At the end of February, the tea leaves are ready to be picked.
Li Changan hired thirty young and beautiful women to pick these tea leaves.
Shen Chu rolled his eyes at this and said that Li Changan was over-packaging and increasing labor costs. Li Changan rebutted Shen Chu plausibly. She was picking "pure tea" and could also provide jobs for these girls from ordinary families. It is a great merit.
After the tea leaves were picked, Shen Chu and several servants who signed the contract worked day and night to make tea, and finally drove out the first batch of tea leaves before March.
Li Changan told Pei Yun not to take out any more tea leaves except those that had been reserved.
The amount of tea produced by these thirty acres of tea fields was less than what several people had initially expected. On average, one mu of tea fields only produced less than seventeen kilograms of dry tea, and a total of five hundred kilograms of tea was produced.
Li Changan had already expected this - he only poured a little dew every day and didn't apply fertilizer. It would be strange if he didn't reduce production.
However, her tea is untainted tea, a noble tea that is bathed in the light of Buddha and not contaminated by dust. It is the Hermès of tea. The lower the output, the lower the quality. The most important thing is quality.
She wouldn't be able to sell all the five hundred kilograms of tea leaves. Li Changan separated two hundred kilograms of tea leaves from the five hundred kilograms without blinking an eyelid.
Then she used the jade boxes specially carved by jade craftsmen to pack the two hundred kilograms of tea into dozens of portions of different sizes. She put forty kilograms of them into two jade boxes, and carried the jade boxes to the Go to the palace.
It happened that Li Longji was playing chess with Concubine Wu Hui in Changqing Palace, so Li Changan no longer had to make a special trip to Xingqing Palace.
"You little bastard, where have you been running wild again?" Concubine Wu Hui saw Li Changan running into the palace in a hurry, followed by two maids holding jade boxes, so she simply put down her chess pieces and called Li Changan to her.
Li Longji could only put down his chess pieces and smiled at Concubine Wu Hui: "Could it be that you can't beat me and let your daughter cheat?"
Concubine Wu Hui gave Li Longji an angry look, "I have become a scoundrel in San Lang's words."
Li Longji laughed loudly and called Li Changan to him: "I am the only one who can bear your mother's fierce temperament... Let me guess, what is hidden in your two jade boxes is your precious tea?" "
"How did Grandpa guess it?" Li Changan opened his eyes wide and looked at Li Longji with admiration, "Could it be that my father knows the magic and can see the tea leaves through the jade box?"
The Li family recognizes Li Er as their ancestor. The Li family is more or less interested in Taoism. Li Longji's sister, Princess Yuzhen, is a female Taoist monk. Li Longji has also become interested in Taoism as he gets older in the past few years. became interested.
Therefore, it was quite useful for Li Longji to hear Li Changan's exclamation.
He pinched Li Changan's fleshy cheeks and said with a smile: "I have listened to you talking about your precious tea leaves in January. These days are the time when the tea trees are harvested. I can let you, a little stingy man, use jade boxes to store them." The treasure you hold must be your precious tea."
"Wow, grandpa is so smart!" Li Changan praised him at the right time.
Although the flattery of a six-year-old child is straightforward, it makes Li Longji feel more comfortable than the flattery of an official's concubine.
After all, Li Changan is only six years old, what kind of lie can she tell? He must have sincerely felt that he was smart and wise before he blurted out the compliments.
Li Changan followed the instructions and presented two jade boxes containing tea to Li Longji and Concubine Wu Hui, and then took out a tea can the size of a rouge box from his embroidery bag and opened it.
"These two boxes of tea are my daughter's gift to grandpa and grandma." Li Changan gracefully made a Wanfu gift, then looked up at Li Longji and Concubine Wu Hui, and said proudly.
"My tea is a stain-free tea. It is made using a new method. You need to drink it in a new way to taste the taste."
As she spoke, she asked her maid to go to her bedroom and bring her the tea set she had made earlier.
