Shopkeeper Wu rolled his eyes, stretched out his hand and patted his forehead, pretending to remember it for the first time, and shouted: "Ouch! It's broken. My boss asked me to go to the vegetable market to buy more chickens and geese, but I forgot about it!" After that, he hurriedly said He cupped his hands in front of Wei Yushang and others, then moved away.
Wei Yushang and Wei Yuxin looked at each other, stunned for a moment. Chen Xiaomu walked between them, looked at Wei Yushang first, and then at Wei Yuxin, and couldn't help but laugh: " Sisters who don’t recognize each other smile and ask where the guest is from!”
Wei Yushang's whole body trembled when she heard the sound, and tears instantly filled her eyes. She asked in a trembling voice, "Is this Sister Yuxin across from you?"
Wei Yuxin had a look of confusion at first, and then a look of surprise. He hurried over, hugged Wei Yushang, and cried: "Sister, where have you and your father been all these years?" ? It’s been so hard for my mother and I to find her!”
Wei Yushang gently stroked Wei Yuxin's green hair with her hand, her eyes were filled with tears and she couldn't stop crying. Logically speaking, Wei Wen was well-known as the prime minister of Zheng State. Wei Yuxin's mother and daughter should have found him easily, but it was a pity that Wei Wen When he was in the State of Lu, he used the name Wei Heng. This difference meant that he belonged to a prime minister's family with more than 10,000 people. In ancient times, there were no TV newspapers. He would show up every now and then, give lectures, and give guidance on work. Yes, besides the strict hierarchy in ancient times, ordinary people could not even see a small county magistrate except for filing lawsuits and complaints, let alone Wei Wen, the second-in-command of the Zheng State!
At that moment, Wei Yushang raised her sleeve to wipe Wei Yuxin's tears, took her hand and said, "Let's go, sister, I'll take you to see daddy!"
''Hey, wait! Hearing the sound, Chen Xiaomu hurriedly stepped forward to stop him, and said: "Yushang, I just heard Mr. Duan say that your father was originally from the Lu State, and later changed his name to participate in the scientific examination of the Zheng State. Now you rashly bring your sister to recognize your relatives. If it is spread, If you go out, you will be caught by some people with ulterior motives! "
Wei Yushang was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then asked Chen Xiaomu anxiously, "Teacher, you don't know how our father and daughter have come together these years. Since we were separated from our mother and sister, in the past ten years, my father and I have been together." I miss them so much that I mention them many times every day from morning to night. My friends and ministers of the DPRK and China once lined up to arrange matchmaking for my father, but he rejected them one by one. Now that I see my sister, I still don’t know what he is going to do. How happy you are!"
Chen Xiaomu smiled and whispered: "It's not like I don't want you and your daughter to recognize each other. Why are you anxious?"
"Then I will take my sister back to the Prime Minister's Mansion and wait for my father to come back before letting them know each other." Wei Yushang said, holding Wei Yuxin's hand and leaving.
Chen Xiaomu immediately stretched out his hand to stop them in front of them, and said with a smile: "What's the rush? I've already made arrangements here. I'll ask the waiter to rearrange a private room later so that you and your family can meet each other. Besides, you're leaving now." , how to explain to Mr. Duan and the others?"
Wei Yushang thought about it, then bent down and saluted: "Just follow the teacher's arrangements."
Chen Xiaomu nodded, and then asked Wei Yushang why he came to this place. It turned out that Wei Yushang first asked shopkeeper Wu to come over to get the chicken tongue to cook in the kitchen, but after waiting for a while, shopkeeper Wu didn't bring the chicken tongue. , seeing the oil in the pot rolling, he ran over in a hurry.
Understanding the cause and effect of the matter, Chen Xiaomu frowned. He felt that killing dozens of chickens for one dish was too extravagant and wasteful, and only one chicken tongue was taken from each chicken. He said to Wei Yushang: "The imperial treasury is currently empty. , even the palace has to borrow money from outside for meals. I really don’t know where you people get so much money? Look at Mr. Bai, his father is just a prefect of the new capital. If I guessed correctly, the prefect of Zheng Guo every time The monthly salary is only thirty taels at most, plus some official expenses, and subsidies such as maintaining integrity, which will never exceed two hundred taels of silver per month. You see, he has already taken out more than 10,000 taels of silver just now. Can this money be obtained in the right way?"
