Tea to catch up with the past-the death of mountain man Lutong 202 1- 12-24

Tea talks about the past-the death of Lu Tong, a mountain man

In the Tang Dynasty, in addition to Lu Yu, known as Cha Sheng, there was also a famous tea fairy Lu Tong. Lu Tong is a descendant of Lu, a prominent family in Hebei, a direct descendant of four outstanding Lu in the early Tang Dynasty, and an important figure in the school of poetry. In addition to Seven Bowls of Tea Poems, he also wrote Tea Spectrum, which is a real tea lover. Unfortunately, at the age of forty, he was innocently involved in the change of manna and died immediately. Otherwise, in his prime, there should be unlimited prospects.

Speaking of it, Lutong is a person who is "aloof, eccentric, unusual and intimate". Han Yu even said to him, "Mr. Wang has become a layman and hasn't moved for a year." Obviously a man with a temper. After being used twice, he lived in seclusion in Songshan at the age of 20. Although he can satirize current politics, it really has nothing to do with politics. But as soon as he went out, he was involved in the most tragic palace coup at that time-the change of manna. "Biography of Talented Talents in the Tang Dynasty" said: "The lady waited for the guests to stay in the museum, and the officers and men covered up the arrest. I said,' I am from Lushan Mountain, and I have no complaints. "What crime did you commit," the official said, "since the people from Yunshan came to the Prime Minister's office, it is not a crime. Too busy to care about yourself, just like nectar. "This seems to mean that since you say you are a hermit, why did you appear in Vanity Fair's Prime Minister's Office? It means that Lu Tong is a pseudonym. But this kind of question and answer existed before many celebrities died, so many of them were not true, more like a fable added by later generations.

Jia Dao's "Crying for Lutong" wrote: "... I have lived for forty years, wearing only white cloth. Who will chase the hell if the son of heaven is not called? Chang 'an has a friend who has abandoned his home. "It is this story that makes people feel sad and sigh." The Biography of Talented Talents in Tang Dynasty also said: "If you are old and have no hair, you will be nailed to the back of your head. First, the child's name is Tianding, and people think it is a cloud. "Lu Tong was only forty years old when he was killed. It is hard to say that he is "old". The so-called "nail the back of the head" is probably hanged outside Xing 'an Gate after being beheaded, because there is no hair to hang the flexibility he has done, but he is not regarded as a person at all. A secluded mountain forest suddenly turned into a lonely ghost hanging on the gate, which really made people shudder. As for divination, many people have enjoyed it since the Eastern Han Dynasty, and it is hard to tell whether it is true or false.

Interestingly, however, Wang Ya in this incident is also closely related to tea from another angle. Legend has it that when Wang Ya died, "people complained, scolded and threw stones". Why? Because Wang Ya enforced the tea monopoly law, people hated it. Wang Ya was the prime minister of the dynasty, the envoy of salt and iron, and also the envoy of tea monopoly, and enforced the tea monopoly law. What is the monopoly tea he promoted? "The method is to use the tea gardens of the people in the rivers and lakes, which are made by the officials themselves, directly distributed, and the messengers are in charge." This is still not clear. Later, when Ling Huchu denounced this as a bad government, he made it more clear: "Can't people move and plant tea trees in the officialdom and pick tea leaves in the official fields? This is like a child's play, inhuman ..." It is necessary to concentrate the tea trees in the private small-scale peasant economy model in the official tea garden to achieve comprehensive control from planting, dismantling, production, sales and transportation, similar to the salt and iron monopoly in the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

