More than a hundred miles east of the Hetao Plain is a smaller mountain range called Wutie Mountain, which belongs to the branch of the Yin Mountains. The entire mountain range is about 300 miles long and a hundred feet high. It is connected to Daqing Mountain and is a natural barrier to the north of Yulin County. Standing on the top of the mountain, you can see the surging Yellow River water in the distance.

About twenty miles northwest of the mountains is a small town called Datong Town. It was originally the outpost of the Sui army. As the population gradually gathered, a small town was formed, which belonged to Wuhai County, Wuyuan County.

The town is actually not big, it only has a long street. There are seventy or eighty families on both sides of the street, and there are more than a dozen shops, inns, wine shops, grocery shops, blacksmith shops, and pharmacies along the street. There are more than five shops, and there is also a low-end brothel to the west of the town.

Their guests were mainly Turkic herders in the north and merchants passing by along the way. On the grassland one or two hundred miles away to the north, there were several Turkic tribes distributed. Although the Turkic and the Great Sui Dynasty had been fighting and harmonious for decades, the town was always quiet, and the nearby Turkic herders could not live without this town.

It was already September of the golden autumn, and the cold north wind had not yet arrived. This was also the season for the harvest of grasslands. Cattle and sheep were in herds and horses were fat. The herdsmen dug out her medicinal materials and tanned leather. They rushed to Datong Town to trade. At the same time, they bought winter items, mainly salt and tea, as well as Central Plains wine, or bought a piece of silk for women, making Datong Town particularly lively. The street was filled with Turks and their horses. This was the golden season for Datong Town in one year.

That afternoon, Datong Town was bustling as usual, with a long queue in front of a wine shop in the east end of the town. There were two wine shops in the town. This wine shop is called Linji Wine Shop. It has been open here for nearly 20 years and its business has been dull. The business is the lightest among the two wine shops.

Almost all the two liquor shops sell Italian Poole wine. Although Italian Poole wine is very popular in the Central Plains, the business on the grassland is average. The Turks think it is not strong enough. Most of them buy it only by chance to change their tastes.

Linji Wine Shop was suffering from the bad location and could not attract the Turks. However, more than two months ago, a Taoist priest who fled from the Central Plains came to this wine shop. The Taoist priest was very skilled in brewing wine. He re-stewed the Pujiao wine into the pot, making the Pujiao wine strong, which was very consistent with the taste of the Turks. His reputation suddenly became popular. He was called Taoist priest wine, and the reputation of Taoist priest wine even reached Fengzhou. Not long ago, Dali County Magistrate Wang Zhanwu personally came to Datong Town to invite the Taoist priest to make wine in Dali City, but was rejected by the Taoist priest.

At this time, a group of cavalry rushed towards the distance, with about a thousand people. The cavalry rushed outside the town and stopped the war horses. The general was Yang Yuanqing, the general in charge of Fengzhou. When he was inspecting Dali City, he accidentally heard the county magistrate Wang Zhanwu talk about this Taoist priest. Yang Yuanqing almost stopped and rushed all the way. He was anxious, afraid that the Taoist priest would return to the Central Plains.

Under the escort of more than 200 soldiers, Yang Yuanqing followed Wang County Magistrate to Linji Wine Shop. Outside the wine shop, the owner of the shop, Lin Hong, was maintaining order. When he turned around, he saw that Wang County Magistrate was coming again, and he couldn't help but feel nervous. He refused to let go of his brewing Taoist priest?

But the other party was the county magistrate, so he did not dare to neglect. He hurriedly stepped forward and bent down to salute, "Little Minion Lin Hong meets with the county magistrate."

In fact, County Magistrate Wang was also just a fool. The other party was just a Taoist priest of brewing. Why did the general manager jump up when he heard his name? He didn't drink tea or eat rice? A gust of wind came. He couldn't figure it out. Does the general manager want to learn the Taoist priest's brewing technique and sell Pujiao wine to the Turks?

No matter what County Chief Wang thought, the reason he thought was that the chief manager wanted to sell alcohol to the Turks.

County Magistrate Wang received Yang Yuanqing's instructions and did not disclose his identity in advance. He did not introduce Yang Yuanqing and asked with a smile: "Master Lin, is the Taoist priest still there?"

Shop owner Lin was extremely nervous and stuttered: "Report to the county magistrate, he has left."

County Magistrate Wang was a little disappointed and turned to Yang Yuanqing, but Yang Yuanqing saw the nervousness and cunning in the owner's eyes. He winked the guard next to him. The guard suddenly punched the owner to the ground, pulled out the battle knife to hold his throat, "You are so bold, you dare to deceive my general!"

The shop owner Lin suddenly understood who the young officer was. He was so scared that he was out of his mind and begged repeatedly, "Give me your life! Your boss will spare me!"

At this moment, a Taoist priest walked out of the wine shop. He was about 34 or 35 years old, tall, wearing an apricot yellow Taoist robe, a bamboo crown, a straight nose and square mouth, a clear eyes, and three long beards under his jaw, which had a bit of a fairy-like sensation.

He stepped forward and bowed and said, "Wuliang Tianzun, why should General Manager Yang be angry at a wine seller?"

County Magistrate Wang hurriedly whispered to Yang Yuanqing: "It's him, the Taoist priest who is good at brewing wine."

Yang Yuanqing looked him up and down and asked, "Are you Wei Zheng from Julu?"

This Taoist priest was Wei Zheng who escaped from conscription and fled to Fengzhou. Because the owner of Linji Liquor Store was a fellow villager and met him a few years ago in his hometown, he fled to Datong Town and temporarily settled in Linji Liquor Store. His winemaking skills were very high, and soon made the Taoist priest famous. Even the Dali County Magistrate came to invite him to make wine.

