The Idle Man of Zhenguan Intercepts Wu Zetian at the Start

Changsun Dan quickly placed the wine jar he was carrying on the carriage.

Wang Youde squinted his eyes:

"Please don't harm me, Your Majesty hates nothing more than servants accepting gifts from foreign officials."

Changsun Dan's expression turned serious, and his tone became exceptionally sincere:

"Your Majesty has followed me for many years. We are called ruler and subject, but in reality, we are family. I have no official position and cannot be considered an outsider. Besides, I am Your Majesty's junior. This is just a jar of homemade wine, which is a junior's way of showing respect to his elder."

Wang Youde felt incredibly pleased as he listened, a smile spreading across his usually cold and calculating face. This lad was capable, and even more so, eloquent! His Majesty had shown him such favor, and he himself was destined to be buried with him! Moreover, as a eunuch with no descendants, this county magistrate, the Empress's own nephew, dared to address him as a junior—he had a bright future, a very bright future indeed!

"Then I shall accept your offer without hesitation?"

Changsun Dan said solemnly:

"Don't worry, Your Excellency. This wine is only brewed in one jar. It is even stronger than the Immortal's Intoxication that His Majesty drinks. You should not drink too much at once. Give the wine to someone who knows how to drink it. In the future, I will ask my aunt to pass it on to you. His Majesty will only think that I am filial."

Wang Youde's smile twitched, making the soft hairs on the young eunuch driving the carriage stand on end. Only after Wang Youde had gone quite a distance did Changsun Dan turn around and enter the plum garden. The more history he read, the more cautious he became. Zhang Fei whipped his guards after drinking, and as a result, he fell asleep and was beheaded by the guards. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Hua Yuan, the commander of the State of Song, slaughtered sheep and distributed meat to his troops before a battle, but did not give any to the coachman Yang Zhen. The next day, Yang Zhen drove him into the enemy's camp... In this day and age, it is too easy to die at the hands of unexpected little people.

Wang Youde was in a great mood and, unusually, chatted with the coachman:

"Jin Sheng, what do you think of this Wannian County?"

The young eunuch Jin Sheng got goosebumps all over his body:

"Your Excellency, I just turned around and saw the county magistrate still watching your carriage go. He truly respects you!"

Wang Youde nodded with satisfaction: "What respect or not? This child is certainly filial."

Changsun Dan went to Beiyuan again. Wang Lingyue was picking flowers and playing in the courtyard when she saw the county magistrate arrive. She quickly ran into the house and hid. Aunt Li greeted Changsun Dan and said affectionately, "This little girl is just a bit shy and timid."

Changsun Dan smiled and waved her hand: "It's alright. After all, she's a young lady from the Princess's residence and knows the old etiquette of the palace."

Aunt Li's face was beaming. This young man from the county was not only capable, but also treated people with the warmth of a spring breeze. Yi'er's injury was visibly healing, and she finally felt relieved. Knowing that he had come to see Yi'er, she quickly made way for him and went into the room to make tea.

Wang Fangyi lay half-reclined on the bed, his face rosy. There was a half-empty jar of old hen soup on the table. The little maid Liu'er had been staying in the North Garden to serve recently, and she was also in the room taking care of Wang Fangyi.

Upon seeing Changsun Dan enter, Wang Fangyi quickly sat up, straightening one leg as he tried to get out of bed, a smile plastered on his face:

"This medicine from the county magistrate is miraculous! In just one day, the pus and blood stopped flowing, and the fever subsided!"

Changsun Dan smiled and pressed his shoulder: "There's no need for formalities between us. You need to get better quickly and then help me set up the guards."

Wang Fangyi didn't make any pretense. He would repay the county magistrate's kindness with his life in the future. Changsun Dan untied the hemp cloth from his leg. The redness and swelling of the wound had subsided a lot, thanks in no small part to the alcohol. The white medicine hadn't fallen off yet, so there was no need to change it. He replaced it with a clean piece of hemp cloth and re-tied it for him.

Aunt Li brought in tea, and Wang Lingyue didn't follow this time. However, Changsun Dan wasn't used to the way tea was brewed in the Tang Dynasty, but he still accepted it and forced himself to finish it before returning to the South Courtyard.

