There was no need to negotiate further, as these people had already decided what tea they wanted to buy. They came here for the tea, and the price was even more favorable than in the south, so what else could they say? Although this tea was not well-known now, as long as it was handled properly, it would surely become famous, after all, the quality was there.
Jiang Miao looked at the pile of contracts in his hand and was very happy. He made a menu with a big wave of his hand and sent it to the kitchen. There were several skillful ladies in the kitchen. Their dishes were not very delicious. Jiang Miao had eaten here for a few times before and was a little unacceptable. So he gave them some instructions and added a lot of seasonings. A skilled cook cannot cook without rice. Without enough auxiliary materials, those who can make ordinary food into a superb dish must be chefs. They obviously have not reached this level yet.
While preparing the meal here, Jiang Miao looked at the time and thought it was still early, so he led these people to the tea mountain for a walk.
The tea mountain was in the shape of a terrace, with tea trees planted neatly on each level. The green tea trees were connected together, like green jade belts surrounding the mountain. In the middle of these green jade belts, there were tea pickers with cloth towels tied on their heads and bamboo baskets tied around their waists. They used both hands, and with just two movements of reaching and grabbing, they picked a lot of tea leaves in the blink of an eye. The movements were so fast that only afterimages could be seen. These merchants had never seen others picking tea before, but now they stared at the tea pickers intently, watching them fascinated.
Seeing that they seemed very interested, Jiang Miao asked someone to bring a few bamboo baskets and let them pick the tea as they pleased. They would fry the tea they picked and drink the tea they made. Now that the Grain Rain had passed, the temperature rose rapidly and the tea leaves grew amazingly. The tea leaves picked at this time were almost all low-quality tea. But no one would dislike it. Some low-quality new teas tasted better than those medium-quality old teas.
When the merchants returned home, the food in the village was ready. The food was not like the big fish and meat they usually ate outside, and the utensils used to serve it were not delicate white porcelain plates, but large coarse porcelain bowls with rural characteristics, which exuded a sense of simplicity. In this green environment, smelling the fragrance of various delicious dishes produced in the mountains, the merchants who had been active for an afternoon all had a big appetite, and after washing their hands, they went to the table and ate heartily.
After eating and drinking, the people picked the tea leaves and poured them out to pick them. After all, they were not skilled workers, so all of them could only pick two baskets. After picking, they gathered around a boiler and watched the tea frying master constantly rolling and frying the originally stretched green leaves into black and thin tea leaves.
After the tea leaves were cooled, they were divided into more than a dozen equal portions according to the number of people. Holding them in the hand, they probably weighed less than two taels. However, these guests held them in their hands as if they had obtained some great treasure. They picked them with their own hands, how could other teas compare to them
Cangzhou welcomed four waves of guests, all of whom signed sales contracts with Cangzhou, which is what we now call a deed. They bought all the tea produced in Cangzhou this year, whether it was high-quality or medium-quality.
In addition to tea, they also bought a lot of Cangzhou specialty mountain products, the price of which was higher than the purchase price of Fengshou Grain Shop. This should be due to the reception meal they had. After hard work, the food they ate tasted much better than usual.
The money for the mountain products was paid to the common people on the spot, but the money for the tea was paid directly to the government. When the officials from the government's household department followed Jiang Miao to pay the money, they were so surprised that their mouths opened wide and they couldn't close them for a long time.
When Pei Che said he wanted to reclaim mountain land to plant tea, and used the labor service of last year and this year to offset it, many people complained, thinking that Pei Che was looking for trouble. Because the labor service became reclaiming land to plant trees, jobs like clearing ditches, repairing roads, and filling city walls became hiring people for money.
These jobs were tiring and exhausting. If the price was too low, no one would do it. They had no choice but to pay a large sum of money to hire someone to do the job. With more extra expenses, there was less money in the account. The officials of the Household Department calculated that they still could not pay the taxes this year. They might have to write to Chengtian Prefecture to ask them to provide some money and food to ensure that the officials in the state capital could work normally.
In the state capital, Zhizhou Pei Che was the top leader, but he had the prefect above him. Seeing that the large tea mountain was only paid to hire someone to look after it every day, but no money was recorded, everyone became anxious. Later, when they heard that a merchant had come, everyone felt a little relieved, but they had no idea how much they would sell for. They just hoped that the money could make up for the extra expenses of the government and not let them be blamed by the prefect.
When the officials at the household registration office counted the money, everyone was shocked. The money earned not only offset the deficit incurred when hiring people to work, but also paid part of the taxes. Although it was only a small part, it was still a big change.
Unexpectedly, the tea business could bring so much profit. The adults who had been working in Cangzhou could not help but feel a little regretful. They had been guarding the treasure mountain for so many years without knowing it. They had suffered poverty and anger for so many years in vain! If they had started the tea business earlier, they would probably have been promoted to other wealthy places.
