Chapter 181: Truly Fine Wine

Brother Xu, however, picked up the wine pot and poured himself a cup. He held the cup to his nose, sniffed, sighed, and said, "This Shaoxing huadiao has a rich flavor, but men traveling far from home still need a couple of mouthfuls of strong liquor to warm their bones. In the past, Guild Master He, your wine here was made honestly — full-bodied, never watered down. Everyone on the rivers, the lakes, and along the roads loved drinking it. But this year, your Xuzhou has produced that so-called Han Well Famous Wine, and as luck would have it, the brothers on the river got to taste it. That wine is genuinely good — it rivals the top-grade stuff from Shanxi that sells for over a hundred cash a catty."

As Brother Xu lamented, Steward He's expression had already soured somewhat, but he quickly replaced it with a smile and said, "That wine is indeed quite good. I've laid in some here as well. Someone, bring out the Han Well Famous Wine."

An acknowledgment came from outside, and before long a servant entered carrying a wine pot. He Weiyuan filled the other man's cup to the brim. Brother Xu first sniffed it, then drained it in one gulp. He exhaled deeply and exclaimed with feeling, "Now this is a wine for real men! With the wind cutting like a knife this time of year, one swallow of this and your whole body warms up."

He Weiyuan's face darkened again. Before he could recover and mask it, Brother Xu across from him spoke bluntly: "Old He, Brother He, I'll set aside sect matters for now. Let me speak a few words from the heart. I've been handling this assignment for nearly fifteen years. Without your care, Brother, our movements on water and land would never have gone so smoothly — let alone the fact that because of this assignment, our Xu family has risen to its present standing. Publicly and privately, I owe it to you, Brother He, to look after you."

Now that the conversation had reached this point, He Weiyuan instead fell silent. He poured himself a full cup, took a sip, set the cup down, and shook his head wordlessly. Only after a long pause did he speak: "It truly is fine wine."

"But friendship is friendship. This Han Well Famous Wine has already appeared and been tasted by the brothers in the sect. Plenty of people on the river already know about it. With good wine like this available, and the price not much different, who would still drink your not-so-pleasant local rotgut, Brother He?" Brother Xu continued.

He Weiyuan smiled weakly and shook his head. "Brother Hongju, this local rotgut was never fit for a proper banquet table. At home, I drink Shanxi firewater and Shaoxing wine myself. You're not wrong — this damned Han Well Famous Wine really does taste good. Even I think so."

Xu Hongju nodded and went on: "Good wine, and the price isn't too steep. With so many people on the river and on land knowing about it, if I don't go buy and sell it, someone else certainly will. When that happens, others will earn the silver while I earn nothing. What would Shandong think? What would the sect think? My elder brother has already reached his current position — he cannot afford a misstep like this!"

He Weiyuan was about to speak when Xu Hongju rose from his seat, clasped his fists, and bowed. "Brother He, I truly must apologize this time. I came to give you notice, Brother, before I head to Xuzhou City to discuss this Han Well Famous Wine business."

"Sit down, quickly, sit down. Hongju, carrying on like this — aren't you treating me like an outsider?" He Weiyuan's face stiffened as he said this repeatedly.

Only when Xu Hongju saw the other man's expression was sincere and his tone genuine did he take his seat again. This time, however, He Weiyuan's face shifted to a different expression. He spoke as if deep in thought: "If I were to sell this wine..."

He trailed off. Xu Hongju instinctively glanced left and right, a meaningful smile appearing on his face. Lowering his voice, he said, "That young master who makes this wine is no simple character. Even over in Pizhou they've heard his name. Trying to secure exclusive distribution rights won't be so easy, will it?"

The two exchanged a look and both burst out laughing. Xu Hongju raised his cup and said, "Brother, if you could sell this wine, then naturally everything between us brothers is easy to settle. I hear this wine is actually made from sorghum — how much can that cheap, rotten coarse grain fit only for feeding livestock be worth? Swap it for rice and wheat like this, and the profit is simply enormous!"

He Weiyuan suddenly spoke again: "If this Han Well Famous Wine didn't exist, would everyone have no choice but to drink He Family Village firewater?"

Xu Hongju was taken aback, then burst out laughing. Nodding repeatedly, he said, "The men on the river aren't that delicate. When there's good stuff, they drink good stuff; when there isn't, they make do with whatever's at hand."

He Weiyuan smiled as he poured wine for Xu Hongju, then pushed the wooden box that had been returned to him back across the table. He said, "In that case, take it. Next year, it'll still be us brothers doing business together."

"Oh? Brother, you're that confident? Then I won't stand on ceremony." Xu Hongju spoke with a pointed undertone and accepted the wooden box with a smile.

What followed was a thoroughly enjoyable time for both host and guest. Servants came in several times to replenish the wine. He Weiyuan drank very sparingly, while Xu Hongju downed over a catty by himself. This Han Well Famous Wine was genuine, potent liquor — no matter how high one's tolerance, the alcohol was bound to go to one's head. Dizzy and lightheaded, he was supported out by two singsong girls to rest.

He Weiyuan sat alone in the room. A servant came to peek in and clean up, but sensing something was amiss, hastily withdrew.

A moment later, He Weiyuan suddenly snatched up the celadon wine pot beside his hand and hurled it violently to the floor. Porcelain shards scattered everywhere. Outside, two sturdy young men bearing blades hastily pushed the door open, then just as hastily retreated.

"Xuezhi..." A shout came from within the room.

