Gaozong and Empress Wu originally intended to visit Luoyang, the eastern capital. Later, under Li Xian's promotion, the process was naturally accelerated. After intensive preparations, Gaozong and Empress Wu finally arrived in Luoyang in July of the first year of Longshuo.
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As the most favored prince between Gaozong and Empress Wu, and also the only prince accompanying Luoyang this time, Li Xian was naturally treated differently. Originally, according to Gaozong's arrangement, he was placed in Zhenguan, where Empress Wu lived, in the harem.
The Lijing Hall at the lower end of the east side of the palace is well-defended and has convenient transportation. It is also convenient for communicating with Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu. It was originally the residence of Empress Wu's favored daughter, or the female elders in the palace. This place would have been used by someone else.
, it was a coveted treasure land, but Li Xian reported to Gaozong and Empress Wu that he was willing to live in an ordinary royal residence outside the palace so that he could learn Buddhism from Xuanzang at any time, which frightened Gaozong and Empress Wu who were already suffering from headaches.
The uneasy Empress Wu prayed for blessings. The Empress was moved by Li Xian's filial piety and immediately ordered all princes' residences in Luoyang City to be chosen by him, and assigned one hundred people from the left and right camps to guard the safety of the princes' residences. At the same time, Gaozong ordered
The king of Zhou opened his palace and established his cabinet. It was not until this time that the officials in his palace actually took office.
Naturally, Li Xian could not refuse the emperor's kindness, so he thanked Gaozong and Empress Wu respectively, and then was ordered to leave the palace and live in Gao Shilian's former residence in Jishanfang. At the same time, he declined Gaozong's request for large-scale renovations.
The good intentions of the house were said to be frugal and to bring good fortune to the emperor and empress, but in fact they were naturally intended to earn fame for oneself.
Although reputation is worthless, it was much more important than money in ancient times. In some cases, it couldn't even be bought with money. Accumulating more is naturally beneficial and harmless.
The most important thing is that Li Xian is just an ordinary prince now. He has Crown Prince Li Hong above him, and below him there is Prince Lu Li Xian. On the surface, he is rarely interested in government affairs, and he doesn’t read much poetry and books. His age
He was small, so that he would not arouse Empress Wu's suspicion, which made Empress Wu turn a blind eye to his little trick of accumulating fame.
Li Xian was naturally happy with this image formed in the eyes of Empress Wu, and continued to take his next move in the name of filial piety.
On the second day after moving into the palace, Li Xian led only a few personal followers and hurried to the Shaolin Temple a hundred miles away.
At this time, Xuanzang, who had been pardoned by the Holy Spirit, had already moved to Shaolin Temple from Chang'an. Although the relationship between him and Li Xian was mostly cooperative, and the relationship between master and disciple was only superficial, Xuanzang was still grateful that Li Xian could solve his big problem.
, so he also led his disciples and joined the team greeted by Shaolin Abbot Zhishan.
Although it was not the imperial chariot who came this time, after all, Li Xian was the prince, and with the title of Luozhou Mu, the nominal highest official of Luoyang County, the abbot of Shaolin could not help but welcome him personally.
"Old monk Zhishan has met the king."
"Master Abbot, why do you need to be so polite? Xiao Wang is a disciple of Master Xuanzang, and he is a junior of the master. The master is like this, but he is embarrassing the juniors." Li Xian saw the abbot of Shaolin, with his snow-white beard, kind eyebrows and kind eyes, looking like an eminent monk.
There was no trace of tackiness in his image, and I couldn't help but feel good about him. In addition, this time I was asking for something, so naturally I didn't dare to accept the gift calmly, so I quickly returned the gift and said gently.
"Old monk thanked the king." Zhishan did not lose any courtesy because of Li Xian's words. His face was as calm as water, and he clasped his hands to Li Xian, and then let Li Xian and Xuanzang into the abbot's room, but Li Xian's
The attendants were blocked from the abbot's room. Although these attendants were reluctant, they did not dare to act wild in the Shaolin Temple. After all, this place had been granted the title of Emperor Taizong Wen by the late Emperor Taizong, and he had specifically issued an edict to allow the temple to be visited.
There are five hundred monk soldiers in the armed forces. If they act recklessly here, they will not only be taught a lesson by the monk soldiers, but they will also be punished by the Holy One after they return.
After the three of them sat down, Zhi Shan ordered someone to offer boiled tea for Li Xian and Xuanzang to taste.
"Ah, what kind of tea is this? It's simply hard to swallow." Li Xian originally thought that this should be the kind of fragrant tea that later generations would drink. Since the tea is the other party's collection, it should at least be West Lake Longjing and Biluochun.
, the best thing like Tieguanyin, the worst thing is a cup of light chrysanthemum tea, right? But I didn’t expect that this so-called good tea is actually a hodgepodge with a slightly astringent flavor of tea, which also contains the spicy flavor of ginger and Sichuan peppercorns.
, the sweet aroma of jujubes, cinnamon, orange peel, the cool flavor of mint, the milky aroma of cheese, etc. This strange taste made it difficult for him to swallow it. If it weren't for the two eminent monks standing by, he might not have been able to eat it.
I had spit it out a long time ago, and even if I haven't spit it out now, the expression on my face is extremely ugly.
Although the expressions of the two eminent monks remained calm, the playful look in their eyes made it obvious that they were interested.
"Xuan Zang is fine, he is my master after all, but the abbot of Shaolin is so old and not familiar with me, why would he tease me like this?" Li Xian couldn't help but feel confused, but after taking a look,
The two eminent monks in front of them, seeing that their expressions were not entirely mocking, lost their minds for a moment.
