Chapter Thirty-Eight: Salt Making, Pork Curing, and the Band of Dandies!

While they were speaking, Li Yi and Bingyu arrived at the kitchen. Inside was only Old Lady Han, whose sole task was to cook for Li Yi and Bingyu; the meals for others were prepared elsewhere.

“Old Lady Han, busy at work?”

Old Lady Han, a woman in her thirties, honest and mild-tempered, replied, “Oh my! Young Master, this isn’t a place you should be! It’s dirty here, please step out quickly!”

Li Yi looked helplessly at Bingyu, who chuckled and stepped forward to explain on his behalf.

“Auntie, the young master has important business here. From now on, if he comes, you need not keep him out.”

“All right! Whatever you say! I don’t really understand such things.”

Li Yi nodded gently.

“Auntie, what do we have in the kitchen now?”

“Oh, it’s winter, so only some rice, flour, rabbit, gazelle and mutton.”

“And vegetables?”

“Young Master, you jest. In this cold season, where would we find vegetables?”

“What? Not even vegetables? Ah, of course—this Tang Dynasty hasn’t developed greenhouse technology yet. No wonder every winter we run out of vegetables and I end up malnourished,” Li Yi muttered, pacing around.

“Auntie, is there no pork?”

She laughed. “That’s for poor families. Nobles like you, Young Master, shouldn’t eat such things.”

“Why?”

Bingyu smiled and explained, “Young Master, pork has a strong unpleasant odor, so few are willing to eat it.”

“How can that be? Has Tang not learned how to cure pork?”

“Cured pork? What’s that?”

But Old Lady Han seemed to recall something. “Young Master, I think I know. In the Western Market, the Zhang family’s preserved meats are made from pork without that unpleasant smell.”

“Well! So the method of curing pork has become a secret recipe! Never mind, desperate times call for desperate measures. Old Lady Han, please find some servants in the front yard—tell them I said so. Have them accompany you to buy two pigs’ worth of pork from Zhang’s preserved meats, make sure it’s odorless, and hurry! Bingyu, give her some money.”

Bingyu quickly handed Old Lady Han the money, and she left.

“Bingyu, let’s return to the study. Wait, what’s this?” Li Yi pointed to some blocks of white substance.

Bingyu looked at him strangely. “Young Master, that’s salt.”

“I know it’s salt, but why is there no refined salt?”

“Refined salt? What’s that?”

“All right, I understand. Let’s go to the study.”

“Young Master, do you really know how to cook?”

Li Yi rolled his eyes. “You’ll see just how capable I am!”

Once in the study, Li Yi found an empty book for Bingyu.

“Young Master, what’s this for?”

“This book is yours now. Use it to record all the useful things I say. Who knows, maybe one day it’ll be published. For the cover—‘Encyclopedia, by Li Yi’!”

“Are you serious?”

“If I were you, I’d pick up a pen right now, because I’m about to show my brilliance.”

Bingyu eyed him suspiciously, then took a pen, ready to write.

Li Yi walked to the window, inhaled deeply, and said, “Record this: On the twentieth day of the first month, fifth year of Zhen Guan, Li Yi, grandson of the Tang military god Li Jing, known as Li Wen Yong, driven by compassion, kindness, respect for elders and children, patriotic diligence, and gallant charm…”

“Young Master!”

“Ahem! Fine, you don’t understand me at all. Continuing: possessing some ingenious methods, fearing their loss to history, I write this book for future generations to reference.”

“First, the method of curing pork. Today’s pork often has a strong odor, so it must be castrated to remove this smell. Method…”

“Second, the method for refining salt. Coarse salt contains impurities and toxins, so it needs fine processing. The process: Wash and filter saturated brine to remove mud and impurities, add caustic soda, then boil in a pot to evaporate and crystallize. Afterwards, dehydrate, dry, crush, and sift to obtain refined salt. Let’s just record these for now.”

“Is all this true, Young Master?”

