Then Zhang Shuting, seeing that Qi Zhankui took office and became the shopkeeper of the South Burning Pot Restaurant, he really lived up to expectations, and after only a few days of hard work, he put a South Burning Pot Shop in good order.

It is said that on the day of the beginning of winter, Zhang Shuting came to the retort located in the middle courtyard of the pot early in the morning. Speaking of the south burning pot, I have to talk about the structure of the south burning pot first, otherwise, the more I talk about it, the more confused I will become, and the more you listen, the more confused you will become.

The south pot is close to the root of the south city, if you stand on the south city wall to see the pot, the south pot is a room with a room, a room from room to room, and a room suite. Once you walked in, you found that the south pot was full of rooms, but it was also obvious that there were three courtyards in the front, middle and back. The front and back courtyards are both large courtyards. The front yard is the back of the street store, not only the yard is large, the surrounding houses are high, and the ground in the courtyard is also paved with thick square bricks. Not only is it paved with square bricks, but there are more than a dozen persimmon trees planted on the north and south sides of the courtyard, and there is a deep well in the northwest corner of the courtyard.

In the spring of the year when Zhang Shuting was eleven years old, he was flying a kite in the open space in the front yard, and accidentally stepped on the air and fell into the deep well in the northwest corner. If it weren't for Qi Zhankui, who was still working as a partner in the front yard at the time, and jumped into the well to rescue him, I'm afraid Zhang Shuting wouldn't have survived today. In this courtyard, the west and south rows are all wine storage warehouses, the east is the shop, and the north row is the shopkeeper, the residence of the shopkeeper and the bookkeeper.

To the west of the row of tall houses that stretches from the front yard to the back yard is a passage through which two carriages can pass at the same time. This spacious passage is also the passage that connects the front, middle and rear courtyards. Follow this passage all the way west to walk from the front yard to the back yard or vice versa from the back yard to the front yard. South Pot Backyard.

This backyard is also surrounded by houses. The east and west rows are the warehouses where the grain is stored, and the south row, that is, the houses connected to the front, middle and back yards, are the places where the shochu, koji, and mill guys sleep. There is also a row on the north side, which is surrounded by tall houses on the east, west, and south sides, and the row on the north side is shorter, which is a place to raise livestock in pots. The whole backyard looks even bigger than the front yard. If there is a large yard, in addition to the fine soil that is piled up like a hill for the cattle pens, there are also seven or eight wagons parked, and sometimes one or two mules and horses can be seen running around in the yard.

Speaking of which, only this middle courtyard is different from the front and back yards; In other words, it is a middle courtyard, but in fact, there is no courtyard, only the passage that is connected to the front and rear courtyards, and two carriages can pass side by side at the same time. On the south side of the passage, the row of tall houses that are connected to the front and back yards, is the kitchen for the pot, and on the north side is a larger house. It is said that it is a house, but in fact it is not a house, it is a very large shed, and it is not completely a shed, there are walls and windows on the east, west and north sides, and only the south side, next to the side of the passage, is completely open. To say that it is big, it is even bigger than a place that is five acres of land. The roof of the shed is covered with tiles, and the bottom of the shed is supported by rows of wooden pillars.

Looking at the ground under the shed, in addition to a rectangular pond next to it, that is, the so-called cellar pool for fermenting wine, there is also a retort tube as thick as a grain hoard in the middle of the shed. It is said to be a retort, but the older generation does not call it a retort, but it is called a retort. The so-called retort is also a kind of title on the pot, which refers to the place of shochu in general. Just as the pot does not only refer to the utensils for steaming wine, but also a title on the pot, which refers to the entire shochu workshop.

On this day, Zhang Shuting came to the retort early, and saw that at this time, there were more than a dozen soju men on the east and west retorts, and they had already begun to be busy there. Count them down, one, two, three, four...... Thirteen shochu men are enclosed on each retort, pulling ingredients, mixing ingredients, raising pools, loading retorts, pulling bellows to light the fire, constantly adding cold water to the heavenly pot on the top of the retort, and receiving wine with wine - these terms you may not understand, but you can definitely imagine the scene of being busy.

Looking at these two retorts, there is a master on each retort, which is now the so-called squad leader, constantly checking the progress of each guy's work, and at the same time, shouting various passwords from time to time:

"Open!"

