Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Liubiju is one of the famous time-honored brands in Beijing. It opened in the first year of the Zhengtong period, and it has been nearly two hundred years this year.

Initially, it was exclusively operated by the Shanxi Guo family. Later, Guo's descendants felt that they were unable to cope with the business and absorbed the Zhao and Yuan families as shareholders.

Today, these three families are the ones who control Liubiju.

"Manager Guo, please give me a firm answer on whether I can buy shares or not."

"My master is still waiting for a reply!"

As soon as Shen Tingfang entered the store, he heard an aggressive voice.

He looked over curiously and heard the people around him talking vaguely. He knew that it was someone from Prince Consort Qi's family.

The imperial consorts of the Ming Dynasty were generally of low birth, and as new nobles, they were in the process of expanding their power. As far as Shen Tingfang knew, the Gong family of the imperial consort had been involved in the coal industry, which had expanded rapidly in the past two years, and had had disputes with the Yangwuhou family over coal mines.

In comparison, Qi Zanyuan was not as valued by the emperor as Gong Yonggu, and the power of the Qi family was naturally not as strong as that of the Gong family. As a result, they fell behind and were now eager to get involved in the salt and pickle industries.

Qi Youlin, the steward sent by the Qi family, said loudly at this time:
"With our Qi family's investment, no one in the capital will dare to bully you in the future."

"We, the Qi family, have also invested 10% in the Shuntianfu Salt Company. We will be able to supply you with any salt you need in the future."

"Such a good thing, what else do you have to worry about?"

Shopkeeper Guo smiled apologetically and said to Qi Youlin:

"Manager Qi is right. It is a blessing that our store has been valued by the manager for eight lifetimes."

"But the capital is small and the profit is small, and I am too busy to handle it. I really don't know what to do with the investment money."

"Please wait for a few days, Manager Qi. I will discuss this with the other owners."

Qi Youlin said impatiently:
"What to discuss?"

"Investing in the company with money is giving you face."

"So many people are willing to offer their services, but the master won't accept them!"

"Just give me a definite answer now, will you accept my money?"

Manager Guo looked at Qi Youlin in embarrassment, and was really unwilling to accept the money from the Qi family. However, he knew that he could not offend the Qi family, so he could only shirk his responsibilities again and again.

Qi Youlin was getting annoyed with this, and just when he was about to force Manager Guo to accept the investment, a voice suddenly came from outside the door, very loudly:
"Lao Guo, what are you busy with? Why didn't you go to the party?"

"Our pickle industry is going to be prosperous. The Imperial Household Department has sent someone to notify us to form an association."

Tell Guo Danian a piece of news, that is, after the Imperial Household Department takes the lead in organizing the Ming Food Association, it will set up food branches such as oil, salt, sauce and vinegar under the Food Association.

In the future, all pickle industry practitioners in Beijing can apply to join the pickle industry branch.

When Guo Danian heard the news, he was immediately delighted.

After industries such as the newspaper copying business and the coal burning business were incorporated into the Imperial Household Department, the wealth and status of those working there increased rapidly.

Could it be that now it is the turn of the pickle business and they are also going to become prosperous?
Qi Youlin, Shen Tingfang and others nearby were also surprised when they heard this. They didn't expect the Imperial Household Department to act so quickly and take over an entire industry at once.

Qi Youlin, who was eager to invest, slapped the silver on the table and said immediately:
"Manager Guo, my Qi family's sincerity lies here."

"Can you please give me a definite answer so I can go to another house?"

This was to force Guo Danian to make a decision, and he did not dare to say no for the moment.

Fortunately, his colleague who came here had a very good relationship with him, and he came to the rescue:

"Are you the manager?"

"It's not that Manager Guo is unwilling to invest today, but even if he is willing, he can't sell his shares."

"The Imperial Household Supervisor intends to select some pickles as tribute and supply them to the palace and the Royal Hotel in the future."

"The entire pickle industry must participate in the election. Owners and employees must be reported and examined by the Imperial Guards to prevent tampering."

"So the shares are frozen from today until the review is completed."

This made Qi Youlin's eyes open wide, knowing that not only could he not buy shares in Liubiju today, he couldn't even buy shares in other pickle gardens.

No matter how you look at it, the Qi family is just a family of imperial consorts with little power, and they cannot afford to offend the Imperial Household Supervisor and the Embroidered Uniform Guards around the emperor.

This made him stamp his feet in anger, and he asked his followers to take the silver and leave.

Seeing this, other people who wanted to buy shares also left. Many people greeted Guo Danian with a friendly face and asked him to consider them when issuing more shares.

