"Come from Kyoto, entrusted by a big shot, to ask for a rare tribute in the world..."
The tea room is warm, with a red clay stove boiling simple earthenware pots, and the quiet room is filled with the faint fragrance of tea. Takeda Nobuhiro stared at Morino Kiyoshi who was lying on the ground and was silent.
Obviously, the tribute gift Morino Kiyoshi asked for was to be given away. To whom? In the current situation, it is natural to give it to Ashikaga Yoshiki, who is about to take over Kyoto and take charge of the shogunate. The reason for the gift was presumably that the big shots behind Morino Kiyoshi were on the wrong team in the dispute between the general's family. In order to gain the understanding of the Yishi family, they had to do everything possible to please...
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Of course, those were the big shots in Kyoto, and they were related to the power in the world. They were not something he, a rich man from Ezo, could ridicule arbitrarily.
Thinking of this, the anger on Takeda Nobuhiro's face immediately disappeared, as if it had never appeared before. Then, he stretched out his strong hands, lifted the big businessman from Kyoto up from the floor, and spoke warmly.
"Morino Kiyoshi, I understand your purpose of coming... Come on, get up first. The soup is ready, share a bowl of tea with me!..."
After saying that, Takeda Nobuhiro looked at his son. Mitsuhiro Uyizaki looked solemn, placed the tea cup by the fire, and toasted it first. In the Katsuyamakan in Ezo, there are naturally no famous tea utensils such as "Inaba Tenme", "Yu Drop Tenme", and "Tianme", and even the fine porcelain of the Tang Dynasty is not available. The porcelain bowl in Mitsuhiro Uizaki's hands now is only coarse porcelain produced in Kanto.
"Sit and drink cold water while watching the cooking dust."
Nobuhiro Takeda looked relaxed and recited a poem by Bai Juyi as the opening ceremony. Afterwards, Mitsuhiro Uizaki carefully placed the ground and evenly ground tea powder into a tea cup, poured a little hot water first, and mixed the tea powder into a paste. Then, he held a pottery pot with a long mouth in one hand and poured a thin and steady stream of water into it. He picked up a long-handled spoon in the other hand and "swiped" it in the tea cup. Soon, pleasant tiny bubbles will appear on the tea soup. This is the technique of "ordering tea".
Kazuto's "ordering tea" undoubtedly comes from the Song Dynasty of the Celestial Dynasty. Later generations of Japanese matcha also came from this. It is now the end of the Muromachi period, and the admiration for Tang and Song culture is deeply rooted in Kazuto's heart, so much so that daily etiquette, clothing and food are all based on the customs of the Tang people. To judge the quality of tea art, one must naturally read the "Tea Classic" written by Lu Yu in the Tang Dynasty.
"Okay! 'Wander around without moving, there is no trace of water on the cup', the tea and water are blended together, the wall of the cup is clean... Guang Guang's tea-ordering technique can be used even in Kyoto!"
Morino Kiyoshi sat and watched, then laughed and admired. Mitsuhiro Uyizaki's tea-ordering technique is dignified with a solemn posture and a steady hand. This tea-ordering skill has truly reached the level of the guest. But if it were placed in Kyoto...the tea people in Kyoto can use tea balls to create different patterns and patterns, just like the descriptions in the famous paintings of the Song Dynasty...well, similar to the latte art of later generations.
Hearing Morino Kiyoshi's compliment, Mitsuhiro Uyizaki's face lit up, while Nobuhiro Takeda's expression remained unchanged and he shook his head slightly. He has seen a lot, not to mention the tea people in Kyoto, even those tea people from Kamakura in Furukawa's official account are two levels higher than Mitsuhiro.
Of course, samurai did not rely on tea art to make a living. They only used this elegant hobby to gain a good reputation and serve as a channel to get close to their superiors and colleagues.
After the tea soup was ordered, Nobuhiro Takeda looked calm and hummed again.
"Wuyou holds a bowl and sends it to tea lovers..."
Mitsuhiro Oyezaki held the tea soup in both hands and respectfully handed it to the two people sitting across from each other. The two of them stopped drinking in small sips and finished a cup of tea. They felt refreshed and warmed up all over.
The climate in Ezo is cold and there is no good tea. This group tea was brought from the Kinki area when Matsushita Shojiro made a deal with Katsuyamakan last time. But the good thing about Tuancha is that the requirements for tea quality are not that high. And Morino Kiyoshi asked for help, with a smile on his face and a drunken and comfortable expression on his face.
After drinking this cup of tea, the atmosphere between the two returned to that of close friends. Takeda Nobuhiro smiled slightly and asked.
"Morino Kiyoshi, I wonder what kind of gift the person behind you wants?"
