Great Tang: Brewing Eight-Grain Wine from the Start and Being Summoned to Marry a Princess

After transmigrating to the first year of the Zhenguan era in the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Xiaoyu holes up in a rundown tavern in the western city. He has high-purity liquor distillation technology in hand, but doesn't dare reveal it. Without power or connections, the great clans would gobble him up in an instant.

At the Chunhua Brothel's selection of its top courtesan, Changsun Chong publicly mocks Qin Huaidao, Cheng Chumo, and two other official scions for being "uncultured." Zhang Xiaoyu casually offers two poems, and the whole place erupts. But the star courtesan heads next door instead, because the man there has money. Zhang Xiaoyu slams his cup down on the spot: "I'm done catering to these people. I'll make liquor and earn a fortune!"

With a hundred strings of cash to start, he hires dozens of discharged veterans as workers, and Eight-Grain Liquor makes its debut. It costs thirty wen to make and sells for one string: highway robbery, but with every right to be. Cheng Yaojin downs a cup and coughs until tears stream from his eyes. The next day, invitations go out across Chang'an. Fang Xuanling praises it as "a gentleman's brew," while Yuchi Gong gets so drunk he nearly demolishes a house.

The scent of the liquor reaches the imperial palace. Li Shimin puts down his memorials. "Who brewed this?" The chancellor answers, "Zhang Xiaoyu of the western city, backed by Cheng Yaojin, Qin Qiong, Yuchi Gong, and Fang Xuanling." The emperor smiles. "Summon him to the palace."

When the third batch of Eight-Grain Liquor is brewed, an imperial edict arrives: Zhang Xiaoyu is to marry a princess.

This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental. Please do not imitate.