In the afternoon, Anlu, Xu Shao, who was in a state of shape, was having a meal. He chewed the food slowly. A servant was reading a newspaper next to him, reading a headline: The official army conquered Liaodong City.? Follow? Dream?.lā

Xu Shao has seen this news in the newspaper, so the news in the newspaper is not "new" to him.

But when he heard the news again, he put down his chopsticks and looked at the scenery in the yard outside the window and was fascinated by the scene.

The emperor was patient and had to sharpen his sword for ten years. When the sword was unsheathed, it would be fatal. Under the city of Liaodong, it means that the situation in Liaodong was settled. Next, it depends on whether the court should keep Goguryeo in one breath or "eliminate all evil things."

No matter how the war ends, one thing is certain, that is, the court will inevitably mobilize manpower and material resources to develop Liaodong on a large scale, just like Nanzhong.

Xu Shao thought for a while, took back his thoughts and continued to eat. Seeing this, the servant continued to read the newspaper.

This newspaper was published in Huangzhou. In addition to current affairs, there are also many news about people's livelihood, business conditions and "advertising", which are now ordinary in Anlu City.

Many people rely on newspapers to understand the current situation, and Xu Shao is one of them now.

Three years ago, his father Xu Faguang passed away. Xu Shao then buried his father in his hometown of Anlu, and lived in a hut next to the grave, and kept his filial piety for three years.

During these three years, Xu Shao did not touch the meat and fish. He endured the scorching heat and the severe cold in the hut. He did not care about the world. All the affairs of the family were taken care of by his wife. It can be said that he lived in seclusion for three years, and he lost a lot of weight.

It was not until the end of the mourning period that he returned to his mansion and began to return to his normal diet and regulate his body. At the same time, he learned about the current affairs by reading newspapers and newspapers.

Many things have happened in the past three years. The most eye-catching thing is the practicality of steamships. With the establishment of the General Administration of Steamship Investment and Merchants, the rapid development of steamship shipping has greatly changed the current situation of transportation and changed everyone's lives a lot.

Xu Shao returned to Anlu City and took a walk in the city from time to time in the past few days, he discovered the huge changes brought by the steamship.

The Shushui outside Anlu City has become a busy channel, and the steamships gathered on the edge of the dock, huge steam cranes, and mountains of cargo have become a daily scene in Anlu Port.

Distinctive treasures from overseas and specialties from all over the world are sold in the inner restaurants of Anlu City. Kelp (kelp), which was considered expensive three years ago, is out of stock from time to time. Now it is an ordinary seafood in Anlu City, and the price is much lower.

Many small restaurants have coffin-related dishes, which was unimaginable three years ago.

Now that winter is coming, there are many more smoke chimneys in Anlu City. The installation volume of "heating" in Anlu City has increased significantly. The rolling smoke rising all day long has caused the snowflakes falling in the sky to be stained with a lot of ashes.

Xu Shao just wandered around the city and found that in the past three years, Anlu City had changed a lot and became more lively.

He vaguely remembered that from nearly ten years when he first went to elementary school to his official career, there has been no change in Anlu City, but now, in just three years, the changes in Anlu City are visible at a glance...

Xu Shao finished his meal and took the old newspaper prepared by his servant. He slowly looked through it three years ago.

A few days after he finished his mourning, an envoy sent by the emperor came to him and brought him the emperor's decree.

The emperor gave him three months to rest. When the spring of the next year, he would rush to Chang'an to take the appointment.

As the emperor's secret di Yuancong, it is reasonable for Xu Shao to be treated like this. He plans to restore his state to the same level as before in these three months, so while adjusting his body, he will learn more about what has happened in the past three years to avoid being "out of the past".

Reading newspapers is one of the best ways to understand current affairs. Over the past three years, a copy of each issue of newspaper published in Huangzhou has been left in the mansion and stored according to the date. Therefore, Xu Shao can now use this to "review" the major events and news from all aspects that have occurred over the past three years.

Before he knew it, more than an hour passed, Xu Shao discovered something that happened to be the shopkeeper who was in charge of the tea business in the mansion, so he asked the other party to come over.

When he saw someone, Xu Shao didn't talk nonsense and went straight to the point: "What's the current tea market?"

"Back to the boss, the current tea market is hard to describe." The shopkeeper first started and then carefully talked about the current tea market to the boss.

The trend of drinking tea has only been popular in the south since ancient times, but northerners call it "water disaster". In the areas north of the Yellow River, there is basically no habit of drinking tea among the people, so the sales of tea in the north have not been very good.

