Seeing the clouds

Chapter 8 Seven small teahouses talk about the big world

Since ancient times, there has been a distinction between north and south. Not only the geographical environment, but also the living habits are also very different.For example, tea and wine are obvious. The South has always been good at drinking tea, especially in the southeast. Drinking tea has become a habit of every household on Jiangnan Road.

In the north, people like to drink, and some people in the north say: "When you are in doubt, serve the wine first." Although this is obviously an exaggeration, it may not be unreasonable, and northerners like to bend over and drink, shaped like a cow, as the saying goes Niuyin is the most disdainful of the small sips taken by southerners when drinking tea and drinking.

But the southerners don't care, and they sneer at the unsightly cow-drinking. It's common for northern barbarians to secretly make sarcastic remarks about it. After all, almost all the wise men and women in the world admire drinking wine.

Although the drinking methods and habits are different, they all drink alcohol anyway, but when it comes to tea, it is completely different.

Tea originated in Shu, flourished in the south of the Yangtze River, but is treasured in the northwest.

Drinking a good pot of tea in the northwest is indeed not an easy task.Especially in the relatively barren Liangzhou Road and Guanwai in the northwest, rainwater and soil are not suitable for growing tea trees, making good tea very rare in the northwest.

Almost all the tea on Liangzhou Road comes from Shu, and the most common is Sichuan's border tea, which is affordable for ordinary people.The slightly more expensive ones, such as Mengding Manna from Yizhou, Qingcheng Snow Buds and Green Bamboo Leaves from Yizhou; Ziyang Maojian and Wuzi Xianhao from Yongzhou are all precious teas only consumed by officials and nobles.Ordinary people who want to taste it will have to spend several times the price of ordinary Biancha, and they also have to find a first-class teahouse.

For example, Piaoxiang Tower in Yumenguan.

There are a lot of people sitting and drinking tea in Piaoxiang Tower right now, and when there are more people, storytellers are indispensable.

After all, sitting in court is not fun.

This time the storyteller is not the usual green forest hero or the charlatan.I saw a Confucian scholar dressed in white clothes and carrying a bookcase on his back sitting on a tea table and telling anecdotes about the recent events in the world. There were many people in the world around him, but most of them listened with interest.

The Confucian scholar is young, but he talks about strange news very fluently and with ease.I didn’t feel any stage fright due to the large number of people around me.

Not far away, a young man was drinking tea alone, and a knife with a carved scabbard was placed on the table.

The young man enjoying a pot of Sichuan Green is Zhang Yue.

While Zhang Chuo was drinking tea, he was also listening carefully to the anecdotes told by the storyteller. He was not very interested in such things, he just wanted to find out about his father and younger brother.

The young man in white clothes did not pay too much attention to the surroundings, but concentrated on telling: "This year's martial arts evaluation list was just released last month, and the top ten people have not changed from recent years. The top three are still Zhou Dong and Zhou The master, Sanshu Jin, who is known as "One Sword Enters the Soul", and the Buddhist commander Fang Qifuo have occupied it. There has been nothing special about the others recently. Zhou Tong is living in seclusion in Crouching Tiger Mountain; Fang Qifu has no trace of anything above the court. It has been reported; but I heard that Sanzhou recently accepted a disciple. However, he has always been a dissatisfied and uncontested person, so no one knows the details."

The Confucian scholar closed his eyes and took a sip of the fragrant tea.

"However, the changes in the first [-] are a little bigger. Lu Jishan, who was originally the fourteenth member of the martial arts review, was directly eliminated this time, which caused all the others up to the original military review eighteenth to move up one position."

Zhang Chuchu held the teacup in his hand tightly.

The Confucian scholar not far away seemed to have noticed something. He turned his head and looked towards Zhang Yue, and their eyes met.As a result, this move caused all the listeners to look towards Zhang Yue, but they didn't find anything strange. They didn't know what the Confucian scholar was looking at for a while, so they asked the Confucian scholar why he turned his head.

