People in the Tang Dynasty, Jian'an style

Li Wenbin kissed her a few more times, then pulled the quilt to cover them both.

Yang Jier, who was lying under the quilt, suddenly froze.

Soon, singing rang out in the room——

"I have a donkey. I never ride it. One day, I suddenly felt like riding it to go to the market. I was holding the pony's tail in my hand. I was feeling proud of myself when, out of nowhere, I got splashed with mud..."

"drive!"

Outside the city of Chang'an, on a narrow and slippery muddy road, someone was riding a horse, running quickly towards the city gate.

"Clap! Clap! Clap!"

The rider, perhaps in a hurry, was holding the horse's tail with one hand and patting the horse's butt with the other.

The horse seemed to have been running for a long time. It was panting and making whining sounds, but its last bit of strength was still being squeezed out.

After dawn, the city gate was finally opened.

The man on the horse suddenly roared and flew into the city gate.

The horse under his crotch collapsed to the ground with its limbs limp, foaming at the mouth, and could not get up for a long time...

The alley was soon filled with noise.

……

After returning to his palace, Li Wenbin had just sat down and drank a sip of salty and astringent tea when Yang Guimei, the internal steward, came in to report to him.

"Your Highness, the steward of the tea garden has delivered this year's newly picked spring tea!"

The inner courtyard of the prince's mansion, like the imperial palace, does not allow men to enter. There were eunuchs in the past, but Li Wenbin drove them all to the front courtyard. Now, apart from the maids and servants who do the rough work, there is only Li Wenbin in the inner courtyard.

"Bah! That's great, bring people and tea here quickly, so I don't have to drink the tea dregs!" Li Wenbin spat out the tea in his mouth. He really couldn't stand the strange-tasting tea of ​​the Tang Dynasty. It was extremely bitter without salt, and he couldn't get used to it with salt, so he had been thinking about frying some tea to drink.

He had previously instructed Yang Guimei that after this year's spring tea was picked, it should be sent directly to the palace without any processing, and it happened to be delivered today.

While waiting for someone to pull the tea leaves, Li Wenbin first cut some thin bamboo in the garden and removed the leaves to make a broom for roasting tea. Then he asked someone to go to the kitchen to find a small iron pot and light the charcoal stove for heating in winter.

By the time all these were ready, the servants had already brought the tea.

Next, Li Wenbin started to roast tea himself, but he also asked Yang Guimei to find a few clever little girls to learn with her - he planned to let these people learn and make all the tea produced in the tea garden into roasted tea.

After all, it is impossible to rely solely on making tea by oneself in such a large tea garden. Moreover, after making the tea, one can not only drink it by oneself but also give it as a gift to others.

Chapter 124: Stir-fried Tea

Heat a small iron pan to a certain temperature, then put in more than half a pound of tea leaves and stir-fry quickly in a rotating pan for one or two minutes. This is called "full-pan rotation".

When the leaves become soft and dark green, raise the pot to lower the temperature, then use force to rotate the tea leaves in the pot. This is called "spinning the pot with force".

When the leaves shrink into strips and become sticky, raise the temperature of the pan and then lower it a little. When the tea leaves have penetrated into the branches of the broom, stir-fry several times. When the leaves are about 30% to 40% dry, they are ready to be removed from the pan.

The fried tea is dark green in color and curled into strips, exactly the same as the tea that Li Wenbin drank in later generations. Li Wenbin saw this method of frying tea on the Internet. He didn't expect to make such good tea on the first try.

"Your Highness, your method of frying tea is quite novel, and the tea fragrance is also very unique, but I don't know what the brewed tea will taste like?" Yang Guimei said with a sniff. She knew a lot about tea, but it was the first time she saw such a method of making tea, so she was a little unsure.

"Haha, this tea doesn't need to be boiled. Just brew it with boiling water. Is the water boiled?" Li Wenbin said with a smile.

"Okay!" Yang Guimei agreed and came up with some boiling water.

Li Wenbin put tea leaves in several cups himself, then poured boiling water in. The curled-up tea leaves slowly stretched out in the water, and the tea water turned emerald green and transparent, looking like jade.

But after a moment, a light and distant tea fragrance spread, which made people feel refreshed.

