Chapter 163: Turning Stone to Gold

With Wang Youshan's calligraphy, the wine from Zhao Jin's distillery saw its value multiply. It had to be said that the timing of this piece was perfect. If it had been written before anyone had tasted the wine, it would have seemed like mere flattery for a junior's sake, and no one would have formed a good impression of the wine. But appearing at this moment of universal acclaim, it was the icing on the cake. Not only would no one think it was due to connections, they would instead feel that even Magistrate Wang thought so highly of it—so how could it possibly be wrong?

The literati, gentry, and wealthy figures found it delicious, but the military officers from the Xuzhou Regional Commander's staff, along with the hereditary officers of the Xuzhou Guard and Xuzhou Left Guard, were even more enamored with this sweet, crisp, and mellow liquor. Xuzhou was cold, and military men were fond of drinking; a strong liquor like this suited their tastes perfectly.

The shop under the Xuzhou Regional Commander's name bought some wine but did not sell it in the store right away. Instead, they first sent it for the Regional Commander to sample. After drinking it, he praised it highly and demanded more be sent over. The circles of military men and hereditary officers were tightly intertwined; if one person liked it, everyone up and down the ranks found it good, and they all came to buy.

The Xuzhou Regional Commander and the three Guards of Xuzhou were themselves another stratum of the wealthy and powerful in the Xuzhou region. Their fondness for it only drove the prestige of this "Han Well Famous Liquor" even higher.

The development of events left the people around Zhao Jin dumbfounded. Who could have imagined that in just six days, the wine from Fragrance Distillery could become this popular?

After the shock came worry. Ensuring output while maintaining quality was simply too difficult for a distillery that had just gotten off the ground. After weighing the options, Zhao Jin chose to guarantee quality.

They had stockpiled a large amount of sorghum for brewing early on, and the quantity of fermenting grain in the cellars was also assured. But there was only one still, and it couldn't be run day and night without stopping; it needed to rest for intervals of half a shichen to a full shichen.

Even the distilling equipment needed rest, let alone the distilling craftsmen and workers. To ensure someone was watching at all times, Lu Xiangjiu and Su Da each led a shift, rotating in turns. Exhausted as they were, their morale was high. With white flour and meat every day, and their wages already doubled, everyone wished for more days like these.

The entire distillery was running at full capacity, yet it could only produce around two hundred and sixty jin per day. At twenty jin per jar, that was merely thirteen jars. Adding in the distillery's stock from before the tasting event, until the new still was operational, the daily output was roughly twenty jars, or about four hundred jin.

Moreover, by this calculation, they would still need to shut down for a few days under the pretext of cleaning the still, because the fermentation of the grain required a cycle, and the timing couldn't be adjusted.

There were always over a hundred thousand people within Xuzhou city, not to mention those outside the walls. With such a vast population base, releasing four hundred jin of wine each day was like tossing a pebble into the Yellow River—a tiny splash, not even a sound.

A few dozen wen per jin was a large sum for ordinary commoners, but for anyone with a bit of wealth, it was really nothing. If they could afford to dine in those restaurants, could they not afford the silver for a drink?

As for those great households, they were particular about serving fine wine at family banquets and when entertaining guests. If visiting guests could be served a famous wine produced locally in Xuzhou, it was undoubtedly a matter of face, a conversation piece, making them feel proud in front of outsiders.

The restaurants, taverns, officials, gentry, and wealthy all had a slight worry: that Fragrance Distillery had produced such good wine purely by coincidence, and the quality might change in the future. They would rather buy some first to hoard at home.

Fragrance Distillery's rules remained the same: before buying, one could open a jar to taste, with free returns and exchanges. The buyers sampled with a touch of nervousness every day, all worried that one day the flavor would suddenly deteriorate. But this never happened. Sometimes the taste was indeed slightly off, but the difference was so subtle that an average person couldn't detect it. Tasting again the next day, it often returned to normal, or was even better in quality.

Large quantities of sorghum were brought in, and batch after batch of distiller's grain was shipped out. Those with a mind for it judged by the grain residue and consumption that this "Han Well Famous Liquor" was indeed made from sorghum.

Upon learning this news, the breweries inside and outside the city all, without prior agreement, tried making wine from sorghum. A few particularly attentive individuals even specifically used the same sorghum that Zhao Jin's distillery bought. But the result was the same as before: the wine was extremely coarse and utterly undrinkable.

The news that no one else could replicate it spread, adding a layer of mystery to Zhao Jin's "Han Well Famous Liquor." Moreover, when people drank, they would casually recount Zhao Jin's story—a young martial artist with absolutely no connection to winemaking had actually produced such a famous liquor. There had to be some unknown tale behind it.

Everyone was willing to discuss and listen to such stories. Amidst the talk and exaggeration, in the feasts and gatherings inside and outside the city, the reputation and deliciousness of Han Well Famous Liquor spread far and wide. Originally, only restaurants, taverns, officials, gentry, and great households within Xuzhou city bought it, along with families within a ten-li radius outside the walls. But gradually, people from Feng County, Pei County, Dangshan, and Xiao County also heard of it, and word even reached those in Pizhou.

With so many people wanting to drink, buy, and hoard it, and Fragrance Distillery's output unable to rise for the time being, the price began to climb. From thirty-five wen per jin, it rose to sixty wen per jin, then to one hundred wen per jin. As the old saying goes, those who can afford this wine don't care about the price.

