Zheng Hui didn’t come alone with guards to visit outside the city.

Besides a rather rebellious-looking young man, standing beside Zheng Hui was a burly old man in a green robe. Standing in the fading sunset glow, his face gaunt and stern, when he saw Han Qian leading people out to greet them, in an instant a trace of smile emerged between his brows and eyes.

“Han Qian pays respects to Master Baishi!”

Seeing this old man, Han Qian immediately performed a deep bow.

Zheng Chang was Zheng Hui’s clan uncle, a great scholar of Huangzhou who styled himself Master Baishi.

When Han Qian had accompanied his father Han Daoxun to his posting in Xuzhou, due to unclear knowledge about the distribution of river bandits between Jiang and E, they were forced to stop in Huangzhou for two days to gather information.

At that time, other members of the Zheng family hadn’t appeared, but Zheng Chang, with whom they’d had previous acquaintance, rushed back from his secluded dwelling deep in Wan Mountain to Huangzhou to host father and son.

Even Master Baishi Zheng Chang, who had been living in seclusion in the wilderness without official service these past years, had come to Jinling—Han Qian secretly felt the commotion of Zheng clan descendants entering Jinling this time was truly significant.

“And this elder brother is?” Han Qian looked toward the aloof young man beside Zheng Hui who, even in such hot weather, wore leather armor with a sword at his waist.

“This is my clan cousin, the eldest son of Huangzhou Inspector Zheng Yu—Zheng Xingxuan. He’s been recommended to enter the Prince’sMansion and will serve close to His Highness.”

“Greetings, General Zheng!” Han Qian performed a courteous salute to Zheng Xingxuan with a genial expression. The so-called “serving close” meant serving as personal attendant. With Zheng Xingxuan’s identity as eldest son of Huangzhou Inspector Zheng Yu serving as a military guard officer in the Prince’sMansion, combined with Zheng Hui, this undoubtedly directly indicated the Zheng clan would fully support the Third Prince’s ascension.

“I’ll rely on Lord Han’s care in the future.” Perhaps Han Qian’s genial affability was quite surprising—the young man bowed somewhat stiffly in return.

“I wonder if Master Baishi’s arrival in Jinling this time is by His Majesty’s summons?” Leading the way, Han Qian invited Zheng Hui, Zheng Chang and the others to walk into the estate compound, unable to help asking Zheng Chang.

Master Baishi Zheng Chang’s reputation was even more illustrious than his father’s, not even slightly inferior to Zheng clan head Zheng Yu. Previously, Emperor Tianyou had repeatedly summoned him to serve as an official in court, but he’d never heeded the call.

Han Qian thought to himself that the senior positions in the Prince’sMansion were already filled. He wondered what position Emperor Tianyou would arrange for Zheng Chang outside the Prince’sMansion to strengthen the Prince’sMansion’s power.

“I’m accustomed to being a free cloud and wild crane. It’s been many years since I came to Jinling. This time coming to Jinling is also to visit old friends. Hearing from Zheng Hui that you can brew fine wine here, I shamelessly dragged Zheng Hui to come directly and beg for wine to drink,” Zheng Chang said.

“Master Baishi is too polite. These past days with nothing to do, I pondered out this distillation method. In my heart I was truly thinking of finding an opportunity to seek Master Baishi’s instruction,” Han Qian said with a laugh. He naturally didn’t believe Zheng Chang came to Jinling this time only to visit old friends, but since Zheng Chang was unwilling to say at this moment, he guessed perhaps Zheng Chang’s final summons appointment still required groundwork and consideration, not yet finally determined?

At this moment Zhao Ting’er poked her little head out from behind the side alley, peeking to see as it was nearly dark what kind of guests had run to the estate compound.

Seeing Zhao Ting’er about to retract her head, Han Qian deliberately called out in a commanding tone: “Go to the distillation room and have the distillation masters tidy themselves up presentably—don’t go bare-chested and lose propriety. In a while I’ll go over with Master Baishi to personally seek Master Baishi’s instruction on wine-brewing methods!”

Compared to the distillation room Zheng Hui had seen over ten days ago, the interior of the current distillation pot had already installed new condensation coil pipes and water pumps, continuously pouring cold well water from bottom to top for highly efficient steam condensation.