Prior to this, although tea tax had been levied, the economy of tea industry was very prosperous and the profits of tea producers were quite good. If the government monopolizes tea according to the Tea Monopoly Law, tea farmers will be turned into serfs and tea merchants will be unprofitable. Such a policy will certainly arouse strong opposition. "Jianghuai people openly say that it is shameful to make tea as a business, and only kill people into the mountains." Wang Ya was hated for this, but Wang Ya was not killed for it. He was beheaded on the charge of conspiring with Li Xun to participate in the "rebellion" against eunuchs. Said he was involved in planning the change of manna. This is totally unfair. At that time, Li Xun failed to punish Shiliang Zhou and other eunuchs and rode away. However, Wang Ya and other court officials were still discussing in the yamen and decided to wait until the emperor came out to discuss politics. At that time, officials from the two provinces under Zhongshumen came to inquire about the situation and were also sent away. Obviously, they never thought of other serious consequences. If it is an accomplice, judging from Wang Ya's past, it is by no means so bold. Li Xun, the mastermind, ran away. Why did Wang Ya stay there? As a result, at dinner time, "officials reported that soldiers came out of the door and killed everyone", so Wang Ya and others hurried out, and even the coachman and driver had no time to prepare, and they barely ran to Yongchang's tea shop and were captured by the guards. "Chou Shiliang's career is reversed, but I don't know why. Mechanical binding is urgent. It's so cool. It is the handwriting that is reversed, it is self-incrimination and collusion training. " The poor old minister of several dynasties, the 70-year-old prime minister, was humiliated and punished in this way, and then took a group of "prisoners" to "go to the suburban temple first, and great kindness was in two cities, but he was beheaded under the willow tree in the southwest corner of Zicheng." Then, "the owl is outside Xing 'an Gate first, and all the relatives are dead, and all the children are childish ..." Lu Tong replied "No problem".

The Ganlu Rebellion is dead/kloc-more than 0/000 people. It can be described as a bloody court, and the class is empty. At that time, taking advantage of the chaos, imperial soldiers plundered property, and Beijing hooligans retaliated against personal vendetta, which lasted for several days. After that, the eunuch "held the emperor to make the princes look down on the prime minister, and the court officials were like dirt." I always say goodbye to my family when I enter the DPRK, because I don't know when I will be killed. It's really terrible. It's bloody as hell.

Why didn't Chou Shiliang let Wang Ya go? Of course, one reason is that courtiers and eunuchs have different camps. Seventy-year-old Wang Ya Zaifu, as the envoy of salt and iron and the messenger of tea, has always dominated the financial power of the court, which has to be said to be mouth watering. Wang Yaxing's tea-making method is harsh and urgent, and he himself is also "complaining about others" and has a poor relationship with the general public. It is difficult to guarantee that no one will take the opportunity to criticize in the chaos. But on the whole, Wang Ya really died under the fury and bloody terror of Chou Shiliang's revenge.

Wang Ya's tea is hated by the people. At best, the court is in a hurry. Because in the Tang Dynasty at that time, the local finance would not be returned to the central government, and the niche of the dynasty would be reduced and weakened, and the situation in the buffer region could not be contained. What should we do to restore the order of the dynasty? First of all, we must have financial support and find a new source of income, which is the emerging tea industry. Tea is not only a new industry, but also a new tax base, and it has other benefits. The separatist provinces are mostly in the north, and the new tea industry is mainly concentrated in the south. Obviously, if the tea monopoly is successful, it will bring great benefits to the Tang Dynasty and will not be affected by the buffer region. Isn't this a coup? However, this coup did not come from Wang Ya, but from Zheng Zhu, another protagonist who participated in The Change of Manna.

Zheng Zhu is a "magic" figure. No matter what you think of his personality, you should probably classify him as a "freak". His real name is fish, and he pretends to be Zheng. He was born poor and ugly. He can't be farsighted. He is nearsighted, and he first appeared as a traveling doctor, that is, the bottom of society. This condition is too bad to say. By 8 18, I guess I wandered around the Jianghu for a while and met the chance that Li Su, a famous middle Tang dynasty, got flaccid disease. It is said that Zheng Zhu "cooked gold and took fesr" for him, and Old Tang Shu said that Li Su "got his medicine because of his rich experience". Flaccidity is a big category of ancient Chinese medicine. What's wrong with Li Su? "Zheng Zhuchuan" said that "the disease of flaccidity and weakness can be eliminated", which means leg swelling. Maybe Li Su's symptoms are weakness and leg edema. However, Zheng Zhu's so-called "boiling gold" is certainly not the correct medical skill. It is said that his medicine can not only cure this disease, but also "resist aging", which is obviously more like alchemy. Historically, what we know now is that Li Su was "effective from the cloud" at that time, but three years later, Li Su was "unable to join the army" and could not even do military affairs, and soon died. But in any case, Zheng Zhu won the trust of Li Su by this matter. Not only that, but he was also appointed as our ambassador, which may also mean staying to treat diseases. But he was also allowed to participate in the military and political affairs. "It is not surprising to plan with him." He changed from a medical talent to a military and political cadre.