Even Shen Tingfang realized that the pickle industry was about to take off and also made a call.

He originally thought that five thousand taels of silver would be enough to buy Liubiju, not to mention investing in it. But he didn't expect that the other party had taken advantage of a high position, and the five thousand taels were gone in the blink of an eye.

Guo Danian sent these people off with a smile. After they left, he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said gratefully to Shopkeeper Liu who came to report the news:
"Thanks to Brother Liu today, you must stay for a drink."

"If it weren't for Brother Liu's words, I wouldn't be able to send these people away."

He pulled Liu Qingquan to go drink, thanking him for helping him out.

He also asked his servants to invite the two bosses, Zhao and Yuan, to thank Liu Qingquan together.

Seeing such courtesy towards him, Liu Qingquan laughed and said:
"You don't deserve it! You don't deserve it!"

"Even if I don't come, Lao Guo, after you accept the investment, you can withdraw later."

"Liubiju is such a famous name, there must be pickles that can be selected as tribute. Those who take advantage of it will never get shares."

Guo Danian believed this, because the Imperial Household Department took the lead in organizing the association with the intention of protecting practitioners.

As long as they are under the supervision of the inner court, no officials or dignitaries can do anything to them.

Even the eunuchs in the palace rarely dared to take shares openly under the emperor's control. At most they would accept some filial piety.

Who among the merchants in the capital city does not envy the newspaper copyists and coal merchants? The merchants in these two industries are now rich and have status. Some people not only donate public officials, but also want to donate hereditary knighthood.

When Guo Danian thought that he might become a hereditary lord in the future, he couldn't help but smile.

But he still pulled Liu Qingquan and said:

"Brother Liu, I will definitely remember this favor."

"Otherwise, if you accept the investment today, you will definitely have trouble in the future."

"You didn't notice that even the Shen family is among them. That's a family that once produced a prime minister, just like Prime Minister Yan who wrote the inscription."

The most famous thing about Liubiju is that its signboard was written by Yan Song.

Although he suffered some hardships after Yan Song's fall, he still recovered with this reputation. Ordinary people on the street dare not mess with Liubiju.

After all, no one knows whether there will be a person like Yan Song who likes to eat Liubiju’s pickles.

If someone gets offended, it will be a disaster. However, this reputation is not very useful when facing a family like the Shen family. Even the Qi family, the son-in-law, dares to forcefully acquire shares.

After the emperor relaxed restrictions on the pickle industry, everyone knew that this industry was about to usher in great development.

Not only may people on the grasslands buy pickles on a large scale, but even in some places where salt prices are high, pickles and condiments may be used instead of table salt.

It can be said that the pickle industry will be the second salt industry in the future and may threaten the status of the salt industry in some aspects.

Guo Danian, who had heard about this, communicated with Liu Qingquan:

"I heard that as long as our pickle business registers and obtains a condiment and pickled product business license, we can buy salt at a low price."

"Have you heard about this? Is it true?"

Liu Qingquan said affirmatively:
"of course it's true!"

"When the Imperial Household Department convened a gathering of people in the pickle industry, the topic of buying salt was discussed."

"In the future, the salt used by the pickle industry can be purchased from the sales company affiliated with the Changlu Salt Field through the Salt Industry Association."

"Each company needs to report the quantity it needs, and the association will purchase and deliver the goods after receiving the money."

Changlu Salt Field Sales Company is one of the salt companies that is allowed to sell unlimited salt. However, its sales location is limited to the Changlu area, and outsiders must go to the salt field to buy salt from this company.

The Pickle Industry Association therefore organized a unified purchase of salt, and each company joined together to purchase salt and transport it in a unified fleet.

This can also prevent someone from smuggling private salt into the mix.

Guo Danian had not thought of using private salt, but Liubiju's pickles still had high requirements for salt, vegetables, spring water, etc. This made him ask nervously:
“Do I have to buy salt from the association?”

"Why not somewhere else?"

Liu Qingquan's pickle garden sells low-end pickles, so he had never paid attention to this. He shook his head and said:
"That's not clear."

"But sauce factories can sell condiments with a salt content of less than 50%, and are allowed to process salt themselves."

"If Brother Guo feels that the salt is not suitable, you can process it yourself."

Guo Danian nodded slowly, thinking that this was fine. If he could no longer buy salt from the previous place, he would have to process it himself.

But if this happens, it will inevitably require the recruitment of workers, and Liubiju really needs to consider increasing capital and expanding its shares.

