A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 172 A slap in the face
After returning to Yusukuchuan, I naturally had to visit the Du family in Fanchuan.

Li Yi didn't want to go in his heart. He already hated Guo very much, but Du Shiniang was naive and innocent, and Guo was so cruel to her. Not long after, Shiniang, who had returned to her hometown to visit her relatives and worship her ancestors, began to miss Guo again.

I even thought that my grandmother was just old and confused, and not really that heartless.

What can Li Yi say about this? A distant relationship will not separate close relatives.

"The old lady will be eighty next year. It's nothing we can do if she gets confused due to her age," Li Yi said with a laugh. "Let's go tomorrow and take some gifts. The old lady is quite pitiful. She's so old, but her two biological sons are not around. You are the only grandchild in Chang'an, and now you're married."

"Alang, please understand that Azu is old and don't be angry with her." Du Shiniang took his arm and shook it coquettishly.

"Don't worry, she is your grandmother. Even if she is not confused, I can't make a fuss about it, let alone her age." Li Yi coaxed her.
Anyway, it was Guo who was against him, not Shi Niang.

Seeing how generous he was, Shi Niang was very happy. Women are easy to please, so she immediately went to discuss with Yu Youniang and the others what gifts to bring home tomorrow.

Li Yi, Liu Heizi, Luo San and others went to the cliff outside the fort.
Luo San helped him dig many caves under the cliff to store fermented persimmons.

There are earthen caves one after another. When you open the door, you will see large jars inside the long caves, which are full of persimmons that have been collected and crushed with wooden pestles.

More than a dozen caves are already filled with it, and it is still being processed and stored continuously.

"We followed your instructions, Alang, and fermented the crushed persimmons in a warm room with a stove for seven days, stirring them every day to keep them fermented.

After seven days, it is moved to the cave, and rice bran and wine lees are added according to the recipe to promote fermentation.

Li Yi nodded and checked the fermenting persimmons.

"Remember to use wood when crushing the persimmons and when mixing them for fermentation. Never use iron, otherwise it will affect the color and taste of the persimmons."

"There are also two fermentations. The room temperature in the fermentation room must be well controlled, and our recipes and ingredients must be constantly reviewed and improved."

Li Yi is currently making persimmon wine. He has successfully trial-made wine and is now making it in large quantities. He uses both wine lees and wine yeast to ferment it.

Some ferment in caves, some in underground cellars, or in ordinary houses.
I'm still working on it and thinking about the summary.

The overall situation is not bad.
After one and a half months at the fastest and two months at the slowest, the fermented persimmons can be officially distilled to make wine.

“Why do we have to use cocklebur when distilling wine?”

In the evening, Shi Niang asked curiously,
Cock bean grass is a kind of wild grass. When steaming wine, you need to chop the wild grass into eight to ten centimeters of segments, mix it with fermented persimmons, stir evenly and then steam it.

"Because this can increase the space between the persimmons, making them loose and breathable, it can increase the amount of wine produced."

This wild grass looks like a miniature reed, and its spikes resemble rooster combs. It is best mixed with persimmons.

"Can't we use something else instead, like wheat straw or rice straw?"

"Grain straw is also OK, but the effect is not as good as rooster beans, and wheat straw is not OK, the wine tastes wrong when distilled."

Shi Niang had never thought that there were so many details to this thing. "Then why can't we use iron tools but only wooden tools to pound persimmons?"

"If you pound persimmons with iron, they will turn black, and the wine produced will taste bitter."

After the incident where Auntie Pang leaked the bean curd skin recipe,

Li Yi learned his lesson. Now, whether he is making persimmon liquor or soap, he tries to separate the processes.
For example, brewing wine.
He bought and pounded persimmons, performed primary and secondary fermentation, added koji, lees, and even added rice bran, and finally added wild grass.
Then to distillation,

Each process is separated as much as possible, and no one is given the opportunity to know about it.

Especially some critical links,

He only used his own slaves and no outsiders.

learn from mistakes,
You have to be careful when you need to be careful.

In fact, distilling persimmon cakes is not difficult. However, if they are not separated, it is easy for others to learn it by stealing.

The final step of distillation is to place a wooden steamer on the big pot, put the mixed liquor into it just like steaming rice, then put a wine drainer on the wooden steamer, and then put a griddle on it.

