"Li Dongzhu is also a wonderful person." Gao Lishi looked at Li Yi's movements and smiled as he patted Li Yi's shoulder.
"General Gao, please wait a moment." Li Yi put away the document and ran back to his residence.
When he came back, he had a small jar in his hand and handed it to Gao Lishi.
"Chili sauce, there's not much left. Leave half at home. I'll make it in the future. "
Gao Lishi chuckled as he received it happily.
He had eaten this chili sauce before, but unfortunately, it was gone.
"Li Dongzhu is like this. Gao can't take it for free. Are you willing to leave a few servants to take care of Zhuangzi?" Gao Lishi turned around as he spoke.
He had brought a lot of people, including palace maids and eunuchs.
"Can we not?" Li Yi asked straightforwardly.
"Yes!" Gao Lishi nodded.
"Then let's leave two men and two women." Li Yi agreed.
He thought that Gao Lishi wanted to arrange people. Since the other party said that they could not stay, then they should stay. They should take the initiative to arrange people.
Gao Lishi selected two eunuchs and palace maids. The four people who were selected had complicated expressions.
When Li Yi saw this, he said to Gao Lishi, "General Gao, why don't we rotate? Send four people every ten days. It's better to have a comparison."
Gao Lishi instantly understood that little Dongzhu was angry.
The four people who were left behind did not want to stay, so little Dongzhu meant to rotate.
When they knew the benefits of staying, they would not be able to stay even if they wanted to.
He thought that the most interesting thing was that little Dongzhu bargained and even made the decision.
"Okay!" Gao Lishi nodded in agreement. There was no other way. Little Dongzhu was someone that His Majesty liked.
The four people who were left behind still had complicated expressions.
They had also thought it through. This Li Yi seemed to want to give them some benefits.
After the matter was settled, Gao Lishi and his group left.
Li Yi said to the four people, "The women will be called Taohong and Cui Liu. The men will be called Qing Song and Hei Yan. Write the names on your chest. In the future, you will still have the same four names."
The two palace maids and two eunuchs nodded in agreement.
The four male servants and four female servants in Zhuangzi, as well as the steward, were all very nervous.
These were four people from the palace. How cruel was the struggle in the palace? Had they not seen it before, or had they not heard of it?
Would a person who could survive in that kind of environment be able to win against her in the future?
"Ah Da, Ah Er, Ah San, Ah Si, and Mei Lan, Zhu Ju. Tell them about what happened in Zhuangzi, but don't tell them about the soy sauce recipe."
Li Yi instructed his men.
"Yes, Dongzhu." The eight people answered at the same time.
In short, it represented that the eight people in Zhuangzi had more power than the four people who came later.
The four of them didn't mind. After all, it was only ten days. It wasn't as if they couldn't return.
Then that night, they would eat hotpot. The people in Zhuangzi would not bring the ten tenant farmers.
Elsewhere the tenants ate a single beef shank, the one with the sauce.
Li Yi had fourteen hotpots. There were mutton and wild vegetables.
Then, Li Yi prepared the internal organs and tripe of the cow and served them. They were dipped in the last bit of chili sauce and garlic sauce.
The main dish was noodles. Oh, now it was called soup pancake.
The sliced noodles were prepared to be added to the hotpot to cook at the end.
The two palace maids and two eunuchs were dumbfounded by the meal.
How could it be so delicious? Did Zhuangzi eat this every day?
That night, the four people who came later squeezed into a small room and stayed up all night. There was no extra space.
When dawn came, the steward took them to clean up the woodshed and a coal room that had no coal.
The others drove the ox cart to the city to buy things, silk, and jewelry.
Li Yi decided to make a set of beautiful clothes for his men.
With the status of paying tribute to the imperial family, how could they be shabby?
They also had to buy cows and horses.
They bought ducks and geese. When the weather was warm, they were released in the river.
Money was spent like water.
Li Yi was not worried because he would sell soy sauce tomorrow. He only sold two hundred catties a day. The price had increased.
How much it would increase would depend on the auction.
It was an auction.
Ten catties of soy sauce would be auctioned once. Whoever offered the highest price would get it.
