The four chimneys emitted billowing black smoke. As the boiler burned more and more vigorously, the thermal efficiency reached its highest level, and the four paddle wheels quickly rotated driven by the crankshaft.
The power gradually increased, and the paddle wheel raised a lot of water. There was a mist behind it, and even a rainbow appeared. Yang Fan's disciples all ran to watch, and they all chirped excitedly and expressed their amazement.
Black smoke coming out of the chimney is a sign of insufficient combustion. It can be seen that the combustion efficiency of the boiler is not very good. However, after all, this is an experimental product that was moved directly onto the ship, mainly to solve any problems. As for performance, that is something to pursue in the future.
As long as I can walk now, what kind of bicycle do I need? It will be good if it can be used. It's normal for it to break down halfway. Yang Fan brought the craftsman and parts with him.
Danshui has the same benefit: there is no shortage of water, and you can fetch water from the river at any time to replenish the boiler. As long as you bring enough coal, you'll be fine.
Yang Fan was very interested and personally picked up the shovel and added coal to the four boilers one by one.
Xiao Niangpi and Lin Yueru also became interested and came to add coal to the boiler. Mei Xiang saw that everyone was having fun and came to join in the fun.
As a result, all four of them had big faces.
When the four of them had finished playing and came down from the boiler, Aunt Mei asked the maid to bring water, soap and towels, dumbfounded. Wait for these four masters to wash their faces.
Aunt Mei is thirty years old this year, but she has no interest in playing anymore. However, it was very novel and very fun to ride on this kind of steam-powered ship for the first time.
Maybe curiosity is a woman's nature and has nothing to do with age.
Yang Fan and others had enough fun and went to sit on the bow of the boat. Several mahogany chairs and small tables have been placed on the bow. The wind on the river is very cool in summer, and with the pergola set up on the bow of the boat, the sun doesn't shine on it, so it's very comfortable.
Aunt Mei made Maofeng tea and served it.
Yang Fan used the lid of the bowl to skim the foam, and then took a sip.
Well, good tea, it leaves a fragrance on your lips and teeth.
What Yang Fan is most satisfied with is that after coming to Daming, all he drank was first-class tea.
The tea leaves of this era are not grafted, and there are no chemical fertilizers or pesticides. The output is low, but the quality is absolutely guaranteed.
From the year 2000 onwards, the quality of tea in later generations has deteriorated year by year. The price is getting higher and higher, not to mention that it doesn’t taste good.
I don’t know if the quality of the tea tree has declined. Or has the output increased, leading to a decline in quality. Many tea soups later become astringent as soon as they are taken into the mouth and swirled around in the mouth for a few times.
When the astringency is gone, there is still a spicy taste.
Daming tea is truly value for money, you get what you pay for. Even the worst level is much better than the average one in later generations.
Merchants in this era really pay attention to credibility. Time-honored brands are all golden signs, and there is absolutely no problem with quality.
Yang Tongzhi liked to drink tea, and the news spread. The merchants who came to Zunhua to purchase goods all brought good tea from various places to Yang Fan.
When Yang Fan worked on the construction site, the foreman was from Huangshan.
I heard from him that the locals drink Lao Mao Feng. After the last picking, the weather turned cold and there was frost, so it was possible to pick the already old tea again.
This kind of tea is very cheap locally, but unlike the ordinary Maofeng tea, it has a very thick taste. Very flavorful and delicious.
Yang Fan asked someone to get a lot of it, and he usually drinks it.
Xiaoniangpi and the others were already used to many of Yang Fan's eccentricities.
However, the master’s special hobbies seem strange, such as drinking tea from the abandoned garden. But after entering the mouth, the world effect is very good, the tea soup is clear, the taste is mellow, it is really good.
Let’s just say that this kind of Lao Maofeng does taste much thicker than the current Longjing, and it’s very delicious.
As Yang Fan sipped the tea, he thought about it. Many teas in the Ming Dynasty did not become popular. You should be able to find all the mother tea trees here. Whether it is planted here, or through vegetative propagation, the trees are tillered for modern planting. All are good and good deals.
"How many kinds of tea are there in our Ming Dynasty?" Yang Fan asked.
Xiao Niangpi put down the blue and white porcelain bowl in her hand. He tilted his head and thought for a while, then said: "Master, I haven't counted it. There are a lot of tea leaves in Ming Dynasty. There must be forty or fifty kinds."
Lin Yueru also put down the bowl and said: "I know about more than a dozen species. Mengding Stone Flower and Jade Leaf Changchun were produced in Jiannan (now Mengshan Mountain, Ya'an District, Sichuan). Guzhu Purple Bamboo Shoot was produced in Huzhou (now Changxing, Zhejiang Province) .Bijian and Mingyue were produced in Xiazhou (now Yichang, Hubei)."
Yang Fan thought that now that many good teas have not become popular, it is better to send teams to various places to first encircle some tea producing areas and valuable wild tree species that have become famous in later generations.
