Transmigrated into the Scumbag Ex-Wife of the Prime Minister - Chapter 85

What the Dingnan Grain Store and the Wang family were involved in was not merely the resale of grain.

Princess Changning did not directly answer Qi Zhenshu’s question, but instead asked, “Has Scholar Qi looked into the local customs and products of the Jiangnan region?”

“I’ve read a few gazetteers.”

“What are the local products of Maozhou?”

Maozhou is the largest prefecture under the jurisdiction of the Jiangnan Circuit, located in the southeasternmost part of the Jiangnan Circuit, bordering Binhhe County in Qinzhou. Maozhou is low in the north and high in the south, with plains in the north and continuous mountain ranges in the south.

“Maozhou is abundant in rice, cloud tea, camphor wood, jade, and stone inkstones.” Qi Zhenshu paused, and then ventured an uncertain guess, “Are they privately trading pig iron?”

In addition to timber, the mountain ranges in southern Maozhou also have rich mineral resources, and the largest official red iron mine in Xiliang is located in Maozhou.

The iron ore management of the Xiliang Kingdom is very strict, with the government uniformly mining, smelting, and selling it. Privately selling pig iron, just like reselling grain, is a capital crime punishable by confiscation of property and extermination of the clan.

“That’s right.”

The Dingnan Grain Store and the Wang family, under the guise of purchasing grain, were secretly buying refined pig iron.

“The military granary purchases grain through the official administrative office every month. If my guess is correct, they are taking advantage of this time to mix the purchased pig iron into the grain sacks and send them into the military granary in Qingzhou. Then, through the supervised distribution, they are ‘uniformly’ allocated and sent to their final destination.”

The military grain being escorted is different from the goods of ordinary merchants; they do not need to be inspected when passing through the city gates and checkpoints.

Hiding the pig iron in the military grain for transport is indeed a good way to deceive everyone.

“Then, has the Princess found out where the pig iron was sent?” Qi Zhenshu already had a guess in his heart, but dared not say it rashly.

Besides forging weapons, Qi Zhenshu could not think of any other use that would be worth the risk of losing one’s head for private purchase of pig iron.

“Qinzhou military camp,” Princess Changning said.

Peng Changwei, the Commander-in-Chief of the Qinzhou Prefecture, is a native of Chaoxian County in Yunzhou and a former subordinate of the Prince of Yunzhou.

Hearing this, Qi Zhenshu finally connected all the dots.

The Prince of Yunzhou, in the matter of reselling grain, besides ‘lax supervision,’ had no dealings with any grain merchants and did not receive any money or bribes.

But if the money and bribes were replaced with the private purchase of pig iron and assistance in transporting it to the Qinzhou military camp, everything would make sense.

This is why Princess Changning’s repeated investigations failed to find evidence that the Prince of Yunzhou was involved in the grain resale.

Because he never ‘truly’ participated.

“But is there a lack of solid evidence?” Qi Zhenshu asked.

Princess Changning had uncovered the truth of the matter, but had taken no further action. Qi Zhenshu guessed that all the conclusions she had reached were based on speculation, without actual evidence.

“No.”

All the information Princess Changning had uncovered was obtained through her subordinate secret guards. She did not have any solid evidence that could be presented to the Emperor.

If it were an ordinary official, she could arrest and interrogate them first, but the Prince of Yunzhou and the Commander-in-Chief of the Jiangnan Circuit who controls the Qinzhou garrison are not people she can arrest at will.

“Not to mention the solid evidence against the Prince of Yunzhou and Peng Changwei, we haven’t even found evidence of Liu Chaoyun and the Wang family’s involvement,” Princess Changning said with a heavy expression.

She only found the clue about Wu Shiwei last month, and before she could investigate further, he was silenced within three days.

As the two were speaking, the yatou (bailiff) from the Dao Fu (Circuit Administration) came into the hall, bowed to Princess Changning, and said, “Reporting to the Princess, the account books from the military granary have all been brought back.”

“Move them to the rear office,” Princess Changning instructed.

After speaking, she rose from her seat and looked at Qi Zhenshu, “I have instructed people to bring back all of Wu Shiwei’s account books from his time in office. Now, we can only start from them and see if any clues can be found.”

Qi Zhenshu looked up and saw two yayi (runners/constables) carrying a large wooden box into the room.