Even if they were not satisfied, they had to hold it in. If you have the ability, why don't you rob me? I will pay tribute to the emperor. Gao Lishi will work with me.
Li Yi felt that he had reached the peak of his life. The next step was to continue to increase his lifespan.
He could not be jolted until he was gone.
When the people who went to the city at noon came back, he would kill a sheep first and eat it at night. It was too late to cook now.
For lunch, the main dish was egg fried rice. There were diced carrots in it. He was so generous and rich.
Accompanied by pickled vegetables, he drank wild vegetable soup with soybean oil floating in the soup.
Even the forty-two students had it.
Everyone in Zhuangzi, big and small, men and women, was happy.
There was actually egg fried rice. There was a lot of oil.
Everyone was moved. Li Yi was even more moved.
What a good employee. Just egg fried rice was enough to satisfy him.
Back then … No, no, no, it was all tears.
The palace maids and eunuchs brought the new bedding into the room. When they were eating, they were shocked again.
What kind of Zhuangzi was this? Dongzhu did not treat money as money.
He said that it was the turn of spring and summer and should nourish the body.
So he bought a lot of sheep and killed one. It was still cooking in the pot.
The four of them lived well in the palace.
They did not dare to say that they would use so much oil and egg fried rice for a casual meal.
The students did not say anything. After eating, they went back to study.
The students who took turns teaching the children had a ruler in their hands. They did not have it before.
Because Li Yi said that it was time for the shortage of food. The brothers who bought grain were expensive, so they ate in the village.
So the students who had been teaching and did not care about other things found a thin wooden board as a ruler to beat the children.
***
"Big Brother, Third Brother, you two are here. Just in time. Let's drink the mutton soup."
In the evening, Li Yi saw his two brothers come and greeted them happily.
"Brother Yi, Zhuangzi's mutton soup must be delicious. Third Brother, don't you think so?" Li Chengqi said to Li Longji with a smile.
Li Longji saw the palace maids and eunuchs. He narrowed his eyes and said, "Brother Yi, we helped you get a local tribute. You must make delicious food for us."
"Big Brother, Third Brother, just wait and see. I will make fried tripe for you." Li Yi agreed and decided to change it to some chili noodles.
Because his life span increased again, it was probably the result of his two brothers' help to promote the use of lime water soaking seeds, fertilizer, and phosphor stone.
This was not just a one-time increase. The more people who used it in the future, the more it increased.
His life span increased by five hundred and sixty hours.
The four maids knew that Dongzhu's brothers were very powerful. They went to serve tea and dried fruits.
The two eunuchs and two palace maids from the palace were very regretful at this moment.
So it was like this? How could it be like this?
Couldn't they go back to square one and not change it?
How difficult would it be to stand out in the Department of Internal Servants?
Now, there were only these few people in Zhuangzi. It was too easy.
Why? Why would His Majesty and King Song address a young man from Zhuangzi as their brother?
The four of them were filled with regret, but they tried their best to pretend that they didn't know His Majesty and King Song.
They knew that if they dared to say it out loud, not only would they die, their families would die as well.
Li Yi entered the kitchen and exchanged for a jin of chili noodles, the kind that couldn't be grown.
A third of it was turned into chili oil, a third was used to make spicy salt, and the remaining third was reserved.
He set up a wok and prepared mutton with scallions, lamb face, lamb giblets, lamb shreds, tofu with scallions, and fried tripe.
There were three big plates of each dish. There was only one portion of lamb face and the rest were fried lamb livers.
There were three big plates of each dish and they were distributed to the people in Zhuangzi.
The others made do with the food. Li Yi, Li Longji, and Li Chengqi shared a small table.
Salt, pepper, chili oil, pepper, sesame sauce, soy sauce, and vinegar were all laid out.
There were several stir-fried dishes, and Li Longji and his brother were dumbfounded. How did he cook these dishes?
The two of them glanced at one another.
They meant that they had eaten plenty of lamb, but why had they never eaten such a dish before?
Why was it so fragrant? Just smelling it made them hungry.
