1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 677 The start of the tea industry

July 1652, 7, Weihai Prefecture, Hanzhou, Gaoping (now Innisfail, eastern Australia)

For the people living in Gaoping in the eastern area of ​​Hanzhou, the ongoing war in Ming Dynasty seems a bit distant and unfamiliar.People living here, the earliest immigrant time may be traced back to 15 years ago.Regarding some of the latest news about Daming, only through the monthly lectures of the scribes in the villages and towns, or the occasional new immigrants who came over, can they learn more or less about the situation.

Wars, hunger, plagues, city massacres, shaved hair and easy clothes, surrender to the Qing Dynasty... the formerly glorious Ming Dynasty has gradually fallen into the hands of brutal Jiannu, countless people have been massacred, countless towns have been destroyed, and countless wealth has been annihilated. In the midst of endless wars.

Many people feel that they are lucky. They boarded a big ship several years ago, traveled thousands of miles, and came to the Hanzhou Continent with a narrow escape.

When I first came here, although the food was rough, it could fill everyone’s stomachs. Although the houses were simple, they could shelter everyone from the wind and rain. The clothes distributed were also rough, but they could cover the body. .

After several years of hard work, almost every immigrant has been allocated land that can be passed on to his descendants, built spacious brick houses or adobe houses, married wives and had children, and the variety of food is increasing. The richer it is, the little life is completely different from the situation in Daming.

Meng Chunnian led a few tea farmers to patrol around the tea garden, squatting on the ground from time to time, carefully observing the growth of tea seedlings, feeling sorry and distressed for some tea trees that withered due to drought.

Meng Chunnian, formerly from Renhe County, Hangzhou Prefecture of the Ming Dynasty (now Xiacheng District, Hangzhou), and several generations of tea farmers, came to Hanzhou with many refugees in Ningbo four years ago on a Qi State immigrant ship.

When registering as a local immigrant, he was selected by officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and shipped to Weihai Prefecture together with hundreds of tea farmers to try planting tea trees transplanted from Daming to Hanzhou.

The reason why we chose Weihai Prefecture as the place for tea tree transplantation is that the climate and soil of this place are very suitable for tea plantation.Tea tree is an acid-loving plant and likes to grow in acidic soil very much.However, Weihai Prefecture in the northeast of Hanzhou happens to have acidic soil in many places, which can provide tea trees with the nutrients they need.

Under normal circumstances, the suitable temperature range for the growth of tea trees is about 25 degrees, and the highest temperature should not exceed 34 degrees.If it is exceeded, the growth rate of the tea tree will decrease, or even stop growing.And the temperature should not be too low, if it is lower than 10 degrees, then the roots will stop moving.The Weihai area is a typical subtropical climate, and the temperature is just suitable for the growth of tea trees.

The life of a tea tree has to go through the life process of germination, growth, flowering, fruiting, aging, renewal and death, which can be as short as decades or as long as hundreds of years.It takes 3-4 years for tea trees to grow from seedlings to harvesting.During the seedling period, it is also vulnerable to harsh environments such as high temperature and drought.

Last year and the first half of this year, the eastern part of Hanzhou experienced a drought that had not been seen in more than ten years. There was no rain for several months. More than ten counties and towns along the coast were seriously affected. flow phenomenon.

However, Gaoping County is an area with relatively mild drought in the entire Weihai Prefecture. Several rivers converge in Gaoping, providing abundant water sources for the area.Several tea gardens located in the area, through various efforts, caused less than [-]% of the tea seedlings to wither and die, which made the officials and agronomists in charge of tea tree transplantation and planting extremely gratified.

"If the growth is normal, maybe we can try to pick some new buds next year." Meng Chunnian straightened up and looked at the lush tea garden with satisfaction, as if he was in the West Lake tea area a few years ago.

"Then... how much is it estimated to be able to produce?" Qin Ziquan, the agricultural officer of Gaoping County, had a look of joy on his face.

"It is estimated that it can produce more than ten stones." Meng Chunnian said: "The tea tree has recently grown, and the initial yield is not high. After five or six years, the tea tree will produce a large amount of tea."

