Great Imperial Merchant

Making tea is hard work, especially when frying the green tea. Generally, the green tea is fried by hand directly in the pot and stir-fried. After the hot hands are replaced with tea grills, stir-fry until the tea leaves are evenly dispersed, and then rolled out of the pot for kneading.The stir-frying of black tea is also called red pot. Unlike green tea, it uses a "touch and shake" frying technique, and the whole process must be done by hand without tea.

Even the green purple bamboo shoots are slightly different from ordinary black tea. They need to be fermented first, then pan-fried, and then kneaded, baked, sieved and sorted, and finally re-roasted and evenly piled.

Such refined black tea requires sifting, shaking, fanning, sorting, and roasting, so that the top grade can be produced in the end.

The tea garden they bought from Qumu County has a total of four acres of Qu black tea trees. The fresh leaves produced are only about a hundred catties. It took three or four days to finish frying all the pots.He didn't have to be busy with the subsequent process by himself. With Han Shiqian and the servants around, the speed was finally happy.

During the whole pot-frying process, Han Shiqian didn't help. If you want to start a tea business, you have to be familiar with every process yourself. The taste of the finished tea is a very important part of pot-frying.If Cheng Weizhe can't even learn this well, then there's no need to talk about being a tea merchant.

No matter whether they find tea-frying masters by themselves or directly teach their apprentices to make tea, that is something for later. Now they still have to create their own reputation to have something later, right?

Regarding the matter of the tea house, Yang Zhongyuan couldn't help much, but he was distracted by other matters.

Although Quhong is abundant along the coast of Muze Lake, even the green and purple bamboo shoots are good tea made from the top leaves, and the leaves alone can be regarded as high-quality tea.The price is naturally higher than that of Shaluo Qingcha, which has a low yield but does not pay much attention to the leaves. It is generally between one tael and one tael silver.Fumanlou has been selling tea for a long time, and it has been open for nearly April now, except that the Saluo Qingcha used at the beginning is made from the top leaf, which is more expensive, and then the free delivery is only the ordinary middle leaf, which is not too expensive , but not cheap, so it is quite popular among diners.

At the beginning, Fumanlou didn’t have too many types of tea, and it didn’t have its own tea garden. It only occasionally bought good tea, and Han Shiqian taught Cheng Weizhe to fry it himself. It was only counted as new tea every month for diners in Fumanlou. For sale, because the quantity is too small, basically every two or three days can be sold out, neither making money nor losing money.

Cheng Weizhe has learned the true story of Han Shiqian by frying green tea with one hand, and he is also very particular about tea selection. It is not good tea that he never wants, so his family's tea has gradually gained word of mouth.

It's just that the quantity is too small, and it has never been sold in large quantities.

At the beginning, they also thought about buying finished tea from other houses to sell, but then they changed their minds. In the future, they will always make their own word-of-mouth. It is not so good to use other people’s tea. It's a real good impression.

Cheng Weizhe worked hard to make good tea, so Yang Zhongyuan tried his best to sell it.

The tea leaves are light. If you don't drink strong tea, you can soak it in water a dozen times a day or two.If it is boiled, it is better, and the soup is crushed and used less than brewing.The cheapest big-leaf tea costs only a tael of silver or more than sixty coppers, and ordinary people can afford to drink it.

The expensive ones are of course rare and fragrant famous teas. Although ordinary people can't afford to drink them, they can still call them famous.

Just like Qian Chongxue, the reunion of the dragon and the phoenix, and Xiao Ronghua, even the rich and the rich have never seen it, and the people of Daliang can tell why.

This is the charm of tea in Daliang.

Their first step in Fumanlou has to be done steadily and skillfully.

Yang Zhongyuan specially ordered a batch of cheaper blue-printed linen from Chu's cloth shop next door, and found an embroidery worker for a few days to make a batch of Fudou with the imprint of Fumanlou.

Fudou is very easy to make. The four corners of the palm-sized square cloth are grasped upwards, and the four-dimensional thread is threaded with thick twine. Tighten the knot so that it will not fall apart.One or two tea leaves are roughly the size of a handful in the palm of your hand. Yang Zhongyuan asked someone to support the cloth first, and then put the whole tea into his blessing pocket.

