My life skills in Daming Liver

Su Ze rode a horse and took two guards of the Changning Guards, and together with Chen Chaoyu, they headed towards the Xiong family's tea garden at the foot of Wuyi Mountain.

Wuyi Mountain is the throat of Jiangxi into Fujian. As the provincial boundary between the two provinces, its geography is also very important.

Su Ze looked at the Wuyi Mountain Road while riding a horse, it really was the right way!

While thinking that a stronghold could be set up here and an ambush could be set up here, Su Ze took note of the terrain.

As long as the Wuyi Mountain Road is controlled, it is tantamount to blocking the passage from Jiangxi to Fujian. If there is a rebellion in Fujian in the future, then this place must be heavily guarded.

It is also a mountainous area, the Black Mountain Village is much more desolate, but the vicinity of Wuyi Mountain is very lively.

Wuyishan tea gardens have been famous all over the world since the Southern Song Dynasty. The Royal Tea Garden was established in the Yuan Dynasty to offer tea to the Yuan court. It is a famous tea category today.

However, the tea taste of Wuyi Mountain is mellow, which is not in line with the elegant taste that scholars and bureaucrats like today. Nowadays, dignitaries in Zhili in the north and south prefer Lu’an Pian or Longjing tea. The tribute tea that Wuyi Mountain tributes to the palace every year is not liked by the emperor himself. , 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 Wuyishan tea very much.

The strong taste of Wuyi Mountain Tea allows those who need to work to quickly quench their thirst after busy work, and because of the high content of tea polyphenols, it has a refreshing effect.

Generally speaking, the tea gardens on 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. Tongmu Town will be full of merchants during the tea-picking season." Chen Chaoyu also visited Wuyi Mountain during the tea-producing season, and he still has a fresh memory of the situation at that time.

Wuyi Mountain is not a small area, but there are not many places suitable for tea production, concentrated in a few towns.

Tea leaves are the tender buds of tea trees that bud out between the Qingming and Grain Rains, so they need sufficient sunlight.

Only gentle slopes facing the sun are suitable for planting tea trees.

Su Ze only felt that the name Tongmu Town was familiar, so he asked:

"Brother Chen, why are there so many tea merchants gathered in Tongmu Town?"

Chen Chaoyu has been a litigator for many years and has contact with all kinds of schools and schools. He said:

"Tongmu Town is the throat from Jiangxi to Fujian. Jiangxi tea merchants have to go through here when they want to buy tea in Fujian. Over time, tea farmers sell tea here, and merchants buy tea here."

Su Ze glanced at Chen Chaoyu. Chen Chaoyuan was a stable elder brother who was very familiar with the landscape and geography of Nanping County. He really was a talent.

"Not far from Tongmu Town is the Cai family's tea garden."

Su Ze nodded, because it was not the season for selling tea, Tongmu Town was a little deserted, and many houses were empty. It should be that these houses only sell tea when merchants come.

It's almost like a ghost city.

Following Chen Chaoyu, Su Ze quickly passed through the town and came to the mountain road.

Having no choice but to get off the horse and lead the horse, Chen Chaoyu pulled the reins and said, "It is said that the tea farmers are suffering, and it is exhausting just to carry the camellia to the town."

Su Ze's strength has reached 10 points, so he doesn't feel too tired, but the rugged mountain road is really not easy to walk.

Thinking of having a chance to rebuild the 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 bestowed by God to China.

In the eighteenth century, silk surpassed silk and became the commodity with the largest export trade volume.

It's a pity that when China declined in the late Qing Dynasty, the British stole Chinese tea seeds, bewitched Chinese tea farmers and tea workers to reveal tea planting and tea making techniques, and planted tea trees in Southeast Asia.

Sri Lanka and India's tea trade quickly formed a scale, and China's tea exports have not recovered since then.

In modern times, even Sri Lankan black tea has become a well-known international brand, and it can be sold back to China to harvest a wave of middle-class people. It has to be said to be very ironic.

For a long time, Su Ze needed a competitive product for export.

Silk needs mulberry fields. Although Fujian also has silk, the silk industry and embroidery industry are far less developed than Jiangnan, and there is no competitive advantage.

Tea trade!

Chen Chaoyu brought Su Ze to the tea garden. Several tea farmers stood at the entrance of Zhuangzi, waiting for Su Ze respectfully.

"Meet my 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 skill, which cannot be easily mastered by just changing people.

The manager of the tea garden of the Cai family is not from the Cai family. The white-haired manager Zhou has been working as a tea worker here before taking over the tea garden from the Cai family. He has been doing it for more than 30 years now. expert.

