Chapter 013 Rotten from top to bottom
The laborers replied that he was well fed and had gained weight.
A man named Miao Gui even raised his arms to show off his strong muscles. Haha, Zhao Yulin deeply felt that they regarded him as a friend, not an outsider.
When he returned to the office, Lei Man told him that the private silver hidden by Captain Niu in the water stronghold had been seized, and it was more than 50,000 taels of silver.
He sighed and said that the court was corrupt and rotten from top to bottom, especially those like Zhang Bapi who had strong backing and power and clung to each other and unscrupulously plundered the people's wealth. How could the common people not suffer?
Although Zhao Yulin had a general understanding of the Southern Song Dynasty from history, it was limited to books after all. To truly understand this society, he still needed to observe and learn.
After a short rest, he said that past experience is a lesson for the future, and we should learn from it when we do things. In the future, we should slowly establish various rules and regulations, manage people with the system and strictly enforce them, and then things will be easy.
Lei Man smiled and said that with the money they had now, they could both be rich. He said, what's the point of having money? If you have money but no means to protect yourself, you will still not be able to eat well or sleep well. We still need a talisman to protect our lives.
Lei Man said it would be difficult to get the amulet, but he had already seen hope at the dock.
Zhao Yulin nodded and told Lei Man confidently that "a single spark can start a prairie fire" and good days will surely come.
The next day, Shopkeeper Chen arranged a carriage to pick him up early. Zhao Yulin handed the box to the coachman, got in the carriage and lifted the curtain, but was stunned.
There was actually a young girl in a floral dress sitting in the carriage. Seeing that he was stunned, the girl smiled and said that her name was Chen Xiaomin and that her father had asked her to serve the third young master.
Zhao Yulin went in and sat down, saying that he was a living person with hands and feet and there was no need for it.
The girl frowned and started crying.
The thing Zhao Yulin feared most in his life was hearing girls cry. Whenever they cried, he would panic and not know how to deal with it.
He hurriedly asked what was wrong and why he was crying.
The girl said that he looked down upon her and that she could only be a maid.
Zhao Yulin was confused. What's the difference between a maid and not a maid? He said he would talk about it after seeing her father. He could take care of himself and didn't need anyone to wait on him.
The little girl covered her face with her hands and cried even harder.
At this time, the carriage shook violently, and Chen Xiaomin was about to fall down. Zhao Yulin was quick to grab her and pulled her to sit beside him.
Now, the little girl leaned on him and stopped crying obediently. Zhao Yulin patted her shoulder as if she was his own little sister and told her to be obedient and sit still and continue on their journey.
The carriage left the west gate and ran very fast, and it kept going. Zhao Yulin looked out the window and found that there was an oxcart following closely behind, and Chen Zhongshun had already met .
He asked Chen Xiaomin, is there only one horse in her family?
The little girl said that horses were very expensive and her father was reluctant to buy one.
Zhao Yulin understood that Manager Chen was really generous and gave him the only carriage to ride in and even let his daughter accompany him, which showed his good intentions.
He asked Chen Xiaomin who were her family members. The girl said her mother died early and she was the only daughter of her father.
Zhao Yulin was a little confused. Didn't people in ancient times marry three wives and four concubines? What happened to Chen Zhongshun? Why was he taking care of such a big family business with a child?
Is there something wrong with him?
He couldn't help laughing at the thought.
Seeing Zhao Yulin laughing for no reason, Chen Xiaomin asked him what he was laughing at?
How could Zhao Yulin say anything? He even said it was nothing. She turned sideways and used her delicate hands to scratch his waist. This was Zhao Yulin's weak spot. They were so close to each other, he couldn't run away at all.
Zhao Yulin was extremely itchy and made all kinds of funny faces, but the little girl was very happy. She became more and more excited as she tickled him, and laughed non-stop. He hugged the girl's waist and pulled her into his arms, saying that he was most afraid of being tickled. Was she happy now?
The little girl said happily that she had found a way to deal with him. It was really fun. If anyone dared to bully her in the future, she would keep scratching him.
Zhao Yulin smiled and said that the future was still a long way off, and he would stay away from her after these few days.
The girl refused to do it and started crying again, covering her face.
Zhao Yulin held her in his arms and said, "Don't cry, don't cry." This frightened him, and the little girl stopped crying and leaned in his arms like a lazy cat, pretending to sleep.
About half an hour later, the carriage stopped. The little girl got up, opened the curtain and looked out, excitedly telling him that they had arrived, their hometown Chiyanzi.
Zhao Yulin got off the carriage, picked up the girl and gently put her on the ground to greet Shopkeeper Chen. The girl happily ran over and said to her father, "Daddy, I slept with the Third Young Master. The Third Young Master is my man now."
Zhao Yulin was stunned, and saw Chen Zhongshun turned his head away quickly in embarrassment. He looked at Chen Xiaomin strangely, and the girl pulled him forward, wanting to take him to see her old house.
The two men climbed over a high hill, walked down dozens of steps, and saw a small courtyard of a quadrangle near the river.
Shopkeeper Chen said that this was his hometown. Apart from the three of them, there were also the two masters Qu Zhengyang and Qu Zhengxiang who came here with them today, and Aunt Wu who was guarding the yard. They were all trustworthy.
Zhao Yulin followed Chen the shopkeeper into the courtyard. There were many flowers and plants in the courtyard, and the small courtyard was tidy. They came to the backyard and saw rows of neatly arranged wine jars in the house. Chen the shopkeeper said that these were all last year's wines, which weighed several thousand kilograms, but they were not selling well.
