Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 137 0132 [Blood-stained tea-horse trade] (add more for the penguin boss)
The cornucopia is also brought, and is saying goodbye to his wife and children-the mare has given birth.

The beast found out that he was going down the mountain, and he didn't miss his wife and children, and kept kicking his hooves in excitement.

"be honest!"

Zhu Ming slapped it away, and put the luggage on the horse's back. Ganoderma lucidum was also packed in a bag and hung together with the luggage.

Chen Yuan and his entourage, as well as the beast Cornucopia, certainly couldn't ride the post station for free.At that time, there will be an extra fee, and the staff at the post station are very happy, they are eager to earn some extra money.

The post station here is just an abbreviation. In the Song Dynasty, it was divided into two systems: post house and delivery shop.

Posthouses only provide board and lodging, which are equivalent to government-run inns, recruiting civilian husbands as postmen, and generally the county magistrate or county magistrate is in charge.

Only the delivery shop has vehicles and boats, which are responsible for delivering documents, mailing parcels, and transportation. The staff are all soldiers, and they are supervised by road-level supervisors, prefects and counties, and patrol envoys.

Posthouses are only set up inside and outside the city, but delivery shops are everywhere, and it is necessary to ensure the smooth delivery of official documents.

Shen Yourong's big belly made it inconvenient to go down the mountain, so she sent Zhu Ming out of the village gate.

Grandma Yan took her grandson by the hand and sent them all the way to the river.Just like ten years ago, when she sent her son to rush for the exam, she really regarded Zhu Ming as her own grandson.

Sitting on the small boat in the village, I soon arrived at Shangbai Village, and then transferred to the passenger boat of the Bai family to continue on my way.

The cornucopia was very obedient, and he didn't mess around on the boat, otherwise he could capsize the boat in the village.

The Bai family's passenger ship also only went to the Golden Gorge, and everyone landed on land.

After walking for a while, there was a plank road in front of us, and everyone sat down to rest.

Bai Chongyan mysteriously took out a few oil-paper bags: "This is sliced ​​tea, which is exclusively for the royal family to drink. Just a few lumps of sliced ​​tea can be sold for hundreds of teas in Tokyo."

"Isn't waxed tea the most precious? How come there are still pieces of tea?" Ju Ming asked curiously.

The sliced ​​tea in the Song Dynasty is not the sliced ​​tea of ​​Lu'an Guapian.

Bai Chongyan explained: "Strictly speaking, sliced ​​tea is also a kind of waxed tea, but it is made more delicately than baked tea. Even pressing it into tea cakes requires a silver mold, otherwise the taste will not be correct. This is my family. Several years of inventory, hundreds of acres of tea hills, five or six years of hoarding, and only a few top-level pieces of tea can be made."

Ju Ming was speechless.

It can only be pressed with silver molds, which is purely fussy. What is the difference between copper molds and stone molds?
Piece tea is also divided into grades, and the top grade is the most expensive, even in the tea producing area, the price exceeds 1 per cent.But the rate of defective products is also extremely high. The most rubbish piece of tea is the same price as the most rubbish loose tea, and even the low-level people don't like to drink it.

Officially, tea is roughly divided into three grades, but in the terminal market, it is subdivided into dozens of grades.

For example, waxed tea is divided into 16 grades, sliced ​​tea is divided into 55 grades, and loose tea is divided into 59 grades.

The tea in Bai Chongyan's hands is a top-grade piece of tea, which is forbidden to be sold privately and only allowed to be drunk by the royal family.If a private businessman obtains this object, he must sell it to the royal family, otherwise he will be charged with exceeding the control if he is caught.

Over a ghost system, the more banned by the court, the more people like it, the higher the price.

Zhu Ming took it over and smelled it through the oiled paper bag, the scent was already coming out, he was surprised and said, "How many spices did you use?"

"Twenty kinds," Bai Chongyan said, "If I hadn't been able to take them to the capital tax-free, my family wouldn't have bothered to make tea. If they were sold locally, even if they were smuggled, they would lose money."

The reason for the loss is that the production cost is too high, and the rate of defective products is also high.

Ju Ming feels that the tea-making process in the Song Dynasty has gone completely wrong, just like glass-making in the Ming Dynasty.

Xue Daoguang said: "Da Lang, show me the Ganoderma lucidum."

