Chapter 274 Trading Center
Zhao Liya specifically asked Zhong Jing to buy seaweed, kelp, dried shrimp and other seafood from the fishermen in Guangzhan and then send them over.
It’s a good thing whether it’s simply prepared or used as a seasoning for soup.
Originally worthless seaweed and kelp were rarely eaten by fishermen and were mostly used to feed pigs, chickens and ducks. However, through Zhao Liya's oral description and Shu Yan's skillful hands, they were transformed into many delicious dishes, such as seaweed shrimp skin and egg drop soup, seaweed shrimp ball soup, seaweed cakes, roasted seaweed crisps, seaweed minced meat rolls, cold kelp shreds, hot and sour kelp knots, pork ribs stewed with kelp, kelp and tofu stewed with meat, etc. The inherent freshness was very popular, and many other restaurants followed suit. For a time, kelp and seaweed gradually became more and more common in the market of the provincial capital.
Zhao Liya looked at the account book and felt happy. She was even more satisfied that she could enjoy Sister Shu Yan's cooking while the food was still hot at noon.
The next day, Zhao Liya asked the driver to drive the carriage while she went for a walk to find a suitable place to build a trading center in and outside the city. Lin Mo accompanied Shu Yan to the restaurant early in the morning to teach Chef Gu how to cook.
Zhao Liya had already discussed the dishes to be taught with her before she came. Shu Yan had tried to cook them at home, so she was now able to teach them with ease.
This time, I will teach you six dishes and let Chef Gu launch them in batches one by one, just in time to attract a group of customers before the end of the year.
Chef Gu is very enthusiastic in studying and researching, and he is also very insightful. Not only can he learn very quickly, but he can also ask many corresponding questions. It can be seen that his talent in this area is indeed much stronger than many people.
Shu Yan was also lucky. As soon as she started teaching her apprentice, she met a very talented person.
Zhao Liya wandered around the city for two days, went to several teahouses, asked around, and looked at three or four places, but was not very satisfied with any of them.
The business of the trading center will definitely be linked to maritime trade in the future, and it will definitely attract countless big merchants. The place required for large-scale commodity transactions is not just spacious.
If the place is too small, future development will definitely be restricted, and it will be too late to think about expansion at that time.
Even though the Lingnan area is vast and sparsely populated, places like the provincial capital are still prosperous. The houses in the city are densely packed, and even the slums are filled with high and low shacks.
It is not impossible to demolish such a place, but the cost would be too high.
Moreover, the existence of nail households may not be non-existent in this era.
There will never be a shortage of smart people in any era.
Even though it is more convenient in the city, after weighing the pros and cons, we cannot give up.
Fortunately, I was mentally prepared and knew that it would not be easy to find a suitable place in the city, so I didn't feel too disappointed.
A spacious place is easy to find outside the city.
Two days later, Zhao Liya set her eyes on a piece of wasteland five or six miles south of the city.
The main reason this area hadn't been cultivated into farmland was because it was full of potholes and muddy ponds, and the land around it was embedded with large and small stones, making it unsuitable for cultivation. Therefore, even though it was not far from the city, it was still empty.
Zhao Liya took a quick look and silently calculated that she would buy all the scattered vegetable plots nearby. The price of the vegetable plots would probably be a bit higher, but it should be worth it.
It is estimated that there are thousands of acres in total.
After deciding on the location, Lin Mo accompanied him to find a middleman and asked him to help find the owners of the vegetable fields.
The middleman didn't understand why they bought such a piece of wasteland, and said enthusiastically that he had many good fields and it would be a good deal.
Zhao Liya and Lin Mo had no choice but to politely decline.
It’s not impossible to buy land, but it’s not appropriate now.
Besides, whether it's Gaolian County or Suixi next door, there are fewer people, more land, countless wilderness areas, and it's cheap! You can't buy as much as you want. Why bother buying from here?
The middleman complained to himself that they were stupid, but he didn't say much. Anyway, it didn't hurt that he didn't lose his share of the errand money.
After three days of negotiation with several vegetable plot owners, we finally got everything done. We went to the government office to get the land deeds. The total area was 1,100 acres, and there was actually an extra 10 to 20 acres left as a gift.
Although it is a wasteland where farmland cannot be cultivated, it has a good geographical location and the price is not cheap. One mu of land costs six taels of silver, which is a total of six thousand six hundred taels.
Zhao Liya tried to bargain but failed, but finally made the deal.
This land was not used for the time being, but she still hired people to erect stone tablets on all sides and pile up some stones. The stone tablets were written with the intention of indicating that this land had an owner and marked it as such.
He also agreed with the owners of the vegetable plots that they would not be allowed to plant any more crops after the crops in their plots were harvested.
He also instructed the owner of Chunxi Restaurant to come and take a look from time to time, and not to plant anything or build shacks there.
This is all to save trouble in the future.
If someone builds a shack here, it will gradually attract many families to build shacks and live here. It is inevitable that conflicts will arise when they drive people away in the future.
At that time, those farmers might take the opportunity to unite and cause trouble.
People in this era have no sense of law. When a large number of people make trouble, even the government has to be careful. Since I am not a local gentry or tycoon, no one is afraid of me.
It would be better to cut it off at the source.
After completing the two tasks, Zhao Liya and the other two returned home.
Although the three of them never went to Prefect Min's house again, Prefect Min had always sent people to secretly keep an eye on them.
He always wanted to know more about his son's savior.
I was a little surprised to find out that they were the owners of the Chunxi Restaurant, which was very popular in the city. I thought that these people were quite capable!
He later learned that Zhao Liya had bought land outside the city, and that she had spent several thousand taels of silver on it, which was quite a large sum of money.
What’s even more strange is that he actually bought such a useless place. I don’t know what his intention was.
They bought so much land, yet they didn't even use their own connections. This shows they have their own agenda. Or perhaps they have bigger plans, intending to use this favor for a bigger purpose.
Prefect Min shook his head. He couldn't think of much at the moment, so he stopped thinking about it.
He wouldn't deny the favor he was owed anyway. And as for the Chunxi Restaurant, he told someone to look after it.
Hearing that they had left the provincial capital just like that, Madam Min, who had recovered a lot, was also a little surprised. She smiled and said, "I had wanted to see Miss Zhao and Madam Lin, but I didn't expect them to leave just like that!"
At first she was a little worried that they would ask for repayment for their kindness, but now when she heard that they left like this, she felt a little empty in her heart.
Min Yanqi was even more disappointed: "I wanted to go see my two sisters, but they went home!"
Madam Min laughed and said, "They own a restaurant in the provincial capital and have bought a lot of land. They will definitely come back in the future. We'll see them then!"
Min Yanqi was happy now, "Yeah!"
(End of this chapter)
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