Chapter 138 Building a Winery

Bai Zhuangtou spoke tactfully, but Yu Qingci understood. This year's harvest was better than in previous years not because of favorable weather, but because of the sudden division of the family property. The second and fourth branches of the family, who originally controlled the estate, were kicked out of these businesses before they could do anything. Therefore, the estate's profits this time were finally acceptable.

This also shows how greedy those people were before, using the guise of managing general affairs to line their own pockets and suck the blood of the eldest son.

Fortunately, the family has already split up, and these estates have returned to the eldest son's hands, so the future profits will definitely be good.

After Bai Zhuangtou finished speaking, Li Zhuangtou clasped his hands and added, "The farmers in our village, including our three families, are all soldiers who followed the Great General and retired from the battlefield, as well as some families of soldiers who died on the battlefield."

It wasn't easy for everyone to make a living with their children, and they were fortunate to be taken in by the general. Deeply grateful for the general's kindness, they dared not slack off, so few people tried to cheat or shirk their duties; everyone did whatever they were told to do.

Some soldiers were wounded on the battlefield, some even crippled, unable to do much heavy work. But these men didn't sit idle; they were all desperately looking for work they could manage. They weren't afraid of hardship; their only fear was that one day their master would abandon them, leaving them without even a place to live.

At this point, the three village heads were a little embarrassed. Because there were many disabled people in the village, they had to hire many farmers from the surrounding area to help during the busy farming season.

As a result, the investment in the estate naturally increased significantly. In addition, the estate used to be controlled by the second master, the fourth master, and the eldest master, so although the harvest was good at the end of the year, not much actually ended up in the hands of the master.

The three estate managers had never had a direct interaction with the mistress of the inner quarters, and they were afraid that the young mistress would hold them responsible for the previous embezzlement, so their replies were inevitably lacking in confidence.

Yu Qingci seemed to know what they were worried about, and she reassured the three of them, making it clear that what happened before had nothing to do with them. She said that as long as they did their job as village heads diligently and kept clear accounts, it would be their credit if the village truly prospered.

Upon hearing this, the three village leaders immediately perked up and knelt down, promising to lead everyone to work hard and never let their masters down.

After the three finished speaking and prepared to leave, they heard someone above speak again:

"To be honest, after the New Year, I plan to build a winery on the estate to make wine. As far as I know, there are many wineries in the suburbs of Beijing. With a thousand acres of estate, we should have no shortage of raw materials for winemaking. Moreover, opening another winery will give the people on the estate more work to do. What do you two think?"

The three were surprised that their master was discussing building a winery with them. After thinking about it for a moment, they realized it was a good idea.

Bai Zhuangtou said with a happy expression, "Young Madam wants to build a winery. I just remembered that we have several skilled winemakers in our estate. Although they are injured and can't do heavy work now, they still have winemaking experience. It would be perfect if they could lead everyone to work after the winery is built."

Li Zhuangtou: "Yes, that's a good idea. We have plenty of people and raw materials for brewing wine. As long as the young mistress makes up her mind, we'll take care of the rest."

If it's just brewing the kind of ordinary yellow wine sold in the market, I guarantee there won't be any problems, and we can start production after the New Year.

However, if the young mistress wants to brew fine wine, this subordinate really can't think of anyone on the estate with that kind of talent.

Yu Qingci nodded in satisfaction: "As long as we can brew ordinary yellow wine sold on the market, that will be fine. Next, I will discuss the establishment of the winery with Butler Lu in detail. The actual construction will require the help of you all. If there is anything you need, just ask Butler Lu. As for good winemakers, once you have brewed the yellow wine, a master will naturally guide you on the next step."

Hearing their master say this, what else could the three men worry about? They immediately agreed and promised to gather people to start building the winery as soon as possible.

Bai Zhuangtou: "I wonder which estate the young mistress would like to build this winery on? As for the location, both Li Zhuangtou and I have plenty of space and manpower in our estates."

Upon hearing this, Li Zhuangtou and Tian Zhuangtou also became nervous. Yes, where the winery is built is also very important. If it is built on another estate, their men will still have little work to do and will not be able to settle down.

Yu Qingci smiled slightly: "I have already thought about this. The manors where Bai Zhuangtou and Li Zhuangtou are located are both at the foot of Jiyun Mountain and occupy a large area. They are surrounded by mountain springs, so water is not a problem. In order to brew good wine, in addition to grain, water is also crucial. I plan to build one in each of these two manors. What do you two think?"

As for the estate manager, there's no need to be disappointed. Go back and gather laborers with winemaking experience. When the winery is built, it will naturally need a lot of manpower. As long as your people are willing, they can go to work at the winery.

Once the distillery is up and running, we'll need a fleet of vehicles for transportation. We'll also need to buy more carts and horses. We should assign as many able-bodied young men as possible to drive the carts and handle the cargo, as long as they're diligent. In short, everyone will have work to do.

Upon hearing this, the three men felt reassured and breathed a sigh of relief. Once the winery was built, their disabled brothers would have a place to use their talents and would no longer have to live in constant fear of being driven away.

In the past, when the eldest son of the second branch was in charge of the estate, he often disliked those people, thinking that they couldn't do much heavy work and that the manor had to support them. If it weren't for the protection of the general, they would have been driven away long ago.

Later, when both the Grand General and the Young General were gone, they were even more anxious. Fortunately, in the end, it was the old man and his confidants who were driven away.

Now the young mistress wants to build two wineries, which means many people will have work to do. Everyone is not afraid of hardship; their biggest fear is not having work and not being able to support their families.

The two estate managers became increasingly excited, wishing they could kneel down and kowtow several times. They hurriedly promised to obey their master's orders and go back to begin preparations, trying to build the winery as soon as possible.

Yu Qingci was very satisfied. Once the winery was built, he planned to convert all the poorly performing shops on Yandian Street and Anban Street into wineries to sell wine.

Of course, it is clear wine obtained by filtering rice wine.

In his previous life, it was said that the manager of Qiao Family Winery was extremely mean and acerbic, often beating and scolding his brewing staff and severely deducting their wages.

There was a winemaker named Yue Wu. His child fell ill and he had no money to treat him, so he had to ask the shopkeeper for money. However, the shopkeeper not only refused to give him the money but also beat him up. In the end, Yue Wu's child died because he did not receive treatment and his condition worsened.

Yue Wu was furious and planned to get revenge on the shopkeeper. That night, while everyone was asleep, he sprinkled a handful of lime into each of the freshly brewed yellow wine jars and then ran away.

The next day, the shopkeeper discovered that something had been put into the yellow wine in the courtyard. He was so frightened that he immediately reported it to the owner.

When Minister Qiao's office sent people to investigate, they were furious to find that all the wine jars had been tampered with. They ordered their men to arrest the culprits while reluctantly pouring out all the wine.

Just as the workers were about to move the jars, they suddenly discovered that the wine inside had changed.