"Huh?" Wu Jiansheng was puzzled: "As long as such a strong and good wine is promoted, how can it not be a big seller?"

Chef Zhou explained, "Hi, Mr. Wu, spirits are not necessarily good wines. Most of the literati and scholars in Chang'an today like sake, rice wine, and wine, and this kind of wine with a relatively low intensity, and you let them suddenly drink this kind of liquor like yours, do you think they are used to drinking it?" (There is still a debate about whether the soju that appears in the Tang Dynasty documents refers to the modern soju, and some people believe that this kind of soju is actually another name for sake or rice wine)

Wu Jiansheng only remembered at this time that most of the famous wines in modern times used to be for those who worked hard to drink a glass after work to warm their bodies, and it was not until later that after various propaganda, they became expensive world famous wines. In this era, this kind of high-intensity distilled liquor will naturally not be accepted by the mainstream of the upper class. So he said, "Then I'll set the price a little lower and sell it to those porters, and the head office of the small civilian households, right?"

When Master Zhou heard this, he was dumbfounded, and looked at Wu Jiansheng with a foolish look, and said for a long time: "That, Mr. Wu, you bought a lot of grain to open this wine cellar, right?"

Wu Jiansheng nodded and said, "That's right." ”

"Then do you know that there are millions of people in Chang'an City, and the cost of eating and drinking Lazar is incalculable, so the price of grain in Chang'an is almost seven changes in January, maybe a few days ago a bucket of rice for two pennies, the next day to buy silver, I have the impression that there was a drought in Guanzhong thirty years ago, a bucket of rice cost ten taels of gold, and my family was almost starved to death. If you buy grain and don't raise the price of the grain at a high price, but use it to make wine and sell it at a lower price, are you doing business? Are you learning from the government to help the people?"

Wu Jiansheng was speechless for a while, obviously forgetting that due to the constraints of productivity, the cost of making wine from grain in ancient times was quite high. Then he helplessly asked Master Zhou: "The boss at the bottom can't afford to drink it, and the rich man at the top doesn't recognize my wine, so how do you say I should sell this wine?"

Master Zhou approached him and said, "Mr. Wu, isn't your poem famous in Chang'an now, then it's easy to do, you can copy your Liangzhou poem on the red silk of the wine jar, and use your talent and fame to attract those scholars who come to Chang'an?"

Wu Jiansheng listened, his face immediately turned red, and Xiao Lian laughed directly on the side until he couldn't straighten his waist, "Hahahaha." ”

Master Zhou looked confused, "What's wrong, is there anything wrong with doing this?"

Xiao Lian stopped laughing and said: "Alas, Master Zhou, I'm afraid you don't know that the talented Mr. Wu in front of you is actually a fool who can't even hold a pen, he has practiced calligraphy for two years, and now what he writes in Daxuan is still a mess of filth, and I can't see what he writes at all." Otherwise, why do you think he only recites poems orally and does not write them down every time? ”

Master Zhou was also embarrassed when he heard this, and Wu Jiansheng said with a dark face: "Come on, take this master to the account room to settle the salary." Then Wu Jiansheng pointed to his nose and said, "If you dare to publicize this matter in the future, I will cut your tongue." When Master Zhou heard him say this, he received the money and ran out.

Wu Jiansheng stared at Xiao Lian with angry eyes at the moment and said: "Okay, if you don't open the house for three days, you dare to expose my old bottom today, I will let you know how good I am." Saying that, he picked up a bamboo stick and was about to beat her, but Xiao Lian's body was very light, and a King of Qin walked around the pillar, Wu Jiansheng couldn't catch up with him, and finally when he was out of breath, Xiao Lian had enough fun and simply stretched out his hand to him, and smiled: "Come on, you fight." Wu Jiansheng was reluctant, threw the bamboo stick and said: "Forget it, let's get down to business, call the Yijia and Yirou sisters to me, I will find them something, and put on the two clothes I entrusted others to make." ”