When Zheng Zhu gained the trust of Li Su, some people said that he was "riddled with evil spirits, specializing in the Wei government, and the military government suffered greatly". This statement is not limited to street criticism. At that time, Wang Shoucheng, the eunuch of the prison army, also made a note of "deep anger" and personally advised Li Su and asked him to deal with this person. In this regard, Li Su's opinion is: It is suggested that Wang Shoucheng meet Zheng Zhu. It seems that I still have considerable confidence in Zheng Zhu. So Zheng Zhu went to visit the military department. The result of the meeting was: Wang Shoucheng was reluctant at first, that is, he delayed sitting and talking, arguing and balancing, doing his best, delaying in the inner room, eager to vote, and hated meeting late. This play is more dramatic than drama.

I am curious about what Zheng Zhu did to produce such a dramatic effect, because similar things happen again and again, and there must be something called "routine". In the Southern Dynasties, Yu Liang made amends to Tao Kan. Tao Kan was going to kill Yu Liang, but after seeing Yu Liang, he admired him very much. This is because Yu Liang is an aristocratic gentry, and Tao Kan speaks the same language, and I am also an attractive person, so I can forgive him. Of course, Zheng Zhu is not Yu Liang, and Wang Shoucheng and others are not Tao Kan. So what is the possibility of gossip? The Book of the Old Tang Dynasty said, "Zheng Zhu, a native of Yicheng, was lucky enough to take medicine for Wang Shoucheng, a corps commander." Perhaps Zheng Zhu's secret is to start with medical skills. After all, no matter how great the authority is, it can't escape the torture of patients, and the art of immortality is the common pursuit of ancient people in China, and few people can break it. Maybe Zheng Zhu started here, and I don't know.

Zheng Zhu boarded the line of Wang Shoucheng and followed him to Beijing in 820. He just doesn't know how to explain Li Su's illness. Su Li died in Luoyang in 82 1 year. He was a great star and fell at the age of 49. Wang Shoucheng returned to Beijing with Zheng Zhu, and after many twists and turns-I won't go into details. His power expanded rapidly and he attached great importance to Zheng Zhu. The two often "speak in language". To Tang Wenzong, literate admired and prime minister Song discussed to cut off eunuchs. As a result, this matter was leaked to Zheng Zhu by Jing He, and Zheng Zhu immediately informed Wang Shoucheng, so Wang Shoucheng immediately told him, "Play the role of strategist and tell the Prime Minister Song He to rebel together." This is unbearable for the literate, but it also shows that the literate actually don't trust the conspirators. Song almost died, and was finally expelled from the capital, and the plan to cut off eunuchs went bankrupt.

In 833, Zheng Zhu and others got a crucial opportunity. Tang Wenzong suffered from a "serious illness and could not speak for more than a month". So Wang Shoucheng entered Zheng Zhu and repeated everything. Because it turned out that Zheng Zhu was involved in framing Song, he finally woke up and was played. Scholars hate this man very much, and even once planned to "kill Jing with a stick." But by this time, the situation had changed because the medicine got rid of the disease. Zheng Zhu was no longer a disgusting guy, but was favored by literate Sect. So how important it is to have a technology. In September 834, literate admired Yu Yutang called Zheng Zhu, "Petition is based on the skill of being rich, and it is based on tea. The law wants to use the tea garden of the people in the rivers and lakes. The official made it himself, and the amount was given directly, and the messenger was in charge. " So "the emperor was confused, but he ordered Wang Ya to be a tea envoy". This is how the whole thing developed.

