Tea Merchants of the Song Dynasty

With a creak, the first heavy door of the warehouse slowly opened in front of Jiang Yin.

Perhaps because it was raining outside, the dusty smell in the warehouse mixed with the moist wind blew towards me.

Jiang Yin squinted his eyes and stood at the door for a while before looking at the rooms on both sides.

Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the locks on both doors were not locked.

Her pupils shrank slightly, and she turned her head to Butler Zhao and said coldly, "You don't lock the door on weekdays?"

Even if the things in the two rooms outside are not that valuable, it is not a reason to leave the door unlocked.

The warehouse is where valuable or large items in the home are stored.

It is not so valuable, but it is still worth a lot compared to those placed outside. Otherwise, just put it outside in the yard or small warehouse.

"Lock, why not lock it?" Butler Zhao's voice trembled a little, and then he walked quickly to one of the rooms.

As he walked away, he muttered, "I clearly remembered that I locked the door, how come it wasn't locked?"

Jiang Yin looked up at his back without saying a word, and followed him into the room on the left.

If she remembered correctly, this room contained the daily supplies purchased by the mansion, such as commonly used fabrics, spices, and some small items.

At first glance, there was nothing unusual in the house. But if you were familiar with the things in the house, you would know that a lot of things were missing.

What was mainly lacking were cloth, spices, and some small miscellaneous items.

Those little bits and pieces are not important; what is important are the cloth and spices.

Cloth can be used as currency to exchange for other materials. Although the cloths here are not the best, they are better than nothing, so it is expected that there will be less.

But how did they move such a conspicuous item as the cloth?

Jiang Yin looked at Butler Zhao, hoping that he could give a reasonable explanation.

Butler Zhao also looked very unhappy at this time. He opened his mouth, unable to explain.

He was the only one who had the key to the warehouse, and he was also the primary person in charge. Now that there was a problem, it was understandable to look for him.

He said guiltily: "It is my fault, but please rest assured, young lady, I will investigate it immediately."

Having said that, he hurried to the door and called a guard at the gate and started questioning him in front of Jiang Yin.

However, the guard's words made Butler Zhao silent.

The guard said that someone only came on the day when the Mengshan tea was released, and no one came on other days.

The Mengshan tea in the teahouse was placed there by Butler Zhao and Zhao Xiao.

However, Butler Zhao went out for something that day.

When he came back, everyone else had already left, and only Zhao Xiao was waiting for Butler Zhao.

Zhao Xiao gave the key to the outside and the keys to the two rooms to Butler Zhao, and then said goodbye to Butler Zhao reluctantly.

Zhao Xiao is the adopted son of Butler Zhao. He trusts Zhao Xiao and therefore did not check whether there is anything wrong with the things here.

Butler Zhao's face was filled with regret. If he had known something like this would happen, he should have checked it himself that day.

Jiang Yin said in embarrassment: "Brothers have to settle accounts clearly. Grandpa Zhao, how do you think we should deal with this matter?"

According to the guards, Zhao Xiao was definitely involved in the loss of the items.

Something was lost in the warehouse, and she couldn't just let it go.

She could also report it to the police for investigation, but now was not the time.

Seeing her cold face, Butler Zhao hurriedly bowed and said, "Don't worry, young lady. I will go find that boy and ask him clearly."

At this point, he still wanted to help Zhao Xiao explain: "Zhao Xiao is a timid kid, there might be some misunderstanding here."

He had examined his adopted son before adopting him.

Jiang Yin narrowed his eyes and agreed, "Yes, Grandpa Zhao must ask him carefully. Let him explain this matter clearly so that he can clear his suspicion."

Misunderstanding? That's impossible. It all depends on how Butler Zhao handles it next.

Should you choose to cover up the crime outright, or pay the money yourself, or should you handle the matter impartially and impartially?

Jiang Yin didn’t know any of this, so he could only wait and see.

She paused and continued, "But don't worry, let's go check out the other rooms first."

If nothing unexpected happens, there will be other losses.

Butler Zhao's mouth twitched slightly, and he wanted to say something, but swallowed the words back.

He wanted to refute and explain that there was no problem with the other things, but he thought that since this house had been damaged, there might be damage to other houses as well.

So he stopped thinking and followed Jiang Yin to the house opposite.

The house opposite is filled with all kinds of tea. Jiang's family not only produces Mengshan tea, but also other ordinary teas and scented teas.

Every year, the tea made in the tea plantation is sold directly to other merchants. The remaining part will be transported to various teahouses for sale, and the other part will be stored in the warehouse in the government office and replenished on demand on weekdays.

A few days ago, the teahouse closed and the tea was sent back to the warehouse in the mansion and kept in this room.

Seeing the neatly arranged rows of tea cages, Jiang Yin wanted to let go of the worry in his heart, but he still couldn't.

A tea cage is a tea container used to hold tea cakes.

If the baked tea cakes are to be preserved for a long time, they must be placed in a bamboo tea cage, which must be wrapped with ramie leaves.

Finally, place the tea cage filled with tea leaves in a high place to prevent it from getting close to the moisture on the ground.

So, for now, these tea cages are placed on shelves to avoid being damaged by moisture.

Before Jiang Yin could speak, Butler Zhao beside her breathed a sigh of relief and said, "My dear, the tea baskets here are not missing or damaged, so there must be a lot of tea leaves as well."

Each tea cage is filled with tea. If the tea cage is disassembled, it will take a long time and be difficult to restore, which is not worth the effort.

At least, it seems that there is nothing missing now.

Jiang Yin glanced at Butler Zhao, then said to Xiao Luo and Yan Ge'er, "Open the tea baskets and see what kind of tea they are. Check every basket and separate the Mengding Shihua and Mengding Huangya."

The main teas produced by their Jiangshi Liangfeng Tea Mountain are Mengding Shihua and Mengding Huangya, and they mainly sell these two types of tea.

Of course, the tea that the imperial court monopolized was also Mengshan tea.

If we want to make up for this year's losses, we can only use the two types of Mengshan tea in stock.

As for other coarse teas made from old leaves, they are of no use.

When Butler Zhao heard Jiang Yin ask him to open the tea cage for inspection, he felt a little unhappy.

But at this moment he suddenly figured it out and saw Jiang Yin's intention, so he immediately joined in.

But imagination is beautiful. When this beautiful fig leaf is torn off, you will find that the bottom has already begun to rot.

Xiao Luo looked at two tea baskets in succession, and the expression on her face gradually became frozen and ugly.

She pursed her lips and said to Jiang Yin: "Madam, the tea in these tea baskets is not Mengshan tea. It is not even Mengshan coarse tea."