The study of Qi Mansion.

Zhang Pei'er looked carefully at the stack of information in her hand, and she admired Fu Xiaoguan very much in her heart.

"Master Qi is an expert in this field. Could these things be fraudulent?"

Qi Yuanming thought for a moment and said, "It should be possible. The addition ratio of this wine yeast is twice that of my Yaochun. The fermentation time is also twice as long as Yaochun, and the steaming time is three times longer. I think this may be the reason why his wine is stronger."

"I don't know anything about brewing. You say... it says here that one hundred kilograms of grain should be added with one hundred eggs. What's the point?"

"I don't know either. Maybe this is the key to the secret recipe."

"But it says here that brewing wine requires at least 30,000 kilograms of grain... That's a lot. Why can't we produce it in small batches?"

"This probably has something to do with fermentation. Pile up more grain and it ferments better."

"No wonder they need three thousand large vats."

Zhang Pei'er put the information down and said with a smile, "Now it's up to Master Qi. Regarding our split... I wonder what Master Qi thinks."

"You got the recipe, young lady. I'll pay for the rest. We'll split it 70% to 30%. How about that?"

"How does Mr. Qi plan to sell this wine?"

"Same as his Yu Fu Ji."

Zhang Pei'er shook her head. "I don't think it's appropriate. Yu Fu Ji's bottled wine has been deeply rooted in people's hearts, and they have Mr. Qin's inscription, but we don't."

"What does that girl think?"

"We'll sell them individually. The Xiangquan will be priced at thirty wen, and the Tianchun will be priced at one hundred wen. But we have to advertise like his. We'll sell the same wine as his, but cheaper than him. We'll beat him outright. From now on, this market will be ours. Then, Master Qi can sell it however he wants."

Qi Yuanming thought about it and thought Zhang Pei'er was quite far-sighted. He nodded and asked, "Miss, do you agree to the profit sharing?"

"Let's do it this way. I don't care how much money I can get."

…

Fu Xiaoguan and his companion returned to the Fu Mansion, but unexpectedly met several people in the backyard.

My father, Mr. Fu, was radiant and diligently pouring tea for the unexpected guests, Liu Zhidong, the prefect of Linjiang, and his aide, Mr. Liu Sanye.

Seeing Fu Xiaoguan come in, Liu Zhidong waved with a smile, "My dear nephew, you have kept your uncle waiting for a long time."

Fu Xiaoguan was startled. This Liu Zhidong was completely different from the one he saw yesterday. He immediately understood the secret and his face lit up. He said with a smile, "Uncle, I didn't expect you to come today. I went to Linjiang Academy this morning to see Brother Qin. I'm sorry for neglecting you, uncle. Please forgive me."

Ah, this kid and Old Qin are on close terms with each other. Calling him nephew is not a good idea. If Old Qin hears it, it means that I am a generation older than him!

He waved his hand nonchalantly and continued, "Old Qin is a great scholar of the dynasty, so your visit to him is of course a major event. I took advantage of you just now. Since Old Qin has become your friend, regardless of age, I'll also give myself a compliment and become your friend, regardless of age."

"this……"

"Brother Fu, it's settled. If you call me brother, I will give this to you."

Liu Zhidong laid out the approval document, which was already stamped with a bright red seal.

This was originally intended for Fu Xiaoguan, but when he said this, it not only corrected the possible consequences of calling him "nephew", but also made him seem more cordial.

Fu Xiaoguan clasped his hands together and bowed, "Brother, you've given me a huge surprise."

Official Fu and Mr. Liu San were watching in amazement - what was going on?

How come the prefect's attitude changed so drastically overnight?

Moreover, the prefect had clearly called Fu Xiaoguan his nephew just now, but he suddenly changed his tone and actually called him his brother... The role change was too fast, and Fu Daguan and Mr. Liu Sanye couldn't adapt to it for a while.

They were wondering what exactly Fu Xiaoguan had done, or what more remarkable connections he had used to force the prefect to change his mind.

They knew that a distinguished person had come to Linzhou last night, but they didn't know how important Fu Xiaoguan was in the eyes of the distinguished person.

Liu Zhidong knew this very well, especially since Concubine Shang left Fu Xiaoguan alone after the show, which made him understand what to do next.

"I know of an iron ore deposit in Linjiang, in Fenglin Mountain. The imperial court sent a special mountain observer to inspect it. The reserves are huge, but it's difficult to mine, so they left it alone. If you're interested, you can send someone to take a look."

Liu Zhidong has done a great job in this matter.

Fu Xiaoguan was delighted and said with a smile, "Then I won't be polite. I'll arrange for someone to explore the way later. Brother, you will keep 30% of the profits generated by the mining of this mineral deposit."

"Absolutely not. Mining isn't that easy. I know it's extremely expensive. The government already takes 30%, and after deducting all other expenses, there won't be much left."

This is exactly what Liu Zhidong really thinks. Mining requires digging mountains, building roads and dealing with a lot of problems. The initial cost is very high. If you just sell the ore, the profit is not high. If the mining site is not accurately explored, you may even lose money. Therefore, the government has indicators for private mining, but not many people are willing to do it.

Unlike salt permits, you can make a guaranteed profit once you get them.

Fu Xiaoguan thought that since he had already gotten this bargain, he might as well get a little more.

He pondered for a moment and asked, "I wonder how the slag is handled after the Linjiang official iron is refined?"

Liu Zhidong didn't understand this either, so he looked at Mr. Liu Sanye, who replied, "The slag is useless and is all piled up under Yaoshan Mountain."

"Yaoshan...?"

"It's in Yao County, hundreds of miles away from Xiacun."

"Oh." Fu Xiaoguan knew that the farmland in Yao County also belonged to the Fu family. However, there was a government foundry in Yao County. It was thought that the iron ore mined there came from Yao Mountain.

"Can you give me the slag? Or buy it at a lower price."

Liu Zhidong was a little surprised. Since this thing was discarded, what would Fu Xiaoguan do with it?

"Since that thing is junk, you can take it, but you'll have to handle the transportation yourself... I wonder why you want it, brother?"

"I thought the slag should be relatively hard, so I thought of transporting it back to the village below to pave the road. The transportation cost is just a small amount, so it's still cost-effective."

Of course, he did not say that this thing was one of the raw materials for making cement. He originally wanted to use the slag from mining and smelting to make cement. Now that it is ready, the birth of cement can be advanced a lot of time.

"I'll write you a note and ask you to go find Yu Lian, the magistrate of Yao County."

…

Liu Zhidong took Mr. Liu Sanye away from the Fu Mansion. Fu Daguan then asked Liu Zhidong why he changed his mind. Fu Xiaoguan briefly told him what happened last night, of course he did not mention that the Ninth Princess wanted to recruit him as a son-in-law. Then Fu Daguan suddenly understood.

His son actually had connections with the Prince's Palace and now caught the eye of that nobleman. He was about to take off.

No, I have to go to Yunqing’s grave tomorrow to burn a few more incense sticks.