The Confucian scholar smiled and waved his hands to everyone, indicating that it was okay.

"However, the new person to fill the Eighteenth position of Wu Ping is a sword cultivator named Qi Jianfan, who is a fledgling newcomer. It's interesting to say that no one had heard of his name before he was listed, and they didn't know what kind of sect he was. , so there is very little information about him in the world, which is a bit like the Sanzhou Dynasty back then. In addition, there is a young monk who is older than him in Lingshan Zhi'an Temple, and his origin is also very mysterious. "

The Confucian scholar put the tea cup away and signaled that everyone was done with today's interesting events and could leave separately.Some people were not satisfied with the story and pestered the Confucian scholar to continue talking. The Confucian scholar was not angry. After smiling for a while, he said: "I have finished telling the interesting things in the world. Since I have brothers who are not satisfied, I will talk about the things in the temple."

Then the man who was about to leave stepped forward and immediately turned around and sat back.Everyone sat down around the Confucian scholar again.

"Above the temple, the whole world knew that Qi King Zhang Yunping had conspired to rebel. However, Zhang Yunping himself disappeared after the battle of Yunxia, ​​together with his old followers. Some people said that he was killed in the battle."

Zhang Chuchu clenched the tea cup again, but this time the Confucian scholar did not look back, but the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

"But no one found his body, and whether it is true or not cannot be confirmed. Zhang Yunping's two sons are also missing. Some people say that Zhang Yunping's eldest son Zhang Yue was taken to Liangzhou in the northwest by Lu Jishan, and his second son Zhang Chunqiu was taken to the southeast by Fan Yuan, so Some people speculate that Lu Jishan's removal from the martial arts evaluation list must have a major relationship with this matter. And Lu Jishan himself is basically dead."

After listening to this, everyone began to lament Zhang Yunping's inconsistency and the harshness of the world.After conquering the world for the emperor, the king with a different surname did not do anything good. After his rebellion was exposed, he became a criminal overnight. The ups and downs of his life are really unpredictable.

"In addition, the former prince is still missing. The prince's disappearance caused some old guys who follow the principle of establishing the elder rather than the young to resign and retire. There are also some officials who were disappointed with the court and the current emperor and also resigned, so now the temple is also It is no longer like a hundred schools of thought contending and thousands of flowers blooming during the unification period. Last but not least, it will be the wedding day of Han Yunhan Daxia, the master of Qingyun Sword Sect, and You You, the eldest daughter of Qinxi Sword Pool Master You Haoran. , the wedding banquet is held at the foot of Qingyun Mountain. Han Daxia was the leader of the Youth Conference back then, and famous people in the world would attend, so it must be a martial arts event. Brothers who are interested can go and watch."

After saying this, the Confucian scholar stood up and bowed his hands to everyone apologetically.Although everyone didn't enjoy it, they didn't want to pester others, so they also bowed their hands to the Confucian scholar and left in a hurry.

But the Confucian scholar did not just leave. He stood up and took a few steps, stood next to Zhang Yue, and said with a smile: "It smells like Sichuan Qing. You don't mind asking for a drink, do you?"

Zhang Yue was stunned for a moment when he saw that the Confucian scholar was so unafraid of life. Fortunately, he was also a generous person, so he invited the Confucian scholar to sit down and asked the waiter to make him a cup of Sichuan green tea.

The Confucian scholar smiled and took the tea cup. He first put it under his nose, smelled it, and took a sip. Then he put down the tea cup and said with a smile: "The tea leaves of Sichuan Qing are dried by exposure to sunlight. Although the quality is not as good as that of fried green tea and roasted green tea, it is better in quality." Liangzhou in the northwest can still be called good tea. I forgot to introduce myself, I’m going to sing Wang Xue, I don’t know how to call this brother.”

