Dinner was served in the inn, a little earlier than the usual dinner, or rather, this is the time when most people in this era have their meals.

Li Yuanji, who was in the palace, didn't feel much, but outside, it cost money to light the fuel lamp.

Coupled with some other reasons, most of the people in this era had two meals a day, rather than three meals a day.

The time of the two meals is about 3 minutes (10 o'clock in the morning) and 3 minutes (4 o'clock in the afternoon), in fact, in later generations, there are many places where this custom is still served.

Li Yuanji rarely ate a meal according to contemporary habits, although he was a little uncomfortable.

One rice, two dishes, this is Li Yuanji's dinner, for the identity of the emperor, such a standard may be a little low.

But in terms of the taste of the dishes, it can basically be called delicious.

Of course, this is only for modern food.

The food of the Tang Dynasty was quite monotonous, that is, after the three-year famine, stir-fried vegetables gradually became popular, and after the Wang family's breeding industry began, it was also this year that the price of meat decreased.

A portion of steamed tofu and a portion of stir-fried meat, although I don't know why I chose this name, and I even have an urge to hit someone, but compared to the ones I used to eat, the food here is indeed distinctive, at least I tried to make a change.

Steamed tofu is mixed with salted water, simmered in the pot, sprinkled with some chopped green onions when out of the pot, there is a salty taste, there is a tender tofu, a faint milk taste, and the fragrance of green onions.

The other stir-fried meat is a little troublesome, maybe it is a drop of animal fat, or it is directly fried with fat to get oil, and then there is green onions, ginger and garlic, with the chili pepper that has just been introduced, there is no special taste, it is an ordinary home-cooked dish.

The meat is pork, which also benefits from the Wang family's breeding industry, and the pigs at this time are castrated pigs, so there is no smell of smell when eaten.

The two dishes and one rice that are called home-cooked dishes cost fifty-three yuan, and one meal is enough for an ordinary person to work for ten days to earn.

"This meat tastes good, but it's too expensive!" Ma Wu smiled and wiped the grease from the corner of his mouth.

There is no shortage of meat in Ma Wu's life, if he wants, he can eat meat at every meal, but those meats are mostly noble meats such as chickens, ducks and fish, and the cooking methods are relatively simple, steaming, boiling, roasting, and there is another one called flower chicken over the years, which is still researched by the emperor.

But if you eat like this all year round, you will get tired of it.

"If you don't need it, the price will naturally rise!" Li Yuanji is well aware of the reason, but there is no way to solve this problem for the time being.

You can't blame the Wang family for not giving enough, on the contrary, after seeing the profits, the Wang family is also stepping up to expand the scale.

The larger the scale of the aquaculture industry, the more money it makes, but in the same way, if it encounters a plague or something, the losses will definitely be heavy.

In order to avoid risks, the Wang family adopted the method of building farms in batches and land, first building one in each state, and then finding a suitable place and distance to continue to build, so as to maximize the extent to ensure that when the plague comes, it will not all suffer, and it will also facilitate transportation and acquisition, and on the other hand, it will also reduce operating costs.

"Pigs have a high meat yield, so often a pig can earn four to five times as much income from birth to market." Li Yuanji sighed helplessly: "Let's do it slowly!" ”

The price of pork has come down, which is to be expected.

Because the technique of castration is not in the hands of a few people such as the family, but in the hands of the imperial court.

This business was also run by the imperial court, and of course, the price was not high, and for each pig, you had to pay two cents of wages.

Although the money is not much, because it is included in the local fiscal revenue, the local government is also more concerned about it, and it is also more severe to crack down on the behavior of private castration.

Of course, the main task at the moment is to prevent the leakage of strictly technical information.

Although this kind of monopoly collects a certain amount of profits, it takes care of the interests of the majority of the people, and even ordinary people can afford this money.

As the sun sets, the western horizon reflects patches of red, and the glow is shining, making people feel that life is beautiful.

Taking advantage of the dawn, Li Yuanji took Ma Wu to the Sanyuan Market.

At this time, the Sanyuan market has also been lively, and there are many times more people than when they come during the day.

"What's the price?" Entering the big market, Li Yuanji turned around, picked up the goods on a stall at random and asked.

"Is Childe a small amount or a large amount?" The vendor glanced at Li Yuanji and asked confidently.

"What's the difference?" Li Yuanji pretended not to know.

