Lin Rui has been staying in the camp almost all these days. Apart from eating, drinking and sleeping, he spends the rest of his time dealing with factory issues with Xu Shaoxuan and others.
Han Wenjing and his team were extremely efficient. They led their men through the border market and negotiated the supply of cattle and sheep with tribes such as Huidi, Dirong, Tak and Taka.
A contract was signed, stipulating that as long as the tribes regularly provided them with fresh beef, mutton and butter, Huangmoguan would provide them with supplies to survive the winter.
As long as their goods were supplied regularly, the Xing family army would ensure that no one in their tribe would starve to death.
This is also one of the points raised by Lin Rui, how to tame the beasts of the grassland into poultry in his own backyard. Only when the Xing family army has no worries will he go to compete for the Central Plains.
Of course, Lin Rui didn't dare to say these words. He had just joined the Xing Family Army not long ago. If he jumped out like this, he would surely be beheaded for treason. Besides, he was quite content with living in a corner now. Fighting for dominance in the world was too far away from him.
The factory under the name of Xing Jiajun is being built at a rapid pace. Coupled with the workers' high enthusiasm for work, it can be guaranteed that all personnel will be present on the first day of work. Now they just have to wait for all the goods to be in place so that the first batch of products can be produced.
As beef, mutton and oil from several tribes arrived one after another, the factory finally started production.
Cut the piled-up butter into small pieces, put it into a pot, add water and boil it, simmer out the butter, and then filter it twice to get the butter specially made for hot pot base.
The next step is to throw the chopped seasonings in scientific proportions into the pot and boil them together. Soon the overbearing aroma fills the entire factory.
Even the people passing by couldn't help but smell and take a deep breath. What on earth was in this factory that smelled so good?
The weather in Huangmoguan is cold to begin with, so the boiled hot pot base with seasonings is placed outdoors to solidify, and then packed one by one with oil paper. The different levels of spiciness are then marked on the packaging box in a traditional Chinese font. In this way, a palm-sized piece of hot pot base for one person is ready.
Don't underestimate such a small piece of hot pot base, it costs one or two taels of silver. Scarcity makes things valuable. This kind of semi-finished food was created by him in ancient times, but because it is specially supplied to the nobles, it takes a high-end route, and even the gift boxes are made to be high-end. So after consultation with Xing Lie, Han Wenjing and others, the hot pot base for one person costs five taels of silver, and for two people (large portion) it costs ten taels.
If someone comes to negotiate, the hot pot base can be ordered separately, because the original plan was to sell a set meal. Beef, mutton, vegetables, eggs and other side dishes are all placed in the gift box. Diners can boil and eat it as soon as they get it. It can be called the ancient version of lazy food.
The large and small portion sets include the hot pot base, beef, mutton, and side dishes such as bean sprouts, dried tofu, and tofu. The only difference is the amount of food inside.
When the first batch of beautifully packaged finished products were placed in the tent, the people in the tent couldn't help but swallow their saliva. They really missed the taste of hot pot. This stuff is really poisonous and addictive!
Xu Shaoxuan picked up a box and weighed it in his hand. A small portion alone weighed five kilograms, and the large portion was just the original weight multiplied by 2.
The most valuable items in the gift box are beef and mutton. In order to save costs and make the beef and mutton appear larger visually, Lin Rui asked the knife masters in the factory to practice again and again so that they could cut the beef and mutton as thin as paper.
Finally, he realized the happiness of modern hotpot restaurant owners.
Lin Rui asked everyone to make up their minds: "Don't just look at it, give us some advice and see what the appropriate price is."
Xing Lie asked: "How much does a small gift box cost?"
Lin Rui said: "Not much, less than two taels!"
Chen Zhidong was a little incredulous: "No way, a small portion of hot pot base weighs one ounce, and all these dishes combined weigh less than two ounces?"
Lin Rui opened a small package, took out the matching dishes one by one, and handed them to Chen Zhidong: "Take a look, tell me what's inside?"
"Beef, mutton, bean sprouts, dried tofu, tofu, bean curd sheets, eggs~" Chen Zhidong and Xing Lie also figured out the trick. Indeed, the most valuable ones are beef and mutton.
"The cost is less than two taels. As long as it exceeds two taels, we will make a profit!" The major general who did not know much about business operations expressed his insightful opinion.
Han Wenjing, however, was quite knowledgeable and shook his head. "Business isn't that simple. The cost is less than two taels, so we have to make at least some profit. Lord Lin ordered five taels and ten taels for the small and large portions respectively. I think the small portion should be at least twenty taels, and how about forty taels for the large portion?"
Lin Pingyu said, "I understand those nobles in the inner border areas. They're eager to carry all the valuables in their homes, lest others don't know how they enjoy their wealth in luxury. We might as well be more generous with our prices. A small portion is 30 taels, and a large portion is 50 taels. This is to highlight the expensiveness of our dishes. Otherwise, besides being spicy, our dishes won't have much else to offer."
"The second thing is to let them know that larger portions are more economical, so as to encourage them to buy larger portions of hot pot packages. The extra twenty taels of silver can be enough to feed the soldiers for a month." Han Wenjing is the chief logistics officer, and he is always obsessed with money.
Lin Rui said that he had learned a lot and found that being expensive could also be a characteristic of food.
"Alright!" Since no one objected, the decision was made: "A small portion of the prepared hot pot package will be 30 taels, and a large portion will be 50 taels. As for the price of the hot pot base, all merchants who come to Huangmoguan to purchase it will be charged 10 taels for a small portion and 20 taels for a large portion."
Only Xu Shaoxuan listened with some worry: "It's so expensive? Will anyone buy it?"
"Yes!" Han Wenjing is more confident in the hot pot base than Lin Rui.
The factory has the backing of the Xing family army, which is better than Lin Rui fighting alone. He had just formulated a plan to open a store, and the soldiers he sent the next day went to the fiefdoms of various princes overnight to make preparations.
It seemed like overnight, Huangmoguan’s hot pot base suddenly became popular.
In some larger cities, a shop with the word "hot pot" on it emits an overbearing aroma that makes people feel choked but also makes their appetites open.
Many wealthy customers walked in, and the shopkeeper welcomed them in with a smile on his face.
The fiery red soup base was boiling in a small pot, and there was a dedicated waiter at each table to help the guests boil their food.
Huang Moguan headquarters wrote a special note with the boiling time for each food and asked the servants to memorize it overnight.
How wonderful it is to eat these steaming hot foods in the winter with some wine!
The hot pot business became popular in many feudal lords' fiefdoms for a time, and some lords would have a bite of it every now and then.
In particular, beef and mutton were claimed to be carefully raised on the grasslands of foreign races. Eating them could strengthen the body and make people as strong as foreigners. The foreigners' attack on Linjing City was hated by the people of Linchao, but on the other hand, they were envious of their strong physiques.
Nowadays, using this kind of publicity method, the hotpot restaurants in various fiefdoms of the princes are making a fortune.
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