“Of course! If you doubt me again, I’ll have to enforce household rules!”

“What household rules?”

Li Yi grinned. “What do you think?”

“Hmph! Shameless!”

“I haven’t said anything! What kind of person are you?”

Li Yi flicked his bangs proudly and returned to the desk. He intended to write about special forces training methods, but remembered Li Er wanted knowledge about punctuation. So he started a new section on punctuation marks.

Half an hour later, Li Yi finished writing about punctuation, blew the ink dry, and nodded with satisfaction. Looking up, he saw Bingyu engrossed in a copy of Records of the Grand Historian.

“This girl can understand even the Records of the Grand Historian—looks like I’ve found a treasure!” Li Yi smiled. “Girl, fetch me a pair of scissors and some thick paper.”

Bingyu looked up, agreed, put down the book, and ran out. Soon she returned with a stack of thick paper, though still somewhat flimsy—after all, Tang’s papermaking skills were lacking, and making a single sheet of rice paper reportedly took a long time.

Li Yi took the scissors and cut the cardboard into pieces the size of playing cards.

“Bingyu, see this? Cut them just like this. You cut, I’ll write.”

Bingyu said nothing and started cutting. Li Yi appreciated this about her; she never spoke out of turn.

Li Yi was making playing cards. Otherwise, when Tang’s young nobles arrived, they’d have nothing to do—he had to provide some amusement.

Bingyu cut the cards while Li Yi wrote on them in ink and cinnabar, using traditional Chinese characters since Tang people didn’t know Arabic numerals. Damn, would he also have to write an elementary math book? Actually, it might be necessary; with banks and merchant guilds, numbers would be essential. This Tang Dynasty lacked everything! Was it a primitive tribe? Besides the beauties, he saw little else to admire. Complaints aside, the cards had to be made. Half an hour later, Li Yi and Bingyu had produced five decks.

“That should be enough. Let’s go! Old Lady Han will be back soon.”

Li Yi tucked the cards into his robe and strode out, Bingyu following close behind.

Back in the kitchen, Old Lady Han had indeed returned, along with a group of servants and two butchered pigs.

Li Yi inspected the pork—no unpleasant odor, and the meat was fresh, clearly just slaughtered. Satisfied, he entered the kitchen.

“Old Lady Han, I’ll teach you how to refine salt. Once you’ve learned, you’ll produce refined salt here.”

“What’s refined salt? Oh dear, Young Master’s recipe—I shouldn’t learn it, it’s not proper!”

“Nonsense, it’s nothing special. Listen carefully, I’ll explain now.”

Li Yi then taught Old Lady Han the method. He only needed enough salt for cooking, so a small pot would suffice, making the process quick.

He repeated the instructions several times until Old Lady Han memorized them, then she began to refine salt exactly as he described.

With Old Lady Han busy making salt, Li Yi went outside, ordered servants to set up a few large pots and stoke the fire, then tossed all the pork—except for tenderloin, pig head, some belly, and ribs—into the pots to boil.

Once everything was underway, guests arrived. Hearing the servants’ report, Li Yi hurried to the front hall, while Bingyu was sent ahead to prepare the newly made tables and chairs.

Upon entering, Li Yi found the hall already filled with young nobles.

As soon as Li Yi arrived, everyone stood and fixed their gaze on him.

Li Yi quickly stepped forward and clasped his hands in greeting. “Ah! My apologies for keeping everyone waiting!”

The group hurried to return the gesture, though their expressions were somewhat sour.

Li Yi immediately sensed a misunderstanding. “Ha! Brothers, I should have invited you personally, but first, I had urgent matters, and second, I wanted to prepare a sumptuous lunch for you. So I asked my two brothers to do the honors. Please forgive any neglect!”

No sooner had he spoken than a medium-built, fair-skinned, slightly plump man with a fierce face burst out laughing, stepped forward and said, “Hahaha! I knew it! The Jade Qilin would never be so arrogant. See, I was right—Li brother is a straightforward man!”

