Chapter 48: The Bai-Si Submit to the Tang, Raw Craft Beer

Time flowed by slowly...

The renovation work of Changancheng was proceeding in an orderly fashion.

The roads in the northern part of the Great Tang had also entered the finishing stages, and the common people were currently landscaping both sides of the roads to prevent soil erosion.

For this matter, Li Shimin even specifically established the "Great Tang Ministry of Transportation and Communications" to manage the Great Tang's transportation, operations management, tax collection, road administration, highways, and water transport.

At the same time, some of Su Liang's workshops were continuously introducing advanced modern technology.

Such as spinning machines, looms, and sewing machines for the garment workshop; improvements in breeding methods; and the large-scale production of seasonings like oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar.

Not only that, after this period of effort, Su Liang had also widely applied wind power and hydroelectric technology to the workshops and the renovation of Changancheng.

When Taoyuan County was first built, Su Liang had also reserved many lines and pipes.

Now, most of the common people in Taoyuan County were using electric lights, and Li Shimin had also led his court officials to visit Taoyuan County; when night fell, every household was brightly lit.

It is no exaggeration to say that since Su Liang began building his fief, the development of the Great Tang had been advanced by nearly thirteen hundred years. As of now, it had already far surpassed the technological level of the nineteenth century.

In the blink of an eye, Su Liang's car was also nearly finished. The frames for the motorcycles had all been manufactured, leaving only the final engine parts.

During this period, Li Shimin had also visited many times.

It was for no other reason than to supervise Su Liang, to not allow Su Liang to slack off, and to urge Su Liang to manufacture the motorcycles sooner. Su Liang felt incredibly depressed about this; was Li Shimin really this good to his own ministers?

However, after deep reflection, Su Liang realized the terrifying nature of Li Shimin.

The art of kingship and the means of controlling people's hearts were not something to be trifled with; after all, the current Great Tang still had to rely on these officials.

Originally, Su Liang had planned to use all one thousand of the manufactured motorcycles for the "eight-hundred-li urgent" dispatches; after all, before this, the couriers sending eight-hundred-li urgent letters were truly wearing out too many horses.

It was just that the situation in the northern border of the Great Tang was unstable, and Su Liang had no choice but to do so.

Currently, Wang Xuance had been on a diplomatic mission to various countries for over two months, and had only sent back news that the Bai-Si had completely submitted to the Great Tang. As of now, Wang Xuance was still continuously lobbying and persuading the various tribes of the Shiwei and Mohe to surrender.

The first year of Zhenguan, the twenty-ninth day of the fourth month.

At this moment, inside the Furong Garden, Su Liang was busy with the final debugging of the car, and Li Shimin arrived...

"Hehe... my good son-in-law, when will my motorcycle be finished?" Li Shimin asked with a cheerful laugh.

Su Liang merely gave Li Shimin a disdainful look in response.

Su Liang now had a way to deal with Li Shimin, so he looked at Li Shimin and smiled: "Has Your Majesty not already seen the design of the motorcycle? Are you not afraid that the ministers might accidentally fall over while riding them?"

Just as Li Shimin was about to speak, Su Liang continued: "Your Majesty, I am preparing to manufacture a new batch of motorcycles for the ministers to use."

As these words fell, Li Shimin immediately became interested: "If my good son-in-law has something to say, just say it directly; there is no need to beat around the bush."

"The court officials of our Great Tang now include not only military generals but also civil officials, especially those elderly and frail ministers. I am preparing to redesign a batch of three-wheeled motorcycles."

"In this way, the ministers will not need to drive them personally, and the stability and comfort of the vehicles will be much better than the two-wheeled motorcycles."

After Su Liang finished speaking, he immediately took the blueprints for the three-wheeled motorcycle out of his spatial ring and handed them to Li Shimin.

"Good, good, good... The problems you mentioned, my good son-in-law, are indeed considered more thoroughly than I had. This way, it will also serve to highlight the status of our Great Tang officials."

"Since that is the case, I shall wait a little longer," Li Shimin said with a loud laugh after looking at the drawings.

