Drunken Poet Immortal
Both Taibai wine and plum wine are being brewed according to plan.
After a short two-day rest, Fu Zhiqiao quickly threw herself into a new round of work. In another month or two, it would be the sorghum harvest season, and she had to make the wheat koji before then.
Making wheat koji was a first for her, but with her previous experience making wine koji and with Xiaoyue by her side as a helper, the process went much more smoothly.
Wheat and barley are ground in a 9:1 ratio, mixed with an appropriate amount of water, and then some previously prepared yeast is added and shaped into bricks.
Cover the shaped bricks with a layer of dry straw and place them in a greenhouse for cultivation. After about two days, mycelium will grow inside the bricks. Then, open all the doors and windows of the greenhouse to allow for full air circulation. After the surface of the shaped bricks gradually hardens, Xiaoyue is responsible for turning the bricks over regularly every day.
Once the bricks have completely hardened, store them in a well-ventilated and dry place.
The whole process takes about twenty days. By the time she produces a large quantity of wheat koji, the sorghum will be ripe.
The entire estate was a scene of abundant harvest.
How could she not be there at this crucial moment when the sorghum was ripe!
Fu Zhiqiao arrived at the sorghum field early. Holding a heavy sorghum stalk in her hands, she carefully examined the plump grains, her eyes filled with satisfaction. If the sorghum yield could stabilize, she planned to clear more wasteland to plant sorghum next spring, at least doubling the yield!
The tenants, wearing straw hats and carrying sickles, were busy in the fields. First, they removed the leaves from the sorghum stalks, cut off the roots, and then cut off the sorghum heads, loading them into wooden carts before hauling them to the drying ground.
The harvested sorghum ears should be placed under the sun to dry, allowing them to absorb the essence of heaven and earth, which will make the brewed wine more fragrant and mellow.
The midday sun is the hottest, and the drying ground is covered with bright red sorghum stalks, which people come over to turn over and dry from time to time. Once dry, the sorghum stalks can be threshed. The sorghum stalks are laid flat on the clean ground, and the tenants use bamboo poles or wooden sticks to beat them hard. After repeated beating, all the sorghum grains inside will fall out.
Once the fallen sorghum has been collected and dried to prevent mold, it can be stored in the warehouse.
Fu Zhiqiao looked at the sorghum piled up like a small mountain in the warehouse and couldn't stop smiling, as if she could already see the scene after the wine was brewed.
She had already thought of a name for the sorghum liquor: "Drunken Poet Immortal."
*
Old Man Gao had prepared well in advance because he was going to brew new wine.
At Fu Zhiqiao's command, the winery's third production line was officially launched.
After being steamed, the sorghum grains have become mushy and split open, turning a brownish-red color, and each grain has a glossy sheen.
Old Gao was already very clear about the entire brewing process: soaking, steaming, spreading out to cool, mixing with yeast, fermentation, distillation... After the steamed sorghum was mixed with yeast, it could be put into the wine tank for centralized fermentation.
The fermentation process takes about twenty to thirty days.
During this time, Fu Zhiqiao had Cheng Yexuan lead a transport team to various villages to purchase sorghum.
Oh, no, it's millet.
Cheng Yexuan hesitated for a moment: "Are you sure it's peaches and millet?"
Why would you harvest peaches and millet? Although he didn't know much about grains, he knew that only poor farmers ate peaches and millet.
Cheng Yexuan treated Fu Zhiqiao with great respect. As the leader of the transport team, he had already obtained a new household registration. To show his respect, Fu Zhiqiao spent money to pull strings and get him a good household registration. Now he officially became a member of Liu Family Village, completely bidding farewell to his past life of killing.
With Cheng Yexuan overseeing the transport team, Wenshan was able to free up his hands to focus on the guard team's affairs.
Now the winery's facilities are becoming more and more complete, and the wine inventory is also increasing. Wenshan instructed his guards to be on high alert, and there are dedicated people patrolling inside and outside the winery both day and night.
