Three Kingdoms

Spring is often lingering, not only with lingering rain, but also lingering people, and even thoughts are entangled together and difficult to separate.

The thin raindrops just fell like this, not big, but entangled enough, and they stuck to the ground, houses, trees, and people regardless of care, looking sentimental but ruthless.

When Xun You met Xun Chen, it was Xun Chen who was in the courtyard of Chang'an.

Although Xun Chen lived in Bingbei for a long time, he still had a small courtyard belonging to him in Anpingfang in Chang'an. The yard is not big, with only three entrances. As soon as you enter the door, you will see the screen wall. After turning around the screen wall, you will find the front yard. There is a small pond in the corner of the front yard. There is a rockery built near the wall in the pond. There seem to be some carps in the water. Carp roll and fight for food, splashing water.

Xun Chen was dressed in white and looked very eye-catching.

In the Han Dynasty, it was not easy to wear white clothes. After all, the so-called ephedra and ash were the norm, but ephedra and ash were uncommon. It's just that after the sulfur bleaching technique was introduced in Bingbei, pure white things gradually became more and more common, so Xun Chen naturally wore these clothes.

Although the gas produced by sulfur fumigation is harmful and pollutes the environment, and the clothes that have been fumigated and bleached may not stay white for long. After being exposed to sunlight, wind and rain, they will gradually return to their original color, and even It's even more pornographic than before, but in the Han Dynasty, who cared about this issue?

It has to be said that Xun Chen put on this white clothes, and Xun Chen's appearance was also extremely outstanding. It was like shining with brilliance, which almost blinded Xun You's eyes. Because in Xun You's memory, Xun Chen was almost as good as being exiled. He should be in a state of disrepair...

As a result, now, it seems to be even more eye-catching than Xun.

Xun Chen was exiled by the Xun family.

As the crowned clan in the world, the Yuan family naturally has some troubles, just like being clicked for special attention by future generations. Any small or even boring push will make a buzzing sound and attract the attention of others.

Therefore, when Yuan Shao defected to Jizhou, the Xun family immediately watched closely, and not only the Xun family, but also the vast majority of the nobles were watching. So when Yuan Shao expressed his attitude, the direction of the Jizhou nobles immediately changed. After the change, Xun Chen, as a member of the Yingchuan gentry in Jizhou, naturally received instructions from his family to contact Yuan Shao and assist Yuan Shao in seizing power in Jizhou.

However, as time went by, Xun Chen learned more about Yuan Shao, and as he got deeper, Xun Chen felt more and more disappointed, and even stopped Xun who came later, warning Xun that Yuan Shao was not a lord worth entrusting. After completing his family mission, he resigned and retired to the north.

However, Xun Chen's choice was not in line with the family's requirements, so the family was naturally very dissatisfied. They believed that even if Yuan Shao was really unable, Xun Chen could still be used as a chess piece and continue to contribute to the family. Just like a spare tire, you also need to have the consciousness of being a spare tire. Everyone wants to be a jack, so how can that be done?

Therefore, the final opinions could not be unified, so Xun Chen was removed from the family.

Perhaps at that point in time, Xun Chen arrived in Bingbei just to take a walk and take a look, mostly to relax his mind. However, after arriving in Pingyang, he learned that Fei Qian had started from scratch and was gradually reorganizing Pingyang. With prosperity, I can't help but have some concerns in my heart. Xun Chen, who eventually fell out with his family due to different political opinions, was abandoned by the family. By the time of Pingyang, why not be empty-handed and without any foundation?

Seeing that Fei Qian, a member of the Heluo family, could build a foundation, Xun Chen couldn't help but get excited again. He immediately found Fei Qian and recommended himself, and to this day...

"I met my uncle..."

Xun You lowered his head to greet him.

Although Xun You is about the same age as Xun Chen, Xun You is one generation behind Xun Chen. So when Xun You came to visit, Xun Chen didn't have to go out to greet him. It was considered polite to stand in the courtyard. Of course, there is still the blessing of the Cavalry General Fei Qian.

"Gongda, how are you doing in the clan?" Xun Chen threw the last bit of fish food in his hand into the pond and asked Xun You as he led him towards the hall.

"Reporting to uncle..." Xun You's expression couldn't help but look a little gloomy, "The clan is no longer what it used to be..."

At that time, some of the people in Yingchuan defected to Yuan Shao. Yuan Shu was still a little unhappy. He sent people to walk around Yingchuan, but no one followed him obediently, so he left behind the grudge. Later he found that not only did he follow He followed Yuan Shao and also followed Cao Cao, but he did not follow Yuan Shu. Naturally, he could not hide his anger.

