The First Volume of Qinghe County

  Looking at the alchemy furnace sent by Wu Daoguan, Ximen Qing directly dismantled it in the courtyard: "Indeed, this structure is exactly the same as the picture I saw."

  The Snow beside him looked at Ximen Qing in surprise: "Master, you won't be planning to become a Taoist priest, will you? Don't tell me you don't want Snow anymore?"

  "Haha, what's going on?" Ximen Qing laughed and said: "I've always thought this alchemy furnace is quite interesting, so I borrowed one from Wu Daoyuan to play with."

  Ximen Qing held in his hand the most crucial component, a somewhat strange-looking iron plate, slightly raised upwards, with over ten small holes in the middle, and the edges around it were recessed downwards, the whole thing tilted to one side, with a small gap at the lowest point that could be connected to a thin bamboo tube for **discharge.

  It is precisely this design that allows the Taoist to heat the cinnabar below, vaporizing the mercury which then escapes through small holes and condenses into liquid on contact with the cold water above, finally flowing out of the bamboo tube.

  When making high-proof liquor, this set of equipment can be used for repeated distillation to increase the concentration of ethanol.

  Of course, the alchemy furnace is not large in size. If it were to rely on this thing for distilling white wine, Ximen Qing would probably lose a lot of money. This is also why Ximen Qing asked Jiang Jing, the divine calculator, to help find an ironworker and use its shape to make a larger one.

  Xue'er saw Ximen Qing and didn't say anything, too lazy to care about these things, just squatting on one side watching Ximen Qing fiddle around.

  "I heard that Old Master has a winery estate, when will you take Xue'er there to have a look?"

  "Today is too late, tomorrow morning we will go." Ximen Qing didn't even lift his head: "It's just as well, I also want to take this alchemy furnace over and let Liu Neng and a few others take a look."

  "Master, what is this thing!" When he saw that iron plate again the next day, he didn't know what to say.

  Of course, Ximen Qing had brought all the odds and ends together. Since he had dismantled everything yesterday, Ximen Qing found that it was impossible to put them together again, so he could only bring them over with a large cart.

  So when Liu Qi and his son saw it, it had completely lost its appearance as a Dan furnace, and was just a pile of broken copper and iron.

  "This is the good stuff!" Ximen Qing held up an iron sheet with some unknown component and tapped it against the iron plate, producing a crisp sound: "Didn't I tell you guys about a method for brewing wine before? This is the most crucial part."

  Liu Neng stood by, silently picked up the iron plate and turned it over to examine it, feeling it with his hand as if sensing something: "Master, are these holes the ones you mentioned last time that allow the essence of the wine to run out?"

  When Ximen Qing explained to them with gestures before, he would not use the term "ethanol" but instead used "the essence of wine", which made Liu Ji and Liu Neng understand.

  Wine is the essence of grain, and the more you drink, the more spirited you become.

  Wine is brewed from grains, naturally the essence of grains, both Liu Qi and Liu Neng deeply believe in this concept, as soon as Ximen Qing spoke this proverb, both nodded heavily.

  The Taoist refines the elixir, extracting the essence of heaven and earth, gathering its quintessence. Using this thing to extract the essence from wine is also something that Liu Qi and Liu Neng can accept.

  Using a Taoist technique to extract the essence of wine sounds pretty good.

  "What a pity! This thing can't be assembled anymore." Ximen Qing said with infinite regret: "Otherwise, we could have brought some wine to test it today."

  Fortunately, Wu Daoguan, that lazybones, had never practiced alchemy with this thing. If there was any mercury left, it would be completely courting death.

  "The newly brewed wine is still a bit short of fire." Liu Ji nodded and said: "However, there are still several dozen jars of good wine that can be used to try it out."

  Since being persuaded by Ximen Qing, his attitude has made a 180-degree turn. He is now extremely regretful of the falling out with his son Liu Neng and this time even uses Liu Neng's recipe to brew wine, watching from the side and occasionally offering two words of advice.

  Liu Neng's new recipe boldly added a small amount of other grains instead of just millet.

  These days, the smell of brewing wine has become very comforting, more fragrant and mellow than the original recipe. Liu Neng and a few others almost sleep here every day, staring at the temperature changes, hoping that no problems will arise at the last minute, disappointing Ximen Qing's high expectations.

  Liu Neng also tried his hand at it, but gave up after a while. It seems that this alchemy furnace is indeed easy to disassemble and difficult to assemble.

  "Shall we let that blacksmith try?" After keeping a few hands hidden for half a day, just as Ximen Qing was thinking about whether to bring that scoundrel Wu Daoguan here, suddenly came this sentence.

  "Blacksmith? Isn't that Mr. Jiang back?" Although Ximen Qing had been as close as brothers with the divine calculator Jiang Jing for a long time, he still habitually addressed him as Mr. Jiang.

  "Yesterday, it was almost dark when they arrived." Liu nodded a few times: "It's dark and may affect the master's rest. Mr. Jiang simply brought that blacksmith to this villa."

  "Yesterday, I had a drink, and the blacksmith was full of praise for how good the wine tasted." Liu Neng put down the object in his hand and added with a silly grin: "I reckon it's about time to get up now."

