pjbooks Chapter 120 adds varieties of fruit wine
Chapter 120 adds varieties of fruit wine
"Da Ya, what did you mean by what you just said?" Wen Dashan asked in a low voice, suppressing his excitement.
Wen Yuxia said with a faint smile, "It means exactly what it says. We'll ask the Crown Prince to help us register your household in the village on the outskirts of the capital!"
She could help with the household registration, but the Yang family would have to pay for the land and building the house themselves.
Wen Dashan asked excitedly, "Will the Crown Prince agree?"
The refugees didn't head towards the capital because they knew that villages on the outskirts of Beijing wouldn't accept them, and that going to the capital would mean being sent back to their hometowns.
If he had connections to settle down in a village on the outskirts of Beijing, Wen Dashan would certainly be willing to transfer his family's household registration there. Beijing is a bustling city, and making money there is much easier than in Xinchuan County.
"Don't worry, I will mention this to the Crown Prince," Wen Yuxia said softly.
Yesterday, in Grandpa Wen's courtyard, Wen Yuxia suddenly had the idea of taking the Wen family away, leaving Xinchuan County, leaving Grandpa Wen, and going to live somewhere Grandpa Wen couldn't find her.
In this way, the Wen brothers wouldn't have to work themselves to the bone to grow crops for their grandfather, and Wen Dashan wouldn't be resentful about the subsidies his grandfather gave to Wen Zhihua's family.
Xia Yichen has been busy searching for sugarcane lately, and Wen Yuxia hasn't seen him for a long time. However, based on the method of making alcohol and sugar, Wen Yuxia believes that Xia Yichen will definitely help the Wen family settle in the suburbs of Beijing.
The reunion was brief. Wen Yuxia stayed at the residence in the south of the city, had dinner with Wen Dashan and his wife, and told Wen Dashan that she would be returning to the capital early the next morning.
Afterwards, he went to the warehouse that Butler Li had rented to store the fruit wine, put all the fruit wine into his spatial storage, and then returned to the mansion in the west of the city: "The fruit wine has been taken away, here's the key."
Butler Li took the warehouse keys and said respectfully, "This old servant will go to cancel the lease first thing tomorrow morning."
Lin Zhuangtou and his men used mule carts, oxcarts, and handcarts, and he also rented ten horse-drawn carts. It took them two full days to transport the fruit wine from the three villages to the warehouse.
Butler Li found it strange that he hadn't received any news about the more than 9,000 catties of fruit wine being transported away. However, he knew his place and didn't ask questions he shouldn't. With these doubts, he arranged for the cook to work overtime that night to prepare dry rations for Wen Yuxia.
Wen Yuxia got up just as dawn was breaking. After washing up and having breakfast, she instructed Steward Li to visit Wen Dashan in the south of the city regularly. Then, carrying some steamed buns prepared by the kitchen, she rode off in a cloud of dust.
Outside the city, Nan Er, Nan San, Bei Yi, and Bei Er were already waiting on the side with their horses. "Young Master Wen, Young Master Wen!" Nan Er waved his arm and shouted loudly when he saw Wen Yuxia riding slowly.
Ten days later, Wen Yuxia arrived at the farm on the outskirts of Beijing under cover of night, moved all the fruit wine from her spatial storage, and placed it outside the farm. She then had Nan Er climb over the wall to find Gu Zhuangzhuang to help carry the wine.
Gu Zhuangzhuang led the servants out, and upon seeing the densely packed rows of large wine jars, he almost burst into tears. Good heavens, when will they ever be able to move all this?
Bei Yi thoughtfully said, "Gu Zhuangtou, stop looking. There are ninety-five jars in total. Hurry up and move them!"
A jar weighing a hundred catties was a headache even for Gu Zhuangtou and Bei Yi herself, let alone the village head. She called to Bei Er, and the two of them carried a jar of wine into the village. Nan Er followed suit and joined Nan San as porters.
Gu Zhuangzhuang dared not let the servants carry the wine jars on foot, so he quickly sent people to fetch mule carts, oxcarts, and handcarts to haul the wine over.
