After listening to Si Haochen's words, Mingruo thought of a joke - a straight man wanted to express his feelings to the girl he liked in a tactful way, so he asked the girl if she wanted to be buried in his family's ancestral grave...
Seeing the little girl smiling like a little mouse that had stolen oil to eat, Si Haochen clenched the little hand in his palm a little tighter: "What else did you think of?"
"Ahem." Mingruo shook his head seriously, "It's nothing."
If he told the truth, Si Haochen would definitely want to "serve her according to the family law" again, and he couldn't say it even if he killed her.
The weather was very good today, and Xiao Tuanzi didn't have to go to class. Mingruo decided to go on a picnic to give Xiao Tuanzi some air. He took some snacks and snacks from the space that he had prepared before going out, and picked fresh fruits and put them into the food box together.
"Where do you want to go on an outing?" Si Haochen took the food box prepared by Mingruo and handed it to Chu Yi.
"I'm not familiar with this place." Mingruo saw that the scenery around the villa was very good, and it wouldn't be too bad to find a place casually.
"Let's go to Youlanxi. My sister-in-law will definitely like it." Xuan'er suggested.
Si Haochen thought for a moment and nodded: "Okay."
"Where is that place? Is it far away?" Mingruo didn't want to waste most of her time on the road. She was full of resentment towards the speed of ancient transportation.
"It's not far, right at the tea mountain in the back."
Mingruo refused Si Haochen's help and climbed onto Xiao Momo's back. After sitting firmly, he pulled up the horse's rein and said, "Let's go."
Xuan'er rode a small pony and quickly followed.
Orchid Creek is in the valley under the Tea Mountain. The surrounding peaks are towering into the clouds. Tea trees have been planted from the foot of the mountain. The creek flows quietly in the valley. The valley is full of orchids. When you enter the valley, you can smell the fragrance.
.
Mingruo stood in the sea of flowers, opened her arms, felt the breeze spreading the fragrance of flowers, brushing her cheeks: "It's so beautiful here."
On the first day of the new year, I laid out a felt on the flat ground, put the food boxes away, and left.
Mingruo sat on the felt and laid out snacks, snacks, and fruits.
Xiaotuanzi sat down next to Mingruo, picked up an egg yolk cake, and took a bite: "This is a snack made by sister Zicao."
"Hmm." Mingruo looked at the mountains not far away, "Was the Yunwu tea I drank before picked from this mountain?"
"Those are picked from the ancient tea trees on the top of the mountain." Si Haochen also sat down next to Mingruo, "The higher the position of the tea tree on the mountain, the better the quality of Yunwu tea, and the color of the tea soup will be greener and clearer.
The taste is also more mellow.”
"I'm going to the mountains to pick tea soon." Mingruo has always been interested in tea picking.
"It's past the tea-picking season now, and the tea leaves are old. They have a strong astringency and are no longer good to drink." Si Haochen pinched Mingruo's cheek.
"In other words, no one will pick these tea leaves?" Mingruo looked at the rows of tea trees on the mountain.
"Well, it's not easy to sell even if you pick it, so you might as well leave it alone."
"I remember a few days ago you said there weren't enough horses in the army, right?"
Si Haochen couldn't keep up with the little girl's speed of changing topics. He was originally talking about tea, but why did he suddenly talk about horses...
"Yes." Si Haochen had a headache on how to solve the problem of war horses. "Normally, horses are purchased from Beichi and Xiliang. When there is a war, the exchange of grain for horses will stop. After all, these two are important strategic materials.
.”
Beichi is good at using cavalry in combat. The infantry and cavalry were at a disadvantage from the beginning. The enemy was condescending and could attack them however they wanted. However, it was difficult for the infantry to hurt their vital points. At most, they could only hurt the horses, so they were very passive.
.
"The Beichi people live a nomadic life, chasing water and grass, right?" In Mingruo's mind, she automatically set Beichi as a tribe living on the grasslands. But she really didn't know whether this was the case.
"The tribes lived by water and grass, but the subjects and troops directly under the Beichi Emperor settled in the royal court. The Beichi Emperor turned all the pastures around the royal court into his own, and the tribes were not allowed to graze there."
"They should drink tea, right? For example, milk tea, butter tea, or sweet tea?" Ming Ruo knew that tea is an indispensable material for maintaining good health for herdsmen who do not consume enough fruits and vegetables.
"Beichi people do boil tea leaves with milk, and then add salt to drink it." Si Haochen frowned. He really couldn't praise the taste.
"Then the demand for tea in Beichi must be huge, right?"
"It's not very big." Si Haochen shook his head, "Even the tea of poor quality is worth a lot of money when shipped to Beichi. Only nobles can afford it."
"That's just right." Mingruo remembers that she once watched a video. The most popular tea bricks on the grassland are made of pressed old tea. Although old tea does not taste good, the content of various ingredients that are beneficial to the human body is actually higher than that of old tea.
There should be more young leaves. Tea bricks do not have high requirements for tea leaves, and they are easy to transport, which can greatly reduce the cost and make it affordable for ordinary people.
Therefore, using these unpicked old tea leaves to make tea bricks and trading them for horses on the grassland is definitely a profitable business.
Mingruo told Si Haochen his idea, and Si Haochen felt that this method was feasible, but it would have to wait until the war was over before starting. After all, the war was about to break out, and Beichi would not allow a large number of horses to flow into Donghuan.
"If the matter is urgent, we can send someone to pretend to be a Beichi caravan. After changing the horses..." Mingruo whispered something in Si Haochen's ear. Si Haochen's eyes flashed slightly, and then he said
Another way.
"Okay, let's have someone pick the tea leaves and make tea bricks." Si Haochen kissed Ming Ruo's forehead, "My Ruo'er is so smart."
Mingruo pushed Si Haochen: "Don't teach bad things to children."
The two of them looked towards Xuan'er, and saw Xiaotuanzi turning around, looking up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, expressing with his back - I won't be taught bad things, because I didn't see anything.
"Pfft." Mingruo was amused by Xiaotuanzi's performance and waved his fist at Si Haochen as a warning.
Si Haochen smiled at the corners of his lips and held Mingruo's little fist. He called the secret guard to inform Bai Xu to send someone to pick tea. They must make arrangements for making tea bricks before they left.
After lunch, Bai Xu brought the tea maker to 'learn' the art of pressing tea bricks. Mingruo had no choice but to 'talk on paper' again.
"Tea bricks are made by mixing and pressing tea leaves, tea stems and tea powder, so the quality requirements for the tea itself are not high. The tea is first sun-dried, and then goes through processes such as sifting, fanning, cutting, and grinding to become the original embryo, which is then steamed at high temperature
Autoclave it into bricks." Mingruo handed the compiled process instructions to Bai Xu, "This is the production process, and you still need to continue to explore the specific operations during the process."
"Yes." Bai Xu took over the process explanation.
Several tea-making masters asked about the tools and heat required, and then went back to trial making tea bricks.
"We have to go to the farm to collect grain tomorrow afternoon. I hope they can make tea bricks tonight." Mingruo was worried that there was not enough time.
