Duke of Zhenguan

After two busy days, the funeral arrangements were finally completed.

Lin Chuan breathed a long sigh of relief; his body had finally held up and he hadn't caught a cold again.

But the shadow of usury still loomed over the family. As they ate breakfast around the fire, Li whispered to Lin Chuan:

"Eldest son, you and Er Ya stay home and rest well. Mother will go to the Jade Pavilion to get some clothes to wash!"

"Mother, you're not in good health. If you get sick from washing clothes in this weather, the money you earn won't even be enough to buy medicine!" Lin Chuan gently advised.

"Mother is in good health. The pay is higher for washing clothes in this weather, so we should earn as much as we can. Your Ninth Uncle's family is also struggling, and we can't let them lose their livelihood..." Li said softly.

While listening to the conversation, Er Ya, who was eating porridge, suddenly put down her chopsticks and said softly:

"Mother, why don't you sell me...?"

Before he could finish speaking, Li slapped him across the face, knocking him and the bowl to the ground. He cried out in anguish:

"Mother..."

With red eyes, Li pointed at Er Ya and whispered curses:

"I'm not dead yet, what right do you have to speak, you brat?"

Lin Chuan was startled and quickly put down the bowl to help Er Ya up from the ground. Looking at the slap mark on Er Ya's face, he smiled wryly and said to Li Shi:

"Mother, Er Ya is just being silly, you can scold her a bit, why hit her..."

Looking at her timid and hesitant daughter, Li's tears streamed down her face.

"Mother is incompetent..."

"..."

Lin Chuan suddenly felt a headache coming on and quickly said:

"Mother, don't cry, I have a way to get the money!"

Li wiped away her tears and said softly:

"Our family only has three strings of cash. We estimate that the fermented grains in the cellar can yield about forty catties of wine, which can be sold for at most three or four strings of cash."

The two iron pots in the house are probably worth one string of cash. Even if your Ninth Uncle and the others could help raise some money, they still wouldn't be able to raise fifteen strings of cash..."

"Mother, you said it yourself, Uncle Jiu and the others are also in a difficult situation. We don't need their help to raise money. I really have a way, Mother, don't worry!" Lin Chuan said in a deep voice.

Hearing her son's words, Li's eyes were filled with hope, and she asked:

"Brother, do you really have a way?"

"You really have a way! Didn't you say that the cellar mash could be strained into forty catties of wine? You don't need to go wash any clothes. You and Er Ya can stay home and help me process these forty catties of wine again and sell them for a high price!" Lin Chuan said.

Upon hearing that Lin Chuan wanted to sell the wine at a high price, Li's face immediately showed disappointment, and she sighed:

"Brother, even if this wine is filtered a few more times, it will only sell for a few more coins. How can it fetch a high price..."

Lin Chuan looked at Li Shi and said in a deep voice:

"Mother, I can't explain it to you in a short time, but I know what's important and I really do have a way to turn turbid wine into fine brew. You have to trust your son this once!"

My son has grown up!

Seeing her son's serious expression, Li finally smiled.

"Okay, Mother will listen to you!"

Even if her son fails to live up to expectations, she can simply mortgage the house. Back then, she and her husband fled famine from Hedong to Chang'an with their eldest son. They almost starved to death several times, but they still managed to survive!

My son is sensible now, we can get through this.

What Lin Chuan was going to do wasn't anything particularly difficult; he simply needed to build a rudimentary distillation apparatus to turn cloudy liquor into fine wine, which he could then sell at a high price.

The distillation apparatus was inspired by winemaking methods seen in short videos from his past life memories.

I hope those people from Guangxi didn't try to fool him with fake products!

This distillation apparatus is not complicated; its core consists of an iron hopper at the top for holding cold water and a cooling pipe connected to the hopper.

Tiechi Lane was originally named for the many blacksmiths there, and several families still make a living by blacksmithing. Among them, the Wang family and the Lin family have always been on good terms.

Lin Chuan carried his family's iron pot over to ask for help, and in less than two days, he brought the iron bucket and cooling pipes back home.

The mother and her two children worked all day and finally managed to load the wooden bucket and iron bucket.

The iron pot contained strained wine, which was covered with a wooden barrel and an iron bucket, with the seams sealed with burlap.

Li lit a fire, looking anxiously at her son:

"Brother, will this really work?"

Lin Chuan poured the snow from the basin into the iron bucket and nodded:

"It will definitely work!"

Theoretically, there should be no problem. It's simply a matter of heating liquid wine and water to turn them into water vapor, and then condensing the water vapor back into liquid when it cools down.