Chen Xiaomu's words made Wei Yushang blush. After staying for a long time, he defended in a low voice: "Dad is a high-ranking member of the imperial court, and his monthly salary alone is nearly three hundred taels. If you include various subsidies from the imperial court and rewards from the emperor, The monthly income will not be less than a thousand taels, so there is not enough money to treat Mr. Duan, my father's friend for many years and the benefactor who saved our father and daughter, to a good meal. As for the teacher mentioned Mr. Bai Cheng, Mr. Bai , his family has long been granted the salt monopoly license of our Zheng State. Not to mention, at least half of the salt in the new capital city now comes from his salt shop! Now most of the urgent expenses of the government depend on it. It’s supported by his family’s salt tax.”
''Hehe" Chen Xiaomu sneered: "If a country's finances are actually supported by a salt merchant, wouldn't this salt merchant be as rich as the country? I'm afraid no one knows how deep the water here is! I don't think so. Take back the salt monopoly and let the state manage it, so that the quality of the salt can be guaranteed and the court's fiscal revenue can be increased."
"This is definitely not possible!" Wei Yushang shook his head and said: "Salt has been operated by salt merchants designated by the imperial court since ancient times. Today, all countries also follow this rule. If it is changed like what you said, teacher, then what will happen to the imperial court? Didn’t he become a salt dealer?”
Chen Xiaomu smiled and said nothing. In fact, he had already made up his mind. When he freed up his hands, in addition to the top priority of reorganizing the army, the next step was to find a way to withdraw the so-called salt business license from Zheng Guo and Ximen Ruoen's Hubei. Right to establish a state-owned enterprise specializing in salt management.
"Teacher, how about I cook first?" Wei Yushang asked when Chen Xiaomu didn't say anything, pointing to the chicken tongue Xiaocui had cut.
''Oh." Chen Xiaomu thought for a moment and said, "Let's not waste any more. You go find someone to take these chickens to the kitchen. I will cook the meal today. How about I make a whole chicken feast for Mr. Duan and the others? Sample? "
"Teacher, do you know how to cook?" Wei Yushang looked at Chen Xiaomu with suspicion.
"Sister, the barbecue the Sixth Prince made this morning was delicious!" Wei Yuxin squinted his eyes slightly, with a look of aftertaste on his face.
"But..." Wei Yushang hesitated: "Teacher, all our ingredients have been prepared in the kitchen. If we don't use them today, they will taste bad by tomorrow morning. Isn't it a waste if we throw them away then?"
''What a coincidence! Chen Xiaomu clapped his hands and said happily, "I happen to have some friends who are also eating in the restaurant. Why don't you ask the kitchen to prepare it and send it to them." "
Wei Yushang secretly rolled her eyes and thought to herself: "Those are the ingredients I have worked so hard to get these days. Just ask me to give them away with just one word! That's so cheap."
Seeing that Wei Yushang remained silent, Chen Xiaomu knew that she was reluctant, so he didn't force her anymore. He asked them to wait for him outside the house while he spoke to Lao Lu alone for a few words.
After the sisters Wei Yushang left, Lao Lu, who had been hiding in the corner of the room, hurriedly came over to kneel down and bow to Chen Xiaomu, but Chen Xiaomu, with quick eyes and quick hands, picked him up and talked through the few people just now, especially Wei Yuxin's voice. It is natural to call him the sixth prince. No matter how stupid Old Lu is, he knows that the man in front of him is actually the emperor's son. Otherwise, he would not dare to call him prince even if he is too brave. Of course, Old Lu does not know that the current emperor only has one son. Ordinary people only know that the emperor has three palaces and six courtyards, and there must be many sons.
For a moment, Lao Lu's mind began to work again. He felt that instead of thinking about marrying his daughter to Gao Jianli, who could not be seen or touched all day long, it would be better to recommend her to the prince standing in front of him. Although the two young ladies just now Although she was a member of an official family, she was also very beautiful, but in his eyes she was still not as beautiful as his own daughter. As for the red holy fruit that was used to treat his wife's illness, if he asked the prince's son-in-law to come forward and ask for it from Gao Jianli, would he still be afraid that it wouldn't come?
Lao Lu was thinking secretly, and his mind was wandering for a moment. When the woman on the thatched bunk slapped the thatched bunk with her hands, making a snapping sound, he suddenly came back to his senses. When he saw that Chen Xiaomu was no longer in front of him, he hurriedly turned around. Looking around, I found that he was talking in a low voice with his daughter Xiaocui. It turned out that when Chen Xiaomu was talking to Lao Lu here, he saw that Lao Lu's eyes suddenly went straight and he didn't respond to his question at all. She thought he was suffering from hysteria, so he turned back to ask his daughter Xiaocui.
