Chapter 35: Use both soft and hard

If Xu Deyan was just an official in the Eastern Palace, Yang Yong could naturally appoint him. However, now that Xu Deyan is going to take office at the border, he must pass through the Ministry of Personnel. When Wei Shikang was the Minister of Personnel, he had a good relationship with the Eastern Palace. Yang Yong only needed to send someone to pass on a verbal message and write about important things by hand, and Wei Shikang could do everything properly.

Now Wei Shikang has been transferred to the General Administration of Jingzhou, and the Minister of Personnel has become Niu Hong. Niu Hong has a common relationship with the Eastern Palace. Although someone takes the initiative to serve in the border, Niu Hong should be happy to see that he will succeed and will not set up any obstacles. Yang Yong cannot be so casual, so he decided to explain to Niu Hong himself.

As soon as the morning court ended that day, Niu Hong had just left the palace when he heard someone shouting next to him: "Sir Niu, wait a moment.

Niu Hong turned his head and saw that Yang Shi, the leader of the Eastern Palace guard, stopped, and quickly stopped: "Mr. Yang, I wonder what to do when I look for this palace?"

Yang Shi smiled slightly and said, "Mr. Niu, the prince is welcome."

When Niu Hong heard the prince’s invitation, he stopped talking and followed Yang Shi to the East Palace with peace of mind, guessing in his heart, what was wrong with the prince looking for him?

When Niu Hong stepped onto the East Palace, Yang Yong had already come out of it and bowed to Niu Hong and said, "Mr. Niu is here, I have missed the opportunity to welcome you."

"I dare not, I dare not, I am here to see the prince!" The Eastern Palace and the imperial city are separated by a wall, and it is not far away to welcome him. However, being able to get the prince to greet him personally at the door was also an honor. Even though Niu Hong was the Minister of Personnel, he dared not be rude.

"No need to be polite. Lord Niu was promoted to Minister of Personnel this day. I have not congratulated you yet, but I am rude." Yang Yong held Niu Hong's left hand and walked inside. This is a kind of closeness between the superiors and the subordinates. Yang Yong has used it in these years. Many officials with smaller positions are often so excited that they are at a loss when they are supported by the prince.

Although Niu Hong did not do this, his heart was warm and warm. The prince was respectful to the wise and the nobles, and he had made a secret decision. No matter what the prince had planned for him, as long as it was not too difficult to do, he would definitely do it for the prince.

When he arrived at the main hall, Yang Yong put down Niu Hong's arm and brought the best fragrant tea from his servants. Niu Hong picked it up and took a sip. He felt the fragrance remained on his lips and teeth, and he couldn't help but praise: "Good tea!"

Yang Yong smiled slightly: "This is the old Longjing produced in Jiangnan. This kind of Longjing tea is grown by a tea shed beside a mountain road. Each tree is three hundred years old. The main branch is as thick as a bust of a strong man. There are only eighteen trees in total. Only the tea picked three days before the Grain Rain is the best. It produces only three or four kilograms a year, and it is still the best among the tea."

Although the history of drinking tea in the Central Plains was long, it was mostly made tea tills before Yang Yong came, and the tea was made in a single way. After Yang Yong made improvements, the methods of frying and stir-frying gradually emerged. Many famous teas were not discovered at this time. These eighteen tea trees were accidentally heard by Yang Yong when he was a military supervisor in Jiangnan. There were eighteen old tea trees in a small place in Kangzhou. Although they were made into tea tills, they had unique fragrance. Yang Yong felt a move in his heart and sent someone to protect the eighteen tea trees specifically to become special tribute tea leaves in the East Palace. He also divided a large area of ​​nearby land into tea gardens, and introduced seeds from the eighteen tea trees and sent people to manage them specifically.

Nowadays, the original tea land has developed into a tea garden of hundreds of acres. It produces nearly a hundred dan of tea every year. The bay leaves are far better than ordinary tea leaves, and have become a luxury that wealthy families are rushing to buy. However, it is much inferior to the tea produced by these eighteen tea trees. The tea produced by the old tea trees is still fragrant nine times in a row. The new tea expanded by their seeds is still fragrant in the first time, but it becomes tasteless in the second time. As for the name of Longjing, Yang Yong took it casually, it is unknown whether it is the same as Longjing in later generations. Anyway, the origin should be not far different. For the sake of the difference, only the tea produced by these eighteen tea trees can be called Laolongjing.

When Niu Hong heard that it was the tea produced by the eighteen old teas, he moved his heart and sucked it with his nose. The fragrant leaves filled him, deeply intoxicated, and sighed: "The fragrance of Longjing tea has been smelled of meat for several months, and it is indeed well-known."

"Since Lord Niu likes it, I have another one here. I'll give Lord Niu three or two old Longjing later." Yang Yong said with a smile.

In recent years, with the prosperity of the Great Sui Dynasty, the trend of drinking tea became popular. The normal Longjing produced in the tea gardens in Jiangnan was almost equivalent to gold. The old Longjing produced by these eighteen tea trees was even more expensive and was all included in the Eastern Palace. In addition to giving one pound to the emperor, the empress, and the emperor's uncles and the emperor's brothers every year, only ministers who were close to the trustworthy would reward one liang and half liang.

