Listening to Di Qiu's excited voice, Di Renjie looked at the tall building with a wealthy family, and his stomach tightened subconsciously.
Di Renjie did not come from a poor family. The Di family in Bingzhou came from a family of military generals in the Sui Dynasty. By the time of Zhenguan in the early Tang Dynasty, Di Renjie's grandfather had been promoted to Shangshu Zuocheng because of his outstanding talents. He was a fourth-rank official and was Fang Xuanling's right-hand man.
Unfortunately, Di Renjie's father was not very successful. With his father's protection, he worked in various places with mediocre reputation and slow promotion.
When it comes to Di Renjie's generation, the support brought by his family background is very meager, and he basically relies on his own efforts.
Power can guarantee wealth for three generations, and Di Renjie's is exactly the third generation. If Di Renjie really works as a magistrate in Bingzhou for the rest of his life, then his sons will really enjoy poor treatment.
The competition among the families is also so fierce.
Therefore, Di Renjie was very grateful to Li Yuanfang for promoting him.
What's more, this person is really a nice person. Despite his busy schedule, he specially asked his attendant to change rooms for them.
This small detail alone moved the Kang family extremely.
Di Renjie also felt that such a person could be as unruly as the rumors said.
After entering the mansion, the host and guest were led all the way to the main hall by the servants, while Di Qiu and other servants were led to the side.
Dinner in the main hall.
It not only represents Li Yan's importance, but also represents his status in this family.
Di Renjie saw at a glance that Li Yan, dressed in a scarlet robe, was standing at the door, smiling to welcome the guests.
When the Kang family was flattered and came forward to greet them, Di Renjie looked at them from behind.
This tall and masculine man was his superior officer.
After reminiscing with Kang Meng and Kang Da, the father and son of Kang County, Li Yan looked at Di Renjie who was walking up. His round face and chubby body were really friendly.
We finally met.
Di Renjie saluted: "Your Majesty, Di Renjie, has met Li Jiyi!"
Li Yan returned the greeting with a smile: "Master Di!"
Di Renjie said: "I have resigned from the post of county captain and dare not call me Shaofu. Li Jiyi might as well call me Huaiying!"
Li Yan looked at Di Renjie, and of course he couldn't call him Di Gong. No matter his age or status, he was not at that level, so he could only let nature take its course: "Huaiying, you have been working hard, and I just came to Chang'an, so I invited you here.
I hope you’ll forgive me!”
Damn it, this title feels so unnatural!
Di Renjie didn't think so, and he still abided by his duty: "I don't dare, it's better to be considerate of my subordinates. We will bear this in mind, and it is a blessing to be able to come to the house to see you!"
In the officialdom, it is normal to meet officials who are younger than you. Some officials who have succeeded in their youth like to use those gray-haired officials to show their status.
Seeing that Li Yan was not adapting to it, Di Renjie felt that this young man who had achieved success was also a man of good temperament.
Looking at the sumptuous dishes in the hall, I felt a little regretful. It seemed that I had eaten too much for lunch.
Li Yan led them to the table, and soon others arrived.
Qiu Shenji and Wang Xiaojie arrived hand in hand.
Recently, these two people often lead their patrols to act together. They are both brave and courageous people, and they have become a force that the middle and lower classes in Chang'an cannot underestimate.
Guo Yuanzhen took Peng Botong with him, and in just one afternoon, the two of them became close friends, as if they had been brothers for more than ten years.
An Shengan walked in alone.
Now he has also changed from a Imperial Guard to a Martial Guard. Not only him, but also five of An Yuanshou's nine sons will follow their father into battle.
Brothers fighting tigers, father and son go into battle.
Not all of An Yuanshou's sons were successful, and most of the official positions they occupied were junior officials of the seventh or eighth rank, but the connections derived from them were also very terrifying.
In particular, their status as one of the Nine Zhaowu surnames was naturally conducive to winning over the Hu people, which was very important for the war situation in the Western Regions.
After An Yuanshou and Li Yan had in-depth discussions several times to deal with the war with Tubo, he sent Anshengan to Li Yan, and it was obvious that he valued him.
Li Yan sat in the main seat and looked at his team.
Wu Dewei: Qiu Shenji, Wang Xiaojie, An Shengan, Di Renjie, Kangde (Kang County Wei's real name).
Inspectors: Guo Yuanzhen, Peng Botong, Kang Meng and his detective team.
Compared to other machines, it is very shabby.
But if you calculate the ratio of future princes to prime ministers, it is really scary.
Let’s collect the capable ministers and generals of the Wu and Zhou Dynasties one by one.
Even the cruel officials are not spared.
The wool of Empress Wu was harvested happily.
"Have a meal!"
Li Yan was satisfied and waved his hand.
The normal process of a banquet is that after three rounds of wine, several dishes are served, the singing and dancing comes to an end, and then the main course is ready to appear.
But Li Yan's team has long been accustomed to it. This leader likes to offer sacrifices to the five internal organs temple first, fill up at least half a meal, then discuss matters, then drink, and finally watch song and dance performances.
"It just so happens that the monthly payment has arrived, let's eat sheep today!"
Li Yan ate some vegetarian dishes first, then thought about his meal allowance, and said.
Compared to myself, a fifth-grade official, who is given nine sheep every month, it is difficult for other people in the hall to receive them.
There is no shortage of food to calm the mind. No matter how poor the Qiu family of Qiu Shenji is, they have no worries about food and clothing, but Wang Xiaojie, who comes from a poor family, and Peng Botong, who is born in Jianghuzi, are relatively short of meat.
