Chapter 166 Wuyi Mountain Black Tea
Su Ze rode a horse, led by two Changning guards, and Chen Chaoyu headed towards the Xiong family’s tea garden at the foot of Wuyi Mountain.
Wuyi Mountain is the throat from Jiangxi to Fujian. As the boundary between the two provinces, its geography is also quite important.
Su Ze was riding his horse while looking at the Wuyi Mountain Road. It was indeed an important road!
While thinking about where a stronghold could be set up and where an ambush could be laid, Su Ze took note of the terrain.
As long as Wuyi Mountain Road is controlled, it will be equivalent to blocking the passage from Jiangxi to Fujian. If Fujian is separatist and rebels in the future, then this place must be heavily guarded.
Also in a mountainous area, Heishan Village is much more desolate, but the area near Wuyi Mountain is bustling with activity.
Wuyishan Tea Garden has become famous all over the world since the Southern Song Dynasty. In the Yuan Dynasty, an imperial tea garden was established to pay tribute to the Yuan Dynasty. It is a famous tea category today.
However, the tea from Wuyi Mountain has a mellow taste, which is not consistent with the elegant taste that today's scholar-bureaucrats like. Nowadays, dignitaries from the north and south Zhili prefer Lu'an tea or Longjing tea. The emperor himself does not like to drink the tribute tea sent to the palace from Wuyi Mountain every year. , not even willing to reward the nobles, so they simply changed the tribute tea to tribute silver.
However, although it is not popular among the upper class, ordinary people still like Wuyi Mountain Tea very much.
The strong taste of Wuyi Mountain tea allows people who need to work to quickly quench their thirst after work. It also has a refreshing effect because of its high polyphenol content.
Generally speaking, the tea gardens here in Wuyi Mountain are in a state where they can neither starve to death nor make a fortune.
"Brother Su, it's not the tea-picking season yet. When the tea-picking season comes, Tongmu Town will be full of merchants." Chen Chaoyu also visited Wuyi Mountain during the tea-producing season, and he still remembers the situation at that time.
Wuyi Mountain is a large area, but there are not many places suitable for tea production, concentrated in a few towns.
Tea leaves are the buds of the tea tree that sprout between the Qingming Festival and Grain Rain, so they need sufficient sunlight.
Only gentle slopes facing the sun are suitable for growing tea trees.
Su Ze only felt that the name Tongmu Town was familiar, and he asked:
"Brother Chen, why are there so many tea merchants in Tongmu Town?"
Chen Chaoyu has been a lawyer for many years and has contacts with all three religions. He said,
"Tongmu Town is where Jiangxi entered Fujian." The throat of Jiangxi tea merchants who want to buy tea in Fujian have to pass here. Over time, tea farmers sell tea here and merchants buy tea here." Su Ze glanced at Chen Chaoyu, who was a clan brother who acted steadily
. He is very knowledgeable about the scenery and geography of Nanping County, and he is indeed a talented person.
"Not far after Tongmu Town, there is the Cai family's tea garden."
Su Ze nodded, because it was not the season for selling tea, so Tongmu Town was a little deserted, and many houses were empty. This should be the case when only merchants come. Only the house sells tea.
It looks almost like a ghost market.
Following Chen Chaoyu, Su Ze quickly passed through the town and arrived on the mountain road.
Having no choice but to dismount and lead the horse away, Chen Chaoyu pulled the reins and said, "They say tea farmers are hard-working. Just carrying camellia to the town is exhausting."
Su Ze's strength has reached 10 points, but he doesn't feel too tired. However, the mountain road is really rugged and difficult to walk.
Thinking that they would have the opportunity to build a new road in the future, the group climbed over a hill and saw a tea garden.
Neat tea trees are planted on the hillside, giving people a strong visual impact.
Tea is a treasure given to China by God.
In the 18th century, it surpassed silk and became the commodity with the largest export volume.
It is a pity that when China was declining in the late Qing Dynasty, the British stole Chinese tea seeds, tricked Chinese tea growers and tea workers into revealing their tea growing and tea making techniques, and planted tea trees in Southeast Asia.
Sri Lanka and India's tea trade quickly grew in scale, and China's tea exports have been in decline ever since.
In modern times, even Sri Lankan black tea has become an internationally renowned brand, and it can be sold back to China to harvest a wave of middle class. It must be said that it is very ironic.
Su Ze has always needed a competitive product for export.
Silk requires mulberry fields. Although Fujian also has silk, the silk industry and embroidery industry are far less developed than those in Jiangnan, and there is no competitive advantage.
Tea trade!
Chen Chaoyu took Su Ze to the tea garden. Several tea farmers stood at the entrance of the village, waiting respectfully for Su Ze.
"I've met your husband."
Everyone saluted and Su Ze nodded slightly.
Unlike the shops in the city, Su Ze did not plan to replace the people in the tea garden.
The reason is also very simple. Growing tea and making tea is a technology, which cannot be mastered by just changing people.
