March 3, Shangsi Festival.

Today is sunny and it is a rare good weather.

In the lower reaches of the river not far from Tingquan Caolu, there is an artificially excavated small river, which draws water from the river bay, bends and bends in an area of dozens of zhang, and finally rejoins the river.

The width of the river is only about five feet, and the depth is less than three feet, and peach trees are planted along the river more than one person high, and it is the season when the peach blossoms are in full bloom, and the fragrance of the flowers is intoxicating.

Along both sides of the riverbank, lay dozens of straw mats, put blankets and low tables on the straw mats, several are the four treasures of the study, the ink in the inkstone is just right, the rice paper is tiled, and the bluestone paperweight is pressed.

Today's gathering is called Qu Shui Liuzhen, which originated thousands of years ago and was extremely popular in the Han and Jin dynasties.

Guests sit on both sides of the river, place a wooden tray upstream, place a wine bottle in the middle of the plate, and the tray goes down the water, stop in front of whom, or write a poem, or complete a small game set in advance with calligraphy, and if they fail to complete both, they will be punished - taking the bottle and drinking.

In the ninth year of Jin Yonghe, Wang Xizhi, together with his relatives and friends and senior military and political officials, held the "Qushui Liuzhen" activity of drinking and writing poems after repairing in Lanting, and wrote the first line of books in the world, "Orchid Pavilion Preface", which was rumored to be a good story.

Because of his involvement in poetry and calligraphy, Qu Shui Liuyu was highly regarded by calligraphers and ordinary literati, but he was not interested in the three ways of piano, chess, and painting.

Therefore, the people who came to participate in the event today were mainly calligraphers and scribes, as well as some ordinary literati in this county.

As the organizer, Gu Meng was busy for several days.

In addition to participating in the activities, the new children's class is also responsible for serving as waiters, four people are responsible for greeting guests at the gate of the College of Literature and Taoism, four people are responsible for guiding the way along the way, and the rest are responsible for carrying and decorating the scene.

At that time, the guests came to the academy one after another, and groups of three or five walked towards this side.

Gu Meng and Qin Mo each held a big wine jar, and came here from the grass house, the handsome old man's face was slightly red, and he said with some worry: "Ziyi, is this really possible? Even the county lord has to come, there is no silk bamboo music, and there is no kabuki to help the fun, it's too shabby, right?"

He wanted to make the scene more grand, but because he didn't borrow any money, he only had a small plate of dried fruits and an empty cup on each case, except for the necessary things such as the four treasures of the study.

In previous years, not only were the tables full of food, but musicians and kabuki were also invited to cheer up.

Qin Mo had his own point of view, and he said with a straight face: "Listen to me, you won't be wrong!"

In his opinion, the most important thing is to write poetry, drink alcohol, and compete in literary power, and Ichiku Sarai and Kabuki are superficial things that do not help the event in any way, but rather distract people.

Moreover, Xu Hao, the county honor, was born in a famous and wealthy family, and he is a person who has seen the world, and what you have worked so hard to come up with may not be able to be seen by others.

So, there's no need to dig into these useless things.

"However, I still have some uncertainty in my heart. Gu Meng said, he looked down at the wine jar, and said, "Also, two jars of wine is enough, today's guests are close to 100 people, I'm afraid ten jars are not enough, right?"

Qin Mo smiled mysteriously, bought a pass, and said, "Don't worry, the two jars of wine may not be able to finish it." ”

Gu Meng had suspicion on his face, he remembered that the day before yesterday he had sent sixteen jars of wine to the cottage, but when he took the wine just now, he found that there were only two jars left, and the rest of the big jars were all empty.

He didn't doubt that the wine was secretly drunk by Qin Mo, because no one could drink two hundred and eighty catties of wine in two days.

But why the jars were empty, Qin Mo's explanation was that they were condensed into essence and stored in two jars.

The two openings were sealed with beeswax so tightly that no smell of wine came out.

A boy brought a wine bottle and a wooden tray, and Gu Meng's face changed at that time, and he asked, "Why do you use such a small wine bottle?"

Tong Sheng was startled, and quickly turned his head to look at Qin Mo.

Qin Mo walked over and explained lightly: "I ordered it." ”

Gu Meng frowned, lowered his voice and said, "This is too stingy, there is no music and singing and dancing, even the wine bottle is so small, how can everyone enjoy it?"

According to his idea, at least a large bottle that can hold half a catty of wine must be used, and the current one can hold two taels at most.

Qin Mo said: "Don't worry, when they taste the wine, they will realize that the cup is still big." ”

"Really?" of course Gu Meng didn't believe it.

Qin Mo nodded solemnly and said, "I bet that among the people who participated in the event today, there are very few people who can drink more than five glasses. ”

With suspicion, Gu Meng went to explain the matter elsewhere.

The guests arrived one after another, and after greeting each other, they each found their favorite seats to sit down.

The coldness of the scene did disappoint some people, Gu Meng was a little embarrassed, but fortunately, he was thick-skinned enough to be able to keep his face changing and his heart not beating.

The children, who were responsible for greeting the guests and guiding the way, successfully completed their tasks, and they also came to the scene and found an inconspicuous place to sit down.

There is only one exception, that is, Zhang Wenqi, a transfer student, who chooses a very conspicuous position.

