Chapter 54 of 100

Chapter 54: Some Rejoice, Some Worry

14 min read3,549 words

Good news came in pairs, and the dam was bustling with people. At the same time, the distillery was also busy, with furnaces blazing and the sour smell of mash filling the air. Craftsmen were coming and going, busily working. A few assistants carefully carried the newly brewed wine into a separate courtyard, where the final process would turn it into highly valuable distilled liquor.

"Master Xi, why isn't the liquor flowing out yet?" Zheng Yu stared at the distillation pot on the fire. The wine had been heated for quite a while, but the "legendary" distilled liquor had yet to flow out.

"Don't be impatient. Use a low flame and slow distillation; that's how you make good liquor!" Master Xi seemed distracted, speaking absentmindedly.

"Oh, a low flame and slow distillation, I'll remember that!" Zheng Yu nodded and instructed the assistant to slow down the rate of adding firewood. "Master Xi, is the heat level okay?"

"Hmm, keep it like this, not too high and not too low!" Master Xi wiped the sweat from his face, trying to appear calm, but his heart was pounding.

Master Xi glanced out the door, wondering where the prince was. They had agreed that Master Xi would come first, and the prince would find a way to join later. Could the prince have been captured? If he fell into the hands of that "she-devil," he might face the family law again. Surely he wouldn't be that unlucky, right?

Thinking of this, Master Xi became even more anxious. About half a month ago, the palace suddenly sent a few people to the prince's residence, one of whom was the "she-devil" Yu Zhu. She was originally the chief of the Palace Discipline Office and had been sent by the imperial concubine to specifically discipline the prince.

The palace generally had six bureaus and twenty-four offices, managed by eunuchs and female officials. The Palace Discipline Office was independent, responsible for enforcing rules and punishments, and overseeing the palace's discipline and penalties. It had one chief, two deputies, four clerks, and four female historians. The deputy, though a subordinate, held significant power and had a sixth-rank official title.

Yu Zhu, in her thirties, was a veteran of the palace, known for her strict enforcement and cruel methods. The palace's young eunuchs and maids feared her like a tiger, even more than the chief eunuch Yang Jian. Yang Jian was high up and wouldn't watch them every day, but Yu Zhu was everywhere. If she caught you making a mistake, you'd be in serious trouble. Master Xi now trembled and his legs shook whenever he saw her.

Although she had only been at the residence for a short time, she had already dismantled the new system the prince had just established and restored the old palace rules. The prince was the focus of her reforms, with new rules set for his clothing, food, housing, and behavior. However, the prince was not one to follow orders easily and had already been punished several times with the "family law" granted by the imperial concubine.

"Prince, please come quickly, don't let me suffer alone!" Master Xi dared not think further and silently prayed. After the prince's movements were restricted, he had been appointed as an "expert" to guide the distillery. Now, seeing Zheng Yu follow his instructions obediently, he was sweating profusely. Today was not a regular day; it was the day of distillation. If anything went wrong, he wouldn't know how to handle it. His knowledge of distilled liquor came from a few "experiments" with the prince and a few "treasures" he had been forced to memorize at night. Other processes like selecting ingredients, making koji, fermenting, collecting the liquor, and distilling were things he had only recently seen.

Master Xi watched the door, hoping the prince would arrive soon. Zheng Yu stared at the distillation pot on the stove, knowing the secret of making distilled liquor lay inside it, but he couldn't figure it out, feeling very itchy inside. The large copper pot looked like a giant water bucket from the outside, but it was tightly wrapped in copper sheets, with only a few holes of different sizes left in the walls. One hole was for adding the brewed wine, and another for the distilled liquor to flow out. Master Xi hadn't told him what the other holes were for, and he couldn't see inside.

In fact, this distillation pot was a common item in modern times, just a bottom pot for holding liquid connected to a top pot with a cooling device, with a filter bottle in the middle to collect alcohol vapor. The vapor, cooled by water, condensed into a high-proof liquor. However, in the Song Dynasty a thousand years ago, after Zhao Cheng's modifications, it became a high-tech product.

"Master Xi, will this pot work? What's inside?" Zheng Yu tried to get some secrets from the "expert" and asked in a low voice.

"Shh, the prince said it must be kept secret for now, and we can't tell you yet!" Master Xi said mysteriously, secretly laughing. This was a secret only he and the prince knew. You're not qualified to know, and the prince and I have put a lot of effort into keeping it secret. You think you can get it out of me? Dream on!

"Master Xi, the pipe is dripping liquor, what should we do next!" An assistant who had been watching the pot suddenly shouted.