Han Qian was having Zhao Ting’er rush ahead to the distillation room to remove and hide the condensation coil pipes and water pumps—these were the key technical methods of the distillation process Han Qian wanted to conceal.

Without such equipment, even if the Zheng clan could also distill high-proof spirits, the cost would be at least double what theirs was.

Han Qian leaking part of the distillation method to the Zheng clan had purpose—he wouldn’t completely transmit the entire distillation method to the Zheng clan.

Han Qian first invited Zheng Chang, Zheng Hui and others to sit in the study hall, drank tea, then with elaborate care personally instructed Old Zhao to prepare the night banquet, fearing any loss of propriety. Only afterward did he lead the Zheng clan members to tour the distillation room, personally seeking Zheng Chang’s instruction on wine-brewing methods.

For this second tour, Zheng Hui was somewhat absent-minded. After taking a cursory look with Master Baishi, they quickly returned to sit in the study hall.

“The distillation method Lord Han presented to His Highness—when my clan uncle paid respects to His Highness yesterday, His Highness already bestowed it upon him, saying he hoped the wine workshop the Zheng family opens in Jinling could produce truly peerless fine wine,” Zheng Hui now stated his purpose, saying, “This method was created by Lord Han. How could Zheng Hui dare forget? I’ve specially brought some modest gifts—not much, ten yi of gold. Please accept them, Lord Han…”

Ten yi equaled two hundred forty ingots of gold, roughly worth nearly three million coins.

Han Qian believed the Zheng clan had already mastered the distillation method, but hadn’t expected them to be so generous and lavish—truly beyond expectation.

Han Qian was slightly startled, leaning his body slightly forward in salute: “Lord Zheng is truly too polite. I can only say I respectfully obey rather than decline…”

Officials like Wang Lin newly entered into the Prince’sMansion still held disdain for the Han Daoxun and Han Qian father and son, but Zheng Hui had led troops garrisoning Xichuan before the new year, accepting Li Zhigao’s command, personally witnessing Han Qian’s many actions.

Liaising with mountain stronghold forces, building a city at Canglang, then helping Li Zhigao defend Tie’e Ridge—all were Han Qian’s achievements. When the Third Prince proclaimed Xia Zhen’s crimes, Han Qian personally struck to kill Xia Zhen, dismembering the Yingzhou forces.

At least at that moment, Han Qian should have already accurately predicted the Liang army’s intentions and general battle strategy. Not to mention in the subsequent bloody battle at Xichuan, Han Qian personally formulated the extraordinary strategy of luring and annihilating elite Liang forces, executed by Xuzhou convict soldiers.

After Zheng Hui took office beside the Third Prince, he also gained further understanding of the “Epidemic Water Memorial” and the establishment of the Longque Army.

Of course, the Han Daoxun and Han Qian father and son placing their chips on the Third Prince had the ambition of possessing precious goods, but Zheng Hui couldn’t help but secretly admire the calculations of the Han father and son—actually able to play the Third Prince, this losing hand no one favored, to such a state within two years.

Besides Jingxiang local powers suffering heavy blows this time, making it difficult for the Zheng clan to resist and not dare easily defy Emperor Tianyou’s will, the choice of the Han Daoxun and Han Qian father and son was actually also an important factor in the Zheng clan’s resolute decision to enter the capital en masse this time.

So two hundred forty ingots of gold were merely the small goodwill the Zheng family expressed.

Zheng Hui continued: “Lord Han’s estate temporarily doesn’t yet have an official wine permit. If the brewed Yandang Spring has surplus beyond private drinking, my Zheng family can purchase it all for resale. As for the wine price, please let Lord Han determine it.”

What Zheng Hui said actually amounted to helping Han Qian sell Yandang Spring on commission. Even though the Zheng clan knew the distillation method, they had no intention of private brewing.

Zhao Ting’er sat in the courtyard serving tea. At this moment she made faces at Han Qian, mocking him for judging a gentleman’s heart with a petty person’s mind, having made her busy herself for nothing just now.

Han Qian pondered briefly and said: “As for Yandang Spring, I brew it privately for drinking. With the estate compound being just this small, even with intent, being able to distill an extra thousand catties of wine per month would be the maximum. For this thousand catties of wine, the estate’s distillation costs about four hundred thousand in capital. If the Zheng family wine workshop opens in Jinling, then price it at five hundred thousand coins to sell to the Zheng family wine workshop. This way Han Qian can exchange for some book money and meat money each month.”