When he saw the wine bottle on the wooden tray, he couldn't help but show contempt, and said to the boy next to him: "With such a small bottle, aren't you afraid of the ridicule of the guests?"

Tong Sheng didn't speak, but his face showed disdain.

At this time, Xu Hao, the county honorian, came in a two-horse carriage, he was wearing civilian clothes, with a warm smile on his face, and he hugged his fists at everyone from afar.

Everyone hurriedly stood up and saluted the county lord.

Xu Hao greeted everyone very politely, and then at the insistence of He Chang and Gu Meng, he reluctantly sat on the main seat, and Gu Meng immediately announced the start of the event.

One of the two children located upstream picked up the tray, the other patted the sealing wax on the wine jar, reached out and pulled out the stopper wrapped in red cloth, and a rich aroma of wine came to his nose, and he couldn't help but exclaim.

In this era, alcohol was mainly brewed in liquid form, and due to the multiple influences of the environment, climate and raw materials, the alcohol content of the wine was very low, and it was not much stronger than the beer of later generations.

But this jar of wine has an intoxicating fragrance, and Tong Sheng is also a good drinker, and has never smelled a similar fragrance.

He carefully poured the wine into the jug and then into the wine bottle, and in the process, several guests around him involuntarily inhaled.

The tray is placed in the water and slowly drifts downstream with the current, and the sound of inhalation comes and goes.

The scribe's physical functions are superior to those of ordinary people, and his sense of smell is naturally much better than that of ordinary people.

The tray passed in front of Xu Hao and He Chang, and their eyes widened at the same time, and before the tray left their sight, Xu Hao couldn't help asking: "Dr. Gu, which wine is this, and it tastes so fragrant?"

He Chang also had the same question, and the two looked at Gu Meng with inquiring eyes.

Of course, Gu Meng couldn't answer, and hurriedly turned his head to look at Qin Mo beside him.

Qin Mo hugged his fists at the three of them and said, "The students have a way to reprocess the wine to get a new kind of wine, which not only tastes mellow, but also clear and transparent, with a sweet entrance and a long aftertaste. ”

These are the words that were commonly used in alcohol advertisements in later generations, and they were used by him.

After such an explanation, Gu Meng couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva, and there was a hint of reproach in his eyes, meaning that there is such a good wine, why don't you let me taste it first?

Qin Mo spread his hands and made a helpless expression, meaning that just now you didn't think that two jars of wine were enough, if you let you taste it, wouldn't it be less.

This is his use of distillation to process ordinary liquor, because the pot used for distillation is too primitive, the sealing is relatively poor, and this is his first time steaming liquor, lack of experience leads to a lot of waste, so that eight jars of liquor steamed out of one jar, and only to meet the standard of low-alcohol liquor in later generations.

But even so, it was a challenge for the ancients who were accustomed to drinking ultra-low alcohol alcohol.

In the Qushui Liuzhen, the first cup of wine is of great significance, which can avoid evil and blessing, so the first cup of wine is a must-drink, and everyone wants the wooden plate to stop in front of them.

Coincidentally, no book was written, and the wooden plate stopped in front of Zhang Wenqi, who had a disdainful expression on his face.

It is not the first time for Zhang Wenqi to participate in the Qushui Liuzhen, in the city of Nanjing, the Zhang family will have such activities every year, the scene is several times grander than here, and even the feather buds used to hold wine are carved from rhino horns, which can hold at least half a catty of wine.

Looking at the red tray in front of him, the pottery wine bottle was only two inches high, and it was extremely stingy.

He stretched out his hand and picked up the wooden plate of wine, and said proudly: "The student is not talented, I got the first glass of wine, although the student is not very old, but he often drinks, such a small cup is a piece of cake for me." ”

With that, he picked up the wine bottle with his other hand and poured the contents into the glass.

Two children who were in charge of adding wine came over, took back the tray and wine bottle, and after Zhang Wenqi finished drinking, he put the wooden plate into the water again.

Zhang Wenqi noticed that the aroma of the wine was a little heavy, but he didn't care, but took the cup and drank it all.

However, his expression immediately became bright, and he instantly turned red and did not speak, and coughed violently, squirting out most of the wine.

Even if you drink too much, it is very rude to spray alcohol in public, not to mention that this is the first glass of wine, and everyone is watching.

"Spicy...... Choke me to death!" Zhang Wenqi gasped, and only at this moment did he realize that he was making a fool of himself in public, and his face became even redder.

Everyone didn't know how powerful the distilled liquor was, and they all showed ridicule.

Zhang Wenqi couldn't wait to find a crack in the ground to get into, he glanced at Qin Mo with great resentment, thinking that Qin Mo deliberately did things in the wine in order to frame him.

The two boys forced a smile and put the tray back into the water.

No one in the children's class likes Zhang Wenqi, this guy is not only arrogant, but also has an impure purpose, he is here to grab the enlightenment quota belonging to the students of Xiayi County.

Xu Hao frowned slightly, he was very interested in the drink, and when people were not paying attention, he released a literary force, went deep into the water and fixed the wooden plate, making it stop in front of him.

Although he did it very secretively, he was still discovered by He Chang and Gu Meng.

The two glanced at each other and remained silent with a tacit understanding.