The merchants are all bright, they have been immersed in business for a long time, and they have a sensitive perception of this new sales model.

Li Zhi continued:

"Of course, you are new to this road, how to have a good start, the specific sales scale is a must, this time for the sake of Her Royal Highness the Princess's face, you can have two ways to go: one is to pay a part of the deposit, and then make up the balance after the first batch of goods is sold, but the number of goods will not be too large, and the Shi clan may put forward a request for shares; The second is to pay for the goods in full and purchase in large quantities, the advantage is that the Shi clan will not participate in it, and the supply of goods is guaranteed in a timely manner, and the disadvantage is that there is a danger of lagging sales in the Northeast, as you know, especially the fresh vegetable goods can not be returned! ”

He thought that a few people would take the former, but he obviously underestimated the scarcity of folk food sources in the Northeast, and even most of the daily necessities were scarce.

In fact, not only in the Northeast, if in the Tang Dynasty, you want to eat tomatoes and scrambled eggs, green peppers and shredded potatoes, sorry, most of the food we eat now has not been introduced to tomatoes, potatoes, green peppers, sweet potatoes, corn is also nothing.

Then the question arises, what kind of dishes did the people of the Tang Dynasty eat? The signature dish of the Tang Dynasty was vinegar celery, and Wei Zheng, the famous minister of the Tang Dynasty at that time, loved this dish; There is also the main vegetable sunflower, which is the okra that southerners eat more now; And then there is the Chinese cabbage in the north now

The people of the Tang Dynasty still took the brunt of eating pasta, and the accurate point should be that it should be based on cakes, whether it was steamed buns, steamed buns, baked cakes or noodles, they were all called cakes.

Moreover, the most worshiped national meat was mutton, and the law at that time stipulated that cattle must be killed, and pork was very small at that time, and chicken, duck and fish meat were not considered meat at all at that time, so mutton was the most popular.

There were many ways for people in the Tang Dynasty to eat mutton, such as roasted mutton, similar to today's kebabs, as well as steamed lamb heads, mutton noodles and so on.

It is said that in the Tang Dynasty roast tail feast, there are nearly 60 kinds of mutton-related dishes that can be named, and you can imagine its luxury.

But the reason for this situation is the lack of varieties of vegetables.

It was in the Ming Dynasty hundreds of years later that potatoes and corn were introduced from the Americas to the East, and since then they have been regarded as staple foods in the Northeast, and have continued until the modern era, which shows that the natural environment there is not suitable for vegetable cultivation.

Even in this area of the Tang Dynasty, in fact, there are only coarse grains such as millet and grain, and vegetables are only cabbage, spinach, green vegetables, etc. are more common, and there are still many wild vegetables that the Tang people eat, such as sleeping vegetables, water leeks, wattles, bitter vegetables, violet, mouse ears, Jinpan grass, Hui grass, Meng Niang vegetables, four-leaf vegetables, etc.

South of the Yangtze River is more wild, and its young leaves can be eaten as vegetables in spring and summer. For example, the fern is a fern, a phoenix fern, a perennial herb, which grows in the barren mountains in the north and south, and its young leaves are edible, called bracken.

During the spring famine, the newborn bracken, as a natural food, can often help people get through the difficult years.

Wei is a big nest vegetable in the leguminous plant, commonly known as micro cabbage, mostly born in the mountains, sweet in taste, slightly pungent, and its protein content is higher than that of similar wild vegetables.

There are also camellia, which are mostly found in fields and gardens, and can be eaten when they are fresh and tender in spring, these four kinds of wild vegetables are very delicious, and they are also often used in dishes by people in the Tang Dynasty.

Another important task of Shengjing Shipping's trip to the Western Regions and Europe is to purchase vegetable seeds, which are the next batch of sales mainstream of Zhengqing Wenqitang, to those cucumbers, eggplants, spinach, tomatoes, coriander, fungus, lettuce, lettuce, pumpkin, green beans, zucchini, lettuce, cauliflower, onions, garlic, celery, and goldenrod.