"A dozen stones?" Tan Ziquan couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Such a small amount of output would not be able to bring huge profits to Gaoping County, let alone replace all kinds of tea from Daming.

"My lord, it is a long process for tea trees to grow and develop leaves. Now several tea gardens in this county have been successfully planted, which shows that the soil and climate here are very suitable for the growth of tea trees. In this case, Xiaoren thinks that after the beginning of spring this year, large-scale cultivation can be carried out. The expansion of the tea plantation has increased the area of ​​the tea garden to more than [-] mu. In time, Gaoping County will definitely become the most superior tea producing area in Hanzhou."

Qin Ziquan nodded, deeply agreeing with Meng Chunnian's suggestion.Nowadays, all prefectures and counties in Hanzhou are short of population. If you want to apply for immigration quota, you need a solid reason, otherwise, how can the immigration department pay attention to the population requirements of an ordinary small county.

The transplanting, planting and promotion of tea is an agricultural industry under the key planning of the cabinet and the Ministry of Agriculture, and it is also an export product carefully created by Qi in the future.Thinking about it, they should be able to get approval to ask the Immigration Department for more people on the grounds of expanding the tea tree planting area.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, Chinese tea was sold overseas and almost monopolized all the tea markets in the world. In 1610, tea was officially brought to Europe from Ming Dynasty.At that time, the Dutch East India Company purchased tea from Ming merchants in Batavia. However, compared with the more profitable silk, gold and porcelain, tea only accounted for a small part of the company's trade.The trade volume of tea only brings profits of 10 to 50 dong to the East India Company every year.

Around 1640, in the Netherlands, herbal medicine recommended people to drink tea in a small area, and used tea, a rare and expensive plant, as an antipyretic and tonic.The tea was sold in drugstores and shared with friends as a "noble pleasure".It was not until the 17s that a real tea-drinking trend was set off that tea entered the aristocratic households.Gradually, tea also became the drink of the entire high society in Amsterdam.

In the following decades, tea entered the European continent, but only nobles, monarchs and the wealthiest consumers in society could afford this oriental luxury that symbolized status.In France, Louis XIV indulged in a luxurious life, and he liked to use a gold teapot to make tea to highlight his noble status.The elites and educated cultural classes of European countries quickly spread the concept of French taste and elegance, and tea was able to enter more countries.

As for the big tea consumption country in later generations—Britain, it came into contact with tea later.Before the 17s, the small amount of tea on the London market mainly came from the Netherlands, and tea had not been directly introduced to Britain from Asia by British merchant ships.It may have entered the British royal family on the occasion of the wedding of Charles II of England and Princess Catherine of Portugal in 60.By the 1661th century, tea had greatly expanded in the UK. Since 18, the demand for tea has grown rapidly. Tea has been sought after by all walks of life and has become a new national drink.

Although the British East India Company later mastered the exclusive sales power of the tea industry, because China controlled most of the profits in the whole process of tea, this made the East India Company thankless and earned quite limited profits.In the middle of the 18th century, the East India Company began to import Chinese tea, and at the same time started the related routines of growing tea and selling it by itself.

Then, the East India Company planted a large area of ​​tea in India, and the Assam region of India produced tea, which was the original Assam black tea. Then it stole part of the tea-making process from China, and soon Assam Muk tea has formed a huge industry. Britain, which controls the sea, exclusively supplies Assam tea to MLM, and wants to use Assam tea to gradually occupy the market share of Chinese tea.

However, the sales of Indian tea represented by Assam tea in the 18th century were not ideal, and Europeans were unwilling to buy expensive and ordinary Indian tea.Therefore, there is room for the folks to sell private tea. These people import tea from China and other places, and then circulate it in the market at a lower price than the East India Company.Then it caused a large backlog of tea from the East India Company in London warehouses. In order to solve this problem, the British passed the famous "Tea Tax Act" in Parliament in 1773, and then everyone knows.

The purpose of promulgating the "Tea Tax Act" was to dump tea in its North American colonies, which directly gave the East India Company the right to ship tea to North America and export tea from Britain duty-free.No longer paying high tariffs, making East India Company tea cheaper than private tea at that time by more than 50%, which caused many smuggled and locally grown tea merchants to fail to survive.As a result, the farmers in North America were unhappy, and then there was the Boston Tea Party that shocked the world, and then triggered the North American War of Independence. Finally, on July 1776, 7, the powerful United States of America was proclaimed.

