The lees of the official liquor business have always been used to make vinegar, and no one competes for it. Deng Jiejie took his subordinates to pull two hundred catties, and together with Du Zhongxiao and Han Lian, they went to Du Zhongxiao's house. In front of the house, the east has already revealed a touch of fish belly white.

Su Shunqin had already arrived, and was gossiping with Du Xun in front of the door.

Everything in Linying County must start from proving that the Du family has no private brewing. As long as there is no problem with this, everything else should be solved. Su Shunqin saw this very clearly, because after arriving in the county seat, he didn't ask about the case, and first came to see the Du family wine.

Du Zhongxiao and Han Lian stepped forward to greet each other, and Su Shunqin said, "Seeing is believing." Du Xiucai said that the family did not make wine privately, but filtered the residual wine from the lees. Today, so many people are witnesses, and you go in and strain the wine lees from the official wine service. If the wine is really filtered, others will have nothing to say. After clearing your suspicion of private brewing, you can sell wine as before in the future. ”

Du Zhongxiao arched his hand and said, "Thank you for the judgment." My family has always strained wine from sake lees, and there's nothing wrong with that. It's just that the strainer is slower, and I'm afraid that it will take a few hours, and the officials will have to wait for a long time. ”

Su Shunqin said: "It's okay, there is nothing to do today, I will watch you make wine here." ”

After the order, Du Zhongxiao and Han Lian went into the shed to make wine, and Du Xun accompanied Su Shunqin to talk outside.

After the wine lees were moved into the shed, seeing that Du Zhongxiao was tightly sealed inside, Su Shunqin asked, "Du Xiucai, can't you let outsiders see the wine?" ”

Du Xun arched his hand and said: "Back to the official, the students went to the capital to catch the exam, and they were all done in order to make up the family business." All pointed to this method of straining wine to earn some money to feed the family. Therefore, no outsiders are allowed to watch the sake when it is made. ”

Su Shunqin smiled and nodded, and didn't speak again. For small businessmen, the most important asset is the secret method, and this is the case in all walks of life. The Du family regards the method of straining wine as a secret that cannot be passed on, and it is also human nature to protect it.

In fact, the Du family's wine was also hidden from Han Lian in the past. This time, Han Lian and Du Zhongxiao were imprisoned together, and the grasshoppers on the two families on a rope no longer hid it from him. Du Xun was outside to accompany Su Shunqin, so he had to let Han Lian come in to help.

After adding water to the pot, Du Zhongxiao and Han Lian stacked the sake lees onto the grate and patted it tightly and moderately.

Han Lian adhered to his duty, although he didn't know why Du Zhongxiao did this, he didn't ask a word. This kind of secret person is regarded as a treasure, and he will not let outsiders know about it. Today's matter is special, and letting yourself come in to help is already a great trust of the Du family. Asking questions will make Du Zhongxiao take precautions. One of the two families makes wine and the other sells wine, and the cooperation is just right, so there is no need to learn how to make wine.

The sake lees is both the source and the filter of the wine, and the right amount of tightness is the only way to ensure that the wine comes out smoothly. Du Zhongxiao is a person who is easy to study, and his current state is what he has tried several times, and the wine comes out quickly and a lot, and it is not just a random one.

The lees are piled up, and the water in the pot is already boiling. Du Zhongxiao asked Han Lian to help him, put the retort on the pot, and then took the bamboo pipe and went to the jar next to the wine. Next to it were buckets of cold well water, soaked in a cloth that covered the bamboo pipes.

Everything was ready, and Du Zhongxiao said to Han Lian: "That's it." All we have to do is watch the fire and concentrate on the wine. ”

Han Lian was taken aback and couldn't help asking, "It turns out that making wine from sake lees is so simple!" But I didn't expect it. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "It's a very simple thing, just see if you can think of it." Daddy, don't tell outsiders about this! ”

"I know, I know." Han Lian nodded repeatedly.

The price of sake lees is extremely low, and you can imagine how valuable it is to turn waste into a spirit and sell it for a good price in such a simple way. It is precisely because of the simplicity that once it is leaked, others can do it, and spirits become commonplace.

Everything was ready, and Han Lian helped Du Zhongxiao to sit down carefully by the fire at the stove.

Frowning and enduring the pain in his buttocks, Du Zhongxiao said: "Daddy has suffered a lot in the past few days, and he has suffered a lot together. ”

Han Lian said: "How can a virtuous nephew say such a thing! If it weren't for helping my family, why would my nephew make wine, and how could he be at this point. Speaking of which, it is still strange that the junior members of the Wu family are usually rampant, and they don't care about the life or death of us small people, and they do things absolutely well. Alas, a word from the powerful people may be able to cut off the livelihood of our small people. If a person wants to live, what is the point of suffering such a little? ”

"Powerful people—" Du Zhongxiao smiled bitterly and shook his head. In this era, power is a special term, and even the law lists it separately. I didn't know what kind of power it was before, but after this time I was imprisoned, I can be regarded as knowing. If it weren't for the fact that his father happened to be a lifter, he could go to the state to complain, but this time he was eaten to death by Wu Kejiu.