At this time, I heard Master Zhishan say slowly: "Amitabha, Your Majesty, you must be uncomfortable with this tea, right? You need to know that things in this world are full of mixed flavors. Sometimes it is just like this tea. Only when you drink all the flavors in the world can you know the Buddha
The Tao is supreme."
After finishing speaking, Master Zhishan slowly took a sip of tea, as if aftertaste.
After listening to the abbot's words, Li Xian seemed to have some understanding, but he couldn't save face for a while. He was tricked by the other party and was defeated easily. How could he have the face to ask for help in the future?
"No, I must regain my face and turn defeat into victory." Li Xian thought for a moment and then asked: "May I ask Master Abbot, is all the tea in my temple like this?"
This time it was Zhishan's turn to be surprised. Without even thinking about it, he smiled and said: "Not to mention our temple, but also everywhere in the Tang Dynasty, the taste is like this, but the tea drinking trend is all in Jiangnan.
It is also popular in Buddhist temples in the north of China. Of course, among the common people in Jiangdong, when the dignitaries and celebrities drink tea, they also add pork and suet fat."
"Pfft..." After listening to what the abbot said, Li Xian finally couldn't help but spit out the sip of tea (more specifically, it should be called tea syrup) that he had not yet swallowed. He coughed a few more times and then stopped.
He said with a smile: "Little Wang was rude just now. I hope Master Abbot won't take offense. But Xiao Wang is really curious. What's wrong with a cup of tea? Why does it have such a bad smell?"
This time, not only Zhi Shan, but also Xuanzang could not help but be surprised. The two eminent monks asked in unison: "What is tea?"
To be honest, although the "tea syrup" they drank helped to refresh themselves, they didn't really like the strong mixed flavor in their hearts. Naturally, they were looking forward to something that could both refresh themselves and suit the taste.
New products come out.
Li Xian was startled when he heard this. It seemed that he had just failed to care. It must be that the Qing tea of later generations had not yet appeared at this time, so even these two well-informed monks had never heard of the name Qing tea. However,
This is actually an opportunity for me. If I can create the Qingcha of later generations, not only can I become famous in the upper class society, but it can also be an opportunity for me to become a disciple of Shaolin.
Fortunately, although Li Xian was a tomb robber in his previous life, he preferred ancient and arty styles, and he also had some knowledge of tea ceremony. Although he was not even a superficial tea ceremony master, he was now able to deal with the two people in front of him.
An eminent monk.
However, Li Xian was not in a hurry to show off his special skills. He thought about it for a moment, then smiled and said to the abbot: "Xiao Wang just has an occasional idea, so he can give it a try, but if Xiao Wang is lucky enough to succeed, and
The tea I made can barely get into the mouths of the two of you. I wonder if the master abbot can agree to Xiao Wang's request?"
Although Zhishan did not dare to look down on Li Xian, he was only a six-year-old child after all. Even if he was smart, how capable could he be? In addition, he thought that with Li Xian's status, what big things could he ask for? Zuo
It was just to do rituals and recite some scriptures, so after thinking about it for a while, I readily agreed.
Xuanzang, who was standing by, naturally knew that the matter was not as simple as it seemed. Zhishan must have fallen into Li Xian's trap this time, but Li Xian was his disciple after all, and what he did did not break the agreement between them.
So he didn't say a word to remind him, he just looked at Zhishan with some sympathy.
When Li Xian saw Zhishan agreeing, he was not polite. He asked for tea cakes and other utensils, went to the water boiling room, and started making tea.
I saw Li Xian break the tea cakes into pieces, put them in a jar, and then bake them on the fire. After drying them, he crushed the tea cakes with medicine. Then he sieved the crushed tea leaves with shilla.
Only the fine powdery tea leaves are left.
"In this case, wouldn't the tea leaves be melted into the water, and wouldn't we want to drink the tea into our stomachs? However, we have no disease or disaster, so why do we use tea as medicine?" Master Zhishan looked at this series first.
His mind was full of doubts, but it was not easy to disturb Li Xian, so he had to look at Xuanzang with questioning eyes.
"Master, why are you doing this? You will know after just looking at it." In fact, Xuanzang didn't know what Li Xian was going to do, but he was calmer than Zhishan. After listening to what the other party said, he just said lightly.
Seeing this, Zhishan had no other choice but to wait quietly for Li Xian's next performance.
I saw Li Xian personally pouring water into the pot, and then began to boil the water. After it boiled for the first time, he added a little salt, and then boiled it for the second time. He scooped out a ladle of boiling water for later use. At this time, he added tea powder, and when it boiled for the third time, he would just boil it.
Pour in the ladle of boiling water and immediately instruct the monk standing by to remove the tea from the fire.
In this way, the tea was boiled. Li Xian poured the tea into three prepared cups, and ordered the monks to bring the three cups of tea to the abbot's room. Then he opened the lid and said with a smile: "The tea has been fried."
OK, two masters, please."
The two eminent monks looked at each other and picked up the teacups at the same time. They smelled a fragrant fragrance that refreshed their hearts and spleens. After taking a sip, they suddenly felt the fragrance on their tongues and praised in unison: "It's really a good tea."
"Haha, Xiao Wang is really unworthy of the two ridiculous compliments. However, since Xiao Wang was lucky enough to succeed, I would like to ask Master Abbot to honor what he said before." Li Xian was not pretentious, and saluted Master Zhishan with clasped hands, and then smiled lightly.