"Mother, the county magistrate may not like drinking tea. I just saw him drinking it with great difficulty."

Aunt Li changed into a clean blue ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), which made her look even more elegant. She smiled slightly and said, "Mother has also noticed that the people in this small county are sincere and capable. My son, you should read more military books in your spare time. Even if you only lead a hundred men, you should be a hero who can fight a hundred men."

Wang Fangyi replied, "Mother, I understand. There are thousands of bandits in Meishan. I have been in and out of there many times. In the future, I will divide the soldiers I recruit into small teams and send them to Meishan to practice."

Changsun Dan returned to the South Courtyard. He had handed over all the school affairs to Uncle Fu. Now, his only priority was to make money. Fortunately, the houses in the Plum Garden were big enough. He also had Da Niu lead the servants in the mansion to build five more stoves in the room where they started distilling liquor.

"Tiezhu, ask Chunchan how much money we have left. Get all the money we can use, and we'll buy as much wine as we can."

Chun Chan curled her fingers and snorted, "Including Dong Yao's and my money, we only have a little over nine hundred strings of cash left. We need to keep some for emergencies, so I can only give you a maximum of five hundred strings to buy wine."

In the Tang Dynasty, brewing relied entirely on steaming grains and then adding yeast for natural fermentation. Better methods involved soaking steamed grains in wine for repeated fermentation. This process was not only time-consuming but also costly, yet the alcohol content was only comparable to that of beer in later generations. Each jar cost approximately 100 wen, and one guan could buy ten jars, which would amount to 500 guan.

Changsun Dan smiled and said, "Sure, Tiezhu, take a few men, grab the money, and hurry up and buy some wine."

There were carpenters in the mansion, so they made five more conical pot lids. After Tiezhu finished carrying the money, Changsun Dan closed the door and began to explain the distillation method to the two maids, Chundong and Changsun Dan. He explained and demonstrated at the same time. In a short while, the room was filled with thick smoke, which made it impossible for people to open their eyes.

The two girls couldn't stand it and ran out.

Changsun Dan smiled awkwardly: "Have Da Niu bring over the handymen, and add a chimney to each stove."

Distillation, simply put, involves heating a low-proof liquor continuously, and then the liquor coming off the lid is of a higher proof. If you want a higher alcohol content, you just have to do it several times. Changsun Danding's standard is to distill the alcohol used for removing ink four times, distill Li Er's liquor three times, and distill the Shixian liquor that he plans to sell in the East Market twice, plus one more jar of alcohol for every fifty jars.

Chun Chan rubbed her two big, red eyes: "Is it really that simple? You could have just told us, why did you have to demonstrate it to us?"

Dongyao had prepared the ink and knew that this was the simplest method. If the county magistrate hadn't told her, she would never have been able to figure it out in her entire life. She wondered what was going on in this young man's head. Although she was also suffocating from the smoke, she obediently boiled water on the charcoal stove to prepare tea.

Changsun Dan smiled and said:

"Our first distillation might produce a thousand jars of wine. Since it's called Poet Immortal Wine, I plan to write a poem on each jar."

Each poem is composed of one hundred jars of wine. The first line is pasted onto forty jars, the second line onto thirty jars, the third line onto twenty-five jars, and the fourth line onto five jars. Anyone who can complete a full poem can exchange it for a free jar of "Drunken Poet Immortal Wine," of the same quality as "Immortal's Intoxication."

Chun Chan and Dong Yao stared wide-eyed at Changsun Dan, who was beaming with pride. "Young master," they thought, "is such a shrewd businessman! A thousand jars of wine with ten poems, and the last line was only pasted on fifty jars. To collect a poem from a thousand jars of wine, not only is pure luck necessary, but you also have to figure out the corresponding lines for each poem. Perhaps after selling all one thousand jars of wine, you won't even be able to give away a single jar of 'Drunken Poet Immortal'..."

Changsun Dan lay down on the bed: "Let's start with ten poems. Chun Chan, you write them and I'll recite them. And Dong Yao... come here and give me a shoulder massage."

Ten poems, please… Is writing poetry really that simple?

Chun Chan picked up her pen, while Dong Yao's ears were being ruined by the smoke.