Chapter 33 The Staggering Price of the Wine

Looking at the Taibai Zui, the appearance was finally taking shape. Although it still looked a bit rough around the edges, it was already quite impressive. After applying the seal with the ink paste, it would be dry in no time. Yet, Su Chen remained dazed, lost in thought as he stared at the wine bottles.

Cheng Chumou felt that Su Chen had already handled everything remarkably well. The wine could be sold as early as tomorrow; of course, they had to wait until tonight to finish bottling everything so that people could be sent to collect them the next morning.

"There's no need for us to stay here for such trivial matters. Tomorrow, I'll have the staff from the tavern come to pick them up. You just need to tell them the price you want to set, write it on a placard, and hang it up. That will be enough."

Su Chen didn't hear a word of what Cheng Chumou said; his mind was occupied with entirely different matters. He hadn't been in the Great Tang for long, yet he had already offended two major aristocratic clans. The matter involving Zhangsun Chong would come to a head in a month's time. While the conflict with the Zhangsun family might not cost him his life, the wrath of the powerful aristocratic clans certainly could. If handled poorly, the consequences would be unimaginable. Fortunately, with Li Jing’s help, Su Chen no longer feared the Zhangsun family as he once did. But the aristocratic clans were a different beast altogether.

"This is a heavy-duty weapon against the aristocratic clans. Only by bringing this out can I truly bring them down."

Su Chen held the seal and the ink paste in his hands, but his thoughts were on the invention of movable type printing. In this era, such technology did not yet exist. The aristocratic clans not only held the economic lifeline of the nation but also monopolized culture and education. This was precisely what Li Shimin feared most; many officials in the imperial court hailed from these clans, as commoners simply could not compete with them.

Cheng Chumou, standing to the side, was utterly bewildered. How could a simple seal and ink pad bring down the powerful aristocratic clans?

"Brother, surely you’ve been working too hard these past few days and are starting to have delusions? Why don't you head back and get some rest? Don't push yourself to the point of overthinking."

Cheng Chumou assumed Su Chen was suffering from hallucinations. His state of mind seemed completely off—talking about using a seal and ink to take down the great clans was nothing short of a joke. To Cheng, it was clear that Su Chen was simply exhausted.

Su Chen shook his head and chuckled. It was natural that Cheng Chumou couldn't grasp these things.

"I just thought of a weapon that can be used against the aristocratic clans. Once this weapon is unveiled, they will have nowhere to stand. I haven't revealed it yet, but if they truly push me too far, I won't hold back."

Su Chen didn't elaborate on the method; even if he did, Cheng Chumou wouldn't understand. The truth was, Su Chen wasn't ready to introduce it yet. His own power was still too weak; if the clans discovered it prematurely, they would crush him instantly. He needed to accumulate more influence, but if the clans truly provoked him, he wouldn't mind a mutually destructive confrontation.

Cheng Chumou couldn't make heads or tails of it and began to feel that Su Chen was just boasting. His bragging had become even more audacious than before; in the past, Su Chen would never have spoken like this, but now he was blowing things completely out of proportion.

"Brother, I think you should wake up. Let's just set the price for this wine so we can sell it for a decent amount tomorrow. I see we can only produce a few hundred catties here."

Cheng Chumou had walked around the workshop; it wasn't large, and the production capacity was limited. With ten catties per jar, they could only fill a few dozen jars. As for the price, Su Chen had already made up his mind.

"Let’s set it at ten taels of silver."

Su Chen nodded, announcing the price. The people around him froze. Even Cheng Chumou’s eyes widened in shock. Ten taels of silver? For one jar? That was far higher than anything on the market. Only the most exceptional vintage could possibly command such a price. This was the Zhenguan era, shortly after the founding of the Great Tang, and few people had that much silver to spare.

"Isn't that price a bit steep? Ten taels for a single jar of wine is not something an ordinary person can afford."

Cheng Chumou reasoned that since a jar held ten catties, that meant one catty of wine would cost one tael of silver—a price far exceeding the market rate. At this price, they might not be able to compete with other products, and they risked not selling a single drop.

But Su Chen shook his head. He wasn't talking about ten taels for a whole jar; he meant ten taels *per catty*. Since each jar contained ten catties, each jar would sell for one hundred taels of silver.

"You must have misunderstood. I didn't mean ten taels for a jar; I meant ten taels for a single catty. Each of our jars contains ten catties, so each one should sell for one hundred taels."

When Su Chen finished speaking, everyone around him was left dumbstruck. They had thought ten taels for ten catties was already absurdly expensive, but according to Su Chen, they were selling it for one hundred taels. This was beyond their wildest imagination. How could a few dozen jars be sold at such an astronomical price? Even wine presented as tribute to the Emperor wouldn't reach such a cost.

"Brother, have you lost your mind? Is the stress of these past few days getting to you?"

Cheng Chumou felt that Su Chen’s words were incomprehensible. He couldn't imagine how such a price could ever be justified. It was pure fantasy.

However, Su Chen was confident that good wine would never struggle to find a buyer, and his wine was worth every bit of that price. If he didn't sell it at this rate, how could he raise thousands of taels of silver in such a short time to keep his business afloat?

"Just do as I say. I promise you, it will work. This wine is worth the price, and I expect it will be snatched up as soon as it goes on sale tomorrow."

Su Chen was extremely confident. Even though everyone around him looked at him with skepticism, he knew this was only because they had yet to experience the quality and the intoxicating aroma of his brew.