The Great Han Dynasty: From Feng Lang Juxu to the Eternal Emperor

Chapter 83 Brewing
Wei Qing naturally did not give Huo Qubing a portrait of Wei Pingjun.

He asked a painter to randomly draw a picture of a pretty girl. This girl was something Wei Qing had met when he was young and working as a slave in Princess Pingyang's mansion. At this time, Wei Qing had disappeared.

Let Huo Qubing look for it. If he couldn't find it, he gave up.

Huo Qubing was very excited. With the portrait, he was confident that he would be able to find Wei Pingjun soon.

Go find Wei Ning tomorrow morning and ask Wei Ning to go with you to find Third Yiniang.

……

Qianshui Village.

In the past few days, Weining has been constantly experimenting with the process of distilling high-alcohol wine.

Distilled wine was not officially invented until the Song Dynasty. In the Qin and Han Dynasties and even before the Tang Dynasty, ancient wine was fermented with grain.

The degree is probably between five and ten degrees.

Before the process of distillation and purification, the alcohol content of grain wine was not much higher.

In the fourth courtyard, the steamer has been turned on early in the morning.

Zhao Ce had bought all the raw materials for distillation last night.

Wei Ning ordered Zhao Ce to control the heat under the iron pot to a moderate level, and then pour the wine into the pot. Above the pot was an inverted bamboo funnel, and the tube below was connected to a small porcelain bottle.

Strong white steam emits from the steamer, slowly rises into the tube, and flows drop by drop into the porcelain basin after cooling.

Low-quality wine is not expensive, and only a small amount of the 30-plus barrels of wine has been used.

The harsh strong smell has risen to the sky, and the entire courtyard is filled with strong alcohol.

Zhao Ce and several family members, who were born in the year of dog and had particularly bright noses, had already walked in after smelling the scent.

They saw that the porcelain bottles under the four iron pots were almost full of wine. They looked at Wei Ning with greedy lips and said, "General, general, give me some?"

Zhao Ce was shocked. Wei Ning had told him that he wanted to make wine and sell wine, but Zhao Ce didn't take it seriously at all.

He even advised Weining not to have any wild ideas.

That's right, you're a general who kills people without batting an eyelid, why are you making wine?

If you want money, go find those wealthy gentry and officials to join in the conspiracy, won’t the money just come?

If the common people are suffering, don’t they have everything they need?

You refuse to do it and insist on making your own wine. Isn’t this nonsense?
But now after smelling the strong aroma of wine, Zhao Ce became suspicious.

Our general... is really a wizard on horseback!

He really knows how to make wine!
Wei Ning looked at Zhao Ce and others, shook his head and said: "This is not drinkable yet. It is mixed with wine, and the taste is not soft yet."

To put it bluntly, what Weining is collecting now is distiller's yeast, which is used to mix wine.

This kind of koji is too spicy for the throat, has a bad taste, and is extremely concentrated. It is not suitable for drinking. If you drink it, you will get into trouble.

Zhao Ce didn't understand these principles either, but Wei Ning said he wouldn't let them drink, so no matter how greedy he was, he didn't dare to drink.

After the koji was collected, Weining began to officially make wine on the third day.

The brewing process went smoothly, and in the evening of the third day, the first jar of high-strength wine was brewed.

Wei Ning took a scoop from the jar and placed it in a porcelain vase.

He called Zhao Ce to the main hall.

"General, are you looking for me?"

Wei Ning said: "Don't you want to drink? The wine is out. How do you like it?"

Weining can't taste good wine or bad wine.

This wine was to be sold in the market, and he couldn't brew it in vain.

Zhao Ce is a wine guru and a native of Guanzhong. He can test whether these drinks are in line with the market.

That's why Wei Ning asked Zhao Ce to try the wine.

Zhao Ce was very excited and said carelessly: "Okay! I've been craving this bite for a long time."

"Wait a minute." Wei Ning reminded Zhao Ce and said, "This wine is different from ordinary grain wine. I have increased the alcohol content. You can take a sip."

Zhao Ce laughed, not taking Wei Ning's words seriously.

Has the degree increased?How high can it go?
It was not like he had never drank strong liquor in Guanzhong. When he was on duty with Yu Lin in the palace, Huo Qubing took them to drink the strongest liquor.

One thing to say, one thing to say, that's it.

After Zhao Ce finished speaking, he raised his head like an old cow drinking water and drank a small bottle of wine.

He was in a daze, his body seemed to be frozen, and even his breathing had stagnated. Ruddy color quickly appeared on his dark face, getting redder and redder.

Then there was the sound of heavy breathing, and the smell of alcohol on his breath could be smelled in the air.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhao Ce's tongue began to get knotted and he laughed: "Good wine! So strong...sister..."

His tongue can no longer speak normally.

The whole person stood there and giggled, not knowing why.

Wei Ning was frightened and hurriedly said: "Here comes someone!"

Several Yu Lin came over and saw Zhao Ce, who was laughing like a fool, and said harshly: "It's not enough, I still have to drink...burp!"

"Those who ride horses, this is what men drink!"

"All I drank was urine...I drank urine...oooooooooo."

He cried, a little delirious.

"Master Zhao, don't be embarrassed!"

Several family generals patted his cheeks.

Wei Ning covered his forehead and looked speechless. He had told you not to drink so much.

He waved his hand and said to the general: "Take him out and wake him up."

"Let him find me when he wakes up."

"Here!"

After the others left, Wei Ning was still worried. Is this wine too strong?
Weining is not a philanthropist, this drink is going to be sold in the market.

He didn't dare to brew too much, just to control the alcohol content at any time.

Once the wine is so strong that the powerful people in Guanzhong cannot accept it, then the wine he brews will be meaningless.

Zhao Ce just drank a bottle of wine and fell down. Can these dignitaries in Guanzhong accept this kind of drink?
Wei Ning was thinking. It was not until evening that Zhao Ce sobered up and found Wei Ning shyly, blushing like a big girl.

"what happened to you?"

Wei Ning looked at Zhao Ce suspiciously.

Zhao Ce said: "I...I have made a fool of myself."

Looking back on that ugly drunken look, I could dig a hole in the ground with my toes from embarrassment.

Wei Ning smiled and didn't care so much. He asked Zhao Ce, "I originally planned to develop the wine and sell it in the market."

"Do you think the temperature should be lowered?"

Zhao Cehu shouted with a face: "No!"

"Why lower the temperature? This is just the right amount for me to drink! It feels great!"

Wei Ning rolled her eyes at him: "You get drunk as soon as you drink. What's so exciting about that?"

Zhao Ce said: "It feels good anyway. I still want to drink it now, even when I'm drunk."

"General, listen to me, I dare to pat my chest and promise that as long as your drink is brought to the market, those people may go crazy!"

"There has never been such good wine in Chang'an! Compared with ours, the ones in the market are just horse urine!"

I don't know if he was bragging, and Wei Ning couldn't guarantee it, so he said: "I won't brew so much for now. You can find an opportunity to sell it in Lantian County and see the market reaction before talking."

(End of this chapter)