In the twelfth lunar month, the sun shines brightly for many days in a row, which is very rare.
The entire Lishan Mountain has long been covered with withered grass and dry trees. The cold wind is blowing by, and the snow in the shade of the ravines is sending out a bone-chilling chill.
In the greenhouse, it was as warm as spring.
Lu Dongzan was wearing a brocade robe, which looked a little swaying over his thin and dry figure. The wrinkles on his face seemed to be deeper than a year ago. Even his smiling expression made people feel a little gloomy and simple, but The whole body is dressed in Han Chinese attire, but it is always more pleasing to the eye.
At this moment, the wisest man in Tibet, with his hands behind his back, followed Fang Jun, watching Fang Jun lead the old people with rich farming experience in the village to place green sprouts in the pots on a hot bed in the corner of the greenhouse. The crops were carefully dug out, and then planted into the furrows that had been dug up, with a distance of about six or seven inches between the plants.
When the entire greenhouse is full, a valve at the corner of the greenhouse is lifted. The hot spring water that has cooled for a while has a suitable temperature and flows into the ditch along the stacked water channels.
"What is this?"
Lu Dongzan looked at Fang Jun's careful and protective look, and always wondered whether it was some kind of Ganoderma lucidum that went down like this?
Fang Jun glanced at him, washed the dirt off his hands in the waterway, and said casually: "It is a plant discovered by the navy overseas. It can produce green fruits, which will turn red when mature. hot!"
"Very spicy?"
Lu Dongzan's eyes lit up and he was quite interested.
Tubo is located on a plateau, with high mountains and clear clouds, and an extremely cold climate. Therefore, the diet pays attention to oil and meat, and the taste is very strong. The spicy flavor can take out the coldness in the body very well, so it is very popular. It's a pity that spicy plants are too rare, and most of them are not suitable for the climate and soil of Tubo.
Fang Jun straightened up. A servant had already wiped his hands with a towel on the floor. Seeing Lu Dongzan's interested expression, he thought for a moment and said, "The prime minister is here to attend the Zhengdan Dynasty meeting. He has to celebrate the New Year before leaving, right?" In this case, let's keep it for a few more days. The pepper will mature in about two months. At that time, I can bring some seeds to the Prime Minister and bring them back to Tubo for planting, which can be regarded as a small benefit to the people of Tubo."
Lu Dongzan, however, remained cautious: "Isn't it like highland barley wine, like poisonous wine that people have to drink even though they know it's poisonous?"
At present, the whole of Tubo is in a mess due to the highland barley wine.
This kind of wine is simple to make, clear and tastes very good. Not only the Tubo people like to drink it, but also the Tang people. Even those highland barley wines packaged in exquisite jars can be served at the banquets of Chang'an dignitaries, and are even more popular among literati and poets. sought after.
A highland barley wine brought a lot of money income to Tubo, and all the brewing workshops made a lot of money.
However, the consequence was that Tubo's food supply was greatly reduced...
Tubo has a cold climate and barren land, and its food mainly consists of highland barley. Everyone knows that highland barley wine is profitable, so why not flock to compete to make it? Even if Zanpu issued orders repeatedly to strictly control the scale of highland barley wine brewing, it would not work.
Those nobles had long been dazzled by the strings of copper coins. They followed Zanpu's orders on the surface, but secretly continued to gather highland barley and increase the scale of brewing.
Now in Tubo, the price of highland barley is five times that of last year, and the only food available on the market is the grain shipped from Datang...
The lives of the Tubo people seem to be getting better day by day, because the highland barley produced at home can be sold at a high price, and the rice and corn of the Tang Dynasty can be purchased at a much lower price. The nobles all make a lot of money from the highland barley wine, and their family wealth Doublers abounded, and Zamp's coffers gradually became richer because of more and more taxes.
Lu Dongzan's earliest ideal seems to have been realized. The number of deaths among Tubo people due to hunger has reached an all-time low, but he cannot be happy...
The most important lifeblood, food, was therefore controlled by the Tang people. Once the Tang emperor coveted the land of Tubo and launched a war, the first priority would be to cut off the transportation of food. Would the brave Tubo warriors have to go hungry to resist the Tang army's attack? ? Or, slaughter the war horses under your crotches and use them as army rations?
Fang Jun glared and said, "You're so good after getting a bargain, right? At first, I had to beg you hard for him to come up with the secret recipe of the highland barley wine. Otherwise, if I had organized the brewing myself, the profit would have been at least ten times what it is now!" Anyway, I have fulfilled my duty as a landlord and treated you as a friend, do you want this Chili Love!"
Then, he walked out of the greenhouse waving his hands.
Chili peppers cannot be eaten as food. They can dispel the cold but cannot directly improve the combat effectiveness of Tibetan soldiers. The most important thing is that they consume more land. Tubo is bitterly cold and the land is barren. In these days, without chemical fertilizers and the like to conserve the soil, planting one crop of peppers a year on a piece of land would basically be useless.
