Chapter 259 Bachelor
When he got home, Wang Yongan sat for a while and then stood up again.
"Prepare my horse and prepare some gifts."
The housekeeper came up and asked, "Which family is Dalang going to visit?"
"I'll go to Lujiang Palace to go."
"Dalang, if you go to the Lujiang Palace, how about preparing some silk and wine, and then preparing a set of carved books from Zhangji Shufang?" asked the housekeeper.
"I heard that a new perfume was recently released in Chang'an, which is sought after by noble ladies and socialites. I want to see the county lord, so you can prepare two bottles for me."
The housekeeper lowered his head and frowned, "Dalang, Lao Nu also heard about the name of perfume, but perfume is now priceless. It is sold out to tens of thousands of dollars per bottle, and even people bid 100,000 yuan to buy one, but there is no place to buy it. I heard that in Chang'an City, only the Crown Princess and the wife of Cui Zheng's family are available, which is very rare."
"This perfume is so rare? Could it be that it is another tribute from a foreign country?"
"I found out that this perfume seems to be owned by the Zhang family. It is newly developed. It is said that the effect is better than the rose dew paid by Fanbian tribute."
"Zhang Family, which Zhang Family?" Wang Yongan is very sensitive when he hears the words Zhang Family.
"It's the Zhang family on the Bashang, which is the name of Chang'an City recently." When the housekeeper said this, he couldn't continue because his Dalang was looking at him with a murderous look. He immediately remembered that his Dalang and Zhang San had a grudge. But, hasn't Dalang resolved his grudges with Zhang San? Today he asked him to prepare many gifts, and then came to visit Zhang San with the gift himself.
"Ba Shang Zhang family, Zhang San, white wine, perfume"
Wang Yongan sneered, "Go down and prepare the gift, forget about perfume."
Zhang Chao discovered that Wei Zheng had become his neighbor.
Just opposite Zhang Chao's house, the house became Wei Zheng's home. The house was not as big as the house bought by Zhang Chao, and it was even smaller than Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui's.
Wei Zheng came to the Zhang family with a pair of chess.
"I heard that Zhang Sanlang not only opened a college in the Zhang family to teach and educate, but also set up a book printing shop, made woodblocks and printed books, and opened a wine shop. In addition to writing, my biggest hobby is to drink a few sips. Now that I have moved here and become a neighbor of the largest winery owner in Chang'an. It seems that I will be very happy in the future."
Zhang Chao welcomed Wei Zheng to the flower hall and sat down, "I also heard that Wei Xima has the ability to make wine by hand."
"I just want to solve my alcohol addiction, brewing whatever wine is. Wine is not cheap, so where can I afford it." Wei Zheng refused to accept the birth at all, "Come on, play two games of chess. I heard that the elephant opera is added to the cannon, but it is your invention. Today I will come to challenge it."
Although Zhang Chao had not been a colleague with Wei Zheng for a few days, he liked Wei Zheng's personality quite well. This person is very direct, very direct, very familiar, not artificial, and says whatever he wants. Moreover, this person is very smart, and can see many things at a glance. It is also very easy to talk to him and not tired.
Zhang Chao asked the maid to go to tea.
"I'll save tea. Take some good wine from your house. Let's drink and play chess."
Zhang Chao nodded with a smile, asked the maid to bring the wine directly, and then took some braised dishes and cooked food, including dried fragrant, sausage, broad beans, five-spice beans, and jerky.
The wine is made of porcelain bottles, which are made of Xing porcelain from Hebei and Xing Baiyueqing. The white porcelain from Xingzhou, Hebei is the whitest porcelain in the Tang Dynasty today, and Yue porcelain is the porcelain from Jiangnan. It is still famous for its celadon at that time.
The white porcelain bottle is not big, and it is one liter in a bottle. The Tang Dynasty only had about 0.6 liters per liter in later generations, so it was only about 14 liang of Tang Dynasty, which was less than one jin of Tang Dynasty.
It contains authentic Erguotou.
Zhang Chao took a cup of two and poured a cup for himself and Wei Zheng.
Wei Zheng was not polite and drank it when he picked it up.
"Good wine, is this Erguotou? It's much better than the rice wine I brewed at home."
While placing chess pieces, drinking wine and eating cooked food, the two of them looked like long-time friends.
"Does your winery make this kind of wine?"
"This is not only the case. Our winery will have six kinds of Bashang Shaochun, Zhangjiagou Erguotou, Bailu Laojiao, Bailute Tequ, Bailu Daqu Bailu Erqu, and more in the future."
Of course, you have to create a brand when selling wine, and you have to determine the grade.
"The best Laojiao?"
Zhang Chao nodded with a smile, and he was indeed a good person to drink.
The winery has already built a special wine cellar. After each batch of wine is brewed, a part will be left for long-term storage. At that time, some will be sold every year, and then there will be good wines that will be five, ten, fifteen, twenty, and thirty years. Some of them can even be kept for hundreds of years, making them a real old cellar.
