After eating the hot pot, Situ Yao felt that it was very delicious. She had never seen this way of eating it before, so she said.
"Husband, do you want to start this business?"
Lu Zifeng didn't expect Situ Yao to be so insightful. She knew she wanted to do this business just from the moment she had a hot pot meal.
"Yes, that's what I'm planning."
After Situ Yao asked the servants to clear away the tables, chairs, dishes and bowls, she spoke again.
"My husband, do you plan to let our Lu family do it alone, or do you plan to get others to invest?"
Lu Zifeng asked with a smile in his eyes.
"Then does Madam have any advice?"
Situ Yao thought about it.
"I feel that it would be best for us to do this together with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. The Emperor's uncle probably wouldn't be interested in such a small profit, so the best person to do this is the Crown Prince. After all, he is the future king."
Lu Zifeng nodded.
"Starting this business with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is a good choice, but there's no rush. We just need to get the business going before the weather gets cold. Also, the current hot pot base isn't perfect yet, and I need to improve it a little bit."
Situ Yao also nodded in agreement. "Indeed, regardless of the taste, I already feel it's pretty good. It's just that eating hot pot in this summer is really a unique experience. Look at me, the sweat on my forehead hasn't gone away yet."
As he spoke, he took out a handkerchief and wiped his forehead. Lu Zifeng took the handkerchief from his hand and wiped the sweat off her face.
"But eating this in the summer is also beneficial. It can remove the cold and dampness in the body, which is good for the body."
It was not until the evening of the 11th hour that Duke Chuding and his companions returned from the palace. By then, Lu Zifeng and Situ Yao had already returned to the courtyard to rest.
Two days later, Feng Qing brought news that the Jing'an Marquis Mansion had hidden a large number of weapons and armor in a farm outside the city. It was estimated that it could equip at least 20,000 troops. This news made Lu Zifeng a little frightened.
This Marquis Jing'an was so bold that he hid so many weapons and armors. But what puzzled Lu Zifeng was why Prince Qing didn't use these things when he rebelled two years ago?
Lu Zifeng went to the palace to meet the emperor for this matter. When Situ Yong heard the news, he laughed.
"Okay, go back now. You don't have to worry about this matter anymore. I will handle it myself."
Lu Zifeng went straight home after leaving the palace. He was not allowed to take care of this matter, and he really didn't want to take care of it, so he just went home to rest.
With nothing to do, Lu Zifeng sent Lu Chun and a few others to search the capital for chili seeds and various spices for him. After three months, he finally bought all the spices.
It can be said that in order to prevent the disclosure of his spice formula, Lu Zifeng asked his men to leave the capital and run around to collect spices. They bought thousands of kilograms of each kind of spices. The main reason was that Lu Zifeng was afraid that if he bought more in the future, people would find the secret recipe from it, and then his hot pot restaurant would not make much money.
What remains is the ratio of spices. The taste will be different depending on the amount of each spice, so Lu Zifeng began to configure the spices very rigorously.
Before starting a hot pot business with the Crown Prince, Lu Zifeng invited the Crown Prince to his residence and prepared a special hot pot meal for him to taste. Unexpectedly, the result was much better than Lu Zifeng had imagined. Crown Prince Situ Jin actually asked Lu Zifeng to partner with him on this business, which was exactly what Lu Zifeng wanted. Naturally, he agreed without hesitation. After some bargaining, the two sides agreed to the distribution of shares.
Now Situ Jin has begun to ask his men to look for candidates for the store and the manager.
It was agreed at that time that Lu Zifeng would be responsible for the secret recipe and procurement of ingredients for the hot pot restaurant, Situ Jin would be responsible for finding a store, and the decoration drawings would also be drawn by Lu Zifeng.
During this period, Lu Zifeng's chili pepper problem was temporarily solved. Lei Ting bought three pounds of chili pepper seeds and pepper seeds from a merchant in the Western Regions. Lu Zifeng was overjoyed. However, the hot pot restaurant had no chili peppers available for the time being. However, there was dogwood, which could replace chili peppers.
It was June, and he wasn't sure if he could plant peppers. After all, although Lu Zifeng was an orphan in his previous life, he had grown up in the city and didn't really know how to grow peppers. After much deliberation, Lu Zifeng asked Lei Ting to continue searching for peppers or pepper seeds. He then planted the three pounds of pepper seeds on the farm, hoping to harvest a batch in the fall.
For this purpose, Lu Zifeng went to the farm and stayed there for three days. He personally watched the farmers plant the peppers in the fields and instructed them to take good care of them before returning to the capital.
Time flies and it is October. The capital city has started to get cold, but it is not too cold at this time. Generally, a padded jacket will be enough.
Lu Zifeng planned to go to the farm today. The peppers on the farm were successfully planted and were growing very well. The peppers could have been picked more than a month ago, but Lu Zifeng felt that the pepper seeds were probably not mature at this time, so he wanted to wait until the peppers were mature before picking them, because this way he could keep the pepper seeds as seeds and plant them after the spring next year.
Lu Zifeng originally planned to ride a horse to the farm, but Situ Yao insisted that it was too cold, so he had no choice but to take a carriage to the farm.
When the village head saw Lu Zifeng coming, he ran towards him with a happy look on his face.
"Greetings, my Lord. I am honored to meet you."
Lu Zifeng was in a very good mood as he looked at the red peppers on the ground.
"Well, get up, Hu Zhuangtou. You have made great contributions this year. I will definitely give you a big red envelope by the end of the year."
When Hu Zhuangtou heard Lu Zifeng say this, his heart was filled with joy and he smiled.
"I don't dare to think too much. As long as I can do the things that my master has asked me to do well, I will be satisfied."
Lu Zifeng smiled and nodded: This old fox got the benefits and wanted to have a good reputation, but this prince likes this old fox, he knows how to talk.
Arriving at the pepper field, Lu Zifeng waved at the people who were ready to go to the field to pick peppers.
"Start working. Let's make a deal today. The one who does the best job and picks the most will be rewarded with one ounce of silver by this prince."
When many farmers heard that there was a reward, and it was one or two taels of silver, they became even more excited. You know, nowadays, one or two taels of silver is a lot of money, which can provide food and drink for an ordinary family for two or three months.
With Lu Zifeng's incentive of money, the farmers worked enthusiastically. The peppers from thirty acres of land were almost picked in one afternoon. Lu Zifeng looked at the peppers piled up like a small mountain.
"Hu Zhuangtou, make sure you have someone guard these peppers tonight. Starting tomorrow, find some clean-handed women to take the pepper seeds. Be sure to be careful, understand?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com