While the court officials were thinking about eating a table of delicious food for ten taels of silver, a certain prince had already had a meal in the East Palace with a group of confidants. The purpose of this meal was to understand the effect of yesterday's lecture at the Academy of Sciences.
Those who came to attend the meal included Bo Jue, Fang Yizhi, the consort Gong Yonggu, junior classmate Sun Yunqiu, and two "old classmates" Song Yingxing and Xiong Renlin. If there were more people, a certain prince would not be able to provide the food, because The food is very special...
"There are four delicious places on the pig, which are 'one up', 'down', 'one front', and 'one back'. The top refers to the ears, the bottom refers to the hooves, the front refers to the mouth, and the back refers to Point to the tail!”
The Ming Dynasty did not shy away from the homophonic words "pig" and "zhu", whether it was the "Imperial Record of the Ming Dynasty", the "Zi Zhong Zhi" written by the eunuch, and the combined edition of "San Yan Er Pai" written by Min Jian. ”, all call them “pig”.
The "Thousand Three Hoofs" involved in the story of Zhu Yuanzhang and Shen Wansan were rare, especially at the end of the Ming Dynasty. The imperial court was already tormented by internal and external troubles and had no time to care about trivial matters. Break things.
A certain prince is undoubtedly very good at drinking and drinking. Even though this body is not ready for drinking, he can still eat braised cooked food as rice with the iced sour plum soup.
To feed tens of thousands of people around Jifu, several pigs had to be killed every day to reward the army. Naturally, the delicious parts had to be reserved and sent to the rear residence, especially the four good places that a certain prince had instructed to eat.
"I am already familiar with you all, so there is no need to be polite at this point. Please use it. This is cooked with secret sauce. It is naturally very enjoyable to enjoy when you have a lack of appetite in summer."
In front of everyone was a large cut pig's trotter, a pig's ear, a pig's tail and a pig's muzzle, so if there were too many guests, a certain prince would not be able to supply them.
The remaining pig's trotters had long been sent to the backyard by the chamberlain, and a certain prince's younger brothers and sisters were happily chewing on them. A group of foodies were eager to eat this delicious thing every day.
The six guests were all sitting around a long table with a certain prince. Even Xiao Sun's classmate was given the preferential treatment of an adult's meal. Now he could feast on the royal delicacies for free.
"Your Highness is really a great talent in gourmet food. I have to thank you for this delicious meal!"
Even though it was a matter of casualness, as the leader of the group, Dean Song still needed to be polite before the team members used their chopsticks.
The incomes of these people at the Academy of Sciences and the newspaper are very high, and they can eat similar food in restaurants outside, but the taste of the two is definitely very different.
The standard of an imperial chef is not something that just any chef can achieve. In other words, if the dishes in a certain restaurant can taste like an imperial chef, it will not be a problem to earn tens of thousands taels a year.
"Dean Song doesn't need to be too polite. These are home-cooked delicacies. I just ask the royal chefs to cook them and enjoy them. I'm just afraid that the two deans have bad teeth, haha."
In later generations, these were things that almost every household could afford, but in the late Ming Dynasty, even the landlords would not dare to eat them so harshly, otherwise they would definitely feel distressed to death.
The things in front of each person's table are worth at least one tael of silver. In layman's terms, they are "eating money", but these corner places will not be delicious if they don't do this.
After the four parts of the mouth, ears, hooves, and tail are braised, then cooled and eaten in the mouth, the taste is excellent. It not only maintains the rich aroma of the braised food, but also has a chewy texture, especially when eating the ears and hooves. , but it takes some effort to chew.
"Thanks to His Highness's favor, I have good teeth!"
At present, the prince is treating us to delicious food. Even if his teeth are not good, he can still swallow it. However, the two old guys Song Yingxing and Xiong Renlin are in very good physical condition and their teeth are still intact. There is no problem in eating these braised food.
"Your Highness, I would like to thank you in advance for your kindness!"
Xiong Renlin had been busy at the Academy of Sciences for most of the day, and just dealt with it briefly at noon. Before he got off work, he already felt empty in his stomach. This time he finally got a big deal.
"Then let's start!"
After a certain prince gave an order, the young and old men no longer cared about the tedious etiquette, and started to grab the pig's trotters and gnaw them. However, you can't eat it happily with chopsticks, so there is no use in continuing to be polite at this time.
In the sultry weather, this kind of cooked food can be eaten, but if it is replaced by hot food that is steaming and scalding, a group of people will stare at each other.
This was the second time that classmate Sun Yunqiu came to the East Palace. He was still cautious and followed his master Bo Jue. He did not dare to act rashly after sitting down.
However, when he saw that a group of seniors had mastered it, and even the master was politely grabbing the pig's trotters and chewing them, he felt relieved and started learning in a decent manner.
