Du Zhongxiao is not fond of tea, but he still remembers in his memory that Xinyang is one of the best tea-producing places in China, and Xinyang Maojian is a famous tea in China. At this time, tea was also produced in the Xinyang area, but it was centered on Gwangju on Huaixi Road, and there was no tea mountain in Xinyang. It is mountainous, sparsely populated and undeveloped.

The shopping mall run by Changping Division, of course, has to sell tea, and it can't use the existing tea production and tea selling system. Otherwise, don't say whether you make money or not, the quality of the tea will smash the brand of the mall. The goods in the shopping mall require stable price and uniform quality, and the current tea production and tea sales system cannot do it at all. After Du Zhongxiao discussed with Ma Zun, Yingtianwu planted tea in the newly opened tea mountain in Xinyang area, and produced and sold it by itself. If there is a surplus, other tea merchants are allowed to buy and sell, and the shipping department collects tea interest. Changping Division is responsible for production and transportation, and the interest rate of tea is relatively low, 300 yuan per catty, which is a small half compared with the previous 600 Wen.

Now there are tea trees in Xinyang, and there are also tea growers, but they are affiliated with the Gwangju tea farm, and the number is very small. The newly opened tea mountain is mainly based on the current Xinyang military jurisdiction, and the seeds are introduced from the Gwangju tea mountain and planted on the newly opened idle fields in the mountains.

Although Xinyang Jun is affiliated with Jingxi Road, the tea on Jingxi Road comes from the Hengshan Tea District, and the place where the tea is made is Jiangling Mansion. In the past, Xiangzhou also had a tea business, but it was later abolished, and now they all go to Jiangling to buy tea. Xiangju and Gangneung are particularly closely linked, which can be seen here.

Listening to Du Zhongxiao say that a pound of tea only costs 300 Wen, Kang Yuanwai calculated it and said happily: "In the past, it was 600 Wen, but it was 462 Wen. Now I only charge 300 Wen, and a pound is cheaper than 1200 Wen, this business is done! Official, if you have more tea next year, you must inform you of a small one. ”

Du Zhongxiao agreed. These big tea merchants collected tea and sold it to the north, and the market did not coincide with the current shopping mall. As for the opening of shopping malls all over the country in the future, it is not a matter of years, so why bother.

After getting such good news, Kang Yuanwai was very happy, and today's meal was not in vain. The goods in the mall are thrown away as soon as the time has passed, and the same may be true for selling tea. What the tea merchant is most afraid of is that he has paid a lot of money, all kinds of procedures are complete, and when he goes to the tea field to buy tea, he is forcibly sold to all kinds of old tea and inferior tea, and his mother does not know him. Due to the excessively harsh squeezing of tea growers, there are not many incentives, and the quality of tea in tea farms is not high. There are often old leaves sandwiched between branches, which makes people frown when they see it. Growing tea in the field, exclusively for shopping malls, should not be so tricky.

In addition to retail, the shopping mall planned by Du Zhongxiao also operates wholesale. For people's livelihood, in addition to food, clothing, housing and bulk goods, non-staple food is bulk with wine, sugar, tea and vinegar. With the shipping division and the goods, the shopping mall has to play a situation.

For a meal, a few people outside Kang Yuan ate to their heart's content, counted the money, thanked Du Zhongxiao for a thousand kindnesses, and went happily.

Watching a few people leave, Tsui Hark said: "Judging from the flow of people in the mall now, if we sell tea, we can get a lot of interest." However, the time is short, will the Xinyang Army be able to produce tea next year? I've heard that it takes a few years to plant tea trees. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Where do you need so much time." This year, there are many Xiangjun who have come to the camp, and some of them have already arrived in Xinyang and cultivated tea trees there. Originally, as a tea mountain, we directly asked the shipping department to designate tea merchants, but now we sell it ourselves. Moreover, there are many old tea trees there, which are only distributed in the mountains, not tea fields, and can be used to make tea. How many malls can you open next year? There is enough tea produced there. ”

Du Zhongxiao's concern is not the yield of tea, but the quality of tea. At this time, it was mainly group tea, which was somewhat similar to the tea bricks of later generations, but it was different. Tuancha is not fermented, but steamed and then made in a dough, with various spices added. This kind of tea, the more southern the tea, the better. At this time, the best tea production area in the world is Fujian Road, and the dragon and phoenix group tea of Gong spares no expense, the process is extremely complicated, and precious spices are added.

