The Rise of the Cold Gate in the Eastern Jin Dynasty

Chapter 83 There is a letter from Kuaiji,

A pot of tea was just a little bit, but the old Taoist snatched it all away. Fortunately, the tea made by a few housewives was ready, Xiao Qinzhi went back and packed two more, and ran towards the school.

Xiumu today, the school is very empty, the fat old man is definitely not there, only the fifth younger brother Xiao Yao persisted for ten years, Xiao Qinzhi shouted through the window: "Fifth younger brother, where is Mr. Cui?"

"Fishing!" Xiao Yao said while holding a book.

"Fishing?" Xiao Qinzhi murmured, and walked to the side facing the water, he saw a large reed slat spread on the water pavilion, the old man Cui was lying reclined, with a small scorpion propped on his waist, a pot of tea beside him, The previous yellow bamboo fishing rod.

Xiao Qinzhi tiptoed over, fearing that he would run away with old man Cui's fish and be scolded again, so he carefully brewed a pot of "clear tea", poured out the tea, and put it aside to wait.

Old man Cui was focused on fishing, not paying attention to the people around him, but he saw the goose feather float on the water surface and tapped it a few times, it must be a fish in the water biting the hook, old man Cui was overjoyed, and immediately raised the rod, but it was empty On the side, said: "No wonder I didn't catch it, I was scared away by you bastard."

Xiao Qin's astonishment was heavenly, obviously old man Cui raised his pole in a hurry, the fish had not swallowed the hook yet, and threw the pot to him, but he didn't argue, took Cui Laitou's fishing rod, and said: " Wait, I will catch one for you later."

"Hehe, I've been waiting for this one all morning, and you scared me away. Just say it, and the fish landed?" Cui old man brought tea as he was used to, and gave way to his seat, and said, "If you can't catch it, the fish will come ashore." At noon, you can only watch the old man eat."

Xiao Qinzhi smiled disdainfully, got up and went to the roadside to grab a handful of fresh and juicy grasses, tied them into a ball, and threw them into the water. The bait used was fresh and tender grass leaves, and the rest was patiently waiting for the grass carp to come.

Old man Cui thought it was interesting. He had never seen a fisherman who couldn’t catch a hook. He took a sip of the tea and couldn’t help frowning. , Said: "Bastard, what kind of tea is this?"

"Qing is for people; tea is for tea, so it is called Qingming. It is just made, and I will give it to you to taste." Xiao Qinzhi hissed.

"How come the old man has never heard of it?" Cui old man wondered.

"It's right if you haven't heard of it. The ancient method is new, and there is only one tea." Xiao Qinzhi whispered, suddenly saw the fresh grass floating on the water move, it must be the grass carp coming, Xiao Qinzhi will hang the fresh Put the grass hook on the edge of the grass ball and wait steadily.

The grass carp is greedy, and when it sees pieces of fresh grass around its mouth, it swallows it with its mouth open and drags the fishing line.

"Sir, quickly fetch the net, this fish is a bit big." Xiao Qinzhi erected the pole, using the strength of Huang Zhu's waist to relieve the impact force of the fish.

"What copying net?" Old man Cui didn't know.

"Bamboo baskets are also fine, as long as they are big." Xiao Qinzhi said while controlling the fish.

Even the PE line, nylon line or Dalima of later generations did not directly lift a few kilograms of fish ashore.

After a while, the grass carp was slipped out of strength, and was pulled out of the water, choked a few mouthfuls of water, and floated on the surface of the water with its white belly turned over. Xiao Qinzhi dragged the grass carp to the side of the waterside, leaned over and picked up the fish in a big bamboo basket Go ashore, weigh it, no less than three or four catties, enough for two people.

Fresh fish must be eaten fresh, just a little garlic, pepper and some coriander, sprinkle some salt, and cook in lake water. Thanks to Zhang Qian, who brought these ingredients back from the Western Regions.

