Chapter 251 Pork Jerky
The rouge on Mrs. Zheng's face was smeared crookedly.
"What did you say?"
"Our Li Qi, the lady Sang from Daxing Manor who was praised by the emperor, has opened a shop in the East Market to sell them. She sells them for eight or eight cents a piece."
With a bang, a box of rouge was thrown to the ground by Mrs. Zheng.
Was it Rouge that was smashed? No, it was Zheng's face that was smashed on the ground!
…
Sang Luo became famous again, and became famous in the upper circles of Shezhou City.
First, the Daxingzhuang specialty shop only sold a small batch of bread and cakes for five days, and those who bought them on the first day of opening praised them to the sky. Anyway, those who haven't seen them just sounded like they were over the top, and those who have eaten them felt they couldn't even describe one tenth of how delicious and beautiful they were.
The second piece of news is known only to people with a little background in Shezhou. Li Qi, who was unique to Zheng's banquet, and Sang from Daxingzhuang opened a fresh food shop, selling tofu at eight cents a piece, and gave it a very realistic name, tofu.
Eight cents a piece.
If grain prices were several times higher than before and it was sold for eight cents a piece, how much was it worth before the chaos? One or two cents?
Those who were not on good terms with the Zheng family, especially the women who had been bullied by Old Lady Zheng and Madam Zheng in the past, almost bent over with joy when they found out, and even cried.
The key point is, the shop was open for one, two, and three days, and it was still alive and well, but the Zheng family didn't react at all.
The whole city knows about it, how could the Zheng family not know?
Isn’t it so funny?
From Dagan to Daqi, the era of Zheng family's dominance in Shezhou City is probably over.
The shops of Sang and Luo's families became popular, especially in the upper circles. The ladies who usually stayed at home would come out to look around during these two days. The East Market was too noisy, so if they wanted to buy tofu, they had to leave it to the maids. They would still go to the shop on the main street.
Of course, I didn’t buy the rumored bread and cake, but I did buy some honey and cold rabbit.
Those who have never eaten bread and cakes are fine, but I am just asking, those who have eaten them would want to go three times a day, can't you be flexible? Why must they limit the supply every five or ten days? Don't you want to make money?
The shop was empty, with only two kinds of goods on sale. But even though it was so empty, it was still very popular. More people came to the shop in a day than any of the shops nearby.
In Daxing Village, Shen's family, Shen Ning was busy doing the accounts.
The accounts of the cooperation between the Chen and Shen families were handled by Chen Ning and Chen Xiaoya, and the shop assistants of the two shops, Xin Niang and Daniu, also handed in their accounts to Chen Ning every day. The products of each family in the village were supplied to the Shen family for sale, and they also went to Chen Ning for settlement. Sang Luo was only in charge of the big accounts and major matters.
After Chen Ning and the others left, he collected the three bamboo scrolls and also entangled himself with mulberry leaves.
"Sister-in-law, are we really not going to make money? I don't think making a cake is that tiring, really."
Sang Luo was making clothes for her unborn child at the moment. After hearing what Shen Ning said, she replied, "First, there is not enough flour. Second, it is too tiring to do it every day. You can say this now because you have only done it once. If you do this every day, you won't be able to say this. Of course, if you supply it every day, you won't be able to sell it at this price. No matter how delicious the food is, you will get tired of it soon if you have enough food every day."
Shen Ning thought it made sense, but still said, “Then the shop can’t be empty.”
Sang Luo asked back: "Did you make less money?"
"Not really." How much is honey? Before her sister-in-law planted flowers and raised bees, Shen Ning had no idea that honey could be artificially raised. She didn't know how much honey sold for in the past. Because wild beehives are often in very high places, it is very dangerous to harvest, so honey is really rare. Ordinary people would mostly send it to the city to sell if they got it, and they would be very willing to keep a little for themselves to taste.
She didn't know what the price was in the past, but right now in their shop, her sister-in-law charges three taels of silver for a jar of one-pound clover honey, and she has been selling it for quite a bit in the past few days.