Han Qian’s asking price was much lower than imagined. Zheng Hui was also slightly startled, thinking this was Han Qian reciprocating the Zheng clan’s goodwill with kindness. He immediately clasped his hands to indicate the transaction was concluded.

After the night banquet, seeing off Zheng Hui, Zheng Chang and the others, Zhao Ting’er asked Han Qian in puzzlement: “The Zheng family already presented a posture of letting Young Master slaughter them as a favor—why did Young Master become soft-hearted?”

“When you were serving tea you made faces at me—were you mocking me for judging a gentleman’s heart with a petty person’s mind?” Han Qian asked, rubbing Zhao Ting’er’s smooth, beautiful hair.

“Young Master is now judging a gentleman’s heart with a petty person’s mind. Previously calculating against the Zheng family in every way, didn’t expect it all came to nothing, did you?” Zhao Ting’er said coquettishly. Seeing Xi Ren in the outer room, she removed Han Qian’s hand from her head.

Han Qian smiled faintly and answered Zhao Ting’er’s earlier question, saying: “No matter what price I set for Yandang Spring, the Zheng family will mark it up for resale. If I price it too high now, first it would only show I’m too greedy. Second, the Zheng family doesn’t expect to profit from Yandang Spring—their wine workshop only needs to use Yandang Spring to establish reputation in Jinling, then it’s convenient to sell other wines their wine workshop brews. They’d be delighted if we priced Yandang Spring as high as possible. At that point you’d discover that if Yandang Spring is priced too high, ultimately not much can be sold.”

Jinling was a place concentrated with the powerful and noble, but in the contemporary era, superior fine wine at a thousand coins per catty also had a limited consumer base. Moreover, strong spirits had just emerged—the powerful and noble hadn’t yet formed the habit of drinking strong spirits.

If Han Qian priced Yandang Spring at two to three thousand coins per catty, how much could be sold?

Zheng Hui very generously represented the Zheng clan in stating they would henceforth only sell on commission the Yandang Spring produced here. Before the distillation method spread out, the Zheng family wouldn’t additionally brew spirits. Their sights were actually set on the tens of millions of catties of mid-to-low-end wine Jinling city would consume annually.

That was where the various official wine establishments competed most fiercely.

This showed the Zheng family had someone with extremely sharp business acumen directing things behind the scenes.

Han Qian would accept the Zheng family’s sentiment, but he could also guess what the Zheng family was thinking. He continued: “Moreover, by pricing the wine this low, we temporarily completely eliminate the Zheng family’s thoughts of privately brewing. Once Yandang Spring’s reputation is established, and what’s available on the market is limited, although we won’t break the rules by privately selling wine, if friends and relatives need it, we privately send some out. These friends and relatives surely wouldn’t feel comfortable accepting my wine for nothing without reciprocating gifts, right?”

Whether condensers were added to the distillation pot made an enormous difference.

Without condensers, dissipation and waste were too great—roughly six catties of grain could distill only one catty of high-proof wine. With condensers added, not only was grain consumption per catty of high-proof wine halved, but distillation time could also be greatly reduced.

More critically, the estate here didn’t even need to add yeast and brew wine themselves—they only needed to purchase some ordinary low-proof mixed brews from the market for distillation and concentration, even saving the blending process.

Selling wine to the Zheng family at five hundred coins per catty, Han Qian could profit nearly four hundred coins. He truly felt too embarrassed to profit more. Selling a thousand catties per month to offset the estate’s expenses was sufficient.

Zhao Ting’er laughed coquettishly: “When Lord Zheng came to show goodwill, he probably didn’t imagine Young Master would still be so dedicated to calculating against them, did he? I think Young Master’s conscience has gone terribly bad.”

“How do you know my conscience has gone bad? Have you looked, or have you reached inside to feel it?” Han Qian grasped Zhao Ting’er’s soft, delicate little hand with a laugh.

“Bah!” Zhao Ting’er withdrew her little hand. Guiltily glancing back at Xi Ren not far away, she reached out to pinch Han Qian’s waist, complaining resentfully: “Don’t bully Ting’er!!”