A few days later, Zhou Jun was adjudicating the case in the capital and received a letter from Bachuan, saying that Kong You, who was purchasing new tea, was on his way and would be back in Bieyuan soon.
After receiving the letter, Zhou Jun first speeded up and finished the work at hand. Then, taking advantage of the ten-day break, he asked Member Wei for a day off, making it two consecutive days off, and hurried back to Bachuan Villa.
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After entering the Villa, Zhou Jun didn't even have time to go to Pang Gong. He went back to his small courtyard first. Accompanied by Kong You, he went to the back compartment to check out the newly purchased tea.
Most of the tea produced around Chang'an is green tea. The tea purchased by Kong You is flat, round, uniform and of high quality.
The most important thing is that during the transportation, Kong You used a bamboo plaque as a support and covered it with gauze to maintain ventilation, prevent the tea from growing mold, and lock in the freshness of the tea to the maximum extent.
Zhou Jun smiled and nodded to Kong You and said, "Well done."
Kong You cupped his hands and said, "If the master is satisfied, you will feel at ease."
Zhou Jun said: "We have been running all the way, Bo Hong should go and rest first."
Kong You responded, turned and left.
Zhou Jun said to Hua Yue again: "Please put the pots and pans first. I'll go to Pang Gong's place and I'll be back later."
After leaving the small courtyard, Zhou Jun came to Pang Gong's house, and after being informed by Yu Ping, entered the study.
In the study, Pang Gong saw Zhou Jun, nodded and said, "You came back just in time. We originally wanted to write to you."
Zhou Jun saw Pang Gong's serious face and stood beside him.
Pang Gong said: "A few days ago, Li Linfu wrote a letter saying that he wanted to come to Bachuan for a visit."
Zhou Jun was stunned after hearing this.
Pang Gong added: "At the end of March, the nine surnames in Mobei attacked the Turkic Khanate. The Baimei Khan was beheaded and thousands of Turkic nobles were captured."
"Shuofang Jiedushi Wang Zhongsi has reported to the palace that he wants to capture the nine heroes and offer them as prisoners in Chang'an."
After hearing this, Zhou Jun vaguely understood, thought for a while, and asked Pang Gong: "But there is a letter in the palace that the saint wants to make Wang Zhongsi become a general?"
Pang Gong nodded slightly: "Not bad."
Zhou Jun knew clearly that what Li Linfu feared most at the moment was probably Wang Zhongsi becoming prime minister.
Because Wang Zhongsi was born in the Tenth Prince's Palace, he was a fake son of a saint, and he had great achievements and had a good relationship with the prince. Once this person entered the court and became the prime minister, plus Li Shizhi, Wei Jian and others, Li Linfuzhen would be besieged on all sides.
Pang Gong's face was full of worries: "Once Wang Zhongsi becomes the prime minister, the power of the prince will be unstoppable. I am afraid that the situation in the court will be like a mortise and tenon, and it will no longer be possible."
Zhou Jun stood there but thinking about another thing.
If Wang Zhongsi really becomes the prime minister, then he, who is familiar with local affairs, should be well aware of the dangers of Hu generals in feudal towns, but it is a good thing for the Tang Dynasty.
In this way, I no longer have to work hard to deliberately get on Li Linfu's line.
Pang Gong added: "On the ten-day holiday tomorrow, Li Linfu will go to Bachuan, and Erlang will also come to the banquet to accompany him."
Zhou Jun listened and responded.
After leaving Pang Gong's yard, Zhou Jun returned to his residence. Seeing that Huayue had prepared the stove and pots, he gathered his thoughts and started frying tea.
Compared with frying black tea, white tea and dark tea, frying green tea is relatively simple.
According to "Cha Shu", the process generally only includes four steps: screening, fixing, spreading to dry, and drying.
The first screening is to use a mesh bamboo sieve to screen the freshly picked tea to remove broken leaves and other foreign matter.
The second finishing step is to place the three pots on the stove and grill them.
Pour the fresh tea into the first pot first, use a tea broom to stir-fry in the pot over a slightly higher fire. When the leaves are soft and dark green in color, remove from the pot and pour into the second pot.
