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Text Chapter 472 Celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival

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    Chao Yong originally did not plan to develop spirits on a large scale. He had already inquired about the wine reviews of the Song Dynasty over the years. He found that the Song Dynasty could earn about 10 million yuan from liquor every year, which was also an important source of fiscal revenue for the Song Dynasty.  However, the best-selling products in the Song Dynasty were low-concentration wines. If high-concentration wines were promoted, people who were used to drinking low-concentration wines might not be able to accept them all at once. People like Wu Song and Li Kui would definitely not be in the majority.

    Even if spirits can replace low-concentration alcohol, the amount of alcohol consumed by the world will be significantly reduced.  Wu Song could eat dozens of bowls before, but if he switched to strong liquor, it would only be enough for a few bowls.

    As the quantity decreases, the court¡¯s income may also decrease.  Moreover, distilled liquor consumes a lot of alcohol, but the price of alcohol cannot increase correspondingly.  The most poor people in the world are the poor. The cheapest wine only costs more than ten renminbi per catty, and the best wine only costs several hundred renminbi per catty.

    A few hundred coins per kilogram of wine will keep most people out of the door, and the people who are most likely to change their mouth to drink strong alcohol are definitely poor people. Most of the pampered rich people will not like spicy strong alcohol.

    The audience decided that spirits could not be sold at high prices, so Chao Yong gave up on the idea of ??developing spirits on a large scale.

    However, Xu Guanzhong pointed out that the better consumer groups for spirits are the people of Liao and Jin. It is bitterly cold in the north. People eat wine not only to satisfy their appetite, but also to keep out the cold.  Although it has been scientifically proven that drinking alcohol cannot keep out the cold, even in later generations, people are still used to taking a sip of strong liquor when it is cold.

    People in the Liao State know how to make wine, and people in the Jin State can naturally make wine if they have the craftsmen of the Liao State.  They only import a small amount of expensive wine from the Central Plains, because the wine they make is actually similar to the wine from the Central Plains.  But spirits are different, with a higher alcohol content and spicier taste, there is no doubt that spirits are a hit.  The wines brewed by Liao and Jin will lose their competitiveness.

    Spirits are also expected to become Daliang's export weapon like tea and silk, exchanging Daliang's money for Daliang, and will not benefit the enemy, but will only hurt the enemy.

    The next day, Chao Yong asked the craftsmen to start making distillers, and he also chose a manor outside the city as a spirits house. The guards were not only regular soldiers, but also spies under Shi Qian's command.  All relevant people who can be kept in captivity are kept in captivity, and those who cannot be kept in captivity are also subject to gag orders.  Once the information is leaked, it is a capital crime.

    The inner distillery was originally in the city, but distilling liquor required the use of fire, and it was conceivable that spirits had to be sold in large quantities.  How much smoke and dust had to be emitted, so Chao Yong set up the liquor shop outside the city.

    In order to reduce pollution in Tokyo, Chao Yong proposed that all workshops that consume a large amount of charcoal firewood should be moved outside the city.  This suggestion has been approved, but the ministries are still investigating. They must choose a place with convenient transportation and be located downwind of Tokyo to prevent winds from blowing pollutants into Tokyo.

    The officials in power in the DPRK are very protective of their lives.  There was no such concept before, but as soon as Chao Yong brought it up, everyone responded positively.  The cost of merchant relocation is not within their consideration.

    This order has been spread in the city for a long time, so Chao Yong will naturally not openly violate the imperial order.  Although the world belongs to the Chao family in name only.

    After a busy day outside the city, Chao Yong came to the Prince's Palace in the evening and saw Li Kui sitting on the steps at the door from a distance.

    Li Kui saw the prince and his entourage returning to the palace.  Then he stood up and ran over.

    The prince¡¯s personal soldiers are all old men from Liangshan.  Knowing Li Kui's temperament, he didn't dare to ask for trouble and stop Li Kui.

    Chao Yong saw Li Kui running up to him and said with a smile: "What are you doing here?"

    Li Kui smiled and said: "I came to ask for some wine and food. I came here at noon. The soldiers at the door said that you left the palace early in the morning. They didn't know where you went, so I had to wait at the door."

    Chao Yong smiled and said: "I'm going to Zhang Luojian Liquor House. If you want some wine, just go in. Why wait here."

    Li Kui glared and said, "I asked my soldiers to send a message. The eunuchs inside said that only the prince would reward him. There was no precedent of anyone coming to ask for it, so they didn't dare to make the decision."

    Although he said he didn¡¯t dare to make the decision, he refused.  Although the eunuchs in Daliang could no longer interfere with matters outside the palace, they were serving the royal family, so they were inevitably a little arrogant.  Moreover, it is true that no one came to ask for it. Wu Song and others also like strong liquor, and it is not that they dare not ask for it, but they will never come to ask for it the next day.