The two sisters of Yijia and Yirou have been being served by Wu Jiansheng with good food and drink this month, although they are not treated as guests, but they are also carefree. Seeing that they were pitiful, Xiao Pian also had nothing to say to them, knew everything, and became a pair of good girlfriends. When the two of them were called, they did not know what the kind gentleman wanted them to do, but they also knew that there was no such thing as a free lunch, so when he sent for two strange dresses, the sisters put them on without saying a word. I saw that these two skirts were very exposed: the top was bare-chested and the back was exposed, and the bandeau showed a large area of snow white, and the chest trembled and trembled when walking. The lower skirt itself is a normal wrinkled skirt, but it is too short, just up to the knees, and the snow-white thighs can be faintly seen in the breeze. Even if it is in the open Tang Dynasty, this dress is too explicit, Yi Jia and Yi Rou don't feel anything, anyway, in their eyes, these clothes are no different from the rags they used to wear. But Xiao Lian looked red-faced, and whispered in Wu Jiansheng's ear: "Why are you letting them dress like this? It's so difficult to sell them to the kiln?"

Wu Jiansheng thought: What do you want? coughed a few times and motioned for the two to step forward: "Ahem, do you two know how much money you have spent in my house these days?"

The two shook their heads.

Wu Jiansheng compared the numbers and said, "A total of six taels and seven dollars of silver." Although I promised your father to take you in, you can't eat white food from me.

Yi Jia stepped forward and said, "This Mr. Wu, don't worry, our sisters are in good health and can do any job..."

"Stop," Wu Jiansheng interrupted her, "I don't have a shortage of people here to do rough work. In a few days, the drunken village building will be opened, and both of you will be wine maids for me to entertain guests at the door and sell wine. ”

"Huh?" the two sisters looked at each other and said in unison, "Our sisters don't know how to do business." ”

"Hey," Wu Jiansheng waved his hand: "Who asked you to help me do business, I mean, let you stand in front of the door, and bring in guests when you meet them, and if you want to touch them, just let them buy wine." How's that, do you understand?"

After listening, the two looked at each other with big eyes, then shook their heads, and said in unison: "I don't understand." ”

"Alas, forget it," Wu Jiansheng had a headache, "These two girls are too ignorant of human feelings." He also pointed to Xiao Lian and said, "You, teach them what to do." ”

Xiao Lian pointed to himself a little incredulously and said, "I? ”

Wu Jiansheng frowned and said, "What, you really regard yourself as the head of the house? Don't forget that you are still my handmaid now." As he spoke, his expression turned and he smiled evilly: "Besides, the way you drank with me at the beginning, it was a desire to refuse and welcome, Chu Chu is pitiful, and almost hooked my soul into it." Why, now teaching others is so bad that you can't pull it down. ”

When Xiao Lian heard him mention the unbearable past, her face was as ashamed as the red glow of the evening, and she was angry: "Don't mention it, okay?" ”

Wu Jiansheng pointed at his nose: "If you don't call, I will send you to Chang'an Xinwangfu, Li You will not be as kind as me and His Royal Highness the Prince." ”

Xiao Lian glanced at him and said, "Okay, good, I'll just teach." As he spoke, he stepped forward and pulled the two of them and said, "Two sisters, let me teach you, if you stand at the door to greet guests, you can't stand like a stake like this." First of all, you have to make a graceful appearance, and then when you meet a guest, you have to distinguish the etiquette and call, the young one should be called Gongzi, Xiaolang ......" After Xiao Lian explained it, the two sisters basically understood how to entertain guests when they were a wine lady. At this time, Yi Rou asked, "Hey, sister, why does this wine lady sound so much like the women in those flower buildings." ”

"Uh~" Xiao Lian didn't know how to answer for a while, Wu Jiansheng took a sip and said: "You let people touch a few times, kiss a few sips, and drink a few glasses of wine with him, will there be less meat than two taels?

"Oh," Yi Rou nodded as if she didn't understand, and then Yi Jia asked, "Then what if someone really wants to fall in love with our sisters?"

"Poof~~" Wu Jiansheng squirted out all the tea in his mouth when he heard it: "Good guy, should I praise you for your true temperament, or should I scold you for being shameless?" In this case, you can adapt to the situation. Crying, rolling in place, pulling and not letting go, most of the guests who don't go to the Qinglou to buy wine in our restaurant still have to have a face, and they won't ruin their reputation for the sake of momentary pleasure. ”

Yi Jia also nodded, the two glanced at each other, and said in unison: "Sir, the amount of salary..."

Wu Jiansheng compared the number and said: "Two yuan per month (about two taels of silver), you don't have to pay for food and housing, if you sell enough wine every day, I can give you dividends, otherwise you have to deduct your wages, understand?"