The fire in the second pot is slightly weaker. The main purpose is to continue to kill the tea leaves and start rolling the tea. Use the tea broom to keep rotating in the pot, roll it into strips, shake it off, and repeat the process.
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In the third pot, the fire is the lowest. Use a tea broom to continue kneading the tea leaves, and stir-fry until the ropes are tight and thin, the aroma of tea comes out, and it is about 30 to 40% dry, then it is ready.
The book is written like this, but the original text of "Cha Shu" does not include details such as temperature, time, stir-frying, rotation speed, shaping, etc.
Zhou Jun could only keep trying pot after pot based on this record.
Huayue first selected a batch of fresh tea, then poured it into the pot. Zhou Jun added some firewood and began to stir-fry with a tea broom.
A few minutes later, Zhou Jun lived up to expectations and finally cooked the first pot of tea... until it became mushy.
Looking at the dark pile of tea leaves coming out of the pot, Hua Yue looked at Zhou Jun with a little doubt in her eyes.
Zhou Jun scratched his head and deliberately lowered the firepower this time. He poured some fresh tea into it and started to stir-fry. Unexpectedly, it took a while, because the fresh tea leaves were tender and the firepower was too small. During the process of friction with the wall of the pot, Zhou Jun scratched his head.
In the middle, the stress-bearing structure could not be maintained, and most of them were broken and folded, turning into broken tea.
Zhou Jun was annoyed, threw the tea broom into the pot, held his chin and started to daze.
Seeing this, Huayue picked up the tea broom, glanced at Zhou Jun, and said, "Aunt Gongsun asked you to practice martial arts before, but you refused to practice. Why are you so sulky now?"
Zhou Jun asked curiously: "What is the relationship between tea frying and martial arts training?"
Hua Yue: "After listening to the "Tea Book" you memorized and watching your demonstration just now, I probably know the trick."
After saying that, Huayue poured some fresh tea into the first pot and started to stir-fry.
Zhou Jun looked towards Huayue and saw that when she was frying tea, her upper body and arms remained motionless, only her wrists and fingers were moving flexibly.
The fresh tea in the pot makes a rhythmic rustling sound as she sweeps it, like a school of fish circling in the deep sea, as if it is alive and constantly turning around.
The other hand of Hua Yue sometimes took out the firewood from the stove and sometimes added it, with skillful movements and no hesitation.
A few minutes later, the first pot of green tea came out of the pot, and the leaves were soft and dark green, just like what "Tea Shu" said.
Seeing Hua Yue pour the green tea into the second pot and continue frying, Zhou Jun asked in surprise: "How did you do that?"
Without stopping, Huayue replied: "If the tea in the pot is compared to the leaves in the wind, then the tea broom in my hand is a sword."
"Rather than frying tea now, it's better to say that I'm fighting the wind with my sword."
Zhou Jun was amazed and asked: "What's the temperature?"
Huayue said: "People who practice martial arts have sensitive six senses and can detect subtle changes. My hand is hanging on the pot and the hot air is steaming, so I can naturally detect small changes in temperature."
"If the fire gets bigger, I'll add more firewood. If the fire gets smaller, I'll add more firewood. That's it."
Zhou Jun was amazed after hearing this. He didn't expect that his martial arts skills could be used to make tea.
After working for almost two hours, the fried tea leaves were gradually brought out of the pot and placed on the bamboo mats spread to dry.
Smelling the fragrance of tea in the air, Hua Yue took a long breath and asked Zhou Jun: "When can I make a drink?"
Zhou Jun said: "Let it dry overnight and wait until tomorrow. Then use the sun to dry the moisture, and then you can put it away for storage."
Huayue: "Then you can drink it?"
Zhou Jun shook his head and said: "After collecting it, it needs to be kept for half a month. Because the new tea soup tastes bitter and the aroma is not mellow, and drinking too much will hurt the spleen and stomach. After half a month, you will feel better if you drink it again."
Next chapter
This chapter has been completed!