Great Tang princess

Chapter 817 Beer
In the warehouse of the Princess Mansion, Li Yuechen checked the stored barley, then turned and left.

Xiaodong who was behind him was curious. Since Tubo Province sent the barley some time ago, Li Yuechen came to see it almost every day.

After so many days, Xiaodong who couldn't bear it finally asked, "Your Highness, why do you come to see this barley every day?"

"This thing will be of great use immediately, and the economy of Tubo will also develop rapidly in the future." Li Yuechen said with a smile.

After listening to her, Xiaodong became even more curious.

After all, Tubo is not a major grain-producing province. How can this kind of thing be used to improve the economy?
Li Yuechen didn't explain it in too much detail, because whether it will be successful or not, we still have to wait for the results from Zhenzhou.

When Liu Zihe came back some time ago, he finally brought back the cash crop that Li Yuechen had been thinking about - hops.

This thing is a plant of the Cannabis family, and there are still quite a few inland America in this era.

Highland barley is barley, the raw material used to make craft beer.

In this era, the climate on the plateau is warm and can be planted on a large scale.

Li Yuechen's plan is to use barley to make craft beer and improve the economic level of Tubo.

Then use this money to invest in construction and do a good job in various infrastructures.

In this way, after many years, when the infrastructure is completed, even if you no longer rely on selling highland barley to make money, the country will be almost developed at that time, and you can start tourism.

During this period of time, the beer in the mainland was still mainly made of wheat, making ordinary beer that could be stored for a long time, and then trying to sell it abroad.

Of course, if it takes a long time, it must not be compared with white wine.

In Li Yuechen's opinion, this beer doesn't need to last too long, as long as it has a shelf life of about eight months, it is enough to be shipped to many surrounding countries.

At that time, there will be a steady stream of wealth gathered to improve the country's overall economic level.

To some extent, this kind of product can even be regarded as hard currency.

Thanks to the development of the land of the two lakes, more food has been grown, and there is enough production for wine making without worrying that the people will not be able to afford food.

It can be said that with hops, the future looks bright.

But Li Yuechen's waiting didn't take too long, on the ninth day of November, in the afternoon.

An airship appeared from the sky and slowly landed on the square outside the Xuanwu Gate.

Half an hour later, the two carriages arrived at the gate of the Princess Mansion.

After receiving the goods, Li Yuechen sent them directly to Taiping Distillery without saying a word, and asked the brewers inside to start experiments.

She doesn't know the brewing process of beer herself, so she can only let these brewers experiment slowly.

But thinking about it, it's not bad. With their craftsmanship, they might be able to drink beer years ago.

There are still about fifty days before Chinese New Year, so there should be enough time.

……

Naturally, the commotion at the princess mansion could not be hidden from the emperor, and Li Yuechen was called into the palace the next day.

Inside Jixian Hall, Li Xian was lying on a rocking chair with a health ball in his hand and asked, "What are you going to do?"

"It's not a plaything, it's just a drink." Li Yuechen smiled, "Speaking of which, brother is not a good drinker, is he?"

"Your fairy is too drunk, I can't drink it for my brother." Li Xian shook his head, "It's better to drink wine."

"Well, then when the new wine is made, bring it to brother to taste."

When Li Xian heard this, he immediately raised his eyebrows: "You want to make wine? It can't be stronger than that fairy's drunk, right?"

"It's not the same, maybe it's smaller than wine, brother will understand then." Li Yuechen made a fool of himself.

"Okay, when it's done, remember to send it to Brother Wei to have a taste." After speaking, Li Xian picked up his glasses and put them on, ready to continue reading the memorial.

But these glasses... are actually the one-piece glasses that my father wore back then.

Li Yuechen was a little curious: "Don't they all have double lenses at this time? Why are you still wearing this?"

"My brother can see clearly with his left eye." Li Xian picked up the memorial and replied.

Hearing such an answer, Li Yuechen observed carefully.

Now Li Xian is wearing a bright yellow round neck robe, a jade hairpin on his head, and a monocle on his face...

This is a combination of Chinese and Western aesthetics... Li Yuechen secretly complained in his heart.

"By the way, the tax revenue of the Ministry of Households this year has been calculated, and it is more than seven times higher than when A Niang was in office." Li Xian said while handing over a memorial.

