novelonline Chapter 2087: Broken Basket Business
Chapter 2087: Broken Basket Business
Chapter 2087: Broken Basket Business
The chicken coop uses cement pillars that are one and a half feet high, with a wooden shed on top, which is tall and well-ventilated.
Use fishing nets to build the four walls below to prevent weasels from stealing chickens in the middle of the night.
A chicken coop is about 15 feet square, with three chicken coops side by side.
The other chicken coops are located in other locations to prevent the spread of fowl plague. Even if there are sick chickens, the entire chicken coop will not be wiped out.
But it is summer after all, so there is still some smell.
Kangxi looked around and said nothing, and everyone came out.
Niguzhu was held by Xiaosong, and couldn't help but whisper in her ear: "Smelly..."
Xiaosong pointed to the woods in the distance and whispered, "There are free-range ones over there. They don't smell bad, and the meat is chewy."
The little roosters raised in this shed are more tender and suitable for roasting, while those from the mountains are better for stewing soup.
After visiting the chicken coop, everyone went to the pigpen.
When Kangxi saw the inside of the pigpen clearly, his face fell.
The Fifth Prince had been here twice before and knew what the taboo was. He explained on behalf of the Ninth Prince, "It was repaired a few years ago. The ground is clean and easy to clean, so the pigs won't get sick."
It turns out that the walls and floor of the pigsty were made of cement.
The Ninth Prince also noticed that Kangxi looked unhappy, and explained, "This is not cement from the cement kiln of the Ministry of Industry. We saved some when we asked people to try to make it in Xishan before, and we used it here."
Kangxi's face became even darker.
This pigsty is not the place to discipline your son.
When they came out, Kangxi said to the Ninth Prince, "We know that cement and river sand are as hard as stone and are a good building material. Why don't you use it on your own house, but use it on the pig pen instead?"
What do you think?
Not only is this a waste of talent, but isn't it also quite a waste?
This pig house is divided into breeding pig house, sow house, piglet house and adult pig house. Is it necessary to live in such a sophisticated way?
The Ninth Prince was also puzzled and said, "Khan Ama, it took thirty-seven years for the Prince's Mansion to be built. It is not time to renovate it yet."
Kangxi: "..."
The Ninth Prince saw that he had a dark face and everyone was holding their breath. They no longer felt relaxed. He suppressed his anger and said hurriedly, "My son would like to thank Khan Ama for his grace. It was Khan Ama who gave him this house. I would also like to praise the Construction Department and the Ministry of Works. They worked hard and the house was well built. I guess we can wait until Fengsheng and his wife get married before repairing it."
Kangxi's expression improved.
Who doesn’t like to hear nice words?
Especially the truth.
The Queen Mother praised the Ninth Prince and smiled lovingly, saying, "Such a clean pigsty is probably the only one in the world. No wonder it can keep so many pigs."
The Ninth Prince came before the Queen Mother and took her arm, knowing that this was the Queen Mother's way of giving him and her two ways out.
He was grateful in his heart, not as proud as usual, and was rarely humble, saying: "Grandmother, this number is nothing. According to the notes of the predecessors, there was a poor scholar named Yidun in the Spring and Autumn Period who specialized in breeding sows, cows and ewes. After ten years, he was as rich as a prince. He must have several thousand pigs. In the Han Dynasty, there were also people who raised a thousand pigs. In the Tang Dynasty, officials in Chang'an raised 3,000 pigs, and there were also many private pig farms. Nowadays, pig farming in various places in Zhili is also famous. The pork shops in the capital are all supplied by pig farmers in various counties around the capital. Even the pigs for the palace every day, if the imperial farm can't provide them, there are times when they are purchased from outside."
I saw these in the miscellaneous books at home.
The Ninth Prince discovered that his wife was a person who loved to study and never did anything without a purpose.
Regarding breeding, I also read through many books, summarized the experiences of my predecessors, and then asked people to get started.
Therefore, no matter what Fu Jin did, the basic results were very ideal.
Even if things don't go well occasionally, you can still reap good results after adjustments.
The chicken coop is ventilated and the pigpen is clean, both of which were Fu Jin's ideas.
However, it is not appropriate to explain all this in detail in front of the emperor, so the Ninth Prince will keep this matter secret and just regard it as his own idea.
The Queen Mother listened carefully and asked, "Are there many butcher shops out there now?"