Not to mention the officials, gentry, and wealthy themselves, those top-tier restaurants and taverns prided themselves on serving regular customers. If a guest ordered this wine and they answered they didn't have it, wouldn't that be a loss of face? And these establishments bought it at a high price but kept the selling price steady at around sixty wen. This was also a good way to retain customers; with the wine price constant, they could sell more of other items and make their profit back that way.

"Brother Zhao, people would still buy our wine even at one hundred fifty wen. Tomorrow I'll write it on the price board, and we can earn quite a bit more," Chen Hong said excitedly.

Nowadays, Chen Hong was busy all day, sweating profusely, but his drive was immense. He had always been greatly interested in doing business, and the booming success of the distillery was something he had never expected. Chen Hong wanted to know the secret behind it and was even more excited by the venture's prosperity. So he arrived early and left late every day, thinking and asking questions constantly.

Hearing Chen Hong's words, Zhao Jin answered very crisply: "We'll only sell at one hundred wen. When the second and third stills start producing, we'll lower it to seventy wen. If it's still this hot, we'll raise the price again, but not above one hundred wen. When we truly begin mass production, we'll set the price at fifty wen."

"Why not earn the money when it's there?" Hearing Zhao Jin's plan, not only Chen Hong but also Zhao Jin's other companions were very puzzled. Chen Sheng directly voiced the question.

"Our wine isn't some meticulously crafted premium liquor. To put it plainly, it's a common commodity made with a good method that yields a decent flavor. We need to ensure that many people can afford to drink this wine. Earning one hundred wen each from ten people can't compare to earning ten wen each from a thousand people. Moreover, right now, relatively few people have actually tasted it. By keeping the price down, we also prevent the wine from being confined to a small circle within Xuzhou city. We want it to spread out as much as possible, letting more people drink it. When production volume increases in the future, the number of drinkers will also grow, and we'll earn even more money," Zhao Jin explained in great detail.

In reality, for the first ten-plus days, the situation was the opposite of what Zhao Jin had planned. Each person was limited to buying five jars, but in practice, only a few households could get any. It was usually the most powerful families who bought them, then distributed them to the Prefect, the Vice Prefect, the Judge, the Regional Commander, and others.

There was also an amusing matter: Cloud Mountain Tavern always managed to buy around five jars a day. Yet the tavern could only supply one jar; the rest of the wine was all sent to Cloud Mountain Temple. Such fine wine—the great masters naturally had to appraise it thoroughly to better comprehend the Buddhist Dharma.

Zhao Jin had placed eyes and ears outside, originally to watch for people spying on the distillery. But these bits of news, these subtle signs, also reached him very quickly.

Fragrance Distillery swiftly made an adjustment: each household was limited to buying one jar, and they had to take a number and queue. Every morning at dawn, a household guard from Fragrance Distillery would bring out twenty black wooden tokens to distribute. Only those who got a token could buy wine.

Of course, where there's a policy, there's a countermeasure. The buyers from various households quickly figured out a way to cope: spend a few wen to hire someone to come and get a token, then just use the token to buy the wine when the time came.

Everyone had their own clever tricks, and Zhao Jin couldn't be bothered to micromanage. A thing was valued for its rarity; he had done what his side should do, and let the outside handle the rest. However, he consistently had people spread the word that Fragrance Distillery was about to expand capacity, that output would soon increase, and that if you couldn't get any now, you would be able to very soon.

This was also Zhao Jin's thorough consideration. If it was too rare, leading to too few people drinking it, then when capacity expanded and the price dropped, those who had given up might not come back to drink it. That would mean losing a customer base. Zhao Jin's positioning for this white liquor had always been a good wine that the masses could afford.

Those black wooden tokens, however, drew a round of sighs from everyone, because they were the exact same tokens used for drawing lots to pair up opponents during the goods yard martial arts competition back then.

"Brother Zhao pays attention even to such small details, no wonder he has this ability to turn stone to gold," Wang Zhaojing said with a smile. The others all nodded in agreement.

It was indeed turning stone to gold. When they first bought the sorghum, the distillery, and hired people, they had spent a total of four to five hundred taels of silver. Now, they had not only earned it all back but had already doubled it. Even if capacity expanded and the price stabilized at around forty to fifty wen, that was still a solid tenfold profit. If this wasn't turning stone to gold, what was it? A quick calculation showed that the annual income could actually exceed ten thousand taels!

"It was just a sudden inspiration; I never expected such an effect," Zhao Jin could only explain with a smile. If he said his second uncle taught him this, probably no one would believe it now. Yet a trace of pride flickered in Zhao Jin's smile. After all, he had barely qualified as a business elite in his past life. Now, holding a mass-consumption product containing a "leading technology," if he didn't make a fortune, he would have truly lived all those years for nothing.

"The capable have no limits to what they can do!" Wang Zhaojing said another of his frequent phrases, and everyone nodded again.

After saying this, Wang Zhaojing discreetly observed his companions and, finding no one acting strangely, finally relaxed. Wang Zhaojing was exceptionally well-bred and knew the proper measure in dealing with others, often engaging in self-reflection. During his self-reflection, Wang Zhaojing realized that he was being too "ingratiating" towards Zhao Jin.