Following Princess Changning to the rear office, Qi Zhenshu picked up an account book from the box and looked through it. It was the entry ledger for March of this year.

After a cursory look, Qi Zhenshu picked up another book, an exit ledger.

At first glance, there seemed to be nothing wrong with these two account books.

Qi Zhenshu felt a little heavy-hearted.

Leaving aside whether these account books were truthfully filled out, even if they were correct, finding problems would not only require carefully verifying every single entry, but also matching the corresponding entry and exit accounts for comparison and verification.

“Can we start with the military grain in the granary? Send people to count all the military grain in the stores, maybe there are still grain sacks containing pig iron hidden there,” Qi Zhenshu pondered for a moment, then looked at Princess Changning and asked, “How much grain is in the military granary?”

If they could find pig iron in the military grain, they could then trace the source of this batch of grain and see if it was related to the Dingnan Grain Store or the Wang family.

Princess Changning had already considered this method, but it was not feasible.

She put down the account book in her hand and sighed softly, “There are twenty granaries in the military granary, with a total of 300,000 shi (a unit of measure) of stored grain. If we were to open every sack for inspection, I’m afraid it would take three to five months.”

If there really was pig iron, then it would be worth it, but she was afraid that a large-scale, labor-intensive inspection would yield no results. In comparison, checking the account books would be faster.

Liusheng returned to Binhhe County, where everything was as usual. At this time of the year, the wine shop business was not too busy, and Liu Yun could basically handle it alone.

The next day, Liusheng went to Lu’er Village, first visiting her grand-aunt, and then going to the distillery to find Lu Hualin.

“Uncle, how do you think the distillery’s business is now?” Liusheng asked.

Lu Hualin shook his head, “N-not too good.”

The Lu family distillery’s business was better than in previous years, but compared to when the five-grain wine was first released, it was still lagging.

“Ev-every time we r-release a new wine, wi-within half a month, oth-other distilleries make s-similar wines,” Lu Hualin said angrily.

Whether it was chrysanthemum wine or other fruit and flower wines they brewed, they sold well at first, but when other distilleries started selling similar products, the distillery’s orders would decrease significantly.

Some distilleries, in order to lower the price, started adding a lot of water to the wine. Although the taste was much worse, their lower price made them sell better than the wine they brewed.

“Uncle, there’s no need to be angry,” Liusheng smiled and comforted him, “This time, we’ll make a wine that others can’t copy.”

“Re-really?!” Lu Hualin’s troubled expression instantly disappeared.

“I saw a new brewing method in an ancient book in Qingzhou a few days ago. This time, the method won’t be easily learned by others,” Liusheng nodded.

Even before she went to Qingzhou a few days ago, Liusheng had noticed that the wine shop’s orders from out-of-town merchants had decreased significantly. When she went to Qingzhou this time, she specifically visited some wine shops and found that most of the distilleries in Qingzhou had also started making distilled spirits (shaohuo).

Currently, the wine shop can basically maintain its business with orders from Yuchun Tower and Qingfeng Tower, but Liusheng felt that soon, when more large distilleries start making distilled spirits, they will definitely drive down the price. At that time, the wine shop’s sales and profits will both decrease.

Now, only by brewing another kind of wine with a technical barrier can the current situation be changed.

Liusheng thought for a long time and came up with a solution.

The current brewing methods used by distilleries in Liang were adapted from sweet wine brewing, using small yeast balls mixed with herbs. The distilled spirits made this way are all light-aroma type.

Although the taste of each distillery’s distilled spirits is slightly different, they are generally similar.

“We will switch to using wheat to make the yeast. The wine made this way will be more mellow and soft, significantly different in taste from ordinary distilled spirits,” Liusheng explained to Lu Hualin.

Using wheat as the main raw material to make the yeast produces large yeast blocks.

Based on different auxiliary materials and fermentation temperatures, the large yeast blocks can be divided into medium-temperature and high-temperature types. Medium-temperature large yeast blocks can be used to make strong-aroma white wine, and high-temperature large yeast blocks can be used to make sauce-aroma white wine.

The production process for large yeast blocks is much more complex than for small yeast balls, requiring forty days of fermentation and one hundred and eighty days of storage before it can be used for brewing.

Wine made with large yeast blocks requires more than three months of fermentation for the strong-aroma type, and more than one year for the sauce-aroma type. Moreover, the brewing method for large yeast block wine is not as simple as just distillation and purification.

