On the second day after eating the mutton, the people went crazy and dug two ditches outside the city. Many people sat around outside the city.
I thought there would be mutton to eat in the evening, but the deceitful King Yan ordered sorghum rice to be cooked instead. The reason was that he couldn't digest meat after eating it often, so he changed to vegetarian food today.
In the next few days, Zhao Bin only occasionally went to the northeast corner to see the construction of the smelter, but otherwise rarely went out.
All the bottles and jars that the potter had been asked to make before were delivered. The three of them tossed around in the palace several times, but they still couldn't come up with the perfume. In desperation, they had to give up.
A guard ran in and said, "Prince Qi, please see Mr. Miaohe."
"Well, it seems that the livestock are almost distributed. Let's go and take a look." After saying that, Zhao Bin stood up from the recliner and led a few people towards the front hall.
He Miao, who was waiting in the front hall, saw Zhao Bin coming out from behind the screen, stood up and saluted, "I'd like to pay my respects to the prince."
"Master He, there is no need to be polite. Sit down and Ling'er will serve tea." Zhao Bin signaled.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." He Miao sat back on the chair, and Ling'er obediently stepped forward to pour a cup of tea for He Miao, "Thank you, Miss Ling'er."
"Master He, you don't have to be polite." Ling'er replied with a smile.
"Your Majesty, there are many people outside the city. Cattle and sheep have been distributed according to household registration and population. Some horses have also been distributed for breeding.
But this time the Xianbei people brought a lot of livestock, and some were left after distribution. The lower official asked people to take the livestock to graze farther away. I wonder if the prince has other arrangements? "He Miao gave an overview of the current situation.
"What's the price of these cattle and sheep in the market?" Zhao Bin asked.
"Horses are expensive but not marketable. They are about fifteen taels of silver per horse, about ten taels for cattle, and about twenty taels for sheep. This is in Hebei Province. If you cross the Yellow River, the price will probably increase by 10%. s price.
Although prices are cheap in Hebei Province, most of the people here are poor and weak, and they cannot afford to buy them. After crossing the Yellow River, there is the royal area, which is relatively wealthy, but it is farther away. "He Miao explained the current situation one by one.
""Part of the extra sheep rushed to the Xishan mining area, where more than 4,000 people dug into the mountains to dig for coal, which exerted a huge amount of physical energy.
Moreover, winter is coming soon, and the weather is getting cold, so it may be difficult to maintain a vegetarian diet.
I add some meat to the people on weekdays, hoping to last longer and dig as much charcoal as possible before the heavy snow closes the mountains.
Then send some government servants and drive some cattle and sheep to the vicinity of the Yellow River ferry. Some of them will be paid as tribute to the court, and some of them will be sold or supplied to our shops in the capital in exchange for some money and food.
As for the horses, there are only more than 10,000, so let’s keep them for now until we think of other ways. Let’s deal with it this way,” Zhao Bin expressed his thoughts one by one.
"Then I will arrange the manpower to implement it as soon as possible."
He Miao wrote a memorial at Zhao Bin's suggestion. With this memorial to the court, the cattle and sheep donated to the emperor would also avoid exploitation by officials from various places on the road.
A few days later, Xing'er and her group arrived in the capital. This time, they returned faster than last time because there were only a dozen of them.
The prosperity of the capital is incomparable to a border place like Yancheng. It has tall city walls, bustling markets, row upon row of shops, and countless mansions and courtyards. The capital alone has a population of no less than 600,000 to 700,000 people.
Xing'er Chunxi and others had seen the prosperity of the capital, so they didn't feel much about it.
However, Zhang Guide, Li Youcai and others who followed were really shocked by the prosperity of the capital and kept looking around.
Seeing this, Xing'er couldn't help but remind: "Two shopkeepers, the capital city is not as good as Yancheng. It is a mixed bag of fish and dragons, with people of all colors, and dignitaries are everywhere. We need to be extremely careful in our actions in the future and don't cause trouble, otherwise we will not only not be able to make any money from this trip. If you get enough money, you might even risk your life."
After hearing this, the two people quickly recovered their thoughts and replied: "What Miss Xing'er said is that I must be careful in the future." The group entered from the north city gate and marched slowly into the city along the main road.
Led by Chunxi, the motorcade turned around a few alleys and stopped near an ordinary inn. A guard in casual clothes walked into the inn, and soon walked out of the inn with a sullen face.
The guard came back and said to Xing'er Chunxi and others: "Girl, there are still about ten guest rooms in the inn, but they cost one tael of silver per night. It's really a bit expensive."