The only potential problems are with the seals and temperature control.

But these are the conditions, so we can only give it a try!

The wait was always long, but Lin Chuan finally breathed a sigh of relief when drops of clear liquid dripped from the cooling pipe into the wine jar below.

"It's done!"

Mrs. Li also breathed a sigh of relief.

Because the rich aroma of the wine had already been released.

The three of them worked until midnight and got a full jar of wine, which weighed about two jin (1 kg).

After taking a bite, Lin Chuan sighed with some regret:

"generally!"

The alcohol content is at most 30 degrees. Compared to the previous cloudy liquor, it is strong enough, and the aroma is much stronger, but it has a slightly sour taste and is a bit cloudy.

Li was startled, quickly took a bite, and then laughed as she slapped her son.

"What nonsense are you talking about? This is just average? Even the best Sanlejiang wine isn't as good as ours! Not even half as good!"

After examining the wine jar as if it were a precious treasure for a long while, Li asked:

"Brother, how much should we sell this wine for? To the Jade Pavilion?"

Lin Chuan shook his head and said:

"The Jade Pavilion wine won't fetch a good price. Mother, find a nice little jar, fill it with the wine into two containers, and I'll go to Pingkang Lane to sell it tomorrow!"

"good!"

The turbid wine was transformed into fine brew. Li listened to her son's every word, nodded, and went to find the small jar.

The next morning, after eating his fill, Lin Chuan changed into clean hemp clothes and straw sandals covered in patches. He gave some instructions to Li Shi, then carried two small jars carefully sealed with red wine seals and went out into the snow.

Pingkangfang and Yanshoufang are only four wards apart, yet they seem like two different worlds.

Unlike Yanshoufang, which is crammed with six or seven hundred households, with narrow streets and dilapidated houses, Pingkangfang is home to Chang'an's best restaurants, brothels, and various high-end teahouses and tea houses. The streets are paved with bluestone slabs, and the buildings are magnificent and grand.

Carriages came and went in an endless stream, and most of the people coming and going were dressed in brocade robes and fur coats. Lin Chuan, who was carrying two small jars, frequently attracted attention.

After entering Pingkangfang, Lin Chuan walked for a long time before finally stopping in front of a pavilion called Qunfangge.

As Lin Chuan approached the gate, before he could even step inside, a burly man in a black shirt blocked his way and snapped at him irritably:

"Where did this little beggar come from? Get out!"

Lin Chuan didn't expect to be able to walk straight in, so he held up the wine jar and said to the burly man:

"I have fine wines and spirits I wish to sell; please, brave sir, go in and announce my arrival!"

The brothel was quite deserted in the morning. The burly man, having nothing better to do, didn't rush to chase the man away, but instead asked with a smile:

"Little beggar, do you know where you are? This is the Pavilion of Beauties. What wine can compare to the wine of my Pavilion of Beauties? Let me tell you, even the wine of the imperial palace cannot compare!"

"My wine is better than the wine in the palace!" Lin Chuan raised the wine jar in his hand again.

"Get lost! If you keep messing with me, I'll get rough with you!" The burly man waved his hand dismissively.

"Brave warrior, everything I said is true. I absolutely did not mean to make fun of you. Please inform him that if I am lying, you are welcome to beat me up to vent your anger..." Lin Chuan said sincerely.

The burly man glanced at Lin Chuan, hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded:

"Just wait!"

A moment later, the burly man returned and waved to Lin Chuan:

"Come with me!"

The burly man led Lin Chuan upstairs to an elegant room and waved to him:

"Go inside!"

Lin Chuan entered the room and saw a woman in her thirties sitting there, wearing a white cloak and holding a hand warmer. Two pretty maids stood beside her.

The woman glanced at Lin Chuan and asked lazily:

"So, you're the young man who wants to sell wine?"

Lin Chuan nodded and asked:

"Would you like to try some, sir?"

"You young man are quite confident. Very well, Chun Tao, get this young man a cup!" the woman instructed the maid beside her.

"yes!"

A maid named Chuntao handed Lin Chuan a wine cup, but Lin Chuan didn't take the cup. Instead, he handed her a small jar.

Chun Tao took the small jar, tore off the red wine seal, and instantly, a rich aroma of wine wafted out.

Upon smelling the aroma of the wine, the woman's expression changed. She eagerly took the wine cup from the maid, smelled it first, and then took a small sip.

After a moment, he sighed softly:

"Excellent wine!"