As the words fell, Su Liang said calmly: "Since Your Majesty has come today, if there is nothing else, you might as well wait in the Furong Garden. In less than half a day, the car's debugging work will be completed, and then Your Majesty can try it out."

"Uh... does my good son-in-law mean that the car can be driven on the road today?" Li Shimin asked excitedly.

"That is indeed the case!" Su Liang said in a firm tone.

"Good, good, good... Then I shall wait here."

"My good son-in-law, have someone prepare the crayfish now. I promised Duan Lun last time that I would treat him to something delicious; let's do it today!" Li Shimin arranged without ceremony.

Su Liang was also aware of the matter regarding Duan Lun.

For this period of time, in order not to fail Li Shimin's high expectations, Duan Lun had been working almost eighteen hours a day, and only just had some free time in the last two days.

That noon, Su Liang prepared crayfish in various flavors.

It was for no other reason than that Su Liang would still need the cooperation of this Minister of Works of the Great Tang for many things in the future.

"Eh... is this the crayfish that Your Majesty spoke of? Why does it look like a bug!!"

At this moment, Duan Lun stared at the crayfish on the dining table and exclaimed.

As the words fell, Li Shimin's forehead was covered in black lines, and he immediately looked at his brother-in-law with disdain and laughed: "Haha... Brother-in-law, you should try it first; this is truly a delicacy of the human world!"

"Once you peel off the shell, you can eat it."

After Li Shimin finished speaking, he immediately picked up a spicy crayfish to demonstrate...

He pried open the outer shell of the crayfish, revealing the tender shrimp meat, then dipped it into the spicy sauce prepared on the side and ate it in one bite. Seeing this, Duan Lun also tried it in the same manner.

The moment the shrimp meat entered his mouth, the tender texture and the stimulating spicy flavor were truly addictive.

With a "slurp," Duan Lun finished eating and even sucked the remaining sauce off his fingertips.

"Hahaha... Good, good, good! It is truly as Your Majesty said, a delicacy of the human world!" Duan Lun could not help but praise loudly.

"Hehe... If you like it, eat more. The Furong Garden welcomes the Duke of Ji to visit often in the future," Su Liang said with a smile. Although he was already the Prince of Chu of the Great Tang, Su Liang handled interpersonal relationships very skillfully.

"Good, good, good. I will definitely come often in the future, as long as there is plenty of crayfish!" Duan Lun decisively agreed to Su Liang's suggestion.

"It is just that after eating this crayfish, the taste is slightly spicy and numbing."

As the words fell, Su Liang immediately had Er Hu bring over some ice-cold raw craft beer.

"Hehe... Your Majesty and the Duke of Ji can try this newly brewed raw craft Emperor's Smile," Su Liang recommended to the two.

"Burp..." Both of them let out a satisfied burp after trying it.

"Tsk tsk... The flavor of this raw craft beer is not only more mellow than the original Emperor's Smile, but the taste is also much fresher. Plus, now that it is iced, the taste is even more delicious," Li Shimin could not help but exclaim.

"My good son-in-law, are you planning to sell this raw craft beer to the public as well?" Duan Lun asked.

"Sigh... I will sell it to the public for the time being!"

Su Liang sighed helplessly upon hearing this and explained to the two: "This kind of raw craft beer can only be consumed within seven days; after that time, it will not taste good."

Subsequently, Su Liang also educated everyone on the types of beer: raw craft, pure draft, draft, and pasteurized.

After a full quarter of an hour of explanation, everyone finally had a clear understanding of the types of beer; it turned out that the Emperor's Smile they had been drinking before was merely the one with the worst taste among many beers.

"Haha... My good son-in-law is overthinking it."

"Why not open a workshop for brewing raw craft beer in the East Market? In this way, the common people of Changancheng can also taste such fine wine in a timely manner," Li Shimin offered his own opinion to Su Liang at this moment.

As the words fell, Su Liang could not help but fall into deep thought.

It would be difficult to secure a shop in the East Market in the short term, but setting up a brewery in Pingkang Ward would not be a difficult task.

The current Court of Diplomatic Reception in Pingkang Ward had already been completely relocated to Xingdao Ward, and there was currently a large amount of vacant land there.

After a little consideration, Su Liang confirmed the matter.