On the banks of Dongting Lake, palace people were going back and forth, setting up banquets.
The saint did not escape the heat of the summer, but personally hosted a banquet to entertain the envoys who had returned from a long voyage. No one dared to ignore it.
Well, it wasn't actually a banquet, because it was already past lunch time, but there was still some time before dinner. To be precise, the saint invited the two of them to sit down and drink tea and eat some fruits and snacks. The dinner would be prepared separately.
Tea is a local specialty of Yuezhou. It has been famous since the Tang Dynasty. It was once presented to the palace as a tribute and was named "牉(yōng) Lake Containing Paste" - Dao Lake, which is now Yueyang South Lake.
This tea is quite delicious.
When Shao Shude first came into contact, he still obtained it from the imperial palace. At that time, the prestige of the Tang court dropped sharply, and its control was also severely reduced. Du Hong, the governor of Eyue Festival, sent a batch of Naohu anointed to the palace, which was very popular with the saint.
After the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty visited Luoyang, Shao Shude spent the night on the dragon bed, so of course he could drink this tea. However, he preferred Yixing Yangxian tea, so the Daohu Hangao was removed and disappeared from the palace - he used to pay tribute as a
It is a chore, but tea is really not, because the saint will praise the tea he likes to drink in public, so there is more motivation in the place.
When he came to Yuezhou today, Shao Shude recalled the past years. At the same time, he didn't mind being the spokesperson for Yuezhou's local tea, so he asked the palace officials to put away all the other teas and only drink Daohu Hangao.
It is said that when he walked around the south of the Yangtze River, he drank different tea in each place. He agreed with each place and then accepted the tea merchant's offer.
After he left, the tea merchants immediately advertised: The sage said it was good after drinking it. The implication is to come and buy it quickly. The problem is that even slightly famous tea is promoted like this, which makes people very confused. There are people with clear minds.
Just guess, how much did the saint charge?
Of course, Shao Shude could also think of this, but so what? The Hunan tea merchants jointly donated 150,000 yuan and 200,000 pieces of silk. He didn't mind helping them, so that the tea they sold in the north would be sold in the second half of the year.
It has increased significantly from more than 100,000 kilograms. Anyway, the tea industry in the north is declining day by day, with both output and quality declining. The sale of tea from the south to the north is an unstoppable trend.
"Tea with ointment -" After Shao Shude took a sip, he closed his eyes, as if thinking about it. After a while, he opened his eyes and gave an evaluation: "The sweet fragrance is not diminished by Gu Zhu."
Han Zhaoyin is thinking about his draft again, how to develop an article around this sentence.
He knew that Gu Zhu's Purple Bamboo Shoot Tea was a famous product that was presented to the palace all year round. Although the saint did not go to Huzhou this time, the Huzhou tea merchants also paid for it, which was tens of thousands more than the Hunan tea merchants.
The sage obviously had an account in his mind, so this comment is very interesting. It not only praises the ointment tea, but also vaguely praises the purple bamboo shoot tea. When writing the article, it is important to conform to this central idea.
He also felt a little emotional at this time.
The money donated from Huzhou would reach all the states in Hunan, and the tea from Huzhou was so great. He didn't dare to think about how much benefit it would bring. Anyway, as far as Hunan was concerned, Yuezhou contained cream and yellow feathers, Hengzhou and Hengshan,
The four famous brands of Langzhou bud tea and a dozen small categories of tea together only sell more than 200,000 jins a year. With such a sales volume, it is worth donating so much money, so Huzhou represented by Gu Zhu Zisun
How much does each type of tea cost per year?
In addition, tea merchants in various places are also very interesting. They use guilds as organizations to promote certain or two local famous products. After becoming famous, they will drive the sales of other second-class teas. This idea is quite good. After all, many tea drinkers
People don't necessarily know the name of the tea, they only know about a certain property, but the effect is still very good.
Zhang Yong and Wang Heizi sat opposite Shao Shude. At his signal, they also picked up their tea bowls and sipped.
"How?" Shao Shude asked.
"The fragrance is refreshing, the aftertaste is endless, the fatigue of drinking is gone, and the spirit is full. It can be called a famous tea." Zhang Yong said.
Shao Shude turned his attention to Wang Heizi again.
"No...not bad, very good." Wang Heizi said with a blushing face.
Shao Shude burst out laughing, and the others didn't smile either.
"Do they eat people and drink tea?" Shao Shude asked again.
"I have been in Dashi for several years, but there is no tea shop. In Dashi, most of the tea purchased in Persia is sold in pharmacies, and it is very expensive." Zhang Yong said: "I sent people to ask, and everyone had their own opinions. In the end,
A common usage is to drink it for people who are about to die, and it is said that it can relieve illness and pain."
"Nonsense talk." Shao Shude laughed.
Zhang Yong nodded in agreement.
"Your Majesty, before I leave Basra by boat, a local nobleman, Izmir, has opened a teahouse. It may be the first teahouse in Dashi." Wang Heizi said suddenly.
"Oh?" Shao Shude looked at Zhang Yong with questioning eyes.
"This...I don't know. Izmir did exchange ten slaves for a batch of tea. I thought he just drank it himself." Zhang Yong said with shame.
"Zhang Qing is not as well-connected as Wang Qing," Shao Shude commented.
When Wang Heizi heard this, his face lit up with joy.
Zhang Yongyong glanced at him with a trace of displeasure in his heart.
"If the cannibals can buy more tea, the country will have a lot of income, and the farmers' lives will be much easier." Shao Shude said after finishing his words.
"Your Majesty, your Majesty." Zhang Yong said before Wang Heizi could speak: "I traveled to the cities of Dashi and heard that they are home all over the world and sell goods everywhere. They are extremely rich. They spend a hundred thousand catties of silver a year on tea. What's wrong with them?