Although Confucianism does not describe the etiquette of Confucian scholars when they meet with ruthless people, it is actually very inappropriate for a Confucian scholar to behave like a reckless man. Especially in Jiangnan Province, where Confucianism has reached its peak, various etiquette responses are quite complicated. Pay attention to the fact that when meeting others, you should rarely stand at attention, bow, and speak warmly.This kind of refined atmosphere has long penetrated Jiangnan Road. If this place was not Liangzhou but Jiangnan, it is estimated that the words of the Confucian scholar would have attracted scolding and rolling eyes.

And if Zhao Yujin, the new Minister of Rites, hears about it, he may even be sentenced to jail.

Although the Confucian scholar's understanding tone was quite deserving of punishment, Zhang Yue, who was relatively kind-hearted, didn't care at all, let alone feel unhappy.

Zhang Yue clasped his fists: "Li Huizhi."

Li Huizhi is the late son of Li Muzhi. Although borrowing the name of the deceased is unlucky in all aspects.Today, the world is extremely sensitive to the surname Zhang, so the names Zhang Chuo or Zhang Fan can no longer be used. It was Li Muzhi who proposed using this name, but his reason was very simple.

He just wanted to take advantage of Zhang Yue.

The Confucian scholar lowered his head, fixed his eyes on the tea in the cup and said, "Hui means good. Li Huizhi is a good name."

"Brother Wang is ridiculous." Zhang Yue said with a smile: "But from what Brother Wang said, it seems that he has a lot of research on tea ceremony?"

The Confucian scholar named Wang Xuechang also smiled and said: "Wang has no other hobbies, he just likes tea. If Brother Li is interested, Xiaosheng can share it, but Brother Li, don't think Xiaosheng is nagging."

Zhang Yue waved his hand and said: "How could it be! It's too late for me to hear it, so I have to help Brother Wang."

Wang Xuechang then slowly preached: "Let's talk about the origin first. Regarding the origin of tea, it is recorded in ancient books: The tea maker is a beautiful tree in the south, one foot, two feet, or even dozens of feet. There are two people hugging each other in the Bashan Gorge. If you chop it down, its trees are like melons and reeds, with leaves like gardenias, flowers like white roses, and stems like cloves, with roots like walnuts. So almost everyone thinks that Sichuan is the origin of tea. And at first, tea was not used to quench thirst, but as a kind of medicine to treat diseases. However, as time passed and dynasties developed, tea became a famous health drink."

"But making a good pot of tea is by no means an easy task. In addition to the color and aroma of the tea, the quality of the water is also very important. According to water properties, mountains and rivers are at the top, rivers are in the middle, and wells are at the bottom. And this Each of the three types of water has its own merits. For example, the water from mountains, rivers, and rivers should be water flowing from stone springs. If there are turbulent waterfalls, the water is hard and hard, so do not use it. So when it comes to mountains, rivers, and even well water, the northwest is extremely scarce. , how difficult it is to drink a pot of good tea.”

Zhang Chuchu listened and nodded in agreement.

"Tea leaves in different regions are also completely different. Pu tea from the southwest is mild in nature and can stimulate body fluids and quench thirst; Mengding tea has always been known as the tea fairy and has a sweet and meaningful taste; while Shuiyue tea from Dongting has curled leaves like Snails are densely covered with white pekoe and have a very fragrant taste, so they are also known as 'scaring fragrance'; there is also another famous tea from Dongting, Rihuang Feimao. After brewing, the tips of the buds stand upright like bamboo shoots, rising and falling in the cup. , the fragrance is delicate and fragrant, and can be called a treasure among teas. As for the rest of the teas, such as Dahongpao, which is known as the "King of Teas", Lushan Yunwu with quiet fragrance, plump and well-proportioned Ziyang Maojian, etc., I will not list them one by one. Listed. And the key point of drinking tea lies in the word "quality"." The Confucian scholar picked up the teacup, interrupted the narration, and began to slowly and quietly drink tea.Zhang Chuchu, who was aroused, did not feel anything wrong at all, and waited patiently for the Confucian scholar to explain the key points of tea tasting after he finished tasting the tea.