The lake breeze is blowing, the water is close to the sky, and people feel comfortable on the waterside pavilion. There is a small food table, one old and two young, sharing a fresh fish and drinking a pot of wine.

After dinner, lying beside the water, drinking a cup of green tea, and having a peaceful nap is even more wonderful. Before going to bed, Cui Laitou asked Xiao Qinzhi, "Is the clear tea for personal use or for profit?"

Xiao Qinzhi replied: "Small quantity for personal use, large quantity for profit."

Old man Cui pointed at the grass balls in the water, which had disappeared, and said: "The grass is fresh, the fish are plentiful, and I will never find them again. Slowly hide for thieves, and beautify for obscenity."

Xiao Qinzhi understood and was thinking about it. The Diao family in Jingkou and the Alliance of Five Surnames in the North of Jinling seemed to be a good choice.

Because Xiao Qinzhi was busy with his studies, and the patriarch was delayed for some reason, he had been away for several days and hadn't returned yet, so he entrusted all the "clear tea" to the sixth uncle.

As soon as Uncle Six heard that Taoist Qian and Mr. Cui agreed, it must be good, so he organized his staff and harvested all the small tea gardens in two days, making a total of several catties of new tea.

In addition, Uncle Six ordered people to buy tea plants from nearby people who planted tea plants, without the owner's help, but by Xiao's own picking, all according to his own standards, after a few days of operation, he gained a few more catties.

Later Sixth Uncle heard that Xiao Qinzhi was going to present tea to Taishou Xie, and he needed a set of unique celadon tea sets as a gift.

During the Han Dynasty, celadon had already begun to appear, and it was more developed in the Western Jin Dynasty. Most of them were decorated with ornate decorations, carved with flowers, birds, insects and fish, but the craftsmanship was not good, and it looked crude.

During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the craftsmanship of celadon was improved a lot, and the aesthetics of the people at that time became a little more simple, focusing on practicality, not as gorgeous as in the Western Jin Dynasty, but it was far from the level of craftsmanship in the Tang Dynasty.

Xiao Qinzhi drew a picture, which is the shape of the purple sand pot of later generations with several small porcelain cups attached, which is much simpler than the current celadon high-legged chicken head pot, or the celadon with deep mouth, bulging belly and narrow round bottom. .

The celadon kiln closest to Wujin is the Yue kiln in the Qiantang area of ​​Kuaiji. It has been fired since the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period until now.

In order to benefit the development of the family, the sixth uncle endured the pain, ordered people to bring the blueprints, and immediately went to Qiantang to order. In addition, the carpenter at home carefully crafted ten sets of golden silk nanmu boxes. Nanmu was not precious at this time, and it was easy to obtain materials, but the follow-up will be in the future. At Xiao Qinzhi's request, the box was not painted with green lacquer or fire cloud pattern, and only the original pattern of nanmu was left.

Since "clear tea" pays attention to "soberness and nature", it is best to "clear the tea, tea set, and box" to match.

The patriarch came back on March [-]th. Because his old friend Diao Lun was on his way back to Jingkou from Jiankang, he waited for a few days. The patriarch made it clear that he came for the promotion of the Xiao clan to the noble family, and got Diao Lun's support. And a handwritten letter.

The patriarch wanted to go to Jinling the next day to find Xie Taishou, and learned that Xiao Qinzhi had made "Qingming Tea", which was highly praised by Qian Daoren and Old Man Cui. for waiting.

From Wujin to Qiantang, you can go straight to the Dantu Waterway, cross the east side of Taihu Lake, go all the way south, pass Jinling, Wuxi, Wujun, Huating, Wuxing, Haiyan, Yuhang, and cross the river to Qiantang. It takes at least ten days to go, plus the porcelain molding and firing, at least half a month.

Before the patriarch could wait for the porcelain to come from Qiantang, there was a letter from the north of the Cao'e River, and he found Xiao Qinzhi who was "studying hard".