Soon, the cook led a live sheep to the front steps of the hall and saluted to the hall.
"Slaughtering outside!"
Li Yan waved his hand and the chef led him outside the hall. Where no one could see it, he turned his hand and pulled out a bright sharp knife, skillfully inserted it into the sheep's neck, killed the sheep, bled it, peeled the skin and cut the meat.
After a little handling, several servants carried the sheep to the rack and came to the table one by one.
Qiu Shenji and others got up one after another and came to the fat sheep that had just been killed. They glanced at the piece of mutton and cut it off with their knives.
Wang Xiaojie and Peng Botong cut the largest amount of meat. Guo Yuanzhen rolled his eyes and cut a large piece of meat.
Di Renjie was very low-key, cut a moderate piece, and handed it to the servant who was waiting on the side.
The servants wrapped the mutton of their choice with brocade of different colors and sent it to be steamed.
Soon, the steamed mutton was returned piece by piece.
Everyone picked out the colorful brocade of their choice, put the mutton into the food bowl, and cut it into pieces with bamboo knives.
Li Yan sprinkled it with pepper, poured it with apricot jam, took a big bite, and thought it tasted okay.
After he ate it, everyone started to enjoy it silently.
Di Renjie ate slowly and leisurely, enjoying the atmosphere of eating without saying a word.
The fastest eater was Peng Botong. He devoured it voraciously and his mouth was full of oil. He just felt extremely happy.
Although mutton has a strong smell, its taste is much better than pork that has not been castrated in this era.
Especially here, you can also add pepper to taste.
At the price of pepper, ordinary people can't even enjoy it. Where has Peng Botong eaten such good food before?
But as he was eating so happily, the meat in the food container quickly ran out. Just when he felt it was a pity, he saw Guo Yuanzhen handing over a large piece, and he couldn't help but happily took it.
Of the people eating in the hall, the Kangxian Wei family was the most reserved and ate the least. They were quickly overtaken by Di Renjie in a leisurely manner.
Among them, Qiu Shenji was the most preoccupied. He frequently glanced at Li Yan from the corner of his eye. He finished eating at almost the same speed as Li Yan and raised his head.
Everyone quickly put down their eating utensils, looked serious, and began to discuss matters.
Only this time, Li Yan gave Qiu Shenji a look, asked him to wait, and looked at Kang County Lieutenant: "How is the Jia family of Wuwei now?"
Kangxian Lieutenant stood up quickly and said: "Li Jiyi, the Jia family is currently in a state of retreat and reflection. Everyone is under guard in the mansion, including the previously married woman. They are also ordered to return to the mansion and are not allowed to go out."
This is actually a divorce from her husband's family, and it is impossible to go back in the future.
The world is like this, and noble families are all prosperous. Being from the same family, there is no such thing as innocence.
If Jia Sibo hadn't been relying on Jia's back, he wouldn't have been able to cause such great harm.
Li Yan asked again: "Besides, after I left, is there anything else about the Tubo spy case?"
Kang County Lieutenant said cautiously: "No, Liangzhou Xizuo was wiped out by Li Jiyi. At least for a few years, it will definitely be impossible to organize an effective spy network."
At this time, Kang Meng reminded in a low voice beside him, and County Lieutenant Kang suddenly remembered and said quickly: "There is one more thing. The newly appointed Magistrate Lu searched Jia Sibo's inner courtyard and found an alchemy room."
Li Yan raised his eyebrows: "Alchemy?"
What were the most popular health care products in the Tang Dynasty?
Undoubtedly, elixir.
Modern people know that eating that stuff can cause heavy metal poisoning, but the ancients didn't know that and still expected to prolong their lives.
Even the theories about Li Shimin's death are related to elixirs. One theory is that he ate the elixir prepared by a Brahmin monk and died of poisoning.
All subsequent emperors of the Tang Dynasty basically took it, and Wu Zetian also took the elixir, which gave her a really good physique.
In other words, taking elixirs is not only a need for the elderly, but also a social trend, and is more popular among poets and talents.
During this period, Lu Zhaolin and Wang Bo among the four heroes of the early Tang Dynasty, and later Li Bai, Du Fu, Bai Juyi, Han Yu, Liu Zongyuan, Liu Yuxi, Yuan Zhen, etc. were all obsessed with alchemy.
Among them, Han Yu was the most brilliant. He listed many cases of elixirs killing people. The result was not that he denied the elixir itself, but that the way others took the elixir was wrong.
Therefore, Han Yu did not eat directly, but fed the chickens and then ate the chickens himself.
What a logic genius.
As a result, he died of chronic sulfur poisoning.
Li Yan had seen the prince take out a delicate small box several times, put the contents in his mouth, and swallow it soon after.
He suspected that it was the elixir and wanted to persuade him, but he didn't know what to say.
Now Jia Sibo is actually related to alchemy, which arouses Li Yan's curiosity: "Do the servants of Jia's family have any confessions? Did Jia Sibo make elixirs by himself, or did he invite Taoist priests to come to his house to do it?"
Kangxian Wei said: "The Jia family did not invite Taoist priests. He made the elixir himself. However, when he made the elixir, he did not allow his servants to come near him, and he did not need servants to watch the furnace. He did it all by himself."
Li Yan said: "What about the refined elixir?"
County Lieutenant Kang shook his head: "It has never been given to anyone else, and it seems that he has not taken it himself. Magistrate Lu has repeatedly questioned the servants of the Jia family, but nothing has been gained."
"interesting……"
Li Yan looked at Di Renjie with his eyes full of thought, and his address became more natural: "Huaiying, what do you think?"