Living leisurely in Tang Dynasty

Sun Simiao has traveled widely so he has tasted tea from the south. It is not that unusual but he thinks that the packaging is exquisite. It looks different from the ones he has seen before.

Taking advantage of their quiet time where the servants have retreated to boil water for tea brewing, Sun Simiao sat down and chatted with Li Yuanying.

“This is a common drink from the South but it’s not popular here up North. How did you come to like it?”

Yuanying talked about his first experience trying tea. Back when he was a child, someone presented it to the late Emperor. Although the late Emperor didn’t like the tea, he still recalled his late father when he saw this drink. At that time, he ate too much and had to drink tea soup to digest and relieve his tiredness. He was impressed by its effect. This time, he accidentally encounter tea again and wanted to promote it.

Li Yuanying calmly told Sun Simiao: “To tell you the truth, the last time, I went to Beili by mistake and saw this tea and wanted to use it to make money. Not only for opening academies but also for making paper and printing books. It was expensive. I inherited treasures from my late father but it’s not enough to do all these things well. After meeting you, I still want to publish the medical book you are writing to the world!”

Li Yuanying earnestly talked about the difficulties: “The more you want to do, the more you relate to the saying that ‘with money, you can do a thousand things, without money you can’t do anything.”

Sun Simiao nodded, agreeing with the boy. Travelling for many years, he has seen many joys and sorrows, life and death. He knows of many tragedies due to the single penny (lack of) that stumbles a heroic man.

Li Yuanying looked at the doctor with bright eyes: “If you can help me popularize this tea, in the future you can print as many of your medical books as you want. Our academy can then recruit more of those who want to study medicine. We can then stop quack doctors from jeopardizing people’s treatment!”

Sun Simiao stroked his beard, pondering before asking Yuanying how he wanted him to help.

The young prince revealed his plans. This tea is named “Thousand Gold Tea” and will only be sold in this Thousand Gold Hall. Sales are restricted to only the powerful and wealthy. Only this group is able to eat greasy food every day. Since they need to wake up early for court session the next day, this tea is perfect to relieve their tiredness and refresh their minds. The common people have no need for it yet.

When the tea market is opened up and more money is made, we will then push out tea products for the common people, so that everyone can benefit from it.

During Sun Simiao stayed in the Capital, many powerful families visited him for medical consultations. What Li Yuanying really meant is for Doctor Sun to drink it for two days and see if this tea really works. When someone comes for a consultation, just recommend the benefits to them. Also, boil and offer others this tea during meetings so that people can try it. Repeat this for a few days and it will work!

He will then take the opportunity during his royal brother’s banquet and let it slip that there are only three hundred boxes left. Anyone that wants it can come over to Thousand Gold hall to buy it!

Hearing the full plan, Sun Simiao nodded to show that he understood. He has indeed drank it and can confirm that it really helps to clear the mind and relieve fatigue. If this tea is  good, mentioning it is only a simple gesture.

While the two agreed, the tea was brewed.

The practice of tea drinking in the Southern states is by first grinding the tea leaves into fine powder, boil water, and then adding the powder to make a bittersweet yet fragrant tea soup. If one thinks that it is too plain, you can then add spices like ginger to enhance it. The tea sent by Su Dalang is the best spring tea with beautiful color. Its fragrance is just right, giving a pleasing aroma when brewed.

Both sat down and tried it and agreed that it is of the best grade. Since Sun Simiao is in agreement, Li Yuanying left two smart people behind to help the doctor to brew tea, entertain guests, and also share its benefit.

After all, Sun Simiao is a healer. He cannot be seen hard-selling. All he needs to do is nod in agreement.

Since Yuanying has planned out everything, he was in a good mood. He told Su Dalang to send people to the South and pick multiple hills that are suitable for growing tea leaves. Snap up this opportunity early, otherwise, we will lose out.

Everything was arranged and Sun Simiao also began serving tea to entertain guests. Li Yuanying then took a box to look for the Emperor  saying that he has something good to share with him.

Lately, Li Yuanying has been obedient and didn’t cause any trouble. All he did was visit Sun Simiao daily. Li Er is starting to feel weird about this new peace. Hearing his brother say he has something good, he allowed him to drop by.  

But Li Yuanying shamelessly said that he was hungry and and wanted to eat a luxurious meal with meat and fish, without it he refuses to share what he has.

Looks like this kid is just here to get a free meal. But Li Er does not lack anything and so he instructed the Imperial Kitchen to prepare a meal. Yuanying might not have many strengths but making food look extra delicious he can do. When others see him eating with gusto, they too unconsciously eat an extra bowl.