"Naturally different, it stands to reason that a small amount is not sold, most of the transactions here are between caravans, or the shops in the city come here to purchase, if you buy in bulk, the price is naturally cheaper, and only buy a few pieces separately, the price will naturally be higher, but it is also cheaper than the son to buy in the store." The vendor had already had a set of arguments, and he came one by one without hurrying, and continued: "The one you hold in your hand, named cumin, has been processed into powder, and when you sprinkle it on it when you barbecue, it is delicious enough to be unforgettable. If you buy a single pack, the price is 50 yuan, and if you buy more than 100 packs, you can buy 40 yuan. ”

Li Yuanji weighed it, and the weight of a pack was less than half a catty at most, and he couldn't help grinning, and said, "If this son remembers correctly, the price of this thing in Chang'an is only in his early forties, right?" ”

"It's different, this is different from those, Chang'an's cumin mostly comes from southern Xinjiang, this is from the north, the extremely cold region north of the desert, the taste of the two is completely different, and the yield is very low, so it is more expensive." The vendor shook his head and explained.

"Okay, let's get a pack!" nodded, although I don't know what the difference is, but this price is actually not expensive.

In addition, a lot of cumin in Chang'an City is directly derived from the pharmacy, and then milled into powder and sold at a higher price.

Naturally, Li Yuanji didn't have to worry about paying for anything, Ma Wu took out fifty dollars and handed it to the other party, and then he took the bag of cumin and continued to walk around behind him.

The market is small, but it's very lively.

Instead of putting all the goods out for people to choose from, the vendors put out only a few pieces of each.

Among them were the people of the city, the merchants of the same status, and the shopkeepers of the shops in the city.

The establishment of the big market has indeed made the shops in the city a lot more convenient, because it is a long-term supply, so the price they really get is far less than the forty yuan that the vendor reported to Li Yuanji before.

Li Yuanji even heard a shopkeeper bargaining with the caravan, using the reason that it was a long-term supply, as long as the price was right, every time the caravan came here, he would leave some goods.

There are also people bargaining, but in the end they can only give up, for ordinary people, the caravan does not have so much patience, in other words, instead of having that time, they should rest more, anyway, their goods are not unsellable, to Chang'an, it will not take a few days to sell out, do not have to bother at all.

Besides, if you sell a small amount alone, you also have to go through tax procedures, and then you have to delay for a while, but the price is fine, and if you bargain, they are really not happy.

There are also caravans discussing barter, but this is only a few, after all, this is not far from Chang'an, and the best place to barter is Chang'an, where everything can be found, unlike here, which is very limited, and can only find goods from the north.

In short, here, Li Yuanji really saw what it means to be without business, without business.

As the sky gradually darkened, there were fixed braziers in the market to provide lighting, and the sound of curfew gongs sounded in the city, and the people had no choice but to leave when they heard the gongs sounding or not.

The vendors were not in a hurry at all, and continued to do business in a leisurely manner, without even planning to close the stalls.

"It's going to be curfew soon, aren't you leaving?" When I was about to leave, I happened to pass by where I had just bought cumin and asked the boring vendor.

"Don't worry, we are all staying in an inn near here, as long as we store the goods here at night, the government will organize it back, and the curfew will not affect us." The vendor may be in a good mood, or maybe for other reasons, and he is happy to explain to Li Yuanji.

"Then I wish you a prosperous business!" congratulated the other party, and then Li Yuanji left the big market with Ma Wu and the others.

However, before leaving, he deliberately let Ma Wu leave one person here.

He wanted to see what was going on here after the curfew.

The number of pedestrians on the road was rapidly decreasing, and after returning to the inn, about an hour later, the guards who had been left behind in the large market knocked on the door.

"Didn't find out, did you?" Ma Wu asked the other party, naturally not asking about anything else, but the identity of his guard.

"No, the ...... who paid the money from his subordinates" The guard's face was a little embarrassed, he really didn't expect that he could make money like this.

Embarrassed to embarrassed, he didn't dare to make the emperor wait for a long time, and continued:

"The subordinates found that after the curfew is the peak period of trade between caravans, although the volume is not large, but not small, each caravan will do some transactions more or less, in addition, the government sends people to register the goods, handle taxes, and at the same time collect management fees, overnight fees. The overnight fee for goods is calculated according to the vehicle, ten dollars for a car per night, and the management fee is fifteen yuan for each merchant, which is said to be the sanitation, lighting, venue, labor and other costs of the big market. When he left, he paid five yuan, and he came back with the people of the government, but the caravan did not have to pay this money, and was led by six officials along the way, and every time he arrived at a place, he let the people of that place in, and he was not allowed to leave without permission on the way. ”