Heir of Aurelian

Chapter 73 The Distillation Business

In the heart of the Western Roman Empire, Marcellus and Placidia were going over the nation’s ledgers. Since he had first seized control of the Western Roman Empire, or at least the heartland of it. Marcellus had begun the establishment of a large distillery capable of producing copious quantities of alcohol for sale to the public.

Normally this would be a lengthy process, but there were already vacant buildings set up that he could easily establish several large distilleries is. The process surprisingly went smoothly, and within a month he was making profits.

Unfortunately, it was not as much as he expected. The distilled spirits produced by Marcellus’ production plants did not initially sell well. When compared to the taste of wine, many romans found the heavy drink to be unappealing and outright bitter. Only the heaviest of alcoholics enjoyed the beverage.

Marcellus had tried to think of a workaround to get people to purchase this amazing product, and in the end it was Placidia who came up with the idea of finding a way to mix it with wine. Ultimately, he decided to practice the principles of distillation and apply them to wine, where after several experiments he came out with a brandy like product. Which had become infinitely more popular than his previous malt whiskey.

Further experimentation of blending this brandy like product with red wine created a fortified wine that had become popular among all people within the Roman Empire. From the cities off the coast of Iberia to Jerusalem itself, people of all ages were drinking this new product with gusto.

This new fortified wine that only Marcellus and his staff knew how to produce became popular almost overnight, and in the months since its initial manufacture had been transported all across the western and eastern roman empires.

This brought a considerable profit to the Western Roman Empire, which Marcellus used to invest in the military. It was because of this that Marcellus could afford to raise three thousand cataphracts, and 54,000 legionaries.

It was not just the military that Marcellus invested in, but agricultural technology as well. His plan was to produce enough heavy plows and horse bridles to supply as many fields as possible. So that come spring, he could quickly introduce all the new methods he had dreamt of that could aid in agricultural production._.

Marcellus and Placidia were currently gazing at the reports of the profits, and were absolutely stunned at the results. They could not produce enough fortified wine to meet the demand, and because of this, the existing bottles were selling for a premium. People were willing to pay over ten solidi for a single bottle of the substance. It was the ultimate luxury good for the patrician class.

Marcellus sold this fortified wine in 750ml ceramic bottles which used Cork plugs. He had imported the Cork from his newfound subjects in Iberia to produce proper seals for the wine. Such a thing was another invention that Marcellus introduced from his dreams.

Placidia tallied up the numbers and realized by simple exploitation of the wealthy elite, they had sold 30,000 bottles of Fortified wine for 300,000 solidi. In three months, they had manufactured and exported these 30,000 bottles of fortified wine across the empire.

This was only made possible because of the millions of slaves that existed in the borders of the Western Roman Empire who were used in large numbers in every step of the manufacturing. Placidia had a pretty smile on her face as she outlined this in detail.

“Marcellus, from the sales we have made of fortified wine, we have made 300,000 solidi in the past three months. If we continue our current rate of production, we may be able to strengthen the economy from a point of near collapse to a point of stability within three to five years…

That’s not to mention the income we have received from the new pottery you have introduced. It would appear that it has become fashionable to drink the fortified wine from chalices made of this so-called porcelain. For the first time in decades, the economy of the Empire is looking promising…”

300,000 Solidi was more than the Roman Senators had agreed to pay Alaric in ransom months prior. That meant that in the past three months Marcellus’ treasury had gained over 4,000 pounds of gold, simply from the sale of fortified wine.

Marcellus was dreadfully happy when he heard this news and immediately reacted by walking over to the fifteen-year-old girl before lifting her into the air while swinging her around. He promptly kissed her on her forehead before sitting her back down in her seat.

“That’s great news, Placidia! You do not know how happy that makes me!”

The girl flushed red in embarrassment over what had just occurred. She was just about to speak up and make a personal request when the sound of a jealous lover harrumphed in the room’s entrance.

Sigefrida was standing in the doorway with a displeased expression on her pretty face. She was no longer dressed in simple rags, but was instead garbed in the elegant silk trappings of an eastern noblewoman.

Since had gained her freedom and was officially made the concubine of the Emperor, she decided to dress the part. She had a furious gaze in her ice-blue eyes as she stared at her partner before speaking up about her reason for intruding.

“Ahem… I just wanted to let you know that I have decided to accept your request…”

Marcellus merely scoffed when he heard this. It had been months since he requested the woman to lead his newly reformed frumentarii. During this time, his agents had been trained in covert espionage, but were also lacking coordination. Because of this, Marcellus did not know what intel was viable, and what wasn’t. Still, he was happy to see the woman come to her senses and walked over to her before planting a kiss on her lips.

Sigefrida instantly marked her territory in front of the little girl that would soon be her lover’s wife. She was exceptionally erotic with her kiss, which only caused Placidia to pout on the side. Marcellus did not notice this and instead questioned his concubine for the reason behind her sudden change of heart.

“What finally changed your mind? I’ve been pestering you for months about this. Now, all of a sudden, you decide to accept my offer?”

Sigefrida stared into Marcellus’ olive green eyes, before shifting her gaze over to Placidia. She sighed heavily and muttered under her breath in a voice so low she thought the man would not hear her.

“I didn’t want to be a burden… that’s all…”

Despite what she expected, Marcellus did in fact hear the woman’s statement and coddled her while teasing her for her words.

“Oh, that’s so cute…. My sweet Sigefrida is always looking after me!”

Sigefrida immediately fought out of Marcellus’ grasp and pouted as she crossed her arms in discontent. She did not enjoy being teased by the man, but it was part of the job. Marcellus noticed she was in a rather foul mood and decided to be serious.

“Alright, well, I want you to coordinate with Falconius. He knows the ropes and will be able to teach you what you need to know to complete the task. Essentially, you are the spymaster behind the web, so do whatever you feel is necessary to gain the information on my enemies while sabotaging their efforts to conspire against me.”

Sigefrida nodded her head with a serious expression on her face. She threw up a clumsy salute as she responded in the affirmative.

“Yes, sir!”

This reaction caused Marcellus to smile and tug on the woman’s cheek while teasing her once more.

“You are so cute when you try to be serious…”

Sigefrida merely scoffed and departed from the room. She had better things to do than be tormented by Marcellus’ constant teasing. She decided that she would immediately meet up with the man named Falconius and learn spy craft from him.

As for Placidia, she was pouting. The moment Sigefrida entered the room, her fiance acted like she didn’t even exist. Marcellus was still smiling from his interaction with his lover when he turned around and witnessed the fury in the young woman’s eyes. He immediately got defensive when he saw the way Placidia was staring at him.

“What? Did I do something wrong?”

Placidia merely scoffed in response before condemning him for his actions.

“You and Sigefrida appear to get along well together…”

Marcellus felt awkward. He did not believe he had ever actually stated to his fiance that Sigefrida was his lover. He thought it was obvious enough. Naturally, Placidia knew this fact well. She had been watching with envy as Marcellus chased after Sigefrida since she was a small child.

Even though she would finally be marrying the man she loved in a few months, she knew that it was a simple matter of political convenience. Ultimately, Marcellus still thought of the girl as a little sister, and that would not change overnight. Marcellus noticed the girl’s troubled expression and inquired further about it.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Placidia merely shook her head and opened up the next ledger while chastising Marcellus for his lack of work ethic.

“If you have time to ask about it, you have time to work. Stop being lazy like my brother, and do your job!”

The remark was rather harsh, but he could tell his actions with Sigefrida had offended the girl. He could only bite his tongue and do as his little fiancee instructed. Thus Marcellus quickly got back to work looking over the ledgers of his Empires’ finances.