Su Ze heard that Guanshi Zhou had no bad reputation and had been managing tea gardens in Wuyi Mountain all the time, so he decisively added money, bought a deed from Cai's family, and included Guanshi Zhou's property in his family register.

Su Ze also added monthly money to Manager Zhou, and added money to all the tea workers who were willing to stay.

In these years of chaos, everyone naturally stayed behind.

Su Ze bought a deed from the Cai family for those who were willing to stay.

Although Su Ze didn't like Daming's "domestic slave" system, he had to admit that this system could indeed keep some industrial secrets.

Tea trees are evergreen trees. After Su Ze looked around, his Lv5 agricultural skills could tell that these tea trees were well maintained.

Su Ze also pointed out the precautions for tea trees to survive the winter, and Zhou Guanshi immediately understood that Su Ze was an expert in planting tea trees.

Knowing that his boss is an expert, Zhou Guanshi is even more afraid to relax.

After Su Ze tapped, he praised Steward Zhou for his well-managed work, and asked someone to send some rewards, and then a group of people began to visit the tea-making workshop.

[I found the tea making workshop where I can learn the skill 'tea making', do you want to learn it? 】

yes.

After Su Ze chose yes, some basic tea industry knowledge flooded into his mind.

He just remembered why the name Tongmu Town is so familiar!

Tongmu Town! Wuyishan black tea! Lapsang Souchong!

Tongmu Town is the place where Lapsang Souchong was first produced!

However, there is no Lapsang Souchong at this time. It should be said that black tea has not yet appeared in this era.

Yes, Wuyishan tea is still green tea now.

The earliest black tea was born in Tongmu Village, Wuyi Mountain, Fujian, but that was in the Qing Dynasty.

Listening to Zhou Guanshi's introduction to making tea, Su Ze's mind wandered and began to think.

Chinese people naturally prefer green tea, but when tea trade became the mainstream trade between China and the West, Westerners preferred black tea.

It can even be said that tea began to become a drink of the upper class in the West, and it became a top luxury and just-needed product after the invention of black tea.

Naturally, there are cultural differences between the East and the West, and another reason is the problem of preservation.

Green tea has been transported by sea for a long time, and it has become old tea when it is sent to Europe.

Aged green tea not only lacks aroma, but also has a bitter taste, which is not liked by Westerners.

But black tea is different. Black tea itself is fermented tea. Long-term transportation will not affect the flavor of the tea, and even cellaring can increase the flavor.

And black tea is also loved by Westerners who like to add milk, fruit and sugar to their tea because of its light bitterness and some will have a slight aftertaste of sweetness.

Later generations, the British and the Dutch fought over the sea for the trade of Chinese tea.

Make black tea and sell it to Westerners? This seems like a good idea.

Now the Spaniards and the Dutch are rich, especially the Spaniards, who have a lot of silver in their hands, and the Spanish royal family is also profligate. As long as they can do business with them, they can make a lot of money.

Moreover, the production process of green tea and black tea is not very different.

It is said that the appearance of black tea was when the world was in chaos in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.

After the young leaves of the tea tree are picked, they should be dried immediately, and then kneaded, fried and other processes are carried out to turn the leaves of the tea tree into tea leaves.

During the chaos of the early Qing Dynasty, a group of soldiers entered Fujian from Jiangxi and stationed in Tongmu Town. The soldiers looted the town and the tea factory.

But the tea workers were reluctant to throw away these leaves, and still followed the tea-making process to make these fermented tea tree leaves into a kind of blackened tea.

Unexpectedly, the tea produced in this way can brew bright red tea soup, and the tea leaves have a strong fragrance.

The tea farmers sent this black tea to Xiamen, which quickly 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 still many processes in the real production of black tea, how long to ferment, and how to deal with it after fermentation. These all need to be studied.

Su Ze looked at his Lv1 tea-making skill, but it was a pity that there were no fresh tea tree leaves now, so he had to wait until next year's tea-picking season to acquire this skill.

After inspecting the tea garden, there were no problems. Su Ze personally measured the size of the tea garden, and it was consistent with the transfer agreement of the Cai family.

Since there was no problem, Su Ze returned to Nanping County with Chen Chaoyu, signed a deed of transfer with the two sons of the Cai family, and signed a red deed in the county government. The tea garden of the Cai family became Su Ze's tea garden.

The day has come to October 20th, Su Ze handed over the affairs of the city to everyone, and returned to the guard with Chang Ningwei's guards.

When returning to the guard, Su Ze stopped by Eunuch Hu's mine.