Seeing Lao Lu coming over, Chen Xiaomu smiled and said, "Brother, I heard from Miss Xiaocui that all the chicken and goose feathers you have here are sold to vendors to make feather dusters?"
"That's true," Lao Lu said, "The price they offered was higher. They gave me five cents per catty! In the past, the drug store only charged two cents per catty!"
"Okay," Chen Xiaomu said, "I will give you twenty cents per catty now, and you will sell them to me. I will charge you as much as you want. The more, the better. How about that?"
"So many?" Lao Lu was surprised when he heard this, and then he asked doubtfully, "I wonder where the Sixth Prince asked me to collect these chicken and goose feathers and send them to?"
Chen Xiaomu thought for a moment, picked out a five hundred tael silver note from the banknotes on his body, and said to Lao Lu: "Brother, why don't you go and buy me a big house that can open a workshop?" , help me find some manpower later, and move all the chicken and goose feathers received over there, and the wages will be calculated separately, what do you think?"
Lao Lu had never seen what a banknote looked like in his life. He had only heard people say that the Bai family, the richest man in New Capital, would often use banknotes to spend money. He couldn't help but stare at the banknote in his hand in a daze!
Seeing this, Chen Xiaomu asked: "Brother, isn't this money enough?" "
Lao Lu embarrassedly touched his head with his hand and said with a smile: "Sixth Prince, two hundred taels of silver is enough for an ordinary family's big house in Xinjing City, but this silver note is for five hundred taels. How to spend this?" "
"Haha, I really have yours, brother!" Chen Xiaomu couldn't help laughing, and then said, "You can just go to the ticket office and exchange it for cash, or exchange it for one hundred taels a piece."
After explaining all the matters, Chen Xiaomu was about to leave, but Lao Lu called him from behind. Lao Lu stammered: "Sixth Prince, I have a nasty thing that I want to ask the Sixth Prince to agree to."
''Brother, do you want to move your family there after you buy the house? "Chen Xiaomu seemed to know what Lao Lu was going to say.
Unexpectedly, Lao Lu shook his head, and Chen Xiaomu asked in confusion, "Brother, what else do you have to do?"
Lao Lu pulled his daughter Xiaocui over and said boldly: "I see that the sixth prince is alone, and I want Cui'er to stay with him and help him take care of the housework!"
As soon as Lao Lu said these words, Chen Xiaomu immediately knew what he meant. Lao Lu knew that he was a prince, so he changed his mind and wanted Xiaocui to follow him. He couldn't help laughing and said: "Brother, I I don’t have the medicine Red Sacred Fruit in my hand.”
"It's not in the way, it's not in the way!" Lao Lu said repeatedly: "As the saying goes, life and death are determined by fate, and wealth is in the sky. Let's leave the matter of the Red Sacred Fruit to be figured out later."
Seeing Xiao Cui in front of him with his head slightly lowered, his face turned red, like a blooming flower, Chen Xiaomu suddenly felt pity, pondered for a moment, and then took out a flower from his body. Zhang handed the three hundred taels of silver notes to Lao Lu and said with a serious face: "Brother, Miss Xiaocui is so beautiful. She can do things for me, but she can't stay with me. Let her buy some clothes with the money." , when this workshop is set up in the future, I will leave it to her to take care of it. Don’t worry, if you work here, the wages will definitely be the highest in the new capital!"
When Lao Lu heard this, he was greatly disappointed. In desperation, he suddenly approached Chen Xiaomu and whispered: "Sixth Prince, if you can take Cui'er with you, she can still protect you!" "
''protect me? "Chen Xiaomu looked at Lao Lu in confusion.
"Yes!" Lao Lu said with certainty, "When Tweety and her mother were at home, they often went to the mountains to pick up medicinal herbs and sold them to a nearby nunnery. Over time, the old nuns in the nunnery saw that Tweety was smart and smart. Teach her some self-defense techniques to prevent attacks from jackals, tigers and leopards in the mountains, how about I ask Cui'er to practice with the Sixth Prince?"
Chen Xiao couldn't help laughing, and quickly waved his hands and said: "No need, I have guards around me now. You and Miss Xiaocui can help me finish the workshop first. Now you hurry up and buy the house and you all move in first, so as not to worry about it." I’m being looked down upon here.”
After getting rid of Lao Lu, Chen Xiaomu came outside the hospital and found the waiter waiting for him somewhere. He asked him to take Wei Yuxin to the private room first, and then he and Wei Yushang took the white chicken from Lao Lu's house to the kitchen and prepared it. Search out all the chicken-making skills from later generations and show off your skills.