Seeing that she didn't say anything, Sang Luo smiled and said, "Don't worry, the shop won't be empty. The jars of golden cherry honey are almost here, and they will be put on the counter after being disinfected. And the castrated pig, I think it's strong enough. Tomorrow I'll ask the neighboring villages if anyone wants to come and see the difference between a castrated pig and a non-castrated pig. Then ask the government if they want to come and take a look. After that, it will be easy to kill. Then I'll teach you to make two new things and send them to the shop. The one that can be kept for a long time can be sold for a while."
…
The boar that was castrated in Sang Luo's family did grow much faster than the other four pigs in the same pen. The people in Daxing Village had been paying attention to it and had long known that Sang Luo's pig castration was really effective. However, by the time they knew about it, the pigs in their respective families had already grown bigger, so they did not dare to take the risk and were waiting for the piglets to be castrated when they were of the right size.
However, the people in other villages didn't know about it yet. The next morning, Sang Luo asked Chen Ershan and Sanniu to inform the neighboring villages and let anyone who wanted to see it come. She also asked Chen Ning to go to the governor's mansion to find Concubine Fan and deliver the message.
When Concubine Fan heard that Sang Luo had also experimented with castration on pigs, she looked so shocked that Shen Ning almost couldn't help laughing.
People from the yamen came very quickly. This was a very strange thing. Zeng Sanlang, the chief secretary, Chu Qichang, and Fan Feiniang, who couldn't help her curiosity, went to Daxingzhuang together. When they arrived, there were at least fifty or sixty people gathered outside the Shen family's pigpen. They all came to see the pigs, but when they found out that their governor had arrived, they all moved aside.
Zeng Sanlang and his companions arrived at the pigpen smoothly. There were five pigs in the pen. At first glance, they looked like one father and four children... The difference in their physiques was too big.
"Are these the pigs I brought at the beginning of the year?" Concubine Fan looked at Sang Luo in disbelief.
Sang Luo smiled and nodded: "At that time, I bought two boars. I kept one as a breeding pig and asked Chen Lie to castrate the other one that looked a little more lively. Then we raised them the same way. This is what you see. The castrated one grew much faster than the uncastrated one."
"Of course, under normal circumstances, you should pick the strong ones to keep as breeding pigs. That was my first time experimenting, and I was afraid that the pigs with weaker physiques would not survive, so I castrated the strong ones. Generally speaking, the conditions of the two boars were not much different at the time."
She spoke these words in a very normal academic tone. It was okay for the people from Daxing Village, but for others, especially Zeng Sanlang and Changshi, they really needed to control their facial expressions to avoid showing any strangeness.
It's too tough. Besides, how can a young woman like her castrate a pig and then continue to raise it... How did she come up with this idea? What's the principle behind it? Why would she want to try this? ? ?
Several people were puzzled. The ancients were more conservative in this regard, so it seemed difficult to ask this question out loud.
Zeng Saburo was just thinking about how to put it when the answer came out.
The other pig in the pigpen was not quiet at all, and kept riding behind the sow. The pig that was obviously several laps stronger, even though there were a group of people watching outside the pigpen, probably had passed the initial tension, and lay in the pen with his eyes closed, feeling very comfortable...
A group of men inexplicably understood...
Zeng Saburo cleared his throat and asked, "Can you estimate the weight of these two boars?"
Zheng the butcher happened to be there, and he said without thinking, "I used to be a butcher, and this is pretty accurate. The castrated one is probably around 220-30 kilograms, and the uncastrated one is estimated to be between 130-140 kilograms."
Wow, there’s a difference of 80 to 90 kilograms!
A pig that is seven or eight months old can weigh up to 220 to 230 kilograms!
Someone nearby had already asked Sang Luo, "Madam Sang, our pigs have already been bred. How big can the piglets be castrated after they are born? Can Master Shen help castrate our piglets?"