The two teams performed their respective duties and cooperated with each other, which satisfied Fu Zhiqiao.
"Yes, buy back as many as possible for me,"
After saying that, she instructed Wenjiang: "Send someone to clear out those warehouses in the manor for me and clean them up, so that there will be nowhere to put the peaches and millet after we buy them."
Wen Jiang clicked his tongue in astonishment: "All four warehouses are completely filled?"
"Let's see how much we can collect first, and it would be best to fill the containers completely." Fu Zhiqiao wasn't sure how much sorghum they could collect, but the more the better.
Brewing requires a large amount of sorghum as raw material, and the amount grown on the estate is far from enough. Moreover, this is the first time sorghum has been planted on the estate, and there is still a lot of land around that has not been cultivated. The current yield is simply not enough to meet her brewing needs.
The first place the transport team went to was Daling Village, where they set up a simple shed at the entrance of the village.
Liu Yongchang, acting as the accountant, was on-site preparing the ledgers, shouting, "Buying peaches and millet, three coins a pound!"
After shouting a few times, he attracted a number of people to come over.
The first to arrive was the village chief, Cao Zhifeng. He was wearing a nearly new gray-blue tight-sleeved short jacket, and his face was full of wrinkles, making him look to be in his fifties or sixties. After glancing at Cheng Yexuan and the others, he looked somewhat serious and asked, "Where are you from? Are you really here to buy peaches and millet?"
"Village Chief Cao, we are from the neighboring Liu Family Village. We came to Daling Village to buy peaches and millet."
Cao Zhifeng nodded to indicate that he understood, and then he sent someone back to inform the other people in the village.
"You guys aren't lying, are you?"
Cao Zhifeng: "Da Long, don't be rude!"
The speaker was a tall, thin man named Cao Dalong. He had the dark skin typical of farmers, and his eyes were wide open, his face saying, "Don't think you can fool me just because I look honest."
"Why are you accepting this?" The villagers standing next to him also looked incredulous.
These days, people actually buy peaches and millet, even though they don't taste good or look nice.
The taste of cooked millet is astringent and its texture is far inferior to that of rice, but villagers still choose to grow some, even if they don't eat it themselves, it's good for feeding chickens and ducks.
So when they heard that this thing could actually be sold for money, they were somewhat skeptical, wondering if they had misheard.
"We have our own use."
Cao Dalong chuckled and said, "I have peaches and millet at home. Are you sure you want to buy them?"
"Really! However, the quality won't do; we only accept plump peaches and millet."
Seeing that the villagers still didn't quite believe it, Liu Yongchang simply opened the box containing the money.
No amount of words can compare to the power of real money; before he arrived, his employer had given him a generous sum of silver.
"Wow!" The villagers' eyes lit up.
A box of snowflake silver and a box of copper coins!
Tempted by the real money, Cao Dalong couldn't resist. He quickly ran home and carried out two sacks of peaches and millet. The transport team members quickly weighed them and told Liu Yongchang the weight.
After registering the transaction in the register, Liu Yongchang immediately settled the payment with Cao Dalong.
Most of the villagers were initially hesitant, but after seeing Cao Dalong collect the money, their doubts were immediately dispelled.
Those who had been watching the commotion rushed home like arrows, bringing out their own peaches and millet.
More and more people heard the news and came to the village entrance carrying loads on their shoulders and baskets on their backs.
Seeing that the scene was becoming chaotic, Cheng Yexuan shouted to prevent anyone from taking advantage of the situation, "Don't push, don't push, line up, everyone line up properly, those who don't follow the rules won't be admitted!"
The villagers, quite astutely, lined up at the village entrance, waiting for the transport team to weigh their peaches and millet.
The people in the transport team already knew each other. Cheng Yexuan led his men to guard the grain carts, maintain order at the scene, and weigh the grain, while Liu Yongchang was responsible for accounting and payment. Everyone worked together seamlessly.
Cheng Yexuan only ordered his men to stop when all eight grain carts were fully loaded.
