Bi Goo left Yao Chong's residence and went home to deal with the people lining up at his house.
Yao Chong didn't see any guests, so he started to think in his study.
Bi Goo told him about the follow-up to the price increase of kerosene lamps and thermos bottles, but this wasn't the main point.
The balance between tax collection and political achievements of officials involved the entire Imperial Court.
The Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue had to work together to avoid the situation of local officials forcing merchants.
At the Ba River Bridge next to Li Family Zhuangzi, there was a long line of people buying kerosene lamps and thermos bottles.
Most of them were merchants, who wanted to buy them and ship them elsewhere to sell.
Generally, merchants who were in a hurry to do this had shops elsewhere.
If the goods were broken, they would bring the broken pieces to the shops.
When they came to Chang 'an to sell or buy goods, they would bring them to the Li Family Zhuangzi to exchange for new ones.
Of course, they didn't need to pay the shipping fee to preserve the reputation of the shops.
The people who bought kerosene lamps and thermos bottles carefully wrapped them in fine cloth and fur to avoid breaking them.
The two things that Zhuangzi brought were covered in hay, which didn't look meticulous at all.
At noon, Li Yi was eating with the people of the You Qianniu Guard at the bridgehead.
The people of the Qianniu Guard carried plates and served dishes. They ate quickly outside and were afraid that the food would get cold.
During the New Year, among the dishes provided by the manor to the 16 guards who had been rotated here, there were more green vegetables.
Usually, there was more meat to ensure that the 16 guards were willing to come on duty.
When the 16 guards were on duty in their own places, they didn't eat good food.
The salary they received was wheat, millet, yellow rice, and sorghum rice.
If they wanted to buy something else, they could buy it with rice. They didn't have to use copper coins or silk.
When the Qianniu Guard was on duty, they ate in the palace, but it didn't mean that they ate well.
Recently, Li Longji had become rich, so he took out some money to let Empress Wang subsidize the harem.
The money was mainly the profits from Li Chengqi and Li Yi's partnership. Li Yi didn't want it and threw it all in to continue investing.
Li Chengqi had to give some money to his brothers, and Li Longji got the most.
The Six Li Village grew cotton and greenhouses. Apart from using a portion, they sold the rest.
The quality of the food in the palace was slightly improved, but it still couldn't compare to the Li Family's Zhuangzi.
The sixteen guards were now rotating every ten days. If the Left and Right Thousand Bull Guards didn't want to change, the other guards wouldn't.
Zuo You Qianniu Wei took a look and realized that it only happened once every 160 days.
Thus, they took action. Wei's team had a special duty at the bridgehead of Ba Bridge.
The other guards were not allowed to have it, but the Thousand Bull Guards could arrange for their brothers to eat as much good food as possible.
"Happy New Year, Li Dongzhu." Yujiang came over and greeted Li Yi with a smile.
Li Yi returned the greeting, "Brother Yu, happy New Year."
Then he added, "Brother Yu, why don't we eat together?"
"That's fine too. In that case, many thanks to Li Dongzhu." Yu Jiang didn't refuse. He went to get a tray and casually scooped out a few dishes before bringing them over.
"It seems that this year's New Year is not bad." Yu Jiang sat down and began to find a topic to talk about.
"In other words, in the east of Taihang Mountains, the locusts will come out again. Last year, some places were late, and the locusts' eggs had already entered the soil.
Deep plowing and soaking in water are good for dealing with the eggs, but ordinary people can't do anything about it. They can only wait for the locusts to come out.
It's best to deal with them when they're young, but once they mature and form a large group, they can only be killed with smoke and fire. They can't be eaten. "
When Li Yi talked about locusts, some of the locusts were still young when he brought the chickens and ducks there. At the same time, they didn't cover the sky and earth.
The timing he chose was right at the crucial point. If the locusts came out again this year, the chicken, duck, and pig farmers would be happy.
Yu Jiang listened carefully and remembered that this was knowledge. It would be easier for him to deal with the locusts in the future.
He didn't know that it was impossible for locusts to appear in the northeast now. There were many trees, birds, and animals.
The locusts could find food on their own. If there was enough food, they could be eaten by the birds.