Before Zheng Zhu participated in framing Song, he was at most a powerful celebrity. After he participated in the framing, "everyone looked askance" and even some literati planned to "kill", which shows that his reputation has been quite bad. After being attracted by literate Sect, he began to play politics. Even Wang Shoucheng, who pushed him to the top, was calculated by him and his new "partner" Li Xun, Li's "smart" follower, who was the mastermind of the change of Manna later. Then he was promoted and demoted, introduced decentralization in Chou Shiliang, then condemned and finally killed. The means must be vicious. Li Qian impeached Zheng Zhu before, and Zheng Zhu was sheltered by Wang Ya. Instead, he was promoted to an official. At that time, he hypocritically said that everyone was just "doing things for you and doing their best" and being kind to Li Qian for the sake of fame and reputation. Now he retaliated mercilessly. Anyone who doesn't obey himself will take revenge. As the saying goes, "there is no virtual day to banish the army, and the class is nearly empty." On the other hand, he also lived a luxurious life, completely exposing the villain's face.

It is such a very obvious villain, relying on the superior villain of eunuchs, and suddenly becoming the assistant and ally of literate admired to eradicate eunuchs, which is also a strange thing. Literati have always hated eunuch autocracy. At the beginning, I failed to collude with Song. Now, in order to eradicate eunuchs, even Zheng Zhu himself was recommended by eunuchs, and even the mastermind who framed Song was ignored. Why? It is said that because the emperor believed that Zheng Zhu was from the hands of eunuchs, his plan was not easy to be detected. What kind of reason is this? I think it's better to say that the emperor was hungry to regain power. Judging from Song's attitude, there is no trust at all, just for collusion between officials and businessmen, and it doesn't look like a good bird.

Zheng Zhuxian successfully eradicated Wang Shoucheng who was grateful to himself. But getting rid of Wang Shoucheng was a foolish move to introduce another eunuch, Chou Shiliang, and did not fundamentally solve the problem. Therefore, Zheng Zhu and Li Xun decided that Zheng Zhu would be Fengxiang's time, and as foreign aid, they would be equipped with 500 Qin Bing, mainly noble children, and agreed to kill eunuchs when Wang Shoucheng was buried. Although this plan has the characteristics of the times at that time, the plan itself is not a big problem. However, Li Xun here changed his mind as soon as Zheng Zhu went out to work. Li Xun decided to root out the eunuch himself, not to let Zheng Zhu rob the work, and even took the opportunity to get rid of Zheng Zhu after planning. who the hell are all these people？ So Li Xun launched the change of nectar alone, and the whole process was full of jokes, so I won't say much. As a result, I failed in name only. On the other hand, Zheng Zhu is no longer a miracle, and he was killed on the spot at the banquet-maybe myopia didn't notice that others didn't intend to listen to him at all, so he took the knife directly. The most pitiful thing is that 500 innocent children were buried with him.

About this matter, some people pay attention to the results, and think that the dramas of Li Xun and Zheng Zhu are good and just in the end, but more people think that the conspiratorial politics of Li Xun and Zheng Zhu are doomed to failure from the beginning. Both Li Xun and Zheng Zhu are thinking about building their own private armed forces and changing the political situation through direct slaughter. This can be considered a success, but it is only a temporary situation and cannot fundamentally solve the problem. But China people are like this, not to mention the fundamental solution, that is, "one case at a time" is also paved with blood. But since it is so vicious and loses its adherence to the lower limit, the revenge of the other party is even more ferocious. what can I say? Chou Shiliang may be cruel by nature, but the sense of crisis of being killed is also an obvious stimulus. Civilization was lost and animal nature was exposed, so when he came out, he was already "killing everyone" and the situation was out of control. The politics of the whole country is controlled by such a vendetta, which cannot but be said to be the sorrow of an era.

