Chapter 105： Milk tea

After arriving in Königsberg, Marin was really warmly received by Philip, head of the Teutonic Knights. After Marin made a request to borrow a horse, Philip didn't say a word, directly selected a war horse and two interchangeable pack horses for each person.

Teutonic Knights, but the world of knights. Here, horses are naturally not a problem. If it were not difficult to control one horse and four horses, Marin and others would have no problem borrowing four horses.

In the case of one person and three horses, the speed of rushing was soared to the extreme. The capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania is only about 350 kilometers away from Konigsberg. In the case of one person and three horses, Marin and his party arrived in just over two days. If there is only one horse, it is estimated to take 5 days. Because, if you ride a horse alone, you have to rest for about 15 minutes for an hour. Otherwise, if you keep riding, the horse will be exhausted or fall.

In the case of three horses riding, the condition of the horses is much better. For horses, manned running and no-load running are two concepts. Manned running, you have to take a break after an hour. While running without load, you can run for a long time without getting tired. Because the horse itself is an animal that is good at running.

After arriving in Vilnius, Marin and his party received a warm reception from the Lithuanian side. Fortunately, the Grand Duke Alexander of Lithuania happened to be in Vilnius, not Poland. Because, after the death of Alexander I, the brother of Alexander I in 1501, the Grand Duke Alexander of Lithuania began to serve as both the Grand Duke of Lithuania and the King of Poland. Therefore, Alexander is sometimes in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and sometimes in Poland. But in general, Alexander is more used to staying in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Marin revealed his identity when he asked for Duke Alexander. So, he was quickly received by Alexander the Great. After all, it is a big deal for an earl to personally envoy. If it is an ordinary envoy, it depends on the mood of the ruler and decides whether to meet immediately. It may even arrange for a diplomat to receive it and simply dismiss it.

And a count of an unborn country came to visit, then, as the master of the same country, although the identity is higher, it is also necessary to come to receive in person, otherwise it is rude.

Alexander is in his early 40s, without a big beard, but looks handsome and elegant. However, from his body, Marin did not see the domineering that a monarch should have. Obviously, this person is too elegant ...

"Welcome, Earl Marin, let's toast to this meeting!" Duke Alexander raised his glass elegantly and gestured to Marin on the guest seat. Then, the barbecue and dishes of spices that scared Marin were served.

Apparently, Duke Alexander is also planning to entertain Marin with the barbecued meat that dreaded Marin's pepper ...

Looking at a large plate of pepper, clove powder, cinnamon powder ... Marin's nose started to itch, and she wanted to sneeze ...

However, so many spices can be served, which represents the enthusiasm of the owner, don't eat or give face. Therefore, Marin can only squeeze his nose and eat roasted meat dipped in spices. Because he doesn't like pepper and cloves, Marin only dipped **** powder as a condiment. Feeling the spicy taste, Marin wanted to scold his mother, but she had to squeeze a smile on her face to show that she was very satisfied with the host's hospitality ...

After dinner, Marin only felt dry and itchy in his throat. It is a pity that there is no tea in the European court, only wine ... using wine to throat, obviously is not a good choice.

However, Marin's voice is really uncomfortable. So, Marin decided to discuss with Alexander a few bottles of red wine to throat ...

But before Marin spoke, Duke Alexander said to Marin mysteriously:

"Count Marin, I have a magic drink in my hand, would you like to try it?"

Seeing the mysterious appearance of Duke Alexander, Marin suddenly remembered the salesman who shook-head-maru in the ballroom of the previous life, and this is also mysterious expression ...

"Isn't this product trying to sell me something toxic?" Marin thought in horror. So, he began a ideological struggle in his mind-should I try a little bit of face, or refuse?

While Marin was engaged in ideological struggle, Alexander VI had brought out a dark brick ...

"Tea brick?" Marin couldn't help but screamed after seeing it.

