The young Li Shi has a delicate face, and there is a rare shadow of Li Jiao, the king of Chu, when he was young, between his facial features and eyebrows. Moreover, Li Shi is calm, has a good demeanor, and has a grace and luxury in his bones, which is more similar to Li Li.

In the royal family, Li Shi is a personable young prince who is second to none, with excellent demeanor, good looks, temperament, and talent, as if he has gathered all the excellent genes of the Li Tang royal family.

Li Shi smiled and clenched his fists and arched his hands: "Li Shi has seen Chang'anhou." ”

Kong Sheng also smiled indifferently and bowed back: "I've seen Your Highness." ”

Kong Sheng is actually quite particular about Li Shi's title. Li Shi has not yet been knighted, let alone the prince of Chu, calling it an ambiguous behavior for His Royal Highness, and playing a marginal ball on the etiquette system. However, people are animals who like to be complimented, and Li Shi is naturally no exception, and Kong Sheng's title makes him feel very comfortable listening to it.

Li Shi nodded and said: "Li Shi was ordered by his father to send some gifts to congratulate the Marquis of Chang'an on the great joy of opening the mansion, this is the gift list of the Chu Palace, and please ask the Marquis of Chang'an to smile!" ”

Li Shi took out the gilded name card and exquisite gift list of Li Jiao, the king of Chu, from his arms, handed it over, and stared deeply at Kong Sheng.

If Kong Sheng takes it, it means that he has the heart to resolve the "grievances" with the King of Chu, and if Kong Sheng does not give face, then the result is self-evident.

In fact, Li Shi or Li Li is completely using the mentality and logic of the Tang people to judge Kong Sheng's behavior, but they don't know that Kong Sheng has never played cards according to common sense, and at some times, it is difficult to integrate into the values of this era.

Therefore, Kong Sheng does not think that accepting some gifts from Li Li means that all the "grievances" with the King of Chu have been revealed, let alone that he will forget the past and accept the invitation of the King of Chu to take the initiative to flatter the King of Chu and become his lackey, which are completely different things.

Therefore, Kong Sheng took it disapprovingly. said thank you casually, and then let Li Shi into the living room, sat down with the guests, and exchanged pleasantries for half an hour.

Although the young Li Shi is quite scheming and exquisite, he must be tempted. Where could he be Kong Sheng's opponent. Li Shi tried for a long time, and even hinted for a long time, Kong Sheng either pretended to be confused and didn't understand, or he started Tai Chi around the bush.

All in all, Li Shi came in a nervous mood and returned in a daze, and it was only when he left the Chang'an Marquis Mansion that he suddenly realized how he should go back and explain to his father Li Jiao? How to talk about Kong Sheng's attitude?

Looking back on the half-hour exchange of words, Kong Sheng was very polite. A lot of kind words were said, but there was not a single word of real substance, and it was really leaky. Moreover, Li Shi was very depressed, since Kong Sheng dared to accept the gift of the King of Chu, this seemed to mean that he bowed his head and gave in, but when Li Shi tested Kong Sheng's "bottom line", he did not get the slightest response.

People say that the mouth of eating people is short, and the hands of taking people are short. But Kong Sheng actually accepted a gift from the Chu Palace, and he didn't realize it at all.

This is the difference in values. Li Shi is afraid that he will not be able to understand Kong Sheng's mentality for the rest of his life. In Kong Sheng's opinion, since you sent it to the door to give gifts, why don't you accept it? What does it mean?

If Kong Sheng's position and principles can be bought with a little money, is Kong Sheng still Kong Sheng?

However, Li Shi felt that his trip to the Marquis of Chang'an's Mansion was also fruitful. At least, Kong Sheng received a gift from the Chu Palace. It will definitely cause a backlash from the Li line of King Zhao, indicating that in Kong Sheng's mind, he began to abandon King Zhao and lean towards the line of King Chu.

But Kong Sheng doesn't see it that way. The person he dislikes, even if he sends a mountain of gold, will not change anything; But if it's a person worth making a friend, even if it's coarse tea and light rice. It's also the same friendship. Kong Sheng believes that the Li family will not be so naïve and impetuous.