Chen Lie, who was attending class at the provincial school, sneezed when his nose felt itchy.
Zheng Dalang smiled and continued, "Chen Lie is studying, how can he go around slaughtering pigs?"
He turned to look at Sang Luo: "Madam Sang, I will learn from Chen Lie later. I was originally a butcher, so this is easy for me."
Sang Luo was unwilling, so she smiled and said, "Okay, go find Chen Lie yourself later."
Chu Qichang saw that there was almost no need to mobilize the people in this area. The difference was only 80 to 90 kilograms. What better way to mobilize than to see it with your own eyes? He turned his head to look at the governor Zeng and said, "Sir, can we send someone from our government to learn from us? Then we can promote it to other counties."
Sang Luo had accomplished this task. As for the fact that castrated pork would have a better texture and taste, she didn't need to tell her about it. Everyone would know when that batch of pork was put on the market.
With a smile in her eyes, she discussed with Zheng the butcher and his son and asked them to come to her house early the next morning to help slaughter the pig.
The crowd gradually dispersed, and the three farmhands quietly returned to the mountain. There was no one around. Farmhand A asked: "Should we report this?"
Governor Zeng might report it, but he would only do so after a large-scale trial has been carried out and no problems have been found. They are secret guards, and their primary mission here is to protect Madam Sang's personal safety. By the way, any movement here must also be reported.
Farmhand B shook his head: "Wait two more days. Didn't Madam Sang say that she would slaughter the pigs tomorrow?"
Farmhand A was a little slow to react, but Farmhand C reacted: "Look at what the pig is used for."
As soon as he finished speaking, the farmhands A and B remembered the fragrance that wafted from the backyard of the Shen family a few days ago. They were so greedy, okay? The ones in charge of the outside even went into the store to buy some and eat them. They just smelled the smell.
The two of them replied in unison: "Then wait."
If I want to cook something this time, I will definitely ask the people outside to help buy some.
…
It was just dawn on June 25th when the sharp sound of pig slaughtering was heard in Daxing Village. Of course, all this had nothing to do with Chen Lie and his sisters. Chen Lie, Chen An and Shen Jin, who came to help, each carried a special load and went with Shen Ning to deliver new goods to the shops on the main street, including thirty bottles of golden cherry honey and more than a dozen kinds of bread and cakes. Chen Youtian, Chen Dashan and Daniu delivered tofu and vegetables to the East Market.
The city gate had just opened at this time, which was very early. As a result, I ran into Xin Niang who was waiting there just after entering the city. As soon as Xin Niang saw Chen Ning, she whispered to him, "An Ning, turn the small road and go to the back alley in advance. There are people in front of the shop."
The three brothers Shen Lie looked at each other, and Shen Ning's voice was already full of excitement: "How many are there?"
Xin Niang said, "There must be thirty or forty people. If we get to the shop and turn into the back alley, I don't think these things will fit on our shelves."
After waiting for four days, everyone, whether they have bought bread or cake before or not, knows that bread and cake are only available on the fifth and tenth days. Now, people are waiting outside the shop early in the morning to buy them first.
As they were talking, they took a detour and opened the back door. Chen Ning and the others wiped the shop with a wet towel, and after everything was cleaned up, they began to stock the goods. After all the goods were stocked, Chen Ning and Xin Niang were not in a hurry to open the shop.
The rules set by Sang Luo require that the opening and closing times of the shop must be fixed.
In fact, ever since they entered the shop, some people outside had heard some noise, some even put their ears to the door to confirm, and were now anxiously asking outside whether the people had arrived and whether they could open the shop first.
Completely ignore the business hours written outside.
Chen An was so curious that he also looked out through the crack in the door and almost met the eyes of a person approaching. He was so scared that he stepped back, but he still saw that there were quite a lot of people outside.
Shen Jin was fine. Shen An had only heard about the grand occasion on the opening day. It was not until today that he saw how popular the things made in his sister-in-law's shop were.
