Chapter 103： Quota

Chapter 103 Quota

“I’ve asked around. The youngest son of the Huang family is a salesman. He delivers things in all directions. The braised meat cannot be sold in our county. We can sell it to the next county.” Mrs. Gu said excitedly.

Zhang Yunniang was helpless and said: "Mom, who is going to sell it in the next county? What if I can't sell it? A pot of braised food is heavy. Should I send it there by cart or rent a cow?"

Mrs. Gu immediately frowned. She and Mr. Gu were old, so of course they couldn't do this kind of thing. Gu Mingda had to study to prepare for autumn, and Zhang Yuniang and Liu Xiaoru were busy with things in the shop, so naturally they couldn't do this.

"Mom, we used to sell five pots a day, but now we sell three pots a day. We just make less money and can still live our lives. Why are you so anxious?" Zhang Yunniang persuaded her mother-in-law softly.

Mrs. Gu shook her head and said: "There must be a reason why a good business is getting worse and worse, especially the braised food business you are doing. You built five stoves in the first month, but now two are empty. This is a problem." It’s a bad sign. If it goes on for a long time, I’m afraid it will be like the tofu shop at home.”

The Gu family's tofu shop had experienced a malicious run and closed down by the Liu family before. Mrs. Gu had experienced the process of business deterioration once, so naturally she couldn't help but feel worried.

While talking, Gu Mingda walked in from outside.

He went to the Yamen in the morning, and the first thing he did when he came back was to talk about Zhang Guangzong's current situation.

"He is not a tight-lipped person. After a few passes, he has cleared everything up. After signing and signing, even if several years have passed, the matter of imperial examination fraud is certain." Gu Mingda said.

Mrs. Gu has always disliked Zhang Guangzong, and she wanted to scold him a few times, but because her daughter-in-law was nearby, she finally held back and asked instead: "Second brother, will he hinder you if he commits a crime?"

Gu Mingda shook his head and said: "He is him and I am me. They will not be involved in the same thing. It's a pity that a few people got the news in advance and ran away."

Mrs. Gu said: "Run away, as long as it doesn't involve our family."

However, Zhang Yuniang knew her husband well and heard the unusualness in his words, and asked, "Which important person has escaped?"

Gu Mingda said: "A guy named Ren Liu. It is said that in the past, the master of Magistrate Gou left many things to Ren Liu. In the past, everything in the yamen had to go through Ren Liu's hands."

Gu Mingda was vague and did not mention that Renliu had a broad business and human trafficking was one of his businesses.

But Mrs. Gu suddenly said: "The King of Hell! I have heard of this man. My eldest sister-in-law's nephew's leg was broken by him!"

The relationship was far-reaching, but Gu Mingda had vaguely heard of it. The person involved was a gambler who lost everything. In the end, he couldn't pay back the money, so his leg was broken by the casino.

"If he runs away, the casino will probably close, which is a good thing." Zhang Yunniang said.

Gu Mingda shook his head and said: "It won't close. It will probably be taken over by someone else by then."

After hearing the excitement, Mrs. Gu remembered that her son had come back from outside and asked, "Have you eaten? If not, I'll get you a bowl of noodles."

Gu Mingda waved his hand and said no, and explained: "I ate at Chunfeng Tower with the people from the Yamen at noon."

Zhang Yuniang said with a smile: "Then you should eat our braised food. Shopkeeper Cheng also buys two pots of it from us every day."

Gu Mingda's expression turned serious, and he said: "Chunfeng Restaurant's business is still very good. They no longer sell braised food separately. Instead, they give each table a plate of braised food. However, this plate of braised food is not entirely our braised food." ”

"What do you mean?" Mrs. Gu didn't understand.

Gu Mingda said: "This braised food platter is poured with sesame oil, mixed with fermented bean curd sauce, and added with sesame and chopped peanuts. The texture is no longer exactly the same. I also asked the waiter, and the waiter said that this braised food is their own secret. Make the recipe.”

Mrs. Gu instantly became angry and said, "Why is Chunfeng Tower like this? It's obviously my family's thing, but you still say it's theirs!"

It doesn't really matter if it is said to be from their family. After all, they are afraid that customers will skip Chunfeng Building and go directly to Gu's shop to buy. "They said it was homemade, which is not a complete lie, because it was also mixed with braised meat made by their own kitchen. The two pieces of braised pork I ate had different textures." Gu Mingda explained.

Zhang Yunniang asked: "Is the taste very different?"

Gu Mingda shook his head and said, "I'm pretty sure one of them is ours, and the other one is 50 or 60% similar to ours."

It is naturally clear what Chunfeng Tower wants to do.

Now it is still 50 or 60% similar. When it is 70 to 80% similar, Chunfenglou will probably no longer buy the braised food from the shop. By then, the shop's business will only get worse.

As for why the current five or six points are similar, the reason is simple. Any experienced chef who eats a lot can guess the seasonings 70% to 80%. Previously, Chunfenglou bought them together with the stewed soup, so it was easy to guess. easier

Zhang Yuniang was thinking more at this time.

"Boss Cheng has been very attentive to Xiaoru these days. Boss Cheng lost his wife the year before last and has never remarried. I see that he is attentive and he is a big customer in the shop, so he wants to bring the two of them together." Zhang Yunniang said.

When Gu Mingda heard this, he frowned slightly and said, "This person is very thoughtful, so you should be more careful."

Cheng He's pursuit of Liu Xiaoru now seemed impure. They couldn't even tell whether the reason why there were fewer individual customers in the shop during this period was because of what Cheng He did.

Zhang Yunniang said: "I will talk to Xiaoru later."

The braised recipe is indeed important, but in Zhang Yuniang's view, Liu Xiaoru is the most important. She had already vaguely noticed the slightly ambiguous atmosphere between Liu Xiaoru and Cheng He, and was very afraid that Liu Xiaoru would be harmed.

Gu Mingda looked at Mrs. Gu again and said: "There is a huge shortage of people in the Yamen now. We are recruiting a lot of strong people. Master Chen said today that I can recommend someone to come. If he does not join the lowly status, he will get about eight taels of silver a year." The money is less than that of ordinary catchers.”

The so-called "strong class" sounds hard to pronounce, but it is actually a type of servant in the yamen. It is just that these are emergency temporary workers. Normally, the yamen has enough manpower and does not need to work.

On the surface, the sergeants looked good, but they were of low status and were not allowed to take the imperial examination for the next three generations.

Zhuangban is a temporary worker and does not have the problem of low status.

During the entire New Year period, the government offices were busy with the imperial examination fraud case, pulling out the carrots and bringing out the mud. A lot of people were turned away from the Guang'an County government office because of this incident, and there was also a huge gap in the officers. The strong team recruited this time is to be like the government officials. Even though the job is the same, the treatment given is relatively good.

Magistrate Wu originally felt that the county government officials were annoying, so of course he took advantage of this opportunity to install many of his own people.

Gu Mingda, whom County Magistrate Wu regarded as one of his own, also got an internal recommendation.

Eighty taels of silver a year may be nothing to city people, but to country people who face the loess and back to the sky, this money is much easier to get than farming.

Mrs. Gu asked: "There is only one quota, for your eldest brother or third brother, I'm afraid they have something in mind."

Gu Mingda said: "There are many things at home, and the eldest brother or the third brother may not be willing to join the Yamen. You know who is most suitable for this quota."

Of course Mrs. Gu knows who is most in need of this job nowadays.

But if it is really assigned to this person, there will definitely be a rift between the first and third bedrooms.

Gu Mingda sighed and said, "I have an idea, it depends on whether you are willing to accept it."

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