The next day, Fu Xiaoguan got up early as usual.
He stretched his body, did two rounds of military boxing in the inner courtyard, then went to the outer courtyard and started jogging around the huge inner courtyard.
When a guard saw him and understood the young man's identity, he was a little surprised.
So a lot of eyes fell on Fu Xiaoguan, but he was completely unaware and just ran his own pace, letting others look.
So he ran to the back of the yard and saw a martial arts training ground.
The martial arts training ground was spacious, with swords, spears, and halberds placed on racks on both sides. Fu Xiaoguan's sight fell on a man in the field, and he stopped here.
The man was in his twenties, dressed in black and holding a knife in his hand.
He took a step forward, put his shoulders back, raised his arm and swung the knife. At that moment, the man moved like a rabbit, and the knife in his hand seemed to come alive. Silver light flashed, and the sky shattered.
Fu Xiaoguan watched carefully. The man seemed to feel his gaze falling on him. He tapped his feet and his body flew into the air. He spun sideways in the air, and the knife moved with him. With a whoosh, he chopped down.
A hundred meters away, the man had arrived, and so had the knife.
A blow from the sword blew his hair into disarray.
Fu Xiaoguan's heart suddenly hung in his throat, but he did not move.
The man landed on the ground, one hand behind his back and the other holding a knife, the knife still a foot away from Fu Xiaoguan's head.
"Why don't you hide?"
"There's no need to hide if you don't intend to kill."
The man seemed not to have expected such an answer. His brows twitched slightly, he put away his knife, and moved his left hand, which was behind his back, to the front of him, holding a pot of wine.
He raised his head, took a sip, and waved his hand. "You have courage, but not enough experience. A true master kills without killing intent. Go ahead."
Fu Xiaoguan didn't leave and asked, "Bai Yulian?"
The man turned his head, glanced at Fu Xiaoguan, and nodded.
"Let me taste the wine."
Bai Yulian handed the wine jug over. Fu Xiaoguan took it and took a sip. He frowned and asked, "So bland?"
Bai Yulian was stunned for a moment. "All wines in the world taste like this. Of course, Hongxiuzhao's Tianxiang wine is a little stronger, but your wine is pretty good."
Fu Xiaoguan returned the wine jug to Bai Yulian. It seemed that there was no strong liquor in this world.
"From now on, you follow me."
After saying this, Fu Xiaoguan turned around and jogged off.
Bai Yulian laughed, "I'm not a servant of the Fu family."
Fu Xiaoguan didn't stay. He said, "This wine is tasteless. Follow me. We have stronger liquor!"
"really?"
"really!"
This was the first meeting between Fu Xiaoguan and Bai Yulian, simple and direct.
Fu Xiaoguan was impressed by Bai Yulian's martial arts, and Bai Yulian believed that Fu Xiaoguan had some strong liquor.
…
On this day, Mr. Fu did not take Mr. Fu out, but went to the winery located south of the Xishan Villa.
The winery is not big, but the drying room is not small.
This is a standard winery of this era. There is a row of five earthen stoves against the wall, with large wooden steamers on top. On the other side is a row of clay jars filled with half-cooked grains.
Although it was early in the morning, the winery had already started working, the fire had already been lit, and there was white mist on the wooden steamer. Dozens of workers were busy here, and five masters were each mixing their own wine yeast.
Fu Xiaoguan spent an hour going through all the procedures, then turned around and walked out.
"Who's in charge of the winery?"
"Master Liu." Butler Chuck responded.
"Go back to the inner courtyard and bring Master Liu to see me."
Fu Xiaoguan said it casually, but in the eyes of Fu Daguan, his son's words made him extremely pleased.
Calm and composed, yet with the aura of a superior.
But to Zhang Ce, it was an order that could not be refuted or shirked.
Zhang Ce is the old steward of the Xishan Villa. He goes to the Linjiang main courtyard three or two times a year. He is naturally familiar with Fu Xiaoguan, but at this moment he feels unfamiliar.
Looking at Fu Xiaoguan's leaving back, he suddenly realized that he had not asked the head of the family for his opinion.
It seems that the words that the young master would become stupid after suffering that blow... are clearly false.
What does the eldest young master want to do by meeting Master Liu?
Could it be that he can also make wine?
Chuck smiled dumbly and shook his head.
The father and son came to the pavilion in the inner courtyard and sat down. Chunxiu brought tea and stood quietly behind Fu Xiaoguan.
Official Fu picked up the teacup and blew on it, then said with a smile, "Things like brewing wine should be left to the servants. This isn't our family's main business, so let them do it. Learning it... won't be of much use to you."
"No, this brewing method can be improved. It's not complicated." Fu Xiaoguan turned to Chunxiu and said, "Go get me some paper and a pen."
He then added, "The alcohol content of the wine brewed using this method is too low and it doesn't taste good."
"What is...degrees?"
"Oh, it just tastes a little bland. I'll try to make it more fragrant."
"Where did you learn this?" asked Fu Daguan in surprise.
"I haven't learned anything. I just looked at the winery and suddenly some ideas popped up in my mind. I don't know if it will work, but I have to give it a try."
