At this time, the wealthy families in the world, except for the emperor, were the eight kings Zhao Yuanyan. The wine he brewed at home was as good as a small state, and the lees were even more abundant. Since the war in the northwest, all officials in the court have cut their salaries to help the border expenses, and the eight kings were no exception. First, Zhao Yuanyan asked for a year or two to reduce his salary by one or two years, but the emperor refused. In the end, he reduced the minister's money by half every year by hundreds of thousands.

Who is Zhao Yuanyan? He has been used to spending money for decades, and he has lost hundreds of thousands of yuan every year. He soon felt short of money. However, the war in the northwest was delayed for a long time and could not see the hope of the minister's money recovery. The boss was impatient. At first, he was willing to use his salary to help the border expenses, saying that he was wrong to be a false benevolence and righteousness. At that time, he really helped the country. However, his family was insufficient and some complaints about the court were true, and the two were not contradictory. Especially for officials who were in charge of the war in the northwest and the prime minister in the court, Zhao Yuanyan almost publicly scolded him. The chaos in a small country could not be pacified, which was too useless.

Du Zhongxiao steamed wine for wealthy families in the capital. In less than a month, he started drinking strong wine in the capital. Of course, this wine cannot be sold, but it does not prevent decent people from giving gifts. One is rare, and the other is that since it cannot be sold and cannot be finished, the wealthy families will send it to you. Especially some officials who have good wine, who pursue the feeling of drunkenness, fall in love with strong wine.

When Zhao Yuanyan learned the news, he asked someone to call Du Zhongxiao, who was steaming wine, to the mansion.

In the flower hall, Zhao Yuanyan saw a young man under twenty years old, wearing a blue shirt, and asked, "Are you Du Kaizhao who steams wine?"

Du Zhongxiao bowed: "When I return to the king, I am not a waiter, but a scholar who came to Beijing to study. Because I sell wine at home and have the skill of steaming wine from wine lees, I help wealthy people steam wine in my spare time. Wine lees are useless things, and it is a pity to put them on and rot. It is always good to steam some wine."

Zhao Yuanyan muttered in a low voice: "How can you make wine for someone else? You have lost your dignity. Are you short of money in the capital? I will give you some money and study hard, and don't do such things."

Du Zhongxiao said, "The king misunderstood. I made wine for others not for money. My father was the one who failed the imperial examination last time. He suffered countless hardships when he returned to his hometown and almost lost his life on the way. Fortunately, I got this method of steaming wine from a Taoist in the countryside. The magistrate and the magistrate opened a restaurant in the county, and the family business was well maintained. My family relied on this place to settle down. I once made a wish to steam wine with wine lees for others. I bought as much rice as I ate and gave porridge to the poor. This time, I steamed wine in the capital, and it was the same for the poor to eat some porridge, not for money."

Zhao Yuanyan nodded repeatedly after hearing this: "So that's it. No wonder I attached the Ma Wang Taiwei family to distribute porridge every day, and everyone praised it. Even the palace called his family the benefits. It turned out that this is the reason."

The Deputy Envoy of the Privy Councilor Wang Yiyong was a host of horses, Zhao Yuanyan's brother-in-law, and the news there could not be hidden from him. Du Zhongxiao steamed wine at Wang Yiyong's house for many days, and served porridge in proportion every day, making a lot of noise in Kaifeng Prefecture. Du Zhongxiao steamed wine, and gave porridge according to proportion, and the reward was not fixed. He was still young and had countless ways to make money, so there was no need to rely on this. Moreover, he was talking about studying in the capital, but he steamed wine everywhere, and collecting money was just a waste of time. At this time, money was far less useful than famous.

After thinking about it, Zhao Yuanyan asked again: "How is your restaurant running? The wine is steamed from the lees, and the lees are still there. Could it be that they will still be thrown away? I heard that people can sell them to farmers who raise pigs outside the city. But people like me have a lot of wine lees, which one can buy them?"