Zhao Yulin looked at the lees, took a bowl of wine and tasted it, saying that this was called mixed grain wine, which was already very good. But with Litchi Green in Yibin City, his wine would definitely not sell well.
Shopkeeper Chen said that he had handed his daughter over to Zhao Yulin, and they were now a family, so it was up to his future son-in-law to decide what to do.
Zhao Yulin looked at Chen Zhongshun in surprise. “My God, what does this mean?”
He didn't understand, but Chen Zhongshun walked away quickly.
Master Qu Zhengxiang who was following behind him said that the master of the family intended to marry the young lady to the third young master, and the wife and concubines would be chosen by the young master. Is that not possible?
Xiaomin is the only child in the Chen family. Wasn’t the young master very happy with Xiaomin just now?
Zhao Yulin finally understood.
He was about to speak when Chen Xiaomin came over happily and called for dinner.
As Master Qu walked, he said that he only had Xiaomin as his apprentice, and that the young master must treat her well. The master of the family said that he would not be wrong and believed that the third young master would become a good man in the future.
Damn, why did you talk about such a faraway place?
Zhao Yulin entered the living room and found only three sets of bowls and chopsticks on the table. He said that the chef and Aunt Wu should come to eat together. He didn't like the idea of having to separate the few people at home.
Xiaomin glanced at his father and went to call him happily.
Zhao Yulin told Chen Zhongshun that marriage is a serious matter and should not be treated lightly. He had not expected Uncle Chen to be so loving. If Xiaomin was interested , Uncle Chen could take charge of the marriage in a few years.
Zhao Yulin had come to the Southern Song Dynasty and had not met many people, let alone women. Today, he felt that Chen Xiaomin was smart, lively and cute, which suited his taste. However, when he thought about the Mongolian invasion in a few years, he would have to train troops to fight against the Mongolians. Things were unpredictable, so his expression became gloomy.
Chen Zhongshun was very happy and asked everyone to sit down and eat together. Zhao Yulin looked at Xiaomin's innocent smile and wondered if he was overthinking.
After dinner, Zhao Yulin took out his box, found out the recipe of the famous Yibin liquor in later generations and asked Chen Zhongshun to prepare the ingredients. He carried the box and walked towards the distillery in the backyard , followed closely by Chen Xiaomin.
Two people entered the distillery and started working.
There were three pots in the distillery. Zhao Yulin dismantled the middle pot and modified it according to the Tianguo wine-making method of later generations. He used bamboo tubes with bamboo joints pierced through to connect the lids of the two pots together. One pot was used to distill the liquor, and the other was used to cool and collect the liquor.
After working hard for a long time, it was finally done with the help of Xiaomin's master Qu Zhengxiang. He and Master Qu moved last year's aged wine into the pot, lit the fire and took out the wine.
The next thing was simple, he just had to watch over the stove. Xiaomin prepared tea under the yellow poplar tree outside the house and asked him and Master Qu to go outside to drink tea.
At this time, Chen Zhongshun and Qu Zhengyang came over after mixing the ingredients. They saw the strange appearance of the distillery and looked at Zhao Yulin in confusion.
Zhao Yulin explained that this is called the Tianguo winemaking method, which uses the principle of alcohol evaporating into steam at high temperature and condensing into liquid at low temperature to obtain high-concentration liquor. It is at least a hundred years ahead of previous wine-making methods. Just by taking out the wine in this way, it can easily beat the watery and smelly fruit wine like Litchi Green.
Zhao Yulin explained proudly, and when he commented on Litchi Green, Chen Zhongshun thought that his own wine was even worse, and his face looked unnatural.
Upon seeing this, Zhao Yulin immediately said that people have different tastes and each fine wine has its own merits. As long as something is made with care, there will always be a market for it.
While they were chatting, a hint of wine aroma wafted over. When Zhao Yulin said that the wine was ready, several people immediately gathered around. Qu Zhengyang took a bowl and let it cool. Everyone could already smell the penetrating sweet and strong aroma of the new wine.
Qu Zhengxiang couldn't wait to take a sip and immediately shouted "Ah!", "What a great wine!" Chen Zhongshun immediately snatched the bowl, closed his eyes and took a sip. After a pause of five seconds, he shouted, "Good, very good." A smile as high as a mountain appeared on his face.
Zhao Yulin said that this was still a primary type of liquor, and that he could only make 30 to 40 kilograms of liquor from 100 kilograms, and that was just a small amount of money if he sold it for 10 taels of silver per kilogram. If I changed to my new formula, the cost of brewing liquor would be much lower, and in the future, the cost would be further reduced if I rebuilt the Tianguo Brewery.
Qu Zhengyang said that this wine is unique in the world and will definitely sell well.
Qu Zhengxiang said that this wine has a rich aroma and a sweet and refreshing taste, and the price will definitely not be low, which means it requires investment.
Zhao Yulin asked Chen Zhongshun how much he planned to sell it for per kilogram?
Chen Zhongshun did some calculations and said that it would have to be sold for at least 800 coins to make a profit.
Zhao Yulin said he would sell it for eight hundred coins?
This is a unique liquor in the world, and you only sell it for 800 coins? You sell it for 5 taels of silver per catty, and you only accept cash. The goods are in short supply.
Then, Zhao Yulin took out two pieces of paper from his box and handed them to Chen Zhongshun, telling him to make a wine pot according to the above method and sell wine. Zhao Yulin said that this year's grain has not been harvested yet, and the existing water wine can only make a little white wine, and it is not possible to sell it at any price.
Chen Zhongshun understood as soon as he heard it, and opened his mouth in surprise, not knowing what to say.