"What? One tael of silver per night, why is it so expensive?" Wang Dayong asked in surprise. They usually lived in the guard camp and had never stayed in an inn, so they didn't know much about the prices of inns in the capital.
Although Chunxi lives in the palace, he often goes to the market to buy some things on weekdays, so he still knows a little bit about it.
Seeing the surprised looks on everyone's faces, he hurriedly explained: "The land price in the capital is already expensive. This is an inn in an alley. If it is an inn facing the street, the price will probably be doubled."
"Just one tael. Two people share a room. It's okay for everyone to squeeze in. Let's settle in as soon as possible and seize the time to find a suitable shop." Xing'er said and got off the carriage.
Several people walked into the inn. The innkeeper was standing at the counter making calculations. When he saw so many people coming in, he knew that big business was coming. He hurriedly walked out from behind the counter and greeted them with a smile.
After some discussion with the shopkeeper, Chunxi requested several guest rooms in the backyard. Except for Myolie, who slept alone in a room, everyone else shared a room with two or three people.
The carriages and horses were also taken to feed by the waiter. After everything was tidied up, Xing'er called the main people together and held a group meeting according to Zhao Bin's habit. Tian Qi arranged for two security brothers to guard the door. .
In the room, several people were sitting around the table. Xing'er said, "Chunxi, you are the most familiar with the capital. Please tell everyone about the situation in the capital."
"Okay, Captain Tian and Captain Wang know the rough divisions of the capital, so I mainly tell them to the two shopkeepers.
The capital is divided into seventy-eight lanes in the south, north and west, with 28 lanes in the north and 50 lanes in the south.
The south and north of the city are separated by rivers. There are about two to three hundred shops in each market, covering all walks of life.
In addition to the three markets, due to the beautiful scenery on both sides of the river in the city, many literati and elegant people often gathered here. Over time, a commercial district was formed, but most of them were teahouses, restaurants, theaters, brothels, and brothels. The people called it "elegant market" ".
With the permission of the imperial court, shops were also opened between various shops, just like this inn.
In terms of the population distribution of the city, the north of the city is dominated by aristocratic families and nobles from the imperial court, while the south of the city is dominated by merchants and ordinary people. This is generally the case. "Chunxi gave the general distribution of the capital.
After listening to Chunxi's introduction, Li Youcai said: "Since the north of the city is mostly populated by nobles, it would be more appropriate for our store to open in the north city. After all, the people living here are rich people who spend money lavishly."
"Shopkeeper Li is right. Beishi is indeed the best choice. However, before we came here, the prince gave instructions that the first choice is Yashi. If there is no suitable store in Yashi, we will consider Beishi." Myolie interrupted. said.
"In this case, why don't we look for stores separately tomorrow, with some people going to Bei City and some people going to Ya City. This can also save time." Zhang Guide said.
"It's best this way. The little girl doesn't understand business matters, so the two shopkeepers have to deal with the store.
In addition, Captain Tian and Captain Wang will be asked to accompany the two shopkeepers tomorrow. It is inconvenient for Eunuch Chunxi and I to show up too much, especially in Beishi, where there are more nobles from the imperial court. People who have had contact with the palace before may have seen us.
The two captains had better disguise themselves and change their appearance to avoid being recognized by acquaintances. "Myolie looked at Tian Qi and Wang Dayong and said.
"Don't worry, Miss Xing'er. Tomorrow we will dress up as servants and follow the two shopkeepers to find stores." Tian Qi replied.
Because they were tired from traveling, everyone went to bed early that night. Early the next morning, after breakfast, the two shopkeepers and the two captains left the inn and headed towards Bei City and Ya City respectively.
Chunxi took two guards and brought dozens of animal skins and ginseng from Yancheng to Nanshi, hoping to exchange them for some money. Animal skins were an excellent way to keep out the cold in ancient times, and now winter is about to begin. This is a time when animal skins are in short supply.
At the entrance of a skin shop in Nan City, the carriage stopped slowly. A young man with a goatee got out of the car and walked straight into the shop. This man was Chunxi with a beard. When the shopkeeper saw a guest coming, he hurried forward to greet him.
Chunxi did not bluntly say that she was here to sell fur goods. Instead, she looked around the store at the various fur goods hanging on the wall, including sheepskin, cowhide, and fine fox and mink skins.
The shopkeeper also introduced the prices one by one attentively. After looking around, Chunxi asked: "Shopkeeper, do you have good bear skins or tiger skins here?"