On March 22, Xiao Qinzhi, who was studying in school, was overjoyed to hear that Chen Yunzhi had sent a letter from the Xie family in Kuaiji, and he had given many precious books. He thought that Chen Yunzhi should be a guest at his aunt's house.

In the letter, Chen Yunzhi asked Xiao Qin if he recovered from his illness.How is your studies?How many books on the book list have you read?When are you planning to study in Wujun?

Xiao Qinzhi asked the young servant to rest for one night, rewarded him with a thousand coins the next day, and brought back a letter, saying: "I miss you so much after parting from Wuxi. Brother Yun's letter from Jinling has been received." When I arrived, I didn’t know where to send it, so I couldn’t reply. I fell ill due to typhoid fever in Wuxi, and was treated by a famous doctor in Wu County. After returning home, I got the book list from the thousand volumes copied by my sister. Most of the books, and then supplemented the rest of the books from Taoist Qian Bing."

"Brother Yun is so at ease, I am very envious. Sigh - I have been suffering recently, living with suffering all day long, seeing suffering every day, studying 'Xuan' in the Taoist temple in the morning, studying 'Confucianism' in the school in the afternoon, and having a family at night My sister read it with me, and people watched it all the time, because the mosquitoes were attached to the spider webs—I couldn’t move.”

"However, it was a blessing in disguise, and I got something from my studies. I have memorized some of the books on the book list. I think I can finish memorizing the book list in June when the lotus blossoms are in full bloom. At that time, I will set off to study under Dr. Xu in Wujun."

"The book gifted by brother Yun has been received, but the timing is a little wrong. I wanted to give "Qingming tea" in return. It was named by Taoist Qianbing. Tea is also the king of tea. The planting conditions are extremely harsh, one needs to be backed by mountains, the other needs to be close to the lake, and the third needs to be early and clear years. Tea picking is also very particular, it must be in the misty morning, the sun rises in the east It is taken when the aura of heaven and earth gathers but has not yet dissipated. A moment earlier, the aura will be insufficient, and a moment later, the aura will be lost. It must be picked before dawn, and a thousand tea trees choose a hundred tea trees, and a hundred tea trees choose ten buds. Only one bud and one leaf are taken from the ten buds, and the thickness and length must be the same to be a good product, and the rest can only be used as this kind of tea."

"And here, brother Yun is annoying me? Haha, no, wait a few days, and I will send people to Kuaiji. At that time, brother Yun can invite people to drink this tea, just pour hot water , then the fragrance will come from itself, and the whole body will be relieved."

"I don't know how long Yun's brother will stay in Kuaiji. If he wants to go back to Jiankang, he needs to go to Wujin by water, and he can cross the river to Xijin. If you come to be a guest, I will sweep the couch and wait."

On April [-]rd, the person Sixth Uncle sent to Qiantang to order porcelain came back, and to his surprise, he brought back twenty sets of well-heated tea sets, accompanied by Li Yuezhi from Qiantang.

This set of tea sets is simple and plain, but small and practical. It was made by Li Yuezhi. His ancestors made celadon porcelain for generations. Because he really likes this set of tea sets and heard that it was made by Xiao Qin, who is famous in the Three Wu Kingdoms, he came here to pay a visit. If you want to get permission, you can also burn this tea set in the future.

Xiao Qinzhi naturally agreed, but only stated that this set of tea sets came from the Xiao family, not from the Yue Kiln.

Immediately, Xiao Qin's men sent the carefully prepared "tea gift" to the Xie family in Kuaiji. The nanmu box was covered with a layer of soft brocade, a set of celadon tea sets, and a box of "clear tea". Attached is a five-character tea-reciting poem.

At the same time, the patriarch ordered people to send four "tea gifts" to the other four families, and he himself set off immediately with the "tea ceremony" to Jinling to meet the prefect Xie.

(End of this chapter)