Pei Che didn't care about their inner thoughts, nor did he bother to argue with them about the gossip before. After he transferred this part of the government's income to the silver treasury, he ordered the officials of the household department to take the remaining silver notes to the silver shop to exchange for small change and copper coins. After exchanging the copper coins, the group took two large money boxes and rode in a carriage towards Tuyan Village.
Today's Tuyan Village is no longer what it used to be. Back then, the mountains here were not high enough, and the mountain products were not much, only some common mushrooms and wild fruits. People did not dare to go into the deep mountains, so the whole village was very poor.
Now it has changed a lot. Since Tuyan Village is the first mountain where Jiang Miao discovered tea, he turned several nearby mountains into a pilot for tea planting. The green all over the mountains not only makes the environment here more beautiful, but also brings them many benefits. As time goes by, the villagers have a good impression of tea. At the suggestion of the village chief, they changed the name of the village to Tea Village. It is said that when this name came out, the faces of several village chiefs were not very good. I wonder if they also want to change to this name.
"Everyone has worked hard these days. As agreed before, in addition to providing a meal, you will also be paid. Now that the tea has been sold, it's time to settle the bill. Please tell each other to come to Mingzhengxuan at noon to settle the wages." Jiang Miao said loudly.
The villagers were very happy. They had indeed talked about wages before, but no one had mentioned it, and they thought they would not get paid. Although they felt a little unhappy, they thought about the good lunch provided here, and their whole family ate here. In more than a month, their complexion seemed to have improved, so they just let it go without paying them.
Now that they had been told clearly that they would be given the money, they were so happy that they immediately went home and told others about it. Since the tea was produced, almost everyone in the village had been working.
As soon as noon arrived, Mingzhengxuan was crowded with people. The common people stood together chatting, their simple faces full of joy.
Pei Che ordered the officials of the Household Department to write a note and stamp it with a seal, and then tear it up in time, with the people taking half and the government keeping the other half as a voucher. The officials of the Household Department were confused, but still did as Pei Che said.
When the villagers saw them making such a big show, they didn't know how to get their wages. Fortunately, Village Chief Huang took the lead and stood in the first place.
"Village chief, you have worked for a total of forty-two days. Your wages are calculated at fifty-five cents a day. You can receive a total of two taels, three cents and ten cents today." Zhang Quan said. He had a small abacus hanging around his neck, and with a crackling sound, he reported the result accurately.
When Village Chief Huang heard this, his old face immediately relaxed. He didn't doubt that the amount of money was wrong. Zhang Quan was from their village, how could he cheat them? His mouth was wide open. In just less than a month and a half, he made so much money. It was said that the government was going to rent these tea mountains to the villagers to take care of them in the future. This was a constant source of income!
Zhang Quan reported the amount, and the household official on the other side also wrote out a note, stamped it, tore off half of it and handed it to Village Chief Huang, asking him to go and collect the money.
Village chief Huang held the half piece of paper carefully and walked to Jiang Miao. Jiang Miao leaned over to take a look at the paper in his hand, then took out the change from the cash box and weighed it. After weighing it, he counted out ten copper coins and gave them to him.
After the village chief, it was the turn of the villagers of Tuyan Village. They lined up one by one to collect their wages. As long as they had done any work, Zhang Quan would keep a record of it. When they came over, he would pay them according to the number of days and the wages.
Tuyan Village is not very populous, with about thirty households and less than two hundred people. Soon, all the villagers received their wages. The household official had written so many notes that his hands were already sore. Seeing that there was no one in front of him, he was about to put down his pen and take a rest, when he heard Jiang Miao say, "Master Yan, please write another note for Zhang Quan."
Zhang Quan was stunned and said quickly: "Sir, I don't need it. I didn't do any work, so why should I ask for money?"
Jiang Miao smiled and said, "Why not? You have been responsible for registering the number of villagers these days, and you also have to take people to buy food, which is also very hard work. Your wages will be calculated according to the tea roasting worker."
Seeing Jiang Miao's expression that could not be refuted, Zhang Quan pursed his lips and agreed. However, when Jiang Miao handed over the money, he did not reach out to take it, but looked at Jiang Miao with a complicated expression, as if he had something to say but could not say it.
"What's wrong?"
Zhang Quan hesitated for a long time, but finally mustered up the courage to speak out: "Sir, I want to ask... about my father's case..." When they came last winter, they seemed to want to investigate thoroughly, but several months have passed, and there is no news at all. He has been getting along with this lord these days, and he always feels that they are not irresponsible officials. I think there must be something hidden here.
Jiang Miao was stunned, and his eyes unconsciously looked at Pei Che. Pei Che nodded at him, and then Jiang Miao put the money into Zhang Quan's hand and whispered, "Come in alone later."
Zhang Quan's eyes lit up and he said "hmm" in a low voice.
(End of this chapter)