Wentang

Chapter 490 Tea Trading
In the early days of the founding of the Great Heavenly Dynasty, the capitalists wanted to 'teach' the rabbit a lesson and let the rabbit know who is the father, so they set off an economic war, including the 'war of two whites and one black'.

So the rabbit mobilized two whites and one black from all over the country to enter the magic city, and the selling price was cheaper than the purchase price of the capitalists, so the capitalists knelt down and called Grandpa Rabbit.

The situation that Datang is facing at this time is similar to that of rabbits. Grain merchants control grain sales, use locust plagues to frighten the people, and use the illusion of limited sales to create grain shortages to raise grain prices... It can completely learn from the methods of rabbits at that time.

However, we can only learn from it and not copy it. After all, we face different situations.It also costs capitalists to pay workers wages and stockpile goods. If the goods are overstocked for a long time, they will lose money.

Therefore, as long as the rabbit mobilizes resources from all over the country to make the goods in the hands of capitalists unsold, the battle will be won.

But now it is the Tang Dynasty, and what they have to deal with is the grain merchants. If you mobilize grain from a large area across the country, I will not raise the price at all. You can make money by selling it at a par price.

It doesn't even matter if I close the door for three to five months, and I can't lose money.Anyway, I only have three to five days' worth of grain in my grain store, so I won't be able to transport it into Beijing from other places, what can I do?

It's just that simply mobilizing grain from all over the country to Beijing can only stabilize the price of grain, but it can't teach the grain merchants, and what Li Shimin has to do now is to teach the grain merchants a lesson.

So this plan still needs to be changed. As for how to change Yueshan, he already has an idea.

So I talked to Li Shimin in this way, Li Shimin was overjoyed when he heard it, and said:
"Okay, okay, I will order the auxiliary machine to cooperate with you, and Dai Zhou, Huangshang, and Dizhou Navy are also at your disposal. You must teach them a lesson and help me get out of this bad breath."

"Here." Yue Shan said.

"Well, now tell me what you came to see me for." Li Shimin said.

"Saint, look at this thing first." Yue Shan untied the small bag hanging from his waist, and took out two things from it.

Li Shimin first picked up the small glass bottle, looked around and smelled it, and said, "Is this tea?"

"Correct."

"Why did you make the tea leaves like this?"

"This is a brand-new way of drinking tea, and the tea must be specially made." Yue Shan explained the principle of roasting tea and making tea.

Li Shimin was also interested, and said: "Zhao Meng, make a pot of tea according to what Qing Shuihou said."

"Here." Zhao Meng took the tea and backed out.

As for why he didn't make tea on the spot... I can only say that Zhao Meng knows how to behave.

The food given to the emperor must be tested for poison first. Although everyone understands this truth, it is inevitable that the gift giver will feel a little uncomfortable in front of the interview.

If it is an ordinary courtier... Well, an ordinary courtier is not qualified to send food to the emperor.Anyway, if you know how to be a human being, you should take the things aside and serve them after testing the poison, so as to save face for everyone.

Zhao Meng took the tea leaves down to make tea for this reason, he will definitely let people test the poison, Yue Shan also knows.But behind the scenes, his face is not ugly, but he will thank Zhao Meng for taking care of him.

Soon a pot of hot tea was brought in, still brewed in a glazed pot.

The stretched tea leaves in the teapot floated in the light green tea water, which was very beautiful, and Li Shimin's interest was also aroused.

Zhao Meng poured two glasses, one for Li Shimin and one for Yue Shan.

Li Shimin didn't drink directly, but looked at Yue Shan, not because he didn't trust Yue Shan to let him test poison, but because he was not familiar with making tea, so he asked him to demonstrate.

Yue Shan picked up the cup tactfully and took a sip lightly, only then he followed suit and took a sip too.Then he frowned, this stuff is not as delicious as imagined.

However, he did not express his opinion in a hurry but took another sip. This time he did not swallow it in a hurry. He put it in his mouth to feel the taste carefully, and then swallowed it lightly after a while.

Now he finally felt the difference in order, and said: "Yes, it is bitter first and then fragrant, especially after drinking, there is a lingering aftertaste in the mouth, not bad."

"It's different from brewing tea, but it's easier to quench your thirst than brewing tea, and you can drink it when it's cold." Yue Shan said.

"The most important thing is the word convenience. It is too troublesome to make tea and you have to drink it right away. It's nothing to do when you are resting. It's too urgent when you are on the march or when you are in a hurry." Li Shimin commented:
"But this kind of fried tea is also convenient to carry and brew. You can drink a small bag and a pot of hot water at any time."

Li Shimin's evaluation is quite pertinent, but there is one thing he didn't mention, that is, seasoning is needed to make tea.

"To the rich and powerful, this seasoning is nothing, but to ordinary people, it is a terrible thing." Yue Shan said:

"So I have a long history of drinking tea in the Central Plains, but it has not been popular among the people. The common people can't even eat salt, so where can they get seasoning to make tea?"

"There is no such concern in fried tea. Five or six leaves can make a pot of tea and drink it for half a day. In the future, ordinary people can also afford tea."

"Of course, the most important thing is that tea can lower blood fat and blood pressure, refresh the mind, and long-term drinking can also reduce the probability of stroke, and it also has the effect of degreasing and other aspects."

"For those nomadic tribes in the north and west that eat meat as their staple food, tea is a panacea. In fact, someone has discovered this before. The reason why the tea trade has not flourished is that it is too troublesome to make tea."

"Now that we have fried tea, we can sell tea all over the world, and then we can earn as much money as silk and porcelain."

Li Shimin was elated when he heard that, and laughed loudly: "I said you, Yue Cuilan, are not the one to be charmed. It is not that simple to bring tea into the palace. Sure enough, you have opened up another source of income for the imperial court."

Yue Shan said with a smile: "The original reason for making fried tea is not like this, I can only say that this benefit is only incidental."

Li Shimin asked curiously: "Oh, then why do you fry tea?"

"Disease prevention." Yue Shan told Yue Shan about the voyage and scurvy.

"So that's it. I didn't expect Yuanhang to be more dangerous than imagined. If Cui Lan didn't remind you, Yuanhang fleet would be in danger." Li Shimin said in a deep voice.

"There is nothing in this world that is not dangerous. Drinking water may choke to death. It is because of these brave warriors who are not afraid of danger that our Tang Dynasty can be as strong as it is today." Yue Shan said.

"You're right, you can't shrink back because of danger, you have to go forward bravely, but you can't treat those warriors badly." Li Shimin said seriously:
"Now the imperial court does not come forward. In this way, you reward the selected warriors in the name of Dizhou and Dizhou Navy, and tell them that I will personally honor them after returning to Beijing." Li Shimin said.

"Here, on behalf of the officers and men of Yuanhang, thank the sage for his kindness." Yue Shan said solemnly.

Li Shimin nodded, then turned his attention to another thing wrapped in paper, and asked, "What is this?"

"brick tea."

(End of this chapter)