This was also made by Li Yi in his own workshop. He asked the blacksmith to make it according to the blueprint. It was cast in one go using tin. It looked like a deep pot.

The bottom of the pot is specially cast into a pointed shape, and the tin griddle acts as a cooler.

The pointed bottom should be aimed at the wine sluice, which is actually a spoon with a copper tube. One end of the copper tube passes through the hole on the steamer.
When steaming wine, fill the griddle with cold water and ice cubes to cool it down. Light a fire below and keep the water in the griddle cold. Scoop out some water every once in a while and add cold water again.
In this way, when the wine in the steamer is heated, the wine vapor will rise up and when it encounters the cold griddle, it will condense into wine and drip into the spoon-shaped sieve below.

It flows out of the steamer through the copper tube and is collected in a bowl or basin.

The core is distillation, hot steam condenses into water when it is cooled.

The temperature of freshly steamed persimmons is high, some can reach 70 or 80 degrees, and the temperature decreases as the temperature goes on.

Like now, after a heavy snowfall, when the weather is cold and the ground is frozen, it is a good time to steam and roast persimmons.

The alcohol content of distilled liquor varies at the beginning and end, and the alcohol content can be adjusted through secondary distillation, blending, etc.

If you want 45 degrees, it is 45 degrees. If you want 70 degrees, it is 70 degrees. It is all adjustable.

The first time you put cold water in the Tianguo griddle and cool it, the wine that flows out is the head, which can reach more than 75 degrees. The third time you put cold water in and cool it, the wine that flows out is the tail, which is now very low in alcohol.

Generally, the head of wine only accounts for 10% of the wine produced in a steamer.

Only the wine distilled after the second water change has a moderate alcohol content and a more mellow taste.
In fact, this is Erguotou, a liquor that is pure and of good quality.

Cut off the head and tail and store the fine wine.

This Erguojiu with the head and tail cut off is delicious and not a headache.

The head of the beer is high in alcohol, strong, and contains many impurities, which can easily harm your body and will definitely give you a headache. The tail of the beer has a light aroma, no hops, and may even be a bit muddy. It tastes sour and astringent, with a strong flavor, and is difficult to drink.

The most critical and technical step in making persimmon steamed wine is
It is to take the wine by cutting off the head and tail.
How to judge when to cut off the head, when to remove the tail, and when to change the water and take out the wine are also very particular. This thing can only be summed up by experience through multiple operations.

It is easy to say that it is easy to cut off the head and tail, and pick the wine after the flowers are removed, but the actual operation depends entirely on experience.

Of course, there is no need to waste the head and tail of the wine. You can put it in the pot and steam it again to get the wine, but it is definitely not as good as the second pot of wine taken directly.

This requires separate storage and sales in different grades, and even different brands of persimmon-yaki must be made.

However, persimmon liquor is not brewed with grains, and its head tastes much better than the head of liquor steamed from sorghum and other materials. Some people even like to drink the head of liquor.

Persimmon wine is easier to drink and not as spicy as ordinary white wine.

But Li Yi felt that Persimmon Shao was still a bit too strong for people who had never tasted distilled liquor in the Tang Dynasty, so it was better to leave less of the liquor.

"I'm going to visit your grandfather tomorrow and bring some freshly brewed persimmon wine. This persimmon wine is made from fruit, the essence of the fruit. It can dispel cold and invigorate blood circulation. The elderly are always afraid of the cold, so they should drink some persimmon wine. It can prolong their lifespan!"

"Ah, is it really that good?"

"That's natural."

Li Yi wasn't saying that liquor invigorates blood circulation and unclogs meridians. Of course, everything should be consumed in moderation. For an eighty-year-old man, drinking a little as medicine to regulate his body wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. But drinking too much would be a bad thing.

In the evening, Shi Niang said that Jin's life was not over yet and asked him to continue sowing.

But in the end, Jin Yushu was not favored.
After returning to Luojiabao, Zhaocai took possession of Li Yi.

Li Yi gave it a hot bath, and after drying its fur, it jumped directly onto Li Yi's bed, occupying the position that originally belonged to Jin Yushu.
Jin Yushu fought with it for position, trying to carry it aside, but ended up getting hit by a few claws. Fortunately, it wasn't as severe as the beating of Lai Fu.

As a result, that night, Jin Yusu and Li Yi could only sleep together with a large cattail flower between them.