Speaking of this, he couldn't help but smile on his face: "It seems that in the future I won't have to live as hard as I was when I was young."

"Compared to the people of the whole country, if we are all suffering, they should call it hell." Li Yuechen complained in a low voice, and took a look.

The reason why such a high tax can be achieved is that the full implementation of dividing the income into the mu has worked.

According to the survey results, there are still many landlords who prefer not to lower the rent this year.

The tax is also paid out of my own pocket, and it seems that it is going to take a while.

If there are people in these places, the tax should be higher.

But these are trivial matters, the imperial court doesn't care whether there are people in your land, anyway, as long as the taxes are paid in full.

If you think your energy consumption is too high for the court, then continue to consume it.

"After that, let the Ministry of Finance make a data report and show it to the cabinet. In this way, if there are any objections in the future, let them handle it by themselves." Li Yuechen smiled and put down the memorial in his hand.

Li Xian nodded: "Alright, it's easier to leave most things to the cabinet than to solve them myself."

"Many people are powerful!" Li Yuechen sat down with a smile, and poured some water for himself.

"However... now that you open a school, more and more people can read and write. I'm afraid that the people will have a bad relationship with the royal family in the future..." At this point, Li Xian frowned.

Although he was said by his mother to be unlearned and incompetent since he was a child, in the final analysis, he was born in the royal family.

In many things, I can see more thoroughly than ordinary people.

"I just want to talk about this too." Li Yuechen nodded. "Now that the tax is high, the next step is to count the population. Regardless of their status, they must all be filed for naturalization. Then slavery will be abolished."

Li Xian frowned all of a sudden: "No, slavery is abolished, and all people are equal. How do you treat the royal family then?"

His worry is not unreasonable. After all, everyone in the whole country is equal, so why can your Li family be superior?

However, Li Yuechen obviously had a solution. She picked up her teacup and said slowly: "The royal family is born superior, no problem, but there is a price!"

She took a sip of her tea, and then said: "The royal family is born with a military status, which cannot be changed for a lifetime. This must be written into the law from the next generation of emperors onwards!"

"The royal family, since they have enjoyed the extraordinaryness they were born with, they must take corresponding responsibilities! In wartime, they must be the first to charge and the last to retreat! This rule cannot be changed by the future royal family!"

After hearing this, Li Xian surprisingly did not refute.

I grew up with this sister since I was a child, and I have seen a lot of novel things, and I have also been influenced by her a lot.

He agrees with what she said.

Although, as a father, he didn't want his son to go to the battlefield, he also knew that if he didn't do so, with the development of the country in the future, there would definitely be no room for the royal family.

As the vested interests in the feudal society, neither Li Xian nor Li Yuechen could let the Li family surrender the world.

If you can figure this out, you will naturally agree with her words.

It's just that new questions will inevitably arise: "But what if you are born poor and weak, or people who are not suitable for serving in the army?"

"That's also military status, but it's just that you don't have to go to the battlefield until the moment of life and death."

Li Yuechen replied: "After I die in a hundred years, all the shops under my name will be managed by the royal family. If there are good managers, they can go into business. If there are good craftsmen, they can be craftsmen...Of course, if it comes to life and death, soon In the face of the crisis of national subjugation, as long as you are a royal family, you must take up arms and rush to the battlefield!"

"This! It is the responsibility of being born in the royal family, and it is also an inevitable curse!" Li Yuechen put down his teacup and said slowly.

……

Time passed quickly, and it was December in a blink of an eye.

Although it has been winter for a while, until December 28, there was no snow.

In the courtyard of the Princess Mansion, Li Yuechen stood on the lawn with his hands behind his back, looking up at the sky with a complicated expression.

Although a warm climate is indeed a good thing for the development of the country, it is indeed a lot less fun if there is no snow this winter.

There are large expanses of clouds floating in the sky, and those are all snow clouds, but it just doesn't snow.

In the final analysis, it is because the current temperature is not low enough. According to the body surface perception and the ice layer on the edge of the pond, the current temperature should be around zero degrees.

Unfortunately, this time is not an ice age. The earth's climate is relatively warm, so it is not easy to snow.

In recent years, the amount of snowfall in Dongdu has indeed been relatively low, with an average of one or two snowfalls a year.

Chang'an is similar, even the whole winter of the year before last did not snow at all.

