Chapter 523 Lychee Wine

Last night, at the banquet, everyone was drinking and enjoying themselves. Li Chengqian was also drunk and was carried back. He

did not wake up until noon.

"Come on, change clothes!" Li Chengqian called for someone to help him wash up.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, Li Chengqian stayed in his residence and did not go out.

"Everyone! Guangzhou Governor Lu Yuanrui wants to see you!" Wang Quan bowed and reported to Li Chengqian.

"Call him in." Li Chengqian said.

"Yes!" Wang Quan responded, turned around and stood up and shouted outside: "Call Guangzhou Governor Lu Yuanrui to see you!" When

Lu Yuanrui heard him being called, he hurriedly tidied his clothes to avoid losing manners in front of the emperor and making a big joke, which would make the emperor unhappy.

"Your humble servant Guangzhou Governor Lu Yuanrui pays homage to Your Majesty!" Lu Yuanrui bowed and paid his respects.

"No need to be polite, stand up! Please give me a seat!" Li Chengqian said.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Lu Yuanrui thanked him. The emperor did not give him a seat, so Lu Yuanrui could only stand in front of the emperor.

"I heard that the lychees in your Lingnan are good. The lychees are large, thick, beautiful, small and sweet. Is that true?" Li Chengqian asked.

The lychees he was talking about are also called Feizixiao lychees, which is a variety of lychees.

Originally, this lychee was not called Feizixiao, but Luotangpu and Yuhebao.

The reason why this lychee is called Feizixiao is related to the fact that Emperor Xuanzong of Tang favored Concubine Yang Guifei in his later years. Concubine Yang Guifei liked to eat lychees and hoped to eat fresh lychees.

Out of his love for Concubine Yang Gui, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang ordered the post station that delivered information to transport the lychees from Lingnan to the capital Chang'an.

In order to make the beauty smile, the name of Concubine Smile came into being.

Du Mu, a poet in the late Tang Dynasty, also wrote a quatrain about this incident, titled "Passing Huaqing Palace", in which there is a famous line specifically about this incident: "A red-dusted Concubine Smiles, and no one knows that it is the lychees coming."

As an emperor, it is a bit absurd to use the post station that delivers official documents to transport lychees to make the beauty smile.

But as a man, Li Chengqian was very appreciative of being able to do these things for his beloved woman.

As a man, if he can't even satisfy his beloved woman, it's too much.

There is also a saying that "If you eat 300 lychees a day, you might as well live in Lingnan forever."

"Your Majesty! It is true that the lychees in Lingnan are sweeter than those in other places. Today, I specially ordered people to pick some lychees for your Majesty to taste." Lu Yuanrui said.

"Hurry up and bring them here for me to taste." Li Chengqian was overjoyed and said hurriedly.

"Your Majesty, please wait a moment. I will bring them here." Lu Yuanrui said, turned around and went out to bring the lychees that had been prepared long ago and put them in front of Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian reached out and picked up a lychee, peeled off the lychee shell, threw it into his mouth and chewed it. It was still as juicy and sweet.

It tasted the same as the lychees he ate in the future.

After eating the lychee flesh, he spit out the lychee core and threw it aside.

Li Chengqian reached out and picked up another lychee and continued to peel it.

While eating the lychee, Li Chengqian said, "It is said that fresh lychees are difficult to preserve. Do you have any way to preserve them? If we can sell lychees all over the world."

"The south will become more prosperous if lychees are planted on a large scale. This will also be beneficial to the economy of the Tang Dynasty."

"I am dissatisfied, Your Majesty! Fresh lychees are not easy to preserve. Once the lychee leaves the branch, it will change color within one day, lose its fragrance within two days, and change its taste within three days. After four or five days, the color, fragrance and taste will all be gone, so it cannot be sold to further places." Lu Yuanrui said with a bitter face.

Lychees are not easy to preserve and cannot be transported to further places, let alone sold all over the world. That is simply harder than climbing to the sky.

"Have you never thought of other ways?" Li Chengqian asked.

"To be honest, Your Majesty! The people of Lingnan have already thought of many ways to preserve lychees, but none of them have been able to do so. Therefore, lychees can only be sold near Lingnan. If they are sold further away, they will go bad." Lu Yuanrui said.

In order to allow lychees to be sold further away, the people of Lingnan have put a lot of effort into preservation, but the results are all disappointing.

"Have you ever thought about making lychees into dried fruits?"

"You can also make lychee wine from lychees, just like grapes can be made into fine wine, lychees can also be made into lychee wine."

"In this way, it can be sold to every place in the Tang Dynasty, and it can also be sold to the Western Regions, the Arabs and other countries through the Silk Road."

"You can sell lychee wine to all parts of the world through the port of Guangzhou. Are you still worried that you can't sell it to more distant places?" Li Chengqian said.

This can ensure the fresh fragrance of lychees and prevent the loss of lychee's nutritional value.

The most important thing is that it can be sold all over the world, which will take the southern economy to a higher level.

Lychee wine has many health benefits, such as invigorating the spleen, nourishing blood and benefiting the liver, and has a good tonic effect on the human body.

It can also prevent aging, beautify, reduce fat, prevent and treat cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, help the human body digest and sterilize, and has the effect of quenching thirst and promoting diuresis.

Once launched, it will definitely be very popular, especially the effects of lychee wine on preventing aging, beautifying, and reducing fat, which can make many beauty-loving women crazy.

By then, will there be any need to worry about too many lychees?

There is no need to worry about the sales volume of lychee wine at all. By then, we are afraid that the supply will not meet the demand.

"Your Majesty is wise, we racked our brains, but we never thought of using lychees to make wine. Your Majesty's words have made lychees have a new market." Lu Yuanrui said hurriedly.

"I'll leave the matter of brewing lychee wine to you. I believe you all know how to brew it without me saying much." Li Chengqian said.

"I understand. I'll do it now!" Lu Yuanrui said, and hurriedly bowed and left.

After Lu Yuanrui left Li Chengqian, he went back and immediately called the brewers to discuss brewing.

After some experiments, the first batch of lychee wine was finally brewed.

Lu Yuanrui brought the brewed lychee wine to Li Chengqian for tasting.

"Good! It's really good wine. From now on, you Lingnan will pay tribute to me with 300 jars of lychee wine every year." After drinking it, Li Chengqian praised it endlessly.

"I obey your order!" Lu Yuanrui replied. As long as the emperor likes it, he must pay tribute to the emperor, not to mention 300 jars, even 3,000 jars.

"You can also transport the lychee wine to Chang'an for sale. It will definitely sell for a good price." Li Chengqian continued.

"I understand! When the lychee wine is brewed, in addition to the tribute to your majesty, the rest will be transported to the states and counties of the Tang Dynasty for sale, and will also be sold to other places through the port." Lu Yuanrui said.

"Not bad! Your idea is very good. In this way, the south will become more and more prosperous." Li Chengqian praised.