As for the special qu and the big qu, they are named according to the length of fermentation and storage time. For example, the special qu is stored for three years, the first qu is stored for one year, and the second qu is stored for half a year, and the Laojiao is the longer.
As for roast spring, Erguotou is the wine that was brewed without storage back then.
Erguotou is of course the wine from Erguotou. As for roasting spring, it is a blend of pot and is of inferior quality. The wine tips of the wine shop are sold to the wine shop in the East Palace to refine alcohol.
"I didn't expect that there are so many things to pay attention to in your liquor. This Erguotou is only the second time he has wine?"
Zhang Chao shook his head with a smile, "You can't say that, Erguotou and Shaochun Dajiu do not need to be stored. The other types of small wines are also cellar wines, which need to be stored. Different wines have different flavors."
"How much does this wine cost?"
"A bottle of thirty in roast spring, and a bottle of thirty in Erguotou."
"It's not cheap." Wei Zheng laughed.
"But it's not expensive." There were a lot of wines in the Tang Dynasty, but they were all quite expensive. For example, the four famous wines in Chang'an City, Xishikong, Xiamaling, Langguanqing and Grandmaqing, were not cheap. In addition, there were Xinfeng wines in the suburbs of Beijing, and Sanlejiu and wine trafficked by Hu people. None of them were cheap. Ordinary wines also cost 300 yuan, and the best one was a thousand yuan.
Zhang Chaoding’s Bashang Sauce Spring is thirty bottles, which is equivalent to a low-end liquor of 300 yuan. However, because this wine is blended with Guotou wine, it is still profitable at this price.
Erguotou is considered a better wine. Zhang Chao priced at 3,000 yuan for Douji, which is equivalent to 10 times the spring. In the future, Daqu and Special Music will definitely be sold more expensively. If it were Laojiao, it would not be impossible to sell Douji for 10,000 yuan.
Anyway, the better the wine, the lower the sales volume. When it reaches that level, no matter how cheap the price, most people can't afford it. It's better to take the high-end route.
"Erguotou is worth three hundred yuan per bottle, hehe, I really can't afford to drink it."
"How is that possible? Brother Xuancheng was joking. I know that you have a good handwriting. Many wealthy families asked you to write epitaphs. This is a lot of money. Last time, the Wang family asked you to write a tombstone and then gave you a horse, a saddle, a white jade belt as a reward. Last time, when you wrote an inscription to a noble, you strongly praised his meritorious contributions. His family gave Brother Xuancheng a thousand pieces of silk."
Wei Zheng had originally followed Li Mi to the Tang Dynasty, but later he went to Shandong to appease the place, but was captured by Dou Jiande. He served as an official under him for a while. It was not until Dou Jiande was defeated that he returned to Chang'an and became the prince to wash his horse.
The prince was only a fifth rank in the horse, and his salary was not high. He only had a salary of 180 s in a year. The rent collected by Yongyetian was not much for a year. The civil servants were not like military officers. They often gave heavy rewards to kill enemies and make meritorious contributions. He still doesn’t even have a title, and his income in Chang'an City is just like a living person.
But Wei Zheng is not a poor person either.
Military officers have ways to make money, and civil servants also have them.
Wei Zheng is well-written, famous and well-made, so many people will ask him to write inscriptions. The inscriptions he wrote is extremely cost-effective. He often earns dozens of cents or even more when writing them once. Otherwise, he would not be able to buy the house opposite Zhang Chao.
Zhang Chao's house cost 3,000 guan, but Wei Zheng's house cost 3,000 guan, but it cost hundreds of guan.
Some literati also ask Wei Zheng to write books and write inscriptions and prefaces, and they also charge a high fee for pens. Anyway, if you have fame, you will not have to worry about losing money.
The Tang Dynasty also paid attention to the celebrity effect. Famous civil officials wrote epitaphs and made extra money by making prefaces, which did not violate the court's system and were very free and easy.
"I asked Brother Xuancheng to write the name of my wine, so I wrote it for Erguotou. From now on, my Erguotou wine brand will use your characters, and I will not give you any pen charges. I will give you two dou Erguotou every month in the future. How about it?"
People who like wine cannot stand this temptation. Wei Zheng now accepted it with a smile. He thought this deal was very cost-effective. He could exchange it for a few words for free for a lifetime. Two dou per month is two stones a year, and twenty-four stones a year is twenty-four stones a year. One dou and two pots a year are worth 3,000 yuan, and one stone is 30 yuan. The wine in a year is worth 72 guan, and ten years is worth 720 guan. This deal is worth.
Zhang Chao smiled. He would not lose anyway. He asked Wei Zheng to write a wine name and sign and stamp it. At that time, the carved version will be printed in large quantities, and the wine license will be posted on each bottle of wine, which means that Wei Zheng will permanently endorse Erguotou for Zhangjiagou. As for the wine he gave, the market price is the market price, and a bottle of Erguotou does not cost 3,000 yuan.