Those from the Imperial Kitchen of the Food Bureau deserved to die. Look at the dishes they made, how could they be compared to the dishes on the table before them?
Butler Song De and the eight servants were used to it. Dongzhu would cook for them whenever he was free, and he would even give them pointers.
However, they hadn't eaten the dish today. It was lamb.
The lamb they ate previously wasn't cooked in this manner. It was stewed and hotpot, even though it was still delicious.
The four from the palace felt like crying. They felt that they had missed out on their lives, wasted their time, and lost the entire world.
Dongzhu could cook personally, and the dishes he made were still so delicious? Was he being unreasonable?
The two palace maids glanced at one another, encouraging the other to speak up.
For example, "Dongzhu, can we not rotate?"
But no one said anything. If they said anything at this time, the Emperor would be angry. What right did the palace maids have to speak?
The most terrible thing was if the Emperor asked why.
If Dongzhu said something again, the Emperor would definitely think about it.
Ah, I'm very happy to be here, but you're not happy? Fine, I'll make you happy.
"This is delicious, Brother Yi." Li Chengqi picked up the best part of the tripe and dipped it in soy sauce, sesame sauce, and chili oil.
Li Longji looked at the four people from the palace and said to Li Yi, "Brother Yi, there's a difference in seniority. Let's eat together …"
The butler and the four men and four women next to them put down their chopsticks and prepared to change places. He was right.
Li Yi also put down his chopsticks and said seriously, "Third Brother, when I came and bought them, they worked hard. They never cheated their master. "
"Now that the days are better, I, Zhuangzi, have recovered, I eat alone. It's empty."
"It's easy for me to ask them to go out today, but Big Brother and Third Brother, aren't you afraid that I'll look down on you when I'm rich one day?"
"Don't forget the knowledge of poverty, don't leave the house when you're married."
When Li Yi's voice fell, the surroundings were silent.
"Dongzhu." The butler, Song De, left the table and knelt down.
"Dongzhu." The other eight people followed and knelt down, touching the ground with their heads.
Li Longji's chopsticks trembled in his hand, and his heart was beating fast.
Li Yi said to the nine people, "In the future, don't listen to the guests. Even if you hear, pretend that you didn't hear. Get up, work hard, or I'll scold him."
"Yes, Dongzhu, get up. You don't know the rules. "Song De stood up and said to the other eight people.
The eight people wiped their tears and sat back down. They lowered their heads and didn't say anything, but they looked up at Li Yi from time to time.
"Brother Yi, Third Brother is wrong." At this time, Li Longji stood up and cupped his fist to salute.
"No need, Third Brother, I'm just saying." Li Yi got up and pressed Li Longji's hand down, then sat back down.
The four people from the palace didn't want to cry anymore, they wanted to die.
What did we miss? It turns out that Dongzhu treats the other servants as humans.
"Don't forget the knowledge of poverty, don't leave the house when you're married." Li Chengqi repeated, his eyes slightly red.
With that said, he looked at Third Brother enviously. Third Brother's current Empress was his wife.
Moreover, it was a very powerful one. Third Brother's achievements today were at least half due to his wife.
Li Yi saw that everyone's mood was not right, so he quickly changed the topic. His voice suddenly became low.
"Speaking of mutton, even if you don't eat it often, you still know a thing or two about it. However, very few people think too much about it while eating."
"The more precious a delicacy is, the more ordinary it looks on the outside, because it's there."
"When iron and fire intertwine, the freshness of meat blossoms. Whoever stir-fried it at the most appropriate time will be able to comprehend its beauty and wonder."
"Take this mutton fried with scallions for example. Scallions are spicy, but it's precisely because of its spiciness that it can better neutralize the fishy smell of the mutton …"
"When the texture of the mutton on the tip of the tongue alternates between fat and lean, the simple and unpretentious taste gradually sublimates the instinct of eating. What people pursue is no longer just to fill their stomachs …"
The surroundings fell silent again. Everyone was dumbfounded.
The group of people listened to Li Yi's words and kept swallowing their saliva.
They didn't need to eat or smell it, they just needed to listen.
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