That night, after Guo Danian and the two owners Zhao and Yuan had a drink with Liu Qingquan, they gathered together to discuss the issue of increasing capital and expanding shares.

The Yuan family disagreed with this and thought that they should just stick to the current situation. Liubiju should focus on high-end pickles and supply them to dignitaries.

The Zhao family thought that they should expand their business because after the pickle business became the second salt industry, it was about to usher in great development. If they did not make progress, they might regress.

Other pickle factories are not as famous as Liubiju now, but as they grow bigger in the future, they may be able to attract skilled craftsmen to make pickles comparable to Liubiju’s.

Therefore, Liubiju also wanted to develop in the same way, and even make pickles specifically for the grassland people and the lower class people.

Increasing capital and expanding shares is inevitable, otherwise they cannot afford to offend so many people who want to buy shares.

After being persuaded by the Guo and Zhao families, the Yuan family finally agreed. The three families unanimously decided to take the opportunity to increase capital and expand shares.

Many other sauce factories also had this plan, which made them rack their brains to prepare dishes when selecting tributes in the palace.

Now paying tribute to the palace is no longer like before where you go and never come back.

The current emperor requires that the goods be purchased at least at cost price, and a profit of 10% or 20% is allowed. This means that they will basically not lose money when supplying goods.

If a merchant feels that he is losing money, he can negotiate with the Imperial Household Supervisor to raise prices, or stop supplying goods and withdraw from the supplier system.

However, such merchants are extremely rare. In addition to not daring to offend the inner court, merchants who supply goods to the palace will be issued with a signboard of the palace supplier.

These signs are a guarantee of safety for ordinary businesses. Not only will people on the street not dare to take any chances with them, but the Jinyiwei and Weiwei Temple will also give them special care.

When people make purchases, they prefer these merchants.

Especially for suppliers who have been rated as stars, they can sell the best quality goods under the name of "tribute".

The wealthy families in the capital are flocking to it, and someone will buy it no matter how high the price is.

Liubiju certainly wanted to be known as a tribute, so Guo Danian and others carefully prepared sweet pickled cucumbers and other pickled vegetables.

Liu Qingquan and other people in the pickle industry were also prepared. On the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, they all came to the Guanglu Temple Yamen outside Donghua Gate to participate in the selection of pickle tribute.

What surprised them was that the standards of this selection were quite high, and the surrounding area was even filled with Jinyiwei.

Just as they were speculating, a commotion was heard. The emperor, riding on a sedan chair, accompanied by ministers, came from the direction of Donghua Gate.

Guo Danian, Liu Qingquan and others all knelt down excitedly. They never thought that they could actually see the emperor.

Zhu Youjian kindly asked them to stand up and said to the ministers who were accompanying them:
"On the twenty-fifth, make tofu. On the twenty-sixth, stew pork."

"Today, I and the ministers will have fun with the people, taste the pickles and condiments, and recommend them to those in the capital who want to stew meat."

Ask someone to bring up the pickles, and have the chef from Guanglu Temple stew the meat with seasonings.

Soon, the Guanglu Temple was filled with the aroma of meat, and the chefs, who had been prepared, began to add seasonings.

The people from the various pickle factories watched this scene nervously. What made them even more nervous was the emperor and his ministers who were tasting the pickles.

If one of these people got sick, they would have to bear the consequences. Even if the emperor did not blame them, they would not be able to continue running the business.

Zhu Youjian attached great importance to his own safety. In addition, he knew the harm of pickled food, so he naturally didn't eat pickles very often. This time he came and tasted a few bites, saying that he had eaten it before.

But even so, the merchant whose pickles were eaten by the emperor was still so excited that he almost fainted.

This is what the emperor ate in public, and it can be publicized later.

Those who were curious about what the emperor ate would flock to buy pickles.

Zhu Youjian tasted several recommended pickles and was delighted to learn that the sweet pickled cucumbers came from Liubiju:
He knew the name of this time-honored brand, and later he had eaten Liubiju's chive flowers while eating mutton hotpot.

I didn’t expect that he would be so famous now and be recommended to me.

This made him curious:
“Does Liubiju make chive sauce?”

“People on the grassland like to eat this.”

People on the grassland collect wild chive flowers in autumn and make chive sauce to pair with lamb, which is extremely delicious.

However, one can imagine the amount of wild leeks, which is impossible to meet the needs of the grassland people.

If the Ming Dynasty wanted to export pickled products to the grasslands, chive sauce was of course indispensable.

Let every grassland person eat chive sauce, it should be included in the planning of the pickle industry. (End of this chapter)