After asking Ji Hong about An Qi's fortune, Brother Jiu asked He Yuzhu to give him two brocade boxes.
It contained second-grade ginseng.
You should know that ginseng is now divided into seven grades, first grade, first grade, second grade, third grade, fourth grade, fifth grade and slag ginseng.
The only ginseng you can buy in the market is fourth grade or lower.
Third-grade and above ginseng are directly put into the palace.
On weekdays, rewards from the palace include third-class people participating in fourth-class ginseng.
Brother Jiu took out these two boxes of second-grade ginseng, which were not expensive in silver, just over a hundred taels of silver.
But there is no place to buy this thing.
Every time Ji Hong came to Beijing, he would send generous gifts to the prince's mansion.
This time is especially important. Not to mention, I gave birthday gifts to Fengsheng and the others a few days ago.
Brother Jiu was embarrassed to receive this gift and was thinking about returning the gift.
"You are a rich man and I don't know what to give you. Let's use these two boxes of ginseng to make wine or give them away..."
Brother Ninth said.
Ji Hong was flattered and said: "Thank you for your trouble. If it were anything else, I would not dare to accept it. But good ginseng is rare, so I accepted it shamelessly."
Brother Jiu waved his hand and said, "No need for outsiders. I know that ginseng has become popular in Jiangnan in recent years. Are there many third-class ginseng on the market?"
Ginseng is graded based on year and weight.
The higher the grade, the longer the vintage, the more complete the shape, and the heavier the weight.
Ji Hong considered it and said: "In recent years, due to the influence of the capital, more and more people in Jiangnan have begun to eat ginseng. Rich people usually use ginseng for medical treatment or health prescriptions. In the past two years, some women have used ginseng in facial cream." Yes, I heard that this recipe is still passed down from the palace..."
Brother Jiu heard it and felt it sounded familiar.
Isn't this a recipe from my Fujin shop?
He frowned and said, "Are there any business people using this recipe to make profits?"
Ji Hong shook his head and said: "They are all the wives of salt merchants, fighting for wealth in private. Ginseng paste and pearl powder are common."
After hearing this, Brother Jiu's brows relaxed and he said: "There is ginseng cream in Fujin's shop. Later, when you go to Jiangnan, I will help you to collect two copies of the prescription. Let me see if they were fooling around or if they really got the prescription." .”
After hearing this, Ji Hong said seriously, "Young man must inquire carefully."
Brother Jiu thought for a while and found out that there was still a Zhang Baoshou on the other side of Jiangnan.
He said: "When the time comes, you have time to go to Hangzhou and see if Zhang Baozhuo has anything to help. If so, you can lend a hand."
Ji Hong responded respectfully...
*
By the time the ninth prince returned to the prince's residence, he was already in trouble.
He ate two cups of wine and looked tipsy. When he came back, he muttered to Shu Shu: "I still wanted to find out about An Qi's success process, so I arranged for someone to copy the cat and the tiger. The result was very boring. It was just a collusion between government and businessmen. It’s a no-brainer.”
As for how An Qi socializes in Jiangnan, it is probably similar to how Ji Hong socializes in the capital.
Just throwing away money.
Shu Shu was a little surprised and said, "Didn't I just want to wait until An Qi is taken in later?"
I saw Hunter Xin's happy look before, and wanted to take advantage of it.
Now I want to train my own manpower again, and the idea comes to me very quickly.
The ninth elder brother pulled up the pillow and leaned on the kang. He looked at Shu Shu and said, "I didn't think about the princess before. Since I am your cousin and a relative, I can't take advantage of this."
Shu Shu was a little distracted when she heard her cousin.
Because the Mingzhu family cemetery existed in later generations, my cousin also left her name and title.
Both of them died young, leaving behind two sons, both of whom were adopted by Kangxi and given to his niece Geng Gege.
Brother Jiu said: "I am prepared with both hands."
Shu Shu said: "Aren't you short of money? Why are you still thinking about this?"
Brother Jiu said: "It's just that he is a little unwilling. Although An Qi relied on the power of the Mingzhu family and Prince Kang's palace, the foundation for his fortune was that those salt quotations were issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. They still took advantage of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The same goes for ginseng and salt, I haven’t taken advantage of this yet.”
Shu Shu said: "The Emperor is investigating ginseng. It will not be easy for those people who want to sell ginseng from outside the customs in the future. They will probably have to take it back to the Ministry of Internal Affairs."
Brother Ninth said: "It should have been returned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It is the royal place..."