The same is true for His Majesty. After finishing, he realized he ate a little too much.

“I gave you food, is it time to take out your goodies?” (Li Er)

Yuanying requested that a stove and tools to brew tea be brought in. He then asks his men to prepare it in front of the His Majesty. It wasn’t that Li Yuanying is unwilling to brew it himself but he didn’t know how to do it. The last time he tried roasting chicken for his friends he ended up burning it into charcoal.

While the tea was brewing, Li Yuanying started exaggerating about its benefit and how even Sun Simiao felt good after drinking it!

He sat down beside His Majesty and said sincerely: “Hearing its benefits, I thought, isn’t this perfect for a busy person like you? I’ve already reserved 30 boxes of the best spring tea for you. Ministers like Elder Wei, Fang, and Zhangsun are all people who work hard for the betterment of the Tang Society. Aren’t we having a banquet to celebrate the return of our dear friend from war? If you drink this and think that it tastes good, why don’t you give some to the ministers during the palace banquet? Anyway, I’ve already reserved it and am giving it to you. Whether you drink it or give it away, it’s up to you.”

Li Er couldn’t find fault with his statement and so asked the servant to fetch him a bowl of tea.

Li Yuanying had his own bowl too. He sat down and drank two sips with experience.  He then slyly peep at his brother to see his reaction.

His Majesty likes it, after a few sips, the greasy taste in his mouth is gone. After a few more sips, although the initial taste was strong, it left a clear and light aftertaste, giving him a refreshed feeling.

Replying to his younger brother who is spying at him, Li Er objectively commented, “This tea is good.”

The boy was overjoyed. He then updated that he will have someone bring the tea into the palace, so that Li Er can do whatever he wants with it.

As soon as Li Yuanying left, Li Er picked up the box of tea and found that the silver box was engraved with a story picture and a line of characters: “Where can you find the best grade of tea? Thousand Gold tea found in Thousand Gold Hall!

Li Er: “…”

The story-picture is from Zhuang Zhou meaning longevity and talent. The drawings were done elegantly and with good meaning,  anyone who sees it will like it. It’s just that the statement next to it is difficult to appreciate, the writing is not very good and the sentence is even more crappy!

If Li Er still couldn’t understand Yuanying’s motive then he really shouldn’t be the King of this country. Seriously, for the kid to come up with such a plan!

Since the brat has already left, there’s no point in getting angry anymore so he put the matter aside for the time being. Later, someone updated that the tea has been sent to his warehouse. His Majesty thought about it and still decided to accommodate his younger brother’s wish to add it to the list of reward items.

Although the kid is a bit of a jerk, his item is undeniably of good quality.  Since Wei Zheng and the others work hard every day, it doesn’t hurt to give them a box.

Li Yuanying only sent him 30 boxes, after keeping some for the palace use, he could only reward it to 20 people.  His Majesty reviewed the reward list and nodded his head.

Such a small action actually brought about a trend of tea grabbing in Chang’an City.

When His Majesty rewards his ministers, the item given is recorded down. Although those on this reward list do not lack anything but to get new special items rouses people’s curiosity. Those who received tea brewed a small packet according to the instructions on the box while those who didn’t get tea scratched their cheeks and wanted to know what that thing is. Why did His Majesty only give it to certain people and not them?

The next day, Cheng Zhijie and some others learned that certain ministers had received tea from the royal family but  not them. They instantly felt that they were being sidelined!

After the initial two months of publicity, many have already heard about the benefits of tea. If they send someone out to inquire, they will know where to buy this “Thousand Gold tea”.

When Cheng Zhijie found out did not hesitate to order a box from the Thousand Gold Hall. When his servants rushed over, they found that the outside of the hall had been surrounded, and when he took a closer look, most of the people inside were acquaintances.

This! What is this situation?

The servant asked around only to find out that the tea will be sold in the next hour and limited to only 300 boxes.

The tea is divided into four grades: Grade 1  is limited to 20 boxes as the remaining 30 boxes have been given to important ministers by His Majesty. Grade 2 is limited to 50 boxes, quality might not be as great but is still top-quality tea. Grade 3 has 200 boxes. The quality of the tea is average but its benefits are the same.  

This year’s harvest of Thousand Gold tea is limited and the next batch of autumn tea will only be delivered after winter. All are sold on a  first come first serve basis! Second-class and third-class tea were sold first before first-class tea. First-grade tea is scarce and is the same as those given by the Emperor. Therefore purchase is limited to ONE box and there is no price tag, whoever has the highest bid will get it!