The others relaxed, though they shot the speaker a contemptuous glance—who knows whose complaints had been loudest moments ago!

“Haha! Brother Li, no need for formalities. We’re all family—my brothers Ye Si and Ye Xu are your brothers too. Let’s speak plainly,” said a strikingly handsome young man, suave and charming, with a pair of alluring eyes, smiling at Li Yi. His looks made Li Yi feel a pang of jealousy.

“Haha! Ye Si, aren’t you going to introduce everyone?”

Ye Si eagerly helped Li Yi with introductions.

He began with the handsome youth who had spoken: “Brother, this is the Third Prince, Prince Shu, Li Ke, courtesy name Wei De, fourteen years old.”

Li Yi was startled. He knew Li Ke from history; not a simple figure. His mother, Lady Yang, was daughter of Emperor Yang of Sui, making him a descendant of two royal houses—impossibly noble, but also destined never to be crown prince. Li Ke was a true scholar and warrior, praised by Emperor Taizong as “heroic, much like myself!”—evidence of his extraordinary talent, though he was eventually killed by the wily elder Sun Wuji.

But that had nothing to do with Li Yi. The prince was here to make friends, so Li Yi welcomed him. “Haha! I wondered if there was someone whose looks rivaled mine—turns out to be a prince! Makes sense. Since you’re here for friendship, I’ll treat you as an equal. Since you’re younger than me, I’ll call you Wei De. Haha!”

“Haha! Good! I appreciate a character like yours. Yes, I’m here to make friends! Call me whatever you wish.”

They exchanged a knowing smile and burst out laughing.

Ye Si then led Li Yi to the boisterous man. “Brother, this is…”

The man, clearly straightforward, interrupted before Ye Si could finish, walked up, clapped Li Yi’s shoulder, and introduced himself. “Let me do it! Li brother, I’m Cheng Chumo, son of Duke Lu, Cheng Yaojin. Haha! I love befriending bold men. I’m seventeen, two years older than you, so I’ll call you Wen Yong!”

Feeling the heavy hand on his shoulder, Li Yi’s face twitched—no wonder this was the son of Cheng, one of Tang’s famed “grunt-and-growl” generals, cut from the same mold: rough exterior, but full of cunning!

Li Yi grinned. “So you’re Uncle Cheng’s son—he’s my idol. Later, we must drink a few rounds together!”

“Good! Excellent! No problem! I love drinking with real men!”

Hearing Cheng Chumo’s repeated declarations of love, Li Yi felt a chill—was this guy a pervert?

Ye Si then introduced the other guests.

Among them were two who looked much like Cheng Chumo, though shorter. They were his younger brothers: Cheng Chuliang, fifteen, and Cheng Chubi, twelve.

There was also Yuchi Baolin, son of Duke E, Yuchi Jingde, fifteen, a dark, strong, fierce youth.

His younger brother, Yuchi Baoqing, thirteen, was equally dark, robust, and rather ugly.

Next was Qin Huaiyu, son of the legendary Duke Hu, Qin Qiong—a resolute fourteen-year-old handsome lad.

Lastly, Li Zhen, son of Duke Ying, Li Ji—a tall, thin, sharp-eyed fifteen-year-old.

“Xiao Er, are all your friends here?”

“No, these are the ones I’m close with. Others, who are good acquaintances but not often in touch, I didn’t invite—they’re mostly sons of civil officials.”

Li Yi nodded, then saw Bingyu signaling from outside.

“Brothers, I’ve prepared something special for you in the front hall. Shall we go?”

Li Ke smiled warmly, fully displaying his handsome charm. “We’ve long heard of the Jade Qilin, Li Wen Yong, excelling in both literature and martial arts. Today, we’ll witness it ourselves. Yes, we’ll follow your lead!”

Everyone agreed, and Li Yi led the ten young nobles to the front hall.