    Chao Yong couldn't say that the people in the palace had done something wrong, so he smiled and said: "There is not much wine left in the steaming the day before yesterday, otherwise I would have people deliver it to you all. You can follow me into the palace, and I will have people take the rest."  I¡¯ll send all the wine back to you. The spirits shop will be producing it tomorrow, and I¡¯ll send it to the others then.¡±

    When Li Kui heard this, he immediately said happily: "They don't need to send it away, I will just go in and move with you."

    Chao Yong led Li Kui into the Prince's Palace, and asked people to bring all the spirits left over from yesterday's drink to Li Kui, and asked two soldiers to escort him.Let Kui go back, lest Li Kui get drunk and cause trouble on the way and be arrested by Kaifeng Mansion.

    ¡°There are really no people who dare to cause trouble on the streets of Tokyo nowadays. Whether they are civil servants or military generals, as long as they violate the rules, they will be shackled and taken away.  If the officials themselves do not care about their dignity, the Kaifeng government will not save them any face.

    With the support of Emperor Liang and the prince who hated evil, the Kaifeng government had no scruples, and the people were not afraid of revenge from the powerful.

    The spirits distilled in the spirits house also need to be made from brewed wine. However, this year was a time of war and chaos. A lot of the tribute rice in Shouzhou was stolen by local officials and people, and the internal wine brewed by the palace was also much less.  Chao Gai only gave Chao Yong 10,000 kilograms of wine and asked him to distill it.

    The spirits shop wants to sell large quantities at high prices, so naturally it cannot buy wine from the market.  After Chao Gai tasted spirits, he also fell in love with spirits. He immediately transferred all the internal distilleries to the spirits workshop. Chao Yong asked them to start making large quantities of wine. The raw materials naturally could not be Shouzhou glutinous rice, but these wines needed  Brewing well is not a day¡¯s work.

    During the Song Dynasty, there were countless famous wines in the world, but the most famous wine came from Tokyo.  The most recognized wine in the world is the internal wine of the palace. The palace has a specialized winemaking institution, the internal winery and the French wine warehouse.

    The brewing method of the internal wine brewed by the internal wine shop originated from Puzhou in the middle of the river.  It was the brewing method that Chai Shizong obtained by breaking into the river.  After the founding of the People's Republic of China in the Northern Song Dynasty, this method was also used, and then many improvements were made, and the wine made became better and better, which gave it the reputation of "the best wine in the world".

    During the Northern Song Dynasty, the output of Neijiu increased year by year. In the early Song Dynasty, only 800 shi of glutinous rice was used for making wine in Neijiu. This increased to 3,000 shi during the reign of Zhenzong and 80,000 shi during the reign of Renzong.

    The winery¡¯s technology is constantly improving.  Even the raw materials are kept refined. After several generations of comparisons, it was found that the glutinous rice from Shouzhou on Huainan Road is the best for making wine.  From then on, all the glutinous rice used for making internal wine came from Shouzhou as tribute.

    In the end, only more than 1,000 jins of wine were distilled from the 10,000 jins of wine. Chao Yong had people deliver ten jins to each of the generals' houses in the city. Three hundred jins were kept in the palace of the prince, and the rest were sent to the palace for rewards.  It was up to Chao Gai to decide which civil servants would be appointed.

    The Mid-Autumn Festival is here in a blink of an eye, and the day of Daliang is also celebrated by the whole country.  Wealthy people decorate their pavilions to enjoy the moon, while ordinary people go to restaurants to grab a seat to enjoy the moon.  On this day, restaurants of all sizes in the city will re-decorate the colorful buildings in front of their doors and decorate the colorful buildings with new silk flowers.

    Early in the morning, the seats by the window were filled with guests. These people waited until night to admire the moon by the window. They would spend the whole day in the restaurant.  Otherwise, once you walk away, someone will grab the window seat.  You have to order the wine in the evening in advance, otherwise all the new wine will be sold out by noon, and the wine seller will have to withdraw from the restaurant.

    This is the case every Mid-Autumn Festival. Every restaurant will brew more wine, but the increase in production cannot always meet the needs of millions of people in the city.

    Probably because alcohol with more than ten degrees of alcohol content can be said to be suitable for both men and women.  This day is a day of carnival in the whole city.

    Sitting in a restaurant for a day is not boring. In order to attract drinkers, the restaurant is full of music and drums all day long.  There are also many "rushing" people to wait on them, playing flute, playing ruan, singing and playing.  Just to smile at the bartenders and ask for some rewards, some citizens often choose to go to restaurants to "catch up" when they have no means of living.

    These "rushing" people and restaurants promote each other.  Restaurants will not drive away these "take advantage" people.