And when the Confucian scholar finished tasting the tea in his hand and saw Zhang Chuo who had been waiting for a long time, he realized what was wrong with him. He apologized and said with a smile: "I'm sorry, Brother Li. I can't control myself when I smell the fragrance of tea." I am extremely sorry for keeping Brother Li waiting for so long, and I hope Brother Li will accept you."

Zhang Chuchu didn't care and smiled faintly: "It's okay, Brother Wang, let's continue talking."

Wang Xuechang continued: "Real tea tasting requires three looks, three smells, three tastes, and three aftertaste. The three looks are to look at the shape, color, and bottom of the leaves. The three smells are dry smell and hot smell. Smell, cold smell. Of the three tastes, the first taste is to taste the fire, whether it is old fire, sufficient fire, green or has a sun-dried smell. The second taste is to taste the taste. At this time, the tea soup should be allowed to flow in the mouth and interact with the base of the tongue. , the surface of the tongue, the sides of the tongue, and the tip of the tongue are fully in contact to see whether the tea taste is strong, fresh, sweet, mellow, mellow, or bitter, light, or astringent. The third taste is the flavor of the tea. Hold the tea soup in your mouth, like Chew slowly like a flower in your mouth, savor it carefully, and when swallowing, pay attention to whether the tea soup is smooth when passing through the throat. The third aftertaste is the feeling of the tea drinker after tasting the tea. After tasting the real good tea, one The aftertaste is sweet at the base of the tongue, filling the mouth with saliva; secondly, the aftertaste is sweet and mellow on the teeth and cheeks, and the fragrance lasts for the whole day; thirdly, the aftertaste at the bottom of the throat is sweet, the Qi and pulse are smooth, and the internal organs are moistened, making people feel relaxed and happy, and feel like they are in heaven."

The Confucian scholar smiled and nodded at Zhang Chuo, realizing that the story was over. However, Zhang Chuo's thoughts were still immersed in the tea ceremony taught by the Confucian scholar and he did not react at all.After a while, he realized that the Confucian scholar's narration had already ended, so he smiled to express his apology.

Wang Xuechang pretended to be angry and said: "Does this count as retaliation?"

Zhang Yue said helplessly: "How can I? I am really attracted by the tea ceremony that Brother Wang said. Before this, I didn't know that a small cup of tea has so much value. I really learned a lesson."

Wang Xue sang and laughed: "I don't dare, I just did a little research. I have a "Tea Classic" that I personally compiled. It was fate that we met, so I gave it to Brother Li."

After saying that, the Confucian scholar untied the old book box on his back. Under Zhang Chuo's gaze, he reached in and rummaged around. After a while, he took out a book and handed it to Zhang Chuo. Zhang Chuo took the book. , the brand new cover has a total of five words "Tea Classic" and Wang Xue Sing written in correct handwriting.

If you live in the Eastern Qin Dynasty, whether you are a Confucian scholar or an official or a family member, you will definitely be shocked when you see this "Tea Book".Because Wang Xuechang, who wrote this book, was Wang Anshi who wrote poems such as "There are Zen monks in the wild market, fishing on the platform to look for dusk smoke" when he was only in his weak years. He also studied tea ceremony and wrote a book that shocked Jiangnan Road. The "Tea Classic" became famous all over the world, and was even hailed as the "Sage of Tea" by some people.He was originally from Wucheng, Yangzhou, and his father was Ziwei, the former minister of the Ministry of Rites and a contemporary Confucian king, who was described by the former Left Prime Minister Chen Xiwen as "the article Cui Wei Yanhui, the person who is outside and the middle is the best".The Wucheng Wang family is indeed a Confucian sect. In addition to the current head of the family, Wang Ziwei, his two sons Wang Xuechang, Wang Youfang and many Wang family students are all amazingly talented.In particular, the eldest son Wang Xuechang and the second son Wang Youfang went to Beijing with their father and participated in the imperial examination at the same time. Each of them won the second place and the top prize in the imperial examination with a "Six Kingdoms Theory" with the same name but different articles. It was later learned that The reason why Wang Xuechang did not become the number one scholar at that time was because the examiner at the time, Tang Keli, chose to avoid suspicion because he considered Wang Ziwei, who was the Minister of Rites at the time.Later, when the government and opposition parties changed, Wang Ziwei resigned and returned to his hometown. Later, he devoted his love to the mountains and rivers and traveled around the world with his two sons.It happened that when Zhang Yue arrived in Liangzhou, he met Wang Xuechang by chance in a teahouse.