The manager of the Cai family's tea garden is not a member of the Cai family. The white-haired manager Zhou has been working as a tea worker here before the Cai family took over the tea garden. He has been doing this for more than thirty years now. He is a tea planter and tea maker. expert.
Su Ze heard that Manager Zhou had no bad reputation and had been managing tea gardens in Wuyi Mountain, so he decisively added money and bought a deed from the Cai family to include Manager Zhou in the family register.
Su Ze also gave Supervisor Zhou an extra monthly salary, and also gave extra money to all the tea workers who were willing to stay.
With the war and chaos these days, everyone naturally stayed.
For those who were willing to stay, Su Ze bought a deed from the Cai family.
Although Su Ze didn't like Ming Dynasty's "domestic slave" system, he had to admit that this system could indeed keep some industrial secrets.
Tea trees are evergreen trees all year round. After Su Ze looked around, his Level 5 agricultural skill could tell that these tea trees were well maintained.
Su Ze also pointed out the precautions for tea trees to survive the winter. Manager Zhou immediately understood that Su Ze was an expert in growing tea trees.
Knowing that his boss was an expert made Manager Zhou even more afraid to relax.
After Su Ze beat it for a while, he praised Manager Zhou for taking care of it well, and asked people to pay some rewards, and then a group of people started to visit the tea making workshop.
[Discover the location of the tea making workshop, where you can learn the skill 'Tea Making'. Do you want to learn it? 】
Yes.
After Su Ze chose Yes, some basic tea industry knowledge came into his mind.
Only then did he remember why the name Tongmu Town was so familiar!
Tongmu Town! Wuyishan black tea! Lapsang Souchong!
Tongmu Town is the place where Lapsang Souchong was first produced!
However, there was no Lapsang Souchong at this time, and it should be said that black tea had not yet appeared in this era.
Yes, today’s Wuyishan tea is still green tea.
The earliest black tea was produced in Tongmu Village in Wuyi Mountain, Fujian Province, but that was during the Qing Dynasty.
Listening to Manager Zhou's introduction to tea making, Su Ze was distracted and began to think.
Chinese people naturally prefer green tea, but when tea trade became the mainstream commodity in Sino-Western trade, Westerners preferred black tea.
It can even be said that it was after the invention of black tea that tea began to become a drink of the upper class in the West, becoming a top luxury product and a necessity. There are naturally differences between Eastern and Western cultures, and another reason is the issue of preservation.
After long-term sea transportation, green tea has become old tea when it is sent to Europe.
Old green tea not only lacks aroma, but also has a bitter taste, which Westerners don't like.
But black tea is different. Black tea itself is fermented tea. Long-term transportation will not affect the flavor of the tea, and even storage can increase the flavor.
Black tea is also favored by Westerners who like to add milk, fruits and sugar to their tea because of its mild bitterness, and some may also have a slight aftertaste.
In later generations, the British and the Dutch fought for a long time on the sea over the Chinese tea trade.
Making black tea and selling it to Westerners? This seems like a good idea.
Nowadays, the Spaniards and the Dutch are both wealthy people, especially the Spaniards, who have a lot of silver in their hands. The Spanish royal family is also squandering. As long as they can do their business, they can make a lot of money.
And the production process of green tea and black tea is not very different.
It is said that black tea appeared during the chaos in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.
After the young leaves of the tea tree are picked, they must be dried immediately, and then blended, fried and other processes are carried out to turn the leaves of the tea tree into tea.
During the war in the early Qing Dynasty, a group of soldiers entered Fujian from Jiangxi and stationed themselves in Tongmu Town. The soldiers looted the town and the tea factory. The tea workers did not have time to dry the tea leaves, and the tea leaves stored in dark warehouses fermented and turned black.
But the tea workers were reluctant to throw away these leaves, and still followed the tea-making process to make a black tea from these fermented tea leaves.
Unexpectedly, the tea produced in this way can produce a bright red tea soup with a rich aroma.
Tea farmers sent this black tea to Xiamen, and it soon attracted the attention of foreign businessmen. This tea was named Black tea and quickly became popular in Europe.
Of course, this is just a legend about the birth of black tea. There are many processes to actually make black tea, including how long it takes to ferment and how to handle it after fermentation. These all need to be studied.
Su Ze looked at his Level 1 tea-making skill, but it was a pity that there were no fresh tea leaves now, so he could only wait until next year's tea-picking season to develop this skill.
After inspecting the tea garden, there was indeed no problem. Su Ze personally measured the size of the tea garden, and it was consistent with the Cai family's transfer deed.
Since there was no problem, Su Ze and Chen Chaoyu returned to Nanping County, signed a transfer deed with the two sons of the Cai family, stamped the red deed at the county government office, and the Cai family's tea garden became Su Ze's tea garden.
The day has arrived on October 20th. Su Ze left the affairs of the city to everyone and returned to the guardhouse with the guards of Changning Guard.
When returning to the guardhouse, Su Ze took a trip to Eunuch Hu's mine.
