Hangzhou, Meng's business name!

"This is cotton?" Meng Ruoying and Gu Yuelun were amazed when they saw the white flowers in front of them, something like edelweiss.

Autumn had arrived, and the Arabs were very well-behaved and had been in the cotton fields to take care of them. Until autumn came, the first batch of cotton was picked in the Great Song Dynasty. Soon he was sent to the Meng family's mansion and asked Lin Zhao to take a look.

"That's right, this is the cotton transplanted from Tianzhu!" Lin Zhao said with a smile: "Hehe, I'll find someone in two days to make a small padded jacket for each of you, and a big quilt, it's going to be very warm this winter!" ”

"Really?" Meng Ruoying is very yearning for this, last year in Bianjing, she was very afraid of the cold, but she didn't even dare to go out!

"By the way, how about the tea tree I asked you to find?" Lin Zhao is very concerned about this matter!

Meng Ruoying replied: "There are already eyebrows, at the northwest foot of Wengjia Mountain in the west of West Lake. There is a circular spring pond that does not dry up in a great drought, and the locals say that this spring is connected to the sea, and there is a dragon in it. There is a Shousheng Courtyard in Luohuiwu, which is about a mile away from the well, and it has been hundreds of years. There are a few tea trees growing around the spring and around the temple, which should be the ones you mentioned! ”

"That's right, that's right!" Lin Zhao was excited, and randomly said: "Find a way to buy the surrounding land with a lot of money, especially those tea trees...... Let's start growing tea too! ”

"Tea?" Meng Ruoying said: "But Hangzhou tea is not in demand on the market, not to mention that the imperial court still has a tea method......

In the Song Dynasty, the first tea in the southeast region was cross-referenced. Song Taizu Qiande began to make tea in the second year, and then successively built thirteen fields in the six prefectures of Qi, Huang, Lu, Guang, Shu and Shou, which produced the most tea in Huainan, and set up six goods in Jiangling Fu, Zhenzhou, Haizhou, Hanyang Army, Wuwei Army and Qizhou Qikou, the tea distribution center along the Yangtze River.

The government concentrated all the tea purchased from various places in 13 and 6 goods for sale. Merchants were ordered to pay for tea in the Jingshi and Yanjiang goods, or to pay grain and grass along the northwest border, and at a preferential discount, and issued a voucher, which was called a cross-reference, and they were sent to the thirteen fields and the goods along the Yangtze River to receive a fixed amount of tea for trafficking and selling. It looks like a very reasonable policy, but it is problematic to implement.

The merchants behind the tea indulged in the price of grain and lost the national tax, and the residents along the border could not go to the southeast to receive the tea after receiving the quotation, so they had to sell the quotation at a low price to the Beijing division and the quotation shop, which was exploited, so they were unwilling to accept the grain and grass to receive the quotation, which made it difficult to implement the law of quotation.

In the fourth year of Song Renzong's reign, he abolished the southeast tea and relaxed the ban on trade. Commerce, that is, the collection of taxes on tea plantation households and merchants' commercial taxes, and free trade is allowed. Despite this, tea cultivation and trade were restricted and heavily taxed. This is also Meng Ruoying's concern.

In fact, the trend of drinking tea in the Central Plains is prevalent, and this is especially true in the northwest grassland region. First, it is influenced by the living habits of the Han people, and secondly, drinking tea does help the nomadic people who eat beef and mutton. Beef and mutton are inevitably greasy, and the tea is fresh, and the good things that relieve greasy things have been very popular in the northwest since the Sui and Tang dynasties. But at present, in the Great Song Dynasty, it is forbidden to transport tea out of the country.

Lin Zhao deeply regretted this, if Nengjiang tea was transported to the northwest and sold to the Western Xia and Liao, or to the Tibetan tribes on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, it would be very good. In later generations, there was an ancient tea horse road, and I don't know if it has anything to do with it.

Lin Zhao felt that since there was a shortage of tea in the northwest and horses in the Central Plains, why not be mutually beneficial? If this is done properly, it is doubly beneficial!

Lin Zhao said: "There is no need to worry about the quality of these teas, they can definitely kill the production of other states and counties in the south, as for the taxation...... Let's bear with it at the beginning, even if we make less money, the profits in the future are very objective. ”

"In that case, I'll do it!" Meng Ruoying has absolute trust and confidence in Lin Zhao.

"Also, for the sake of brewing, I specially invited some brewing craftsmen from San'in, plus some of my improved ......" Lin Zhao sighed: "After it comes out, it should be much better than the spirits brewed before!" ”

"Then I'll find a place and build a workshop!"

Lin Zhao shook his head and said: "There are ready-made ones, Zhao Shiju used to have one in Yuhang County, although it was used to hide people's ears, but the things inside were quite complete." It's borderlands now, hehe, we'll just take over! ”

"Well, there is such a good thing, so don't miss it!"

Lin Zhao said: "By the way, my cousin plans to open a restaurant by the West Lake, how did you think about it?" ”

"Open, open, or I'll be bored when I'm idle!" Gu Yuelun is very realistic, the reason why he came to Hangzhou was more to see Lin Zhao, and it didn't matter if he opened a restaurant.

"Hehe, then you can get it!" Lin Zhao smiled and said, "Me...... Command them to make you cotton clothes and quilts. ”

"Well, then we'll wait!"