"Well... the tenth shogun who is about to succeed, Ashikaga Yoshizai, is 23 years old at the time. He is young and energetic, and he likes horses and good horses the most... The grand palace who is about to succeed, Ashikaga Yoshiki, is a prolific poet and wine drinker, but a little lacking in health. We need nourishing elixirs...and the general's mother, Mrs. Ryoko, and the general's wife, the daughter of Hosokawa, may like expensive furs. The more beautiful and rare they are, the better!..."
"Horse, tonic, fur..."
Hearing this, Takeda Nobuhiro thought for a moment and nodded. He was generally sure. Although Ezo is bitterly cold, it is connected to Katashima and the Kuril Islands, connecting the vast far north. Through the Shantao trade, he did have trade relations with the Ewenki tribes in the northwest continent and the Kamchatka tribes in the far north snowfield.
Among them, there are wild Jurchens, big Jurchen horses, Sakha horses, and Yakut snow horses, all of which are far better than the domestic horses in China! The Jurchens, Sakha people, Sauron people, Yukargir people, Jilyak people... are all located in the vast mountains, forests and snowy fields, and produce the best ginseng, deer antlers and bear paws, all of which are good nourishing products. The ginseng in it is far better than that of Korea, and it is the best for replenishing the body.
As for the exquisite furs, Takeda Nobhiro thought about it. The bear skins in the hands of the Ayinnu people were useful for keeping warm, but not exquisite. The truly exquisite ones have to be seen in the far north!
Sables, arctic foxes, arctic wolves, sables, stoats, beavers, sea otters in the mountains, forests and snowfields... Among them, the fur of sable and arctic fox is the most precious because of its pure and luxurious color. The fine fur is better than the skin of a girl. And the feel is the most amazing!
"Well... In this case, we have to take the initiative to send people to go to the far north and make a full circle... But it will take more than a year to complete this circle..."
Takeda Nobhiro thought for a while and felt somewhat confident. There are also some better fur herbs in the Shengshan Pavilion, and the Jurchen horse he rides is always stronger than the similar treasures in Kyoto, and can be used as a guarantee. Thinking of this, he asked with a confident smile on his face.
"Morino Kiyoshi, my old friend. I do have some ideas for the gifts you mentioned! But, how sincere can the big shots behind you be?"
After hearing Takeda Nobuhiro's words, Morino Kiyo suddenly beamed with joy. As long as the other party is sure to do it, the huge wealth in his hand, as long as there is a little leakage, will be numbers that the other party has never seen before!
Thinking of this, Morino Kiyoshi stood up straight and promised with a smile.
"Xinguang Gong, my old friend! Just tell me, no matter what you want, even if it's thousands of stones of rice, hundreds of pieces of silk weaving, or even a hundred pairs of armors and weapons, I won't frown!"
"Thousands of stones of rice and grain, a hundred bolts of silk weaving, plus a hundred pairs of armor and weapons?"
Upon hearing such conditions, Mitsuhiro Uizaki's face lit up with joy, and his breathing quickened slightly.
In the He Kingdom, one stone of rice weighed about 230 kilograms. According to the living standards of Heguo farmers, 1.25 kilograms of rice, plus various wild vegetables, kelp, leaves, and insects can survive for one year. Thousands of kilograms of rice grain is enough for eight hundred people for a year. At this time, silk fabrics were very expensive. The top-grade silk fabrics were brought by Tang Dynasty ships from the Ming Dynasty, while the lower-grade silk fabrics were imitated from the Kyoto area. One piece of silk fabric was worth a year's salary of a samurai, and in this remote northern land, it was even more. As for the last hundred pairs of armors and weapons... Before the industrial age, unlike other Central American tribes, the Kingdom of China did not lack iron! The quality of the iron ore found throughout the island is very high. Kaga Country, controlled by Omi merchants, also has many famous blacksmith towns...
In other words, this astonishing wealth in the eyes of Uyizaki Mitsuhiro, in the eyes of the great Kyoto businessman Morino Kiyoshi, is indeed something he won't frown upon if he takes it out!
Hearing this, Nobuhiro Takeda lowered his eyes to cover up the ups and downs of emotions in his heart. The various kingdoms in Ezo under his control only had four to five thousand koku of land, three to four thousand territorial citizens, and two hundred semi-full-time samurai. To him, the wealth Morino Kiyoshi promised was equivalent to the output of the fiefdom for two years! But his wealth and knowledge are naturally deeper and broader than those of his son who grew up in Ezo.
Takeda Nobuhiro's expression remained unchanged, with a slight smile on his face. He smiled and took a sip of tea. He was not in a hurry to negotiate terms, but instead asked about another matter.
"Morino Kiyo, my old friend. I remember you mentioned Tang Ship before, and you bought a lot of Ming Dynasty books. You must have a deep understanding of Ming Dynasty affairs..."
"Since the generals have changed, the shogunate has changed like this, and behind you, there are Omi's business group and the important figures of the Miao Court... So now, do you also want to get involved in the joint trade between the shogunate and the Ming Dynasty?"