Wei Zheng's ambition was not to brew wine. He politely declined the invitation from Wang County Magistrate, but unexpectedly, a few days later, the Youzhou General Manager Yang Yuanqing came to invite him in person. Is he really the life of a winemaker?

He smiled bitterly and asked, "Does General Manager Yang invite Wei Zheng to Dali City to make wine?"

Yang Yuanqing shook his head and said solemnly: "Wuyuan County will hold an autumn examination next month and openly select talents. I want to ask the teacher to be an examiner of Jiuyuan County."

Everyone present was stunned, and even the county magistrate Wang widened his eyes. The examiners in each county must at least be qualified. The general manager actually asked the wine-making Taoist priest to be the examiner. He suspected that he had heard it wrong, and that he was going to roast wine, not the examiner.

Wei Zheng was also stunned. Although he had great ambitions, there were very few people who knew about it. His reputation for brewing wine was much greater than that of his literary talent. How could Yang Yuanqing know? Could it be that it was recommended by his mentor?

Wei Zheng once worked as a nominal disciple in the great scholar Wang Tong for several months, but Wang Tong had too many students, with thousands of people, and he didn't even have a formal student status. Wang Tong didn't know him at all, let alone recommend him to Yang Yuanqing.

After a while, Wei Zheng sighed and said, "I am afraid that Wei Zheng will disappoint the general manager by being loved by General Manager Yang."

He wanted to decline again, but Yang Yuanqing smiled and said, "Now, Mr., you will go back with me no matter what. I have two seats for you to choose, one is the winemaker in Dalicheng, and the other is the examiner of Jiuyuan County. You can choose one by yourself!"

Wei Zheng looked at Yang Yuanqing's sincere gaze, but in fact he was very moved. As Yang Yuanqing's Duke Feng and the general manager of Youzhou, he came to invite him in person. No matter how he knew him, this sincerity made him unable to refuse.

Wei Zheng gave a deep tribute, "The general manager does not mind Wei Zheng's stupidity, and is willing to serve the work of a dog or a horse."

Yang Yuanqing was overjoyed. He was eager to seek talent. Unexpectedly, a remote town invited Wei Zheng. He patted Wang County Magistrate on the shoulder and praised: "You have made great contributions to your recommendation, and I will reward you."

County Magistrate Wang smiled bitterly in his heart. What he recommended was just a winemaker.

...........

In Linji Wine Shop, Wei Zheng invited Yang Yuanqing and Wang County Magistrate to sit down in his room, poured them a glass of wine they brewed, and said with a smile: "Master, please drink a glass of wine I steamed to see how it tastes?"

Yang Yuanqing picked up the wine glass and drank it. He felt that the wine tasted mellow and the alcohol was even stronger. He asked with a smile: "Who did you learn how to make wine by sir?"

Wei Zheng smiled, "It was learned from my master when I became a monk. He traveled around the world and learned the method of steaming and brewing wine from a Sogdian in Dayuan."

County Magistrate Wang next to him asked curiously: "Isn't Mr. Wei a Taoist priest now?"

When County Magistrate Wang saw that Yang Yuanqing respected Wei Zheng very much, he did not dare to be negligent, so he became a little more polite in his tone.

Wei Zheng smiled slightly and said, "I'm not hiding the county magistrate. I returned to secular life six years ago. I just wore this Taoist uniform to avoid military service."

Yang Yuanqing pondered for a while and asked, "Sir, you should know my situation!"

Wei Zheng nodded and smiled, "I heard that the general manager was independent but did not rebel against the Sui Dynasty."

Yang Yuanqing asked again: "If one day the world is in chaos and the heroes compete for the world, what should I do if I also intend to plan for the world?"

In fact, Wei Zheng also considered the issue of Yang Yuanqing when he was brewing wine. He smiled slightly, "I'm afraid that Wei Zheng's knowledge is crude, so he made General Yang laugh."

"Sir, it's okay!"

Wei Zheng said calmly: "My opinion is actually only three words to summarize, go east!"

Yang Yuanqing was excited and hurriedly said, "Sir, please explain in detail."

"In fact, there are two ways out for Fengzhou. One is to go south, the other is to go east, the south is to seize Guanlong, and the east is to take Shandong. Although Guanlong has a large population, General Manager Yang is the son-in-law of the Pei family and the enemy of the Guanlong nobles. It is not wise to seize Guanlong, and it is very easy to arouse the emperor's alertness. Yushu County also belongs to the Hetao Plain, with fertile land and sparse population, and desert barriers in the south, Daqingshan and the Great Wall guards in the north, and Turkic Iron Cavalry.

It is difficult to enter, the general manager can resettle a large number of people fleeing north here, and occupying this place is not easy to be noticed by the court. More importantly, this is a springboard to Hedong and Hebei. Once the Central Plains are in chaos, the general manager can lead his army to enter Hebei quickly, occupy Youzhou, and obtain the land of Youyan, and have the foundation for fighting for dominance in the world. With the support of Shandong gentry, why not do it? So I only have one opinion: to take the people in the pass and occupy the land of Hetao."

Wei Zheng's words not only fit Yang Yuanqing's intention, but also made Wang County Magistrate admire him. Now he believed that the general manager invited Wei Zheng to Fengzhou, not to roast wine, but to take the exam.

.........

Yang Yuanqing took Wei Zheng back to Wuyuan County, but did not reuse him immediately. Instead, he was appointed as the lord of Jiuyuan County to participate in the preparation of the upcoming autumn examination that will be held in a month. This is the rule of Fengzhou and Yang Yuanqing. Any talented person will first take the trial for three months and then re-arrange his position.

.........

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