Tea in the north is relatively more suitable for making green tea, which is not popular in this era. At this time, it was similar to the green tea of later generations, which was loose tea, which was not pressed in a group, but loose leaves, and was a cheap and paper-grade tea. In the case of the Hengshan Tea Farm in Hunan, for example, nearly half of the tea is loose tea.

Xinyang grows tea, if you make loose tea, of course, you can make good quality. But if you make group tea, I'm afraid that some are not suitable. Du Zhongxiao is not familiar with the tea process, and only knows that he has to pick young leaves, fry green, and twist something. As for fermented tea, you can only try it by chance.

Fortunately, at this time, tea is lucrative, not a rich family, and will not pay attention to any precious varieties. As long as it can be grown, with the help of the sales channels of the shopping mall, and then pay close attention to quality and logistics, storage, it is certain to make a lot of money. The government let the merchants go to the tea mountain to buy tea directly, and the tea interest money alone is hundreds of Wenwen per catty, plus the profits of the merchants, tea is a very profitable business.

For producers, there is a great benefit to taking this bus from the mall. It's just that there are not many people who can understand this now, Du Zhongxiao knows it in his heart, and he has the intention of avoiding suspicion, so he deliberately avoids his own home. However, Ma Zun of the shipping department took the initiative to call the shots, and the supplier of the liquor sold in the mall was Dujia Distillery in Xuzhou, which made Du Xun happy for a long time. The shipping department takes a part of the profit according to the sales, and the local government extracts the liquor tax according to the amount of production, and the rest depends on the means of the shopping mall, and how much money is made belongs to the Changping Division.

Now the sugar sold in the mall is all transported from the Sichuan Gorge area, and the Du family's industry is also among the suppliers. There is no need to avoid suspicion in the middle of the sugar market, only the Du family meets the standards of shopping mall procurement. Other large households basically have their own unique craftsmanship, various characteristics, and their own sales channels, and will not produce according to the requirements of the shopping mall. Organizing retail production has just begun, and it is not possible to provide sugar of consistent quality. As a supplier, the Du family is now taking the initiative to support the shopping mall, and everyone thinks that it is to see Du Zhongxiao's face, and the Du family takes the initiative to make concessions.

Back at Yamen, Wu Kedao: "When the mall was first built, there were actually many goods that had not been purchased. According to the estimation of the lower officials, it will take at least half a year to slowly expand the types of goods. During this time, business should get better and better, and it will gradually stabilize in the future. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "This is the best. After a few months, the business here is stable, the purchase and general luck are settled, and the capital in hand is also available, and you can open a new field elsewhere. The next place to open a shopping mall, I chose Dengzhou. If it's done well, it can be set up in a few nearby states. At that time, it was difficult to say that there would be new shopping malls opening every month, and the most lacking thing was people. During this time, you work hard and train some capable people to come out. ”

Tsui Hark smiled: "I'm afraid this matter is not easy. I have an official as a guarantor, although I don't have any property in Fancheng, and I come here to manage the shopping mall, and others can't say anything. Those who are in charge of other places must have their property as a guarantee. Children of rich and noble families, who is willing to come here to do things? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "To do things in the mall, you don't need to protect your property. As long as the regulations are strict and things are done carefully, what can happen? I am afraid that I will lose my capital, but I am not doing things well, the regulations are not strict, and I am being taken advantage of. You're a smart and clever guy, and you've been working with me to put the rules of the mall together in the last few months. As long as the regulations are set, things will be easier to do in the future. ”

Tsui Hark nodded: "What the official said is true, but this matter is not easy, and I can't be anxious." ”

The people who run the mall have a lot of power in their hands and a lot of money in their hands, and according to the old practice, they are all from the children of the local wealthy. As long as the government sets a clear goal, there is nothing if it does well, and if it is bad, let them get compensation for their family property. This model, of course, can reduce the risk of the government, but it is not conducive to the development of field affairs, and it is even more unfavorable to let go of the cultivation of talents and attract talents. How to get rid of this shackle, Du Zhongxiao still has to explore.

One means of this is to establish official positions within the system. For the imperial court, officials were relatively easy to manage. Even if they are greedy for money, there are always far fewer ruthless people who can give up their official positions and live in seclusion. But there are also disadvantages of doing so.