    Jin Cuilian, whom Lu Zhishen met in Weizhou, had no choice but to go to the hotel to "catch up".  Make money and live.

    The spirits shop¡¯s wine still hasn¡¯t caught up with this festive season. In order to create the best wine brand in the world, Chao Yong decided to ensure his pure bloodline.  Moreover, buying a large amount of wine from the market can easily be detected by interested people.

    Chao Yong also gave the spirit a name, calling it "Haohan Liquor".  It not only shows that the wine is strong, but only heroes can drink this wine, it also means remembering the Liangshan era.

    There are roughly three forms of the quejiu system in the Northern Song Dynasty: First, Sijing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and other places implemented the quequ system, which allowed private brewing but implemented a strict monopoly system for "qu".  The second is to implement "official brewing" for all roads, prefectures, states and armies outside the above-mentioned areas, that is, to implement the official brewing monopoly on the basis of Quequ.  The third is to implement "official supervision of wine services" or "buying wine" in areas where the population is not very dense and the production and sales volume are not large.

    The Song Dynasty¡¯s wine tasting system can be said to be flexible, which can ensure the court¡¯s income without wasting too much manpower.  Where the sales are the best, the koji is controlled. If the official brewing is to be exclusively sold, and to meet the market demand, the number of people brewing in the imperial court will be an incredible number.  Where sales were average, the imperial court directly brewed the wine and sold it exclusively.  In places where sales were poor, the court did not waste manpower and directly contracted them to merchants.

    On this day, the Crown Prince's Palace was also decorated with lanterns and decorations, and it also undertook an important task. Five hundred palace maids were preparing to represent the people of Tokyo at Jinming Pond.Perform tap songs.

    Since the Song Dynasty, this event has been performed by the maids in the palace. However, when Chao Gai became emperor in Daliang, there were only dozens of maids left in the palace to serve He.  The rest of the people were sent to Tai Wong, so this task was transferred to Tai Wong.

    On this day, all officials do not need to go to court.

    Chao Yong came to the palace early with all the concubines. Hu Sanniang took the concubines to the harem to meet the He family, while Chao Yong was in front having a banquet with the officials.

    Chao Gai was originally a luxurious person by nature, but after becoming emperor, he was pressured by financial pressure and had to advocate frugality.  This is the same as most of the founding emperors. Every time there was a change of dynasty, there was a lot of waste waiting for improvement, so the founding emperor had to set an example.

    Daliang's exemption from agricultural taxes and all corv¨¦es greatly increased the pressure on the treasury. Therefore, Chao Gai took the initiative to reduce the palace expenses and gave all the maids and eunuchs to Chao Yong. Originally, he wanted Chao Yong to choose some of them and keep the rest.  of severance.  He is not good at women, so the task of spreading the Chao family can only be left to Chao Yong.

    ¡°But I didn¡¯t expect that Chao Yong came up with a ticket number, which not only paid for the expenses of the prince¡¯s uterus, but also made a huge profit.  Now the royal palace's expenses no longer come from the treasury, but from the profits of the royal bank.

    Since the palace does not require money from the treasury, Chao Gai can no longer take care of the affairs of the palace. Chao Yong can only allow Chao Yong to keep thousands of maids and eunuchs in the palace.

    Chao Gai did not object to officials being extravagant as long as they were not greedy or possessive.  The world of the Song Dynasty was extravagant, and the wine vessels in the 72 main stores were all silverware.  The people in the city were also accustomed to eating every grain, which was one of the reasons why the Song Dynasty's commerce was developed.

    Daliang had just changed dynasties, and Chao Gai could not change this trend, and he had no intention of changing it.  Everyone risked their lives to follow him to conquer the country, just to enjoy the wealth, and he had no choice but to let everyone enjoy it, so he ignored Chao Yong's extravagant life, which was a way of showing his attitude to everyone.

    However, the expenses in the palace were very frugal, and the round table and tray invented by Chao Yong were introduced into the palace.

    Many round tables were set up early in the banquet hall.  Who is at the same table as whom, which table is near the front, just arranging the seats makes the official in charge of the banquet turn his head.

    Chao Yong naturally sat at the same table as the military general. When everyone sat down, Li Kui said: "What you are eating today is Haohan wine? After eating Haohan wine, if you eat other wines, birds will appear in your mouth."

    Wu Song also said: "Tie Niu is right. After drinking Haohan wine, other wines will feel as bland as water and difficult to swallow."

    Chao Yong smiled and said: "I sent five hundred kilograms of the first batch of Haohan wine to the palace. If the emperor has not finished the reward, there should be Haohan wine in today's banquet."

    Li Kui shook his head and said: "With so many people, how can they afford hundreds of kilograms of wine? Next time there is new wine, give me more."

