The immortal of the Tang Dynasty, but the game starts at Xuanwu Gate?

It is now the ninth year of the Wude era, at the end of September.

There were only two months left until the first year of the Zhenguan era.

Chen Huai'an had forgotten much of history, but there was one sentence from the first to the third year of the Zhenguan era that left a deep impression on him.

"In the first year of the Zhenguan era, there was a famine in Guanzhong; in the second year, there was a locust plague throughout the land; and in the third year, there was a great flood."

The key point is that this was only the most severe disaster. For example, in the first year of the Zhenguan era, not only did Guanzhong suffer from famine, but Shandong and other regions also experienced a severe drought.

In the original history, Li Shimin was almost driven mad by these three years, and the edict of self-reproach was issued during these three years.

Of course, none of that matters.

The important thing is... the cold, hard numbers in history books are about to turn into corpses before Chen Huai'an's eyes.

Honestly, Chen Huai'an's conscience prevented him from turning a blind eye.

That's why he readily accepted the position of Minister of Works.

"..."

After leaving the Eastern Palace, Chen Huai'an did not return to the Ministry of Works, but immediately went to find Shen He and Wang Bai.

"Sir, what are your instructions?" Shen He's attitude was more respectful than before.

After all, Chen Huai'an is different now; he is a powerful Duke in the court and deeply trusted by Li Shimin.

Chen Huai'an didn't pay attention to this trivial matter and sat down to ask, "In September, Meirenguan's net profit was close to expectations, and it expanded again in September."

"Can you provide an estimate for October's profits now?"

Upon hearing this, Shen He immediately replied, "Sir, it's not October yet, but we've already started settling accounts, though we haven't finished compiling the final figures."

"If you are only asking about the estimated profit, I think it should be around 120,000 guan."

120,000 strings of cash...

Chen Huai'an's eyelids twitched involuntarily when he heard the number.

He knew that selling wine in the Tang Dynasty was very profitable, but he didn't expect it to be this profitable.

Shen He explained from the side, "With Wang Bai's involvement, our acquisition of the turbid wine went very smoothly. We got the goods at almost cost price. In addition, with the various channels that Wang Bai has, Meiren Pass is no longer just famous in the vicinity of Chang'an."

"Merchants from all over the Tang Dynasty, including those from foreign regions, were buying up Meiren Pass on a large scale, which is why there was this profit."

Chen Huai'an gave Wang Bai a meaningful look: "Do you know why I was so insistent on accepting you back then?"

Wang Bai was taken aback, not understanding why Chen Huai'an asked this question, but he still answered honestly, "If you accept me, it's like having a channel and connections all over the world. Whether it's selling wine or buying turbid wine, the help it brings will be enormous."

"And another one..." Wang Bai said with a bitter face, "I made a mistake and should suffer a little."

"But have I ever made things difficult for you?" Chen Huai'an retorted. "Tell me yourself, since you've followed me, have I ever mistreated you?"

"Of course not." Wang Bai became increasingly uneasy. "The master has treated me extremely well and has never mistreated me in the slightest."

Chen Huai'an became serious: "If I were to entrust you with an important task, could you handle it well?"

Wang Bai was almost in tears: "Sir, I'm just here to do things for you. Just tell me what you need."

"Your back and forth has made me quite nervous."

"What are you afraid of!" Chen Huai'an glared. "Weren't you quite arrogant when you were serving the Prince of Lujiang?"

"What? You're too scared to be tough with me, acting like a coward?"

Wang Bai wanted to cry but had no tears.

What can he do?

He was desperate, okay?

Try being beaten by three people, one hitting your legs to prevent you from running, one focusing on the bottom lane, and another grabbing your head and smashing it repeatedly.

The key point is that after being beaten, you were also recruited by the person who beat you.

Do you understand this kind of despair?

Wang Bai stated: I have already behaved myself!

Please let go!

"Sir... what do you want me to do?" Wang Bai asked timidly.

Chen Huai'an looked disgusted, but he didn't have any good ideas and couldn't find anyone more suitable than Wang Bai at the moment.

"Currently, all alcoholic beverages on the market are based on grains, and cloudy liquor is no exception."

"You've been in the liquor business for so long, you must have some connections and channels for acquiring grain, right?"

"Replying to you, sir," Wang Bai said honestly, "I do know quite a few grain merchants, and I have the channels and connections to do so."

"However, most of them are not from Chang'an, but from regions with low grain prices such as Jianghuai, Bashu, Luoyang, Qingzhou, and Qizhou."

"Grain prices are generally much higher around Chang'an, while these areas are far from war and are also high-yield regions, so grain prices are relatively much lower."

"Furthermore..." Wang Bai's voice trailed off, "the grains used to brew the cloudy wine are of poor quality."

"Of course, it's precisely because this grain isn't of very good quality that it's cheap, allowing for profit in making the cloudy liquor..."

Chen Huai'an was already aware of what Wang Bai had said, and instead asked, "It doesn't matter if the quality is a little worse, I just want to ask you one question: is there any problem with feeding this grain to people?"

Wang Bai paused for a moment, then replied, "Sir, you may not fully understand the lives of ordinary people. Even if the quality of these grains is a bit poor, the food that ordinary people eat will only be worse."

"Some people living in extreme poverty couldn't even get a single grain of rice; they ate things like chaff, bran, and wild vegetables."

"The grains used to brew the cloudy wine were of poor quality, but they were perfectly fine for human consumption."

Chen Huai'an's expression was complicated, and he couldn't quite put his finger on what he was feeling.

After a moment of silence, he asked, "If I asked you to keep buying this grain, could you do it?"

"Buy this kind of grain?" Wang Bai was puzzled. "Why buy this? Are we going to abandon our turbid wine and only use this grain to brew Beauty Pass?"

"If not, you can just get the goods directly from small merchants downstream."

"Don't worry about all that, I'm just asking if you can accept it!" Chen Huai'an didn't explain anything, his tone turned cold.

Wang Bai was startled and quickly said he could accept it.

Chen Huai'an's expression softened somewhat.

When he first met Wang Bai, he said that God was helping him.

That's why.

Knowing he would face food shortages in the future, they packaged up the entire supply chain and sent it to him.

Chen Huai'an turned to Shen He and said, "Starting today, the production of Meiren Pass wine will be refined one more time to make it stronger and more potent. The price will be increased to 500 coins."

"And stop distributing money every month. All profits will be given to Wang Bai to purchase grain and transport it to Chang'an."

"Huh?" Shen He looked up, her face full of confusion.

"..."