On this day, Chen Fan, who came back from the Taoist temple, personally peeled five preserved eggs, put them in five bowls, and poured some vinegar. The pickled preserved eggs are black and swarthy, decorated with white snowflakes, with a fresh fragrance.

"Ah Chun, this is a chess egg, it is made according to the method contained in the ancient score, you can taste it." After speaking, Chen Fan handed a bowl to Ah Chun.

"Got mine?"

"Of course, I can treat you as a sister, as long as I have food, you are naturally indispensable."

"Lang Jun, Xie Lang Jun!" Ah Chun choked up a little.

"You're welcome, this chess egg is made of a secret method, and it still needs to be kept secret, you don't have to tell anyone else, you can understand." Although Ah Chun didn't know the specific method, Chen Fan still told him.

"Understood, Ah Chun understood."

"Well, let's serve it." Since Ah Chun came, the cook has only invited one now, and after making a meal with Ah Chun, she will go back first, and Ah Chun will be responsible for the rest. Just now, Chen Fan also saw that Ah Chun was the only one in the kitchen, so he came over to get it.

"What is this?" Everyone sat down, and when they saw a black and white egg in the bowl, Master Huang took the lead in asking.

"This is a chess egg, made by Lang Jun." Ah Chun replied first.

Everyone looked at Chen Fan.

"Everyone tastes it, this chess egg is best eaten when tasting tea and drinking, and it can also be eaten with tofu and peanuts.

"Well, it's delicious. Fa Sheng, you made it, it's not just as simple as giving us a taste, right? Huang Shi took a bite, raised his head, looked at Chen Fan and asked.

"The main thing is to ask everyone to taste it, what do you think of the taste, and then give some advice, I plan to sell this chess egg, what do you think the sales will be, how much is the right price to sell?"

"The taste is very good, as long as the price is right, I don't think sales are a problem." Hou Feng said after tasting.

"What do you think of selling Liuwen one?" Seeing that no one offered to sell for money, Chen Fan simply quoted a price consultation.

"It's a bit pricey." Hou Feng was the first to stand up and express his objections, "Gusu salted eggs are two for one and two for duck eggs, which is twice as expensive as our Huhu, I don't know how much this chess egg costs?" However, one is really expensive, and ordinary people can't afford it. ”

"How much do you think is appropriate?" Chen Fan did not refute, but continued to ask.

"Four Wen, at most four Wen, no matter how expensive it is, no one will buy it, after all, it's just a duck egg." Hou Feng is the one in charge of food expenses among these people, and he is more clear about the price of dishes, so he still put forward his own opinions.

Alas, I can't make any money, the middleman has to give the difference, the free gift at the beginning costs the cost, and the investment in the early workshop is estimated to be a lot of money, and it seems that I can only take the boutique route.

"Okay, we'll talk about that later. By the way, how did the fisherman named Lang Libai last time inquire about? "If you want to control Qingfeng Hall, you still have to start the layout, and you can't do it without the right people.

"I heard it, it was in Xiaohe Fishing Village, it was He next to a single person, and the people who basically lived there were surnamed He. In addition, there are about 40 or 50 families in the vicinity, and there are about 3,000 ducks. Hou Feng has not been idle in the past few days, and went to the villages around Gusu for a walk, and he knows a lot about the basic situation.

"Hmm. I didn't expect that there are so few ducks in Gusu, it seems that we need to raise some ducks. "If you are going to do roast duck business, such a little duck is not enough to sell, a day to consume a hundred ducks, a month is three thousand, the normal growth period of ducks, half a year is to want, that is, 18,000 ducks, with 18,000 bases, after the daily consumption, in order to ensure the supply, if the business is good, a day to consume one thousand is only possible. In addition, the consumption of duck eggs is estimated to be a lot, after all, Gusu has nearly one million residents, if preserved eggs are popular, it is not a problem to consume one thousand per day, then there must be one thousand ducks that only lay eggs, there are so many ducks on the market at present, but it is impossible to sell duck eggs only to you, if you buy them aggressively, it will inevitably bring about a rise in prices, which Chen Fan does not want to see.

"By the way, what areas are included in your duck's statistics?" Chen Fan suddenly felt that Hou Feng's data was probably not complete, but only a part of it, and not only asked.

