Chapter 118: The Song of the Wine God

Thousand-Household Ma was doing this on purpose. As a dignified fifth-rank officer and a local power broker, he had been slighted significantly the day before! If he didn’t reclaim his standing, how would his subordinates view him? How could he continue to hold his own in Taiping Town?

Of course, he couldn't actually offend Magistrate Lu. After presenting the four-character calligraphy piece "Erlang’s Fine Brew," he offered a small, exquisite wine jar. "This is our Erlang Wine. Your Honor, you must taste it!"

"Very good, very good." Magistrate Lu nodded perfunctorily. His attendant reached out to take the jar, but misjudged the weight and nearly dropped it.

"Careful now. Don't look down on this small amount of wine; it weighs over six catties," Thousand-Household Ma said with a low chuckle.

Magistrate Lu understood instantly. This was a jar meant for one catty of wine, but with over six catties of weight inside, it obviously wasn't just wine—it was one hundred taels of silver!

The stiff smile on Magistrate Lu’s face became vivid again. He said to Thousand-Household Ma, "Look at this, what is the meaning of this?"

"It’s just a jar of wine," Ma waved his hand. "Unless you don’t consider me a friend, Your Honor."

"Very well, very well. Let this be the last time," Magistrate Lu replied with a wry smile.

"It shouldn't be the last time, but a recurring precedent!" Ma replied with a laugh. "In the future, when Erlang Wine is sold in the county, I hope for your continued support, sir."

"Easily done, easily done. We shall support each other." Magistrate Lu nodded with a smile. Thousand-Household Ma was a man who knew the ropes, and he was happy to deal with such people.

~~

When the sun reached its peak, Magistrate Lu’s entourage departed the academy. Thousand-Household Ma, Headmaster Zhu, and the others naturally saw him off. Su Lu and Ma Qianli, as student representatives, followed in the procession.

Upon reaching the town, Magistrate Lu stopped his sedan chair to enjoy the send-off program arranged by Thousand-Household Ma: "The Wine God’s Song!"

"Our region is mountainous with little farmland; it is quite barren, yet favored by heaven with the ability to produce fine wine!" Thousand-Household Ma introduced with a straight face. "Every year during the Double Ninth Festival, when the locals begin the fermentation process, they sing this 'Wine God’s Song' to pray for the Wine God’s blessing, ensuring good wine every year."

"Is that so..." Magistrate Lu felt that whenever he heard the word "wine," he was being set up, but having accepted the man's gifts, he had no choice but to smile and play along.

He feigned anticipation and said, "Then let us appreciate this 'Wine God’s Song' before we depart."

"Very well!" Thousand-Household Ma gestured.

A weathered village musician tilted his head back and blew into a suona! As the sound of the suona pierced the air, it instantly captured everyone's attention. The sanxian, ox-hide drums, and brass cymbals joined in, casting a desolate and vigorous atmosphere over the banks of the Chishui River.

Although Magistrate Lu had never heard such a melody, he was firmly captivated by the raw, vital music. Especially here, amidst the towering peaks by the Chishui River, it felt as though the mountain folk were playing the very music of their souls.

Thirty-six bare-chested men stood in six rows, holding wine jars, and began to chant in gravelly, low voices:

"On the ninth day of the ninth month, we brew the new wine.
Good wine, born from our own hands.
Good wine..."

The suona rose sharply, and the men’s voices climbed to a high pitch:

"Drink our wine,
And your breath will flow and your coughs will cease!
Drink our wine,
Your spirit will soar and your body will thrive!"

By the end, the music became increasingly impassioned, and the singing grew wildly unrestrained!

"Drink our wine,
One man dares to walk through the Tiger’s Pass!
Drink our wine,
And you won't even bow before the gods!
One, four, seven, three, six, nine,
Nine times nine returns to one, come follow me!
Good wine, good wine, good wine..."

After listening, Magistrate Lu couldn't help but laugh at his own suspicions. This was just a proper wine-worker's chant; there were no hidden tricks. It made sense—Thousand-Household Ma was, after all, a fifth-rank imperial official; he wouldn't abandon all dignity in public.

Yet, the song was incredibly infectious. He had only heard it once, and long after his sedan chair had left Taiping Town, the demonic melody kept echoing in his ears.

"Good wine, good wine, good wine..."

His attendant couldn't help but hum along: "Drink our wine, and you won't even bow before the gods..."

"Stop singing! What kind of conduct is this!" Magistrate Lu snapped. "The people seeing us off haven't even left yet!"

"Yes, yes, I'll sing once they're gone," the attendant quickly shut his mouth.

"Do you really have to sing it?" Magistrate Lu glanced at him helplessly.

"I can't help it, sir," the attendant replied with equal helplessness.

Thousand-Household Ma and Zhu Liu accompanied them for miles, stopping only when they were twenty li outside the town.

"Please, everyone, return now." The attendant lifted the curtain of the sedan, and Magistrate Lu waved to the crowd. "Thank you for your generous hospitality. I return home fully satisfied! May the green mountains and clear waters remain as they are; I shall prepare wine and wait for you. You must visit me when you come to the county seat!"

"Very well, Your Honor, you must visit us often as well!" the crowd replied.

"Visit again?" Magistrate Lu felt a tingling sensation in his scalp and offered a bitter smile. "It's truly not easy to make this trip."