But now it’s different. Not to mention elsewhere, just in Yecheng, Xiangzhou, the demand for tea is growing explosively every year. According to rough statistics from the Chamber of Commerce, the tea imported into Yecheng last year (regardless of origin) was no less than 8 million kilograms.

This is a huge number, but it does not mean that all the eight million kilograms of tea are consumed in Yecheng.

In fact, Yecheng, as a famous city in Hebei, is a place where merchants gather. Products from all over the world are distributed here. Most of the tea that enters Yecheng is distributed elsewhere by merchants.

So, where will these teas be sold later?

There are also Hedong areas west of the Taihang Mountains in Hebei.

After nearly twenty years of continuous efforts, the statement that drinking tea can relieve greasy has gradually been accepted by the northerners who are accustomed to eating meat. The activity of border cities has also led to the idea that drinking tea can relieve greasy, and the demand for tea is increasing day by day.

With the navigation of Yongji Canal and Tongji Canal, the trade routes run through the north and south, and there are steamships for shipping. Therefore, tea produced in the south can be continuously imported into the north at a lower transportation cost.

In the prefectures and counties along the Yongji Canal, tea shops that sprouted bamboo shoots after a rain provided a large number of cheap tea drinks. Merchants from all over the country used drinking tea as the first choice to quench their thirst and refresh their minds, thus driving local people to drink tea and let tea enter the homes of ordinary people.

Although there are also a large number of wine shops along the canal, providing cheap ale wine (commonly known as "Bozhou Mayu"), tea is cheaper, so more and more people use tea as a drink.

Once this habit of drinking tea is formed, the demand for tea in various parts of the north will soar, and the overseas tea trading of Liangyang Trading Company is also getting bigger and bigger. In the tea producing areas in the south, there is no need to worry about selling tea produced every year.

The government is happy to see tea selling well, but there is no tax increase. The emergence of steamships has made the cost of transporting tea from long distances not high, so the selling price of ordinary tea has been slowly falling over the years.

But the prices of those good teas have been rising, and some particularly expensive teas can be said to be priceless.

Ordinary people drink tea to quench their thirst and refresh their minds, so they can use ordinary tea leaves to make tea, but wealthy families pay a lot of attention to it, and only those famous teas can meet their needs.

Whether it is making tea by yourself or making tea to entertain guests, Fugui Home has high requirements for the quality of tea, even the water quality of the tea and the quality of the tea set.

That's why the price of tea has different rises and falls depending on the quality, but overall, the demand for tea in various parts of the world is growing rapidly year by year.

Huge demand has brought huge profits. In the south, countless barren mountains are reclaimed into tea gardens every year, and Anzhou area is no exception.

The tea gardens outside Anlu City can be said to be connected into pieces. Whenever tea is gathered, a large number of tea merchants gather in Anlu to purchase tea of ​​different grades. The cargo ships on the water are connected to each other from beginning to end and stretch for several miles.

Because the cultivation of tea trees takes time, many newly reclaimed tea gardens have to wait several years to produce large amounts of tea. The tea gardens under the name of Xufu have been steadily increasing due to the continuous expansion over the past 20 years.

Therefore, in the past three years, the profits of Xu Mansion's tea trading have increased year by year, and this year's profits are initially estimated to be more than double that of three years ago.

In other words, the profit of tea is rising at a rate of 30% per year, and this situation may continue for several years.

After hearing this, Xu Shao didn't know how to express his feelings. The habit of drinking tea by the southerners and drinking cheese paddles by the northerners was still "common sense" more than 20 years ago. In the past twenty years, that person actually created the fashion of drinking tea in the north.

Xu Shao still clearly remembers that more than 20 years ago, the emperor who was still in Qiandi encouraged him and Hao Wubo to expand the tea garden and transplant excellent tea seeds to prepare for making a fortune in the future.

At that time, Xu Shao felt that this was a long-term plan of "predecessors planted trees and later became aware of the shade", and it could only be realized by grandchildren. Unexpectedly, the "Northern Market" of tea trading would have really started in twenty years.

In the past twenty years, the traditional tea making process has undergone earth-shaking changes. The brewing (frying) tea is improved to brew tea, and the pre-made tea leaves has become "fried", which further changes in the flavor of the tea leaves.

The continuous promotion has led to the trend of drinking tea in the northern part of China. When the demand for tea soars, other families are still clearing land and planting tea trees, and the tea gardens that their family has already prepared will directly make profits.

Three years ago, Xu Shao was appointed as the governor of Xiangzhou. The tea drinking custom in Hebei seemed to have just taken shape, but three years later, the tea drinking trend really started to blow.

As a result, the tea market has been bullish all the way, and Xu Shao saw this in the newspaper, and tea is just a microcosm of the changes in the past twenty years.
Chapter completed!