Of course, Zhang Yue never knew this.

In addition, not only Zhang Yue, but no one in the world except Wang Xuechang's father, Wang Ziwei, knew that the two brothers Wang Xuechang and Wang Youfang had already entered the first-level realm with the awe-inspiring Confucian spirit in the article, and they were regarded as geniuses.Although it was a great good thing, the father and son did not dare to reveal anything to the outside world, especially at the time of the turmoil in the court, which might lead to unexpected disasters. This is the same as not exposing wealth to the outside world.

How would Zhang Yue feel if he knew that three gentle and elegant white-clothed scholars, who he could not defeat, were sitting aside at this moment, quietly sipping tea, seemingly harmless to humans and animals.

Wang Xuechang saw Zhang Yue taking over the Book of Tea and asked, "Brother Li's accent sounds like he's not a native of Liangzhou, right?"

Zhang Chuchu put away the "Tea Book" and replied: "Yes, my ancestral home is Qingzhou. A few years ago, my family moved westward due to the war. I moved to Liangzhou and opened a noodle stall with my father outside the pass. The noodle stall business has been good these years. So I went out alone to explore the world. I originally planned to visit the Central Plains, but when I passed Yumen Pass, I met Brother Wang, which was a fate."

When traveling in the Central Plains, one must first have a good identity to hide oneself. Zhang Yue thought of the father and son he met at the opposite stall outside the customs, and wanted to use it to hide his identity. Although he didn't know much about it, he only heard from his younger brother. Mouth, some places must be unclear.Fortunately, when he told lies, his face remained unchanged and his heart did not beat, so there was no doubt at all.

After listening to Zhang Yue's introduction, Wang Xuechang showed an imperceptible smile, and then said: "I am from Wucheng, Yangzhou. Because my father likes mountains and rivers, he took me and my lively younger brother to travel around the world. Now my father and my younger brother are playing near Yumen Pass, but I only enjoy drinking tea and anecdotes about rivers and lakes and have no interest in traveling around the mountains and rivers, so I simply stay in Yumen Pass.

As soon as Zhang Yue heard that Wang Xue sang that he was from Jiangnan, he became curious: "Brother Wang is from Jiangnan? It is said that the water towns in the south of the Yangtze River are very rich, such as Lin'an and Wucheng. It is said that there are many Confucian scholars and officials, and the women are also very pretty. Someone once said He wrote three songs "Remembering Jiangnan" to express his praise for Jiangnan."

Wang Xuechang had a weird look on his face, not because Zhang Chuo's description of Jiangnan was wrong, but because the author of the three "Remembering Jiangnan" he mentioned was Wang Xuechang himself.However, Wang Xuechang was not a show-off person, and he immediately regained his composure and replied: "That's right. Yangzhou is one of the most wealthy places in the Qin Dynasty, but the women are not very lively. I'll read on. I have been reading useless books for more than 20 years, but I have never paid attention to it. There are many Confucian scholars and high officials just because it is a convenient place to live."

Zhang Chu nodded happily. He remembered that he had promised his younger brother to go to the East China Sea to watch the tide when he was old enough. Then he might be able to find the king brother in front of him as a consultant. He didn't know if the silly younger brother was doing well now.