After hearing this, the two sisters nodded excitedly, bowed down and said in unison: "Thank you Mr. Wu, thank you Mrs. Xiaolian." In their memory, they have never seen more than 100 copper coins, which is enough for two times, and they can get more every month, in their eyes, Mr. Wu is simply a good person.

Xiao Lian said embarrassedly: "I'm not his wife, I'm a servant girl like you." ”

"Okay, come on, take them down, and after a few days of training, they will officially take up their posts. ”

I have to say that color is always the driving force of human progress, although many wineries in Chang'an now have a wine girl, and even foreign women from the Western Regions and the South Seas can let people experience exotic customs, but most of them are courtesans and slaves. As soon as I heard that there were two yellow flower girls in this small drunken village building who were willing to do this kind of cheap work, many temperamental people (lsp) came to join in the fun, and all the meat dishes were eaten too much to open a fresh vegetarian banquet, and the monthly flow of the drunken village was naturally rising. And Yi Jia and Yi Rou sisters were also dazzled by the white flowers, as long as there were guests to buy enough wine every day, they were willing to do anything except not let them go, Yi Jia even secretly went to Cuixiang Building to learn two tunes to serve the guests. On this day, a group of sons came here to have fun, and when they saw the two sisters, they immediately smiled, and they reached out to take off their coats, Yi Jia and Yi Rou naturally refused with a smile, and the leading son surnamed Wei directly dropped two ingots of silver and wrapped all the output of Drunken Township Fang this month. Seeing that the boy was so bold, the two sisters also put down their reserve, took off their shoes and socks and coats, and only wore two light gauze clothes and drank and had fun with this group of sons, and when they drank to their heart's content, the leading son simply picked up a small jar of wine and splashed the two women, and the rich wine soaked the light gauze clothes, and suddenly the two sisters were almost naked in their eyes, but the two of them didn't know it, and sang a little song with drunkenness. "In the past, I went back, the willows are still around, now I think about it, the rain and snow are ......"

Xiao Lian couldn't stand it anymore, so she walked up to Wu Jiansheng, who was dozing off in a chair, and said, "Look at them, in broad daylight, doing such immoral things, why don't you care about it?"

Wu Jiansheng closed his eyes and said: "Peaceful, peaceful, Sage Kong was still born in the wilderness, do you want to say that his birth is immoral? Aren't you yourself born from the combination of your parents, food, sex, and human nature, not as unbearable as you say." ”

Xiao Lian then pointed to the group and said, "Then you can't let them do this, the old sergeant handed over the two daughters to you, and you let them fall like this?

Wu Jiansheng opened his eyes at this time and stood up and said: "How can you get married? If I don't take them in, the two sisters will still be two lonely beggars, do you think anyone will marry them except for Huazi? The two of them have no strengths, no family background, and now they have at least a chance to live a new life after saving enough money by selling their bodies." Let two sixteen or seventeen-year-old women do this kind of shitty work, I may be in a hurry to achieve quick success. But the specific path is their own choice, and I won't interfere too much. There is a saying in my hometown: laughing at the poor does not laugh at prostitutes, I think it is very appropriate to use it on the two of them, not to mention that they are not prostitutes yet. ”

After hearing this, Xiao Lian didn't know how to refute it, so he had to say: "Alas, other scholars say that the mighty cannot be bent, and the poor and lowly cannot be moved. You're good, but it's the other way around. ”

Wu Jiansheng laughed: "What did Mencius say, but the fact is that people are poor and short-lived, and when they are rich, they get carried away. In the world, there are not many people who can keep their hearts. ”

Xiao Lian shook her head and said, "Forget it, I can't talk about you, but I still have to take care of it." ”

said, walked down the attic, and smiled: "I'm sorry for the son, these two little girls are drunk, I'll take them to sober up." As he spoke, he pulled the two sisters Yijia and Yirou and was about to walk to the attic, when the leading son took her hand and smiled lewdly: "Slow, are you a handsome little lady?" "yes, come and have a drink with us. Another man chimed in. Xiao Lian smiled neither humbly nor arrogantly: "I don't know how to drink, and I hope that a few people will not be too persecutive." ”