    Chao Yong asked curiously: "I just gave you ten kilograms of wine a few days ago. Isn't it all gone?"

    Li Kui scratched his head and said, "Eat some every day. I finished it yesterday."

    Chao Yong gave everyone wine for only five days, but Li Kui drank more than two kilograms of wine every day.  Chao Yong invited them to drink that day, and Wu Song, Li Kui and others all got drunk after weighing more than two kilograms.

    Chao Yong glared at Li Kui and said, "Aren't you drunk every day?"

    Li Kui patted his chest and said, "How could it be possible? I just eat more than one kilogram of Haohan wine with my meal every meal. Otherwise, I would have finished the ten kilograms of wine. Now I can eat two or three kilograms of wine and I will definitely not get drunk. I still want to watch it today.  Let¡¯s see how much good-looking wine I can eat.¡±

    After eating more than a kilogram of wine with food, everyone was shocked by Li Kui's bold words.

    Chao Yong was stunned for a moment, stared at Li Kui, and said: "From now on, you are not allowed to drink alcohol every day. You can't drink more than half a catty of wine at home alone, and you can't have dinner with others every day."

    Li Kui opened his mouth to speak, but when he saw Chao Yong's stern eyes, he had to close his mouth again.

    "Even a good man can't bear to eat like you. We fought for our lives to conquer the country together, and now that the world is unified, we are about to enjoy wealth and wealth together. Your body will not be able to bear it in a few years if you overeat like that. Twenty years, thirty years  After the New Year, we will have wine together, I don¡¯t want to miss anyone.¡±

    "Everyone was secretly moved when they heard what the prince said.

    Li Kui bargained in a disgraceful manner: "My body is stronger than that of an ox, how about I eat half a catty every day?"

    Chao Yong glared at Li Kui and said: "Eat half a catty every other day, or four taels a day, you choose. If you can't control yourself, I will send someone to keep an eye on you."

    When Li Kui heard this, he hurriedly waved his hands and said: "Don't stare at me, I only eat four taels a day. Without wine, the food will not taste good."

    After Chao Gai arrived, he casually said a few words and announced the banquet, and exquisite palace dishes were served one after another.

    There are also someAutumn specialties, such as orange-stuffed crab, are also called crab-stuffed orange.  Cut off the top of a large yellow ripe orange with branches, and remove the flesh, leaving only a little juice. Then put the crab roe, crab oil, and crab meat in the orange, and still cover the original cut with the cut off orange top with branches.  Put it into a small steamer, steam it with wine, vinegar and water, then mix it with vinegar and salt and eat it.

    Oranges and new wine are just available during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and crabs are at their most plump. Orange-stuffed crab is a fusion of the three. In one dish, you can taste all the flavors of new wine, oranges, and crabs.

    After the banquet in the palace was over, Chao Gai took all the officials to Jinmingchi in the west of the city.

    Jinmingchi has also been decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, creating an auspicious atmosphere.

    The emperor took the officials to Linshui Palace to continue the banquet and prepare to play with the moon.

    This time, there is no big fish or meat. If you still have an appetite, you can eat palace cakes.

    At this time, palace cakes are eaten in the palace, and among the people they are called small cakes and moon cakes. These special cakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival are also called "lotus leaf", "golden flower", "hibiscus", etc. The production method is very exquisite.  In fact, it is also the mooncake of later generations.

    Su Dongpo praised it in a poem: "Small cakes are like chewing the moon, with crispy and sweet fillings in them."

    Su is pastry, and glutinous rice is sugar. It is basically the same as moon cake fillings in later generations.

    When people made mooncakes, they not only paid attention to the taste, but also designed various patterns related to the legend of the Moon Palace.  The pattern on the cake is first drawn on paper and then pasted on the cake. Later, it is pressed directly on the mooncake with a mold.

    The palace cakes are carefully made by the royal chef. Not only are they delicious, but the patterns on them are also vivid. The patterns drawn by everyone are perfectly presented on the palace cakes through the molds made by skilled craftsmen and the royal chefs who are familiar with the fire.

    What you drink is Wan Yue Geng, which is carefully cooked with longan, lotus seeds, lotus root starch and other raw materials.

    When it gets a little dark, thousands of lanterns in the Jinming Pool light up together, illuminating the Jinming Pool.

    As soon as the lanterns turned on, singing and dancing began on the platform in the center of the pool.

    The east bank of Jinming Pool is already crowded with people. The main purpose of people coming out of the city to Jinming Pool is to watch the palace singing, and admiring the moon is the second priority.

    People who don¡¯t like crowds and want to admire the moon stay in the city, those who don¡¯t have money go to restaurants, and those who have money stay in their pavilions, watching the moon and drinking wine, enjoying a leisurely time.
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