King of Song

Chapter 139 Chapter [-]

Hangzhou, Meng's firm!
"This is cotton?" Meng Ruoying and Gu Yuelun were amazed when they saw the white flowers in front of them, which looked like snow velvet.

Autumn has arrived, and those Arabs are very good, staying in the cotton fields and taking care of them carefully.Until autumn came, the first batch of cotton was picked in the Song Dynasty.Soon they were sent to the Meng family's mansion, and Lin Zhao was asked to have a look.

"That's right, this is the cotton transplanted from Tianzhu!" Lin Zhao said with a smile, "Hey, I'll find someone in two days to make a small padded jacket and a big quilt for each of you. I'm sure it will be warm this winter." !"

"Really?" Meng Ruoying yearned for this very much. Last year in Bianjing, she was very afraid of the cold, but she dared not even leave the door!
"By the way, what happened to the tea tree I asked you to find?" Lin Zhao was very concerned about this matter!
Meng Ruoying replied: "It has already been established. It is at the foot of the northwest mountain of Wengjia Mountain in the west of the West Lake. There is a circular spring pool that will not dry up in severe drought. The local people say that this spring is connected with the sea, and there is a dragon in it. It is one mile away from the well. There is a Shousheng Temple in Luohuiwu on the left and right of the ground, and it has been hundreds of years. Some tea trees have grown around the spring and around the temple, which should be the ones you mentioned!"

"That's right, that's right!" Lin Zhao was so excited that he randomly said, "Find a way to buy the surrounding land with a lot of money, especially those tea trees... let's start planting tea too!"

"Tea?" Meng Ruoying said, "However, Hangzhou tea is not in short supply in the market, not to mention the imperial court still discusses the tea method..."

In the Song Dynasty, the first method of discussing tea in the southeast region was the cross-quotation method.In the second year of Qiande, Emperor Taizu of Song Dynasty, tea began to be produced. After that, thirteen farms were successively built in Qi, Huang, Lu, Guang, Shu and Shou prefectures in Huainan where the most tea was produced. , Wuwei Army and Qikou of Qizhou set up six cargo services.

The government concentrated all the tea purchased from various places in Shisanchang and Liuqian, and sold them in a unified manner.Order merchants to pay for tea in the Beijing Normal University and along the Yangtze River, or to buy grain and grass along the northwestern border, and give them discounts at a favorable price. Trafficked to sell.It looks like a very reasonable policy, but there are problems in its implementation.

The merchants behind the questioning of tea manipulated the price of grain and lost money to the state class. After receiving the cross-references, the residents along the border could not go to the southeast to receive tea, so they had to sell the cross-references at a low price to Jiaoyin shops in the capital. They were exploited, so they were unwilling to enter It is difficult to implement the cross-citation method when grain and grass are collected and cited.

In the fourth year of Emperor Renzong Jiayou's reign, tea in the southeast was abolished and the ban on trade was relaxed.Commerce, that is, the taxation of tea garden households and the business tax of merchants, allowing free trade.Even so, tea cultivation and trade were restricted and heavily taxed.This was exactly what Meng Ruoying was worried about.

In fact, tea drinking prevails in the Central Plains, especially in the northwest grasslands.Firstly, it is influenced by the living habits of the Han people, and secondly, drinking tea really helps the nomads who eat beef and mutton.Beef and mutton are unavoidably greasy, but the tea is fresh, and it is a good thing to relieve the greasy. It has been very popular in the Northwest since the Sui and Tang Dynasties.But now in the Song Dynasty, it is forbidden to transport tea out of the country.

Lin Zhao deeply regretted this. It would be very good if Nengjiang tea was transported to the northwest and sold to Xixia and Liao, or the Tibetan tribes on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.There is an ancient tea-horse road in later generations. I don't know if it has something to do with it.

Lin Zhao felt that since there is a lack of tea in the Northwest and horses in the Central Plains, why not benefit from each other?If this matter is handled properly, it will be a double benefit!
Lin Zhaodao: "Don't worry about the quality of these teas. They can definitely outperform those produced in other southern states and counties. As for taxation...let's bear with it at the beginning, even if we earn less, the profits later will be very objective."

"In that case, I'll proceed!" Meng Ruoying had absolute trust and confidence in Lin Zhao.

"Also, for the sake brewing, I specially hired some brewing craftsmen from Sanyin, plus some improvements from me..." Lin Zhao sighed, "The spirits brewed should be much better than the ones made before!"

"Then I'll find a place and build a workshop!"

Lin Zhao shook his head and said, "There are ready-made ones. Zhao Shiju used to have one in Yuhang County. Although it was used to hide people's eyes and ears, the contents inside are quite complete. Now it's a land without owner, hehe, we just take it over!"

"Well, there are such good things, so naturally don't miss them!"

Lin Zhaodao: "By the way, my cousin is planning to open a restaurant by the West Lake. How is it going?"

"Let's go, let's go, or I'll be bored when I'm idle!" Gu Yuelun was serious. The reason why he came to Hangzhou was more to meet Lin Zhao, and he didn't care about opening a restaurant.

"Hey, then you can do it!" Lin Zhao smiled and said, "I... order someone to make cotton-padded clothes and quilts for you!"