"I went to all the villages near the city gates, but I didn't have time to go a little farther away."

That is, it does not include the farmers near Yangcheng Lake and Taihu Lake, but it is indeed a bit far, if possible, it is better to raise some ducks by yourself, Chen Fan thought in his heart, and said in his mouth: "Hou Feng, you see if there is a suitable house for rent in Xiaohe Village, you need to have a yard, you can raise some ducks in it, and you also need two wings, one is used as a workshop for pickling chess eggs, one can live in people, a kitchen for lighting a fire is essential, and the rest doesn't matter." ”

"Okay, Lang Jun."

After everyone finished eating, Chen Fan was in his own room, and began to draw the oven, a circle with a diameter of about one meter, three legs on the ground, a bit like a tripod, a lid on the top, and an iron ring at the mouth of the ring, you can hang the duck on it to roast, there is an opening below, you can put firewood in it to burn, a bit like a gossip furnace, Chen Fan gave a name, called Ding furnace.

Just as Chen Fan finished painting, Ah Chun came in and reported: "Lang Jun, someone is looking for him, and someone said that he was sent by Dean Lu, and he has been invited to the main hall." ”

"Okay, pour some tea." Chen Fan hurriedly walked out of the wing room, the main hall and the wing room were next to each other, as soon as he got out of the wing room, Chen Fan saw someone coming, and he saw it, it was Shi Zhongkai.

"Brother Shi, welcome, have you eaten dinner? Have a light meal at my place? ”

"Fa Sheng doesn't need to bother, after eating, just say a few words and leave."

"Okay, then I'm not polite to you, sit." Chen Fan beckoned Shi Zhongkai to sit down.

"Fa Sheng, your decoration is quite elegant."

"This is all made with the help of my eldest brother, that is, closer to the Taoist temple, there is a place to eat and sleep."

The two exchanged a few words, Ah Chun served the tea, Shi Zhongkai did not refuse, and said while tasting: "Dean Lu called me to tell you that Faqing won a great victory, and the Jizhou Assassin was defeated and killed, and it is not clear how the Northern Wei Dynasty responded." However, the imperial court has announced that the guerrilla general Zhao Yue will lead 50,000 troops to attack Kip Shi of the Northern Wei Dynasty, which is only the front army, and if Kip Shi is captured, His Majesty will send a large army to reinforce it. ”

"Okay, it looks like the Northern Wei Dynasty is going to have a headache. You help me bring a message to Dean Lu, just say, I have no less confidence in the Faqing that I said before that it will be defeated in three months. ”

"Okay, no problem." Shi Zhongkai also participated in the listening and talking of Cuixiang Pavilion, and naturally knew the cause and effect of what Chen Fan said, so he agreed at the moment and continued: "The words have been brought, and the time is not early, so I will leave." ”

"Okay, then I won't keep you, and we'll meet again another day." Chen Fan sent Shi Zhongkai out of the door, returned to the main hall, and saw Xiao Qing in the hall.

"Here, these ten taels of gold, I'll lend you first." After Xiao Qing finished speaking, he handed over a yellow gold bar. Someone came just now, and he didn't carry everyone behind his back, Xiao Qing happened to hear the conversation, probably knowing that Chen Fan had no money, and he became a big money again.

"Okay, I'll borrow this money from you." Chen Fan was not polite, although he didn't plan to borrow money to participate in gambling, but someone took the initiative to borrow money, which is two different things.

On the morning of the second day, Chen Fan first gave the drawn drawings to Hou Feng, "Hou Feng, this is a Ding furnace pattern, do you see if there is a blacksmith who can build it, and how much does it cost?" ”

"Yes, Lang Jun." Hou Feng took the drawings and agreed.

"In addition, you go to Liangjia Gambling Village this afternoon, bet ten taels of gold, bet on Faqing can not hold on for three months, the last time in Dafang Gambling Bank, the most recent gambling date insisted on by Qingqing is until November 28th, it is estimated that Liangjia Gambling Village is similar, but I don't know what the odds are now, but it should definitely be higher than the last time one loss four, you go to bet on it." After speaking, Chen Fan handed the ten taels of gold he got from Xiao Qing yesterday to Hou Feng.

