In the following days, Yinzhen and Jinxi, accompanied by Weng Zhaorong, selectively visited several Longjing tea mountains that produce high-quality tea. They were also guided by Luo Wanquan, an experienced tea-making master.
A gradually declining Longjing mountain.
According to the tea master, the location of this hilltop is excellent. However, because the owner of the tea garden does not know how to adapt to local conditions and make proper use of it, or he wants to save costs and is unwilling to invest, the tea harvested in each period is always low.
If it was hastily speculated, the sales situation would not be very good. Over time, it would become a vicious circle, leading to the current almost dilapidated situation.
Yinzhen climbed to the top of the mountain for some on-the-spot investigation. The location of Longjing Tea Mountain, about two miles southwest of West Lake, is really good. It faces the West Lake to the east and is surrounded by mountains on three sides. The top of the mountain is surrounded by fog all year round, with abundant moisture and abundant rainfall.
, with sufficient light. It is completely in line with the excellent growth environment of Longjing tea, "the mountains drink from the West Lake, and the mist grows in the Longjing tea". If managed properly and cooked with skill, the cultivated land will surely produce excellent tea.
Therefore, after descending to the foot of the mountain, Yinzhen nodded and decided that the top of Longjing Mountain, which he was looking for a buyer to sell because there was no market, would be his first tea garden.
Before the evening of that day, we successfully negotiated the purchase and sale price of this tea garden for 3,500 taels of silver. It included the entire hilltop of about a hundred acres, thousands of tea trees that had been planted for many years, basic tea-making equipment and
A simple shelter.
Afterwards, Yinzhen asked the tea-making master to make a list of new tea-making utensils that needed to be purchased, and sent Qi Si to the surrounding markets to purchase and order them. At the same time, he asked Qi Wu to accompany the tea-making master to find skilled construction workers.
, planning to demolish and rebuild the old teahouse at the foot of the mountain.
He took Jinxi, accompanied by Weng Zhaorong, to the trafficker to select a group of employees who would stay in the tea house in the future. As for the other tea-making masters, Yinzhen gave Luo Wanquan the authority to select people.
He invited a few colleagues he trusted to come over to help. As for the salary, it was naturally much higher than before. Luo Wanquan naturally went about it happily.
In Hangzhou, there are quite a few tea farmers like Luo Wanquan who have several tea trees at home and mainly produce and sell themselves, supplemented by making tea for others. Now I see the Caobang leader recommending them to be polite and respectful to the person in front of them, and to advance and retreat in a measured manner.
The aristocratic young man works, not only the salary is attractive, but there are also holidays, big and small, and the salary is doubled for working on holidays. More importantly, at the end of the year, if the tea garden's performance is good that year, they, the managers, and the workers will all
There is a huge bonus and if you don’t accept such a good job, what are you waiting for!
No. Luo Wanquan took four consecutive exams in two days. It was proposed by Jinxi and organized by Weng Zhaorong. Five tea merchants who had retreated to the second line to take care of their old age proposed questions. After the exams were supervised and screened by Yinzhen, the one with the highest total score was selected.
The assessment results caught the eye of Yinzhen, and he was subsequently appointed as the master in charge of the tea garden. He could choose the assistants he needed. This completely eliminated the possibility of meeting several old rivals, and hired only those he could trust and trust.
An old tea farmer who won't hold him back.
Here, Luo Wan, the newly appointed official, was very excited and took three old tea farmers who were also newly recruited, running up and down the mountain. He hoped to make the existing batch of sprouted tea leaves high before the Qingming Festival.
Cooked with high quality.
Just like that, when Yinzhen and Jinxi were about to leave Hangzhou and head to Ningbo Port, the dilapidated Longjing Tea Garden had been tidied up and started bustling with construction.
After discussing with Jinxi, Yinzhen decided to keep Qisi and Jiangrui to manage these new employees and assist Luo Wanquan in picking and frying Mingqian tea. He also selected a skilled worker from Luo An.
A vigorous young boy who can drive a carriage, and a fourteen-year-old servant girl who is nimble and agile, temporarily replaced Qi Si and Jiang Rui. Before they return to the capital, the secret guards dispatched by Qi Jiu from the capital are as follows.
When the numbers were in place, Luo An also completed the assessment of several assistants, selected the most suitable tea garden managers, and then dispatched Qi Si and Jiang Rui back.
Seeing that there was such an opportunity for Jiangrui and Qi Si to be alone, Jin Xi naturally agreed happily.
On February 22nd, the 31st year of Kangxi's reign, Yinzhen finished all affairs in Hangzhou and took Jinxi to Ningbo Port to see the French-made ocean-going sailing ship that belonged to them.
After all, Ningbo is not far from Hangzhou. Their four-horse cart set off at the beginning of the morning and arrived at three quarters of the night. Of course, in addition to having a simple lunch and a nap in the town between the two cities at noon,
Except for half an hour, the rest of the time, including dinner, was spent casually with snacks and tea while rushing on the road.
Fortunately, after ten days of leisurely recuperation, Jinxi did not suffer from dizziness, back pain or horse-drawn carriage syndrome during the one-day drive.
Luo An had already sent someone to reach Ningbo ahead of them, and booked three Tianzi No. 1 rooms for them at the largest "Ying Ke Lai" inn.
As soon as the group of people arrived, a waiter greeted them enthusiastically, led the carriage, led them upstairs, and brought hot water and hot food that had been prepared long ago.
