The most powerful minister in the world

The carriage traveled eastward and soon reached the edge of its destination, which was the tea fields on the many hills, mountains, and basins that Feng Zhuoyi had mentioned.

Five miles away, I could smell the aroma of camellia brought by the breeze, which made the person who smelled it suddenly feel clear.

I saw various tea flags swaying and fluttering under Baiyun Peak, and each flag was a type of tea.

Green tea trees grow tall and tall on the mountainside, and further down are the meandering and neatly arranged tea fields, which are endlessly fascinating.

These 5,000 acres of tea fields are owned by the government, and only the internal flow is controlled. The new tea that is paid tribute every year also comes from here.

The carriage stopped at the entrance, Jingxi jumped out, took a deep breath of tea, and let out a comfortable sigh.

Yan'er lifted up her skirt and walked down with Jingxi's support.

"Sir, shall we go on an outing here?"

Jingxi smiled and said, "Now take a stroll here and take it back to the mountains for a walk."

"Oh~ Is it just the three of us?"

As soon as Lian'er finished speaking, she heard a few people running over.

"Master Jing, you are here, we have already drank two pots of tea." Liu Huangying said, patting her belly.

Mu Sheng was still dressed simply today, with a gray-white coat, and he was still so refined.

Behind him, a middle-aged man looked at Jing Xi with a smile on his face. He had a mediocre appearance, a slightly dark complexion, a hooked nose, a straight Chinese character face, but a pair of cunning eyes.

At this time, the man stepped forward and bowed: "Your Majesty, Du Ming, is the supervisor of the tea fields here. I have met the Governor."

Jing Xi's face turned cold and he looked at Mu Sheng. Mu Sheng spread his hands and said, "The bandits have been wiped out. There's no need to hide anymore."

Du Ming took over the conversation and said with a smile: "Your Majesty Governor, I am a small tea field supervisor with a strict mouth. Why should I worry about this matter if I come out to relax?"

Jing Xi stood there and looked at him and asked, "How high is your tea field supervisor?"

"Returning to the Governor, the Tea Field Supervisor is a unique official in Jiangnan Dao, and he is only a small seventh-rank official."

Jingxi nodded and said, "Okay, take us for a walk here."

"Okay, let's walk."

Du Ming narrowed his eyes and thought in his mind: I heard that the second young master of the Jing family is arrogant and domineering, and has no tolerance for others. When I meet him today, although he is not kind, he is not deceptive. If I were to get close to this big tree, what would happen to me? Jiangnan has no worries.

The reason why he dared to think so was because he had the confidence to do so. He would not change the oil and water of the tea fields even if it was given to a second-grade imperial official.

During these two hours, Du Ming introduced the tea fields to everyone in detail.

From Yuhua Tea, Maofeng, Biluochun, Dahongpao, and Tieguanyin, we will explain the making process of each tea, as well as the attention paid to making tea.

Until noon, everyone sat around a long nanmu table in the bamboo building.

Jingxi is in the first place, facing south, with the curtain in his right hand, and Mu Sheng, Liu, Huangying, and Feng Zhuoyi sit on both sides.

Du Ming and Jing Xi sat across from each other.

The tea water gurgled non-stop, and occasionally water splashed on the coals, and a puff of white smoke suddenly appeared.

The whole room is filled with the scent of tea.

Jingxi twirled a cup and sniffed it at the tip of his nose, feeling a fresh breath of fresh air rushing through his limbs.

After taking another small sip, he immediately praised: "Good, good!"

Seeing Jing Xi's appearance, everyone raised their glasses and drank, all of them looking surprised.

As the "host", Du Ming was naturally complacent and said in a pretentious manner: "My lords, you are in luck. This batch of tea is the first batch after the rain this year."

"Although this cup looks like the best, it shouldn't be so refreshing and cold. Is there some secret to it?" Mu Sheng asked as he added another cup.

Du Ming laughed and pointed outside the wooden window, where he saw a group of young women from the water town in their twenties, wearing blue-gray sweatshirts.

The orange round dustpan is placed on the graceful crotch, and she walks slowly with lotus steps.

Du Ming smiled and said, "These little girls picked up the tea leaves one by one with their fragrant lips before the rain."

"Every year, we only produce less than a hundred catties, and we pay a tribute of fifty catties. The rest is sold internally, and an auction is held at the Yanghe Teahouse on June 10th every year. The one with the highest price gets it."

Hearing this, Jingxi made a secret calculation in his mind: What a huge profit deal, and looking at him like this, I'm afraid his pockets would already be bulging.