Yang Fan had already secretly taken some precious mother tea trees as his own. After all, this era has not yet been discovered. Among them are the six Dahongpao mother trees on the cliff of Jiulong Nest in Fujian.
These trees only produce two to three kilograms a year. It is one of Yang Fan's treasures.
Slaves born from five families and more than 30 people were specially sent to live there and guard it. This piece of barren mountains and ridges was also bought.
In addition, more than a dozen families were sent to Hangzhou to find eighteen mother tea trees in front of Hu Gong Temple at the foot of Shifeng Mountain. And spent a huge sum of money to buy it. After all, Longjing has been famous since the Yuan Dynasty.
Yang Fan originally planned to let students studying agriculture in the academy to propagate these two tea gardens. Tea gardens were opened in Wuyi Mountain and Hangzhou.
Yang Fan did not intend to sell these tea leaves in Daming, because the output was too small. In addition to drinking it yourself, it is mainly used in modern times as gifts to friends from all walks of life.
However, if various tea leaves from the Ming Dynasty can be purchased and transported to modern times, they can be sold as high-end tea. The tea business is extremely profitable.
The liar and the six girls from Xinghe Group also followed suit. As a year-end reward, they were all given a pound of Longjing tea per person.
Especially Lin Miao, the eldest lady has really seen the market. I have probably drank all kinds of good tea, but I am a person who knows the goods. Mr. Xiao Yang gave me Longjing, and I couldn’t stop drinking it after drinking it once.
Mr. Xiao Yang's good tea can't be bought with modern money. Finding a relationship is difficult, or even impossible.
What Yang Fan got over there, according to modern standards, were all special or even top quality.
And the production process is purely handmade.
Unlike modern tea leaves, which are all fried by machine, the machine for frying tea is similar to the drum for frying melon seeds. The charm and quality bonus brought by artificially roasted tea have long been lost.
In fact, they didn't know that the tea they were given was just mid-range tea from Ming Dynasty. The real top-grade and top-grade teas were all kept by Yang Fan.
Lin Miao took the tea home and brewed it. As a result, my father smelled the fragrance and drank a cup too. Then without saying a word, he confiscated the rest. Lin Miao was so angry that she didn't talk to him for a month.
"What do you think about us doing some tea business?" Yang Fan asked.
"Master, tea is monopolized by various places. We don't have tea gardens where it is produced. The purchase price is not cheap and there is no profit." Xiao Niangpi persuaded.
Now that Xiao Niangpi is the head of the family, she has inquired about all kinds of businesses very clearly. Tea is a hugely profitable industry, so she naturally has to find out.
"I don't plan to sell tea in Daming. I just want to buy it by category, package it, and ship it overseas to sell."
"Okay, this can still be done. I'll do some statistics later to see how many kinds of tea there are in the Ming Dynasty. Then we will build a tea warehouse in the new city to purchase tea from various places. We can also let merchants from various places who come to sell steel use the tea. Replacing steel, as our open-hearth steel is now in short supply, many people would be willing to do so.”
Xiao Niangpi is now getting better and better at running her own business, and she has arranged this matter clearly in just a few words. As long as it's linked to steel, you don't have to do anything. Just build a warehouse and sit on the ground to receive the goods.
Those merchants who come to buy steel are idle on the way here, so they can sell tea when they come. Trafficking in steel when I go back. There is money to be made on both ends, and they will be willing to do so.
Yang Fan nodded with satisfaction and said, "Very good, I'll do as you wish. I'll leave this matter to you. Let me know when it opens."
Tu Shanyue nodded, "The master is too busy to pay attention to such things." After explaining everything, she naturally became the hands-off shopkeeper. She needed to arrange for people to implement these things.
Yang Fan closed his eyes with satisfaction and took a nap. The tea production in the Ming Dynasty was not very high. Even if half of the production was brought to modern times, it would not be able to reach 1% of the production in the modern tea market. The high-end market is not fully filled.
The tea business has great potential.
"We'll arrive in Jizhou later. What do you want to eat for lunch?" Yang Fan asked with his eyes closed.
He was half lying on the chair, enjoying the cool breeze blowing from the river, which was very comfortable.
"Master, I want to eat donkey meat pot stickers." Xiao Niangpi said. Mei Xiang also nodded and agreed.
Donkey meat steamed dumplings are a famous dish in Jizhou. It is said that dragon meat is in the sky and donkey meat is underground. Donkey meat is so tender that after eating donkey meat, other meat becomes unpalatable.
Yang Fan likes to fry steamed dumplings in plain oil until both sides are golden, called pot stickers.
The last time he had a teppanyaki barbecue at home, Yang Fan personally fried donkey meat steamed dumplings. This delicacy called pot stickers instantly conquered the little beauties.
When I go to Jizhou this time, I naturally want to try it.
"Okay, let's have donkey meat pot stickers for lunch. Then we can borrow a pot from the store and fry them ourselves."
