Kingdom of Heaven and Han

Chapter 147 New Technology

The southeast of the Xinyang Army is Zhenlei Mountain.The mountains are not tall, the forests are dense, and the scenery is quiet.After leaving Xinyang Military City, after walking for more than ten miles, there are endless hills and hills.This area has a lot of rain and is full of moisture all the year round, so it is a good place to grow tea.

Wang Xiaolie took Zhang Jun, set off early in the morning, and arrived at the tea farm in the south of the city.

At this time, the tea planting government was under strict management, and casual planting and trading were generally not allowed.Instead, it is arranged by the government in a unified way, and when the season comes, it will be purchased by the government.Sales channels are in the hands of the government, and managers naturally try to squeeze growers.

According to Lu Yu's "Tea Classic", the Huainan tea farm is the first in Gwangju, and the Xinyang Army is the second.However, in the Song Dynasty, the tea farms near Gwangju played an important role.Although the Xinyang army also grows tea, it is not easy to make lump tea and sell it to the government. Most of them make loose tea.

When he arrived at the tea farm, the management officials had already come to greet him.Please Wang Xiaolie and others sit in the hall and serve carefully.

After tasting the tea brought up, Wang Xiao said, "I've traveled all the way, and I see that this area is surrounded by clouds and mist, and it's a good place to grow tea. Why is the imperial court setting up a tea farm in Guangzhou, but not here? Tasting this tea is really bad." taste."

The official said: "Returning to observation, the Xinyang Army has planted tea over the years, but the quality of the tea has always been poor. Besides, the production is not much, so the government naturally does not set up tea farms here. We collected them all and sent them to Guangzhou for sale."

Wang Xiaolie said: "Now is the time to harvest tea, I don't know if there are any unharvested."

The official said: "Most of them have been harvested. Most of the rest are new growths, and they are already deep in spring, so they are not worth much."

Wang Xiaolie sighed: "Tea is divided before the rain and before the dawn. Now it's almost Qingming, and it's really late. I have a method of making tea, and I came here to try it out. You can find a tea shop, and I will teach it to you." They. Practice more this year, and next year, you can pick good tea to make."

Officials said yes.He went out quickly to find some tea shoppers, and saluted Wang Xiaolie.

Wang Xiaolie saw that there were five or six people standing there, all of them were elderly people.Apparently the official didn't understand what Wang Xiaolie meant, so he invited a few older and more mature people to avoid accidents.What Wang Xiaolie wanted was all tea households, so what's the use of a few?

In my previous life, I only watched documentaries and knew the general steps of frying tea.Wang Xiaolie is actually not clear about the specific details to pay attention to and how to operate the technology.We can only rely on these tea growers to try more and perfect the technology.

After listening to Wang Xiaolie's order, the officials had no choice but to find all the people from the tea mountain.There are about twenty or thirty families, old and young.

Looking at the crowd, Wang Xiaolie said: "Seeing that it is Qingming, the tea leaves are not very good now. There is no way, this year I have to do so. I have a tea making method here, but I have never had a chance to try it. I will teach it to you." You guys, practice more this year. When you are proficient, you can pick tea early next year and make new tea."

All the tea shoppers were obsequious, and no one dared to talk too much.

Wang Xiaolie said: "If the tea is made well, I will reward you here. Also, this year, you don't have to hand over the tea here to the tea plantation, you can handle it yourself. How you grow tea in the future depends on how well you do it. "

After hearing this, the tea house was overjoyed, and the atmosphere became much more active.

In the past, it was the officials of the tea farm who determined the income of these people.When the harvest is good, the price of tea is lowered, forcing them to work endlessly.If the harvest is not good, let alone, the officials will force them not to stop for a moment.

The tea method of the Song Dynasty was changed again and again, and changed countless times.But when changing the tea law, what the government cares about is only how much the government earns.It is nothing more than that it was originally directly managed by the government, but it was handed over to tea merchants.Or do not use tea merchants, directly send officials to manage.The tea growers at the bottom are always of no benefit.Wang Xiaolie let them not have to pay tea this year, at least have a good year.