The royal meal at the Houdi was extraordinary. As soon as I tore off a piece of skin, put it in my mouth, chewed it twice, and swallowed it in my stomach, Xiao Sun felt it was so delicious that he moaned with emotion...
When a certain prince saw his classmate Xiao Sun looking like this, in order not to scare him, he didn't say much and ate hard with everyone. His beautiful mother also ate this.
After hearing that pig's trotters can beautify and nourish the skin, especially the skin, a group of women from queens to concubines have to eat one every day to feel psychological comfort.
It's just that the method used for concubines is to stew it, so as to get out the collagen inside, otherwise it will be difficult to absorb, and it will not taste as hearty as the braised food for men.
"Pig Four Treasures" paired with several delicious side dishes, and drinking ice-cold sour plum soup is indeed a rare enjoyment in summer, probably second only to "Papa" barbecue.
A certain prince knew a lot about the delicacies of future generations, so it was perfect to use it as a gift for a group of confidants. These people had caught up with a good time that they had never waited for in eight lifetimes.
"In a few days, I will send people to open a restaurant in the inner city, specializing in the delicacies I learned from the fairy world. You can then order and enjoy as you like."
A certain prince had several purposes for doing this. Firstly, he wanted to let the rich people in the capital enjoy the delicacies of the fairy world. Secondly, he wanted to recover some of the money he had given away. Thirdly, he wanted to develop this restaurant. Become an information station.
This time, there is no need to cooperate with the nobles. The Shangshan Supervisor and the factory guards will be fully responsible. If two restaurants are opened in the new city and the old city of the capital, each restaurant will make a net profit of one hundred taels of silver per day, and the net profit will be one hundred taels per year. The profit can exceed one hundred thousand taels.
If this level of income can be achieved, the food and drink expenses of the rear residence can be perfectly solved, and the rest can be used as pocket money for the younger brothers and sisters, and they can be used as big red envelopes during the New Year and holidays.
The most important thing is that a certain prince can be sure that if he opens a restaurant, no one in the world, including Dong Lin and the beggar, will dare to ruin the place.
Anyone who wants to smash it must think clearly about the consequences, but he must smash it directly into the factory guard's prison, where there are a bunch of free "delicious foods"...
"My income is low, I hope the food prices will not be expensive then!"
Xiong Renlin would also pretend to be poor at this time. As the vice president of the Academy of Sciences, he had an annual salary of two thousand taels, and it was paid in full in advance, so he didn't have to worry about food and drink for his family.
In terms of salary and benefits, it has reached the level of the third rank of the imperial court. It can be regarded as a step into the ranks of high-income officials, equivalent to the ministers of various ministries of the third rank.
Even Bo Jue, as an academician, can legitimately earn one thousand taels of silver per year. This is a completely tax-free income. Taking into account various bonuses, it is no problem to earn more than two thousand taels of silver per year.
The people in the Academy of Sciences are all high-income people in the entire Ming Empire. Although they are not as good as the big businessmen, they are leaders in their respective classes.
For example, in the craftsmanship industry, craftsmen who earn a hundred taels per year are very impressive, and there are a lot of them in the Academy of Sciences. There is nothing that can be done about it. Senior technicians are a very expensive "unit" in any era.
This is a serious craftsman, and there are some technical aspects that ordinary craftsmen just can't do, and even if they can be done, they won't reach the level of others.
A certain prince had inspected the armor factory and the chariot factory many times, and he was naturally familiar with the craftsmanship displayed by the craftsmen. There were many legendary "eighth-level technicians" in these two factories.
A certain prince who had been around in the N era for N years could tell at a glance whether the things they made worked and whether they could meet military standards.
As long as the things you make are up to standard, you will not only get bonuses, but you will also get a substantial salary increase. Others are jealous and have nothing to do with it. What craftsmen sell is their craftsmanship. How can they make money without their craftsmanship?
But these people are a minority after all. The Ming Dynasty's arsenal cannot maintain the current workshop-style business model forever, and sooner or later it will enter the era of large-scale production.
With the advent of the steam engine, lathes can be mass-produced to produce semi-finished products and parts. This tool is intended to replace the skills of some top craftsmen, thereby achieving a unique standard for component sizes.
If the tank parts used in front-line operations are not universal, it will undoubtedly be a huge disaster for the combat troops, and the pressure on logistics supply will be unimaginable.
As for the steam engine, it is still in the "time bomb" stage, and the progress of the project development depends on a few people eating pig trotters at the table...
"Don't worry, Aiqing, the ingredients used in the restaurant are very common. There are no birds or animals involved, so the prices will not be too high. Editor Fang and my uncle don't have to worry. They will have their own merchants to entertain them."
