Border Soldiers: My granaries are full of grain and meat, and I guard this region.

Qi Feng looked at Zhong Shao with some surprise. He hadn't expected that Qi Wine would become so popular in Longxi Prefecture.

Logically speaking, Qijiu has only just made a name for itself. Even with the Zhong family promoting it, it would be quite an achievement to be able to gain a foothold in Shuofeng County. How could it have spread throughout Longxi Prefecture?

Longxi Prefecture had four counties under its jurisdiction, and Shuofeng County was just one of them.

As if sensing Qi Feng's doubts, Zhong Shao smiled and said:

"It's quite a coincidence. After the spring, my father attended a military and political conference in Longxi Prefecture to discuss how to deal with the upcoming offensive of the Great Rong. Afterwards, at the banquet, my father happened to take out some of the Qi wine that you sent over."

"Originally, everyone at that banquet was drinking the Divine Brew, but my father drank Qi Wine instead. This naturally aroused the curiosity of others. After they all tasted it, the reputation of Qi Wine spread."

Qi Feng was stunned after hearing this; he hadn't expected that Qi Jiu's popularity in Longxi Prefecture was due to this reason.

"That's why my father wrote to me this time, wanting to ask when Qi Wine will be able to open in Linzhao City? After the last banquet, many people came to my father wanting to buy Qi Wine. If this matter is handled well, it will also help your official career in Longxi Prefecture."

Qi Feng nodded. If he could get the people of Longxi Prefecture to notice him at this time, it would undoubtedly be a good thing.

But high returns mean high risks. If someone sets their sights on his Qijiu, he won't be able to deal with it.

Zhong Shao stepped forward and patted Qi Feng on the shoulder:

"My father has already said that Qi Jiu is backed by the Zhong family, so there's no need to worry about attracting unwanted attention. However, that Huang Dingyuan guy will probably leak your information so that you become the target of everyone's criticism."

"At the last banquet, Huang Dingyuan spoke ill of you, saying that you were just a country bumpkin and that your ability to brew Qi wine was probably not from a legitimate source. My father retorted to that."

Qi Feng bowed to Zhong Shao, saying, "Thank you for your father's words of protection."

Zhong Shao waved his hand:

"Huang Dingyuan will probably continue to keep an eye on you in the shadows, but once you obtain an official position, he won't dare to do anything openly anymore. But you still need to be careful; once war breaks out, anything can happen at any time."

Qi Feng understood Zhong Shao's implication: Huang Dingyuan might not directly target him on the surface, but since they were both military officers, it would be difficult to handle if Huang Dingyuan manipulated things and transferred him into his command.

After leaving the county government office, Qi Feng temporarily put Huang Dingyuan's matter out of his mind, as he had many other things to deal with.

The first priority is to make arrangements for everyone in Qijia Village, and the second is to expand the production of Qijiu wine as soon as possible. The Zhong family is already urging them to do so, so he must prioritize these two matters in the next few days.

Having made up his mind, Qi Feng spent the next few days traveling back and forth between Qijia Village and Fuxing County.

Zhong Shao moved the soldiers from Duma Village to Qijia Village, and the people of Qijia Village followed Qi Feng to Fuxing County.

Since Qijia Village was established as an outpost, Zhao Tongchuan naturally had to take responsibility for the people of Qijia Village and personally designated a piece of land for them to live on.

The situation is urgent, and everyone has no choice but to make do with where they live, as not everyone has relatives in Fuxing County to rely on.

No one complained about the poor environment; at this point, having any place to stay was already a blessing.

After assigning tasks to those who would do odd jobs and participate in brewing Qi wine, Qi Feng went straight to the training ground and handed over the 20 villagers, including Qi Xiaoliu, whom he had selected from Qijia Village, to Liu Si for training.

After completing all this, Qi Feng officially began to put the modified brewing process into production.

Each person in Qijia Village participates in a different part of the process, during which they cannot communicate and are only responsible for a portion of the craft.

Although the brewing process of Qi wine is relatively simple, Qi Feng still divided it into several steps in order to prevent the brewing formula from being leaked.

Qi Feng kept the exact temperature, the amount of yeast, and the distillation time to himself, without telling anyone.

After doing all this, Qi Feng redefined the Qijiu brand, dividing it into four levels: Spring Brew, Summer Charm, Autumn Harvest, and Winter Storage.

These four levels of Qi wine correspond to different brewing times, and their tastes are also slightly different. The most important factor is the price.

Summer Brew, Autumn Harvest, and Winter Storage correspond to the previous three levels, which cost 200 wen per catty, 500 wen per catty, and one tael of silver per pot, respectively. The newly introduced Spring Brew level costs only 100 wen per catty, making it very affordable.

A normal person can drink an ounce or two for less than ten coins.

Although its taste is not as good as the previous three, it is still much better than ordinary cloudy wine, and even better than the divine brew.

In this era, there was no such thing as a monopoly. What Qi Feng wanted to do was to completely monopolize all the liquor businesses in Fuxing County in order to quickly accumulate his first pot of gold.

As for the lives and deaths of other wine merchants, Qi Feng didn't care. Having come to this chaotic world, did he have to consider the thoughts of his competitors like a saint?

His primary goal is to be able to survive and then improve his life.

After the renovation, the Qijiu brand effect became more prominent, even generating a siphon effect. It not only swept up the upper market of the entire Fuxing County, but also disrupted the lower market with the impact of this spring brew priced at 100 wen per jin.

Just as Qi wine business was booming and the inventory in the north of the city was ready to be directly supplied to Linzhao City, Wang Dun and Wang Huanzhi of Laixianglou were gathered together discussing something.

"That Qi Feng is simply too much! It's bad enough that they've monopolized the wine market in Fuxing County, but now they even want a piece of the pie from ordinary wines. With the spring brew, who will come to buy wine from us? Many people are being driven to their deaths."

Wang Dun, trembling, accused Qi Feng to Wang Huanzhi.

Wang Huanzhi sighed, his amiable expression vanishing, replaced by a cruel and sinister look.

"Qi Feng, you should have just focused on your business. I wouldn't have said anything about your loss last time. But you insisted on pushing us to the brink of ruin, so don't blame me for being ruthless."

Wang Huanzhi murmured to himself, then looked at Wang Dun.

"Go and call the people from the other restaurants in Fuxing County over. We'll discuss it together tonight."

Upon hearing Wang Huanzhi's words, Wang Dun's face lit up with joy, and he immediately got up to carry them out.

That evening, the owners of several other restaurants in Fuxing County gathered at Laixianglou, each with a worried look on their faces, all because of what Qi Feng had done in the past few days.

The launch of Qi wine had already caused their business to plummet, and now with the release of spring brew, there wasn't a soul in the shop. If this continued, they would go bankrupt sooner or later.