"Then, then we'll wait!"

Seeing the smiles on the faces of the two beauties, Lin Zhao's heart moved, and he said to make cotton-padded clothes and quilts.First of all, the most important thing is to do a set for Mu Sihong, so that she almost died and left sequelae after being injured.The doctor has already said that if the veins of the lungs are injured, the sequelae of coughing are inevitable, especially in the severe cold of winter.Therefore, the first thing that comes to mind is to keep Mu Sihong warm.

Beauty is so kind, how can I take it lightly?
Just thinking of this, Lin Zhao planned to see Mu Sihong.Unexpectedly, Guanshi Li rushed to report on the way, and Mu Sihong was packing up his things and was about to leave.

leave?Where is she going?And the injury doesn't seem to be completely healed!
Lin Zhao was in a hurry, took a walk and took two steps, and hurried into the courtyard Mu Sihong admired.

Before entering the door, I heard Yutong say: "Miss, what are we hurrying to do?"

"What are you doing here? Let's go back and forth!" Mu Sihong sighed leisurely.

"Miss, but you treat Mr. Lin..." Yutong was very puzzled by what his lady did.

Mu Sihong gently shook her head and said, "Yutong, I've thought a lot these days, and my previous thoughts were too extravagant... Mr. Lin is now the county magistrate, and he still has a title, how can I expect so much from my background?" of?"

Obviously, the sensitive Mu Sihong thinks a lot and thinks far!
Yu Tong said again: "Isn't it just that something happened to the body, why should Miss care? It seems that Lin Zhao doesn't take it seriously."

"He doesn't care, but I can't help but care..." Mu Sihong shook his head and said, "It's nothing more than a romantic world, but you know better than us what my grandparents and parents are doing. I don't want him to be punished because of me in the future." Others gossip, let alone let it become a stain on him and affect his official career..."

"Miss, but the young master seems to be interested in you!" Yutong was a little anxious. The lady has suffered a lot of grievances over the years, and now she is finally finding a good home.It will be a pity if you miss it like this.

"But he never said it... He has Miss Meng, even that Yuelun girl, who is far above me, so why make it difficult for him?" Speaking of this, Mu Sihong seemed very helpless, It seems sensitive again.After a long time, he sighed again: "Sometimes, to love someone, you don't have to be with him!"

Lin Zhao heard it clearly from outside the door, but she never expected that one of the most nonsensical fallacies in the previous life would come from Mu Sihong's mouth.

How can this be?It is a great shame for a man to make a woman so sad and tangled up.
I really blame myself for being careless when I say it, why don't I say something clearly?

Lin Zhao pushed the door open immediately, and the door opened with a bang. Mu Sihong was shocked, and looked at Lin Zhao in surprise, his eyes suddenly became a little complicated.

"Yutong, you go out first!"

Seeing Lin Zhao's solemn expression, Yu Tong stared at his young lady closely. As for what will happen next?This is unknown, but all in all, it should be a good thing.Yutong left very openly, hoping that something good would happen inside.

"Master Lin..." Mu Sihong pondered for a long time before speaking slowly...

Lin Zhao nodded lightly and said, "Are you in such a hurry to leave?"

"Master Lin...I..." Mu Sihong didn't know what to say when he opened his mouth.

"A person's dignity is given by himself. There is no need to belittle yourself. I have never underestimated anyone, especially you!" Lin Zhao said: "You were still young at that time, how could your grandparents do things like you? Left and right? As for being in the world, it is a last resort. On the contrary, for the revenge of the family, the courage to sacrifice and endure hardships is really commendable, and I appreciate it very much."

"Young master Lin...you really don't care?" Mu Sihong stared at Lin Zhao intently, trying to find the most authentic answer from his eyes.

Lin Zhao nodded lightly: "There is no doubt about this!"

"But..." Mu Sihong was very moved, but she had concerns in her heart.

Lin Zhao shook his head and said, "It's nothing but... If a man can't even protect his own woman, what face does he have to live in this world? You follow me, no one can hurt you, and no one can use you to hurt you. I'm here for everything." , what is there to worry about?"

"It was my fault that I didn't make it clear before!" Lin Zhao said sincerely, "I originally planned to wait until you recovered from your injury, but it seems that I can't wait any longer..."

"Mr. Lin..." Mu Sihong looked at Lin Zhao bewilderedly, but couldn't speak until the words came to his lips.

Lin Zhaodao: "Do you still remember the lantern riddles you gave me in Jiangning? The last lantern riddle asked me to write the answer, but I didn't write it... I've delayed it for so long, now I'll tell you!"

As he spoke, he walked to the table, took out a pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and wrote on a piece of white paper casually: Eight eyes are still rewarding, appreciating the wind, the moon, and the rainbow...

After a period of practice, Lin Zhao's calligraphy has made great progress.The words written in one line are flowing and flowing, very smooth.The content is self-evident, and the thoughts that should be expressed are already on the paper.Then he put down his pen and looked at the beauty quietly.

Mu Sihong's eyes fell on the white paper, his eyes were suddenly dim, and he couldn't help but burst into tears. He stepped forward and wrote on the paper: Ten mouths of thought, thinking of father and mother, Silin Lang!
(End of this chapter)