The newspaper office had become a lucrative business in the eyes of everyone. If the manager hadn't been a relative of the emperor, he would have been knocked to the ground by the gangsters long ago.
A copy of "Jingshi Daily" only costs ten cents, but there are too many people who can't bear to buy it. The number of annual subscriptions alone reaches nearly 6,000.
Nowadays, the amount of subscription money accumulated by the Prince Consort's Mansion exceeds 40,000 taels. With the addition of retail sales and money from advertisers for booking pages, the princess and his wife's income directly exceeds the 100,000 taels mark.
Just a newspaper, because it contains news from all over the world, can make one's family rich in a short period of time. Princess Le'an and Gong Yonggu are shocked beyond measure.
The couple had never seen so much money in their lives, and it wouldn't take long for the money to turn from income into profit. In other words, part of it would become the couple's private property.
This also caused the Prince Consort's house to be crowded with people. If it were not for the fact that Princess Le'an was a member of the royal family, outsiders would not dare to disturb her. They would be afraid that there would be an overwhelming number of "friends" coming to Gong Yonggu.
It is precisely because Princess Le'an is a member of the royal family and the aunt of a certain prince that she can get this hugely profitable project that is coveted by others.
The original intention of a certain prince was to allow the couple to support themselves, so that they would not have to rely on the concubine. Moreover, if they opened a couple's shop in this way, they would actually make more money and live a better life.
The director of the newspaper, Gong Yonggu, is the emperor's consort, and the editor-in-chief Fang Yizhi's father is the governor of Huguang. There is also a certain prince's shares in the newspaper. Who dares to cause trouble in such a newspaper? Even a patient with red eyes would not dare to take action easily.
As the newspaper continued to sell like hotcakes, and even after printing all day long, it still ran out of stock from time to time. Gong Yonggu had been to the East Palace many times, with the purpose of asking a certain prince whether to increase the page space.
Regarding this matter, a certain prince wanted to let his uncle know whether the current amount of information reviewed by the newspaper and the printing volume of the printing house were within an acceptable range.
Don't just focus on advertisers' money, but also weigh your own strength. Because the number of pages increases significantly, the weight of the newspaper will increase and the transportation volume will decrease. This is obviously inversely proportional.
A certain prince predicted that the current "Jingshi Daily" could be expanded to a maximum of forty-eight pages per copy, which is twelve large sheets of paper. If there are more pages, the weight of multiple newspapers will reach a point where the newsboy will be unbearable.
In fact, because the small characters printed with movable type are not too small, one small character in this era can only be equivalent to the area of four small characters in later generations. The content published in a newspaper is very limited.
A certain prince also wants to read more information, but these issues must be taken into consideration. From the current perspective, page 48 is the upper limit, and it cannot be higher for the time being.
Now reaching Xuanfu in the west, Tianjin in the east, Baoding in the south, and Miyun in the north, almost half of the cities in northern Zhili can read the "Jingshi Daily" published within three days.
What follows is a steady stream of money, and the number of sales in other places alone can reach tens of thousands of copies every day. The princess and her husband earn one copper coin each, and ten thousand copies are equivalent to ten taels of silver, which can reach one thousand eight hundred taels in half a year.
Including the Jifu area, the daily sales of "Jingshi Daily" are now stable at more than 20,000 copies, the daily advertising revenue is no less than 600 taels of silver, and the after-tax profit can reach 400 taels.
The princess and her wife can get 30% of the dividend, and they can pocket more than 100 taels every day, which is more than 30,000 taels for the whole year. Even if they don't have an acre of fertile land, their income is not lower than that of any prince.
However, the extremely kind-hearted prince gave his uncle a trick to increase his income, which was the famous "advertising folder".
That is, the advertising content is not printed in the newspaper, but printed on a separate piece of paper and sandwiched in the newspaper. This way, without increasing the length of the newspaper, you can still make several more money...
A newspaper with five pages and a single advertisement charges merchants 30 taels of silver, which can increase revenue by 150 taels in one day, and increase income by more than 50,000 taels of silver in a year.
As for whether a merchant chooses to publish it in a newspaper or include an insert in the order, it depends on the choice. The credibility of the newspaper page is higher, and the area of the insert is larger, so each has its own advantages.
"Thank you, Your Highness, for your kindness!"
Since having the "Beijing Daily" as his own business, Gong Yonggu is now one of the most popular people in the capital. His wife is the queen's sister-in-law and the aunt of the current prince. This relationship is extremely reliable.
With such a foundation as the backing, the situation at the newspaper office is of course quite prosperous, and with the incentive of money, reporters will actively send an endless stream of manuscripts with various contents.
Now the Crown Prince is planning to open a restaurant focusing on fairyland delicacies. Gong Yonggu and Fang Yizhi will be blessed, especially since they can eat these delicacies without having to pay for them themselves...