After there were no mining thieves, Eunuch Hu no longer had to live a cautious life. He lived a very comfortable life during this period.
The reason for comfort is naturally because I have money.
The Prussian blue dye produced by Eunuch Hu was converted into the dyed cloth by Su Ze, and Eunuch Hu would be paid a sum of money for every foot of dyed cloth sold.
The account books are clear, and every month Su Ze will send the new account books to Eunuch Hu for review.
Eunuch Hu also didn't expect that the dyeing business would be so profitable.
Prussian blue, now called Nanping blue dye, was popular because it was not easy to fade and had bright colors. After occupying the cloth market in Nanping, Su Ze also planned to sell it to surrounding counties.
Although the current dividends are not large, they are only enough to supplement Eunuch Hu's laboratory expenses.
But if the dyeing business spread to the entire Yanping Prefecture, and even the entire Fujian, wouldn't it be a huge profit?
Once you have money, you can hand over more silver. Maybe you will have the opportunity to leave this inhospitable place?
But do you really want to leave?
When Eunuch Hu saw his laboratory and his collection of ores, he suddenly didn't want to leave.
Compared to the intrigues in the palace, life in Nanping County is much more comfortable.
If this is done in the palace, and you, Eunuch Hu, study these poisonous things every day, are you trying to murder your Majesty?
To put such a label on him, it would not be enough to punish Eunuch Hu even if he had nine clans.
You must know that the emperor Jiajing was very suspicious.
Thinking of this, Eunuch Hu also gave up the idea of returning to Beijing for meritorious service. When the time comes, he will hand over the tribute silver according to last year's amount. That way he will not be scolded and can continue to stay in Nanping for experiments.
Eunuch Hu put on a white robe. This was the experimental robe that Su Ze asked Chang Ningwei to sew. Eunuch Hu liked the design of shell buttons very much. He only needed to put on the buttoned clothes to work. When he was done, he could just unbutton them and take them off. That’s it.
The tightened cuffs will not touch the experimental utensils, making it much easier to conduct experiments than before.
Eunuch Xiaoyou was not the only experimental assistant in the laboratory. Su Ze selected some smart young people from Chang Ningwei to learn how to do experiments with Eunuch Hu and serve as his experimental assistants.
Among them, the one who satisfied Eunuch Hu the most was a child named Lin Chun.
Lin Chun was Su Ze's student at the School of Health and the grandson of Lin Xianzong, a master craftsman in the shipyard.
Lin Chun's grades in health studies were average. He was not as smart as Lin Liangjun, nor as hard-working as Lin Cainiang.
He has no talent in the Four Books and Five Classics, but he does have some talent in arithmetic.
This may be related to the fact that he is the grandson of Lin Xianzong. The carpentry work itself requires often dealing with numbers.
And Lin Chun is as careful as Lin Xianzong in doing things. This is how carpentry works. You must remember every step so that you can make no mistakes when assembling.
Now that Chang Ningwei's enlightenment in health education has been completed, Su Ze simply followed Hai Rui's example and changed the daily classes to only five days a month, and let them study at home for the rest of the time.
When Eunuch Hu needed an experimental assistant, Su Ze recommended Lin Chun to him.
Lin Chun had no talent in studying the Four Books and Five Classics in the School of Health, but he shined in Eunuch Hu's laboratory.
He is literate and has a basic foundation in arithmetic. He is also meticulous in doing things and can remember complex experimental procedures.
These are the talents of a good experimental assistant.
Eunuch Hu was very fond of Lin Chun, and soon Lin Chun surpassed Little Eunuch You, and his experimental level also increased by leaps and bounds.
Eunuch Xiaoyou himself was not interested in being a laboratory assistant. His godfather had someone to help him, so he took off his laboratory robe and got busy with matters in the mine.
The godfather is addicted to doing experiments. In fact, eunuch Xiao You is taking care of the things in the mine. Now he can concentrate on taking care of the things in the mine.
Eunuch Xiao You prefers refining minerals to making bottles and jars.
The last time Su Ze came to the mine, he casually talked about some improvements in the dust-blowing method for silver smelting, and Eunuch You started experimenting in the mine.
Sure enough, Su Xianggong's method was better. He used the ashes of calcined animal bones to separate lead and silver, which was more effective than ordinary grass ash and carbon ash.
Eunuch You saw the new process and found that the separated silver was faster and purer.
What a great scholar!
Melting point, this is the knowledge Su Ze told him. The melting points of different metals are different. This is consistent with Eunuch You's experience in the mine.
Different metals need to be calcined to different degrees to melt. Lead melts more easily than iron. This is something that everyone who works in the mines knows.
On the other hand, isn't lead water just a high-temperature solution at a specific temperature?
Little Eunuch You took out a sword embryo. In fact, his greater hobby was making swords.
In particular, the legend of Nanping's Double Swords fascinates him even more. His pursuit is to forge a famous sword that will be handed down from generation to generation!
Jiange's foreshadowing is taken back, hahaha
(end of this chapter)