Tea Merchants of the Song Dynasty

The tea in the tea cage was not Mengshan tea. This news exploded in Jiang Yin's mind.

She was horrified, but also felt that she had expected it. When she heard that someone had approached Manager Cao to buy old tea, she knew that this matter would not end well.

Jiang Yin took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down, and then ordered: "Open them all and check."

She just didn't believe that not a single basket of Mengshan tea was left for her. At least those that were originally stored in the warehouse should have survived.

The only ones that could be successfully replaced were those that were moved from the teahouse. Butler Zhao trusted Zhao Xiao, so he did not check whether the tea in the tea cage was Mengshan tea.

The task of moving the old tea from the teahouse to the warehouse in the mansion was led by Butler Zhao and Zhao Xiao. Only one of them could do this.

Of course, it is possible that other people in the teahouse were also involved. Otherwise, why would those tea masters stay indoors?

Butler Zhao lowered his head and continued with the work in his hands without saying a word.

No matter what, he has lost all his face today.

All the teas he had just seen had been replaced, and he knew the consequences of not finding Mengshan tea.

Butler Zhao had a gloomy look on his face, as if he had not expected Zhao Xiao to be so bold as to replace all the Mengshan tea.

Jiang Yin glanced at him, then silently began to check the tea cage.

Fortunately, after a while of busy work, they found out that only the tea moved from the teahouse had been replaced.

The other Mengshan tea originally stored in the warehouse remained intact and safe.

As for the teas that were exchanged, there was black tea produced in Yazhou, as well as ordinary tea produced in other places. In addition, there was another kind of tea that she had never seen before.

Among these types of tea, apart from the black tea which is also produced in Yazhou, there is another type of tea that she has never seen before.

Jiang Yin was puzzled by the strange arrival of this large amount of tea.

Xiao Luo glared at Butler Zhao, then looked at Jiang Yin worriedly and said, "Madam, what should we do?"

Receiving Xiao Luo's eyes, Butler Zhao was not angry, but said bitterly: "It's my fault, young lady, I didn't manage this family well."

He handed the key in his hand to Jiang Yin respectfully and said, "Young lady, take back the key. I have no face to manage this family if I don't find the lost things. When the lost things are found, I will do whatever you want, whether you want to beat me or scold me."

He wanted to quit his job as a housekeeper, but he was too embarrassed to do so since he hadn't recovered his things.

Jiang Yin hesitated for a moment, then reached out to take the key, and said, "Grandpa Zhao knows what the Mengshan tea in stock means to the Jiang family. I hope Grandpa Zhao will find the Mengshan tea at all costs."

She pursed her lips and said seriously, "If I can't find it within three days, I will report it to the authorities.

This year, all Mengshan tea is sold to the government. Grandpa Zhao should know that if you don’t pay in full, the government will not let you go.”

Instead of asking the emperor to personally pay attention to Jiang, it would be better for her to use ruthless means now and force Butler Zhao to retrieve the tea.

The tea-horse trade has not yet opened, so the tea may still be in Yazhou City.

After all, the Ancient Tea Horse Road was not easy to travel. For the small amount of tea she had lost, it was not worth it for anyone to take the risk of traveling all this way.

Besides, now that tea is transported along the Ancient Tea Horse Road, the target is very conspicuous. Even if she doesn't pursue it, the Tea Horse Bureau and the government will.

Selling contraband tea and exchanging tea for horses privately is a capital crime!

Butler Zhao's body stiffened slightly, and his entire back slumped, as if he had suddenly aged ten years.

He hunched over, bowed respectfully and said, "Yes, young lady, don't worry!"

After he said that, he hurried out in the heavy rain. Now he had to go out even if he didn't want to.

Xiao Luo asked in confusion: "Madam, are we not going to check the three rooms inside?"

If there is anything missing, let’s go find Butler Zhao together.

"Check, why not?" Jiang Yin walked out with the key in hand, "Let's go and take a look."

However, if her guess was correct, the things inside were probably not lost.

This is indeed the case. Only the two rooms outside are unusual, while everything in the three rooms inside is still there.

It was already dark when Jiang Yin finished checking the warehouse. He packed up a portion of each of the several types of tea that had been replaced and took them away.

In addition, she also asked Xiao Luo to pack some more tea that she had never seen before.

Moreover, she strengthened the security of the warehouse. No one was allowed to enter without her permission.

After returning to the room and changing clothes, Jiang Yin spread black tea and another kind of tea on the table and boiled water to make a cup for each.

These Yazhou black teas are crude, different from the refined black teas that Jiang’s family usually sells.

The rough processing of black tea is usually done by tea farmers. After cutting the tea leaves, they are fried and rubbed on the same day, and then spread out for drying and rubbing on the next day. Then the tea is put into treading bags for treading, and then dried in the sun, and then sold as raw tea. ??

The refined black tea sold on the market is made by tea merchants themselves, from raw tea to refined black tea.

After tea merchants purchase raw tea, except for Maojian and Yazi, all other teas need to be colored, that is, the raw tea is fermented and turned into dark brown.

This process takes more than 20 days, and the vegetables must be dried to 80% to 90%.

After being selected, the dry tea leaves are divided into tea stems, refined tea and fine tea. The tea stems are then added to the tea leaves for mixing.

After the tea leaves are piled up, they are packed into bags and then put into the steamer for steaming for a while. After being pressed into shape, they are wrapped with butter paper.

Each package of coarse tea contains four steamers, and each four large steamer weighs four pounds. Each package of fine tea contains sixteen steamers, and each steamer weighs one pound.

After each large steamer or sixteen small steamers are combined, they are wrapped in butter paper, tied with bamboo strips, and put into bamboo bags for transportation, storage or sale.

As for refining and packaging, different tea merchants have different methods, and Jiang's is no exception.

The Jiang family would also buy rough black tea from tea farmers, then refine it according to their own unique techniques and sell it.

Jiang Yin took a sip of the brewed black tea. It tasted neither astringent nor bitter, but had a sweet aftertaste. However, because it was crudely made, the taste was not as good as the black tea sold by Jiang's company.

Then she turned her attention to another kind of tea.

The tea has a slightly curled shape, like a sparrow's tongue, with silver hairs showing through. The color is yellow-green and moist, with golden fish leaves.

After brewing, its soup is clear with a slight yellowish color. Take a sip, the taste is fresh and strong, with a sweet and mellow taste, and the bottom of the leaves is tender yellow.

Jiang Yin frowned slightly. The taste and appearance of this tea seemed like a combination of Mengding Shihua and Mengding Huangya.

Could it be that someone has created another kind of tea based on Mengding Shihua and Mengding Huangya?

She was a little unsure, so she turned her head and said to Xiao Luo: "Xiao Luo, try this tea. Do you think it's different?"

Maybe it was just her illusion.

Xiao Luo picked up the teacup she handed her and took a sip, then another sip.

He put down the cup only after he had drunk half a cup of tea, staring at the tea leaves in the cup strangely.