Leaving aside the fact that all their teas are fried and kneaded and then picked again, let’s say that the Fudou bag of tea leaves is also very pretty, and it sells for a tael of silver, which is not more expensive than that sold by many big tea merchants, and even cheaper. It's cheap.

Yang Zhongyuan thought about it, most of the diners who came to eat at his house were relatively well-off, and after the autumn harvest in September, each family had spare money, so buying one or two high-quality tea back home was not considered a luxury, and it should be able to sell better.

Cheng Weizhe finished frying the tea, and before he had a rest, he came over to help them pack the tea again. Because they were going to sell it on the shelves, the whole family, including Yang Zhongyuan, started to do it.The boys weighed the tea leaves with a scale and wrapped them neatly in oiled paper, and then wrapped them in their lucky pockets and tied them with ropes.The three large characters of Fumanlou on Fudou are very eye-catching. The first finished product is really beautiful.

Only half of the 38 or [-] catties of finished tea were made into one or two taels of Fudou, and the remaining eight or nine catties would be sold directly at Fumanlou. .

In order to attract more diners to come to taste the delicious food, this part of the loose tea is sold at a lower price than Fudou. The portion of a pot of tea is more than that of ordinary people, and Xiaoshan’s tea brewing method is quite beautiful. Drink it like this once. , but only a penny, and it is very affordable when paired with Fumanlou's delicious food.

With only ten taels left, Yang Zhongyuan bought quite delicate blue-and-white glazed black tea pots, put six taels of tea in each pot, put the lid on, and write the three big characters of Fumanlou on a red seal, which was specially used as a gift for envoys.Chu's Buzhuang, Yue'an Inn, Xia's, and Gu's familiar restaurants will give away. The leftover tea leaves and tea pots are placed at the entrance of Fumanlou. As long as someone buys four taels of tea, they will give a piece of tea It is also quite beautiful to put it in a can and give it away.

After such a discussion, the lucky pockets in their hands were finished, and the family also thought about the first batch of green and purple bamboo shoots.

On September [-]th, the day of Bailu, Fumanlou put up a big sign again, saying that the latest blue and purple bamboo shoots were on the market today.Today, as long as the diners ordered the green and purple bamboo shoots, each table will only be charged [-]% of the meal fee. Compared with the price of Fumanlou, this pot of green and purple bamboo shoots that day is a free gift.

In order not to be too busy, Zhou Quanxu and Han Shiqian both went to the shop. Zhou Quanxu helped the waiters to serve and clear the table, while Han Shiqian led the other waiter to make tea in the private room. Taking advantage of today, I will teach a tea brewer to come out.

But Yang Zhongyuan and Cheng Weizhe were busy in the front. Cheng Weizhe went over to almost every table and talked about Lianzi bamboo shoots in person, while Yang Zhongyuan helped shopkeeper Qian sell tea at the counter.

Naturally, the sales were not very good at the beginning. Only the diners of Fumanlou's tea drank it, and generally they would buy it. One, the name of Fumanlou is still not loud enough.

Cheng Weizhe saw that the effect of the first sale was not particularly good, so he simply placed the tea stand that was used when it first opened at the door, and anyone who passed by could have a bowl of it to try.

The green and purple bamboo shoots of their family have a very mild taste, the tea soup is bright and clear, the fragrance is pure and long-lasting, and the taste is mellow and sweet. You can smell the unique mellow aroma of black tea when you approach it from a distance.

Cheng Weizhe was not afraid of being laughed at by others, so he yelled loudly while using a beautiful technique: "The best even green and purple bamboo shoots are on sale today, and you don't need money for nothing."

A familiar tea drinker called him with a smile: "Boss Cheng, you are working too hard."

Cheng Weizhe replied with a smile: "I have a family to support, how can I not work hard."

This back and forth will make the atmosphere in the shop much more relaxed, and the passers-by will stop to try the former tribute tea with green and purple bamboo shoots.

Although the Gu family now also offers Lianqingzi bamboo shoots, their name is not as resounding as Qianchongxue's after all.In Quzhou today, there are still more Chongling Xueya.Although the origin of Xueya is in Chongling, it can also grow in Muze Lake. The Gu family relied on the Chongling Xueya tea tree cultivated by their own family to make a thousand snows, thus winning the championship in one fell swoop.