Words are worth noting."
"Their tea drinkers..." Wang Heizi couldn't help but say.
Zhang Yong glared at him quietly.
Shao Shude didn't take it seriously and said: "What Wang Qing said is true. How much tea can be sold if it is sold in a drug store? Even if it is expensive, the quantity is too small. Not to mention, this price is only for big food.
For people, the tea they buy in Daxia is not expensive, so they choose the cheapest one."
"What your Majesty said is absolutely true." Zhang Yong responded immediately.
"Your Majesty... you are truly a saint." Wang Heizi's emotional intelligence recovered slightly and he also said.
Shao Shude glanced at him and couldn't help laughing.
I remember that during the last meeting, Wang Heizi spoke respectfully. At that time, he was a little emotional. A ruthless man who had gained such a reputation at sea and who probably killed without batting an eye was also shocked when he entered the palace, which symbolizes the highest authority of the empire.
You have to be very cautious, not daring to say a wrong word or make a mistake.
After returning from this five-year voyage, his character has changed again. It seems that the previous memorial was not an exaggeration. There are too many difficulties, obstacles and even desperate situations in life. After experiencing so much, Wang Heizi's character has become very
He has become more tenacious - of course, it may also be because he is not in the palace at the moment and does not have that ubiquitous pressure.
"Eat some fruit." Shao Shude ended the topic of tea, waved his hand and ordered.
The palace attendant immediately brought over the cut oranges and sugar cane.
"Thank you for the reward, Your Majesty." Zhang Yong and Wang Heizi said in unison.
Zhang Yong is from Ezhou and knows something about Hunan.
In fact, oranges are a specialty in both Hubei and Hunan. I think back then, one of the tributes paid by Jingnan Jiedushi was oranges. At this time, the reputation of oranges in Jingzhou was much greater than that of other states in Hunan. People in Luoyang mentioned
Among the oranges on Huguang Road, the first thing that comes to mind is "Jiangling Orange", which shows how famous it is.
Hunan is still catching up, and at a very fast pace. In the Tang Dynasty, there were villages named after oranges.
Zhang mentioned in "The Joy of Entering Central Hunan for the First Time": "The journey to An'an is poor and the road to Ying is poor, and the road back to Xiangliu... Maple trees form the banks on both sides, and orange trees form islands in several places."
Du Fu's "Repaying Guo's Fifteenth Anniversary" also contains the sentence "The wind and waves are rushing on the Orange Island in Qiaokou".
At this time, there were more and more orchards such as "Orange Island" in the Xiangshui and Dongting Lake basins, and they were developing very rapidly. Many fruit farmers made a fortune from these, and the income was higher than growing food. Of course, limited by Hunan's
The population, the size of the economy, there are not enough people like this.
Compared with oranges, which have a long history, sugarcane cultivation is the credit of the Great Xia Dynasty.
Sinong Temple set up a branch in Hengzhou to cultivate new varieties, while local governments introduced varieties from other places to expand planting.
Historically, the great development of sugar cane in Hunan should have occurred in the middle and late stages of Ma Chu. According to historical records, a certain soldier in Jigoufang of Ma Chu "was good at seeding female sugar cane, and had a method of irrigating and laboring, and it multiplied and spread, so he became the top gardener."
Since he was a planting champion, there must have been a large-scale sugar cane plantation at that time, there is no doubt about this.
The so-called "child-mother sugarcane" is actually the "cane stem cutting and planting method" popular in the Song Dynasty and Yuan Dynasty. The planting level is quite high.
Shao Shude has only paid attention to the booming sugarcane planting industry in Hunan in the past two years.
To be honest, he was a little surprised. But after a trip to Changsha and an intuitive experience of the hot and humid climate here, he was completely convinced - it was so hot that it was comparable to that of Guangdong and Guangxi in later generations.
Is it a glacial climate? It’s much hotter than Hunan in the 21st century.
Hunan currently mainly grows three varieties: wax cane, Di cane, and red Kunlun cane. In the fifth year of Tongguang, Hunan white sugar has become a tribute. This may be a big problem for Hunan's sugar cane planting and sugar industry.
Promotion will also be a big blow to the beet sugar industry in the north.
There is no other reason. Hunan sugar cane poses a greater threat than Lingnan, because Hunan sugar can pass through the Xiangshui-Dongting Lake-Yangtze River-Hanshui-Tangbai River water system, then pass through the Xiangcheng Canal, and then pass through the Summit Canal.
It is transported to Luoyang through the Ruzhou water system.
The overall transportation cost is only slightly higher than that of Guanbei beet sugar - the latter is transported by water through the Yellow River, the distance is shorter and the cost is lower - but it cannot withstand the large output of sucrose. When the output is large, the production cost will be reduced.
Competitiveness will become stronger.
At present, some signs have been seen in the Luoyang sugar market. When Hunan's development deepens in the future, the impact will be further increased, and Northland will lose another financial source.
The southward shift of the economic center of gravity is actually constructed from such commodities, large or small, and it seems completely irreversible by manpower.
Shao Shude picked up the sugarcane juice that he had specially squeezed and took a sip.
Compared with the sugar cane juice of later generations, it was not sweet enough, and the gap was a bit far behind. He knew that this was due to the variety, and the sugar content was too low.
He is not so naive as to think that the sugar content of ancient sugarcane can be the same as modern times, but the difference is so big that he is still a little disappointed. Unfortunately, Tahiti is in the South Pacific, and it is impossible to send anyone there in this life.
Retrieve Tahitian sugar cane, which has the highest sugar content and has become popular all over the world.
After sighing silently in his heart, he put down the cup, glanced at Zhang Yong and Wang Heizi, and said, "Tell me about what you saw in Baghdad."