Chapter 77 Double Happiness
To be honest, this is the first time I heard that data can be refreshed...
I am very satisfied to achieve the current results without using a single recommendation ticket, a single favorite, or a single click, really!
Men, I love you. If you insist on voting every day, I will love you to death! ~
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In the twelfth lunar month of winter, the Wei River has long been frozen, and even the Yellow River is covered with ice, making it difficult to navigate.
However, when turning south from Luoyang into the Tongji Canal, the river channel is smooth, and the wind and water flow all the way south, passing through the Huai River, turning into Hangou, and crossing the river directly to Hangzhou, which only takes more than half a month. Fang Sihai's trip lasted only forty days. After deducting the delays on the road, he had very little time to do things, so it seemed to go smoothly.
In the kitchen, Fang Sihai watched Fang Jun grab a handful of Longjing tea leaves he brought back and throw them into a big pot, feeling puzzled.
Fang Junquan pretended that Fang Sihai did not exist and concentrated on the pot in front of him.
There were three large pots lined up side by side, and the cook was ordered to start a fire. The first pot was set on high fire, with the highest temperature, while the other two pots were set to decrease in temperature.
Fang Jun broke off a piece of moso bamboo in the yard and made a tea broom. He used it to rotate and stir-fry in the pot. The tea leaves were turned and heated evenly to lose water. He rotated quickly and evenly while shaking off the tea leaves.
Because it is autumn tea, the dehydration process has already been completed, so the first hot pot process is completed quickly.
"Local tea farmers have developed a new method of drinking tea. Instead of grinding the tea leaves and boiling them as in the past, they knead the tea leaves into balls and steam them in a pot. The aroma is overflowing. One of them is called 'Dragon Balls' , which can reflect the fragrance of tea better than boiling tea..."
While Fang Sihai was talking about what he had seen in Hangzhou, he looked at Fang Jun's movements strangely and thought to himself, I've been talking for a long time and I said it was steamed tea. Why did you put it in the pot and stir-fry it?
But as Fang Jun concentrated on his movements, a rich fragrance filled the kitchen, penetrated his nostrils, and was refreshing.
Fang Sihai swallowed and stopped talking.
Why is the tea made by Erlang using an unheard-of method more fragrant than steamed tea?
At this time, the tea leaves in the pot were soft and dark green in color, so Fang Jun immediately swept them into the second pot.
This pot mainly plays the role of continuing to freeze and preliminary kneading. The temperature of the pot is slightly lower than that of the raw pot.
Because the friction between the tea leaves and the wall of the pot is relatively large, the force is greater than that of the raw pot, so you need to "bring strength" to make the leaves rotate in the pot with the tea broom and start to roll them into strips. At the same time, shake the tea balls. , letting out heat.
After a while, Fang Jun started to sweat on his forehead.
When the leaves shrivel into strips and the fried tea juice sticks to the leaves and feels sticky, sweep it into the last pot.
At this time, the tea leaves are relatively soft. Use a tea-frying broom to stir-fry a few times. The leaves will get into the bamboo branches of the broom. Shake slightly, and the leaves will scatter into the pot. Repeat this operation to make the leaves swallow inside and outside the bamboo broom, ingeniously combining the dehydration and rubbing into strips.
Fry until the ropes are tight and thin, the aroma of tea comes out, and it is about 30 to 40% dry. Immediately remove from the pan and dry.
Fang Jun then wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked Fang Sihai, "Have you seen these steps clearly?"
Fang Sihai looked confused and nodded blankly: "I see clearly..."
I can see the process clearly, but I don’t know why.
After cleaning his hands with a basin, Fang Jun said: "This is a method of frying tea. It has never appeared in the world. Later, I will record the key points of each step and give them to you. You need to work hard and understand the secrets. , From now on, the Fang family’s tea production will be entrusted to you.”
Fang Jun has always loved tea and has done a lot of research on various tea leaves.
At first, Fang Sihai was asked to buy tea trees because he missed his old habit of "reading with tea".
Now the purpose has changed.
Remember, the method of frying tea appeared only in the Ming Dynasty. If you come up with it now, you must be the only one in the world. It should not be difficult to make some extra money with it.
When Fang Sihai heard this, he was immediately excited. He knelt down on one knee and said, "Please rest assured, Erlang, I will definitely work hard and die, and I will live up to Erlang's trust!"
Fang Sihai understands the market situation of tea at this time very well. It can be said that the entire Tang Dynasty is full of tea! How big an industry is this?
Now that the Fang family is going to enter the tea industry, and he is the future person in charge, wouldn't he immediately rise in status, become superior to others, and become the best among servants?
Fang Jun laughed and said: "Oh, I don't see that you have studied in school? You have even read Zhuge Wuhou's "Shi Shi Biao", it's not easy... But you can do your best, but no one wants you to die. Use words Improper!”
Fang Sihai was very embarrassed. He heard this sentence while listening to a play in the autumn. In order to show his cultural level, he rashly said it...
"What happened to Dahongpao?"
After Fang Sihai got Longjing tea, he couldn't wait to come back to offer treasures, but he didn't know what news there was about the Fujian Dahongpao.
Fang Sihai explained: "Fujian is a long way, and the round trip will take at least several months. I thought it would be safe to hurry up and make arrangements for the Longjing tea, and then go to Fujian to look for the Dahongpao."
Fang Jun nodded and agreed with what he said.
Although the reputation of Longjing tea is not as great as that of later generations, it is still a famous tea, and there are traces to follow. At this time, Da Hong Pao not only has no books, but the world has not heard of his name. It is indeed difficult to search for a few tea trees that are not yet known to exist in the vast mountains.
Anyway, if the tea tree already exists, it will not run away, so there is no need to rush.
Fang Jun also wanted to give Fang Sihai a few words, but with a "bang", the kitchen door was knocked open, and a gust of cold air suddenly dispersed the strong aroma of tea in the kitchen.
Fang Jun looked at Fang Quan in shock, looking at the steward who was always strict, steady and unsmiling.
Fang Quan's old face was full of excitement, and his cheeks were twitching when he spoke: "Erlang... a divine thing, a divine thing!"
That look was like seeing an alien coming to earth...
Fang Jun asked curiously: "What kind of magical thing makes Uncle Quan so excited?"
"I... that... oops!" Fang Quan got more excited and couldn't understand more clearly, so he simply grabbed Fang Jun's sleeve and pulled him away.
"Erlang, just look at it and you will know!"
Fang Jun had no choice but to be dragged away by him. Fang Sihai, the monk Zhang Er, was also confused and followed behind in a daze.
Not far from the blacksmith shop, there are two porcelain kilns built by the Fang family. They are called porcelain kilns, but they cannot produce porcelain, only some pottery.
In this era, porcelain was a very expensive thing, and the production method was not widely spread. The most critical problem was the furnace temperature, so there were few porcelain kilns among the people.
It's not difficult to make paper ceramics. Just get some clay, knead it, put it in the kiln and burn it.
Moreover, there is a lot of kaolin in Guanzhong, and there are several places in Lishan Mountain alone. Fang Jun of later generations had never heard of kaolin in Lishan Mountain. Perhaps it was because the output was scarce and all of it was harvested.
Seeing Fang Quan leading him to the porcelain kiln, Fang Jun was also a little excited.
Could it be possible that... the glass was fired successfully?
After all, it is the new book period, so the pace of updates has slowed down a bit. Long live understanding!
(End of chapter)