Hearing that, the servant sent by Cheng Zhijie’s family hurriedly went back and asked if they wanted to make a bid. Cheng Zhijie’s original name was Cheng Yaojin and had formal education as he was a son of a minister. Nevertheless, his temper got worst over the years and he often talk with his fists. When he heard that there were only 20 boxes and he had to compete for them, he immediately shouted, “Go and get it, buy it all for me. Let’s see who dares to fight with me!”

The servant was busy sharing these info. Looking at the time, it’s almost time to start bidding. There were already people waiting from the Yuchi family, the Zhang Liang family, the Li Jing family as well as many who he couldn’t recognized.

Cheng Zhijie glared at him and scolded: “Then why don’t you hurry up?”

This reaction was not only limited to the Cheng Zhijie’s house but in others too.

Maybe many wanted the auction to begin earlier or most are self-aware that they can’t outbid others, the cheaper tea was all snapped up quickly. After purchasing, these people did not leave but stayed back to watch the auction!

Su Dalang was in charged. He saw many “house servants” who were better dressed than him and almost had weak legs. But he is well aware that this is a golden opportunity. If all goes well, his tea will become a chicken that can lay golden eggs and a pound of tea can be sold for the price of gold!

Su Dalang took a deep breath and announced the start of the bidding.

The servants began to make bids one after another—

“Twenty!” “Thirty!”

“Fifty!” “Eighty!”

“One hundred!” “Two hundred!”

The people who were here to watch the fun were stunned. Isn’t this crazy? Such a small box of tea costs three hundred?! You can buy more than 300 buckets of rice with one guan (Guan is a unit of money in the Tang Dynasty) which is enough to feed a family for a long time. Just when the people were astounded, someone quoted a higher price, two hundred!

“Four hundred!”

This price has exceeded the expectations of many. Some were just observing the commotion while others  quietly check with their masters if they should increase their bid but no one dared to simply quote a higher price. The first box was sold at 400 Guan.

After a good start, the rest of the tea was auctioned off in the same manner. The price went higher and higher with every box sold.  Someone raised the price to 800 Guan for the last box and it was bought by a poor soul who only had money!

After clearing the venue, Su Dalang tried his best to calm down. Even without adding the profit from the Grade 2 or 3 tea, the 20 boxes of first-class tea alone sold for more than 10,000 Guan! This amount some might not even earn in a lifetime and his Royal Highness the Prince of Teng earned it so easily! He even built up the brand name for his tea!

If the trend of tea drinking prevails, as long as tea supply is available, even if they can no longer fetch such price, they will have a steady stream of income!

If Su Dalang had doubts before, he is now completely convinced of Yuanying’s ability. Even if others now ride on the trend and sell tea from the South, when tea is mentioned, the first brand to come to mind will still be Thousand Gold Tea.

Tea from others. Were they praised by His Majesty ? No!

Tea from others. Were they endorsed by the genius doctor Sun Simiao to be good for the body? No!

Su Dalang’s heart was burning and he hurriedly went to share the account with Li Yuanying.

Li Yuanying has never been short of money and so even after learning that he made lots of money, he didn’t react too eagerly. He only told Su Dalang to continue carrying out his plans. “Remember to send another group of people back to confirm if we have procured new land for a tea garden. Don’t let others snatch it first.”

Seeing Prince Teng’s reaction, Su Dalang quickly calmed down.

Chang’an is at the feet of the Emperor. There are powerful and rich families here who can definitely afford hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is nothing to be ecstatic about. To crack this tea market is what is important.  

Su Dalang responded quickly and when he left, the ecstasy and excitement before seeing Li Yuanying disappeared. He turned his head to tell Su Erniang the whole story and said that he was going back to the South to personally attend to the matter as soon as possible.

“Why so quick? Why not stay for a few more days?”

Su Dalang shook his head and sighed that Prince Teng is really something and is worthy of being the youngest brother of the Emperor. He dared to think about things others dare not and do things others would not dare to do! Now he couldn’t wait to show off his skills with Prince Teng and didn’t want to waste even a day.

On the other side, since the branding for his tea is done, Li Yuanying became idle again. He realized that he had only been studying medicine lately and had not visited his other teacher Xiao Deyan for a long time. Although he didn’t want to visit Li Tai’s mansion, he still went with tea to visit his teacher.

Notes from the author:

Little Prince: What’s so exciting about this amount of money?

Li Zhi: I want to punch someone

Li Chengqian: I want to punch someone

His Majesty Li Er: I want to punch someone