As for what others think, what radiation effects will there be, Kong Sheng doesn't care at all.

However, the celebration of the opening ceremony of the Marquis of Chang'an in the Chu Palace's palace spread throughout Chang'an City in the shortest possible time. The common people are just that, at most, they are talking behind their backs, and they are curious; And for the royal magnates of Chang'an City, this is a bit extraordinary.

Almost everyone subconsciously thought that Kong Sheng had bowed to the King of Chu, and the two sides had reached some kind of tacit understanding, otherwise how could the King of Chu condescend to the noble and take the initiative to give Kong Sheng a gift, and how could Kong Sheng dare to swagger to accept the gift of the King of Chu?

The tiger's ass can't be touched, is the gift of the king of Chu so easy to receive?

Many people are beginning to think about the development of the situation, while some people are beginning to think about whether to send some congratulatory gifts to Chang'an Hou to ease the relationship. After all, in the eyes of most people, Kong Sheng's civil and military shuangshuang have risen less throughout the year, if he is willing to devote himself to Li Li's disciples, Li Li will ascend the throne in the future, and he will be a powerful minister.

The turmoil and movements in Chang'an City have nothing to do with Kong Sheng.

For two days in a row, the Chang'an Hou Mansion was busy inside and outside, and the guards who temporarily acted as servants in the palace went in and out, some of them frantically purchased the Sanle pulp brewed by the Hu people in Chang'an City, and some of them transported various items into the Hou Mansion, and they also invited a lot of craftsmen, and they didn't know what was going on in the Chang'an Hou Mansion.

Kong Sheng did not follow the practice of the current dynasty to visit various immortals and seek allies, but "buried his head in hard work" in the mansion and concentrated on his own livelihood.

In fact, don't talk about outsiders, even Wu Xianwu understands that these people don't know what Kong Sheng is going to do. Zhao Guangran led people to buy a large batch of Sanle pulp, and almost bought out the Sanle pulp stored by the two Huren Liquor Workshops in the city, and hundreds of jars of Sanle pulp entered the Hou Mansion, and at the same time, the amount of wealth given by the emperor was spent in equal amounts.

A separate courtyard was specially opened in the back courtyard of the Hou Mansion, and the door of the courtyard was closed, except for the guards who transported various items, and then there were a few craftsmen who worked according to Kong Sheng's command, and no one knew what this courtyard was for.

Actually, it's not complicated. Kong Sheng bought the already strong Sanle pulp because he wanted to make a stronger liquor through the distillation and purification process. For Kong Sheng, high-grade liquor is not only a consumer product, but also has a lot of uses in the future. For example, it can be used in the military to disinfect soldiers after they are wounded, and it can barely replace the use of alcohol.

Don't underestimate this, the ancient cold weapon war was completely a crowd tactic, with heavy casualties, and many soldiers were wounded and infected with germs due to lack of disinfection, resulting in a sharp reduction in soldiers and a sharp decline in combat effectiveness.

Kong Sheng asked Zhao Guangran to find a blacksmith to make an extra-large heavenly cauldron, similar to the double-layer steamer in modern society, which is also divided into two layers, and is covered with a sealed round iron cover. A round hole was opened at one end of the iron cover and connected to the bamboo pipe.

Fill the lower layer of the heavenly pot with three pulp, and then boil in the furnace. When the wine is boiling, a second pot is added to fill it with cold water, and finally it is covered with a round iron cover and sealed.

The firewood is vigorous, and the gas containing alcohol is cooled by the cold water above, condensed into a liquid, and flows out of the bamboo pipe, which is the distilled spirit that Kong Sheng hoped to get. This method was introduced from Persia to the Central Plains in the later Yuan Dynasty, and it is clearly recorded in the Yuan people's Hu Yixi's "Notes on Tibetan Wine".

After the distillation and purification equipment was assembled and the Sanle pulp was added, all the craftsmen withdrew, leaving only two maids to light the fire and act at the behest of Kong Sheng. (To be continued.) )