After there were no mine thieves, eunuch Hu no longer had to live cautiously, and he lived very comfortably during these days.

The reason for the comfort is naturally because of the money.

Su Ze converted the Prussian blue dye produced by Eunuch Hu into the dyed cloth, and would pay Eunuch Hu a sum of money for every foot of dyed cloth sold.

The ledger is clear, every month Su Ze will send the new ledger to Eunuch Hu for review.

Eunuch Hu didn't expect that the cloth dyeing business would be so profitable.

Prussian blue, now called Nanping blue dye, is popular because it is not easy to fade and bright in color. After occupying the cloth market in Nanping, Su Ze also plans to sell it to surrounding counties.

Although the current dividend is not much, it is only enough to subsidize eunuch Hu's laboratory expenses.

But if the cloth dyeing business extends to the entire Yanping Prefecture, and even the entire Fujian Province, wouldn't it be a big profit?

If you have money, you can turn in more money, maybe you will have a chance to leave this place where no shit?

But do you really want to leave?

When Eunuch Hu saw his laboratory and his treasured ore, he suddenly didn't want to leave.

Compared with the intrigue in the palace, life in Nanping County is much more comfortable.

If you do this in the palace, you eunuch Hu studies these poisonous things every day, is it to murder the emperor?

With such a hat on, eunuch Hu has nine families and is not enough to punish him.

One must know that the emperor Jiajing is very suspicious.

Thinking of this, Eunuch Hu also gave up the idea of ​​returning to Beijing after making meritorious service. When the time comes, the tribute silver will be handed over according to the amount last year, so that he will not be scolded, and he can continue to stay in Nanping for experiments.

Eunuch Hu put on a white robe, which was the lab robe that Su Ze asked Chang Ningwei to sew. Eunuch Hu liked the design of shell buttons very much. He just needed to put on the clothes and button them up to work, and he unbuttoned them and took them off when he was done. That's fine.

The tightened cuffs will not touch the experimental utensils, and it is much more convenient to start experiments than before.

Eunuch Xiaoyou is not the only experimental assistant in the laboratory. Su Ze selected some smart young people from Changningwei to learn how to do experiments with Eunuch Hu and serve as his experimental assistants.

Among them, Eunuch Hu was most satisfied with a child named Lin Chun.

Lin Chun is Su Ze's student in Wei Xue and the grandson of Lin Xianzong, a shipyard master.

Lin Chun's grades in health studies are mediocre, not as smart as Lin Liangjun, and not as hardworking as Lin Cainiang.

He has no talent in Four Books and Five Classics, but he has some talent in arithmetic.

This may be related to the fact that he is the grandson of Lin Xianzong. Carpentry work itself often deals with numbers.

And Lin Chun is as careful as Lin Xianzong in doing things. Carpentry work is like this. You must remember every step, so that you can make no mistakes when assembling.

Now that Changningwei's health enlightenment has been completed, Su Ze simply followed Hai Rui's example and changed the daily class 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 didn't have much talent in reading the Four Books and Five Classics in Wei Xue, but he shined brilliantly in Eunuch Hu's laboratory.

He is literate, has a basic foundation in arithmetic, does things in a rigid manner, and can memorize complicated experimental steps.

This is the talent of a good experimental assistant.

Eunuch Hu loved Lin Chun very much, and soon Lin Chun surpassed Little Eunuch You, and his experimental level also rose by leaps and bounds.

Eunuch Xiaoyou himself was not interested in being an experimental assistant, so his godfather got help, so he took off his lab coat and got busy with the mine.

Godfather is obsessed with doing experiments, and eunuch Xiaoyou is actually taking care of the affairs of the mine. Now he can concentrate on taking care of the affairs of the mine.

Compared with bottles and jars, eunuch Xiaoyou prefers refining ore.

The last time Su Ze came to the mine, he casually talked about some improvement details of the ash blowing silver smelting method, and Eunuch You began to experiment in the mine.

Sure enough, Su Xianggong's method is better. Using the ashes of calcined animal bones to separate lead and silver is better than ordinary grass ash and carbon ash.

Eunuch You saw the new technology, and sure enough, the separated silver was faster and purer.

Scholars are amazing!

Melting point, this is what Su Ze told him. The melting points of different metals are different, which is consistent with Eunuch You's experience in the mine.

Different metals need to be calcined to different degrees to melt, and lead melts more easily than iron, as all mine workers know.

In turn, 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 is making swords.

Especially the legend of the Nanping twin swords fascinates him even more. His pursuit is to forge a famous sword handed down from generation to generation!

The foreshadowing of Jiange is withdrawn, hahaha