future, when hosting guests, it will be more proper."

Li Yi told the students to find four maids to measure them for new clothes.

As for who would make them, it wouldn't be the people from the manor, as there were too many, and they were too busy.

Even the boss's clothes would be made by outsiders, and this expense wouldn't be spared.

The students happily accepted, not refusing.

They understood that Li Yi was not an uneducated person.

Scholars helping each other was a matter of scholars.

Of course, they still had to clean the cow sheds and teach the children.

Seventeen children were practicing calligraphy, using brushes dipped in water to write on wooden boards.

Paper was too expensive, even coarse paper, which...

Li Yi now used coarse paper in the toilet, as he couldn't stand the bamboo splinters.

The toilet paper, Li Yi found, was unacceptable.

The five girls practicing calligraphy were the most diligent, knowing that this was their last chance.

Either they would study well or go to work.

Then, like other girls, they would marry someone randomly.

Have children, raise children, and be beaten.

Like before, when their fathers beat their mothers, and the mothers could only cry.

Now, they didn't beat them, as life was better, and the fathers were content.

And the boss had said no beating, or they would be expelled from the manor.

If they studied well, the families they would marry into would be different.

The boys were much more mischievous, always getting distracted.

Li Yi saw this but didn't intervene. After all, if they failed the exams, they would be punished at home.

I won't let your father beat your mother, but I didn't say he couldn't beat both of you together.

***

Around three in the afternoon, someone from the palace came.

A tall man led the group, looking particularly handsome.

Upon seeing Li Yi, he was very friendly: "Boss Li Yi, from today, your manor's soy sauce will be a local tribute. Here is the official document."

As he spoke, he handed Li Yi a document.

It proved that the soy sauce from Li Yi's manor was a tribute, and anyone who tried to storm the manor to steal it would face consequences.

Li Yi happily accepted it, thinking that his big brother had handled the matter well and quickly.

"Boss Li, in the future, the palace will send me to buy soy sauce," the man said, explaining the future arrangement.

"May I ask where this big brother is from?" Li Yi inquired.

"Supervisor of the Inner Palace." The man still smiled warmly.

Li Yi: "..."

Didn't we agree it would be the officials from the Guanglu Temple's Rare Delicacies Office? Why is it a eunuch?

Big Brother, you didn't handle this right.

"Is Boss Li feeling happy?" The man saw Li Yi in a daze and asked in a louder voice.

"Ah, happy, um, may I ask what to call you, Big Brother?" Li Yi felt a chill.

"Gaolishi." The man said.

Li Yi: "..."

Oh my, what, it's him?

Yes, the current supervisor of the Inner Palace is Gaolishi.

"Surprisingly, it's Doctor Gao in person." Li Yi clasped his hands, left hand in front, right hand behind.

"I prefer military matters." Gaolishi said softly.

"Originally, it's General Gao. My apologies, my apologies." Li Yi quickly clasped his hands again, right hand in front, left hand behind.

Li Yi felt relieved. This man wasn't just a supervisor but was in charge of the entire Inner Palace, with two supervisors under him.

He also had two civil and military titles, one at the first rank of the third grade, and one at the second rank of the third grade.

The key was that he was close to the emperor, and today, he didn't look like a eunuch at all.