After Li Shan finished saying "she", Cui Geng found that the other party had set his eyes on Cui Xiufang.

"She?"

Cui Geng's eyes widened and he pointed to Cui Xiufang beside him. This little girl is still worthy of a worship by Li Shan, a great Confucian in the world?

He remembered that he heard Cui Xiufang say three days ago that her Cui family and Li Shan's family had some origins.

Originally, he only thought that the relationship between the two families was good, or some kind of world friend. However, judging from Li Shan's attitude towards Cui Xiufang, the relationship between the two sides should not be equal. Cui Xiufang's identity should still be above Li Shan!

This is strange, with the wealth of the Li family, if Cui Xiufang is really short of money, wouldn't it be over if she directly asked Li Shan for a few hundred yuan?

As for smuggling a few fresh fish at great risk?

Also, her problem of "walking through the window and never going through the door", is this like something that a person with an identity and a family can do?

Li Shan saw Cui Geng's incomprehensible look, and said with a smile: "The identity of Cui Xiaoniang is not simple, and she deserves to be respected by the old man." However, Cui County Ling didn't open his mouth to ask Li, what her specific identity was, and Cui County Ling still didn't know what it was. As long as you can make her happier......"

"Huh?" Cui Xiufang, who was sitting silently, suddenly let out a coquettish snort and reprimanded: "Li Shan, you have too many words. I don't need you to take care of my business! ”

"Uh...... Yes, yes, it's a lot of mouths. ”

Li Shan actually lowered his head and admitted his mistake, and almost blinded Cui Gengliang.

"Today, Cui County Ling and Cui Xiaoniang came to the cold house, and they were full of glory. In order to welcome the two, Li asked people to prepare some rare pastries. ”

Li Shan slapped his hands twice, and the maid rushed in, and plates of colorful pastries came up.

The pastries are very exquisite, and Cui Geng is also a person with a lot of family background and six official ranks, but he has never seen these pastries on the market.

When Cui Xiufang saw these delicate pastries, her eyes lit up for a moment, and she shouted regardless of the woman's manners: "Single cage golden custard, Jusheng slave, concubine red...... And Daigo Creep! Oh my God, it's all my favorite food! Li Shan, very good, you are very good! ”

Before she finished speaking, she couldn't wait to reach out and enjoy a golden soufflé in her left hand and a Daigo cake in her right hand.

He wouldn't even lift his eyelids.

Li Shan looked at her very lovingly, his eyes full of doting.

After a long time, he suddenly neglected Cui Geng, a guest, and said, "Cui County Order, you can eat too!" Come and try this ......."

As he spoke, he filled a red cake-like pastry on a plate, handed it to Cui Geng, and said, "Cui County Order, you try this!" This thing is called red silk cake, and in the past, only the new branch jinshi could eat it. ”

I heard that it was a red silk cake, and Cui Geng was really interested. Because he had heard the allusion to the red ribs.

According to the custom, the new branch jinshi will hold a Qujiang banquet, in this banquet, in addition to the wine and food, the emperor will give each jinshi a red silk cake.

This cake is too precious, and the emperor is reluctant to make more, that is, one per person.

Therefore, the Qujiang banquet is also known as the red silk banquet.

Cui Geng put it in his mouth and tasted it, and it was really fragrant and sweet, it was a rare delicacy, and he couldn't help nodding again and again.

Seeing that he enjoyed it very much, Li Shan was also very happy, and introduced: "The red silk cake is made of wheat flour, red bean paste, sugar, and lard as raw materials, kneaded into a dough, put into a mold, pressed into shape, and baked. Other raw materials are just that, the key is that this frosting is so rare, it is simply more expensive than silver! ”

Price compared to silver?

Cui Geng couldn't help but feel moved in his heart and said, "Is this frosting so expensive?" ”

"Don't be too expensive, sometimes you can't buy it even if you have silver." Li Shan sighed and said, "The old man and Li Jingmen are on the same page, in order to get this bit of frosting, but they have wasted a lot of energy." ”

Cui Geng was puzzled and asked, "Why does this have anything to do with Lijingmen again?" ”

"Cui Xianling doesn't know?" Li Shandao: "Actually, for example, all the icing today is from Lijingmen......"

Decades ago, when His Majesty Li Er was in power, he sent envoys to Tianzhu to learn the technique of boiling cane sugar.

Although the color of this boiled sugar is gray, there are many impurities, and it is sweet and bitter, but it is always sugar, isn't it? It quickly spread on a small scale.

In the vicinity of Yangzhou City, sugarcane is planted all over the city, which has become the main production area of gray sugar.

But I don't know which genius craftsman had an idea and invented a special method to remove impurities, so that the gray sugar turned into a yellowish "frosting".

The reason for this name is to praise it as "white as frost". In fact, the frosting in the Tang Dynasty was far from snow-white, which is a very exaggerated compliment.

This is because it is only produced in certain workshops, and is only supplied to the palace as a tribute. The emperor also intended to maintain this kind of nobility for the exclusive enjoyment of the self, so this technology has not been circulated among the people.

Later, Lai Junchen reopened the Lijing Gate, but the court refused to give half of the money. In the end, under his soft grinding and hard bubbles, this frosting workshop was allocated to Lijingmen.

Since then, "frosting" has flowed out to the people, in addition to supplying the emperor. This red ayamochi can be made as long as you have money.

It's just that the price is still very high, compared to silver, and only a few wealthy people can afford it.

No way, who calls people this a unique business?

But Li Shan and Li Jingmen are not compatible, so in many cases, they can't buy it even if they want to spend a high price.

