"Ha ha ha ha...."
The wicked husband's words made everyone present burst into laughter, yet a hint of longing appeared on their faces. The thought of that day truly being there was simply wonderful.
Ying Zheng's smile faded, and he suddenly said, "You wicked husband, the wedding date is set for half a month from now. You'd better make sure you have plenty of wedding candy ready!"
"Half a month later?!" The wicked husband's eyes suddenly lit up, and he nodded emphatically. "Don't worry, there will be plenty of wedding candy. It's for family, how could it be any less than the one in Chu?"
The room erupted in another burst of laughter. Half a year ago, when the Chu envoy sought to buy sugar, he shamelessly begged the Qin state for some "wedding candy," which the envoy had undoubtedly embezzled. This showed just how popular the candy was.
Ying Zheng chuckled at his words, but quickly composed himself and solemnly instructed, "You shall personally handle the wedding candy arrangements, sparing no expense. I have already sent envoys to invite the various barbarian states to attend, and each envoy from each state shall receive a portion."
Upon hearing that "one candy will be given to each of the envoys from various countries," Meng Can's eyes lit up. He thought that the king was clearly using the wedding banquet as an opportunity to show the feudal lords Qin's candy, which would bring in a large and continuous income.
The wicked man, of course, understood the appeal of it all. He chuckled and raised his cup, saying, "Your Majesty, rest assured, these mere sugar cubes are nothing to me. I guarantee those country bumpkins will fall in love with them at first bite, and they'll be thinking about them day and night when they get back. I'll even take a few boxes with me. As for the money..." he trailed off, "of course, they'll be willing to hand it over."
"Good!" Ying Zheng nodded slightly, saying nothing more. With the matter settled, he was about to give a few more instructions when he suddenly heard a series of "bang bang" sounds coming from the backyard, as if a servant had accidentally knocked over a piece of porcelain.
Seeing this, Meng Ao waved his hand dismissively: "It's nothing, maybe the kitchen was in a bit of a mess. Just don't ruin the fine wine you snatched back from Qi!"
"It doesn't matter, the recipe is all here..." The wicked man's eyes suddenly lit up as he spoke, "Hey, wait a minute... speaking of wine, we can also take care of this matter while we're at it!"
He had previously obtained Qi Quanchun's wine recipe in the State of Qi, but he went to the State of Yan before he could brew it. Now that he has some free time, he can finally tinker with it.
Qi Quanchun's liquor had a hint of modern spirits, but only a trace. The purity was insufficient, and the alcohol content was still too low. Since those foreign tribes preferred strong liquor, it would be better to work with Xiang Lihe to produce distilled spirits and rake in some money from them.
Without further ado, the wicked husband casually shoveled a few bites of meat, stood up, and mumbled, "You all eat, I have some urgent business to attend to. If I do it well, it'll be a fortune..."
The wicked husband's words came so suddenly that even Ying Zheng was taken aback. He looked up at him and asked, "What are you up to now, you brat?"
“Of course it’s brewing wine. The wedding candy is a bit lacking, but they definitely can’t resist stronger liquor. Foreigners have always loved wine, so why don’t we satisfy them all at once?” The wicked man said, then simply got up and slammed the bamboo chopsticks on the table. “I have to go find Xianglihe and have him quickly get the distillation equipment at the winery ready.”
"Distillation?" Meng Can's eyes lit up. Although he didn't understand it, it sounded impressive.
"Qi Quanchun's recipe for wine is good, but its alcohol content is limited and it's far from 'strong' enough. It needs to be made hot and spicy to win over the appetites of those barbarians and savages." The wicked man said, and then got up to leave.
"Once it's made into strong liquor, it'll be incredibly popular. Just imagine, one jar of strong liquor could be worth ten or even a hundred jars of ordinary liquor. Wouldn't that make so much money that your hands would cramp from counting it?"