  "Haha, isn't this Xi Men's younger brother?" Just as Cao Cao was mentioned, he arrived. The divine strategist Jiang Jing walked in with a big smile on his face, followed by a sturdy man.

  It seems that Jiang Jing got drunk last night and is now very spirited.

  "Brother, come here, this is Brother Ximen and the official I was telling you about." Jiang Jing directly introduced Ximen Qing.

  The robust man came forward after Jiang Jing's departure, bowed first, then looked up: "Tang Long has seen County Magistrate Brother."

  This doesn't matter if you don't raise your head, but as soon as you do, the snow standing next to you will be startled and hide behind Ximen Qing. His face is pockmarked with scars all over, if you really want to describe it, then it's like this:

  Rain falls on ash heap, chicken pecks at watermelon rind, nailed shoes tread on mud, and pomegranate skin is turned over.

  "Is it Brother Tang? Isn't he the one known as Golden Leopard on the rivers and lakes?" Ximen Qing looked at this brother's appearance, adding to his name, eight or nine out of ten, it was indeed Liangshan's royal blacksmith - Golden Leopard Tang Long.

  "Haha." Tang Long burst out laughing: "This name was given by a few good friends in the Jianghu, didn't expect brother to have also heard of this nickname of little brother's."

  Seeing Xue'er's frightened look, Tang Long added another sentence: "Sister-in-law, don't be afraid, I'm just having a fever from the sparks flying everywhere when I was forging iron, it's not an illness."

  "You're calling me sister-in-law?" Xue'er poked her small face out from behind Ximen Qing, looking utterly disbelieving. She was only 28 years old, and being called "sister-in-law" by someone in his twenties still felt really awkward to her.

  "You are the brother of County Lieutenant, what should I call you if not sister-in-law?" Tang Long made a proper bow and then said to Ximen Qing: "I've heard about everything that's been going on here from Brother Jiang Jing. Since leaving Yan'an Prefecture, I've been drifting around in the jianghu, but this time I finally have something to strive for."

  It seems that Jiang Jing, the divine calculator, has indeed spoken up for himself behind his back. Just find an accountant casually, and Jiang Jing, the divine calculator, will be found; just find a blacksmith casually, and Tang Long will jump out. If this is not the halo of the pig's foot, then there is no justice in heaven.

  "We are all brothers, why speak such polite words!" Ximen Qing also cupped his hands in courtesy: "Since that's the case, brother will stay in this village, the bellows and iron pestle have already been prepared for you, and even iron ore has been collected in large quantities."

  "Good!" Tang Long let out a strange cry, suddenly discovering the scattered objects on the table: "This... seems to be an object from the alchemy furnace! How does brother have this kind of object here?!"

  "Haha, brother doesn't know. Ximen Qing explained the whole story from beginning to end, and Jiang Jing finally understood why Ximen Qing was in a hurry to prepare things for the blacksmith and also asked him to go find a blacksmith."

  "How did you recognize this thing as a crucible at first glance?" Ximen Qing asked with interest, it seems that Tang Long is not only good at ironwork, but also has some knowledge of such things.

  "I helped a Taoist priest with a batch before." Tang Long replied, picking up the strange iron plate and taking a look: "I still remember the structure, watch me..."

  Next was a crowd of people watching Tong Long perform, and in less than the time it takes to drink a bowl of tea, the alchemy furnace returned to its original state.

  "Good brother, you have two hands!" Divine Calculator Jiang Jing couldn't help but praise.

  "These things that have been beaten, are remembered in the heart." Tang Long smiled and said: "Afternoon, I'll start working on this side, brother just tell me the size. Also, find three or five people to help with the beating."

  The size is easy to say, just follow the largest pot in Zhuangzi, as for people, Ximen Qing's place is not short of manpower.

  While Jin Qianbao was preparing with the people, according to Ximen Qing's instructions, Liu Neng and a few others brought over a jar of wine, ready to test it on the alchemy furnace.

  "Ah, it's out!" Liu Neng anxiously waited and looked at the small bamboo tube starting to drip down some turbid liquid: "Master, is this the essence of wine? Why does it look so murky?"

  "The initial part is a bit impure, just throw it away." Ximen Qing was also very delighted in his heart, but he still suppressed his emotions and calmly instructed: "Pay attention to observe, when it's close to colorless, this is the real essence of the wine."

  "When it becomes turbid again, it can't be used because there are more impurities left. Ximen Qing made an effort to recall the key points: 'The cool water on top needs to be replaced after a period of time to ensure it's cool enough, so that the essence of the wine can condense.'"

  "Why isn't it amber-colored?" Ryuji couldn't help but ask.

  "Amber color actually has some impurities inside." Ximen Qing explained: "The essence of wine is actually colorless, because... those are the essences."

  After a flurry of activity, Liu Neng and his son, Ximen Qing, and Xue'er eagerly watched as the transparent liquid in the middle pot was distilled for the first time, leaving only two or three tenths behind.

  A strong aroma of liquor assails the nostrils, this is no longer Huangjiu, but the first high-proof baijiu of this era!

  There was no accurate measurement, but Ximen Qing took a small sip and it was about 40 degrees or so.

  The era of drinking from large bowls has come to an end.

  Simen Group Wine Division, at this moment, has officially been established in Simen Qing's heart!