"Li Dongzhu, I have a method to cure the Khitans. It's about locusts." Yu Jiang followed Li Yi's words.
"What's the method?" Li Yi was curious.
"Catch a large number of locusts and send them outside the area occupied by the Khitans. After they are released, the locusts will form groups and eat the Khitans' food."
Yu Jiang gestured as he spoke. It seemed that he didn't have a good impression of the Khitans.
"No, if the Khitans don't have food, they will die. I'm currently in contact with the Khitans and want to have friendly relations.
The Khitans have a hard life. If it wasn't for the Turks invading too much, the Khitans would be better off with the Tang dynasty.
I can understand their situation and am willing to help them. This way, there won't be any war and everyone can live a good life. "
Li Yi waved his hand and had a compassionate look on his face.
Yu Jiang was stunned. He didn't know if Li Yi was speaking the truth or not.
"Li Dongzhu, you captured 390 of them. How are you going to deal with them? Send them back? They are soldiers. "
Yu Jiang asked casually.
"It's a misunderstanding. I'm not capturing them, I'm teaching them. I'm teaching them all kinds of things in life, especially farming.
They can leave at any time. When the weather gets warmer, bring a batch of goods and they will follow back. Then, we'll trade them with the Khitans and send them back.
At the same time, we'll take back the captured people of the Tang dynasty. Don't go to war. War will kill people. "
After Li Yi finished speaking, he lowered his head and ate furiously. If he didn't eat, the food would turn cold.
Yu Jiang had a lot of questions, but when he saw Li Yi's current state, he didn't say anything and continued eating.
By the time Li Yi finished eating, Yu Jiang had just finished eating.
"After the New Year, Brother Yu, don't forget to help manage the market at Qiaotou. If you're familiar with it, I'll find a way to arrange an official position for Brother Yu."
Li Yi put down his chopsticks and went to get a bowl of soup. He told Yu Jiang about the future arrangements.
Yu Jiang quickly agreed. "Okay, I've seen it before. Not bad, I can manage it well after the New Year."
After dealing with this matter, he changed the topic. "Li Dongzhu said that he wants to trade with the Khitans. The weather is warm now. What do the Khitans have to trade?"
"There's a lot of platycodon. There's also prickly old buds. The prickly old buds are the best. They're tastier than Chinese toon sprouts." Li Yi emphasized the prickly old buds.
This was a specialty of the northeast. It was very rare in other places.
"What does it look like? After Li Dongzhu mentioned it, I'm hungry again, "Yu Jiang said with a smile.
"Let me draw a picture for you. You'll know when you see it." As Li Yi spoke, he opened the box beside him and took out a pen and paper.
He used a pencil and sketched. Not long after, the picture of the prickly old buds was drawn.
After thinking about it, he took out a red and blue pencil and colored the picture.
"Brother Yu, look, this is it. It's delicious. If you bring it to Chang 'an, I'm willing to buy it for 100 RMB per catty."
Li Yi showed the picture to Yu Jiang. As he spoke, he started to draw again.
"Other than these, there's also a carrot. It's also not bad. It looks like ginseng and platycodon, but it's neither. Let me draw it for you."
Not long after, he drew another picture of a carrot. This one had nothing to do with carrots.
It was just like how the chili plants in the northeast had nothing to do with chili plants. They were called clematis in the northeast. Some of them were as spicy as chili plants.
Yu Jiang took the picture and looked at it again. Li Yi drew another picture of a clematis in the northeast.
"Brother Yu, you might not know this, but this is my favorite. It's spicy and makes my whole body feel comfortable. It's a pity that you can't find it anywhere else."
The third picture was good. Li Yi said to Yu Jiang regretfully.
"These, these are all valuable?" Yu Jiang was thinking of selling them for money. He had seen all the things drawn on the picture before.
He didn't expect that someone would be willing to spend money to buy them.
"Others don't know. If I buy them, I can sell them for a higher price. Unfortunately, that place is occupied by the Khitans. The Khitans themselves don't know, and I can't go there."
Li Yi revealed a distressed expression. He no longer had the excitement he had when he was drawing the picture.
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