The villagers who had already received their money were all very happy, but the villagers at the back of the line, seeing that it wasn't their turn yet and the people who were collecting the peaches and millet were about to leave, hurriedly rushed forward to ask, "Wait, our peaches and millet haven't been collected yet!"
Cheng Yexuan: "Our car is full."
Cao Zhifeng asked, "Are you coming to collect it again tomorrow?"
Cheng Yexuan glanced at the length of the line; there were probably still a dozen or so people left. "How many of you are there?"
Cao Zhifeng called over the dozen or so households together, and they discussed it and estimated that there were two or three thousand catties.
"Okay, we'll come again tomorrow."
After finishing harvesting in one village, they would move on to the next.
The transport team had become completely familiar with the entire process. Later on, Cheng Yexuan and Wang Qi each led a team to act separately, visiting five nearby villages and purchasing approximately 60,000 to 70,000 jin of sorghum.
Wen Jiang already felt it was a lot, but Fu Zhi Qiao still felt it wasn't enough.
Six or seven kilograms of sorghum weren't even enough to fill a warehouse. "This isn't enough, let's keep going to collect more."
The transport team was busy collecting grain in various villages, so busy that they barely had time to rest.
*
Fu Zhiqiao wasn't idle either; calculating the days, the sorghum from last time should have fermented properly.
Fu Zhiqiao called on Old Man Gao to prepare for distilling liquor.
All the workers who could enter the distillery had signed a life-long contract, working for Fu Zhiqiao for life.
With the employer present, the workers were exceptionally quick and efficient, each eager to show off their skills. The two young men responsible for monitoring the fire kept adding dry firewood to the large stove, causing the flames to blaze and their faces to turn red from the heat, their clothes soaked with sweat.
The still is filled with fermented sorghum raw materials. A few holes are poked in it with a wooden stick, the lid is put on, water is added to the groove of the still, and distillation begins.
The firewood crackled and popped in the stove.
Steam floated above the entire brewery.
Old Gao seized the opportunity: "Change to cold water."
The workers, standing on high stools, opened the valves on the stills, letting the heated water flow out and then pouring in cool water. Another worker stirred the cool water with a wooden stick to keep the area above the still cool, so that the steam would condense upon contact with the cold air and eventually flow out as liquid.
After about two incense sticks' worth of time, a smell that was neither wine nor alcohol wafted out of the still.
Fu Zhiqiao couldn't help but feel excited; she had been looking forward to this day for a long time.
The Drunken Poet Immortal is finally coming!
Old Gao had never imagined that peaches and millet could be used to brew wine, and his admiration for Fu Zhiqiao grew even stronger.
As expected, his master's talent for brewing was far beyond what he could match.
Workers brought in wooden barrels to collect the wine, discarding the first and last drops, keeping only the middle portion.
The rich aroma of the wine slowly filled the air, and everyone was captivated by its fragrance.
Just as Old Gao was about to throw away the sorghum residue from the first distillation, Fu Zhiqiao came over and stopped him, instead telling him to add more yeast and distill it again after the second fermentation.
Although Old Man Gao didn't understand, he obediently complied.
The boss must have her reasons for doing this!
Not only does the sorghum raw material need to be fully utilized, but the liquor from the first distillation also needs to be distilled again separately. The final liquor is what is known as "Drunken Poet Immortal".
The lower the alcohol yield, the higher the alcohol content.
Looking at the wine in the barrel, Fu Zhiqiao smiled.
If Taibai Wine was what Fu Zhi Qiao used to gain fame, then Zui Shi Xian was her ultimate weapon.
Taibai liquor is characterized by its pungent and assertive flavor, its sweet and refreshing taste, and its long-lasting aftertaste.
Zui Shi Xian has a strong but not spicy taste with a sweet aftertaste. It is also more mellow and intense than Tai Bai Jiu, with a strong aftereffect. It not only leaves a lingering fragrance in an empty glass, but is also more resistant to aging than Tai Bai Jiu.
After working at the winery for two or three months, the first batch of Drunken Poet Immortal wine was successfully put into the cellar.
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