The Young Dragon of the Ming Dynasty: Bound to an Industrial Blueprint from the Start

No one explicitly said that the house had changed owners.

But those who had originally planned to get a share of the pie suddenly quieted down.

Just now, an unusual guest arrived at Mingyue Tower.

He was a eunuch, around fifty years old, with a fair complexion and no beard, and spoke in a soft, gentle voice.

He claimed his surname was Huang and that he was from the Imperial Kitchen, sent by his superiors to inquire about the "Drunken Immortal Brew".

Qian Lai felt a chill run down his spine and received the guest with utmost respect.

Eunuch Huang took a sip of tea and said slowly, "Manager Qian, I've heard you have a kind of 'celestial wine' here, which even Hanlin Xu praised highly?"

"You flatter me, sir. It's just something craftsmen tinkered up," Qian said with a forced smile.

"Just wild speculation?" Eunuch Huang laughed. "It's not easy to figure out Xu Hanlin's inscription. I'm here today to deliver a message from above: the palace wants some of this wine, not much, just fifty catties for the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet."

Fifty jin! The thought of money made my scalp tingle.

The workshop's monthly output is only twenty or thirty jin!

"Father-in-law, this," Qian Lai said with a wry smile, "the process of making this wine is extremely difficult, and the production is limited. Fifty catties is probably not enough to gather in a short time."

"Can't gather enough?" Eunuch Huang's expression turned somewhat pale. "Manager Qian, this is the palace's order. The Emperor will be hosting a Mid-Autumn Festival banquet for his officials and foreign envoys. If this wine can't be served," he looked at Qian Lai, "you're probably nearing the end of your business, Mingyue Tower."

Qian Lai broke out in a cold sweat.

He forced himself to remain calm: "Your Excellency, it's not that I'm unwilling, but rather, I'll do my best to raise the funds, and send twenty catties to the palace before the end of the month. How does that sound?"

Eunuch Huang stared at him for a long time before finally nodding: "Twenty catties it is, but it has to be the best, without any ambiguity."

"Yes, yes!"

After seeing off Eunuch Huang, Qian Lai immediately wrote a secret report and had it delivered to Guo Sheng and Sun San respectively.

The palace wants wine; is this a blessing or a curse?

He turned around and strode back to the side room in the backyard.

The paper and pen were on the shelf. He ground the ink, laid out the paper, put pen to paper, blew on the ink to dry it, folded it into a thin strip about an inch wide, and stuffed it into a bamboo tube.

The palace needs fifty catties of Drunken Immortal Wine?

Zhu Zhanji was taken aback at first, then smiled.

"That's good," he said to Chuntao.

"Tell Master Sun to use the old kiln's efficient distillation method to produce twenty jin of the best Zuixian wine. The packaging must be exceptionally exquisite, using the anti-counterfeiting bottles I designed. Also," he thought for a moment.

"Prepare ten small bottles of 'premium' liquor, individually packaged, and accompanied by rubbings of Xu Hanlin's calligraphy."

"Your Highness, why is this?" Chun Tao asked, puzzled.

"If we can't get fifty catties, we'll give you twenty; the palace won't be too troubled," Zhu Zhanji said.

"Those ten bottles of the finest wine were a token of our appreciation for key figures, such as Eunuch Huang, the head of the Imperial Kitchen, and, if possible, even the Emperor himself."

His eyes gleamed: "Once this wine enters the palace and is served at the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, it will become imperial wine. At that time, who will dare to call it a 'commoner's plaything'?"

Chuntao understood: "Does Your Highness want to leverage the palace's influence?"

"It's not a loan, it's a gift," Zhu Zhanji smiled.

"It's better for us to submit it proactively than for someone else to find out. Besides," he added, "this is an opportunity to let Grandfather know that even the palace wants what his grandson has produced."

To his father, he could be "a child with a bit of cleverness"; but to his grandfather, he was to become "a prodigy worth nurturing".

And Zuixian Wine is the first stepping stone.

August 12th, three days before the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Twenty catties of specially made "Imperial Drunken Immortal Wine" were loaded into an inconspicuous blue cloth carriage and set off from Xishan Manor toward the Imperial City.

The bottle is a specially made white porcelain bottle with a cloud-patterned cauldron relief mark on the bottom. The bottle is covered with a gold-flecked label that reads "Imperial Drunken Immortal Brew" and "Respectfully made by the Craftsmen of the Crown Prince's Palace" in smaller characters.

