Tea Merchants of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 117 Plan

It was still early. When we looked at the top of the mountain from halfway up the mountain, it was only noon.

Jiang Yin and his companions chose a shady spot with a few welcoming pine trees and set up a stall to have lunch.

"How come we don't have such beautiful welcoming pines in Mengshan?" Jiang Yin couldn't help but sigh, "I really want to dig two and plant them at the foot of Mengshan."

Well, it would be nice to plant it in front of the old house.

Jiang Si Niang glared at her and said unhappily, "When we get back, ask your great grandfather to buy you two to plant. Although they are not as good as the welcoming pines here, they still have a different flavor after being trimmed."

"Okay, it's better than nothing." Jiang Yin grinned and sat on the top of the mountain looking at the Yuping Peak in the distance.

Speaking of the Welcoming Pine, the one on Yuping Peak is the most beautiful.

The Welcoming Pine on Yuping Peak is the most famous pine tree in Huangshan and one of the four wonders of Huangshan. It stands beside the Lion Rock in front of Yuping Peak and above the Manjusri Cave.

It grows out of rocks and can live for more than a thousand years. It has a vigorous posture, with branches and leaves spread out like a cover, and side branches extending across the sky as if outstretched to welcome guests.

Such a magnificent Welcoming Pine cannot be grown everywhere. It requires the right time, place and people.

After lunch and appreciating the scenery, Jiang Yin and his companions began to disperse and continue to observe the soil and environment on the mountain.

"My dear, the soil and environment here are comparable to our Mengshan." Xiao Luo held a handful of soil dug from the ground and showed it to Jiang Yin excitedly, "It's suitable for growing tea trees. Can we grow Mengshan tea here?"

If they still can't find a way to make Maofeng tea taste better, then they can bring Mengshan tea seedlings here to plant.

Jiang Yin was slightly stunned, then suddenly said: "Yes, we can also plant other tea trees, who said we must plant Maofeng tea."

She was in a misunderstanding, thinking that she had to grow Huangshan Maofeng tea. After all, this is Huangshan.

"Each type of tea has its own suitable growing environment. Maofeng tea grown at the foot of the mountain is different from that grown at the top of the mountain. The same is true for Mengshan tea." Jiang Si Niang paused and continued, "Similarly, if Mengshan tea is brought here to be planted, the harvest may not be the same."

Then, she sighed and said, "But it doesn't hurt to try. Maybe it will work."

Huizhou is a good place to produce tea. This can be seen from the fact that the imperial court wanted to expand its tea monopoly system to Huizhou.

Good mountains and good waters produce good tea. It is worth coming here to plant tea trees.

It is far away from Yazhou, so I can temporarily stay away from the grudges there.

"That's right." Jiang Yin said with a smile, "After we buy the land, we will use half to grow Huangshan Maofeng tea and the other half to grow Mengshan tea and other scented teas and fruit trees.

This way, no matter which one succeeds, it won’t be in vain.”

If nothing unexpected happens, even if the imperial court does not take away the property from Mengshan, they are still working for the imperial court and have no other income.

Even if Chengdu Prefecture grew scented tea, it was only a small amount, not enough to support the Jiang family's previous trade routes.

In the future, he would use Chengdu and Yazhou as his base, and quietly develop the industries in Huizhou, trying to find another way out for the Jiang family.

Jiang Si Niang narrowed her eyes and said, "That's great. If we can restart our Jiang family's caravan, there's no need to worry about the Jiang family not being able to stand up again."

In the past, Jiang's tea was not only sold to caravans that came to buy, but Jiang's own caravans would also transport the tea to various places for sale.

Or they could barter for foreign goods, then ship them back to the mainland and make a profit from the difference.

But since the tea-horse trade moved to the southwest, Jiang's caravan has stagnated and has not made any rash moves.

After all, the Mengshan tea was not enough for the caravans to transport to foreign countries. The teahouses in the family or the caravans that came to the family could consume it all.

Jiang Yin pondered for a moment and said, "It would be best if we could re-activate the caravan, but we can no longer take the old route to Tibet. It would be better to take the Silk Road and transport to a more distant place."

The important route of the Ancient Tea Horse Road leads to Tubo. If she lets the caravan pass through openly, she might be suspected of treason. It is better to avoid the limelight and choose another way.

Although the wars between Song Dynasty and Xixia were frequent, it was a bit risky to take the Silk Road, but wealth and honor are sought in danger, and there was always a way for the caravan to take.

She just couldn't believe that even though the tea had been grown, they were still worried about how to sell it.

If all else fails, sell them to Tokyo or other places. There is always another way.

"Be careful with your words." Jiang Si Niang looked around and then said angrily, "It will take a long time for the tea trees to grow. It won't be too late to talk about future matters when we go back. It will be useless to say more now."

Mengshan has a tea monopoly system, and Huizhou is not far from it. If others heard this, I'm afraid there would be another lawsuit.

Things are accomplished through secrecy and ruined through disclosure. Those who accomplish great things keep it in their hearts and act on it.

Jiang Yin smiled and took Jiang Si Niang's hand and said, "I know, I know, Si Niang, don't worry. Besides, we don't know whether we can buy the land or not. It won't be too late to talk about it after we buy it."

Without land, everything is in vain.

After the on-site investigation, the group returned to the town. After drinking two bowls of fragrant drinks, the people who had inquired about the situation also brought back news.

The land was not sold, but it was not sold either. They just told us to wait for news and they would notify us when there was any.

This news was equivalent to no news, Jiang Yin was not very satisfied, so he sent Wang Heng to go again. But the result was the same, he only found out one more reason.

Jiang Yin frowned slightly and said, "So, the county government is planning to sell it, but they are worried about the upcoming inspector from Tokyo?"

She really didn't expect this to be the reason. After all, the Inspector was only promoting the tea monopoly system and had nothing to do with the sale of land.

Wang Heng nodded and said, "Yes, I have inquired about it. The Supervisor is expected to arrive in Huizhou City tomorrow. The county government will not consider selling the land until the Supervisor leaves."

No matter what the inspectors came for, they all came from Tokyo and represented the government. Local officials would be on high alert and would not leave any evidence.

Jiang Yin chuckled and said, "Are they afraid that the interests between them and those noble families will be discovered?"

"Well, if they don't want to sell it, there's nothing we can do but wait." She sighed and continued, "Let's go to Huizhou City tomorrow to see who is coming."

She actually hoped that the person who came was Li Ji, at least he would not make things difficult for her.

But Li Ji is probably still in Yazhou investigating his cases. He himself is in dire straits and has no time to come to Huizhou.

It was pointless to say more. Jiang Yin pondered for a while, then went to the tea garden with Jiang Si Niang and stayed there until the evening.

Early the next morning, Wang Heng drove a carriage and brought Jiang Yin and Jiang Si Niang to Huizhou City. Xiao Luo still followed them.

As for Yan Ge'er, he did not come with them, but went to the nearby tea garden to inquire about the news.

In fact, it would be more appropriate for Wang Heng to go and find out. But Wang Heng was worried about Jiang Yin going to Huizhou, so he switched with Yan Ge'er.

Jiang Yin had no objection. After all, Yan Ge'er was also smart. It would do no harm to walk around more and train him.