Chapter 285 Good Wine, Salt and Iron Supply
Wei Chengyi and the others had no way of knowing what the emperor was thinking. After November, the weather became colder and colder. Because it had not rained, the air was still very dry. Many areas were in a water shortage crisis. The people had to pack up and start migrating on a large scale. Disputes broke out between local governments and refugees, which placed a huge burden on the court.
In Chenzhou, because Shen Xiangwan had long ago summoned people with water abilities to go to various counties to assist the government in finding water sources and digging deep wells, the people basically had no shortage of water, at least no shortage of drinking water. As a result, the government's status in the eyes of the people was greatly elevated.
“Ahhh!”
As soon as Shen Xiangwan came back from outside, the little wolf cub rushed to her like a fly. In just a few months, it had grown several times larger, and its snow-white fur was shiny and smooth. It was obvious at a glance that its daily meals must be very good.
"good."
Rubbing its head, Shen Xiangwan took Yuan Yue into the main hall: "Master, I heard that you like to drink, I brought you a jar of good wine."
After nodding to Zhao Yuping and the others, Shen Xiangwan's gaze fell on Ji Shaohan. Since the destruction of Yinyue Tower, he basically did not go out. He stayed at home every day to accompany his pregnant wife and served her meticulously.
"oh?"
Raising an eyebrow, he glanced past her at the wine jar Yuanyue was holding, and Ji Shaohan smiled knowingly and said, "Is this the sorghum wine you brewed?"
He had already tasted it at the workshop when she was brewing sorghum wine. However, the wine at that time was still so strong that it was a bit irritating to the throat, so he didn't take it seriously. Now that he saw her taking it out like a treasure, he thought it must have matured.
"Um."
Shen Xiangwan did not deny it. After taking the jar sealed with mud, she asked Zhou Wushuang to find tools to break the yellow mud on the mouth of the jar. A strong aroma of wine wafted out domineeringly. Not only Ji Shaohan, but everyone in the hall couldn't help but look over. In this era, there was no distillation technology. Most of the wine on the market was turbid and the alcohol content was not high. However, anyone with a little wealth, young or old, had drunk wine. Just the rich aroma of wine made many people eager to taste it.
"Master, please try it."
He poured the wine from the jar into a glass, then Shen Xiangwan held it up and handed it to Ji Shaohan.
After taking the wine, Ji Shaohan did not rush to taste it. Instead, he shook the glass, brought it to his nose and gently sniffed the strong aroma of the wine. Then he opened his lips and took a sip, carefully feeling the aroma of the wine between his lips and teeth. Every movement revealed unparalleled elegance and dignity. He did not look like a rough man of the world at all, but a natural nobleman.
“The wine is crystal clear, with a long-lasting aroma. The taste is softer and mellower than when it was first distilled, giving people a comfortable and pleasant feeling. It is indeed a rare fine wine!”
Swirling the liquid in the cup, Ji Shaohan smiled and praised generously. He was a wine lover and had tasted countless good wines. The sorghum wine brewed by Shen Xiangwan was undoubtedly the strongest and best, especially the wine after maturation, which was many times better than when it was just distilled. It was worth his long wait.
"This is not the best taste of sorghum liquor. If it is stored for another year, its taste will definitely be more amazing."
As she spoke, Shen Xiangwan also picked up the wine glass and took a sip. Normally, she didn't drink because it would have a certain impact on her hands. At most, she would just take a sip like she did now.
"Yeah?"
Raising his eyebrows, Ji Shaohan immediately became interested. He loved wine but was not addicted to it. If the wine could be made to taste better, he wouldn't mind waiting another year or two.
"I brewed a total of 6,000 jars of sorghum wine this time, and stored them all in the cellar under warehouses No. 1 and No. 2 in the back. Master, you can take it whenever you want to drink it."
Seeing through his thoughts at a glance, Shen Xiangwan did not hesitate to give him anything. Compared to his help to them, that little bit of wine was really insignificant.
"good."
Ji Shaohan didn't bother to be polite with her. He picked up the wine glass again and took a sip. The more he drank, the more drunk he felt. He was afraid that he would not be able to drink any other wine in the future.
“Is it really that delicious?”
Wei Ling'er, who had been sitting next to him, asked curiously. She still hasn't forgotten the feeling of taking that gulp of wine. It was so spicy and painful.
"Try it?"
As if remembering what happened that day, Shen Xiangwan handed her the wine glass in his hand.
“No, no, no…”
Seeing this, Wei Linger waved her hands repeatedly: "Second sister-in-law, you should drink it yourself."
Please forgive her for being timid, she really doesn't dare to try it a second time.
"hehe···"
Shen Xiangwan couldn't help laughing out loud. Although the others didn't know about what happened, seeing Wei Linger's exaggerated reaction, they also curled up their lips. Wei Chengyi has not returned home yet. Ji Shaohan can't drink a ten-jin jar of wine by himself. Shen Xiangwan asked someone to leave some for him, and asked Yuan Yue to send the rest to Yuan Xiu and others.
That afternoon, more than a dozen horse-drawn carriages left the village in a mighty procession, all loaded with matured sorghum wine. Most of it was sent to the provincial capital to Wei Chengyi and his men, and only one carriage went to the county town. Shen Xiangwan had two jars delivered to Cheng Yusheng and Fu Qiuhua respectively, and the rest were taken to Huanxi Tower for Yue Ruyan.
"The emperor cut off Chenzhou's salt and iron supply?"
At night, after an in-depth communication in the space, the couple chatted casually while lying on the bed. Although Wei Chengyi had not been home for a long time, they would meet in the space almost every night, so there was no feeling of separation.
"Um."
Grabbing her hand that was playing tricks on his chest, Wei Chengyi leaned his back against the headboard and hugged her. "We didn't notice it at first, until recently when the army started running out of salt, we realized something was wrong. After investigating, we found that it wasn't just the army, the civilians couldn't buy salt either. Even if they did, the price was ridiculously high. The Salt Transport Bureau then reported to us that the court had long since cut off the supply, and the pig iron supply had also been cut off."
Pig iron was fine, as their gold-type psychics had already found all the iron mines in Chenzhou. After two months of mining and smelting, they had no shortage of iron at all, and it was more than enough to supply the people. But salt was more of a problem, as Chenzhou did not produce salt and was not near the sea, so they could not get enough salt for them and the people.
After discussion, they have sent people to other states to buy illegal salt. Even though the price is ridiculously high, they have no choice but to buy it.
"Does the dog emperor know that the military power of Chenzhou has fallen into our hands?"
Otherwise, how could he directly cut off Chenzhou's salt and iron supply?
Shen Xiangwan frowned almost imperceptibly. The salt and iron trade was controlled by the government. Did the dog emperor, in order to deal with them, even ignore the people? However, thinking carefully, there was nothing strange about it. If he had cared about the people, the peasant uprising in Binzhou would not have broken out, and the refugees from all over the country would not have had disputes with the government one after another.
[End of this chapter]
Please vote!!!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