"Huh? Good tea! Good tea!" Li Wenbin sniffed the tea fragrance and praised loudly.

Yang Guimei stared at the teacup with shining eyes. If it weren't for Li Wenbin's status, she would have snatched the cup and tasted it first.

"Come on, come on, everyone, have a taste and see how the tea I made tastes."

Li Wenbin waved his hand and took the lead to pick up the cup of tea and take a sip.

Well, it tastes good, and is similar to the tea sold on the streets for a few dollars per ounce in later generations.

Roasting tea is a technical job. In addition to the quality of the tea itself, the more skilled the workers are, the better the tea they fry. It is considered very good that a novice like Li Wenbin did not burn the tea.

Seeing that Li Wenbin had already tasted the tea, Yang Guimei picked up the teacup, first put it under her nose and sniffed it a few times with an intoxicated expression on her face, and then slowly began to taste it. After finishing the cup of tea, she put down the teacup with a look of aftertaste, and looked at Li Wenbin with even more admiration in her eyes.

The little girls who followed along to learn how to fry tea also took a sip. They might have been a little uncomfortable at first, but gradually they felt the benefits of frying tea and drank it all in one gulp with joy on their faces.

"Your Highness, this tea soup has a bright color and a noble aroma. It tastes slightly bitter at first, gradually becomes cool, and finally becomes sweet. It is an endless aftertaste. It is simply the fairy tea from heaven. I can guarantee that there is no other tea in the world that can compare to this tea!"

Yang Guimei said.

"Hahaha, that's really amazing. You described the characteristics of this tea right away." Li Wenbin laughed proudly. He just couldn't stand being praised by others. He would get carried away when others praised him. "I will pass on this method of frying tea to you. All the tea produced in the tea garden is made in the same way."

Yang Guimei took his obedience pill and could even harm Li Yuanji, so she naturally would not betray him.

In just a few days, Yang Guimei sent people to purchase a lot of tea, and the tea workshop had already started operating.

The workshop was located in Li Wenbin’s Prince Qi’s Mansion.

The Prince of Qi's Palace was very large, occupying nearly half of Anxingfang, which was more than enough space.

"Your Majesty, the three-pot tea-frying stove you mentioned has been built. Now the efficiency has increased several times. Sixty workers can produce about 120 kilograms of tea every day, of which 4 kilograms of raw tea can produce one kilogram of tea leaves. The output of the tea garden plus the purchased tea leaves is about kilograms. With this calculation, it will take about a month to finish making all the tea leaves."

Yang Guimei reported the current situation of the tea workshop to Li Wenbin with joy.

When Li Wenbin demonstrated before, he used one pot to fry tea, and had to adjust the temperature in the pot from time to time. However, this method was inefficient when frying tea on a large scale, so Li Wenbin told her the method of frying tea in three pots connected together, and asked her to implement it. Sure enough, the efficiency increased several times.

"Well, that's right. The workers' reward system must be implemented without compromise. Give them five cents for every pound of tea produced. This is how we can fully mobilize their enthusiasm!" Li Wenbin was very satisfied, but still reminded her not to withhold the workers' rewards.

The craftsmen in Li Wenbin's palace were also official slaves.

Theoretically, slaves received no pay for their work, and their food, clothing, housing and transportation were all provided by their masters.

But in fact, in order to motivate the servants to work more enthusiastically, the masters would generally give them a certain amount of monthly wages every month - of course, the amount of the monthly wages depended entirely on the masters' wishes. If they were more generous to their servants, they would give more, while if they met masters who were harsh to their servants, they would give very little monthly wages or even nothing at all.

The tea picking period is very short. In order to increase the amount of tea roasting as much as possible and avoid workers in the workshop from slacking off, Li Wenbin decided to implement a reward system - giving workers five cents for every pound of tea produced, and those who work harder get more.

This immediately fully mobilized the enthusiasm of many people. After all, slaves are also human beings and they also have places to spend money. They didn’t have a penny before, but now they can get at least 10 cents if they work hard every day. In a month, they can get 300 cents, which is a good income in that era.

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty!" Yang Guimei said with a firm face.

After tasting the new tea roasted in the tea workshop, Li Wenbin found that it was much better than the one he roasted himself, which made him even more satisfied.

Before he could take a break, someone else came outside asking to see him.

