Not long after Xiahou Ba and his entourage left, news of Wuguan was sent to Xiangyang, and the Qingzhi Sword was indeed of great use.
Liu Qi was overjoyed. He named Wei Yan the general of Pingkou and sent Fu Shu to lead 3,000 troops for reinforcements.
With the danger of Wuguan and these two generals, 10,000 defenders are enough to fight against 100,000 Cao soldiers.
Then Sun Qian was invited and asked to go to Wollongong again to ask Zhuge Liang for advice, and then go to Guanzhong to contact Ma Teng to stir up the situation in Guanzhong.
After Zhuge Liang got married, he originally wanted to go to Xiangyang to take office, but it was already winter and it was not suitable to send troops. It was a time to recuperate and the internal affairs had enough manpower, so Liu Qi let him spend his honeymoon at home.
Historically, Zhuge Liang had a son in his later years, probably because he followed Liu Bei around and was busy with political affairs all year round. He was overworked and had no heirs. As a result, his descendants were young and suffered the disaster of annihilation. Although it is heroic, it is also regrettable.
Now that Jingzhou is stable, there is plenty of time for the couple to reunite. If Zhuge Liang had given birth to Zhuge Zhan in his prime and taught him carefully, he would have become a great success.
At this time, Soochow has also withdrawn its troops, Guan Yu is guarding Jiangxia, and Sun Quan does not dare to act rashly. The world seems to be calm, but in fact there is an undercurrent, and there will be a war in the coming year.
Liu Qi stepped up his sword studies from Wang Yue and competed with Xu Shu, Shi A, etc., and added some of his later ideas, making rapid progress and everyone enjoying themselves.
On this day, Xi Guanzi happily brought a pot of wine and asked Liu Qi to taste it. The rich aroma of wine was unique in this era.
The distillation method proposed by Liu Qi for purification was improved a lot after several attempts.
The boiling point of alcohol is lower than that of water, so the wine vapor rises first. Although Xi Yuan didn't understand this principle, she knew it was feasible once she tried it.
Immediately, he spent a lot of money to hire a winemaker to try it out. From the initial two pots to building a wine steamer and still, the purity became higher and higher.
The ancients were not stupid, they just didn't find a way. This method may seem simple, but just this step may require hundreds of years of exploration.
"This is just Erguotou watered down!"
Liu Qi still shook his head: "These distilled wines can be purified many times, and they are brewed with different grains and have different tastes."
Xi Guan stomped his feet and complained: "Oh my brother, do you know that the wine yield rate of this method is extremely low. This pot only uses ten jars of ordinary wine, and the cost is more than ten times higher..."
"What are you afraid of?" Liu Qi tasted it carefully. This was just puree, and the taste was still a bit lacking. He said, "Things are rare and expensive. If you have such a fine wine, why don't you worry about not being able to sell it at a high price?"
"That's the truth." Xi Guan still rubbed his hands habitually: "It's just that the investment is a bit too big. It consumes a lot of food every day. Did you know that the price of food increased five times during the Battle of Nanyang?"
Liu Qi put down his wine glass and asked with a smile: "Have you ever thought that besides grain, other things can also be used to make wine? For example, fruits, pine nuts, etc."
"This..." Xi Guan's eyes widened: "Isn't this whimsical?"
"Practice is the only criterion for testing truth!" Liu Qi waved his hand grandly: "If you don't try, how will you know?"
"Okay, I'll let my little sister know when I get back!" Xi Guan saw that Liu Qi didn't seem to be joking, so he was doubtful and said, "My little sister said that this wine is about to be released, and it doesn't have a name yet. Please pick one for me."
Liu Qi nodded and said: "I will go to the wine shop in the next few days and discuss it later."
After Xi Guan left, Liu Qi immediately asked Liu Neng to drive and went straight to Huang's house with distilled wine.
The Cai family was exterminated, but Huang Chengyan and his wife were not affected. Liu Qi knew that this matter had nothing to do with Mrs. Da Cai, and did not want to antagonize the Huang family.
Huang Chengyan was very well-known in Jingzhou, but he had no intention of becoming famous. Liu Biao had invited him several times, but he had always rejected him. In his spare time, he had better drink wine, and the wine gourd was always with him.
