I support the army through farming and business.

Chapter 363 Fried Tea
After the Spring Festival, the people of Minzhou returned to their hard work.

In February, the steward of the Yang family brought ten boatloads of tea seedlings to Minzhou. As soon as the seedlings arrived, the farmers and tenants of the farm hurriedly planted them in the prepared ridges.

As usual, Tang Zhao rode his horse around to inspect the area, resolving any problems as soon as possible.

"Your Highness, a woman requests an audience."

Seeing Tang Zhao nod, Wu Yi'er personally went to bring the person over. Tang Zhao looked closely and saw that it was the woman who had cried out for justice.

"So it's you. If I remember correctly, your name is Cuilan."

The woman was clearly surprised that Tang Zhao knew her name. After a moment of surprise, she became excited and said, "Yes, my humble name is indeed Cuilan."

"What urgent matter do you wish to discuss with me?"

Cuilan silently encouraged herself, "Your Highness, there's something wrong with these tea seedlings."

"Oh? What's the problem?"

"I heard that Her Highness the Princess purchased the tea seedlings from the Yang family at a price of twenty coins per seedling."

Tang Zhao nodded.

"Twenty coins a seedling, that price should buy a top-quality tea seedling, but the Yang family sent an inferior one!" The woman held up the tea seedling in her hand. "Your Highness, please look, the buds and leaves of this tea seedling are small, the leaves are thin and dull. Tea produced from such seedlings has a weak aroma and taste. Even ordinary merchants would not be willing to buy it, let alone wealthy families!"

Tang Zhao's eyes lit up with admiration. "You know a lot about tea?"

Cuilan shook her head, "My husband has studied tea ceremony all his life, and I have also learned a little bit about it through exposure to his teachings, but I am not worthy of the title of 'knowledgeable'."

"That's quite good. Would you be willing to manage the farm and tea garden for me?"

Cuilan hesitated, "I am just a woman..."

"Those who are capable will be in charge under my command."

Cuilan cursed herself inwardly. Her Highness the Princess was a woman herself, so how could she reject her just because she was a woman?

"This humble servant is willing to give her life for Your Highness!"

Tang Zhao nodded in satisfaction, "Issue my decree: from this day forward, Cuilan is appointed as the manager of the tea garden, in charge of all affairs of the tea garden!"

Wu Yi went to relay the order.

Tang Zhao encouraged him, "If you do well, you'll have many more opportunities for promotion in the future."

Cuilan knelt down respectfully and performed a grand salute, saying, "This servant will certainly not disappoint Your Highness's expectations!"

With the assistance of Cuilan, no, it was Steward Zhu, the tea garden was successfully planted in early March. Looking at the neat rows of tea seedlings on the hillside, Tang Zhao was in a great mood.

Manager Ge seized the opportunity and said, "Your Highness, it is now the tea-picking season, and many tea gardens are recruiting workers. I wonder if any of the women in the manor could apply for jobs?"

"Sure, of course you can!" If you can make money, why not go?

Manager Ge was overjoyed. In the past, when the Yang family managed the estate, they did not allow the people of the estate to work for other families, saying that it would bring shame to the Yang family!
The peasants didn't understand why working for other families would be a disgrace to their employers, but since the steward of the Yang family had given the order, they dared not disobey and had no choice but to secretly go and take on jobs to earn some money.

But as more and more people went, it was inevitable that some would be discovered. The steward of the Yang family was furious and not only confiscated the hard-earned money, but also beat the person to death!

From then on, no one in the village dared to take on the tea-picking work anymore, and every year during the tea-picking season, they could only watch with envy.

Now, they can finally work!
Manager Ge's eyes reddened with excitement. He immediately shared the good news with every household. The women who received the news were even happier than during the New Year. They went out and gathered their familiar neighbors, excitedly heading to the nearby tea plantation to find work. Life was truly getting better and better!

Tang Zhao also felt that life was getting better and better. She mobilized 70% of the cash from all her businesses and waited for the tea picking season to end so she could make a large-scale purchase.

"Have the cookware I had made been finished?"

"It's all done! Five hundred iron pots are already on the stove," Chunfeng complained. "Luckily, the son-in-law intervened, otherwise the blacksmiths from the Jiangsu and Zhejiang naval forces wouldn't have agreed to make them!"

Iron was an important and scarce resource. Ordinary people needed to register their household registration at the government office and obtain a receipt from the government office before they could order iron tools from the blacksmith's shop and wait for several months to receive them.

The young woman wanted five hundred iron pots in one go, an order that no blacksmith shop in the entire Minzhou could handle. But she needed them urgently, so Chunfeng had no choice but to ask her son-in-law for help.

After all, in the past in the Northwest, if a girl wanted iron tools, it was her son-in-law who would get them for her.

"That naval marshal was so arrogant! He even questioned the young master about why he needed so much ironware!" Chunfeng became more and more angry as she spoke. "In the end, it was only after the young master vouched for him in the name of the War King's Mansion that the naval marshal reluctantly agreed."

Tang Zhao sneered, thinking that Feng Jie had better not ever need to ask her for help!
"I understand. Has the money been delivered?"

"It's here. In addition to the silver, the Flower Dew Shop also sent several bottles of their newly developed flower dew to the young lady."

Tang Zhao waved his hand, "Take it, either divide it up or give it away as a reward!"

Spring Breeze was overjoyed, "Thank you, Miss!"

You should know that in recent years, Hualufang has become very famous and sought after in Jiangnan. Countless people are willing to pay a lot of money but still can't buy it!

Only the girl was different; she didn't like to have any fragrance on her body.

"Once the tea picking is over, I'll take people to buy tea. We'll buy all kinds of tea, from top to bottom, as much as we can. I have my own uses for it!"

"Yes!"

In mid-April, the tea-picking season in Jiangnan ended, and the people began to plant rice. Chunfeng led people all over Fujian, Zhejiang, Hunan, and Hubei provinces, buying back a large amount of tea, which filled the empty houses of the estate to the brim.

Qiu Yu selected five hundred nimble and hardworking women from his estate in Minzhou and sent them to Wuqixian Mountain Manor, where Tang Zhao personally taught and demonstrated how to fry tea.

"Heat up a newly made iron wok, add three to five ounces of dried tea leaves and stir-fry quickly for one cup of tea. During the stir-frying process, the main techniques are 'shaking, patting, pressing, and kneading' to ensure that the leaves are heated evenly until they are soft and dark green."

As Tang Zhao spoke, he pointed to the tea leaves in the pot, which had changed from bluish-green to dark green.

The women pricked up their ears and opened their eyes, each one looking more carefully than the last.

"After the tea leaves are cooked, gently rub them while they are still hot for about half a cup of tea time, and push them clockwise to let the tea juice seep out. Roll them into strips initially. The pressure needs to be adjusted according to the tenderness of the tea leaves. Tender leaves are rubbed lightly, while older leaves can be rubbed a little harder," Tang Zhao explained in detail. "For example, we are using older leaves for practice, so we can use a little force."

Follow suit at the end of summer.

"After that, remove the heat and let the pot temperature drop. Put the kneaded tea leaves back into the pot and stir-fry them again. Continue to stir for 15 minutes until the tea leaves are tightly rolled and feel prickly to the touch, then they can be taken out of the pot."

In late summer, the stir-fried tea leaves are scooped out and placed on a winnowing basket.

"After frying, let the tea leaves cool in a shady place for about three hours, then put them into a jar and seal it for half a month. That completes the tea frying process."

Tang Zhao asked, "Did you understand everything?"

"understood!"

"Alright, let's get started!"