The Great Tang Dynasty's Trans-Dimensional Conference: Little Rhinoceros Arrives

"Hey, it's alright, it's alright, Guanyinbi, don't worry."

Whether it was because the alcohol was too strong or something else, Li Shimin, panting heavily, waved his hand at Empress Zhangsun.

"Your Majesty, this is my fault. I forgot to remind you earlier that wine in this era cannot be drunk in such large gulps; most people cannot handle it."

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin felt a little embarrassed. Did Lin Fan mean that he was some kind of ordinary person?

He was, after all, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. How could a sip of wine defeat him?

Fortunately, Cheng Yaojin, that big mouth, wasn't around, otherwise Li Shimin would have been ridiculed by that fellow again, he thought to himself.

Once the spiciness in his mouth subsided, Li Shimin finally recovered and raised his hand, saying:

"It's alright, young man. I didn't expect the wine from later generations to be so strong. I was caught off guard and almost fell for it."

Lin Fan chuckled lightly, "How about we switch to your own fine wine?"

Li Shimin shook his head repeatedly: "No need, no need. Now that I have obtained this fine wine from later generations, I will naturally savor it properly."

Just kidding, my wife and daughters are watching right here, I can't let them look down on me.

Unaware of Li Shimin's thoughts, Lin Fan could only laugh it off.

"Alright, since His Majesty has said so, I will gladly accompany you today."

Lin Fan thought to himself: It's not that I can't drink this liquor, I just don't drink much. Old Li, don't blame me if you drink too much later.

"Your Majesty, this wine should only be taken in small sips at a time. Fine wine needs to be savored slowly to truly appreciate its flavor."

Although Li Shimin had already suffered losses before, Lin Fan still briefly explained the points to pay attention to when drinking baijiu.

"Alright, I understand. Young man, please sit down again. Let's eat and drink." Li Shimin said, picking up his wine cup and returning to the table.

"Brother Lin Fan, how about we give it a try?" Xiao Sizi pointed at the wine glass in Lin Fan's hand.

"No, Sizi, this is baijiu (Chinese liquor), children can't drink it."

If even a grown man like Li Shimin was terribly affected by the spiciness, then what about a child like Sizi? Lin Fan dared not act recklessly.

"No, no, I'll just drink a little bit, okay?"

Little Sizi's curiosity was piqued, and she grabbed Lin Fan's trouser leg and wouldn't let go.

Empress Zhangsun, who was seated at the head of the table, was about to speak up to stop him, but Li Shimin stopped her.

He knew that Xiao Sizi was the type of person who wouldn't give up until she was completely defeated, so it was better to let her suffer a little.

Thinking of this, Li Shimin smiled and said to Lin Fan:

"Young man, it's alright. Since Sizi wants to try, let her give it a shot!"

Seeing Li Shimin's indifferent expression, Lin Fan cursed inwardly: You old idiot, don't you care about your own daughter?

However, since Old Li had spoken up, and in order to make Sizi give up, Lin Fan picked up his chopsticks and dipped them into the wine in his cup.

"Come on, give it a try, but don't cry later, okay?"

"No, I won't." Little Sizi said, opening her mouth and putting the chopsticks in her mouth.

As soon as Xiao Sizi put the chopsticks in her mouth, her brows furrowed tightly.

"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey..."

"How is it? I didn't lie to you, did I? It doesn't taste good, does it?"

Xiao Sizi nodded with a bitter face and took deep breaths of air.

Seeing this, Empress Zhangsun shook her head helplessly: "Alright, Sizi, stop fooling around and sit down to eat."

Faced with Empress Zhangsun, Xiao Sizi dared not continue to act presumptuously and could only obediently return to her seat.

Back in his seat, Lin Fan raised his wine glass to Li Shimin and said, "Your Majesty, let me offer you a toast first."

Seeing this, Li Shimin also raised his wine cup with great gusto: "Very well, then I once again welcome you, young brother, to the Tang Dynasty!"

Seeing that Lin Fan had already taken a sip, Li Shimin learned his lesson this time and also took a small sip.

Although he didn't drink much, Li Shimin still felt a hot, burning sensation rushing straight to the top of his head.

His throat felt like it was on fire, and he could even clearly feel the alcohol flowing into his stomach.

After the spiciness subsided, a sweet aftertaste lingered in his mouth, and Li Shimin even began to savor the flavor he had just tasted.

"This is indeed fine wine. Compared to this, the wines of my Great Tang Dynasty are like plain water."

Li Shimin's words were not an exaggeration at all; due to the backward technology in the Tang Dynasty, most of the wines had a very low alcohol content.

Even some modern beers have a higher alcohol content than most wines from the Tang Dynasty.

This indirectly explains why the ancients had such a high "capacity" for alcohol, often drinking several dou (a unit of volume) at a time.

Du Fu, a fan of Li Bai, once wrote a poem: "Li Bai drinks a bucket of wine and writes a hundred poems, then sleeps in a tavern in Chang'an."

Du Fu wrote very clearly that Li Bai's alcohol tolerance was extraordinary; he would need to drink at least a dou (a unit of volume) before getting drunk.

In the Tang Dynasty, there were two types of dou (a unit of volume for drinking): a large dou weighed twelve jin (a unit of weight) and a small dou weighed four jin (a unit of weight). Based on this estimate, Li Bai's alcohol tolerance must have been several jin.

But what if it were modern baijiu? Let alone four jin, it would be an exaggeration if Li Bai could drink even one jin.

Moreover, Li Bai liked to compose poetry while drunk. After drinking several kilograms of liquor, whether he could still write poetry or not is a big question.

Li Shimin pondered for a long time before looking up at Lin Fan.

"Come, young man, let me toast you too. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have had the chance to taste such fine wine."

"Your Majesty is too kind." Lin Fan immediately raised his cup and held it up in the air.

"Haha, hehe..." Just after finishing his drink, Li Shimin suddenly burst into silly laughter.

Lin Fan was a little dumbfounded. No way, Old Li only took two sips and he's already drunk? His alcohol tolerance is too low!

"Brother Lin Fan, what's wrong with Father?" Little Sizi looked at Li Shimin, then quietly asked Lin Fan.

Lin Fan shrugged: "I don't know either?"

Li Shimin was completely oblivious to the expressions of Lin Fan and the others, and just chuckled to himself. The next second...

"Hey...uh, what's wrong, Guanyinbi?"

Empress Zhangsun reached out and tugged at Li Shimin's sleeve, which brought Li Shimin back to his senses.

Li Shimin looked up and saw the expressions on everyone's faces, and immediately embarrassedly rubbed his forehead.

"I was just thinking about something, please don't take offense, young man. Come on, let's continue drinking."

"What's on Father's mind?"

Li Shimin originally intended to skip this part quickly, but little Sizi actually chose to get to the bottom of it.

"Why are you asking so many questions, you little kid?" Li Shimin said, feigning displeasure.

"Your Majesty, actually, I'm curious too."

Seeing the puzzled looks on everyone's faces and the gaze of Empress Zhangsun, Li Shimin felt extremely embarrassed, but he still pretended to be indifferent and smiled.

"Well, I was thinking that since this wine is so fine, and Cheng Yaojin is known for his love of alcohol, I was thinking of finding an opportunity..."

Li Shimin was too embarrassed to say the word "show off," but everyone roughly guessed what it meant.

Upon hearing this, Empress Zhangsun wanted to say, "Your Majesty, is it really reasonable for you to use gifts from others to 'tease' your own ministers?"

Lin Fan held back his laughter. He hadn't expected Old Li to be like this. For a moment, Lin Fan even found Old Li somewhat adorable.