Chapter 136: The Fine Wine Brewed by the Wine Immortal

Xiao Moting led his troops and horses back to the Beijiang Camp.

The soldiers came up to greet him.

"Prince, did we take the mine?"

"Did Yuan Canghai come to cause any trouble?"

Everyone spoke at once, all crowding at the entrance.

But what they cared about most was still the payment of military wages.

The soldiers were provided with food and lodging in the army, but they still had wives, children, and parents...

Without silver, their families could not afford grain, could not add clothing, and the sick could not afford medicine...

Xiao Moting raised his head to scan the crowd, seeing anxious faces and expectant eyes.

Everyone was waiting, waiting for him to pay the military wages.

But the Imperial Court had not allocated funds for three months, wanting to withhold the Beijiang Army's military expenses to prevent them from continuing to grow stronger.

"Prince, can we pay a little of this military wage first?" an old soldier stammered, rubbing his hands in embarrassment, "My parents are both ill and are waiting for silver to buy medicine."

The surrounding soldiers also looked at Xiao Moting eagerly.

They were all good soldiers; they never feared death in battle, and they feared shedding blood and sweat even less.

Looking at the longing eyes of the soldiers, Xiao Moting truly could not bear to refuse.

He said in a deep voice, "Do not be anxious, everyone; your military wages will certainly be paid this month."

As soon as he finished speaking, a burst of cheers erupted all around.

"That's great, we can finally get our money."

"My family is almost unable to put food on the table; once the silver is paid, I will buy rice and grain for my wife and children."

"The Prince never breaks his word; we will definitely get our silver this time."

Xiao Moting returned to his tent, but his brows were deeply furrowed.

He had promised everyone that he would pay the military wages.

But in reality, there was no money left in the army's accounts.

The Beijiang had 180,000 officers and soldiers, and supporting an army cost a great deal of money.

He also had to support a large number of craftsmen and farmers reclaiming land, and now there were added expenses for developing the mine, as well as repairing the camp and purchasing military supplies for Zhang Zhao's 5,000 garrison troops...

All of these things required money, and a massive amount of it at that.

Li Junshi held the account books, looking deeply worried.

"Prince, the Imperial Court has not allocated funds to the Beijiang Army for three months, and the daily consumption of the army is huge; we have been relying entirely on the supplies sent by Shennü Daren, and there is simply no money to pay the soldiers."

"Selling soap and laundry powder earned over 300,000 taels, but it is far from enough."

"The Beijiang has fought several battles, and the military supplies are exhausted; the equipment is broken or ruined, and we still have to spend money to replenish supplies, repair equipment, and mend armor..."

Xiao Moting pondered for a moment.

"The iron used to forge equipment and armor can be produced once the iron smelting workshop at the mine is built."

"As for the silver to pay the military wages..."

Just as he said this, a rich aroma of wine suddenly drifted out.

"What a fragrance!" Li Junshi looked up in surprise, sniffing continuously.

Xiao Moting was slightly stunned and subconsciously stood up, walking toward the wardrobe.

Sure enough!

Inside the wardrobe sat ten ceramic wine bottles with small mouths and large bellies.

A note from Bai Wei was also written there.

"Xiao Moting, I said last time that I would ship wine over to sell."

"Take these ten bottles and let everyone have a taste first to see the effect and whether it suits the tastes of the people of Daliang."

Xiao Moting felt a warmth in his heart.

The Beijiang Army was short on silver, and he felt embarrassed to ask Bai Wei, yet she had thought of everything.

She was truly worthy of being Shennü Daren; she didn't even need to come here to know everything happening in the Beijiang.

Moreover, she was always able to appear just when the Beijiang needed her most.

Xiao Moting reached out to take down a wine bottle and opened the lid.

The military tent was instantly filled with the aroma of wine.

Li Junshi was a wine lover; upon smelling it, his face was immediately filled with pleasant surprise.

"Good wine, this is truly good wine."