"I'm the expert, I'm the expert!" This was the critical moment. The amount and quality of the liquor would be determined now. It seemed the prince wouldn't be coming, so he had to take the lead. Master Xi silently recited the four-word maxim the prince had taught him, trying to boost his confidence. If he knew that the prince's knowledge of making liquor was not much better than his, and that the "treasures" he had memorized were just a compilation of alcohol-making instructions from Zhao Cheng's previous life, he might not be so nervous.

"Good, quickly add cold water to cool it down!" Master Xi quickly ordered the two assistants to slowly pour cold water into a hole at the top of the pot. "That's right, keep that pace, not too fast, not too slow, and keep adding water!" As the liquor started to flow from the pipe, Master Xi, who had experience with this, gave instructions.

As the liquor flowed, the aroma spread throughout the distillery, a unique scent never before experienced. "Old Manager, Master Xi, what do you think of this liquor?" Zheng Yu poured a little liquor into two cups and presented them to Zheng Quan and Master Xi, with everyone in the room watching them.

"Hmm, Sixth Young Master, it looks fine. The liquor is clear and transparent, with no impurities, unlike our usual brew which is a bit cloudy!" Zheng Quan observed the liquor in the sunlight and said, "This liquor has the taste of distilled liquor, spicy and strong, rich yet smooth, and even the belch is fragrant!" Zheng Quan took a sip and belched, excitedly saying.

After hearing the old wine connoisseur's evaluation, everyone turned their gaze to the distilled liquor expert. "Hmm, this liquor is quite good, it seems to be a success!" Master Xi swirled the liquor in the glass, noting the fine bubbles that formed, and gave a pretentious and profound commentary.

"Haha, we did it!" Zheng Yu laughed wildly, knowing his moment to shine was near. "Quickly, seal the liquor in jars and send a message back to the capital to inform the master that the distilled liquor has been made!" After laughing, Zheng Yu immediately instructed his two trusted subordinates.

After two jars of liquor were filled, the flow slowed down. "Quickly change the jars. The liquor that flows out later is of lower quality and should be stored separately, not mixed with the earlier batches!" Master Xi ordered. "Mr. Zheng, I won't be able to stay here long, so you need to pay attention to these things!"

"Yes, yes, I will definitely pay attention!" Zheng Yu hurriedly agreed. These experiences would be valuable assets for him in the future, and he wanted to remember them well. He now wished he could treat Master Xi like a god and keep him in the distillery to extract all his knowledge.

An hour later, the liquor stopped flowing. Master Xi quickly ordered the assistants to extinguish the fire and stop adding cold water. He then weighed the results: 100 pounds of original wine produced 15 pounds of good liquor and 5 pounds of lower-quality liquor, with a yield of about 20%, similar to the prince's experiments. He could now report back to the prince.

"Hmm, our distillery can now produce 500 pounds of original wine per day, which means we can produce 100 pounds of distilled liquor daily. The market price for good wine is about 300 coins per liter, and distilled liquor, which is in high demand, can sell for 10 guan per pound, which means we can earn 1,000 guan per day!" Zheng Yu did a rough calculation, which shocked him.

"If the weather warms up in a few days and the fermentation pools are all in use, one stone of raw materials can produce one stone of wine. Conservatively, we can produce 2,000 pounds of original wine daily, which means 400 pounds of distilled liquor, or 4,000 guan. If we produce for 300 days a year, the gross income would be 1.2 million guan, and the cost of raw materials, labor, firewood, and koji is negligible compared to the huge profit."

Time is money, Zheng Yu thought, and his fatigue immediately disappeared. "What are you still laughing about? Quickly load the materials and start the fire, no one is allowed to stop! We must distill all the liquor today!" He shouted at the assistants who were still laughing.

"You guys keep working, I need to go back and check on the prince. He has been suffering these past few days, and I can't let anything happen to him!" Master Xi, who had been busy and tired, yawned, but his admiration for the prince grew. The prince must have anticipated that he might not be able to come out, so he had him leave under the pretext of buying supplies. Otherwise, Zheng Yu would have been in a bind today.

"What happened to the prince? Who dares to bully him!" Zheng Yu was shocked. Who would dare to make his nephew suffer? Wasn't that like hitting a child in front of the adults, taking advantage of the fact that his maternal family had no one to stand up for them?

"Mr. Zheng, this is something you can't interfere with. The imperial concubine sent a deputy from the Palace Discipline Office to specifically take care of the prince's life and teach him the rules!" Master Xi said with a bitter smile, thinking that if it weren't for that demon, the prince would have come out to join the fun, and he wouldn't have to suffer here pretending to know what he didn't.

"Oh," Zheng Yu dared not speak further. The imperial concubine disciplining her own child, he, as an uncle, couldn't really intervene.

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