"Okay, Lang Jun." Hou Feng nodded in agreement.

The gambling house is crowded, and the gamblers who know the news bring money early in the morning to line up, and the bet on Faqing can persevere, and many people think that it is no problem to say three months, even half a year, or even a year.

When Hou Feng arrived in the afternoon, the gambling house basically did not accept the bet that Faqing could hold on to for three months, because no one bet on Faqing would fail. When Hou Feng came to bet on Faqing and couldn't hold on for three months, everyone looked at Hou Feng like a monster, but Hou Feng's actions made the gambling dealer overjoyed, they were overjoyed anyway, and some people bet on Faqing to fail, and immediately opened a probability of twenty to one, the higher the odds, the more bonuses they collected, and the result made those gamblers who had no bet overjoyed, and they bought it all at once.

"Lang Jun, this is the proof of the charge." In the evening, Chen Fan came back from the Taoist temple, and Hou Feng handed Chen Fan a voucher with a draw, which said that the odds were twenty to one, and the bet was ten taels of gold, and the bet was that Faqing would lose before November 26.

"Okay." Chen Fan thought about it, took it, and felt that he had kept it safe.

"In addition, Lang Jun wants to make a Ding furnace, and he contacted a blacksmith, one meter square, because it is iron, it needs four taels of silver."

"Okay, there's no rush for this, it's not too late to build it after renting the house."

"Yes, in the next two days, I will go to see if there is a house for rent in Xiaohe Village."

"Okay, if we sell chess eggs, it's best to keep the production location secret, so as to reduce the risk of the secret recipe being discovered, and there will be fewer people peeping."

"Okay, Lang Jun."

The production of preserved eggs was officially launched with Hou Feng renting a farmhouse in Xiaohe Village.

Xiaohe Village, there are quite a lot of vacant houses in it, Chen Fan and they rented a riverside one, the place is big enough, the rent is two hundred wen a month, five thousand preserved eggs were pickled in the early stage, and ten large vats were put in ten large vats, and the duck eggs cost one thousand five hundred wen, which was collected and purchased in the village, which was cheaper than in the city, and the jar cost five hundred wen, and the other jar put four catties of salt, one catty of salt thirty wen, and it cost one thousand two hundred wen. The tea was bought cheaply, 20 wen a catty, a total of 40 catties, and it cost 800 wen, not counting the money of the jar, and the cost was 3,500 wen. Five thousand preserved eggs, although they will be consumed, such as tasting some by themselves, bumps and bumps are inevitable, even if you consider labor costs, rent costs, and transportation costs, it will only be about a penny, which is lower than Chen Fan expected.

There is also an uncertain cost, which is the cost of heating. Fortunately, the temperature in Gusu in September and October is still more than 20 degrees, and the temperature of pickled preserved eggs is just right, but in the later stage, the house will be renovated, Chen Fan plans to change it to a sealed one, put a stove in it, make a chimney, and boil hot water, the cost of firewood is estimated to be not low, but this is not in a hurry for the time being, Chen Fan plans to wait for him to come back from going to the capital.

There is another problem, that is, the problem of manpower, the house rented in Xiaohe Village needs to be guarded, Chen Fan likes to be a white wave, but Hou Feng talked to him, but he was rejected, people are not willing to be a janitor, Chen Fan can't give a high price, so he has to give up temporarily.

That is only a temporary hard work Hou Feng, after eating at night, I had to let Hou Feng go to Xiaohe Village to sleep, to prevent night thieves, during the day naturally to go back to Gusu, the house is empty, but this can only be a temporary rescue, not a long-term solution.

There was really no way, Chen Fan wrote a letter to the eldest brother, telling the truth about the situation here, telling him his current plans and difficulties, as well as the matter of going to the capital, to see if the eldest brother could arrange some manpower and fund some money. The letter was sent by the messenger of the official mansion, so naturally some silver money was indispensable, but fortunately, the eldest brother was an official, and the house was next to the county government, and the messenger did not overcharge, so he took ten cents, which was a small favor for Chen Fan.

After the letter was sent, he waited for a reply, and Chen Fan was not in a hurry, and usually went to the Taoist temple to attend classes and practice.