"Your Highness, we have already found a distributor for the new tea, and I have specially brought him to see you today!"

Lao Hong, the external steward of the palace, came in and bowed to Li Wenbin.

The status of merchants in the Tang Dynasty was extremely low, with 'scholars, farmers, workers, and merchants' ranked last, and commerce was even regarded as a lowly profession. With Li Wenbin's identity, it was impossible for him to sell tea under the name of Prince Qi's Palace, so he could only find a trustworthy merchant to sell it on his behalf.

"Let him in!" Li Wenbin ordered.

"I, Wang Hexuan, greet His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi!"

As soon as the man followed Lao Hong in, he immediately knelt on the ground and saluted.

Li Wenbin took a look at the head of the Wang family and found that he was probably in his thirties, with a square face and long beard, and looked very elegant. He did not look like a businessman at all, but rather a scholar who came to Chang'an to take the imperial examination.

Although Wang Hexuan was respectful, his expression was always calm. He stared at the ground and never looked at Li Wenbin, making it impossible to know what he was thinking.

"Haha, Mr. Wang, you are too polite. Please stand up quickly! Serve the tea!" Li Wenbin smiled as brightly as a flower. He quickly helped the man up and served him freshly brewed tea.

Chapter 125: Big Selling

Wang Hexuan was obviously frightened by Li Wenbin's enthusiastic attitude. He sat down at a loss and dared not move, not knowing what tricks Li Wenbin was going to play next.

"Mr. Wang, I believe Lao Hong has already told you the reason for inviting you here?" Li Wenbin took a sip of tea and thought for a while before speaking.

"Your Highness, please forgive me. I am not worthy of the title of Sir. Your Highness, please address me as Hexuan!" Upon hearing Li Wenbin's question, Wang Hexuan immediately stood up and bowed, saying, "Before I came here, Manager Lao had already told me that the palace had made a batch of new tea and wanted me to sell it on his behalf!"

"Well, that's good. The tea next to you is newly made. Try it and see how it tastes." Li Wenbin raised his hand to motion him to sit down, and then began to speak.

Wang Hexuan sat down obediently, picked up the teacup and looked at the color of the tea, then put it to his nose and smelled it, then took a sip, then closed his eyes and savored it for a while, suddenly opened his eyes and praised loudly: "Good tea! Your Highness, this tea soup is emerald green and transparent, the tea fragrance is deep and pleasant, it tastes slightly bitter at first and then sweet, it is a rare good tea!"

"Haha, Hexuan is indeed a person who knows tea. Based on your understanding of the market, how should this tea be priced?" Li Wenbin has not decided on the price of tea. First, he does not know much about Datang Tea Industry, nor does he know how great the demand is in the market. It would be inappropriate to set the price too high or too low.

"This..." Wang Hexuan pondered for a moment, "May I ask Your Majesty, what is the production volume of this tea?"

"Huh? Does this have anything to do with production?" Li Wenbin asked curiously.

"Yes, if the production of this tea is very small, then we can go for the high-end route and price it at 100 guan and 1 liang. But if the production is very large, I suggest that the price should be lower, so as to avoid not being able to sell all the tea!"

An expert is an expert, and he will consider things more comprehensively than Li Wenbin, an outsider.

"Well, this year's spring tea is not well prepared, so the output is only 2,000 kilograms. If the sales are good this time, I plan to expand the scale of the workshop after the summer tea comes out, and the output is estimated to increase several times."

Li Wenbin thought for a while and replied, tea can be harvested all year round and can be divided into spring tea, summer tea, autumn tea and winter tea according to different seasons.

"It seems that the production of this tea is not small, so it is not suitable for high-end sales. The best tea now is only 800 wen per catty. This tea is better than the tea on the market. The price should be set between 1000 and 1500 wen, and definitely not more than twice the highest price."

Wang Hexuan answered respectfully.

"Well, okay, if I sell it wholesale to you at 900 wen per catty, are you willing to take this business?"

Li Wenbin was so happy that he smiled in his heart - he didn't expect Wang Hexuan to set such a high price.

You should know that the material cost for frying tea is about 250 wen per catty. Even if the labor and venue costs are excluded, the cost per catty is only 300 wen.