After drinking a few glasses of wine, Wei Zheng laughed even happier.
"Why haven't you been to the East Palace recently?"
"I just got dismissed from office. Last time I caused so much trouble for the prince. Now I go to the East Palace to hang out, which will implicate the prince." Zhang Chao replied casually.
"I don't think you told the truth." Wei Zheng took a sip of Erguotou, then picked up another piece of five-spice beef jerky into his mouth, and chewed it with a delicious taste, while smiling.
"I have been squatting in the cell for half a month. I have been reflecting for a long time and feel that I have been a little inflated before, so I plan to stay at home and keep a low profile. I will be at the Bailu Academy, editing Zizhi Tongjian, and when I have time, I can print a few books and buy a few fields. It's also very good."
"Low-key?" Wei Zheng was stunned for a moment. He felt that the word "low-key" was inconsistent with Zhang Chao. He had never seen Zhang Chao's more high-key person, and he even said that he was low-key.
If you really want to be low-key, don’t do so many things, open academies to study history books, set up a book printing shop and a winery shop. Every thing that many people are eyeing.
"Tell you something. At the end of last year, the King of Qin built a bachelor's hall in Tiance Prefecture and founded an eighteen bachelor's hall. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince intends to build a Chongwen Pavilion in the East Palace, and also attract famous scholars and great scholars from all over the world to join."
Chongwenguan is a place that has existed in other dynasties. It is usually established in the Eastern Palace and is the place where the crown prince is.
Zhang Chao pretended not to hear it and lowered his head to pick up the food.
"Your Highness intends to ask Your Majesty to set up a Chongwenguan in the East Palace, establish a Chongwenguan bachelor's degree, and recruit students. Those who are relatives of the royal family, Empress Dowager, Empress, and Empress have great meritorious relatives, Prime Minister and First-rank Meritorious Officials, and have a real title of food. The official position of Beijing is the son of the Huangmen Minister of the Third-rank Zhongshu."
Zhang Chao frowned. Li Shimin built a Tiance Prefecture Bachelor's Hall, and Li Jiancheng followed suit to set up a Chongwen Pavilion. What's the point of doing to pick people up?
However, Zhang Chao found it interesting that the Chongwenguan not only had to set up a bachelor's school, but also made it into a royal aristocratic primary school. He brought the royal family and the descendants of the relatives, as well as the prime minister and the first-rank meritorious officials and the real officials, and the officials from the third-rank or above Beijing officials.
This is very thoughtful.
The royal family, the descendants, the prime minister, the first-rank scattered officials and the actual titles, the children of the third-rank or above Beijing officials were recruited, but this was not enough to be caught in one place.
"Above six or under fourteen years old." Wei Zheng added, and he went to the Imperial College to study at the age of fourteen.
If you only set up a Chongwenguan and a Chongwenguan bachelor's degree, it would be really good. But if you add a school, Zhang Chao felt that it would be completely different. He would take all the children and grandchildren of all the important ministers in the capital. This is not to mention a hostage, but at least he would have more opportunities to interact with those ministers and nobles.
However, what does this have to do with him? Why did Wei Zheng tell him?
"Your Highness intends to let you also be a bachelor's degree in Chongwenguan and ask you to be responsible for the teaching of students in Chongwenguan."
"I, a bachelor's degree in Chongwenguan, and I'm still responsible for these students?" Zhang Chao was really surprised that he had made such a joke.
"I don't know how many bachelor's degree in Chongwenguan are going to be taught?"
Wei Zheng picked up a piece of dried incense and threw it into his mouth, and replied without any haste, "Thirty-six."
Zhang Chao couldn't help but be funny again. Li Shimin had eighteen bachelors, and Li Jiancheng was preparing to win by thirty-six bachelors. Is this going to win by quantity? It is not difficult to collect thirty-six scholars and great scholars in the world. The key is that Li Shimin's 18 bachelors, not only some people, but also Li Shimin's subordinates in various positions.
Li Shimin gathered the best subordinates in the shogunate and brought them to this bachelor's mansion. Zhang Chao felt that it was just Li Shimin who wanted these outstanding subordinates to give him advice. After all, the original different shogunate, now the title of this bachelor's mansion can be brought together.
Even if you, Li Jiancheng, get a group of great scholars, but you are just a group of people, it will not help you much.
As for Li Jiancheng who wanted to let him take care of the royal and noble children, Zhang Chao felt that he was very impressed. This should be the hardest group of students in the world, and this teacher is probably the hardest to be.
"What kind of virtue can I do?" Zhang Chao shook his head and smiled.
"The prince doesn't think so."
"I just got dismissed from office by His Majesty and was jailed for half a month. I just came out of prison. I asked me to teach the royal family and the ministers. This is too inappropriate."
"You can go and tell the prince in person!" Wei Zheng smiled and poured himself another glass of wine, very rude. It will be continued.
Chapter completed!