Guo Sheng and Qian Lai were the ones escorting the vehicle.

Upon arriving at Donghua Gate, Eunuch Huang was already waiting. After inspecting the goods, he nodded and said, "Not bad, looks presentable."

He opened a bottle, took a sniff, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes: "This fragrance is indeed extraordinary."

"Father-in-law," Qian Lai handed over a brocade box, "here are ten small bottles of 'premium' wine, carefully prepared by the master craftsmen of the workshop, even more mellow than the large bottles."

Please, esteemed officials of the Imperial Kitchen, taste and evaluate.

Eunuch Huang took the brocade box, weighed it in his hand, and smiled, "Manager Qian is very kind."

He waved his hand, signaling the young eunuch to carry the wine into the palace, then lowered his voice to say to Qian:

"Let me give you a heads-up, this wine was suggested by His Highness the Prince of Han. At the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, the Prince of Han said, 'There is a kind of celestial wine in Beiping, which is very elegant.' That's why the Emperor sent me to inquire about it."

Qian Lai was startled, but remained outwardly calm: "Thank you for your guidance, sir."

"You'd better watch yourself." Eunuch Huang waved his hand and turned to enter the palace.

On the way back to Mingyue Tower, Qian Lai told Guo Sheng what he had said.

Guo Sheng frowned deeply: "Did the Prince of Han propose this? Is he trying to flatter me, or to kill me?"

"I'm afraid this is a case of flattery to kill," Qian Lai said with a wry smile. "If this wine is good, the credit will go to the King of Han for his 'discerning eye'; if it's not good, or if something goes wrong, we'll be accused of 'deceiving the emperor'."

The two exchanged a glance, both feeling the pressure.

But since things have come to this, we can only take it one step at a time.

Inside the Prince of Han's residence, Zhu Gaoxu was listening to Wang Bin's report.

"Your Highness, the wine has been delivered to the palace. Eunuch Huang said it's of good quality and the Imperial Kitchen is very satisfied."

"I'm glad you're satisfied." Zhu Gaoxu smiled.

"At the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, once this wine is served, all the officials will know that a kind of 'celestial brew' has been produced in Beiping, and it is I who will mention this wine."

He suddenly remembered: "What's the Crown Prince's reaction?"

"His Highness the Crown Prince seems unaware of this," Wang Bin said.

"The workshops rushed to produce the goods according to the palace's requirements; the Crown Prince's residence did not interfere."

"Unaware?" A hint of sarcasm flashed in Zhu Gaoxu's eyes. "Was my elder brother truly unaware, or was he pretending?"

He stood up and walked to the window: "But it doesn't matter. After the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, the reputation of this wine will spread, and people will naturally investigate its origin. At that time, some things will no longer be able to be hidden."

"Your Highness is wise." Wang Bin bowed.

"Keep an eye on things," Zhu Gaoxu said, "especially after the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, see what's going on in the palace and the court."

"Yes."

At the Xishan Manor Crafts Workshop, Sun San encountered new troubles.

The second batch of goods requested by Zhao Kang, 1,000 jin of Jingchuanglu and 500 jin of Zuixianniang, is about to expire, but the progress is only half completed.

It wasn't that Sun San wasn't trying his best, but rather that the materials allocated by the Ministry of Works were delayed.

Of the twenty new craftsmen promised, only ten showed up, and they were all novices, so they had to be taught from scratch.

Sun San went to Zhao Kang to inquire, but Zhao Kang said with a stern face: "The materials are on their way, the craftsmen are coordinating them, Sun is in charge, you need to find a way to overcome the difficulties, you can't just keep waiting for the higher-ups."

"But sir, without copper, we can't make the distillation still; without fine charcoal, we can't start a fire; and without craftsmen, we can't finish the work," Sun San said anxiously.

"That's your problem," Zhao Kang said coldly. "If you can't deliver the goods by the end of the month, you can forget about sitting in your position in charge."

Sun San returned to the cave, seething with anger.

Physician Wu and Lin Xiuniang gathered around: "Master Sun, how is it?"

"Lord Zhao said we should figure it out ourselves," Sun San said with a wry smile.

"Even a skilled cook can't cook without rice."

"Tell His Highness what's going on. We'll just quit!" Lin Xiuniang said angrily.