The shopkeeper said politely after hearing this: "To tell you the truth, fine leathers from ferocious animals such as bear skins and tiger skins are hard to come by. I only receive one or two pieces every year, but once this kind of skins arrive in the store, It will be bought by a good person and won’t be able to keep it.”
"Is that usually the price?" Chunxi then asked.
"The price is not certain, it depends on the quality of the fur, but it is roughly around two hundred taels." the shopkeeper replied.
"Shopkeeper, how much does it cost to receive the goods from here?" Chunxi asked.
When the shopkeeper heard this, the smile on his face gradually faded. He looked Chunxi up and down and said, "Sir, you should never ask about the purchase price when buying something, right?"
"Shopkeeper, don't get me wrong. To be honest, I'm not here to buy goods, but to sell goods. I happen to have some good leather in my hands," Chunxi said.
When the shopkeeper heard that the furs were of good quality, a smile appeared on his face again, but he still felt a little resentful about Chunxi's behavior of first asking the selling price and then the purchase price.
But he was a businessman after all, and the expression on his face quickly flashed, and he immediately asked: "Have you brought the furs of the guest officer? Can you take them out and take a look at the goods first?"
The shopkeeper didn't show any baldness this time, but he really couldn't give a price without seeing the goods. Things like furs are also highly prized.
"It's on the carriage outside the store." Chunxi pointed to the door and said, "Shopkeeper, let me go and have a look."
The two of them walked out of the store and came to the carriage. The fur on the carriage was covered with a coarse cloth, making it impossible to see what was inside. When the shopkeeper saw such a cart of goods, he immediately felt cheated. How could so many furs be tiger or bear skins?
The shopkeeper lifted a corner of the coarse cloth and looked down. At a glance, he saw mottled tiger skins, shiny bear skins, and other furs. The shopkeeper's eyes gleamed when he saw it.
The shopkeeper was excited and quickly covered it with a coarse cloth. After looking around, he turned to Chunxi and whispered: "Sir, no, can I take the goods to the backyard and talk in detail?"
Chunxi nodded, and then several people drove the carriage and followed the shopkeeper to the backyard.
An hour later, Chunxi and two guards drove the carriage out of the leather goods store. The carriage was still covered with coarse cloth, and there were three thousand taels of silver in the box under the coarse cloth.
Chunxi was also filled with emotion. She didn't expect that a humble fur shop could actually spend so much money. After returning home, she would definitely ask the prince to exchange for more furs. This was much more cost-effective than trading in cattle and sheep.
After that, several people went to the drugstore to sell the wild ginseng they carried, but the price of wild ginseng was very low.
The value of wild ginseng began to be gradually known to people in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In this era, the value of wild ginseng was not yet realized, so the price was also very low.
When we returned to the inn, the others had not returned yet. Xing'er asked people to move the silver into the room, and ordered the remaining guard brothers to take turns guarding the room and not letting anyone get close.
In the evening, the other four people also returned to the inn one after another. After a short rest, they each talked about today's investigation.
Zhang Guide said: "There are quite a lot of shops here in Beishi, including vacant shops and subleased shops.
There is a shop in the city center with about three floors, each floor can accommodate eighteen tables, and there are two two-story shops that can accommodate about thirty tables.
The rent for a three-story shop is about 100 taels a month, and the rent for a two-story shop is about 80 taels a month. If you buy it directly, it will cost about two to three thousand taels. "
"Hmm, shopkeeper Li, tell me about your side." Myolie said,
"Yes, Yashi is not a specialized market, so there are not many shops, but we can find a good place next to Chunshui Bridge.
It is a house with a front pavilion and a backyard. It is also a three-story pavilion, but the area is not that big. I calculated that it can accommodate about fifty tables, and there is room for people in the backyard.
However, the rent is relatively expensive, one hundred and fifty taels a month, and it is paid annually.
Fortunately, this place is very close to Chunshui Bridge, which can connect both sides of the river, and there are still a lot of people. "Li Youcai said.
"Although the price is indeed a bit expensive, having a backyard is really convenient. Otherwise, why don't we choose this place?" Xing'er said in a questioning tone.
Everyone thought this place was pretty good, and no one raised any objections. They discussed the follow-up matters.
The next day, Li Youcai received the money from Xing'er. Accompanied by Tian Qi and Wang Dayong, he went directly to Yashi to rent the shop and filed it with the government. After that, the renovation of the restaurant, the purchase of tables and chairs, and the recruitment of waiters began one after another.