Chunxiu ground the ink and Fu Xiaoguan picked up the brush, only to find that he was really not used to using the brush.
So he put down his pen, walked out of the pavilion, broke off a branch, squatted on the ground and started painting.
Chuck walked in with Master Liu. Fu Xiaoguan didn't look up and said, "Come, let's take a look together."
So the scene in the courtyard was like this: Master Liu squatted next to Fu Xiaoguan, Zhang Ce squatted next to Master Liu, and Fu Daguan could no longer sit still, so he also walked over and squatted on the right side of Fu Xiaoguan. Chunxiu was very curious, but was embarrassed to squat, so she stood behind Fu Xiaoguan, stretching her neck to look at the ground.
It's like a group of children watching ants moving on the ground.
Fu Xiaoguan was drawing on the ground with a branch while talking.
"Here's what I think. This thing is called a sky pot. It has two layers. The lower pot contains yeast...which is what we brew now. The upper pot is filled with cold water. And this is a pipe at the top."
"That's basically it. The fire in the stove needs to be strong to heat the yeast, which evaporates. The alcohol-containing gas is condensed by cold water and flows out through this tube. This is the simplest distilled liquor."
"The alcohol content... the strength will be much higher than current liquor. There are many ways to improve it, but you can try this simplest method first."
Fu Xiaoguan dropped the branch, thought for a moment, and added, "The cold water in the pot needs to be constantly changed. It would be best to find a way to make a water inlet and outlet pipe, which would save manpower."
"Master Liu, Master Liu, what do you think?"
Master Liu scratched his head and asked, "How do I fix this pipe?"
"Use bamboo, break it open, remove the bamboo nodes inside, and then close it again."
Master Liu nodded, "Master, this method seems simple, but it is quite imaginative... I'll give it a try."
"Is it feasible?" Chuck asked.
"In theory, it should be possible." Master Liu replied.
"Is it that simple?" asked Officer Fu.
"This is not simple, sir. The method of brewing wine has been passed down for thousands of years. If it is really so simple, why has it not changed for thousands of years? However, I will try it first, and then I will know."
"Wait," Fu Xiaoguan stopped Master Liu who was about to leave, "This method cannot be passed on to outsiders, remember."
"I understand."
Zhang Ce was very surprised, so he went to the winery with Master Liu.
In fact, if the craftsmen in the winery were interested in this matter, it would spread sooner or later. However, Fu Xiaoguan was not worried because this method was too simple, the yield was not high, and the wine was not mellow enough.
He remembered the wine-making method of his hometown in his previous life. Well, he had to build a big wine cellar. He hadn't seen any corn along the way, but he should have sorghum. If he couldn't make Wuliangye, then he could make Siliangye.
After putting this matter aside, Fu Xiaoguan said to Fu Daguan: "Dad, I saw Bai Yulian, and I want this person."
"Son, he is not a slave of our family. I invited him to Linjiang a long time ago, but he just didn't go. If he was in Linjiang, how could you have suffered so much?"
"He promised me."
Senior Official Fu paused with the tea bowl he was holding and looked at Junior Official Fu, who smiled again and said, "He likes wine. I told him I could make stronger wine, and he agreed to come with me."
"So, that thing you drew on the ground... is actually feasible?"
Fu Xiaoguan nodded. "It's a bit crude, let's get it done first."
"Then I, father, must draw up a treaty. If this wine truly reaches the strength of a flavored wine, it will be worth a fortune. The craftsmen must sign a treaty to keep it secret."
After saying this, Mr. Fu walked out in a hurry, but Mr. Fu didn't take it seriously.
I got this thing for Bai Yulian.
This guy is quite aloof. We have to start with his hobbies and take it slowly in the future. He must learn the Qinggong skill. Of course, Bai Yulian's swordsmanship also caught his eye.
Since there is light skill, then I think there must be internal skill as well.
I just don't know how powerful this internal strength is and whether it can withstand a bullet.
Thinking of the gun, he thought of the black box.
It’s a pity that I traveled through time as a soul, and the black box probably didn’t come with me.
As noon approached, the sun grew brighter and the annoying chirping of cicadas filled the woods. However, Fu Xiaoguan's mood was not affected. He sat in the pavilion reading a booklet.
That's not one book, it's a box!
My father said that our family has thousands of acres of fertile land, and it seems that there are more. My father also said that all the land deeds are stored in two places.
One is in Linjiang Prefecture, and the other is this Xishan Villa.
This business... is really big!
It seems that the defense of this place is pretty good under Bai Yulian's management, but the Linjiang Fu Mansion is really a bit lacking.
Now that there were no major setbacks, it seemed that nothing would go wrong. But what if the world changed? Even if it didn't, preparing for a rainy day was in Fu Xiaoguan's DNA.
He wanted Bai Yulian not only to learn martial arts, but also to help him form an armed force for the Fu family.
After that, we need to understand the development of fire and powder. If a musket is developed, even if it is not very good, it will still be a powerful weapon.
Fu Xiaoguan put down the booklet and rubbed his forehead.
A little tired!
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