Seeing the smiles on the faces of the two beauties, Lin Zhao's heart moved, and he said to make cotton clothes and quilts. First of all, he should do a set for Mu Sihong, who almost died for himself, and left sequelae after being injured. The doctor has already said that the sequelae of coughing are inevitable when the lung lobes are injured, especially in the cold of winter. Therefore, the first thing that comes to mind is to keep Mu Sihong warm.

Beauty is gracious, how can it be lightly burdened?

Thinking of this, Lin Zhao planned to go to see Mu Sihong. Unexpectedly, I got a hurried report from Steward Li halfway, Mu Sihong was packing up her things and was about to leave.

Leave? Where is she going? And the injuries don't seem to be completely good!

Lin Zhao was suddenly a little anxious, took a walk and took two steps, and hurriedly entered the courtyard that Mu Sihong admired.

Before he entered the door, he heard Yu Tong say, "Miss, what are we doing in a hurry?" ”

"What are you doing here? Let's go back and forth from somewhere! Mu Sihong sighed leisurely.

"Miss, but you ...... Lin Gongzi" Yu Tong was very puzzled by what his young lady did.

Mu Sihong shook her head lightly and said, "Yutong, I've thought a lot these days, and I had too many extravagant thoughts before...... Lin Gongzi is now a county magistrate, and he still has a knighthood, how can I expect something from my background? ”

Obviously, the sensitive Mu Sihong thinks a lot and thinks far!

Yutong said again: "Isn't it just that there is something out of the body, why should the young lady care?" It seems that Lin Zhao doesn't seem to take this seriously. ”

"He doesn't care, but I can't care less......" Mu Sihong shook her head and said: "It's just a matter of wind and moon, but what your grandfather and parents are doing, you know better than us." I don't want him to be gossiped about by others because of me in the future, and I don't want this to become a stain on him and affect his career......"

"Miss, but Childe seems to be interested in you!" Yutong is a little anxious, Miss has suffered a lot of grievances over the years, and now she is about to find a good home. It would be a shame to miss it like this.

But he never spoke...... He has Miss Meng, that is the Yuelun girl, and she is far above me, so why embarrass him? Speaking of this, Mu Sihong seemed to be very helpless and sensitive. After a long time, he sighed leisurely: "Sometimes, if you love someone, you don't necessarily have to be with him!" ”

Lin Zhao heard it clearly outside the door, but he didn't expect that one of the most nonsense crookies in his previous life would come out of Mu Sihong's mouth.

How can this be? It is a great shame for a man to make a woman so sad and so entangled.

I really blame myself for being careless, why don't you make some things clear?

Lin Zhao immediately pushed the door away, and the door opened with a bang, Mu Sihong was startled, and looked at Lin Zhao in surprise, her eyes suddenly became a little complicated.

"Jade Boy, you go out first!"

Seeing Lin Zhao's solemn expression, Yu Tong stared at his young lady tightly, as for what would happen next? I don't know, but all in all, it should be a good thing. The jade boy left very open, hoping that something good would happen inside.

"Lin Gongzi......" Mu Sihong pondered for a long time before slowly speaking...... Lin Zhao nodded lightly and said, "Are you in such a hurry to leave?" ”

"Lin Gongzi...... I ......" As soon as Mu Sihong spoke, she didn't know what to say.

"A person's dignity is given by himself, there is no need to despise himself, I have never looked down on anyone, especially you!" Lin Zhao said: "At that time, you were still young, how could you influence the actions of your ancestors and fathers? As for the dust, it is also a last resort, on the contrary, for the revenge of the family, the courage to sacrifice and endure hardships is really commendable, which I appreciate very much. ”

"Lin Gongzi...... You really don't care? Mu Sihong looked at Lin Zhao intently, trying to find the most authentic answer from her eyes.

Lin Zhao nodded lightly: "There is no need to doubt this!" ”

"But ......" Mu Sihong was moved, but she had concerns in her heart.

Lin Zhao shook his head and said, "It's nothing...... If a man can't even protect his woman, what face does he have to live in this world? You follow me, others don't want to hurt you, and don't want to use you to hurt well, everything is with me, what's there to worry about? ”

"I didn't make it clear before, it's my fault!" Lin Zhao said sincerely: "I originally planned to wait for you to recover from your injury before speaking, but it seems that I can't wait any longer now......

"Lin Gongzi ......" Mu Sihong looked at Lin Zhao stupidly, and when the words came to her mouth, she couldn't open her mouth.

Lin Zhao said: "Do you remember the few riddles you gave me in Jiangning?" The last riddle, if I want to write the answer, I didn't write it...... It's been so long, and now I'm telling you! ”

As he spoke, he walked to the table, took out the pen, ink, paper, and inkstone, and wrote on a piece of white paper: Eight eyes are still rewarded, and the wind and the moon are appreciated...... After a period of practice, Lin Zhao's calligraphy has improved greatly. The lines of writing are smooth and smooth. The content is self-evident, and the thoughts that should be expressed have been jumped on the page. Then he put down the pen and looked at the beauty quietly.

Mu Sihong's eyes fell on the white paper, her eyes suddenly became hazy, and she couldn't help but burst into tears.

(To be continued)