Miss him a bit.

Wang Xuechang didn't know where to start for a while, but then he saw the extraordinary high-quality Heng Dao placed on the table and said, "Good knife."

Zhang Chuchu was stunned for a moment, then said with a smile: "It's not worth mentioning. I didn't expect Brother Wang to also know about weapons."

Wang Xuechang asked: "Can I borrow it next time to take a look?"

Zhang Chu nodded.

Wang Xuechang picked up the Yugong with the carved scabbard. At first, Zhang Yue was afraid that Wang Xuechang would have difficulty picking up the Yugong, who seemed to have no strength to restrain a chicken. However, after seeing Wang Xuechang easily pick up the knife and wait, Zhang Chue said I gave up this idea at the beginning of the month.

Wang Xuechang gently pulled out this little-known treasured sword in the world. Yu Gong took out the sword within two or three inches, but silver light shone everywhere. Even the well-informed Wang Xuechang couldn't help but sigh for such a treasure. .However, he immediately put Yu Gong's sword back into its sheath. It would be better for such precious things to be rare in crowded places like teahouses, otherwise it might not cause a bloody storm. It is not easy to deal with those intrigues.In the end, I still felt sorry for this unexpected encounter with Brother Li.

Wang Xuechang said: "I am not interested in weapons and martial arts. It's just that my brother likes to collect famous swords and swords, so I naturally have some understanding of it. However, Brother Li's sword is obviously not ordinary. You must pay attention when walking alone in the world. To avoid causing unnecessary disasters.”

Zhang Chuchu nodded: "Keep it in mind."

After that, both of them were speechless and drank tea respectively. After a while, Wang Xuechang lowered his head and whispered: "Actually, Li Huizhi is not your real name, right?"

Zhang Yue, who was sipping tea, was stunned for a moment, his face darkened, and he narrowed his eyes and looked at the white-clothed scholar who did not know whether he was an enemy or a friend. The surrounding atmosphere instantly became cold and chilly.

But the scholar in white just smiled, but he put away his previous politeness and spoke simply: "Don't worry, it doesn't make any difference to me who you are. But as you said, meeting you is fate, knowing you Isn’t the name too much?”

Zhang Yue's face was still uncertain. Seeing that he showed no sign of speaking, Wang Xuechang added fuel to the fire and said, "If I guess correctly, your surname should not be Li, but Zhang."

After listening to the scholar's words, Zhang Yue was even more shocked. He looked at the Confucian scholar who should have known his identity with a bitter look on his face.

Wang Xuechang laughed out loud when he saw Zhang Yue's face, and reached out to pat his shoulder: "Don't worry, I'm really not your enemy. I think you should be curious about how I guessed your identity."

Zhang Yue nodded helplessly.

"I mentioned Lu Jishan and Zhang Yunping before when I told those Jianghu people about Jianghu anecdotes. I don't know if you noticed it yourself. I don't know why you released the air machine at that time, but I noticed it. And I You restrained your energy when talking about other people and things, so I guessed that you must have a close relationship with these two people. And based on the information I know, once it is connected with Zhang Yunping's incident, your identity will not be so difficult. Guessed."

Zhang Chuchu sighed. He didn't expect that his identity would be exposed due to his negligence. Fortunately, the scholar was the only one who noticed this.

While Zhang Yue reflected on his mistakes, he couldn't help but admire Wang Xuechang's intelligence.

Wang Xuechang looked at Zhang Yue and smiled: "Now, is it time to tell me your real name?"

Zhang Chuchu swallowed his saliva. This was the second time he had revealed his identity to others.The first one is called Li Muzhi, a master with no master demeanor, and the second one is the Confucian scholar with a warm smile on his face.

Zhang Yue said helplessly: "It is true that my surname is Zhang and my first name is Yue Yue."

After Wang Xue sang, he was stunned for a moment, and then laughed.

"Okay, Li Huizhi."

(End of this chapter)