So, how to evaluate Zheng Zhu's tea selling method? Zheng Zhu's tea monopoly refers to the most extreme form of government management of tea industry, that is, tea industry monopoly. During the period of Dezong, tea tax has been levied. During the Mu Zong period, due to the shortage of funds, the tea tax was raised from 10% to 15%. On this basis, how to further "enrich"? Obviously, just increasing taxes can no longer satisfy the appetite of literate Sect. At this time, it may be this monopoly model that touched the hearts of literators. This way requires tea farmers to transplant their own tea trees to tea gardens, so the picking, production and sales of tea are all directly supervised by the government, so that the court can gain the maximum benefit in tea production and trade, and tea farmers become slaves of production, which is equivalent to completely subverting the small-scale peasant economic model of tea industry in China history. This unscrupulous way of harming the interests of tea farmers really seems to come from a person who does whatever it takes to get what he wants. Ordinary people may not know that Zheng Zhu put forward this plan. Wang Ya succumbed to power, was spurned and spurned, and was innocent.

Wang Ya's Tea Monopoly Law has not been implemented for a long time, but the death of Wang Ya and the failure of the Tea Monopoly Law have had a far-reaching impact. After the imperial court reached out to the tea industry, it took this as a lesson, not only from the failure of the policy, but also from the notoriety of Zheng Zhu and Wang Ya. Who would want to get involved with such people? Therefore, the idea of "monopoly" is basically no longer based on "monopoly".

After that, it was probably in the Tang Dynasty that the tea tax was resumed, and the income of tea tax has been increasing, which can be said to be a financial pillar of the government in the middle and late Tang Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, the changes of tea law were complicated, and this idea continued with monopoly as the baseline. Fundamentally speaking, it can be said that the characteristics of small-scale peasant economy in local tea production in China determined the mode of tea law, which itself was the result of the physical game between the court and tea farmers and tea merchants, which was very natural and reasonable at that time. However, if we look at it from a modern perspective, it will be different. In China, it is natural that the tea industry is based on the small-scale peasant economy, but what about Indian tea? Indian tea was originally created for the British, and the economic concept and production technology at that time decided that they took another road. From seed selection, planting, harvesting to all production processes, it is a road of scale and industrialization. The Book of Tea by American Ux recorded this complicated and wonderful process in detail: how the British changed from importing China tea varieties to choosing Assam local varieties, from Chinese planting to Indian planting, how to build a large-scale and mechanized tea production system from the beginning, and how to spend the first time on thin ice. From the very beginning, this model got rid of the situation of small-scale peasant economy in China tea industry, adapted to the global market, and naturally produced strong competitiveness. Of course, the British do not have the problem of India's established small-scale peasant economic model, and they have the so-called advantage of being late. But in any case, Indian tea has finally become the most powerful rival of China tea, occupying almost the whole overseas market, and this situation has continued to this day. This is definitely an important question worthy of China tea people's thinking.

Although Wang Ya is ignorant and snobbish, he is a standard scholar and a standard official scholar after all. History books say that his poems are beautiful and elegant, and his style is unpretentious. He is a bachelor of Hanlin, a tired official who came to Zhongshu as assistant minister, and a standard prime minister who works under Zhongshu. He usually likes to collect the calligraphy and paintings of his predecessors, but he doesn't want to accept money, so he buys them with official titles, so his collection exceeds the secret politics of the imperial court. He collected Suo Jing's unique book Ode to a Teacher, which was actually a node in the cultural field at that time. It is said that all the products in his collection are beautifully decorated and luxuriously decorated. As a result, after the accident, his house was ransacked, soldiers and idlers robbed and abandoned pearls, and document scrolls were trampled on the roadside. I don't know how many precious documents and famous works have been collected into the dust.

Wang Ya is a powerful Zaifu, and Lu Tong is the person implicated in Untitled, but how many people know who Wang Ya is today? The name of Lutong tea fairy is known all over the world, and it is also widely broadcast overseas.

Looking back on what happened that year, Wang Ya's method of selling tea was also implemented for some time. Lu Tong, a famous tea man, came to Beijing and had dinner with old friends at Wang Yafu. With Lutong as a hermit, who did he come to see? Did he visit Wang Ya? What did he talk about? Will Lu Tong, who loves tea, talk about this inhuman tea selling law recently implemented? Or is this inhuman tea method forcing him to come to Beijing to speak out? These fates are always just guesses. Today, the only thing we can be sure of is that these two people, as well as many people who followed them, and many beautiful things lingering around these people, all dissolved and dissipated together in the disaster that happened that day.

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