This raccoon cat was very energetic. Jin Yushu tried to get over it several times in the middle of the night but failed.

Tianming,

Jin Yusu had panda eyes and a haggard face. He muttered to Lihua with resentment.

Li Yi rested up for a night and was full of energy in the morning.

After breakfast,

He and Shi Niang took servants and maids and many gifts to the Du family in Fanchuan.

After a long time,

Then he came to the Marquis of Fengxiang's mansion,
But I found it was a little quieter than before.
Now, when Li Yi looks at the Du family of Fengxiang Marquis Mansion, he doesn't seem to care so much.

"The old lady is unwell and cannot be disturbed."

A female steward beside Guo came to keep the guests away. She didn't look at all happy towards Li Yi, the new son-in-law, and didn't even look at him.

"Shi Niang came here specially to visit the old lady," Shuying said from the side.

The woman glared at Shuying. "I'm talking to Shi Niang, why are you butting in? You're just a lowly servant, don't you realize your status?"

Li Yi listened to this and made a veiled complaint.

The woman was still talking dirty, and it was obvious that she really didn't take Li Yi seriously.

She didn't even take Shi Niang seriously.

Shi Niang's face looked ugly, but she couldn't get angry. After all, this person was someone close to her grandmother. She was the daughter born to Guo's maid who came with her as a dowry, and she had always been by her side.

Li Yi took a step forward.
The woman still stood at the gate, blocking the way.

Li Yi sneered,
Just slap your hand and you'll be fine.
A loud slap in the face.

The woman was stunned.
Everyone at the gate of Fengxiang Marquis Mansion was also stunned.

"what!"

The woman was stunned for a while, and finally came to her senses. She screamed and pointed at Li Yi, "You, you country boy, dare to hit me."

Li Yi laughed loudly twice.
He slapped her twice loudly.

"I was granted the title of Founding Earl of Qianshui County by His Majesty, and I have the Nine Revolutions of Merit. I am also a sixth-rank deputy supervisor of the Palace Gardens, a fifth-rank court official, and I was given a red robe by the Emperor.

He married Shi Niang in a formal ceremony.
In the Fengxiang Marquis Mansion, I am also the grandson-in-law. If not half the owner, then at least I am a distinguished guest.

Who the hell are you? You're just a servant, how dare you scold me, a peasant?"

The woman's face was swollen with slap marks. In her haste, she had called out the name Guo usually used to call Li Yi. Now she knew it was wrong.
His face was red and ugly.
"Shuying is Shi Niang's personal maid, a dowry maid, and now she is a member of my Li family. She is a guest here, so what qualifications do you have to scold a guest?
Is this the rule of your Fengxiang Marquis Mansion?

I think the Jingzhao Du family and the Fengxiang Marquisate would never be so unruly. It must be that you don't know the rules. Then I, your grandson-in-law, will teach this unruly bitch a lesson on behalf of the Du family."

Shi Niang also stood on Li Yi's side at this time.
"Liu, please stop being so presumptuous and get out of the way."

Liu was slapped three times and scolded so much that she dared not talk back. She immediately took the opportunity to run into the inner courtyard to complain.

Li Yi stood at the door and glanced at the servants of the Du family, "Shi Niang is coming home to visit her grandmother, who of you wants to stop her?

Anyone else, come here, I'll give him two more slaps!"

The servants all retreated. He even dared to hit Miss Liu, the manager of the old lady. This son-in-law Sun was simply a living devil. Who would dare to encounter such bad luck?

"Madam, come in."

At this time, a figure hurried out from the door. It was Du Sanlang.

"Oh, Shi Niang and Wu Yi are here," he said with a wry smile.

Li Yi smiled and said to him, "Is Third Uncle here to welcome my wife and me in, or is he here to block the way like that bitch surnamed Liu?"

A good dog doesn't block the road. Li Yi's words were already a very rude insult.

Du Sanlang knew how powerful this guy was now, and he smiled awkwardly and said, "That idiot has been staying with the old lady for a long time, and he has become more and more unruly. Please rest assured that I will punish him severely later.
Please come inside quickly. It's freezing outside and the wind is strong. Don't freeze to death."

Li Yi took Shi Niang's hand and strode into the gate of Fengxiang Marquis Mansion.

All the servants in the mansion were silent and retreated.

(End of this chapter)