The leading son laughed: "What, don't you give me face, right?" said that he was about to feed a bowl of wine to her mouth, and Yi Rou also persuaded: "Sister Pity, have you drunk, this son has paid a lot of money." When she said this, her eyes were drunk, her expression was debauched, and there was no trace of the simplicity and simplicity when she first came, and she felt a little sad in her heart. At this time, the boy saw that Xiao Lian refused to take it for a long time, so he simply splashed a bowl of wine on his face with drunkenness, causing the group to laugh. Xiao Lian's face was like frost, and she let go of the hands of the two sisters Yi Jia and Yi Rou, and a little cold light came out of the cuffs. At this time, Wu Jiansheng walked down and was angry: "Master Wei, don't be too arrogant, take your silver and give me two eggs." ”

Wei Gongzi saw that it was Wu Jiansheng and smiled: "Yo, who should I be, it turned out to be the owner of this drunken incense shop." Brother Wu, you are famous, I admire you very much, but today I just drank and made fun of one of your subordinates, why did you lose such a big temper with my little brother. ”

Wu Jiansheng took Xiao Lian's hand and said, "She is Yu's wife and the proprietress of this drunken village. You should know that your friend's wife can't be bullied, right?"

Wei Gongzi glanced at him coldly and said, "Okay, today is an offense, farewell." With that, he picked up the silver and left with a group of fox friends and dogs.

After Wei Gongzi left, Xiao Lian took his hand and said with concern: "That Wei Gongzi is a member of the Wei family of Jingzhao Mansion, their family is deeply rooted, and there have been several prime ministers, you will be fine if you offend them for me today, right?"

Wu Jiansheng smiled: "Don't worry, this drunken village is my industry on the surface, but in fact, the principal is still from the Xinwang Mansion. And the Wei family has long been seriously injured after Empress Wei was punished for making trouble, if their family is willing to offend the holy cronies for a broken child at this moment, unless the elders in his family are crazy. ”

"That's the case, but..." "Alright," Wu Jiansheng interrupted her, "clean up, go to the palace with me tomorrow, there are some things that must be discussed with him after staying for so long." Then she looked at the drunken Sister Yijia and Yirou and said, "Since you don't want to watch them fall like this, then I'll talk to them at night." ”

That night, Wu Jiansheng came to the room of the two of them, the two of them were chatting, and when they saw her coming, Yi Rou stepped forward with a smile and said, "Mr. Wu, you are here." Then tonight, don't go, I'll accompany you. ”

Wu Jiansheng brushed aside her hand, looked at them and said, "Have you two ever thought about how you will live in the future if the drunken village is closed?"

Yi Rou shook her head, and Yi Jia pouted and said, "I learned a little bit of music and saved a sum of money." I know that doing this kind of work here is shameless to marry, and when I have the opportunity in the future, I will go back to my hometown and find someone to make do. Wu Jiansheng nodded and said, "That's good, you still have a way back." Then she said to the two people: "I may have been a little anxious for quick success before, you should not be so explicit in entertaining guests in the future, anyway, no one will come later." ”

Yi Rou asked puzzledly: "Why, aren't there quite a lot of guests these days?"

Wu Jiansheng shook his head and said: "The money is fast in the ninth stream, but after all, it is not a long-term plan, after a while, the freshness of those guests will be dull, and you will not be so popular when you pour, it is always good to leave some reputation for yourself, although I led you on this road......"

After that, Wu Jiansheng walked out, and as soon as he went out, he happened to meet Xiao Lian, and asked, "What were you holding in your hand at that time?" Xiao Lian smiled slightly, raised his left hand slightly, and inside was a three-edged dart. Wu Jiansheng looked at her soft eyes and said with some surprise: "A year ago, your pitiful appearance in the cabin was all faked. ”

Xiao Lian blushed, and lowered her eyebrows so shyly: "You said that I was your wife during the day, does it still count now?"

At the same time, in Luoyang's Li Xuantong Mansion, a little guy walked up to Li Xuantong and said, "Young master, Miss Yilan has been waiting for you in the room for half an hour, and she asked me to ask you when you will pass." Li Xuan put a pillar of incense on the tablet in front of him and said, "You go down first, I want to stay here for a while." When the little guy heard this, he had to retire first, and in the midst of the smoke, Li Xuantong's expression was gloomy, and he saw that the tablet read: The spiritual seat of the ancestor Li Mu Wang and the widow of the lady Shu Yingsheng.