These two types of wine, whether in the method of making the yeast or the brewing process, will not be easily learned by others unless they are taught hand-by-hand.

“G-good, good, good. I’ll go buy w-wheat tomorrow,” Lu Hualin repeatedly agreed after hearing this.

The tenth day of the sixth lunar month, sunny and beautiful.

Liu Yun carried the porridge into the room, and just as she reached the table, she was hugged from behind by Lu Yu.

A smile appeared on her face. Liu Yun gently patted Lu Yu’s hand and said softly, “Go brush your teeth and wash your face quickly.”

Lu Yu wrapped her arms around Liu Yun’s waist, in a very good mood, “After breakfast, I’ll take you somewhere.”

“Where are we going?” Liu Yun put down the bowl in her hand and asked casually.

It was her rest day today, and she didn’t have to go to work at the wine shop.

“You’ll know when we get there.” Lu Yu pinched Liu Yun’s waist, “Seems like you’ve gained some weight.”

“Why so mysterious?” Liu Yun slapped her hand away, “Go wash up and eat.”

After breakfast, Lu Yu took her to a back alley not far from North Street and stopped in front of a small courtyard with black tiles and white walls.

“Why did you bring me here?” Liu Yun looked at the yellow courtyard door, quite puzzled.

Lu Yu took a yellow key from her upper garment, handed it to Liu Yun, and said with a smile, “Here.”

“You.” Liu Yun was stunned and asked in surprise, “Did you buy a courtyard?”

“Open it and take a look,” Lu Yu urged with a smile.

Liu Yun did not open the door, but frowned and looked at Lu Yu, “Where did you get the money to buy a courtyard?”

The courtyard in front of them was not large, but houses in the county were always expensive. This small courtyard would cost at least eighty or ninety liang (taels) of silver.

“I borrowed fifty liang from the money changer, and I’ll pay back five liang every month, finishing within a year,” Lu Yu replied.

“What made you decide to buy a house?” Liu Yun’s frown had still not eased.

Buying a house was a big decision, and Lu Yu had decided on it without discussing it with her, and even borrowed money to buy it.

“This house belonged to a friend of Ah Kun’s. He moved to Qingzhou and wanted to sell this place. I saw that it’s not far from the wine shop, and it would be convenient for you to go to work every day in the future.”

Lu Yu took her hand and said softly, “We want to have a child, so we always need to buy a house. I thought the price was quite reasonable, so I bought it.”

Hearing her explanation, Liu Yun’s heart softened, “Why didn’t you discuss it with me?”

“Naturally, I wanted to give you a surprise.” Lu Yu raised her chin and pointed to the courtyard door, “Hurry up and open it to take a look.”

The courtyard was not big, with only one main house facing south. The main house had two bedrooms, and there was an outdoor kitchen on the side.

The two of them walked around inside and out. Lu Yu asked with a smile, “Do you like it?”

“It’s very good.”

“The house is a bit small. We’ll change to a bigger one in a couple of years.”

“It’s good. This house will be enough when we have a child later,” a look of joy finally appeared on Liu Yun’s face.

Mentioning the child, Liu Yun suddenly remembered something.

“Xiao Yu,” Liu Yun called out to Lu Yu.

“What is it?” Lu Yu turned around and asked.

“My monthly period hasn’t come yet.”

Liu Yun’s period was always very punctual, at the beginning of the month, but it had been delayed for nearly half a month now.

“Are you saying…” Lu Yu also understood what she meant.

After discussing it with Lu Yu last month, Liu Yun had started taking medication to help conception.

“Yes,” Liu Yun nodded, then hesitated, “But I’m not entirely sure.”

It was said that women who were pregnant would feel nauseous, but Liu Yun, besides her period being late, didn’t feel like throwing up.

“Let’s go, we’ll go to the medical clinic now,” Lu Yu happily pulled her out the door.

A quarter of an hour later.

“Congratulations, congratulations. This lady indeed has a happy pulse,” the doctor said with a smile.

Lu Yu stared blankly at Liu Yun, then after a long while, she stepped forward and hugged her, extremely happy, “I’m going to be a mother!”

Liu Yun hugged her back, her eyes full of tenderness, “Yes.”

Another three days passed, in the early morning.

Bang, bang, bang.

Liu Yun was woken up by a loud knocking on the door. As soon as she opened the courtyard gate, she saw two officers with curved swords at their waists standing outside.

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