The rich aroma of the wine also drew many soldiers, who crowded at the entrance, peeking in.

"What wine is that, to be so fragrant?"

Xiao Moting poured the wine into cups to let everyone taste it.

Qin Zhan grabbed a cup first, and as soon as he took a sip, he immediately cried out in surprise.

"This wine is too delicious, it's practically a divine brew! Mellow, fragrant, and crisp; it leaves a long-lasting aftertaste!"

"What wine? Is it really that good?" Han Guiying was half-doubting, so she also picked up a cup and took a sip, immediately covering her mouth, "Is this the Imperial Wine from the Imperial Palace? It really is delicious!"

Upon hearing the two praise the wine endlessly, the surrounding soldiers swarmed forward, scrambling to take cups to taste it.

"Beautiful wine; in my whole life, I have never tasted such good wine."

"Good wine, good wine! This must have been brewed by a wine immortal."

"This wine is truly beautiful; the Imperial Wine in the palace doesn't even equal one-tenth of it."

The soldiers scrambled to drink the wine, and soon the ten bottles were finished.

Ten bottles of wine were simply not enough to go around.

Everyone was still wanting more, gazing longingly at Xiao Moting.

Many soldiers who hadn't managed to grab any of the fine wine looked completely unwilling to give up.

Xiao Moting replied to Bai Wei.

"Shennü Daren, the wine you sent has all been snatched up by the soldiers; everyone says it tastes good."

Standing in front of the wardrobe, Bai Wei saw Xiao Moting's reply and finally let out a sigh of relief.

She had been worried that the people of Daliang wouldn't be used to the taste of modern wine.

"That's great. Move the wardrobe to an open space; I want to transport a large batch of wine over."

"My Ham Sausage..." Xiao Dabao came hurrying over, limping on his crutches with his arm in a cast, "Prince, remember to tell Shennü Daren not to forget my one hundred boxes of Ham Sausage."

Behind him, two Military Doctors chased after him.

"Deputy General Xiao, your injuries haven't healed yet; you can't run around like this."

Xiao Moting's handsome face darkened, "Wasn't it sixty boxes? When did it become one hundred?"

Xiao Dabao laughed awkwardly, "Well... in the Primary School Mathematics book that Shennü Daren sent, there is a calculation method called rounding. If you round it up, isn't that one hundred boxes?"

The surrounding soldiers looked at each other, all staring at Xiao Dabao.

This guy!

When it came to having a thick skin, no one in the entire military camp could keep up with him.

Usually, when asked to read, he would either play dumb or act stupid; after studying for a long time, he only knew a dozen or so characters.

But the moment food was mentioned, he became self-taught, and had even learned how to round numbers.

Looking at Xiao Dabao's sheepish, chubby face, Xiao Moting didn't say anything and gave the order.

"Go to the Warehouse and give him one hundred boxes of Ham Sausage."

"Also, take Deputy General Xiao back to the military hospital and let him recover properly; he is not allowed to run around until his injuries are healed."

The wardrobe was moved to the open space.

Qin Zhan shouted, "Everyone move aside, Shennü Daren is about to send the wine."

The soldiers immediately stood back, stretching their necks to watch.

Whoosh!

The wardrobe door opened automatically.

On the open ground in front, as if by magic, cardboard boxes appeared, stacked as high as a small hill.

The boxes were filled entirely with wine.

There were fully ten thousand boxes.

In an instant, the air was filled with the scent of wine, the fragrance intoxicating.

The surrounding soldiers drooled with desire.

Especially some of the old alcoholics, who were scratching their ears and cheeks, desperate for a sip.

But alcohol was prohibited in the army; except for holidays, officers and soldiers were strictly forbidden from drinking to avoid mistakes.

Therefore, Xiao Moting gave an order.

"Send a message to the Yuezhi Kingdom and have their envoy come over."

Daliang prohibited the private production of wine starter by the public, and the raw materials had to be purchased from the government.

Therefore, he could not sell wine in large quantities domestically; he could only sell it abroad.