"It is quite absurd. Although Taiping Town and the county seat are connected by the Chishui River, boats can only pass during the winter dry season," Zhu Liu said, utilizing his status as a local scholar to comment on public affairs. "Otherwise, if we could travel by boat, we would be like neighbors despite the distance!"

"Who can say otherwise?" Magistrate Lu sighed. "I’ve read the county gazetteers. In the fourth year of the Hongwu Emperor, the imperial court dredged the Chishui River, and military ships could reach Erlang Beach directly from the Yangtze."

"The Magistrate is absolutely right," Su Youjin, who had gained favor by delivering medicine the day before, chimed in. "I am a military household from Erlang Beach. Our ancestors arrived at Erlang Beach by boat."

"Then why is it impassable now?" Zhu Liu asked.

"There are many reasons. First, over the long years, the riverbanks have suffered landslides, causing it to 'clog as soon as it is cleared,'" Magistrate Lu, a capable official, explained. "Second, the mountain folk along the river have lived by carrying salt for generations. There is a saying: 'We don't hope for our sons to be officials, as long as they can carry a hundred and forty or fifty catties!' They believe that if the Chishui River were reopened, their livelihood of transporting salt by land would vanish. They often roll boulders and throw logs from the cliffs, killing countless boatmen and merchants. The county deals with several such unsolved cases every year."

"And that’s only with one season of navigation. Imagine what those stubborn people would do if it were fully dredged!" Thousand-Household Ma said with a wry smile.

"Indeed, they would clear it by day and block it by night," Hundred-Household Li added.

"The most difficult part is that the river segments belong to one county, one bureau, and three garrisons. Dredging it piece by piece is meaningless; all five must work together," Ma concluded.

"It's difficult, far too difficult," Magistrate Lu immediately cut in. "The five entities belong to different military, civil, Han, and Yi jurisdictions, and even span two provinces. Unless the Great Ancestor himself were alive, even a god couldn't coordinate this!"

"Sigh..." Seeing the two local military and political leaders dismiss the idea so quickly, Zhu Liu knew the matter was completely hopeless. It seemed that benefiting the people wasn't as easy as it sounded, especially when some of the people didn't want to be benefited.

Magistrate Lu finally called Su Lu to his side, held his hand, and gave him some final advice: "Study hard, we shall meet again at the end of the year."

With that, he departed in his sedan, watched by the crowd. Hundred-Household Li would continue to lead his men to escort him to the county border.

~~

For the next month, everywhere in Taiping Town—on the streets, at the docks, and in front of the temples—people were singing "The Wine God’s Song!"

And it was different from the version sung for Magistrate Lu; the lyrics now heard in town were:

"Drink Erlang’s wine,
And your breath will flow and your coughs will cease!
Drink Erlang’s wine,
Your spirit will soar and your body will thrive..."

Although it was no longer "Drink our wine," the brainwashing effect remained the same. After a month, whenever the men, women, and children of the town opened their mouths, they would involuntarily belt out "On the ninth day of the ninth month..." or "Drink Erlang’s wine..."

Even the students at the academy were infected. Su Lu heard Li Qiyu talking in his sleep, singing "Good wine, good wine, good wine..."

This made Su Lu, the culprit, feel very apologetic. He truly hadn't expected that a catchy song from his own childhood would be so effective on his Ming Dynasty compatriots...

He dared not admit that he was the one who had come up with it. Even when his classmates complained about the Erlang Wine shop’s overwhelming "mental pollution," he had to join in and criticize it himself.

~~

But one must admit, the results were stellar.

That evening, before the lesson, Su Lu's godmother told him that the merchants who had accepted the invitation to the order-taking fair on the fifth day of the ninth month had already filled ten tables!

"So many?!" Su Lu was stunned. A table sat four merchants; that meant forty people!

"I thought that since this was our first time, getting twenty would have been good enough," he said, pleasantly surprised.

"What are you saying? Your mother and I have been doing this 'ground promotion' since the beginning of the seventh month, pushing and pushing for two whole months. Is forty people really that many?" Su Youcai retorted. "Besides, we don't know how many are just coming for a free meal."

"It's true, we shouldn't be too optimistic," the proprietress agreed. "Everyone was happy when we gave away free samples, and they all praised the wine, but very few have placed orders in advance."

"Placing orders in advance" was a gimmick Su Lu had invented. If merchants were willing to book before the prices were revealed, they would receive a twenty percent discount!

It wasn't a firm commitment, but a reservation; they could reclaim their deposit if they changed their minds. This wasn't an innovation, but a common practice of the era. For example, grain merchants and rice shops would agree on a sale, with the shop paying a deposit. If the grain merchant had no harvest, he would return the deposit without further liability.

So, the merchants' hesitation was purely due to doubt. Even without the risk of loss, they were reluctant to commit.

"Businessmen value their reputation. Once a deposit is paid, they will complete the trade unless there are special circumstances. Besides, with peers gathering at the fair, no one wants to lose face," his godmother explained. "Furthermore, apart from cheap bulk wine, customers prefer brands they know and are reluctant to change their tastes. It's normal for them to have concerns."

"It seems I need to come up with a bold move to dispel their doubts..." Su Lu mused.

"The boldest move is the price. Nothing is more lethal than high quality at a low price!" the proprietress reassured him. "For these two months, no matter how the merchants pressed me, I refused to reveal the price, insisting it would be revealed on the day of the fair. I promised it would be a surprise, which has certainly whetted their appetites!"

"Hmm," Su Lu nodded. It seemed the outcome of the fair was not a foregone conclusion; there was still plenty of suspense.