Chapter 19: Pursuing a High Quality of Life (Part II)

First and foremost, it was tea.

Regarding life in the Tang Dynasty, Fang Jun was generally quite satisfied, except for one thing: the tea. What kind of tea was it when they boiled mutton fat, scallions, and ginger all together?

Alright, that was indeed tea, and it had been popular across this land for centuries, but Fang Jun couldn’t enjoy it. He preferred the fresh, natural, and lingering flavor of stir-fried tea.

He remembered the origin of Longjing tea very clearly, and the place was easy to find; he had just instructed Fang Sihai about it.

As for Da Hong Pao, its fame came from the Ming Dynasty. He wasn’t sure if it existed in the Tang era, but those tea trees clinging to cliff faces couldn’t have appeared out of nowhere. Centuries were a fleeting moment for the tea trees on the cliffs, just a cycle of withering and flourishing. He guessed the mother trees of Da Hong Pao probably already existed.

Besides, he didn’t need to go in person; if he happened to come across them, he would strike it rich.

“Remember, once you find the tea trees I mentioned in these two places, buy all the land within ten miles around. Use my father’s official seal to deal only with the local government, sign contracts, and then send people back quickly. I will prepare the funds to purchase the land.”

Just thinking about Longjiang and Da Hong Pao becoming his own property made Fang Jun’s heart leap.

Good heavens, such a future was too beautiful to even imagine.

After giving instructions to Fang Sihai and handing him the map, Fang Jun dismissed him and called another servant.

Unlike the tall and slender Fang Sihai, this servant was short and stocky, with a simple, honest face—more like a farmer.

Ah, it seemed Princess Gaoyang described Fang Jun in the same way…

This servant had come as part of his mother Lu’s dowry and was extremely reliable, earning the respect and trust of his parents.

Like a magician, Fang Jun pulled several sheets of rice paper from under the desk.

“Lu Cheng, quickly find a few skilled blacksmiths and a secluded place to produce this as soon as possible. Remember, before showing them this blueprint, sign a contract with them forbidding them from revealing any secrets of this within five years.”

Lu Cheng looked at Fang Jun oddly and said, “Er Lang, why search? Our Fang estate already has blacksmiths and even a smithy. Contracts aren’t necessary; all the blacksmiths are servants of the Fang family and have signed lifelong service agreements. They would never betray the masters’ interests.”

Fang Jun was speechless.

The Fang family even had a smithy?

Wasn’t it the case that feudal dynasties monopolized salt and iron?

What he didn’t know was that from the Sui to early Tang periods, the salt monopoly had been abolished, and salt was taxed like other goods. After the An Lushan Rebellion, the government’s finances were strained, and the salt monopoly was reinstated. From then on, salt was tightly controlled, but iron was taxed differently, no longer treated like salt.

So, in the early years of the Zhenguan era, the government did not monopolize salt and iron but collected market taxes.

Moreover, the Fang estate’s smithy just made farming tools—it wasn’t an iron foundry. No one cared enough to interfere.

Since it was their own workshop, secrecy was assured; the only concern was skill level.

Lu Cheng took the blueprint, his eyes wide as lanterns, staring at it for a long time, confused: “Er Lang, is this… a carriage?”

Fang Jun said, “Yes, a carriage, but one far ahead of its time, unique in all the world.”

At this, Lu Cheng’s expression changed. He carefully folded the blueprint and tucked it close to his chest, gently patting it before sighing in relief.

No wonder Lu Cheng was so nervous. Since ancient times, what matters most to craftsmen?

Their skills!

A craft passed down from ancestors could ensure generations of wealth and security, especially in this era just emerging from chaos and war. A unique skill could sustain a family through turmoil.

Many would rather die than reveal their craft’s secrets.

Fang Jun had no idea of this.

He designed this carriage because when he rode Du He’s carriage to the Drunken Immortal Tower, he felt every bone in his body shaken to bits. Mind you, this was within Chang’an city. If he took such a carriage for a spin outside the city, he might literally jostle his insides out.

Thinking of his own smithy, a bright idea struck Fang Jun. He thought of something indispensable to modern people.

Acting on impulse, Fang Jun picked up a brush and began sketching on the rice paper. After a few strokes, dissatisfied, he crumpled the paper into a ball and tossed it into a corner, then grabbed a fresh sheet to try again.

Lu Cheng watched the pile of discarded papers, feeling pained inside. These rice papers were tributes bestowed by the emperor himself. Even the master was reluctant to use them, usually writing on ordinary yellow paper. This Er Lang was truly wasteful…

A while later, Fang Jun completed the sketch.

Lu Cheng looked at it, resembling a stove or a pot, and still didn’t understand.

Fang Jun didn’t care if he understood or not. “Just tell the craftsmen to build it exactly as shown. Also, this must be made of copper.”

Lu Cheng was stunned. “All copper?”

Fang Jun nodded firmly. “Absolutely.”

Damn, hot pots weren’t made of copper but iron, right?

Copper was extremely scarce in the Tang Dynasty. Apart from casting coins, copper utensils were rare among commoners. This pot-like contraption Fang Jun designed would probably cost a whole string of copper coins to make.

Lu Cheng looked at the second young master’s matter-of-fact expression and thought, this guy truly was a prodigal…

A string of copper coins could buy a fat, healthy ox for plowing.

After sending Lu Cheng away, Fang Jun sat in his study, lost in thought.

Tea was secured, the four-wheeled carriage was ready, and the hot pot was arranged. What else was missing?

Toothpaste was probably impossible to make. It was a fully chemical product, far beyond Fang Jun’s agricultural knowledge. But he recalled reading somewhere that in South America, where toothpaste wasn’t available, people brushed their teeth with cinnamon mixed with honey, which whitened teeth and freshened breath. He wasn’t sure if it was true but wanted to try it someday.

Ah, yes, soap.

That was essential. Since crossing over, every bath had been with that round soap bean, which smelled good but was poor at cleaning. Even after rubbing for half an hour, the body still felt greasy.

Moreover, that stuff was outrageously expensive. According to the young maid Qiao’er, the soap beans used by the Fang family were the best formula: “Three taels each of clove, agarwood, green sandalwood, peach blossom, stalactite powder, pearl, jade dust, Sichuan water flower, and papaya flower; four taels each of milk flower, pear blossom, red lotus, plum blossom, cherry blossom, white hollyhock, and honeysuckle; one zhu of musk. Seventeen ingredients in total, crushed separately—first flowers, then spices—pearls and jade dust ground into powder, all mixed with soybean powder seven times over, ground a thousand times, and stored tightly without leakage…”

There was also a famous joke about soap beans: The Eastern Jin prime minister Wang Dao’s cousin Wang Dun, while using the toilet, had a maid hold a golden basin of water and a glass bowl of soap beans. By mistake, he poured the water into the soap beans and drank it, calling it “dry rice.” The maids all covered their mouths, laughing…

Damn, people could even eat this stuff.

But how was soap made?

If it were another science student, it would be solved in minutes, but Fang Jun, focused on agriculture, was increasingly worried.

This really proved the saying: master physics and chemistry, and no matter where you travel in time, you need not fear.

Could it be that he was about to undertake the world’s earliest chemical experiment in the Tang Dynasty?

But soap production had a byproduct called nitroglycerin, which was highly explosive.

What if he accidentally blew himself up?

Fang Jun was torn, the more he thought about it, the more terrifying it seemed…