After everyone washed away the dust of the journey and had enough wine and food, they didn't feel very tired at all.
The next day, the two of them slept until they woke up naturally. It was rare to wake up only when they were climbing three poles in the day. Xizhu took the newly arrived maid Longcui to serve Jinxi and Xi. After they finished washing, they presented the reserved breakfast: a small pot
Seafood porridge, a basket of egg and leek dumplings, and a basket of Ningbo specialty rice steamed buns with a drunken aroma.
The two of them finished their late breakfast in a refreshing mood, then walked out of the inn door hand in hand and headed for the port.
The "Ying Ke Lai" Inn is some distance away from the port, and it was not until noon that the group arrived near the port.
After getting off the carriage in front of a bustling seafood restaurant, and handing the carriage to the restaurant waiter to feed hay in the backyard, a group of six people slowly walked into the restaurant.
Since there was no reservation and it was noon, the private room in the restaurant was already full, so I had to choose a secluded corner near the window and sit down. The four people who did not dare to sit down with the host were also sitting in front of Yinzhen and Jinxi.
With a wink, they also sat down obediently in groups of two.
The six of them are all young, and the eldest is the boy Luo An chose to serve them, who is only in his early twenties. Therefore, when they entered the restaurant, this aristocratic group of handsome men and women really attracted a lot of envy.
And adoring eyes.
After Jin Xi took his seat, he looked around at the decoration of the store and found that the quality of the inns and restaurants in Ningbo was not as high as ordinary ones. He sighed with a low smile: "Throughout the ages, in all towns where commerce and trade have developed,
, the living standards of the people were obviously much higher, and this is absolutely true!" This was true whether it was the Qing Dynasty or later generations.
"Since Ningbo was given the title of Zhejiang Customs by Emperor Ama seven years ago and took charge of the maritime checkpoints in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, its prosperity has skyrocketed." Yinzhen also continued with a smile: "Just imagine, this is the only entry and exit point in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
, it’s difficult even if you don’t want to develop!”
"No wonder." Jin Xi nodded in understanding and was about to continue chatting when he was attracted by a rather casual and provocative remark not far away.
"Hey! This little girl is pretty and pretty. Master, I think you are also short of money. How about we discuss it? How about you give this little girl to me? You will definitely be indispensable in terms of money.
of!"
Jin Xi looked at the speaker in surprise, with a face as crooked as a cracked melon and a jujube, how dare he be so careless about life and death. He didn't even think that someone who could afford to eat at such an expensive seafood restaurant would be short of money.
Master?!
Sure enough, before she could finish her slander, the person being questioned, a strong man with an unshaven face, glared angrily and said: "Get away!"
"Hey! You stinky beggar! Don't be so shameless! I want that woman, I think highly of her... Ouch... it hurts me so much! Brothers, come on, you dare to hit me!
I don’t even want to think about who I am!”
…
The two parties, one outnumbered and one outnumbered, immediately got involved in a fight. The woman Pingting, who had been sitting next to the strong man, now looked at the strong man at a loss with a worried look on her face.
"Will you help him?" Jin Xi stared at the scene that was getting more and more intense from the corner of his eyes, and then saw the diners leaving for some reason and the shopkeeper with a sad face, and couldn't help but ask.
Yinzhen shook his head, "It's better to avoid contact with people in the world. After all, we have different identities. If we take action, we are afraid of getting into the eyes of interested people." Kangxi didn't know that he owned an ocean-going ship, and he didn't want Kangxi to know that he was heading south for the time being.
His true intention. Therefore, it is best not to reveal his whereabouts.
"But I see that he can't hold on any longer. Huh? Yinzhen, look, is he injured?" Jinxi straightened up while supporting her chin while watching the show, patted Yinzhen's elbow and asked in a low voice.
.
Yinzhen raised his eyes and glanced, indeed, he nodded, and then winked at Qiwu, who understood the situation and left his seat and jumped into the field.
"Everyone, if there is any misunderstanding, can you explain it? This is a restaurant after all, don't let the shopkeeper make it difficult." Qi Wu lightly stopped the provocative party and persuaded him calmly. The shopkeeper of the seafood restaurant immediately regarded him as a hero after hearing this and hurriedly said
He followed him and nodded in response: "Yes, yes, what this gentleman said is absolutely true. We are both guests. If there is any misunderstanding, you can sit down and chat slowly. Don't hurt each other's harmony. Come on, come on,
You guys can just order whatever you want to eat, and I’ll take care of all today’s expenses.”
The outnumbered provocateurs were startled by Qi Wu's skill. After looking at each other, they retracted their hands angrily. They gave a heavy "hum" to the expressionless strong man standing aside, and walked swaggeringly to the private room upstairs.
Go, and before leaving, he said: "It's not that I want to let you go, but I want to give this man some face!"
In the final analysis, he saw Qi Wu's extraordinary skills and did not dare to continue to act wildly.
The strong man did not get angry. He turned around and bowed his hands to Qi Wugong, saying, "Thank you!" He walked back to his seat without saying a word, and drank a sip of strong wine under the woman's concerned and anxious eyes.
Qi Wu waved his hand to the grateful shopkeeper, sat back beside Yinzhen, and lowered his voice and said: "Master, that man is not injured, but poisoned. His face is blue and purple. If it weren't for his beard, he would have been killed long ago.