After Dong Zhuo killed Yangcheng, Yangzhai was not able to survive alone.

Maybe it was bandits, maybe it was the Yellow Turbans, maybe it was some other soldiers. Anyway, between the several advances and retreats of Cao Cao and Yuan Shu, Yangzhai was inevitably hit by military disasters. Many manors were destroyed, and the Xun family was originally the most important. The base and even the other courtyard where many Xun family lectures were held at one time were easily broken up and destroyed in the fire.

After Xun Shuang's death, Xun could not suppress all the Xun clan members, so the Xun clan was divided into two parts. One part followed Xun north to Cao Cao's place, and the other part stayed in Yangdi, and these remaining ones , basically all of them were killed or injured, and the manor was ruined...

The current Xun family, that is, the remaining Xun family in Xu County, is relatively complete.

"..." Xun Chen listened to Xun You's story silently and said nothing, but the hand holding the spoon trembled slightly, and a few drops of water splashed on the mat, leaving imprints the size of a few copper coins.

On the clay stove at the edge of the mat, a kettle was boiling. Xun Chen and Xun You did not ask any servants to serve them. The two of them sat across the table. No one spoke for a while. They could only hear the loud sound of water in the kettle. After a while, it gradually became silent again, as if it was accumulating strength and waiting for the next explosion.

Chunyu discovered that there was such a small clay stove in the hall, and immediately angrily tried to go around the eaves and rush in, but had no choice but to stop a foot in front of the stove, and could only beat the wooden board fiercely. Gotta get wet.

"If someone hid in the Runan Mountains according to the family's words, I'm afraid he will be dead at this time..." Xun Chen said as he took out some tea leaves from the small clay pot on the side with a small wooden spoon and put it in the teapot. middle.

Xun You's eyebrows twitched, but he didn't dare to respond.

"Zhengxi... Well, Husband also likes tea..." Xun Chen sat, waiting for the water to boil. He pointed at the tea can and told Xun You to look at it for himself, "But Husband's tea is different from other places..."

Most of the tea leaves in the Han Dynasty existed in the form of tea bricks, which can generally be regarded as the Pu'er tea of ​​later generations. Completely ferment, knead and press it into a tight cube shape. When needed, use a knife or a small awl to lift off a piece, then crush it into powder by rolling, and put it into the pot together with some strange things. Cook in the cauldron.

Therefore, the tea soups of the Han Dynasty had various flavors. There is really nothing, just grab two stones, wash them and cook them together...

Xun You took the small clay pot and opened the seal. The aroma of tea hit his nostrils. He couldn't help but take a deep breath and blurted out: "Good tea!"

Xun Chen smiled, nodded slightly and said: "Tea in the past was cooked using the same cooking method, with more impurities added. The desire for more was expensive, and the pursuit of complexity and abundance was thought to be beautiful, but without knowing it, the original was lost. This is truly deplorable. After Xiuqi arrived in the north, he switched to the new tea method, taking green leaves, choosing fresh and tender leaves, slowly removing the cold with warm fire, and then removing the dryness with shade and dryness, hoping that they would be impartial, neither hot nor cold, and investigate the Origin, purity of body, and integrity are also in line with the way of a gentleman."

"It's so complicated, isn't it valuable?" Xun You held such a small jar of tea and estimated it and said, "I wonder how much it will cost?"

Xun Chen shook his head and said, "This jar only costs five hundred qian."

"Five hundred dollars?" Xun You held a palm-sized jar and looked at the tea leaves in the jar, almost unable to believe his ears.

In the Han Dynasty, tea was always not cheap.

Due to the origin and output, it is even equivalent to gold in many places, so if it is such a jar, as Xun Chen said, Xun You originally estimated that the price would be three to four thousand dollars, but it turned out to be only five thousand dollars. One hundred dollars is indeed a bit unexpected.

Xun Chen smiled, looked at Xun You and said: "The way of a gentleman can't be judged by the amount of money? Cleanse the mind and nature, and be pregnant with the subtleties, so that the common people can also understand the gentleman's style. Only then can the Qiaoqi have unique thoughts. place."

Xun You was stunned.

However, in fact, the price of these teas is not as high as people like Xun Chen and Xun You imagined.

Many things are like this. The output is scarce, and things are more expensive when they are scarce, so the price naturally goes up. For Fei Qian, the most important thing for tea is to find a suitable location, plant and propagate it on a large scale, and then it can Production continued. For perennial plants like tea trees, the environment in the Han Dynasty had more areas for planting than in later generations.