Zhou Xuezhi, who had been waiting in the outer room all along, quickly straightened his clothes and strode in. He pretended not to see the shattered wine pot on the floor, stepped forward, and asked, "What are your orders, Master?"

"Are those men from Huai'an Prefecture still staying in the manor?"

"To answer Master, they are all lodged in the outer manor houses. Fifty men are watching them there — nothing can go wrong."

After this brief exchange between master and steward, He Weiyuan's expression, which had just regained its composure, darkened once more. He said, "Five hundred taels of silver, and I hired this pack of useless trash. They don't even have the guts to draw blades — they run the moment they see a fight."

Zhou Xuezhi's face stiffened. He explained in a measured tone, "Master, this humble one has also gone to observe the guards at that distillery inside the city. They are indeed fierce, wolf-like warriors, faintly bearing the bearing of a military commander's personal guard. It's no wonder those men from Huai'an didn't dare meet them head-on."

He Weiyuan's expression grew even more unsightly. He sat in silence for a long time before finally looking up and saying, "Xuezhi, bring me the leader of that group. I have a task for them."

The winter days were bitterly cold, but with the farm work finished and the twelfth month approaching, many people were busy preparing for the New Year. Idlers on the streets had actually increased, and the area around the freight yard was livelier than usual.

The perimeter wall had originally been built, but as the number of recruits grew and there was temporarily nowhere else to go, that wall became an obstruction. Training had to be conducted in batches. At first, Shi Manqiang and Ji Xiang were somewhat reluctant, but Zhao Jin made a clean, decisive call — tear down the wall to ensure training could proceed.

Without the wall blocking the view, idlers could watch to their hearts' content. Though the training was tedious, it was still better than sitting around staring blankly. Quite a few children even mimicked the drills alongside them, making the place seem almost like a fairground.

The distillery's defenses had been greatly strengthened. Zhao Jin and his companions made sure at least two of them were on night duty there every evening. The number of household guards was maintained at around sixty, and even off-duty craftsmen and workers had thirty men standing by. Of course, these laborers weren't meant to go out and fight, but they had to be ready at any moment to sound the alarm or put out fires.

After expending so much effort on vigilance and defense, events unfolded exactly as Zhao Jin had predicted. Perhaps the enemy felt they had exhausted every trick to no effect whatsoever, and so they abandoned their harassment and attacks.

All the way until the start of the twelfth month, Fragrance Drifting Distillery remained utterly peaceful, with no unusual incidents occurring. Although everyone breathed a sigh of relief, it also left them feeling deeply unsettled — like winding up all your strength for a punch only to hit empty air. It was profoundly unsatisfying.

Still, peace was ultimately best. The household guards, who had been strung taut, began to relax and refocus their energy on training. Moreover, the scouts Liu Yong had deployed reported back that recently, the number of people snooping around the distillery had decreased. The most common sight now was local idlers coming by to gawk at the excitement.

Though Han Well Famous Wine was in high demand, its price wasn't overly expensive. Drinking to full intoxication might be out of reach, but buying a little to take home and satisfy a craving was something any ordinary household could manage. After drinking it, everyone found it delicious. Busybodies abounded, and they thought: how could such fine wine be produced in a shabby place like the southern part of the city? Could there be some spiritual energy here? They had to come take a look!

Coming to see the excitement proved well worth the trip. Watching the merchants arriving from all directions and smelling the fragrance of wine wafting from the distillery, everyone chattered among themselves, spinning the distillery into something almost mythical. Some said there were several wells at the distillery whose water was touched by immortal qi. Others claimed that when the canal was rerouted to the Jia River, the trapped spiritual energy had nowhere to escape and was absorbed by this wine — otherwise, how could trash grain like sorghum produce such a delicious drink?

The wildly imaginative associations and chatter of these idlers inevitably reached the ears of the merchants who came to buy and pick up wine. Believe it or not, such gossip always made for good conversation. And so, back and forth it went, until a rumor truly did spread inside and outside Xuzhou City: the reason Han Well Famous Wine tasted so good was that the well water used to make it dated back to the Han Dynasty.

Anyone with sense knew this was a joke. Over the course of several thousand years, even if a Han Dynasty well had existed, it would long since have been buried who knows how deep underground.

Naturally, Zhao Jin would not interfere with rumors that helped sales. In truth, the distillery was currently quite troubled by its water source. Producing such a large volume of liquor daily required an enormous amount of water, and the wells in the surrounding area were already proving somewhat insufficient. Fortunately, the fermentation time for the wine grain lengthened in winter, so production capacity couldn't be increased anyway, allowing them to scrape by for the time being. This matter, however, made Zhao Jin even more anxious to find a new location outside the city.

A place sufficiently spacious, sufficiently convenient, and close to water sources and grain fields was not easy to find. Everyone who knew about this was very enthusiastic and introduced various locations, but so far, none had proven suitable. Zhao Jin had long anticipated this situation. Such prime locations had long since become the manors and estates of powerful and wealthy families — how could any be left vacant for his use? On the rare occasion two suitable spots appeared, they turned out to be properties of Cloud Mountain Temple. Although their business relationship was quite close, Zhao Jin put caution first and gave the other party no opportunity to exploit any opening.

Yan Blackface had proven his loyalty through action. The two general stores inside the city were actually properties of Cloud Mountain Temple, but just like Yan Family Village, the deeds and documents were all in Yan Blackface's name. He had directly taken them and offered them up to Zhao Jin.