A tea incident caused the British to lose their North American colonies, and the British shot themselves in the foot for the first time. This was absolutely unbearable for the British, the world hegemon at the time, but because of the Napoleonic War at that time, the British had no time Dong Gu, it was not until the defeat of Napoleon that the British began to deal with the problem of tea.At that time, the British worked hard to sell their industrial products all over the world. First, through the Opium War, they knocked on the door of the Qing Dynasty, and the development of the Indian tea industry also benefited from it.

The British keenly discovered that Chinese tea sales are good, but the profits are basically in the hands of China.The sales of Assam tea in the world is not good, and there is a very important reason, that is, the taste is not as good as Chinese tea.There are two most important factors affecting the taste, one is the problem of tea variety, and the other is the problem of production technology.The East India Company learned from the painful experience and decided to make large-scale improvements to tea trees and craftsmanship, hoping to take the initiative in the tea trade into their own hands.

And if you want the fastest improvement, there is only one way, and that is to steal from China again.Therefore, since 1835, the action of stealing lessons from China has been launched. First, the comprehensive import of tea seeds, tea trees, tea workers and planting techniques, and then the improvement of the original Assam tea in India, but due to climate reasons, the planting was initially promoted. There was no success in various parts of India, and then the East India Company hired Chinese tea artisans and planting experts to go to India with high salaries. Through the improvement of Assamese tea tree planting technology and the improvement of tea making technology, a brand new Assamese tea was finally created. , After several years of polishing, Assam black tea is not much different from Chinese black tea in all aspects.

By around 1858, the East India Company had planted Assam black tea on a large scale and promoted it to Calcutta and other regions. Since then, brand teas such as Red, Darjeeling, British Red, and Assam have emerged, occupying a very important weight in the world.

Then, in the 19s, with the advent of another climax of the industrial revolution, tea planting companies gradually transitioned to mechanization, triggering a technological revolution that drove Indian tea to a higher level of development.The invention of the tea kneading machine and the West Rock Roasting Machine contributed to the large-scale development of the Indian tea industry. Later, Indian tea factories with more than a thousand workers were everywhere.

At the end of the 19th century, India had realized the mechanization of tea kneading, cutting, roasting, sifting and packing of tea.Then the East India Company established tea associations and tea science stations in Calcutta and other places, making major contributions to tea plantation and improved technology.

On the other hand, Britain controlled the maritime trade by using its strong ships and guns, and Chinese tea could not be exported. Therefore, Indian tea, which tastes not much different from Chinese tea, spread and occupied the absolute dominance of the market. Indian tea became more and more popular. At its peak, the tea plantation area reached 61 acres.At that time, India's tea production and sales share accounted for more than 50% of the market, and at the best time it could reach 80%.

However, in my Qing Dynasty, because I did not catch up with the express train of the industrial revolution, I could not realize mechanized tea planting, and the output and scale could not increase. At the end of the 19th century, when China’s tea export volume was at its lowest, it was less than 8% of the world’s total tea export volume. The tea kingdom of China was completely replaced, and India has been in power since then.In terms of export volume, China's tea industry has been completely surpassed by India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, and its share is equal to that of Japan, which is only the second and third largest tea country in the world.

As a tea lover from later generations, Qi Tian deeply regrets this.

Therefore, whether it is to inherit and carry forward China's thousands of years of tea culture, or to expand the agricultural planting industry for Hanzhou in the future, the transplantation and planting of tea trees has entered the planning and implementation of the agricultural industry in Qi State.

Over the past few years, from Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, as well as Guangdong and Guangxi, Qi has recruited thousands of tea farmers with experience in tea tree cultivation and craftsmen who are well versed in tea making techniques, and plans to copy the complete tea leaves of Ming Dynasty. industry.

Before the large-scale development of Hanzhou's tea industry, Qi State will definitely try to cut off and lock down the plagiarism of tea cultivation and production technology on the mainland by Western colonial forces in later generations, so as to ensure the continued monopoly of the East on the tea industry.

(End of this chapter)