"Your subject, Wan Nian, pays his respects to Your Majesty!"
The first to greet the king was a bald man.
Zi Shou instantly felt as though he faced a formidable enemy. This baldy had first devised a calendar that benefited farming, then tattled to Li Jing and promoted the cultivation of rice and wheat. He was showing signs of developing into an Archdruid.
Could his appearance here today mean...
Noticing King Zhou's unusual expression, Wan Nian said, "After Lady Su finished repairing the Wine Pool, she was troubled by the lack of wine to fill it. Your subject has long served in the Astronomical Bureau and had no pressing duties, so I volunteered to brew wine. I have had some modest success."
Zi Shou steadied himself. Good, it was only brewing wine.
Even if he had brewed strong liquor, it hardly mattered. Copper coins had only just appeared; strong liquor alone could not drive commercial development.
"Excellent. You may join the banquet and share in my merriment."
Soon, Zi Shou and his officials arrived beside the Wine Pool.
The pool was roughly 130 meters long, 20 meters wide, and 1.5 meters deep.
Its four walls were built from natural stones, and its bottom curved inward. At either end, a channel led outside the palace walls, partitioned off with bronze plates.
Zi Shou nodded in satisfaction. Daji had not disappointed him. The Wine Pool was well built, much like the suspected wine-pool ruins excavated by archaeologists in later ages.
Now, where was the wine?
Zi Shou looked at Wan Nian. Once the wine was poured in, the officials could start berating him.
Among the charges King Wu listed when he marched against King Zhou was "excessive drinking." Drinking itself was not the crime; using vast quantities of grain to make wine