The Ninth Prince said, "A lot. There are no shortage of butcher shops in any commercial street. The people living in the inner city are all bannermen, who are good farmers and have a rich life. At least one person in each family works as a clerk, so they don't need to worry about the money to buy meat. The outer city is home to many officials, as well as scholars preparing for the imperial examinations and businessmen. There are also many rich people, so there are all kinds of butcher shops..."
"But the price of pigs has also risen in recent years. A 150-jin live pig sells for six taels of silver, which is equivalent to three sheep. A few years ago, it was only five taels of silver..."
"Although I didn't make any money from outside, I was able to save about 2,000 taels of silver by supplying my own house and my own restaurant. In addition, I could save another 2,000 to 3,000 taels of silver from chickens, ducks, geese, cattle and sheep, so I saved a lot of money on food. The cost of breeding is less than 40%, and the rest is profit..."
"Not only are these livestock and poultry self-sufficient, but my grandson's vegetable garden and fruit orchard have also been so in recent years. There is still a lot of surplus to supply the restaurant. The money settled by the restaurant is enough to cover the expenses of the farm, which saves another expense..."
"We are also frugal. The master has four dishes, the steward has half, and the servants have one dish and one meal. There is no extra expenses. But in the palace, when we counted the official houses and shops that year, my grandson opened two Zhelu restaurants at the end of Di'anmen Inner Street and hung them under the imperial kitchen. The leftovers from the imperial kitchen were mixed and sold in Zhelu. A bowl of it cost four cents, and with a steamed bun costing one cent, it was a meal. Just from this item, how much silver do you think we earned every day?"
Having said that, the Ninth Prince looked at the Queen Mother, waiting for an answer.
The Queen Mother thought for a moment and said, "Two restaurants, which one must sell more than a hundred servings? Is there one tael of silver?"
One tael of silver is now worth eight hundred coins.
The Queen Mother exaggerates.
The Ninth Prince shook his head and said, "The dishes in the palace are all standard dishes, and the number of people who are supposed to eat every day is also more or less fixed. The amount of leftovers shipped out of the palace is also about the same. On average, we sell 5,000 bowls of rice every day. In the summer, we sell more, up to 6,000 bowls. The income from the rice alone is 750 taels of silver in this month, plus the extra income in the summer, it will be 10,000 taels of silver in a year..."
"This shop is an official residence. There is no rent. All the employees are from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. They pay one to two taels of silver a month. The total cost is three hundred taels a year, which is enough. The rest is profit..."
Not to mention the Empress Dowager, even Kangxi heard of this for the first time.
All I can say is that it's dark under the lamp.
This was a small income that the Ninth Prince gained when he was the General Manager of the Imperial Household Department. This was after a "nest of cases" broke out in the Accounting Department of the Imperial Household Department, and everyone's attention was focused on the dismissal of the children of various families in the Imperial Household Department.
It just so happened that the imperial kitchen was also being inspected again and again at that time.
The Ninth Prince knew that more than a dozen carts of leftover food were shipped out every day and divided up by small restaurants outside, so he turned this into a government-run business.
As a result, after a month, the Ninth Prince was shocked when he saw the accounts.
Even though Baiweiju has great business, its profit is not as high as that of this Zheluo restaurant because it is a no-cost business.
Although news was summarized from the imperial court, most of them were about the Ninth Prince’s major moves or events in the Prince’s Mansion. Such daily tasks were not included in the summary.
The Queen Mother looked at the Ninth Prince and praised him, "You have done your job with great care."
He knew that the imperial kitchen was wasteful, but he did not dwell on it. Instead, he found another way to increase revenue by using the leftovers.
It is not easy to work in the palace. The allowances for low-level eunuchs and palace maids are not much.
If we really have to arrange for everyone to be frugal in their allocations, their lives will be even more difficult.
The Ninth Prince was very proud this time, and said, "My grandson is just stingy. He can't stand seeing the corrupt officials below him taking advantage. Rather than letting those servants get advantage, it's better to have more income for the inner treasury. In the future, when Khan Ama wants to tour the south, east, or west, he doesn't have to listen to the censors' nagging. He can just get the money directly from the inner treasury."
The Queen Mother looked at Kangxi and said, "It is rare for the Ninth Prince to be able to do his job well and manage his life well at his age without the Emperor having to worry about him."
Kangxi also felt that the Ninth Prince was right in this matter, but seeing how proud he was, he did not want to praise him too much, so he said to the Queen Mother: "It's just copying. Before the wedding, the economy is just a paper talk..."
That's why I was tricked into opening a shop by Dong E...