Because of the reputation of Chongling Xueya, all tea merchants in Quzhou have started to make this kind of tea. There are not even green and purple bamboo shoots, but there are not many, and the quality is not high.

When the passers-by tasted Fumanlou's green and purple bamboo shoots, some knowledgeable people immediately felt the difference, and asked him, "Boss, how do you sell it for one tael?"

Cheng Weizhe would smile and answer: "One tael of silver and one tael of tea, if you come to the shop today and order our green and purple bamboo shoots, you only need to pay [-]% of the meal price, guest officer, would you like to come in and try my family's handicrafts? "

Some people were moved by what he said, and seeing that there were almost no empty tables in the hall, they had no choice but to take one or two home to eat.Some were patient, sitting on a bench at the entrance of the hall and waiting for a table.

The waiting guests are not in vain, and there are simple snack pancakes to satisfy their hunger, which is quite thoughtful.

As a result, Fumanlou, which was already full of people, became even more crowded.

Yang Zhongyuan was too busy keeping accounts and getting tea at the front desk, let alone the money shopkeeper who had to collect the money to settle the accounts.

Han Shiqian went downstairs after receiving the waiter, and was taken aback when he saw the hot scene, so he quickly rolled up his sleeves and ran behind the counter, asking Yang Zhongyuan to sit down and rest for a while.

After a busy day like this, nearly six catties of tea were sold, and the food business was better than before. Almost every table had to be turned over twice, and some diners left midway because they waited too long.

It wasn't until after dinner that the family sat together to settle accounts that they really breathed a sigh of relief.

The hard work of this period of time was not in vain.

However, it was a bit too hard. Although today's situation is special, it also exposed the disadvantage of their lack of manpower in Fumanlou.Shopkeeper Qian not only has to buy wine for meals, but also sells tea to entertain guests, and he doesn't even drink his saliva all day long.As for the small area at the counter, it was really hard to turn around.

After returning to the room at night, Cheng Weizhe helped Yang Zhongyuan massage his lower back: "There is a shortage of waiters in the hall and the second floor, and the shopkeeper can't handle it alone. We have to set up a special counter to sell tea and wine. There are not enough servants at home. In winter Fortunately, when tea picking starts in spring, it will be too busy."

Yang Zhongyuan was really tired after a busy day, but because the business was very good, he was in good spirits. Cheng Weizhe's massage technique was very meticulous, and he didn't fall asleep, so he listened carefully to his speech.

"No, if we want to put teahouses and restaurants together, we have to find a bigger one, but now I like Fumanlou very much, and I really don't want to give up."

Indeed, this is the first place where they started to struggle. From inside to outside, it is full of memories of working hard together. Even if they want to open another branch, this place cannot be sold.The first Fumanlou they opened not only has a good location, but also brought them a lot of blessings.

"Let's go and recruit a few young men first, and take advantage of the free time in winter to teach tea craftsman first."

Cheng Weizhe nodded: "Okay, go to sleep, I will go to the shop by myself tomorrow, and you should stay at home and rest honestly."

Yang Zhongyuan glanced at him, reached out and touched his thin face: "Well, you can sleep too, I'm much better."

Compared with Fumanlou, which is warm and happy, the situation in Jinxiu Garden is not so good.

Not only did Fumanlou fail to make the so-called swan geese banquet, but it also made a new tea that attracted the attention of most tourists. Not only did Jinxiu Garden not have Fumanlou's recipes this time, even the chef's craftsmanship and ideas were not up to par. get on.The Swan Goose Banquet that was reluctantly launched not only did not continue the good momentum of the Hundred Flowers Banquet, it even made them fail to achieve their usual business. There were actually empty tables at noon.

The shopkeeper of Jinxiu Garden entered the back compartment, and when he raised his eyes, he saw the livid face of his boss.

"Boss... That Yang Cheng... is here again..." Although the shopkeeper is good friends with him, seeing his face full of hostility at this moment, he couldn't help stammering.

Guan Jinren said with a sullen face, "Hehe, let him in, I want to see what he wants."