At this moment, Shangguan Wan'er and Princess Xuancheng came out, both holding a cup of hot tea.

Xiaodong, who was following behind, held a tray and handed a cup of hot tea to Li Yuechen.

Princess Xuancheng asked, "Why is Chen'er staring at the sky?"

"I was just wondering if I should make it snow..." Li Yuechen replied muttering to himself.

"Can Chen'er even do such things?" Princess Xuancheng's eyes widened.

Shangguan Wan'er on the side also looked curious.

Although many people have said since ancient times that they can ask for rain and snow, most of them are not convincing.

But if these words were said by Li Yuechen, then no matter how unimaginable they are, the feasibility must be considered.

"Yes, yes...but the cost is too high, and it hurts so much, it doesn't feel worth it." Li Yuechen nodded slightly.

The principle of artificial rainfall or snowfall is found in the textbooks of the sixth grade of elementary school, which is very simple.

Although there is no dry ice in this era, the Academy of Engineering has researched silver nitrate.

With this thing, silver iodide can be produced.

Silver iodide can also be used for artificial snowfall, just use an airship to the sky and sprinkle powder into the clouds.

"This...if it's expensive, it's better to ask the sage for the money..." Princess Xuancheng suggested next to her.

Li Yuechen shook his head slightly: "It's not just this problem...the key is that it may cause disasters in the city."

"Huh? What does that mean?"

"In addition to the high cost of materials, the key to artificial snowfall is that the airship needs to reach an altitude of 5000 meters. Today's airships fly by hydrogen, with a height of more than 500 meters, and the probability of explosion is very high."

"In case of an explosion, even if the people in the airship survived by parachuting. But if the wreckage hits the city, it will cause a lot of casualties..."

Speaking of this, Li Yuechen shook his head: "Forget it, artificial snowfall in this era is too risky!"

Princess Xuancheng sighed with a regretful expression on her face. She thought she could see the magic of science again.

At this time, Shangguan Wan'er said: "Isn't Your Highness researching that plane? If the research on this object is successful, there will be no problem, right?"

"Well...it's hard to say." Li Yuechen replied uncertainly.

After all, whether the Wright-type aircraft can fly to 5000 meters is really hard to say without experiments.

"But you can try it when the time comes." Li Yuechen smiled, "And when the aircraft research is successful, sell the airship technology to other countries. It's not expensive to charge him one billion?"

One billion banknotes, converted to 1000 million guan, will definitely bring huge wealth to the country.

Although the price is a bit expensive, they will definitely buy it even if they sell the iron.

After all, who in the surrounding countries is not envious of Datang's technology?Various products such as kerosene lamps and lighters are exported to the world, and how much wealth has they brought?

The problem is that they can't make such a seemingly inconspicuous gadget!
These little things are jealous, not to mention the airship, which is what the surrounding countries dream of.

At that time, many envoys knelt in front of Wu Zetian and kept kowtow, expressing that they failed to pay a large price for one.

And Li Yuechen's plan is to sell the airship to other countries after the successful research of the aircraft.

At the same time, all domestic military forces have been replaced by aircraft. As for airships, they can be officially used as cargo or passenger transportation.

Thinking of this, Li Yuechen couldn't help but nodded slightly, feeling that his idea was simply too powerful.

Seeing her smile, Shangguan Wan'er and Princess Xuancheng looked at each other, and they both saw doubts in each other's eyes, and they didn't know what she was thinking.

At this time, a guard came trotting all the way: "Your Highness, the clerk of Taiping Winery asked for an interview and said that he brought a test product for His Highness to have a look at."

"Well, bring it in!" Li Yuechen agreed.

The guard agreed, and walked in with one person in a short while, and at the same time there were two people behind, carrying a wooden barrel.

After placing it on the table in the main hall, Xiaodong has already found the glass: "Your Highness, please wait a moment, servant girl will try it first!"

"En!" Li Yuechen agreed.

Then Xiaodong squatted down and unscrewed the valve under the barrel.

A stream of dark brown liquid flowed out of the valve, pouring into the glass with fine and dense white foam.

At the same time, the faint scent of wheat filled the air in an instant, making everyone present sniff their noses.

Xiaodong sniffed it lightly, then directly took a big gulp.

(End of this chapter)