The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 301 The Fragrance of Tribute Wine
Li Hualong is quite diligent in his work.

As soon as he took office as the Governor-General of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan, he began to develop Bozhou Prefecture.

The key to developing Bozhou Prefecture is transportation. Whether it is timber or tea, they must be able to be shipped out in large quantities.

If you want to use land transportation in the mountains in the southwest of Bashu, don’t even think about it, at least not these days.

All they could think of was water transportation.

There are actually quite a lot of rivers in Bozhou, including the Chishui River in the east, the Qijiang River in the north, and the Wujiang River and its tributaries in the south and west.

If the waterways of these three rivers are all opened, not only Bozhou Prefecture can be developed, but also Chishui Prefecture, Bijie Prefecture, Qianxi Prefecture, Qiandong Prefecture, Sinan Prefecture, Yongning Prefecture, etc. can all be developed.

Wanli was also very concerned about the water transportation issue, and he fully supported Li Hualong's plan to dredge the river.

Their first goal was to dredge the Chishui River.

At Wanli's command, almost all the Bozhou troops, the Baigan soldiers, and the Tusi soldiers who came to receive reorganization came to the banks of the Chishui River carrying ropes and net bags. From Chishuiwei to Yongningzhou, both sides of the two or three hundred miles long river, wherever there were rocky beaches, there were tents.

The Chishui River has enough water, but there are too many rocky beaches and no one is cleaning them up.

Wanli was also very determined. There were only more than 30 rocky shoals in the river section from Chishuiwei to Yongningzhou. He mobilized more than 100,000 troops and vowed to open up the Chishui River waterway.

The route from Chishuiwei to Maotaiwei must be accessible to octopus boats of 400 tons, and the route from Maotaiwei to the mouth of the Hejiang River must be accessible to large ships of 800 or even 1,000 tons.

He even personally led the Imperial Guards and the Embroidered Uniform Guards to set up camp in Maotaiwei, and inspected the progress of the dredging on the Chishui River every day on a naval warship.

The combined strength of more than 100,000 troops was truly terrifying. In less than a few days, more than ten rocky beaches from Maotaiwei to the mouth of Hejiang River were almost cleared, and even a centipede boat of 800 tons could be rowed to Maotaiwei.

Maotaiwei is the original Maotai Village. Because it is the center of the Chishui River waterway and there are many mountain valleys on both sides of the river bank, he decided to build an acropolis here.

The Acropolis had not yet been built, but rows of docks had been built on both sides of the river. Thousands of octopus boats and centipede boats of the navy had been rowed there, and the camps of the Imperial Guards and the Embroidered Uniform Guards filled the valleys on the east bank.

The villagers of Maotai Village were all stunned. They really didn't expect that so many people and so many boats would suddenly pour into the mountains.

However, this is a good thing for them, a very good thing.

With more people and more boats, more people will come to buy their wine, and their lives will definitely get better and better in the future.

They wanted to live a good life, and Wanli wanted them to live an even better life.

At about noon that day, Wanli suddenly sent an order to invite the winemakers from more than a dozen wineries in the village, or what later generations called small bosses, and asked them to bring a jar of homemade wine.

The villagers naturally didn't know that the Emperor was here. They only knew that the open space outside the village was filled with tents, and the tents seemed to be full of soldiers.

The officer suddenly wanted to drink, so the brewers from more than a dozen wineries could only carry a jar of wine weighing about ten kilograms each and come to the camp trembling with fear.

Wanli also gave them a grand feast. In the big tent used for dining, several long tables were put together to form a large table about three or four feet square. The table was filled with all kinds of mountain delicacies, river fish, chicken, duck, fish, beef, mutton and so on.

On the left side of the big table, there is a row of officers of the Imperial Guard, and on the right side of the big table, there is a row of officers of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

He, Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan, Duke Peng Qi Jiguang, Duke Zhong Qin Liangyu, Navy Commander-in-Chief Deng Zilong, and Governor of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan Li Hualong sat facing the main tent door.