There was a clepsydra in the shop. Shen Ning looked at the clepsydra and said, "It's almost time, big brother. Open the door."
As soon as the door was unlocked and the three door panels were removed, someone said, "The door is open!"
"Open the door, open the door. There is cake today, right? I can smell the fragrance."
Before the door was fully opened, someone had already entered the shop and Shen An was pushed aside.
Shen An: “…”
…
In a large mountain behind Daxing Village, Farmhand A found an excuse to sneak into the mountain and found his companion in a dense tree canopy. He whistled and the man jumped down from the tree and stuffed a cloth bag into his hand: "I finally managed to snatch this. This stuff smells so good, so strong and delicate. After you eat it, remember to take care of it before you leave. Don't leave any smell on your body that may arouse suspicion."
"I know, I know." Farmhand A was drooling. He picked up the cloth bag and sent his companion away.
The companion smacked his lips. He actually didn't eat enough...
Forget it, we can’t fight.
"What delicious food will they really make today?"
Farmhand A had already taken a bite and sighed with satisfaction, "I don't know, but it's possible. Maybe it's just meat that was sent to the fresh food shop."
The companion swallowed and said, "I'll wait. If it's something else, we can't miss the opportunity to report it."
Farmhand A looked disdainful. He said, "We can't miss any food, right?"
However, "This stuff smells really good. There's nothing like this in the palace. I'm really curious about how it's made."
They could only be curious. Apart from protecting Madam Sang's safety and reporting the developments here, His Majesty was not allowed to spy on the recipes that the Shen family did not actively make public.
…
On the afternoon of June 25th, farmhands A, B and C, who had already enjoyed delicious food in the morning, were once again attracted by the fragrance wafting from the backyard of the Shen family... That lady Sang had made delicious food again!!!
On the morning of June 26th, there was no exaggeration like on every fifth or tenth day. Chen Ning quietly added new products to the shop, pork floss and honey-glazed pork jerky.
But when the store opened early in the morning and she hadn't left to deliver the goods, she welcomed the first customer, who stared at the meat floss and jerky and asked for two cans of each.
Completely ignored the tasting items next to it.
Shen Ning was happy in her heart. It was a new product. She didn’t even need to try it. The reputation of her shop was already so good!
She helped Xinniang pack things for the guest skillfully.
The man didn't care about anything. He opened a can of honey-glazed meat jerky, took a piece and put it in his mouth.
After taking a bite and chewing for a few times, his eyes lit up: "Give me six more cans of this meat jerky."
When Shen Ning heard six cans, he was stunned. One tael of silver per can!
It’s not that my sister-in-law’s prices are high, it’s that pork and honey are expensive now, and their craftsmanship is also valuable!
Shen Ning almost screamed like a groundhog in his heart, but he still reminded that person: "The weather is hot, I'm afraid it can only be kept for 20 days at most. If it's kept for too long, it will go bad."
The man nodded and handed over a ten-liang silver ingot.
Well, now that the words were clear, Shen Ning took the money decisively, his movements were quite quick, and he and Xin Niang took a basket with a special fixed position and put the ten jars in it before handing it over.
It’s really heavy.
The man carried the basket as if it was weightless, said thank you, and walked away with the basket.
Chen Ning held the ten taels of silver in his hand and was so happy that he almost jumped twice!
My sister-in-law is right. Isn’t it wonderful to just sell good and expensive things and make money easily?
She was so happy that she was about to burst into tears. The secret guard who took a basket of goodies and boarded the boat to return to the capital by water was also so happy that she was about to burst into tears. After two jars were taken away by their companions who stayed here, there were still eight jars left.
Well, he had good food to eat on his way north.
I just squeezed my purse subconsciously: "..."
This business trip was quite expensive. The shop had only been open for six days, and he had already spent half a month's salary. Fortunately, he could feed the whole family with one person's food, so it didn't matter to him. Others wanted to eat but couldn't.
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