No sooner had he finished speaking than Meng Ao burst into laughter, setting down his wine cup: "Your brain is always scheming to empty other people's pockets. However, I'd like to be your first customer and be the first to taste it!"
Ying Zheng was also impressed by his broad and open-minded thinking, but still remembered to remind him: "Then go, don't delay the wedding in half a month."
"Everything is under control." The wicked husband cupped his hands in greeting to Ying Zheng, then turned and walked out of the mansion.
Seeing this, Zhang Erhe dropped the half-eaten piece of mutton he was enjoying and hurriedly followed, saying, "Grand Commandant, I'll go help too!"
"Let's go, let's go." The wicked man didn't even turn his head, his steps were swift as the wind.
Watching their departing figures, the people in the hall exchanged glances for a moment, then burst into laughter. Meng Can clicked his tongue in amazement: "This guy really can't sit still. Even those of us busy with internal affairs aren't this anxious."
Ying Zheng picked up his wine cup, took a small sip, and said with a mixture of self-mockery and satisfaction, "That's just how he is. He either doesn't do things at all, or if he does, he can't wait. Fortunately, he has the support of many capable people, which allows him to go ahead and explore."
Meng Ao stroked his beard: "Your Majesty is right. If it were another country, it might not be able to support his ambitions. Once he actually produces this strong liquor, it will probably cause another uproar."
"Let the winds and waves blow as they may, as long as they benefit my Great Qin, let them do whatever they want." Ying Zheng chuckled. "Don't be idle for the next half month. The wedding in half a month is a grand court ceremony. The envoys from various countries will also have to see the grandeur of my Qin. There can be no mistakes."
Upon hearing this, Meng Can, Meng Ao, and the others abandoned their joking demeanor and replied seriously, "Yes!"
...
Meanwhile, the wicked man, accompanied by Zhang Erhe, rushed to the workshop area. Xianglihe was directing several craftsmen to debug a newly made gear watermill when he saw the Grand Commandant calling out from afar and hurriedly came to greet him.
"What's wrong? Did something go wrong at the sugar mill?" Xiang Lihe thought something had happened and was so anxious that he wanted to put down his tools.
“The sugar mill is fine, I’m here to ask you to make distillation equipment.” The wicked man got straight to the point. “Put your watermill aside for now, we need to figure out how to distill. I roughly know the method, but I still need your help to design the pipes, condensers and other devices.”
Upon hearing "distillation," Xiang Lihe immediately perked up: "Distilled spirits? Didn't you say you wanted to try it? So, today you're finally going to make it happen?"
“Yes! The King is going to hold a wedding in half a month. We should take this opportunity to use the new wine to entertain the envoys from various countries. This is a big business!” The wicked husband rubbed his hands together, eager to get started. “Come on, I’ll draw a rough sketch for you. You can make a prototype first.”
As he spoke, ignoring the astonished looks of the surrounding craftsmen, he found a wooden stick in the open space of the workshop, squatted down, and began to gesture: large pot, top seal, slanted pipe, cooling water tank...
Xiang Lihe found it increasingly fascinating and exclaimed in admiration: "The principle is to utilize the fact that alcohol vaporizes more easily than water, and then guide the vapor into a cooling pipe to condense it into a purer liquid. What a clever idea!"
"Whether the idea is clever or not is another matter; the key is whether it can actually be made." The wicked husband slammed his hand on the ground. "You quickly gather people and make a test set according to my blueprints. If it works, then we can mass-produce it and brew enough finished products before the wedding in half a month."
"Understood!" Xiang Lihe got excited, wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, and immediately ordered the craftsmen to prepare suitable materials such as copper pipes, pottery jars, porcelain, and wooden supports.
Zhang Erhe was in charge of running around, finding readily available materials stockpiled in the warehouse. Many of the materials needed for the wicked man's distillation and brewing were also interchangeable with those for refining salt and sugar, saving him a lot of trouble.
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