Li Longji and Wu Huifei were no longer in a hurry to play chess at this time. They looked at each other and saw curiosity in each other's eyes. They simply ordered the eunuch to remove the chessboard and watched Li Changan's busy work inside and outside.
In fact, I didn't prepare much, just a tea set and a pot of boiling water. It is much less than the piles of tea sets used by the Tang Dynasty people to make tea.
"This note is quite unique." Li Longji pointed at the small and cute porcelain pot and praised it.
Zhuzi is another name for teapot. In the Tang Dynasty, there were no purple clay teapots specially used for drinking tea. They only used large teapots and wine kettles to hold hot water. This set of tea sets was specially made by Li Changan by a craftsman. The main feature is One with good taste.
Li Changan first washed the tea set with boiling water, and while washing it, he explained to the two of them, "This is called warm cup."
Then put the tea leaves into the teapot.
"This is called throwing tea."
Pour out the tea that was poured in for the first time, "This is to wake up the tea, which is to wash the things on the tea leaves."
Li Longji watched with relish as Li Changan worked with a sullen face.
Li Changan filled the teapot with water again and nodded the tea cup up and down three times, "This is called 'Phoenix Three Nods'."
The clear green tea lay quietly in the tea cup, exuding the fragrance of tea.
"Fenghuang San nodded, this name is quite artistic." Concubine Wu Hui praised.
Li Changan smiled and pushed two half-full cups of tea in front of Concubine Wu Hui and Li Longji, looking at them expectantly: "Master and mother-in-law, have a taste. You have to take a small sip to taste the fragrance."
Concubine Wu Hui was the first to pick up the tea cup and take a sip. She raised her eyebrows and said in surprise: "It is mellow and slightly bitter in the mouth, but it is sweet when you taste it carefully. It has a Taoist charm."
Because Li Longji liked Taoism, Concubine Wu Hui also knew a lot about Taoism.
"Oh?" Li Longji also picked up the tea and took a sip, showing appreciation, "It's bitter first and then sweet. It does have a Taoist charm."
Li Changan was proud: "This is a new tea that I specially dedicated to my father and mother! The tea trees for this tea were planted by the master of Daci'en Temple. They are only irrigated with dew collected by the cardamom girl. They are not stained with a trace of dust and can be enjoyed all year round. There are literati who are reciting poems and composing poems. They have been immersed in the literary spirit all year round. This year, they did not harvest much in total. Most of the first batch of new tea made in this way are here."
The first batch of tea was only fifty kilograms in total, and the remaining four hundred kilograms were fried later. It was not considered the first batch of new tea. Li Changan's words were not a lie.
Li Longji nodded slightly and said unceremoniously: "Then I will accept these tea leaves... But I can't ask for your tea leaves in vain. I can promise you a condition. Is there anything you can ask for?"
Concubine Wu Hui's fingers holding the tea cup suddenly tightened.
Li Changan seemed not to notice the tension in Concubine Wu Hui's heart, and looked up at Li Longji, his eyes full of joy.
"Can I ask for anything?"
Li Longji looked at Li Changan for a moment, then chuckled: "What do you want?"
But there is no direct answer whether any request is acceptable.
Li Chang'an was happy. He grabbed Li Longji's sleeve and said coquettishly, "I want a big farm near Chang'an, with at least one hundred...three hundred acres of land!"
Then he glanced at Li Longji timidly and added in a low voice: "Actually, a hundred acres of land is also fine."
Li Longji raised his eyebrows: "You only want this?"
"Actually, my daughter also wants a few craftsmen and farmers." Li Changan pressed forward, his eyes full of cunning.
Concubine Wu Hui slowly sipped her tea again.
The slightly affluent ninth-rank officials can all have hundreds of acres of land in their homes, and they don't even need to be officials. There are many ordinary wealthy families who have hundreds of acres of land in their homes. Although the land prices around Chang'an are more expensive, it depends on who you are looking for...