Seeing Jing Xi lowering his head in thought, Du Ming picked up the tea cup and said with a smile: "There is no wine today, so I have no choice but to use this good tea to celebrate the governor's victory in suppressing the bandits."

"Besides, I am..." Du Ming didn't move his head and glanced at the crowd, "I still have a gift I want to give to the Governor."

Upon hearing this, Jingxi's eyes lit up and he asked, "What gift?"

Du Ming waved his hand and smiled mysteriously. He dipped his hand in water and wrote a line on the table. Liu Huangying took a closer look and said to Jing Xi, "One hundred thousand taels of silver."

One hundred thousand taels of silver was a salary that a first-class official could earn in twenty-five years. Du Ming, a small and low-ranking official, could actually have such a big deal.

And with the wind and clouds being so light, you can imagine how much oil and water this tea field produces every year.

They all work in the officialdom, there is no one who is not good at it. Jingxi took the folding fan from Lian'er, looked at Du Ming and asked directly: "Tell me, what do you want from me?"

Du Ming raised his hands between his eyebrows and said, "Where, I'm a lower official..."

Before he could finish speaking, Jingxi interrupted: "You should have heard about my temper. If you say more, you will have no chance."

Du Ming was silent for a long time, then stood up suddenly, retreated to the hall, lifted up his skirt and robe, knelt down on one knee and said: "Since I became an official, I have been looking forward to the Jing family army. Although I don't have great talents, if the second son doesn't Abandon it, my subordinate Du Ming is willing to follow you!"

The loud sound echoed in the room. Mu Sheng, Liu Huangying, Feng Zhuoyi and others were all holding teacups and sipping the tea carefully without any change in their expressions.

Lian'er blinked and seemed to want to retreat.

Jingxi played with the jade finger, then flicked the camellia that had been stained on the hem of the jade ring and asked with a smile: "Why don't I understand what you mean? Are you planning to join the Jing family army or join me?"

Du Ming asked in confusion: "Is there any difference?"

Jing Xi shook his head and smiled: "Of course there is a difference. If you plan to join the Jing Family Army, I can write a letter for you. You can go to the Southern Xinjiang Martial Palace overnight. If you join my sect, you will naturally have other arrangements."

Du Ming didn't hesitate for a moment: "I am willing to join the Second Young Master's service and do my best!"

The teapot on the charcoal fire was still squeaking, but Jingxi had already led everyone to stand up. When he passed by Du Ming, he patted Du Ming on the shoulder.

"Tomorrow at noon, I will personally come to collect the silver and cash it."

After saying that, Jingxi and the others walked out of the house, only to hear Du Ming shout happily: "Thank you, Second Young Master, for your appreciation!"

The clouds were rolling and the wind was relaxing. Jingxi and his party rode in two carriages and had left the tea field. When they passed the waterfall, Jingxi and Mu Sheng came down to relieve themselves.

Behind the dense bushes, the two of them were peeing side by side. Compared to the day when he came to Jiangnan West Road, Mu Sheng was obviously no longer as reserved as he was back then.

"Second Young Master, I have something unclear and I would like to ask for advice."

Jingxi trembled and peed further than Mu Sheng: "I know what you want to ask. I accepted Du Ming as my disciple, not because I wanted the one hundred thousand taels of silver. We are here not only to suppress bandits. "

"The other important thing is to rectify the administration of officials. Although one hundred thousand taels of silver is a lot, it can't shake me at all."

Mu Sheng put on his belt and said: "In the past, Zhao Qian, a disciple of the Confucian sage Zhi Chunqiu, came to Yanmen Pass and asked the local masters how to recognize people."

"The expert laughed. He was too humble to recognize people, but he only loved fishing. He said that the fish that bites as soon as the hook is hooked is Yangqiao fish. The meat of this fish is bitter and woody."

"Another type of fish that loves to ignore bait is the bream. This fish is delicious and tender. Although it is difficult to catch, everyone loves it."

After Jingxi heard what he said, he also put on his belt, patted Mu Sheng on the shoulder and said: "In Zhi Chunqiu, I was a Confucian scholar of the previous generation. What the old man taught me is to be a good person and don't care about fish or people." Bad guys all have their uses.”

"The only difference is whether the person using it has the right intentions."

Mu Sheng tilted his head and looked at his shoulder, tugged his lips and murmured: "Why haven't I heard Yan Lao say that?"

"Haha, you haven't heard a lot. Okay, I have a sense of discretion in my heart. Let's go to the next place. There will be surprises."

Mu Sheng froze on the spot, shivering inexplicably, and got into the carriage with some worry.

The group walked through steep mountain roads, waded across lakes, and hurriedly arrived at a land as beautiful as a paradise.