Speaking of ginseng, Brother Jiu also talked about the popular ginseng cream in Jiangnan and said, "Let's go back and see if it's a recipe from our shop."
Shu Shu shook her head and said: "The prescriptions in our shop come from Taiyuan Hospital, but the prescriptions from Taiyuan Hospital are also passed down from successive dynasties. There are many scholars in Jiangnan and there are many books in the collection. They should also be tried out from ancient prescriptions."
Brother Jiu said: "I'm thinking about it. Anyway, I need to arrange manpower to look at the tea gardens in Hangzhou and Suzhou. I can just buy a shop and sell the same things as Rouge Shop. The business will be good."
Shu Shu had a headache after hearing this. Now they have a lot of properties outside Beijing, but they still don't have enough manpower.
A restless person was sent to Jiangnan. Corruption is a trivial matter, but affecting the reputation of Brother Jiu is a big matter.
Brother Jiu also knew that he did not have ready-made manpower, so he was not in a hurry and said: "I will call all the shopkeepers from all the shops in the capital to take the exam. If they do well in the exam, choose two to go to Jiangnan."
He still remembers raising pearls.
Although it is not easy to start now and it will take a few more years, you can prepare first.
Shu Shu thought it was a good idea and said, "Then wait until Fengsheng and the others finish 'capturing Zhou'."
Brother Jiu nodded and said, "I think so too..."
The next day, Gao Yanzhong came. In addition to the gift he prepared himself, there was another gift sent by Gao Bin.
While Gao Bin is in office, he cannot come back even if he wants to.
What Gao Yanzhong gave as a gift was the longevity lock and gold and silver bracelets.
Gao Bin gave more, including four jars of soju and four small filigree items, a powder box, a candy box, a collar flower and a ring. The rest were three small walnut pillows and three sets of small robes.
Brother Jiu asked: "Is this a gift for Fengsheng and the others?"
Gao Yanzhong shook his head and said: "I sent the wine to Master Jiu to taste. The small filigree items are for filial piety to Fujin. They are all native products of Xianghe. The remaining small pillow and small robe were prepared by his wife. In addition, Gao Bin and his wife were at Xianghe'e Temple. I lit a lamp inside and prayed for little brother and little princess."
Brother Jiu looked at the shochu and said, "Then I need a few people who know how to drink to taste it."
Gao Bin was smart. Since he brought soju back, he probably asked Brother Jiu to check the quality of the wine.
If the Ministry of Internal Affairs wants to cook the pot for the government, it must be prepared to hire a master chef.
In the Shuntianfu area, private brewing is not allowed, but pot-burning is prohibited.
Therefore, if there is soju locally in Xianghe, it is mostly done on a small scale.
Gao Yanzhong said helplessly: "It's spring now, and it's time to get busy with spring sowing. Gao Bin has been thinking about other things all day long."
Brother Jiu comforted him: "Don't delay, let him go on his own, don't worry too much..."
On this day, besides Gao Yanzhong, many people came to the door.
I haven't received any messages from the Prince's Office, but those who still need to send gifts are mostly staff members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
You don’t have to eat the banquet, but if you don’t give gifts, everyone will be uneasy.
Shu Shu looked at the account book and said: "We can divide the inner treasury to load things for Fengsheng and the others. With the full moon gift and centenary gift before, we have accumulated a lot of things."
Brother Jiu said: "You can take out the gold and silver utensils, put them in the bank to break the silver, and send them to the bank to earn interest. If you keep them for nothing, it will be a waste."
The bank under Brother Jiu's name also has interest-bearing money, which is two cents of monthly profit that won't slip away.
In this way, one thousand taels of silver will earn 240 taels of interest a year, which is equivalent to the income of a small village.
Shu Shu nodded and said, "Listen to me, it's better to make money with money..."
*
The next day is the day when the three Fengsheng brothers and sisters "catch the week".
The three children all changed into new clothes. The two younger brothers wore sapphire blue coats, and Ni Guzhu wore a pink coat.
The three children have different looks, but their skin is as white as Yi Fei's.
Except for Akdan, who is thinner, the remaining two siblings are like New Year dolls.
Although the Tenth Prince and his wife live in Haidian, they came over after breakfast to help.
Shu Shu arranged for the kitchen to prepare a table of noodles and take out six dishes.
Then, Fusong personally made a trip and sent it to Haidian.
The banquet was served in honor of the Queen Mother. Four of the six dishes were served and two were sent to Concubine Yi.
Concubine Yi and her eighteenth brother were also in Changchun Garden...
*
The next update will be around 12 noon on August 9th
