We agreed on a famine year, so how come your family has enough rice and wheat flour?

Lin Feng wandered around the city and bought dozens of kilograms of sulfur and charcoal.

They also went to Yong'an Hall to sell the deer antlers. When the young master Cui Jian saw that Lin Feng still had deer hides, he bought them for ten taels of silver.

A total of sixty taels of silver were sold.

Lin Feng went to the liquor stalls near the blacksmith street again.

It was the same liquor stall I'd patronized not long ago, still run by that same old man in coarse cloth.

Lin Feng returned because he didn't want to go through all the trouble of buying grains and making yeast... who knows how long it would take to produce low-alcohol brewed wine.

It's better to just buy ready-made liquor and have it distilled and purified.

Lin Feng bought all the wine from the old man's wine stall in one go.

There were six jars in total, which cost one tael of silver.

All six jars of wine were tied with ropes and carried on the back of an old horse.

Old Ma's current role is to carry goods.

"Young master, I recognize you. You came to my stall for drinks not long ago. Why are you buying so much wine all of a sudden?"

Old Man Zeng recognized Lin Feng, who had changed his clothes and exuded an air of nobility.

"You'll find out soon enough," Lin Feng said with a mysterious smile.

The old man was completely bewildered, but Lin Feng had already left with Liu Yu.

Lin Feng had a plan in mind: once the high-proof distilled liquor was produced, he would collaborate with the old man.

At the old man's stall, he was selling high-proof distilled liquor.

This saves the trouble of going to the government to apply for a license to sell alcohol.

Although the Great Xia Dynasty had opened up the private business of selling alcohol, it did not allow unlicensed stalls. To sell alcohol, one had to have legal procedures so that the General Tax Office could collect the "one-thirtieth" alcohol tax.

Lin Feng gave the old man the high-proof distilled liquor to sell on his behalf, which saved him a lot of trouble.

Back to Dongshan Village.

When the villagers saw Lin Feng carrying the delicate Liu Yu, riding a tall and mighty black horse, they all gathered around and kept praising the steed.

It was incredibly majestic; even the village head's horse couldn't compare.

Passing by Chen Youtian's house, I happened to run into Chen Youtian. Seeing Lin Feng riding a magnificent horse, I felt a pang of jealousy.

"I have no idea where you stole this from. Just wait for the authorities to arrest you!"

Mei Yan's eyes sparkled as she looked at Lin Feng, who had not only changed his horse but also his entire new outfit.

A mix of emotions welled up inside me. This little bastard had suddenly become so arrogant, but unfortunately, he was still just a good-looking but useless man...

Lin Feng ignored these people and rode his black horse home.

Carefully help Liu Yu down from the horse.

"Feng-ge'er, Yu-er-jie!" Liu Mei came out of the woodshed.

Seeing that Lin Feng and Liu Yu had changed their outfits, their demeanor had become completely different.

Liu Mei felt envious, and then helped Lin Feng lead the black horse to the side.

"Liu Mei, go prepare two iron pots." Lin Feng unloaded the goods from the old horse's back.

The old horse was carrying over a hundred pounds of goods and almost died from exhaustion.

"Feng-ge'er, we only have one iron pot at home." Liu Mei said with some difficulty.

Lin Feng slapped his forehead, took out a few coins from his purse, and stuffed them into Liu Mei's small hand.

"Go to the village and see which family is willing to sell their iron pot."

"Feng-ge'er, why do we need to buy another iron pot? We already have enough at home." Liu Mei didn't understand.

"Don't ask so many questions, just go and buy me an iron pot."

"Okay."

Seeing Lin Feng's eagerness, Liu Mei didn't press further and quickly went to see which household was willing to sell an iron pot.

Taking advantage of the break, Lin Feng found a wooden bucket.

Remove the handle from the bucket, and then drill a hole about the size of a thumb on one side of the bucket.

Liu Yu felt heartbroken to see that the perfectly good wooden bucket had been pierced with a hole.

"Husband, what do you plan to use this wooden bucket for?"

"I'm working on the main body of the distillation process—the still," Lin Feng replied with a smile.

"caldron?"

"You'll find out soon enough. Find me a bamboo pole and a cow horn."

Liu Yu brought bamboo and cow horns.

Lin Feng threaded the bamboo through the hole in the wooden bucket, with one section on the outside and the other on the inside.

The bamboo inside is connected to the cow horn, which is a simple connector.

After completing this step, Lin Feng took a bowl of water, tested it, and poured it onto the cow's horn.

The next moment, water flowed out of the bamboo outside the wooden bucket.

By this time, Liu Mei had already bought an iron pot.

"Feng-ge'er, you've spent one qian of silver, and you have three qian of silver left."

Lin Feng nodded.

"Feng-ge'er, what are you doing?"

Liu Mei saw Lin Feng holding a wooden bucket, an iron pot, and bamboo, assembling a strange object.

Lin Feng hesitated for a moment, then gave Liu Yu a look.

"Liu Mei, ignore him. He just likes to mess around. Let's go to the vicinity of the village and dig up some wild vegetables."

Liu Yu understood immediately, took Liu Mei's small hand, and led her away.

Lin Feng wasn't entirely at ease with Liu Mei, so naturally he wouldn't make distilled spirits in front of her.

After carrying everything into the kitchen, Lin Feng added cold water to the iron pot on the stove and then placed the wooden bucket on top of it.

Jars of wine were poured into the wooden barrel one by one until the barrel was half full.

Then, an iron pot was placed on top of the wooden barrel, and cold water was also placed inside. This was a simplified version of a condenser.

Next, mix flour with water to form a paste, and apply it to the gap between the condenser iron pot and the wooden barrel to prevent the steam inside the barrel from escaping later.

Once all the steps are completed, it becomes a still.

Without wasting a moment, Lin Feng placed a wooden basin under the bamboo outside the bucket and quickly started a fire in the stove.

Soon, the liquor started to flow out.

The alcohol at this stage is called "heads" and contains many harmful impurities, so it should not be drunk.

Once half a basin of "wine heads" has been filled, it can be removed and replaced with an empty wine jar.

Next, the liquid flowing out from the middle section is called the "body," which is a highly distilled spirit that can be consumed.

As the "wine body" continues to flow from the bamboo tube and falls into the wine jar below, the aroma of the wine becomes stronger and stronger; just smelling it makes you feel intoxicated.

Lin Feng looked at the crystal-clear liquid in the jar, licked his lips, but held back, deciding to wait until the distillation and purification were complete before drinking it.

A little over fifteen minutes later, the six jars of wine were successfully distilled and purified.

Three jars were consumed.

We refined three jars of high-proof distilled spirits that were strong, flavorful, and clear.

Lin Feng poured out a bowl and stirred it continuously with a pair of chopsticks.

Observation revealed that the hops were plump and about the size of mung beans, indicating an alcohol content of around 50 degrees.

Lin Feng put down his chopsticks, picked up the wooden bowl, and drank it all in one gulp.

His tiger eyes lit up instantly.

"This liquor is really potent; it's high-quality pure grain liquor, almost on par with the baijiu of my past life!"

Just then, Liu Yu and Liu Mei returned, and Lin Feng took two wooden bowls and poured some distilled liquor for them.

It was the first time they had ever seen such clear wine. After tasting it, their faces immediately flushed, and they praised it highly.

"My lord, this wine is truly excellent, a world of difference from the yellow wine and rice wine we've had before!"

"Yes, Feng-ge'er, how did you do that? This wine surpasses all other wines in the world. If it were to be sold, it would definitely cause a frenzy!"