This guy almost drooled when a dozen winemakers came in.

The big tent smelled so good, and the table was full of delicious food. It was an incredibly large table.

There are so many dishes. Are we going to invite them to eat together? Is this possible?

Perhaps they were too nervous and didn't notice that the tent was not hot at all, and was even a little chilly.

It's summer now and it's very hot outside.

They were staring blankly at the table full of food when suddenly a commanding voice rang out from the side: "What are you all standing there for? Put the wine jars on the table and remember which one is yours."

This is?

When they turned around, they were stunned.

The person standing next to him is the second son of the envoy. In their Bozhou, the envoy Yang Yinglong is the local emperor. Since his second son Yang Kedong has obtained the inheritance right, he is like their local prince.

They often went to Hailongtun to deliver wine, so naturally they knew this local prince.

Their local prince didn't even have the right to sit down and could only stand aside and serve!
Who are the people at this table?
They were stunned for a moment, then quickly placed the wine jars in their arms neatly on the empty side of the table.

Upon seeing this, Yang Kedong immediately stepped forward and opened the mud seal of a wine jar, poured the wine inside into a large two-jin wine pot, then walked to Wanli with the wine pot, bowed and poured a glass for Wanli and Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan, and then poured it for everyone present.

When Wanli saw that he had finished pouring, he looked around and then raised his hand and said, "You guys try it first."

Upon hearing this, the officers of the Imperial Guards and the captains of the Embroidered Uniform Guards all raised their glasses and poured the wine into their mouths.

Wanli saw that they had all drunk it, and then asked, "How does it taste?"

The officers of the Imperial Guard and the captains of the Embroidered Uniform Guard all nodded repeatedly and said, "Good wine, good wine, good wine."

Upon hearing this, Wanli raised his glass and said, "Come, let's try it too."

Qi Jiguang, Deng Zilong, Li Hualong and others quickly raised their glasses and drank with him, while Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan and Qin Liangyu took a sip.

What do you say about this wine?

It is very fragrant, soft and mellow, and does not burn your mouth, throat or make you drunk.

Wanli savored it carefully before asking, "What do you think?"

Qi Jiguang, Deng Zilong, Li Hualong and others all nodded repeatedly and said, "Good wine."

Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan asked with a hint of curiosity: "Your Majesty, is this a strong liquor?"

It was obviously a strong liquor, but it didn't taste as spicy as a burnt knife. Wanli nodded slightly and said, "It's a strong liquor, but it's very mellow."

After saying that, he gestured for everyone to eat some dishes, and then asked Yang Kedong to open the next jar and continue pouring.

In fact, the wines brewed by these more than ten wineries are similar, because they are from the same family, and they use the same technology and the same raw materials.

After drinking it, Wanli felt a little drunk.

Although they all used small cups of half a liang, after drinking more than ten cups, that would be nearly half a jin.

However, this wine really didn't make him drunk. He didn't feel dizzy or have a splitting headache.

He asked everyone to eat a few more bites of food before asking, "Yu Ye, how is it? How much do you think this wine would sell for per pound?"

Wine is not cheap these days because food is expensive.

According to the grain price in the capital, one tael of silver is equivalent to one stone of grain, and one stone of grain is more than one hundred catties, so one catty is about six coins. However, to brew this kind of strong liquor at this time, it is considered good if one catty can be produced from three catties of grain. In addition, brewing wine takes a long time, so the price of the liquor naturally goes up.

At this moment, the cheapest wine costs forty or fifty cents per pound, and the most expensive wine is so expensive that it can shock people to death. There are wines that cost a few taels, dozens of taels, or even hundreds of taels per pound.

It is said that the Hongwu Emperor once drank the most expensive wine in his life. When he asked the price, he vomited it out. The wine that was paid as tribute to him was two thousand taels of silver per catty!