All the "Hu" series, "Fan" series, and "Yang" series vegetables in later modern times all came from overseas, and if Li Zhi could introduce them hundreds of years in advance, his contribution would be greater than the opening of Bohai Bay.

Many similar dishes actually exist in the mountains and wilderness of the Tang Dynasty, but without scientific grafting and evolution, only the mountain villagers will dig up and eat.

Even then, in the Tohoku Winter, only Chinese cabbage is the main dish, but even so, production is often plummeted by a sudden snowstorm in the fall, and snow disasters occur almost every year, so that even Chinese cabbage cannot be supplied.

Therefore, as soon as Li Zhi mentioned this matter, he almost did not discuss it with the businessmen, and chose the second suggestion in unison.

Li Zhi couldn't help but be surprised, and then asked, one of the leaders, called Zhang Longwei, he said:

"Thank you Mr. Li for our consideration, but we know what the pimple is in our hearts, and there will be no unsalable vegetables, I dare to say that the remaining vegetable leaves will be sold at a low price! And the vegetables can be saved this season, I don't know about them, but I plan to invest a lot of money to buy the last batch, and I will never lose money! ”

Another middle-aged man named Wang Liang said: "We didn't have this kind of consideration before, but the long journey of nearly 3,000 miles, and the road is extremely difficult, mostly ditches and muddy roads, we can only sigh!" ”

Another person responded: "The key is the credit of Mr. Li and Her Royal Highness the Princess, the opening of the cross-strait waterway, and its merits will benefit for thousands of years!" ”

In fact, this person's words do not mean much flattery, and what he says is also the truth, at least in the military and people's livelihood.

Wang Liang added: "Not only does the Zhang Dong family have this courage, but I also plan to invest a lot of money, and I dare not hide it from Her Royal Highness the Princess and Mr. Li, there is a large amount of cash in our goods!" ”

This point can't be hidden from Li Zhi, it is precisely because he has already discovered that he will take the initiative to mention this aspect, even Taiping does not know his thoughts.

"So there's no problem with the sale of vegetables? What about food? Li Zhi asked.

Zhang Longwei replied: "There is also a big shortage of grain, otherwise the grain transportation fleet in the customs will not be so crowded, resulting in the official roads cannot be repaired normally!" ”

Wang Liang replied in the same way: "This time I plan to transport more grain back, as far as I know, there is a food shortage in the Xiaoxing'an Mountains!" ”

Li Zhi is very happy, for the opening of his channel, in such a short period of time to see results: "At present, Dengzhou should have organized a private freight channel, and you should also have a specific charter in the northeast, and start as soon as possible, several companies will join forces to jointly fund, and they will be able to take the lead in the future transportation of goods to the north, which is also a way to make money, and it is not less than reselling goods to earn less when it is operated!" ”

"Doesn't Mr. Li have any plans in this regard?" Zhang Longwei asked rhetorically, this is also what the merchants have discussed before.

Because of their minds, of course, they can see the business opportunities, but they are all worried that Li Zhi will be involved in it.

Li Zhi shook his head and smiled: "My business is only involved in the end of Sanshanpu Wharf, and I will never have the heart to develop north at present and in the future, you don't have to worry about this!" ”

Seeing that someone breathed a sigh of relief very vaguely, Li Zhi smiled secretly, even if he didn't know that the situation in the Northeast would be chaotic in a few years, he didn't plan to expand northward, first, he didn't have that energy, and second, he knew the disadvantages of being a big family.

Not only did he not want to participate, but took the initiative to help them: "Today, I just returned from Heyan Sect, and people from Xuanwu Gate and Liupintang further north have also arrived, and I drank a lot of wine for two days!" In the future, if you are in trouble among the people, you can use my letters to find them and make peace with them. ”

"Xuanwu Gate, Liupintang? Those are the two largest sects in the Northeast, and even the Lao Maozi army in the far north dare not provoke, and Mr. Li has a good relationship with them? Undoubtedly, Li Zhi's words shocked them even more, and Wang Liang stood up in shock.