"How do you know?" Duke Alexander was a little weird. The tea bricks in his hands were still exchanged for high prices with the nomads on the eastern grasslands. It is said that this kind of goods called tea came from the distant Eastern Empire.

Marin rolled his eyes. Of course he knew this thing. Do Chinese people know tea? However, looking at the black tea brick in the hands of Duke Alexander, Marin can be sure that this black tea brick is definitely inferior tea ...

Moreover, Marin also found out that this kind of tea bricks did not seem to be fried, but was steamed, pressed and formed, and then dried and turned into inferior tea. Although Daming in this period has begun to popularize fried tea, the tea sold to the prairie barbarian obviously does not need to be so fine, as long as it is steamed, pressed into bricks, and then dried, it will be fine ...

In ancient times, this kind of tea brick was specially used to send people in the north and grasslands for "tea-horse exchange". Marin has read relevant history and knows that on the northern border of China, it is probably a good horse for 200 pounds of brick tea. A tea brick weighs about 4 pounds. In other words, a Mongolian horse can be changed to 50 "big bricks" ...

But Alexander proudly told Marin-this kind of black brick, one needs a good horse ...

Obviously, only 50 tea bricks in the "tea-horse exchange market" changed one horse. When he came to Alexander the Great, he replaced one tea brick with another horse. The price of tea bricks has soared 50 times ...

Of course, this is not surprising. After all, the border between Daming North and Mongolia is far from Lithuania. There were no car trains in this era, and the tea bricks were transported to Lithuania, only camels and horses. Therefore, the price is increased by 50 times, although it is a bit dark, but it is not too ridiculous.

Then, under the attention of Marin, Duke Alexander took a small piece of tea from the tea brick very carefully, and found a small stove to start cooking tea ...

But what made Marin collapse was that Duke Alexander even put spices into the tea pot ...

So he stood up resolutely, learning the tone of Star Master:

"Duke, the tea is not so drip ..."

Then, Malin was the main anti-guest and asked the attendants to change a small copper pot and put it in water. Then, Marin instructed the attendants to get some milk and sugar and prepare to cook a British milk tea ...

Under the distressed eyes of Duke Alexander, Marin broke a big piece from the black tea brick and threw it into the copper pot ...

Originally, Marin intended to make tea directly. But ~ www.novelhall.com ~ This kind of tea brick of the ancient Chinese people who fooled the grassland fool has not been fried at all, and it does not taste good. Therefore, the most correct way is to make tea.

And the most acceptable method for boiling tea is sweet milk tea with sugar and milk. Afterwards, milk tea is a famous drink that is popular all over the world ...

Half an hour later, the rich aroma of milk tea was scattered in the Lithuanian royal palace ...

After tasting the milk tea cooked by Marin, Duke Alexander greatly appreciated:

"The taste is awesome! Count Marin, how do you know how to drink tea?"

"In my court, there was a royal doctor who fled after the king of the Golden Horde, and they told me ..." Marin directly carried the shield.

"It turns out so ..." Duke Alexander apparently knew that the ancestors of the Golden Horde came from the history of the East. It is entirely reasonable to say that the people of the Golden Horde know how to make this kind of drink better.

The hot milk tea made Alexander the Great favorite. Later, the Duke announced that from then on, milk tea will become the top drink in the Lithuanian Royal Palace. In addition, he will arrange a special person in charge to purchase such tea bricks from the merchants who come from the eastern grassland ...

Seeing that Duke Alexander was dancing with joy, Marin was tasting milk tea, and he was also thinking about-should he open the Daming route earlier and get a tea trade? You know, he has been fed up with the environment where Europe can only drink beer and boiled water as beverages at this time ...

Europeans and prairie people eat more meat, and tea is easily accepted by them. The British sweet milk tea, which later became popular in England, also spread throughout continental Europe. In this era when coffee is not yet popular in Europe. As long as we make sweet milk tea that suits European tastes, it is easy to dominate the European beverage industry ...