Chapter 654 Yangzhou People Are Lucky with Food

"The starting bid for the exquisite braised shrimp is one thousand taels of silver."

As soon as Magistrate Zhao finished speaking, the meeting room became lively again.

Because Mr. He had just given up on steamed shrimp with garlic, no one dared to compete with him when he participated in the bidding again this time.

Thus, Mr. He easily acquired the agency rights for Jue Wei Braised Shrimp for five thousand taels of silver.

The old man smiled and cupped his hands in greeting: "Thank you all for your hospitality. Next up are spicy crayfish and braised prawns. I hope you will also be kind to us."

"Hiss, Mr. He, you have no sportsmanship. You've already obtained an agency right, why are you still fighting with us?"

"The prices are driven up by rich people like you. You eat the meat, but can't we lowly merchants get a little soup?"

"Isn't Sui Gongren going to do anything about it?"

Cheng Wanwan said with a helpless smile, "The rule of the investment promotion meeting is that the highest bidder wins. Everyone, please be quiet. The bidding for spicy crayfish has begun."

The competition among the next two dishes, spicy mantis shrimp and braised shrimp, became even fiercer.

But who could compete with the Yangzhou merchants, especially since they all pooled their money together, allowing Master He to raise the price at will?

Ultimately, the Yangzhou Chamber of Commerce secured the agency rights for the last two delicacies at high prices of 15,000 taels of silver and 19,000 taels of silver respectively.

Facing the resentful gazes of the crowd, Old He smiled and said, "Once the mantis shrimp comes to market in Yangzhou, I'll host a dinner party for everyone to come and enjoy it."

Those present cast angry glances at him.

Cheng Wanwan was overjoyed. The crayfish agency rights alone were worth over 50,000 taels of silver, and the other delicacies added up to another 10,000 taels. In other words, the second investment promotion conference netted her over 60,000 taels of silver. With money, many things would be much easier.

The businessmen who obtained the food agency rights were taken by Zhao Tiezhu to different private rooms to discuss the specific details of the cooperation with different persons in charge and sign contracts.

Each delicacy has different properties. For example, preserved eggs can be stored for a long time, while ice jelly cannot be stored for more than two days. Different cooperation plans will be discussed based on the specific delicacy. After the specific cooperation method is determined, three contracts will be signed, one for each party and the other for filing with the government.

The agency rights for crayfish were obtained by Mr. He from Yangzhou and Manager She from Qingzhou. After the two signed the contracts, the cooperation was considered finalized.

There were still six or seven thousand catties of crayfish left in the pond. They were divided into four equal parts: three parts for Old He from Yangzhou and one part for Manager She from Qingzhou.

"The braised shrimp, spicy mantis shrimp, and braised shrimp come with seasoning packets, which would normally be priced separately, but since this is the first year, they're being provided free of charge," Cheng Wanwan said with a smile. "The steamed shrimp with garlic doesn't need a seasoning packet. I've written the specific cooking process in a booklet, so Manager She can try it a few more times and she'll get it."

"Thank you, Lady Sui!"

Old He and Manager She quickly bowed and thanked him.

After finishing their work in Dahe Town, the two were taken by Wu Xiaochui to Lijia Gou to catch crayfish.

The money they paid earlier was only for agency fees. They would need to pay more to get the goods, because crayfish are a rare species. As the saying goes, scarcity makes things valuable. Cheng Wanwan asked for 800 coins per catty. As for how much they could sell for on the market, that would depend entirely on their own abilities.

Qingzhou is relatively close, only a day's journey away. If the crayfish are placed in a box and the humidity inside the box is maintained, the survival rate can reach over 90%.

Since Yangzhou was a bit far away, they had to use water transport. Several thousand kilograms of crayfish were packed into dozens of large boxes, all of which were loaded onto horse-drawn carts and rushed to Hekou County. Then, the crayfish in the boxes were transferred to the water-carried hold of a large boat, which set off for Yangzhou overnight. However, the waterway was not smooth. After traveling for a day and a night, they switched to land routes, then back to water routes after another day. They traveled non-stop for three days before finally arriving in Yangzhou.

Upon arriving at the dock, Old He eagerly had the cabin opened. There were quite a few dead shrimp, but they were slightly better than he had expected.