The affairs of the Cai family were related to politics, and could even rise to the level of imperial power. Liu Qi could not explain much, so he could only bring this pot of wine with him, hoping to eliminate this barrier and help Zhuge Liang relieve his worries.
Liu Qi from the Huang family also visited several times, but later with Mrs. Cai's strong suppression, Huang Chengyan also deliberately kept a distance from Liu Biao and never came again in the past few years.
When the carriage stopped, I saw that the courtyard gate was more mottled than before, and the earthen wall was covered with grass. However, the old plum tree in the courtyard became more and more lush, with its branches sticking out of the wall.
Liu Neng stepped forward and knocked on the door, and a middle-aged man opened the door. It was Huang Chengyan's second son Huang Huan. Liu Qi was slightly startled when he saw it, but his expression was indifferent: "I wonder if the general is here, what are you doing?"
Liu Qi cupped his fists and said with a smile: "I'm sorry to bother you, but I came here specifically to visit...Senior Huang, I wonder if your father is here?"
He used to call Huang Chengyan his uncle, but now that his brother-in-law has become his enemy, this title is a bit embarrassing.
Huang Huan frowned slightly, as if he wanted to refuse, but Liu Qi was the current leader of Jingzhou, and he did not dare to make the decision privately. He paused and said, "Please wait!"
Seeing Huang Huan actually closing the door, Liu Neng was so angry that he stepped forward and kicked the door: "What a big arrogance, who gave him the courage?"
Liu Qi stopped him and said with a smile: "We are here to pay homage to Mr. Huang, why should we meet like other people?"
After a while, Huang Huan opened the door and greeted him: "My father is in the study. General, please come in."
Liu Qi nodded and walked in. Liu Neng held the wine bottle and muttered as he passed by: "It's really nice to meet the king of hell, but hard to deal with the kid."
Liu Qi turned around and scolded: "Liu Neng, you are so distracted now!"
Liu Neng chuckled, lowered his head and stopped talking. He thought that half a year ago, his father and son followed Liu Qi, and even eating became a problem.
Liu Fu asked someone to buy a few acres of land and allowed him to return to his hometown to settle down. He almost married Widow Wang from a neighboring village. At that time, how could he have imagined that he would be where he is today?
When he came to the door of the study, he smelled the aroma of wine. Huang Chengyan had white hair and beard, but he was in good spirits and was concentrating on making wine.
In the Han Dynasty, all people drank fermented wine. The alcohol content was very low and the quality was poor. The wine needed to be filtered with gauze. Good wine will have sediment after being stored for a long time, so the wine had to be boiled temporarily.
Liu Qi was not in a hurry and stood quietly at the door. After a while, Huang Chengyan raised his head, shook his head and said with a smile: "The older you get, the more confused you become. I forget everything as soon as I touch the wine. It's really rude for you to have a distinguished guest." very!"
Huang Chengyan and Sima Hui were both famous people in Jingzhou, but they were quite different. They were forthright and did not stick to etiquette. They wore short shirts and sandals when they went out. They could not be recognized among the common people, and they were quite cynical.
"It doesn't matter!" Liu Qi walked in with a smile and clasped his fists and said, "I know that I have a good cup of wine, senior, so I sent it here specially. I don't have to cook wine and eat it anymore."
"Wine that doesn't need to be boiled?" Huang Chengyan's white eyebrows twitched, his eyes fixed on the wine pot in Liu Neng's arms, and he stroked his beard and said, "This is just a small pot, the general is too stingy."
Liu Qi smiled and said: "Although it is only half a catty, I am still afraid that my senior will get drunk!"
"Hahaha -" Huang Chengyan stroked his beard and laughed, "I have been drinking for decades, and I used to fight without getting drunk. Even though I am older now, I still can't get drunk after a thousand cups. What's the use of this small pot?"
Liu Qi smiled lightly, knowing that Huang Chengyan was not bragging. The alcohol content of these liquors was equivalent to that of beer.
It sounds like you have a lot of alcohol capacity to fight without getting drunk, but it is almost just a beer. In later generations of barbecue stalls, bars and other places, there are many people with this kind of alcohol capacity.
But what he brought today was 40 to 50% liquor. Who dares to drink like that?