Sold it at the price of 900 wen, with a net profit of 600 wen. Two thousand jin is 1200 guan, and this is only the first season. When the output doubles several times in the next season, that will be to guan. The annual income will be at least guan, which is simply incredible!

Hearing that Li Wenbin would wholesale the tea to him at the price of 900 Wen, Wang Hexuan was shocked and looked at him with an incredible expression on his face.

If he wholesales it to himself at such a low price, he can at least make a profit of two to three hundred coins. According to the output mentioned by Li Wenbin, the annual income is four to five thousand strings of cash. Although it is not as much as the income of their Wang family during its heyday, there are not many merchants in Chang'an who can have such income.

Wang Hexuan agreed immediately and signed a contract with Li Wenbin.

……

The Wang family acted quickly - the shops and other things were ready-made and could be converted into tea houses with just a few minor modifications.

When the business opened, an invitation was sent to Li Wenbin, but he did not have time to come because he had to train the palace soldiers.

The next morning, Li Wenbin was sleeping with Yang Guimei in his arms. Before he got up, he suddenly heard Jinxiu report that the external steward Lao Hong wanted to see him.

"What is Lao Hong doing so early in the morning?" Li Wenbin was a little dissatisfied, but he also knew that Lao Hong must have something urgent, otherwise he would not come to him at this time, "Okay, okay, let him in."

Lao Hong was a eunuch, so he didn't need to care about the front and back houses. He rushed in and reported loudly: "Your Highness! Your Highness! Great joy!"

"What's the matter? Why are you in such a hurry?" Li Wenbin rubbed his sleepy eyes and asked with dissatisfaction.

"Your Highness, as soon as the Wang family's tea shop opened yesterday morning, countless people rushed to buy. The tea prepared in the tea shop was not enough to sell. It was sold out in less than half a day after opening."

Lao Hong said with a look of ecstasy.

"Oh?" Li Wenbin jumped up from the bed. Although he had expected this result, he still couldn't help feeling excited when he heard with his own ears that the tea was being snapped up. At the same time, a sense of joy of success surged in his heart, which shocked Li Wenbin's spirit.

"Okay! Okay! Okay! Have someone notify Wang Hexuan to control the number of teas sold every day. It's better to sell less every day than to run out of stock. After all, there's still more than a month before the next season's tea comes out."

Li Wenbin paced back and forth in the bedroom excitedly. At the same time, he did not forget to ask Lao Hong to remind the Wang family. After all, there was not much tea in stock. If they were all sold at once, they could certainly make a lot of money, but it would have an impact on the newly opened tea house.

This tea house is the main channel for tea sales in the future. Li Wenbin does not want the wrong sales strategy to have an adverse impact on the future development of the tea house.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. The Wang family is very smart. Seeing that there are too many people rushing to buy tea, they stipulated that each person can only buy half a catty of tea per day. In addition, except for today, they will only sell 50 catties per day. With this calculation, the tea inventory of our palace is enough to last until the summer tea comes."

Lao Hong reported with a smile, and expressed satisfaction with the Wang family's approach.

"Well, not bad, not bad. This Wang Hexuan is indeed a talent!" Li Wenbin also praised him full of praise.

In fact, he was so happy that he was confused. After all, the Wang family had been doing business for generations, and their business methods were much better than his. Li Wenbin had done business in his previous life, but those were all small businesses. In the Tang Dynasty, he was at most a small shopkeeper. Wang Hexuan used to be the CEO of a business consortium, and the difference in level was not a little bit.

"Your Highness, please put on your clothes quickly, or you will catch a cold!"

Yang Guimei saw Li Wenbin walking around barefoot in a tight shirt, so she hurriedly took his clothes and helped Li Wenbin get dressed and wash.

Chapter 126 Restaurant

After washing up, Li Wenbin had nothing to do, so he took Ruyue and Jinxiu for a stroll on the street.

Su Dingfang brought twenty guards from the palace to follow and protect him.

"Your Highness, look, there are so many people in the restaurant over there, let's go take a look."

While walking around, Ruyue suddenly pointed ahead and said.

Li Wenbin looked up and saw a restaurant crowded with people, looking very lively.

At that time, people didn’t know how to find someone to help them do business. If it was popular, it was real popularity. It seemed that this restaurant was really popular.