After Cui Geng understood the beginning and the details, he asked: "According to this, the frosting workshop is now an important source of income for Lijingmen?" ”

"Who's to say it isn't?" Li Shandao: "Don't look at the many industries in Lijingmen, and they are also doing their best to extort money, but more than half of their income depends on this frosting workshop. ”

"More than half?" Hearing this, Cui Gengle was happy. He knew that although there were many ways to make money in Lijingmen, there were more ways to spend money!

Don't spend money, who wants to work for you?

In addition, today's Lijingmen not only no longer has a court establishment, but also has a very bad reputation, so unless you spend a lot of money, you can't recruit people to help you do things.

Listening to Li Shan's words now, Cui Geng couldn't help but secretly wonder, if Lijingmen suddenly lost such a large amount of money, would it not hurt his muscles and bones? If it doesn't work out, without such an extremely important input support, there will be a fault in the capital chain, and it is possible that the entire Jiangnan Lijing Gate will fall apart.

So, he smiled wickedly and proposed, "Mr. Li, if we find a way to move this frosting workshop and cut off his way to get money, what do you think?" ”

"I can't do it! I can't help it! Li Shan shook his head again and again, and said, "That workshop belongs to the imperial court, and Lijingmen can only be regarded as an escrow." Five hundred soldiers were stationed outside the entire workshop to protect it. Not to mention whether you can move this workshop, if you really do, it will be similar to killing officials and rebelling! ”

Cui Geng shook his head slightly and said with a smile: "Mr. Li, where do you want to go?" I mean, how about we open a workshop to compete with them? Even if we divide half of their daily profits, we can be considered to have achieved our goal. ”

"That's not going to happen."

Li Shan shook his head again and again, and said, "There is no need to start a new workshop, our Li family has a ready-made workshop of this kind." However, didn't Cui Xianling listen to what I just said? This technique of making frosting is only available in the workshop of Lijingmen! ”

"Hehe, isn't that the way to make frosting? This prefecture has it too! Cui Gengdao.

"Cui County's order said, do you have a secret recipe for making frosting? This... How is this possible? Rao is Li Shan, who is used to seeing the world, and it is difficult to be patient with that excitement.

"What's so hard about that?"

This unique technique is rare for others, and it is really difficult for Cui Geng, a guy who is familiar with the changes in the world for thousands of years.

In fact, the method of making "gray sugar" into "frosting" is not complicated at all, to put it bluntly, it is a layer of window paper - using yellow mud water to absorb debris.

As long as you pierce this hidden window paper, any workshop can make frosting.

It is no exaggeration to say that frosting was a lucrative business in the Tang Dynasty. There is always a profit of millions a year. That's it, it's still subject to the amount of sugar cane, or more.

Calculated carefully, it will not be less profitable than the Yangzhou Jiangxin Mirror that Lin Zhixiang coveted when he was in Quanzhou.

Moreover, Yangzhou is the origin of sugarcane, and if some people in Chang'an covet it and want to get involved, they are also a little out of reach.

It is absolutely feasible to set up a frosting workshop in Yangzhou.

"This, this, if Cui Xianling really has the secret method of making frosting in his hands, it would be great!"

Li Shan proposed quite eagerly: "Cui County Ling is a person in the officialdom, and it is inconvenient to open a frosting workshop or something in Yangzhou. Why don't we partner in this workshop? It's easy to talk about! ”

"So how many molecules does Mr. Li think is appropriate? However, the imperial court stipulates that officials are not allowed to do business in the jurisdiction! ”

These two issues seem to be completely unrelated, but in fact they are one and two, two and one, and the imperial court does not allow officials to do business in their own jurisdiction, so Cui Geng can only take dark shares.

Li Shan thought for a moment and said, "That's it, it's better to sign this contract by Cui Xianling's men...... Everything in the workshop is in charge of the Li family in Yangzhou. Hmm, as for profit sharing, Cui County makes you get seventy percent, how about it? ”

"No!"

Cui Geng pondered for a long time and said, "This official can only give you two parts!" ”

"Two... Twenty percent? Li Shan felt that Cui Geng's appearance was a little ugly.

Cui Geng explained: "Don't get me wrong, it's not that the official is insatiable, and this eighty percent is not taken by the official alone." To put it mildly, this deal depends on the two of us, and we can't eat it! ”

Cui Geng didn't dare to make a glass mirror, because he was afraid that Shangguan Wan'er would get the big head, and finally help someone make wedding clothes.

But now, I really can't care so much, the threat of Lijingmen is imminent, and the top priority is not to make money, but to eliminate the evil and get rid of the biggest threat around him at present. Money is a trivial matter.

Fortunately, Yangzhou is the origin of sugarcane, and it is impossible for sugar workshops to move out of Yangzhou City. Therefore, Cui Geng was ready to divide thirty percent to pay tribute to Shangguan Wan'er.

After all, the outside world thinks that he is a member of the Shangguan family, and he really needs Shangguan Wan'er to take care of him in Chang'an. Boss, I have to say something about it.

The remaining forty percent are reserved for themselves.

After Li Shan listened, he said that he had no objection, and he wanted Cui Geng to propose that his subordinates be selected on the spot, and that person would be responsible for signing the document.

Cui Geng disagreed, and said: "No, it's all said, the imperial court stipulates that local officials are not allowed to do business within the territory under their jurisdiction." The involvement of the official's people in this matter will inevitably lead to suspicion of being under the melon field. Now Lijingmen is watching from the sidelines, waiting for the official to make a mistake and scratch his sore feet. I am going to let someone who has nothing to do with it, but who trusts him very much. ”

"Who?" Li Shan asked.

Cui Geng stretched out his hand and said, "This person is far away in the sky, close in front of him." ”

The person he was referring to was Cui Xiufang!

"No, no, no!"

Cui Xiufang shook her hand again and again, and politely refused: "The concubine does not agree to this matter!" ”