Moreover, before His Majesty came to the throne, a group of nobles during the founding period of the Tang Dynasty were killed by Emperor Zetian, and a group of new nobles during Emperor Zetian's period were killed by Zhongzong. The remaining nobles during Zhongzong's period were killed due to Empress Wei's disaster. A group of land and manors originally belonged to those nobles were mostly around Chang'an, but now those lands and manors are in the hands of His Majesty.
Li Longji patted Li Changan on the shoulder: "You are my daughter, why are you so cowardly even asking for a Zhuangzi? The princess of Li Tang cannot be so petty..."
In the end, Li Changan received two farms, ten households of craftsmen and a bunch of rewards.
After Li Longji left, Concubine Wu Hui held Li Changan in her arms, combed her hair one after another, and asked: "Your father is so eloquent that since he promised you a condition, he can give you more than just a farm."
I would like him to give up the throne to me, but he must agree to it. Li Changan thought, when your boss says he owes you a favor, he means that he can do you a favor when you need it. If he really treats this polite words as a serious matter and imposes excessive conditions, then There is no future.
No matter what he was thinking, Li Changan's expression was particularly innocent: "But my daughter just wants a farm. I don't lack anything else. My daughter only needs a farm."
Concubine Wu Hui stared at Li Changan for a while, then smiled, stretched out her hand, took Li Changan's hand and patted it.
"My daughter is smart and like her father."
This is a very high praise. It is still the Kaiyuan period, and no one can predict the chaos in the Tianbao period. Today, Li Longji is regarded by everyone as a sage king second only to Emperor Taizong. Especially in terms of strategy, Li Longji, who helped seize the Wu Zhou regime, was able to quell the disaster of Empress Wei with only 400 people at the age of twenty-five, and who took back power from Princess Taiping after taking office, can definitely be called Li Longji. What a political genius.
In the next few days, courtiers coming and going from Xingqing Palace discovered that the saint suddenly had a hobby of drinking tea. The tea was clear and completely different from ordinary tea soup. Some favored ministers even received a few taels of new tea as a reward from Li Longji, and they were all amazed after drinking it.
Another group of official wives drank the new tea at the Shangsi Festival banquet hosted by Concubine Wu Hui and were full of praise.
In a few days, Princess Xianyi, Princess Yuzhen, King Shou, Zhongshu Ling... In short, this new tea appeared in the houses of the top dignitaries of the Tang Dynasty. These tea leaves were given to them by Li Changan through various channels, free tea leaves.
Only the free ones are given away, and the remaining ones that are not free can be sold at a good price.
The remaining dignitaries scratching their heads and wondering where the new tea came from.
The King of Chu had such a thin waist that many people died of starvation in the palace. His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty had the same brand of new tea. No minister would not want it. What’s more, now it’s not just the emperor who drinks this new tea. Princesses, princes, and first-class officials are also drinking this new tea.
This new tea is no longer tea, it is a status symbol. Is the greatest use of luxury goods to be worn on the body? The meaning of luxury goods is that as long as you carry them out, everyone will know that you are a rich person.
Although not everyone will be fooled by this kind of luxury goods, as long as a small number of people fall into this consumption trap, the luxury goods market is already huge.
The last news came from an ordinary small businessman named Zhao Cheng. It turns out that the tea leaves are all produced from the "untainted tea trees" in the western suburbs. Only high-end raw materials can produce such good new tea.
Dongshi Tea Shop is open! Each person is limited to purchase ten taels of tea leaves, the price is fixed at one tael of gold and one tael of tea, and only thirty portions are sold every day!
On March 20, it was sold out and closed. It took exactly 16 days to sell, and 300 kilograms of tea were exchanged for 4,800 taels of gold.
It was just that at this time, new tea was no longer a concern of the Tang Dynasty's dignitaries. In the court, the undercurrents that were originally hidden under the calm water gradually came to light.