The agency rights for these crayfish belong to the twelve people in Yangzhou. Along the way, they have been discussing how to list them on the market. Because of the gimmick of the food festival, there is no need to promote the crayfish. As long as they are placed in restaurants, they will definitely be packed with customers.

However, to sell it at a high price, more effort will be needed.

"After all this travel, only 2,000 jin of crayfish out of the original 4,000 jin have been sold. We haven't even started doing business yet, and we've already lost half of it," Old He said, taking a sip of tea. "We spent nearly 40,000 taels of silver to secure the agency rights. We can't expect to make it all back in one go, but we certainly can't afford to lose too much. Don't you agree?"

Everyone nodded in agreement, but felt it would be difficult to achieve.

To sell two thousand catties of crayfish for forty thousand taels, that means each catty of crayfish would have to be priced at twenty taels of silver.

Now that we're in the cool autumn season, even the plumpest and sweetest hairy crabs that have just hit the market aren't priced this outrageously.

"During my trip to Huzhou, I learned a new term: 'limited-quantity sales,'" Old He said with a smile. "The skincare products that Sui Gongren and Old Master Qian collaborated on have always used a limited-quantity sales model to stabilize the market due to limited production... Although I haven't looked into the specifics, I can get a general idea of ​​what it means. Actually, crayfish can also be sold using this model. We only sell one hundred portions a day, with each portion weighing half a jin, which is about ten crayfish, and each portion costs six taels of silver."

The businessmen present couldn't help but feel a pang of envy. They finally understood why Old He was able to maintain his position as vice president—because he was cunning enough.

Half a pound of shrimp only yields ten shrimp. For a family of five or six, that's less than two per person... This stuff has a peculiar characteristic: if you don't eat it, it's fine, but if you eat one or two, you'll want to eat more and more. It's deliberately designed to whet people's appetites, yet it doesn't satisfy them. You'll definitely be criticized and scolded behind your back.

"Old He, why not add some side dishes to the shrimp dish, such as cucumbers and other vegetables? That way, a plate of shrimp won't look so shabby," another person suggested. "Also, if someone who has eaten the mantis shrimp wants to eat more, they'll have to pay double the price to order another serving. That way, the price per kilogram of mantis shrimp will be twenty-four taels, and we might actually be able to make back the cost."

Boss He chuckled and stroked his beard: "That's an excellent suggestion. Anyway, it's the first year, so we have the supply. We can decide how much to sell. Next year, we won't have such good conditions. Now, everyone, let's split up and get to work. We must launch these three flavors of crayfish by noon tomorrow..."

The twelve people split up to prepare, and none of them slept well that night.

The news was released the next morning.

"Have you heard? Mr. He spearheaded the opening of a new restaurant overnight, called Yangzhou Shrimp."

"The crayfish... seems to be a new breed cultivated by the Sui Gong people of Dahe Town. It is said to have been a tribute from the Kingdom of Laji, and is therefore very precious."

"That's right, it's this thing. Didn't Dahe Town hold some kind of food festival? Tens of thousands of kilograms of crayfish were offered for free tasting. Everyone who tried it gave it a thumbs up. I never expected that Mr. He would bring crayfish to our Yangzhou City."

"The people of Yangzhou are in for a treat! Let's go check it out..."

Many people flocked to the new "Yangzhou Ao Xia" restaurant.

This restaurant was converted overnight from a teahouse owned by the He family. It had everything you could need, except that the kitchen was a bit small. So they simply incorporated the entire backyard into the kitchen area and hired many people to wash and clean, keeping them busy all the time.

The shop entrance displayed the price of the crayfish and the limited sales policy.

"My goodness, a dish of crayfish costs six taels of silver! That's highway robbery!"

"Even hairy crabs from Chenghu Lake aren't this outrageously expensive; this is clearly a blatant attempt to drive customers away."

"You don't know this, but these crayfish are a tribute from the Kingdom of Laji to the Emperor. In other words, only the royal family can enjoy them. It's only because the Sui Gong people raise them in large quantities that we common people can have this treat. How can food reserved for the emperor not be expensive?"

"Exactly, and it's a newly launched delicacy this year. Spending a little more money to be the first person in Yangzhou to try it is not a bad idea."

"Those of you who are reluctant to spend money should hurry up and leave. I need to go in and reserve a spot."

"..."