Spirits Distillation Method

Li Qingxian secretly gave Luo Jing a thumbs-up, then said, "Uncle Zhou, what's past is past. Let's talk business. The Spirits Distillation Method is all true."

Zhou Chunfeng glared at Li Qingxian and slowly said, "If the Spirits Distillation Method can succeed, it will bring a sizable income to both the Night Guard and the national treasury. Tell me the details."

Li Qingxian had long thought up a strategy on the road, so he said, "My father liked drinking yellow wine in his spare time. You should know that, Uncle Zhou."

Zhou Chunfeng froze for a moment, his thoughts drifting away. Only after quite a while did he return to himself and say, "Yes. Gang Feng liked yellow wine—the loose kind, the cheap kind."

A weight lifted from Li Qingxian's heart. "Father said strong liquor was difficult to brew. Back then, I was short on money, so I came up with the idea of making strong liquor. I had studied Fate Arts, and before I began, I calculated it and found it could work. I secretly gave it a try, and unexpectedly, it truly succeeded. Next, as long as we find good brewers and Ministry of Works officials who understand the techniques, with a little experimentation, we can brew real strong liquor and sell it throughout the land."

"I asked about the Spirits Distillation Method!" Zhou Chunfeng said.

Li Qingxian swept his gaze around the study, looking troubled. "Since we're all on the same side, I won't hide it. While testing strong liquor, I discovered something interesting. Take the same amount—a jar of liquor and a jar of water—and pour them into pots to boil. With the same heat and for the same time, the liquor boils first and dries up faster, while the water dries up more slowly. Liquor is made of pure water and pure liquor. Since liquor is the essence of grain, could I call that pure liquor alcohol? Then I thought: since liquor boils away first, does that mean alcohol turns into vapor more easily than water? If I could catch that vapor again, wouldn't I have strong liquor?"

The three of them frowned, as though they understood, yet as though they did not.

"But once the alcohol turns into vapor, how can it be caught again? I thought and thought, thought and thought, then suddenly remembered that when cooking, rolling vapor hits one's face and condenses into droplets. And those ice carts are always covered in droplets during summer. So I thought, if water vapor turns into droplets when it encounters cold, could alcohol vapor also turn into alcohol droplets when chilled? I tried it a little, and it worked!"

"Thus, I came up with a method for distilling strong liquor. It's very simple. First, we boil the liquor pot and maintain the heat, turning the alcohol within into vapor. We fit a pipe over the liquor pot and let the alcohol vapor flow through it. Then we cool the pipe, causing the alcohol vapor to turn into alcohol droplets. Once those droplets gather together, they become strong liquor. We can adjust it to whatever strength is suitable, dividing it into low-proof, medium-proof, and high-proof. That gives us three kinds of liquor. Then we can add all sorts of things, such as floral dew or fruit juice, to create all kinds of flavors and eventually seize the wine shops of the entire realm!"

Li Qingxian excitedly imagined the future, while the other three wore blank expressions.

Li Qingxian took one look. They couldn't understand? Good. He himself had only played with distillation once in middle school, and that had only been with water.

"It's that simple? It sounds like you just boil it, then cool it down. That's all?" Luo Jing asked, half believing and half doubting.

Li Qingxian gave a soft snort. "Tell me, how many years did the Human Race take to go from block printing to movable-type printing?"

"About four or five hundred years."

"Then how many years did the Human Race take to go from carving words on stone tablets to block printing?"

"Thousands upon thousands of years," Luo Jing said.

"Put simply, movable-type printing is just carving words into stone, applying ink, and making an impression. How did humanity take thousands, even tens of thousands of years, to go from carving words to movable-type printing?"

"This..." Luo Jing did not know how to refute Li Qingxian's crooked and heretical logic for a moment.

Li Qingxian pointed to his own head. "Success is ninety-nine percent sweat, plus one percent inspiration. Much of the time, that one percent inspiration is more important than the ninety-nine percent sweat."

"One must not seek shortcuts," Zhou Chunfeng said sternly. His soft Jiangnan speech carried a faint rasp, yet each word struck the ground like iron.

"Yes, Uncle Zhou. I was exaggerating. Modern movable-type printing requires years of accumulated materials, techniques, and every other aspect. Ideas alone cannot accomplish it. My liquor-distilling method did not come from an idea appearing out of thin air either. Only after I put in ninety-nine percent sweat did I gain that one percent inspiration. Without all that sweat, without my constant thinking, without those efforts, the idea could never have been realized." Li Qingxian's manner was sincere.

Zhou Chunfeng smiled and nodded, but suddenly lowered his head and touched his mouth with his hand, coughing softly twice. His cheeks reddened, then quickly faded back to normal.

Luo Jing grew increasingly astonished. He knew the two were not close, yet Zhou Chunfeng treated Li Qingxian like a junior of his own family—advising and admonishing him on one hand, while clearly holding him in high regard on the other.

"Your health is poor?" Li Qingxian asked.

"An illness left over from years ago. I'm used to it." Zhou Chunfeng gently stroked the Bull Bone Fan on the table. After a long while, he said, "This alcohol distillation method may look ordinary, but it could very well change the entire liquor industry. We must not rush. For now, we should keep it quiet and join hands with the Ministry of Revenue, the Inner Transport Treasury, the Night Guard, and the Ministry of Works. We'll find a secret location within the Night Guard and test it slowly. Only when we are completely certain will we begin formal production."

Li Qingxian and Luo Jing nodded lightly.

"Lord Luo, what arrangements do you have on the Ministry of Revenue side?" Zhou Chunfeng asked casually.

Luo Jing's expression changed. He sat up straight, considered it, and said, "My father was promoted to Fifth Rank not long ago, and our Luo family is considered a prominent clan in the Southern Star Sect as well. I will report this matter to our Minister Lu. At the very least, nothing will go wrong with this matter in the Ministry of Revenue. After all, this is an offering for the gods."

Zhou Chunfeng nodded. "Then I'll trouble Lord Luo with contacting the Inner Transport Treasury. As for the Ministry of Works and the Night Guard, I'll make the arrangements. Qingxian, does the brewing workshop have any other requirements?"

Li Qingxian thought for a moment. "I don't need much when tinkering with it myself, but if we want to make it large-scale, we'll probably need a bigger building. It must also be secret and safe, so only you can make that decision."

Zhou Chunfeng glanced out the window. "Then we'll choose the Imperial Prison Bureau. It has been less occupied over the past half year, and its guards are strict. Even if someone covets the Spirits Distillation Method, they would never dare cause trouble in the Imperial Prison Bureau."

"I think that's good," Li Qingxian said.

"If you are to participate in this, the identity of a mere Street Patrol Office officer will be inconvenient. I'll give you an additional identity as a clerk of the Imperial Prison Bureau, allowing you to enter and leave the Imperial Prison freely."

Li Qingxian beamed. "Uncle Zhou, the brewing method is of tremendous importance. I'm afraid someone may use a Gold-Character Command Token to come trouble me again. I see you have quite a few of those things on your desk, so give me one."

All three of them looked together at the three Gold-Character Command Tokens in the slip holder on the desk.

"What do you take these Gold-Character Command Tokens for?" Zhou Chunfeng's face darkened.

Li Qingxian smiled. "I want a Gold-Character Command Token not for myself, but for His Majesty, for the court, for the Night Guard Yamen. If something happens to me and I ruin this, the national treasury will effectively lose a million taels of silver every year. Isn't a million taels of silver per year worth one Gold-Character Command Token?"

"Ridiculous!"