"Retort!"

"Smash the plate!"

"Add water to the heavenly pot!"

"Chase the fire!"

……

Speaking of the soju terms of the older generation, you may not understand, but every command of the master is related to the quality and quantity of each retort. These passwords are similar to those shouted by the master master on the mouth of other pot-burning pots, but the "heat" shouted is different, and the quality of the wine is also different; In other words, when a master shouts these passwords depends entirely on the shochu skills of these shochu masters.

As the owner, what Zhang Shuting can do is to look at the proportion of various materials into the pond for fermentation, or into the retort distillation. Other pot owners may also look at these ratios, but the quality of the wine is also different depending on the amount of proportion.

Without further ado, let's talk about Zhang Shuting, let's come to the west first. The master in charge of this retort is surnamed Cui, named Dahai, in his fifties, with a brick knife face, and does not like to talk or laugh, but when he shouts the password to the guys, the sound is like a bell, deafening; Another master of the retort is surnamed Huo, named Luo Mao, also in his fifties, with a round face, and loves to laugh, but when he shouts the password to the guys, he is not as loud as Cui Dahai's voice.

At this time, I saw Cui Dahai seeing Zhang Shuting, and he didn't say anything, what should he do. Zhang Shuting didn't care about him, and when he came closer, he walked straight to the "Liuzi" who was drinking. We say that the so-called "liuzi" is a tube that passes through the heavenly pot at the top of the retort and leads the steaming liquor out of the retort. Saying that it is a "ryuko" is also a term used on the pot.

I saw Zhang Shuting come to the "Liuzi", squatted down, and took the small container of wine made like a little boy's chicken from the hands of the guy guarding here, and took a "chicken" hot wine from the "Liuzi", first took a small sip, then a small sip, and then drank a big sip. After drinking, he returned the "chicken" to the fellows, and said nothing, then stood up and walked towards the two fellows who were digging the cellar.

By this time, two-thirds of a pit more than one person deep had been dug up. Zhang Shuting originally came wearing a jacket, but at this time, he saw him take off his jacket and put it aside, leaving only a white cloth coat inside, and let a guy in the pool climb up and jump off by himself.

After jumping down, he first carefully inspected the wall of the pool, on the wall of the pool, the layer of fermented mud that had already turned dark blue was intact, and then, he lowered his head, reached out and grabbed a handful of fermented fermented paste, put it under his nose and smelled it, and after smelling it, put it in his mouth and chewed it, and then, he grabbed the wooden shovel left by the fellow just now, and got up with the other fellow who remained in the pool. It was not until all the remaining fermented grains in the cellar were lifted out and the entire empty cellar was seen that the whole empty cellar was exactly the same, and then he jumped into the pool.

After this pass, I saw that Zhang Shuting was already sweating profusely, but he didn't care, and then I saw him walking straight towards the master Fu Cui Dahai.

Zhang Shuting:

"Master Cui, today is the beginning of winter, according to the solar terms, it is time to put more grain."

After that, he lowered his head and seemed to think about it again, and said:

"In previous years, after the beginning of winter, eight buckets were added, and from tomorrow, each cellar pool will add ten more buckets of sorghum and one bucket of corn!"

After that, he lowered his head and thought about it again, and said:

"Millet, add half a bucket to each cellar!"

Cui Dahai didn't answer, first reached out and grabbed a handful of wine under his feet, sniffed it like Zhang Shuting, and then opened his mouth to taste it, and said for a long time:

"It's cold early this year, and if you want to add food, you should have added it a long time ago, but the millet is less, right?"

Say and say"

"When the old club was alive, every time there was a grain and solar terms, millet would be added to a bucket!"

Zhang Shuting:

"I also know the old rule of adding a bucket of millet to each cellar, but there is a big flood in autumn today, and I am afraid that I will not be able to catch the millet next spring!"

Cui Dahai didn't say anything anymore. He bowed his head and worked. Zhang Shuting walked towards the retort of Huo Luomao in the east. But before he could get to the mouth of Holomao, he heard someone call him from the open position to the south.

Listen again, the person who called him was none other than Qi Zhankui, the shopkeeper. Just listen to Qi Zhankui shouting:

"The owner, Governor Wang is here to cook the pot!"