So, it’s really hard to say the price of this wine. The price difference between the best and the worst is thousands or even tens of thousands of times.

Li Hualong thought for a moment, then said carefully, "My humble opinion is that such fine wine would cost at least one hundred coins per pound."

Is this cheap or expensive?
Wanli said directly, "Kedong, ask them how much this wine costs per pound."

Is that even a question?
We drink it often at home.

Upon hearing this, Yang Kedong said without hesitation: "Your Majesty, this wine is about sixty coins per pound."

what?
Long live the Lord!
This is a real emperor, not a local tyrant.

Upon hearing this, the wine-making masters immediately fell to the ground and kowtowed.

Wanli raised his hand to signal them to stand up first, and then asked, "Father-in-law, do you know how much tribute wine sells for per pound outside?"

Yongnian Earl Wang Wei recalled, "Anything with the word 'tribute wine' on it is more expensive. The cheapest is five hundred coins per catty, and the most expensive is several dozen taels of silver per catty."

Five hundred wen is roughly equivalent to about three hundred yuan in later generations.

Is it expensive?
Not expensive at all!
Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "What kind of grain is used to brew this wine? How long does it take to brew it?"

The winemakers looked at each other, and finally, an elderly man was pushed forward and said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, this wine is brewed with sorghum and wheat. We usually add the ingredients on the Double Ninth Festival, and then step on the koji on the Dragon Boat Festival the following year. We also steam, boil, and air-dry the wine several times. It takes about a year to brew it."

The Double Ninth Festival, right?

You still have time.

Wanli nodded slightly and said, "From now on, you will brew wine exclusively for me. You are not allowed to brew wine for anyone else. The brewing method of this wine must also be kept secret and not disclosed to anyone else."

what?
What does His Majesty mean by this?
When the winemakers heard this, they were all stunned.

Seeing this, Wanli simply asked, "How much money can your winery make in a year?"

The old master said cautiously, "Your Majesty, we are a small business and we don't make much money. After deducting the cost of materials and labor, a winery can only make a few dozen taels of silver a year, which is considered a lot."

This is a small thing.

Wanli thought about it, then said decisively: "From now on, any master who can brew this kind of wine will be paid ten taels of silver a month."

what?
Isn’t this making a fortune!
There is usually more than one wine-making master in their family.

Upon hearing this, the old master bowed and said, "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."

Wanli nodded slightly, then waved his hand to let them leave.

Then he said to Li Hualong: "Yu Ye, this wine is called Maotai Gongjiu, and it costs one tael of silver per catty.

You organize the purchase of sorghum and wheat, arrange for the garrison guards to help build the winery and wine cellar, and let the garrison guards do the physical work. This year, at least one million kilograms of materials must be produced, and next year, at least 300,000 kilograms of wine must be produced.

In the future, we will continue to build wineries and cellars based on the sales of this wine. In short, we have to brew as much as we can sell."

More than 300,000 jin a year is not a lot, but the question is, can it be sold for one tael of silver per jin?

Hearing this, Li Hualong slowly nodded and said, "I understand."

Wanli then said to Yongnianbo Wang Wei, "Father-in-law, you will package this wine. One jin per bottle. Have Zhou Gong make the best porcelain bottles, and use the best wood for the corks and packaging boxes. In short, whatever looks valuable, the best you can get. Do you understand?"

Of course I understand this, this is how we start selling medicine at a price.

Yongnian Earl Wang Wei nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

Wanli thought about it carefully again, and felt that there was no problem, so he raised his glass and said, "Come on, let's continue."

Are you still drinking?

Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan carefully pulled his sleeve and said, "Your Majesty, you've already drunk quite a bit."

Wanli smiled slightly and said, "It's okay, this wine won't make you drunk. I'll drink with you all today, just treat it as a celebration banquet. Kedong, come, sit down and drink with us."

They haven't held a celebration party yet for taking over such a large territory, so it's a good opportunity to hold it together.

(End of this chapter)