After the fruit wine was delivered to the manor, Wen Yuxia had nothing more to do. She returned to the main courtyard alone, washed away her fatigue, and went to bed to play chess with the Duke of Zhou (a figure in Chinese mythology associated with sleep).
Gu Zhuangzhuang and his group moved the wine from midnight until noon the next day. With the help of Nan Ersi and his colleagues, they finally managed to put the eighty-five jars of fruit wine into the warehouse.
As instructed by Wen Yunxia, Gu Zhuangzhuang personally escorted the remaining ten jars of fruit wine outside the manor to the tavern.
Back in the capital, Wen Yuxia placed the small gifts that Wen Dashan and others had given to Wen Yunhong in his study, and then returned to her courtyard.
Leaning back on the soft couch, lost in thought, I realized that besides pomegranates, apricots, jujubes, sea buckthorn berries, plums, peaches, kiwis, strawberries, and blueberries can all be used to make wine.
Wen Yuxia shouted loudly, "Bei Yi, go and buy me some of all the fruit available in the market!"
Bei Yi accepted the order and left, returning shortly with tangerines, jujubes, and persimmons. "Princess," he said, "I could only buy three kinds of fruit."
As an excellent pharmacist, Wen Yuxia had considerable knowledge of fruit wines in her previous life. Winter jujube wine, with its rich jujube aroma, mellow and sweet taste, is said to have anti-aging and beautifying effects.
Citrus wine has the effects of promoting blood circulation and stopping bleeding, regulating qi and relieving pain, and can also supplement the body with a variety of nutrients. Most importantly, citrus wine does not require the addition of white wine; it can be made with just yeast and rock sugar.
Wen Yuxia decisively said, "Buy large quantities of tangerines and winter jujubes. If they're not available in the capital, we'll buy them from surrounding cities. Bei Yi, I'll leave this matter to you."
Bei Yi was very efficient; that very afternoon, he took ten cartloads of fruit to a farm on the outskirts of Beijing. The next morning, Wen Yuxia, dressed in neat men's clothing, rode alone to the farm.
The steps for making jujube wine and pomegranate wine are the same and very simple. Wen Yuxia explained it once, and the workers in the distillery got the hang of it.
Making citrus wine is quite complicated. Peeled citrus fruits are placed in a wine jar and crushed, then yeast and rock sugar are added, and finally it is sealed. Wen Yuxia demonstrated and carefully explained the proportions of yeast, rock sugar and citrus fruits.
"Seal and let it sit for seven days. You need to open the jar and stir it every day to mix the pulp and juice evenly. By the way, the citrus should only be put halfway into the jar, not full, otherwise the fermented citrus will burst the jar..."
Wen Yuxia reiterated the instructions to filter the citrus pulp seven days later, let it settle for two days, and then filter the citrus wine again. Finally, she told Gu Zhuangzhuang to put the second-filtered citrus wine into a pot and steam it until it bubbled, then let it cool and seal it in a jar for storage.
"Princess, rest assured, we have remembered everything you said and there will definitely be no mistakes," Gu Zhuangzhuang stated on behalf of the workers in the distillery.
Wen Yuxia nodded in satisfaction, turned and took two steps outside, then stopped and turned back, saying, "The method for making fruit wine must not be leaked. Fruit wine sent out of the estate must have the fruit pulp filtered out completely."
To differentiate pomegranate wine, jujube wine, and citrus wine, Wen Yuxia named the pomegranate wine "Fruit Wine No. 1," and the jujube wine and citrus wine "Fruit Wine No. 2" and "Fruit Wine No. 3," respectively.
Gu Zhuangzhuang chuckled and said, "Princess, in the future, when we brew other fruit wines, they'll be No. 4 and No. 5 fruit wines, right?"
Wen Yuxia nodded: "Yes, let's all work together to find more fruit... and try to brew the No. 20 fruit wine as soon as possible."
Wen Yuxia didn't know what kinds of fruits existed in ancient times, so mobilizing everyone on the farm to go up the mountain to find wild fruits helped her quickly learn about the types of fruits in ancient times.