Taiping pouted: "Yao Zi'an, the master of the Xuanwu Gate, Ye Rui, the great elder, Zhu Hanchi, the hall master of the Liupin Hall, and Tai Yongning, the deputy hall master, are all commensurate with Mr. Li as brothers, and there is more respect than friendship!" ”

She said this politely, but she saw it with her own eyes at the time, and the awe in the eyes of the crowd was even stronger.

The merchants all secretly said in their hearts, good guys, they are all the leading figures in the two sects, and it seems that Li Zhi's status in the cultivation world is also extremely high.

Li Zhi was secretly laughing at the tone of the princess Taiping, he didn't expect that the princess would know how to use the psychology of mixing rivers and lakes just by following her around the northeast corner for a few days.

"With Mr. Li's words, we will be satisfied, and if there is a need at that time, we will definitely bother Mr. to bring a word!" Zhang Longwei is very good at seizing the timing.

Li Zhizheng said: "It stands to reason that you are all old businessmen, and I am not allowed to come up with some ideas in the meantime, but I just want to remind everyone!" The significance of the opening of the waterway is far more than the trade of Shandong boundary, and a large number of daily necessities will be sent directly to Dengzhou in the south! For example, silk and cloth in Hangzhou, ornaments and daily necessities in Guangzhou, Dengzhou Port will have special ships to resell such supplies on a fixed date, and you will not have to travel long distances to the south! ”

In the future, Shengjing Shipping will have slightly smaller ships operating on the coastline between Guangzhou and Dengzhou, and he is advertising himself in advance.

But in the eyes of these Northeast merchants, there is a way to make money, and it does save their long-distance traffic, even if the price is higher, they are very willing to accept it.

Zhang Longwei couldn't help but sigh: "Mr. Li, don't say that, in our opinion, Mr. Li's business acumen is far more shrewd than ours, and more importantly, you are the only one in the entire Datang who has such strength!" ”

He knew that Shengjing Shipping had already begun a trip across the ocean to the Western Regions and Europe, plus the ships used in various domestic routes, and the investment in these would be appalling astronomical sums, and it was also true that he sighed like this.

Taiping triumphantly interjected:

This is true, Mr. Li's business income in Chang'an City alone is worth several times the tax revenue of the entire Datang Dynasty in a year! Do you know why the imperial court did not intervene? Because he donated to the country free of charge new gunpowder formulas, new shipbuilding processes, and agricultural and water conservancy machinery designs that could benefit the people of the world before yesterday! Unconsciously, the open-mindedness of our Datang has taken a big leap forward in two years, and it is all-round, do you know what I mean? ”

Although some of them are no longer secrets, such a complete sound at this time still makes everyone think more and more highly of Li Zhi.

The implication of Taiping's words is also obvious, that is, the imperial court will not do anything to unload the mill and kill the donkey no matter what, and it will only be further to do business after Li Zhi.

Because the court knew that any kind of dedication he gave was much easier than hard work, and he could rely on those who were comfortable to be a rich man, keep the peace, and enjoy themselves.

But he did not do this, but spread the business philosophy to the north and south of the country through business, although he also earned huge benefits, but the business atmosphere driven by it directly affected the national strength of the Tang Dynasty, and this intangible contribution also made the imperial court deeply understand.

If it weren't for its economic contribution, how could Empress Wu be content to not interfere too much in Chang'an City for a long time?

As he spoke, the chefs on the ship had already brought the food, and Li Zhi also recruited all the people around him, and the business came to an end.

Northeast people drink very fiercely, but Fu Chen and the others are not only good drinkers, but also cultivators, and it is still easy to deal with them, so the atmosphere on the scene quickly became hot.