Zhu Ming took the bag from the horse's back and threw it over without any hassle.

Xue Daoguang quickly caught it, carefully opened the bag, and scolded: "This is a century-old Ganoderma lucidum, how can you throw it carelessly?"

Zhu Ming smiled and said, "If the Taoist priest likes it, feel free to soak it in water to drink."

"It's too expensive, I don't want it." After Xue Daoguang finished speaking, he buried his head and began to count the "annual rings".

Counting and counting, it has only been more than ten years, which seems to be far away from the century-old Ganoderma lucidum.

Don't worry about the year anymore, Xue Daoguang concluded that this is a century-old Ganoderma lucidum, carefully tasted it and said: "This is Zizhi, which is recorded in "Shen Nong's Materia Medica". Qi, strong muscles and bones, good color. Take it for a long time, lighten your body and prolong your life. It must be false to prolong life, but taking it with the inner alchemy method can also be beneficial to practice and health.”

It is indeed useful, and its effect is remarkable, which is equivalent to losing a few bottles of amino acids, glucose, mannitol... It was a miracle medicine in ancient times, and it can greatly enhance the human body's immunity.

Zhu Ming asked, "How much can I sell it in Tokyo?"

"It's worth a hundred guan," said Xue Daoguang, "if a patient is eager to buy it, he can sell it for five or six hundred guan."

Ju Ming said with emotion: "It really is a good thing."

Taking out the eggs boiled by Mrs. Yan and Shen Yourong, Zhu Ming shared them with everyone, then patted his buttocks and set off on his way.

After waiting for a few days in Yangzhou, he nailed horseshoes to the cornucopia by the way, went to the state government to get the certificate of release, and finally waited for the official ship from the delivery shop to set off.

Perhaps it was because the people on the boat were all Juren, relatives and friends in the county, and the boatmen who handed the boat were too lazy to check carefully.Even Chen Yuan and his three followers, as well as the beast Cornucopia, enjoy free boat rides.

There are quite a few people who took this kind of ride, and some even pretended to be relatives of officials, and were found out and kicked off the boat.

Su Shi has a classic story about a fellow countryman who pretended to be his relative and sent parcels for free through a courier shop.It happened that Su Shi also took that boat, and the courier brother delivered the package directly to him.After the matter was exposed, Su Shi did not pursue it, and changed the mailing address to his own home, which fully complied with the court regulations.

Such generosity from the government, poaching the corners of the country, is still a good story, the world thinks that Mr. Su is very generous, and he takes special care of his fellow countrymen.

It can only be said that ancient and modern concepts are different.

Li Hanzhang is also waiting for the boat, and with him is the son of the military recorder.

"Dalang, this is the gentleman of Tu Canjun's family, Tu Rukui, whose name is Dufang. Brother Dufang, this is Zhu Ming, a scholar of the Eight Elements, and his name is Chenggong." Li Hanzhang introduced.

Tu Rukui made a bow and said, "I've heard about the name of the virtuous brother Chenggong for a long time, but now I see him, his reputation is well-deserved."

Ju Ming bowed in return: "Each, each other."

Li Hanzhang introduced other people to Na Tu Rukui.

The scholars are very enthusiastic, after all, they are the sons of the military recorder, but there is some disdain faintly.

Li Hanzhang came to Lizhou Road for the exam, at least one or two years in advance.

But this Mr. Tu, who usually lives in Jiangxi, showed up just before the exam, and didn't even bother to do basic appearances.It is estimated that he is a second-class guy who can't pass the Juren examination in Jiangxi!

The official ship of Dipu in Yangzhou stopped when it sailed to Xingyuan Mansion, and all the official documents and packages were transferred to the official ship of Xingyuan Mansion.

Zhu Ming and others also changed boats, and then they had to buy tickets for Cornucopia.

Before changing ships, eat and drink for free at the Xingyuanfu Posthouse, where fodder for horses is also provided.

Full of wine and food, Zhu Ming took a cornucopia and strolled around outside the city.When the official ship was about to set off, the boatmen urged Zhu Ming to lead the horse aboard.

The bastard didn't like to take a boat, and snorted to express his displeasure.

The next section is the famous Baoxie Road, with a total length of nearly 500 miles.

When traveling to the fast-flowing section, the official boat stopped to look for the tracker.

The trackers who pick up the job are miserable for this job.