Looking at the sky, Wang Xiao said: "Now the sun has risen, it's a bit late to pick tea. There's no way, I'm out of skills, so I can't stay here for a long time. Go and pick some tea, and I'll leave the method to you. I will do it later." How you get it depends on your understanding."

After receiving the order, the tea pickers in the tea households picked up their tools one after another and went to the mountains to pick tea.

Wang Xiaolie, Zhang Jun and others checked the tea-making utensils in the shed.At this time, it is all steamed green, even loose tea is the same, but it is not pressed into a ball.Steaming the green leaves is easy to destroy the tea leaves, the nutrients are lost, and the taste becomes weak.Therefore, most of the tea making methods in later generations of China do not use steamed green tea.Although there are many methods, the most popular one is stir-fried greens.

After reading it once, Wang Xiaolie ordered two large iron pots to be brought to stir-fry tea.

Seeing Wang Xiaolie commanding the people to set up the pot, Zhang Jun said: "Zhizhou, what is your method? You still have to fry it. If the tea is fried in a pot, won't it be cooked? Then what taste does it have? Drinking tea is just adding spices, so that you can drink tea. It will have a special flavor.”

Wang Xiaolie said: "Tea itself is a rare good medicine in the world. It has its own fragrance. Why do you add spices? With my method, I can make good tea that is full of fragrance, and it also has a sweet taste. Just watch it, and let it be used in the future." Chato just practice hard."

Zhang Jun curled his lips in disbelief.At this time, there were tea drinking methods and even special tea sets.Song people also like to fight tea. There are sayings about everything from tea leaves to utensils, to water, to the floating powder after brewing tea.How to fight the fried tea?
Wang Xiaolie didn't bother to say much, but just checked the equipment carefully.In fact, people drink tea, not just drinking tea. Many habits started from being liked by some people in the upper class, became popular, and gradually became popular among the whole people.Just like in Henan, because some leaders like black tea, the government soon became popular with black tea, and within a year or two, it became popular in the whole of Henan.Where Xinyang Maojian is produced, Xinyanghong is also produced quickly.

As long as you like it, the people around you will naturally like it too.As the status rises, how difficult is it for the whole society to change its habits?As long as the tea is made well, the old rules will have to be changed.

About half an hour later, the tea pickers came back.Wang Xiaolie asked them to pour out the tea and dry it in the shade under the shed for two hours.

At noon, the officials in charge of the tea farm cooked some wild game.It is nothing more than pheasants, hares, and fish caught in the nearby river. Wang Xiao is invited to hunt with wine and meat.In this era, the taste of wild game is naturally not as good as that of domesticated ones, and it is just for fun.

Wait until noon to see if the time is about the same.Wang Xiaolie ordered to put away the dried tea leaves and fry them next to the pot.

Wang Xiaolie originally wanted to do it himself, how could the officials agree?Find a mature and stable person, and follow Wang Xiaolie's instructions to fry tea in the pot.After frying in one pot, change to another pot and fry it again at a slightly lower temperature.

The most important process of green tea is to stir-fry green tea.If this step is done well, the quality of the tea will be basically guaranteed.The rest is nothing more than drying, cooling, and re-drying, several times and three times, to stabilize the quality of the tea.

The whole craft has been taught, and the sun has already set in the west.

Wang Xiaolie said: "With this new method, the tea will have a different aroma. Every half a month, you will send it to me. If I taste it well, I will tell you."

The official on the side said: "Observe, I have never heard of people making tea like this before. It smells like smoke. I don't know if it tastes good."

Wang Xiaolie said: "Firework gas is also a taste in the world. As long as it is done well, how can it taste bad? You just do it with your heart. If you make good tea, I will reward you."

Thank you tea farmers.They are looking for rewards.As for the new tea, who cares?

(End of this chapter)