A few days later.

The spring breeze is warm and the sun is shining.

A fast horse galloped in and stopped in front of Cao Zhang's mansion.

The heroic young man on the horse jumped down and strode inward, it was Cao Zhang's good brother Xiahou Ba.

The subordinates guarding the door were familiar with him, and hurriedly stepped forward to salute.

"Where's your son-in-law?" Xiahou Ba asked as he walked inside.

"Childe is in the backyard." The people replied.

Xiahou Ba stopped being verbose, rushed directly into the door of the mansion, and walked quickly to the backyard.

Before he walked into the backyard, Xiahouba smelled a strong smell of wine.

He snorted, a puzzled look.

"Did you drink yourself in broad daylight?" He muttered quietly and walked quickly into the backyard.

In the open space in the middle of the backyard, a stove was set up, a large iron pot was burning, and people were constantly adding firewood to ensure that the fire was vigorous.

On top of the large iron pot, a huge clay pot is erected on a shelf to form the shape of a grate.

At the top of the shelf, there is also a large cauldron with the mouth of the pot sealed.

Between the clay pot and the heavenly pot, a bamboo pipe is connected, and at this time, there is a liquid flowing down the bamboo pipe, and after being sieved through the clay pot, it flows into a wine jar connected to the clay pot.

There is already about half a jar of liquid in the jar, and the aroma of the wine emanates from the jar.

Cao Zhangzheng was standing next to the wine jar, looking at the wine, with a happy smile on his face.

"Ziwen, what are you doing?" Xiahou Ba shouted and greeted.

"Zhongquan?" Cao Zhang turned around and saw that it was Xiahou Ba, and greeted happily, "You came just in time, come and taste the wine I brewed." ”

"The wine you brewed?"

Xiahou Ba looked surprised, when will his good brother make wine again?

Cao Zhang scooped up a spoonful of wine from the wine jar with a wooden spoon and sent it to Xiahou Ba.

Xiahouba took the wooden spoon, only to see that the wine in the spoon was clear in color, with very few impurities, and exuded a strong aroma of wine.

Xiahou Ba drank the liquor in one gulp, and the liquor went down his throat, leaving a spicy and hot feeling, as if a fire was burning in his chest, and the comfortable taste was far from being comparable to ordinary wine.

"This, what kind of wine is this, how can it be so delicious?" Xiahou Ba looked at Cao Zhang in astonishment and asked.

Don't look at his age, but he has grown up in the army since he was a child, and his drinking age is not short, and he has drunk a lot of good wine, but none of it can be compared with the wine in front of him now.

Cao Zhang's face showed a smug smile: "That's nature. This is my unique recipe, and we will make money from it in the future. ”

In the past few days, Cao Zhang has been thinking about how to strengthen himself in the future.

In addition to recruiting talent, it is also extremely important to train a well-equipped army.

But if you want to raise soldiers and build good armor and weapons, you can't do without money.

Although he is Sikong's son, it does not mean that he has a lot of money at his disposal, and he can only think of ways to make money.

After thinking about it, Cao Zhang felt that making wine to sell it might be a relatively low cost, the easiest way to succeed, and a better way to sell in the future.

Because the wine in the late Han Dynasty was still fermented wine, the degree was very low, and it was not the current way of fermenting koji, the clarity of the wine was very poor, the wine was turbid, the wine flavor was not strong, and the aroma was not enough.

As a forensic doctor, Cao Zhang's analysis and testing of evidence from various crime scenes is naturally inseparable from chemical knowledge, so he immediately thought of making distilled spirits.

After several days of experimentation, he finally succeeded in making a wine with a high concentration and aroma.

"You want to make money making wine?" Xiahou Ba looked at Cao Zhang in surprise.

"Do you think it's okay?" Although the wine was made, Cao Zhang's heart was not very bottom.

"Yes, of course. Such a good wine, as long as it can be brewed continuously, will definitely be in short supply, and it will be a big sale! Xiahou Ba said excitedly.

"Then you think it's in your hometown in Qiao County, let the clansmen of the Xiahou clan and the Cao clan brew it. I'll provide the technology, and the specific sake brewing and selling will be done by the clan people, and we will share half of the profits with them, what do you think? Cao Zhang asked Xiahou Ba.

Fertilizer and water do not flow into the fields of outsiders, Cao Zhangke is not willing to hand over such a good money-making technique to outsiders, and the people of the clan are more reliable.

"I think it's okay. You are giving them a chance to make a fortune out of thin air, and they will not refuse if they are too late to be happy. After a short analysis, Xiahouba gave the answer.

"Okay, then let's discuss this matter with the two Xiahou uncles, and let them arrange for someone from their hometown clan to negotiate." Cao Zhang told Xiahouba about his plans.

"Let my uncle arrange it? You're not going to tell Sikong about this and let him arrange it? Xiahou Ba didn't fully understand Cao Zhang's intentions.

"Tell my father, do you think you have made money, and you still have our share?" Cao Zhang reminded Xiahou Ba.

"That's right, Sikong is now fighting everywhere, and the military budget and military rations are still insufficient, if he knows that there is such a way to make money, he will definitely confiscate it directly." Xiahou Ba stuck out his tongue and understood what Cao Zhang was referring to.

"So this matter must be kept secret and done quietly." Cao Zhang cautioned.

"Got it." Xiahou Ba nodded in agreement.

"By the way, Zhongquan, why did you remember to come to me today, is there anything wrong?" Cao Zhang asked.

Xiahou Ba patted his head: "Look, as soon as I came, I patronized the matter of wine, and I almost forgot about business." ”

"The family of Xu Fu you asked me to find has been found, and they have now moved to a relatively remote village in Changshe County, and I finally found out."

"Great!" Hearing that Xu Shu's family had been found, Cao Zhang was very excited.

"Then let's go find them now." Cao Zhang pulled Xiahou Ba and walked out.

The distance between Changshe and Xu Du is only more than fifty miles, and it can be reached in an hour, so he naturally doesn't want to delay.

Xiahou Ba knew that Cao Zhang was anxious, and he didn't refuse, the two quickly walked out of the mansion, rode fast horses, and went straight to the north gate of Xudu.

The two walked along the official road all the way to the north.

At this time, it was spring, but Cao Zhang had no intention of watching the scenery along the way, but kept urging the horse forward, and Xiahouba could only follow closely.

The two of them walked about ten miles, and a military camp appeared on the side of the road in front of them.

At the entrance of the barracks, several wagons were parked, and food bags were stacked on them.

Several soldiers in the barracks, surrounded the general who was responsible for escorting grain and grass next to the carriage, and shouted loudly.

"General Cao, it's not easy for the soldiers every day, how can you deduct our military rations?!"

The general who was surrounded in the middle couldn't help but roar loudly: "Xu Huang, you are so bold, you dare to lead the crowd to make trouble and frame General Ben for deducting your military rations?!" ”

Xu Huang?!

Cao Zhang was interested when he heard this roar, and quickly tightened the reins of his horse and stopped, looking in the direction of the barracks......