2023-07-14
24th
The Qing court must drink Fen
Fenjiu must be drunk and spread its good name
Since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Jin merchants have gradually risen, and Xinghuacun Fenjiu and its brewing techniques have sprung up all over the country. Nowadays, the long-established liquor production areas across the country are often places where Jin merchants gather, and the predecessors of many local famous wines are almost all wineries established or participated in by Jin merchants.
Jin merchants entered Fengxiang, Shaanxi, and gave birth to Xifeng wine; entered Deyang, Sichuan, with Mianzhu Daqu; Jin merchants arrived in Luzhou and opened the oldest cellar pond in Luzhou.
The Chishui River was the main channel for Jin merchants in the Ming and Qing dynasties to operate Sichuan salt. The major wineries along the way, such as Moutai, Langjiu, Xijiu, and Dongjiu, all have an inexplicable and countless relationship with Shanxi salt merchants in the local "Fenjiu", which can be described as "the development history of Jin merchants is simply a history of the promotion of Fenjiu".
Under the spread of Jin merchants, the winemaking skills of Xinghua Village have made Chinese liquor bloom in a hundred flowers and compete for fragrance, laying the basic pattern of Chinese liquor today.
During the Kangxi Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty, the imperial court held a "poetry and wine conference" specifically for Shanxi Fenjiu, and compiled the Fenjiu poetry meeting into the Siku Quanshu, making Fenjiu the only liquor brand included in the Siku Quanshu.
Qing Shengzu Kangxi Emperor (stills)
Due to the reduction of war, the rapid increase in population and the prosperity of the wine industry, resulting in food shortages and rising prices, during the Qianlong Emperor's period, the policy of banning alcohol and music with the purpose of "limiting consumption and saving grain" came into being. However, in the royal approval of many compromises on restricting Fenjiu, the Qianlong Emperor still left his subordinates with mercy, and "the Qianlong Emperor forbids soju, does not prohibit Fenjiu" spread throughout the country at that time.
Therefore, during the period of Qianlong's prohibition of alcohol, the monopoly position of Shanxi Fenjiu was further consolidated, even to the point of almost crazy development. We can see it from Jin Yong's series of novels, Yuan Zhang's "Suiyuan Food List", Li Ruzhen's "Mirror Flower Edge", etc.
In the late Qing Dynasty, due to the Qing government's harem, corruption and incompetence, the eight-nation coalition army entered Beijing in August 1900.
On the way to Xi'an in Cixi Cangpan, passing through Xinghua Village in Fenyang, he had been running for more than a month, and he was really sleepy, and the old bone frame was about to disperse. Accustomed to a court life of brocade clothes and food, how could Lafayette suffer such a crime.
Cixi Westbound (watercolor)
Cixi was pleased to smell Xinghua Village, where Fenjiu was produced, and the fragrant aroma of wine made Lafayette taste buds open and swallow saliva, and the clouds of sorrow for many days seemed to be swept away by the autumn breeze, and turned to the Guangxu Emperor and said: "He doesn't care, this time he went to Beijing to have fun and relax, and he was also happy." ”
Guangxu listened and nodded in agreement.
Although it is to flee, it is not too shabby, thousands of people are lined up in folk costumes, it still looks vast, and the streets and alleys of Xinghua Village are full of guests and people.
Everyone in Xinghua Village knew that this was the team of the imperial court Lafayette fleeing west, and naturally did not dare to snub, and everyone brought out the best dishes and Xinghua Village Laofen wine that had been cherished for many years to treat. How can the taste system that has nibbled on raw corn on the cob for many days withstand the stimulation of this delicious wine and food, drinking from large bowls of wine, oil flowing from the corners of the mouth, shouting to the heavens and the earth, so unhappy!
Cixi is also old and strong, "not to let the eyebrows".
During the banquet, the prefect of Fenyang Prefecture heard the news and rushed to ask Lafayette and the emperor for peace, and at this time Lafayette was toasting a glass of booze. The prefect immediately knelt on the ground and promised: "Weichen does not know that Lafayette and the emperor have arrived, and the driver is late, and Weichen deserves death, please ask Lafayette and the emperor to surrender." Cixi hurriedly said: "Quickly flatten your body, quickly flatten your body, you come to accompany the mourning family to drink a few cups, Xinghua Village Fenjiu is worthy of being the world's first wine." Galeries Lafayette said as he gave a thumbs up.
Under the accompaniment of the prefect, Cixi drank a few more cups, and Li Lianying, the personal eunuch, hurriedly said: "Lao Foye, the dragon body is important, let's drink less." At this time, Cixi was drinking vigorously, and seeing that there was no sign of stopping the cup, the prefect moved and asked Lafayette to give him a painting of Fenjiu Mobao. Cixi readily agreed.
The prefect asked his entourage to find the four treasures of the house, and Cixi took a pen and wrote down eight characters that were graceful and noble, rich and dignified: "Fenjiu must drink, and drinking wine must be fen". These eight characters are the highest praise given by the authorities of the feudal dynasty to the quality of Xinghuacun Fenjiu, and at the same time, they also reflect the worries and helpless sorrow of Cixi, the Lafayette of the Great Qing Dynasty, for the Great Qing Rivers and Mountains.
The dynasty has a cycle of ups and downs, but Xinghuacun Fenjiu has always been enduring and enduring.
In 1911, with the sound of a cannon of the Xinhai Revolution, the feudal imperial system that lasted for more than two thousand years ended, and since then, China has gradually stepped out of the dawn and opened up, and also released a wider potential for Xinghuacun Fenjiu, a thicker heritage, more transparent historical materials, more detailed records and more widely disseminated channels, and this "Foreign History" has basically completed its historical mission, thank readers for their attention and companionship.
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Aerial view of Fenjiu City, China