In front of the powerful people, even if an ordinary ordinary person has done nothing wrong, just because people are unhappy with you, you can force your family to ruin and have no way out. There's no need for excuses, just run over and bully you. The smaller the place, the more so.

Looking at the raging fire at the bottom of the stove, Du Zhongxiao was silent. In this way, if a person wants to live well, he must work hard to adapt to the world. An era has the characteristics of an era, the Northern Song Dynasty has gone through a turbulent era of one or two years, the previous social order has disappeared, and money dominates secular life. The lower you are, the more money you have, everything is good, and even if money can't buy everything, you can buy most of the things.

On the other hand, of course, as the status of the reader rises, new ideas arise. Among the scholars, idealism was on the rise. Especially from the Zhenzong Dynasty to the present, as Fan Zhongyan's group of literati gradually moved to the center of the political arena, the scholars' feelings for their family and country have become stronger and stronger.

On the one hand, there is the supremacy of money in the world, and on the other hand, there is the idealism of scholars, and this is a contradictory era.

On one side is money, on the other side is power, on one side is the court, on the other side is society, this is the era when the Great Song Dynasty began to slowly move towards division.

Sighing softly, Du Zhongxiao leaned against the wall and watched the stove fire. Needless to say, my current situation is first of all rich. Only when the family has money can they concentrate on studying, participate in the imperial examination, become an official, and make a difference in politics. There is a soul in the body after a thousand years, and if the life is dull, it will not be reconciled no matter what.

Making lees liquor from sake lees is an excellent opportunity. The method is not complicated, the capital is not much, but you can quickly earn a lot of money and solve the family's dilemma. As long as he has the capital, Du Zhongxiao has countless ways to make a fortune.

The method is simple, but the first step is too difficult. Except for a small member of a powerful family who came out in vain, he hurt himself so badly with a single sentence. If it weren't for his father's explanation, he was really cut off from brewing wine privately, and Du Zhongxiao shuddered when he thought about it. At this time, the alcohol ban was extremely strict, although it was not like the time of Taizu Taizong, who used capital punishment at every turn, but it was very likely that the army would be sent to the remote state army.

"But I don't know what happened to that Wu Xiaoyuan?" Du Zhongxiao said casually, his tone cold.

Han Lian said: "Didn't you get imprisoned that day?" This time, he falsely accused us of making wine without permission, and used lynching in the government, which is not a small crime. However, his family is rich and powerful, so he can go to do it, but it may not be what happens in the end. ”

"Well, anyway, I remember him. Powerful people can do whatever they want? Let him know the price this time! ”

After speaking, Du Zhongxiao closed his eyes and didn't speak again.

Han Lian sighed, knowing that Du Zhongxiao was young and vigorous, he couldn't swallow this breath in his heart. This is the sharpness of young people, who cannot be persuaded and can only wait for time to slowly grind out. Life is full of ups and downs, isn't this how it is slowly polished and smooth.

At this moment, Han Lian heard a vague sound of "tick, tick". I got up to check, but I saw liquid dripping from the bamboo pipe.

When he arrived at the front and took a drop, wiped it in his mouth and tasted it, Han Lian said excitedly: "Little official, it's out of wine, it's out of wine!" ”

Du Zhongxiao opened his eyes and glanced at it, and said, "The wine that comes out now is too strong, and it hurts your body when you drink it." Daddy, wait a minute, when there is more wine in the altar, we will take it out again and let the general judge taste it. ”

Han Lian nodded, and then stood by the wine jar, watching the wine come out from drop by drop to slowly become a trickle.

At the beginning, the wine that came out was not only too high, but more importantly, it contained fusel, which was easy to get drunk on. This is Du Zhongxiao's many experiments, and it is necessary to skim off the first one or two catties to make the flavor of the wine in the middle. Of course, now that the altar is full at once, there is no need to separate, and it can't be felt when you are mixed together. When you want to make high-grade liquor in the future, it is necessary to divide it so carefully.

Watching the wine drip into the altar drop by drop, Han Lian sighed: "I have been selling wine for decades, but I don't want to make wine like sake lees, but I can still make wine like this, and the wine produced is so powerful." It's hard to talk about things in the world. With this method, as long as the government does not oppose it, it is not possible to rebuild the family business. Petty officials, this is a big matter, and you must not hate the Su Tong judgment outside. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "The livelihood of our two families is all in a sentence of Su Tong's sentence." As long as he nods, the business can be a big deal. ”

The lees of the official wine warehouse are to make vinegar, which is the income of the county government, and it cannot be moved. But in addition to the official liquor storehouse, there are also two restaurants in the county with liquor making rights. Even "Qixiangju" does not sell sake lees, and "Yaojiazhengdian" can also make a lot.

Du Zhongxiao looked at the raging flames at the bottom of the stove, and his eyes narrowed. Wu Kejiu hurt himself badly this time, and if he doesn't retaliate against him in the future, I'm really sorry for myself. The right to brew wine in a restaurant is not set in stone, but is tendered every few years, which is called a buy. When he made enough money from the bad liquor, he bought the liquor making rights of "Qixiangju", and let the Wu family also taste the taste of losing their livelihood.