Tea trees like warm and humid environments, and in the Han Dynasty, there were many such places.

Although many large swamps are gradually shrinking now, it was only after two Little Ice Ages that it truly became the situation with four distinct seasons and a huge temperature difference between the north and the south. Although Xiaoglacier has indeed cooled down a lot now, many places are still pretty good, such as Hanzhong and Sichuan...

The small jar in Xun You's hand is tea grown in the mountains opened up in Hanzhong.

Tea trees do not require flat land, nor do they need to open any special canals like Zhuanghe. They only need basic fertilization and irrigation. They do not occupy cultivated land and can produce additional output. As for the clay pots You can also bake it on the side. It was simply the best economic crop in the Han Dynasty.

In addition, it is not pressed solid, so a small jar of tea leaves does not actually weigh much, only about two taels or more. Although it feels quite heavy in the hand, that is because of the clay jar!

Can clay jars be lightweight?

This is exactly the same as the packaging of later generations...

The water boiled and there was a gurgling sound.

Xun Chen brought up the water from the kettle, poured some water into the teapot to rinse away the dust and debris on the surface of the tea leaves, and then brewed it again before pouring out two small bowls of tea and pushing one of the bowls to the In front of Xun You.

Xun You lowered his head and looked down. The tea soup was crystal clear and the fragrance of tea was faintly fragrant. He couldn't help but admire in a low voice. He thanked Xun Chen first, then picked up the bowl and drank it slowly.

Immediately, it was the second brewing.

Then the third time.

After brewing three times, Xun Chen stopped, took out the tea leaves from the teapot, and placed them in a small flat bowl aside. Apparently he was not going to brew them again.

"This tea..." Xun You looked at the tea leaves that had stretched out after being brewed, and was a little confused. Looking at it like this, shouldn't he eat these tea leaves?

Xun Chen didn't answer Xun You's question immediately. Instead, he arranged the tea sets and other things on his own, and then asked the servants to carry them down. After the servants took down the stove and tea sets, they brought some cakes and dried fruits. After that, Xun Chen slowly said: "As a gentleman, it is enough to take the essence, how can you eat all of it?"

Xun You was stunned for a moment, took a breath and remained silent.

Will these tea leaves really be wasted? No, the servants will naturally divide them up after they are removed. For these servants, these tea leaves that have been soaked three times are still a rare product.

Xun Chen said softly, although his voice was not loud, but every word was full of power, "All things in the heaven and earth need to have a remainder, and they must not be exhausted. If the sky is exhausted, it will be dark, and the earth will be barren. If all humans are exhausted, then Death……"

"The way to govern a country is the same. Foolish people only know how to collect the wealth of thousands of families and occupy thousands of acres and thousands of rocks, especially if they don't have enough. Who doesn't know that if they eat everything and use it up, the people will be turbulent and chaos will breed... ..." Xun Chen continued, "Although the price of this tea is not high, we can use it all in Beiguanzhong and sell it to the northwest. The amount required is huge. This alone can make an annual income of two million yuan! However, here Among them, farmers, potters, lucky people, and merchants also get the rest, each benefiting from it...Does Gongda understand this?"

Xun You's eyebrows moved, but he remained silent.

"The people of Shandong have reached the end of their journey." Xun Chen's voice turned cold and he said slowly, "Guangwu is determined in Luo, but it is also trapped in Luo. Can there be any changes before and after a hundred years? Can the people under the rule have any remaining benefits? Human beings How can we use up all the resources without counterattack? The Yellow Turban Rebellion has a certain number. Even if it is suppressed for a while, the country will also be shaken, so we have the current situation..."

Greed is always endless. Don't expect greed to bring out any good intentions. But if you use it to kill people, all kinds of chaos will inevitably occur, sooner or later, this is a given.

Fei Qian felt that Xun You was a talented person and planned to keep him. Xun Chen naturally agreed. After all, Xun You was indeed useful. Secondly, Xun Chen himself felt a little weak by himself, especially among the people in Jingxiang. In front of him, it would be best to be able to recruit Xun You into the group.

But even so, Xun Chen did not intend to persuade or beg, but let Xun You experience it himself, because Xun Chen believed that fools should not encourage others, and fools should not speak. Stupid people only believe what they see and hear, and cannot see or hear the truth expressed by others. Therefore, even if you use bells and drums to ring next to them, it may not be able to wake them up.

But a wise man does not need a heavy hammer to play the drum.

A bowl of tea clearly demonstrated the difference between the Cavalry General Fei Qian and the people in Shandong. Xun Chen also saw this and stayed, and he also believed that if Xun You was smart enough, he would do the same. stay……