Ju Ming rides the official ship for free, and the official ship hires trackers for free, and only rations are given along the way, which is not fucking enough for the tracker's physical exertion.

Fortunately, the trackers are also divided into sections. After a day of driving, another group of trackers will suffer, and the same group will be forced to die if they fail to catch the same group.

There is a river bend in the middle, the water flow is relatively gentle, and there are farmers farming on the bank.

There are two delivery shops there, one is an ordinary shop and the other is a special tea delivery shop.

As soon as the official ship landed, two soldiers were carrying the dead body expressionlessly, and threw it into the Baoshui with a bang.

"What's going on?" Zhu Ming asked in surprise.

Bai Chongyan said: "The servant who moves the tea."

Li Hanzhang said: "Tea is produced in all roads in Sichuan and Shaanxi, and there are tea delivery shops in every road. During the Yuanfeng period, soldiers were still used to transport tea. Every few hundred soldiers from the village would die within a year or two. Later, it was changed. For the servants, the common people take turns to carry the tea, and the tea service in Yangzhou is particularly heavy."

Ling Guxu said: "The tea shops along the way are called 'Na Ming Chang' by the common people."

Li Hanzhang added: "Local officials hate this, but there is nothing they can do about it!"

Local officials hated tea servants because they forcibly recruited servants, not to mention tarnishing their own reputations, and they couldn't make half a dime from them, and all the profits were made by the tea horse department.

There are a few well-meaning local officials who are unwilling to force civilian husbands to work as errands, and have to hire people to respond to the errands with their own money.

"Isn't it worth dying for carrying tea?" Zhu Ming asked suspiciously.

Li Hanzhang explained: "The tea was transported all the way to the frontier. In many places, it was not possible to take a boat, and it was all carried by manpower. If the trackers were not recruited, the tea messengers had to go ashore to pull the fibers. Moreover, the officials in charge of the tea, completely disregarding the life and death of the servants. Not to mention the beatings and scolding, even the food rations are deducted. Of the ten people who are on missions, only six or seven can go home alive. Even if they can go home alive, many people will be seriously ill."

Fuck me, the mortality rate is [-]% to [-]%!

The local officials can't control it, how can Zhu Ming manage it?I can only sigh secretly, and go to the shop on the shore to eat.

When passing by the tea delivery shop, suddenly four people came rushing, plopped down on their knees and shouted: "Dutou, help!"

Before Zhu Ming could react, an official came up to him with a whip and yelled angrily: "Rebellion? Come back quickly to get some tea! You only killed one, are you all afraid of death?"

"Help me, Dutou, I'm your soldier!" A tea waiter refused to go back, scrambling towards Zhu Ming.

Zhu Ming already understood what was going on. Some of the archers he brought were recruited by the new master Zhang, and the rest were all retaliated by subordinates.All kinds of drudgery every year are selected from those archers.

"Wait a minute!" Zhu Ming hastily stopped.

Seeing that Zhu Ming was dressed as a scholar, the official put on a smiling face and said, "Hello, Mrs. Gong."

Zhu Ming took out four coins and stuffed them into the hands of the official: "These four people were my subordinates, can you give them preferential treatment along the way?"

The officer saw the words on the money clearly, and when he found out that it was money, he laughed even more happily: "Since the young man has spoken, I will give you preferential treatment and guarantee that the four of them will return alive."

"Where are you from?" Zhu Ming asked again.

The official replied: "I am from the Tea Horse Department of Xingyuan Mansion."

Zhu Ming asked, "Have you ever heard who I am, Zhu Chenggong?"

The officer was stunned, and became more respectful: "I know, it turned out that the Eight Elements scholars were in person, and the Xingyuan Mansion knew that your Excellency brought back immortal food from overseas."

"It's good to be someone who takes care of me." Zhu Ming patted him on the shoulder.

"Definitely." The officer bowed quickly.

Zhu Ming said to the four former archers: "If there are any more servants, go to Heifengzhai. After you return to your hometown, tell the other brothers."

"Thank you Dutou for saving my life!" The four kowtowed frantically.

That's all Zhu Ming can do. Unless he rebels immediately, he must not offend Tea Horse.

Offending the Tea Horse Secretary is more terrifying than offending the prefect or prefect!
(Ask for a monthly pass.)
(End of this chapter)