However, for the people in cold and humid places, peppers are simply a treasure given by God. Once eaten, it is difficult to get rid of them...
If more peppers were planted on Tubo's already poor land, the national power would be reduced by another 10%.
It seems insignificant, but this drop, that drop, and the drop comes and goes. I don’t believe that Tibet can come down from the plateau like it did in history and cause so much trouble to the Tang Dynasty...
However, Lu Dongzan was not fooled by Fang Jun's behavior and said cautiously: "You have to wait until you are mature and try it first..."
As the prime minister of Tubo, this man is a wizard. When he needs to be tough, he can smash his head against a stone. When he needs to be soft, he can kneel down and call daddy.
Fang Jun looked back and sighed: "He is indeed the wisest man in Tubo. He is smarter than a monkey if he touches hair."
Lu Dongzan's face darkened and he said displeasedly: "I have traveled thousands of miles to visit Erlang, but I encountered such harsh remarks. Isn't this the way to treat guests? Let's have hot pot for lunch. Slaughter the fattest sheep and serve with it. If I buy the fine wines from your house, maybe I will forgive Erlang for his rude words!"
Fang Jun's face darkened, and he said helplessly: "Are you here to fight the autumn wind?"
Lu Dongzan was not reserved: "The food in Honglu Temple is really unpalatable."
Fang Jun was speechless...
*****
He was a guest from afar. Although Fang Jun did not welcome the Tibetan Prime Minister very much, he still needed to treat guests well. At noon, he entertained the Tubo Prime Minister in a house guarded by greenhouses. .
After entering the house, several maids from the Fang family cleaned the floor, put a pot of mountain spring water on a small red clay stove, and then started preparing lunch.
Fang Jun asked Lu Dongzan to take a seat, but he didn't take a seat. He just sat cross-legged casually on the smooth floor. There was obviously a fire dragon burning underground, and the floor was warm and comfortable to sit on. Fang Jun took a jar under the coffee table, scooped out some bright green tea leaves with a wooden spoon and put it into the teapot. After the mountain spring water in the pot boiled, he opened the lid and let it dry for a while, then poured the water into the teapot.
As the mist of water vapor rises, a refreshing and timeless fragrance of tea ripples.
Fang Jun held the teapot in one hand and poured tea into the two black pottery hat cups in front of him. He gestured to Lu Dongzan and said, "Please."
Lu Dongzan picked up the black pottery teacup and took a sip. The hot tea boiled in his mouth a few times, and then he slowly swallowed it. A light but meaningful sweetness filled his mouth, and the bottom of his tongue was filled with saliva.
He drank a cup of tea in three sips and sighed: "Erlang knows that today's Tubo nobles are addicted to tea. One pound of tea of this grade is enough to exchange for ten yaks. In the beginning, tea flowed into Tubo. It was only used as a status symbol and was spread among the nobles. But slowly, people discovered that this kind of tea can remove greasiness and reduce constipation, and it has become a necessity of life. However, there are mountains and forests between Tubo and Datang. They are densely covered, and there are several large rivers running across them. The roads are not smooth and the transportation is inconvenient. Very few of these teas flow into Tubo, which has caused the current price to be more expensive than gold, making it beyond the reach of many people. Erlang is really a good trick, but this is it. Tea alone can make huge profits in Tubo every year. If you add in the Turks and the Western Regions, in less than three or two years, tea alone will be enough to make Erlang richest in the world."
Nowadays, tea has long been popular in the Western Regions. Almost all countries, nations, and tribes that mainly eat meat regard it as a gift from God.
The long-term use of meat makes the body strong, but it also causes various diseases to occur frequently due to poor digestion, especially constipation, which has been a stubborn disease that has plagued the barbarian tribes for thousands of years. However, under these leaves, it disappeared collapse.
This made Lu Dongzan more and more in awe of Fang Jun. He looked like a dandy, but in fact, all his methods were unpredictable. Under ordinary operations, he could often achieve unexpected results. , can be called a strange person...
Fang Jun also admired Lu Dongzan's vision.
Historically, the tea trade began in the Song Dynasty, and gradually became an important pillar of the empire's finances, alongside silk and porcelain. It was popular in the East and West for more than a thousand years, and even once caused the world-famous Empire on which the sun never sets due to its huge trade deficit. Not hesitate to start a war...
At present, tea has just come out and has not yet made much profit. Lu Dongzan can see through the glorious future of tea at a glance. This kind of vision is rare in the world.
Fang Jun said playfully: "If the Prime Minister wants it, from now on, the tea trade in Tubo will be in the hands of the Prime Minister. How about that?"
Instead of being happy, Lu Dongzan said with a bitter smile: "Erlang, don't try to harm me..."