"Go back to the king, I have pigs raised by myself at home, so I don't have to worry about the way to go for wine lees."

Zhao Yuanyan nodded repeatedly: "This is a way. I came to you today, and I was also steaming wine for my house. I just saw that you were a scholar, and I was afraid that it would delay your studies. Since I had made a wish, that would be another matter. Tomorrow, I would also make a wish to buy more rice than you originally planned to cook porridge and give it to you. This is a good thing, I wonder what you mean?"

Du Zhongxiao bowed: "It is good to have such kindness. I have to stay in the capital for a few days, so it's nothing to steam wine for the king. But the king needs to be more servants to help, and I'm on the side to give advice and not to miss the study."

"Okay, then that's the case. I will set aside a courtyard here to make your study, and everything else will follow your instructions."

After thinking about it, Du Zhongxiao said again: "When it comes to steaming wine, the little officials of Susheren in the court have been in love with me. I have been studying together these days. He knows the best about steaming wine. I can't stay in the capital for a long time. It's a pity that I abandoned this matter, so I wanted to write a booklet of how to steam wine and present it to the court. This booklet was written by Su Xiaoguan and me. It would be better for the king to let him and me write it in the king's mansion. After steaming the wine for the king, he presented the booklet of steaming wine and from then on the court to do this, wouldn't it be nice?"

Zhao Yuanyan was stunned: "Would you offer this method to the court? Wouldn't this ruin your family's food and clothing?"

Du Zhongxiao smiled and shook his head: "Now, my family can only steam wine in Xuzhou. It is a place in a state, which is enough for the whole family to eat and wear."

Zhao Yuanyan nodded happily: "If you have this heart, the court will have a great reward! Well, you have been steaming wine in my house these days, and you want something, even if you say you are in charge of the government. I will help you accomplish this and also do things for the court. The war in the northwest began, and the court was at this time when it was time to use money."

After hearing this, Du Zhongxiao felt aroused: "Spirited wine is different from ordinary wine. It will not be rancid after being stored for a long time, which is most conducive to long-distance trafficking. If the court makes wine, it can be transported from the capital to the northwest, saving the front-line grain and rice."

Zhao Yuanyan heard it interestingly and asked Du Zhongxiao how to operate it. This matter is simple. Not only does it have wine lees in the capital, but there are many state troops from the capital to the northwest, and they each brew wine, with countless wine lees. If the wine inside is steamed and transported to the northwest in a large tank, the quantity is quite considerable. At this time, the wine on the northwest front line is very important strategic material, and a large amount of grain is consumed every year. The grain on the front line is not comparable to the mainland. If one bucket is transported there, several buckets of wine will be consumed on the road. If the wine steamed from the wine lees is replaced, a large amount of military ration can be saved every year.

Du Zhongxiao thought of this on a whim. Zhao Yuanyan asked, and he thought it was very feasible. Now, along the three roads along the border, each road has accumulated a large amount of wine lees, and the number is very considerable. Because it cannot be dealt with, some people have slaughtered to the local area and have even caused lawsuits.

Zhao Yuanyan was undecided with the war in the northwest for a long time, the court was short of funds, and his life was also affected. There was a reason to reduce military rations on the front line, and he was relieved to make up for the money he had paid for in recent years.

The more I thought about it, the more I felt that this was okay. Zhao Yuanyan called the manager Du, who was in charge of the mansion, and ordered him to help Du Zhongxiao steam wine. No need to report anything Du Zhongxiao needs, just pay money from the account.

Du Zhongxiao hesitated several times, hoping that Zhao Yuanyan would support him and Su Song to make the original steamer machine, and finally resisted. It would be better not to make this clear. Just count the cost into the steaming wine, and he and Su Song slowly tinker with it. The pile of mountain-like wine lees in the palace were all steamed out of the wine, and I don’t know how much firewood and charcoal would be consumed. How much money can be added to make a special pot?
Chapter completed!