As Yang Yong said just now, the tea produced in Laolongjing is only three or four kilograms a year. In fact, it is more than just that. Tea trees can be picked three times in spring, summer and autumn. Each time these eighteen old tea trees are picked and fried, they can be about six or seven kilograms after being fried. Three times a year, which adds up to nearly twenty kilograms. Otherwise, it would not be enough to send them to the palace and distribute them to several emperor uncles, so how can the rewards come from?

Even so, just over twenty kilograms of tea is still too small. Some people once bid 100 taels of gold to buy one tael of Laolongjing tea, but they still cannot buy tea with gold. It can be seen how valuable is Sanliang Laolongjing?

Niu Hong's face hesitated. He had nothing to do with anything else, but he liked to drink tea. Before he became the Minister of Personnel, although his salary was still good, he could not afford to drink even the ordinary Longjing. After taking over as the Minister of Personnel, his salary increased greatly and he could drink ordinary Longjing. However, he still felt heartbroken every time he drank it. Although many officials wanted to give him gifts, the newly released Longjing famous tea was indispensable. However, Niu Hong was not as good as himself and refused to accept it.

Of course, no official can give Lao Longjing. This Lao Longjing tea is the first time Niu Hong said that drinking this tea is an irresistible temptation for Niu Hong, a person who loves tea as much as his life. Just thinking of the outrageous price of Lao Longjing, Niu Hong said reluctantly: "Thank you for your kindness. You will not receive any rewards for such precious tea. It is a rare blessing for me to drink it once. How dare I be greedy?"

Yang Yong frowned slightly, but he didn't expect Niu Hong to refuse. After Niu Hong became the Minister of Personnel, all his information on the East Palace would naturally be clearly found out.

"What, just a few taels of tea, is it because Lord Niu is worried that I will bribe you, or is it because I want you to commit crimes?"

This is too harsh. As the crown prince, how should he bribe a minister, let alone committing crimes? Niu Hong was shocked and stood up quickly: "Crown Prince, I have no intention of this."

"Since that's the case, then just settle down. Sit down. Don't be so nervous. I'm just a joke."

Niu Hong wiped the sweat beads on his head and thought to himself, you are the prince, who dares not take it seriously, and said helplessly: "The prince is the crown prince, and I am given it by you. I dare not refuse. I thank you very much."

Yang Yong smiled with satisfaction: "That's right. The Ministry of Personnel is still the most important of the six ministries. He is busy with affairs. As the Minister of Personnel, if you have good tea, it would be better to refresh yourself and quench your thirst. This palace gives you three or two old Longjings, just to let you work for the court better, and there is no other intention."

"Yes, thank you for the prince." Niu Hong sat down again, secretly complaining in his heart. These three taels of tea are not easy to take. It is very important for the ministers to give at most one tael. Now, after rewarding himself with three taels, he might have to put the mark on the Eastern Palace. He just thought that the prince was the crown prince after all, and the emperor would one day give the throne to the prince, so he felt a little better.

Yang Yong chatted with Niu Hongdong for a few more times before bringing up Xu Deyan. Niu Hong was surprised: "Is the Xu Deyan mentioned by Your Highness the former Princess Chen Lechang's princess who reunites with a broken mirror in the capital a few days ago?"

"Yes, it's this guy!"

"Your Highness, the border is difficult, and some civil servants take the initiative to go to Liaodong. Of course, the ministers are happy to see it. However, Xu Deyan had just met his wife again after a long separation, so he was going to go to the border. Could it be that the story was wrong?" Niu Hong asked carefully.

"Of course not." Yang Yong naturally knew what the story Niu Hong said was wrong: "The couple had a good relationship, but Xu Aiqing was loyal and brave. He heard that the border lacked civil servants, so he took the initiative to go to the border."

Niu Hong knew that there must be something else, but he was inconvenient to inquire. He nodded: "In this way, I understand, but I don't know if I can see Lord Xu. I will inevitably be curious about Lord Xu." After saying that, Niu Hong's face inevitably had a little Hao Ran.

"Of course, the Ministry of Personnel has its own procedures to choose officials and serve as officials. Interviews are just one of them. I will not make you embarrassed." After clapping his hands, a guard came in and said, "Your Highness, what are you asking for?"

"Go and call Xu Deyan."

"yes."

After a while, Xu Deyan came to the hall. He saluted Yang Yong first before he said to Niu Hong: "Goodbye to Lord Niu."

Niu Hong looked at Xu Deyan up and down. At this time, Xu Defang was wearing a new dress and was extremely elegant. Niu Hong felt a lot of affection when he saw him and couldn't help but feel sorry for Xu Deyan. He was not waiting for the capital, and since he was willing to leave his wife and go away to the border.

After asking Xu Deyan a few words, Xu Deyan answered one by one, and the regret deepened a little more. Niu Hong couldn't help asking, "Mr. Xu, are you really willing to go to the border?"

"The minister is willing."

"Okay, then please go to the Ministry of Personnel tomorrow. This official will personally handle Mr. Xu's official letter and official documents. Mr. Xu is now a sixth rank. He will be transferred from the capital to the border. The rules must be upgraded to a higher level. From tomorrow, you will be the fifth rank Fengche Duwei."

"Thank you, sir, if there is nothing else, I will sue you." Xu Deyan didn't care about the official position.
Chapter completed!