Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

Shiweizhai did not change its name, but reopened ten days ago.

The current shopkeeper is Luo Shurong.

When Chen Shao led Qi Ye and others into the restaurant, there were already few diners. Looking at the people following behind him, Chen Shao instructed Luo Shurong who came out to greet him: "Prepare a few tables of food for us, just keep it simple."

After Luo Shurong agreed, Chen Shao went upstairs and sat down by the window with Qi Ye and Zhao Liangzhu. Chan Yi, Quan Shuyu, Li Tianliu and Fu Jiu sat at the table next to them, and the rest of the Yulin Guards sat around them.

Not long after sitting down, Luo Shurong and his wife Miao brought up tea.

After taking two sips of tea, Chen Shao looked towards Huimin Pharmacy and asked Master Qi, "Has that Wang Zheng come to the pharmacy?"

"He has been here for half a month." Master Qi said, "The young man doesn't talk much, but he works hard."

"Hardworking?" Chen Shao retracted his gaze, "Isn't he working as an accountant?"

The Seventh Master asked, "Didn't the Master ask him to be the accountant?"

Chen Shao said: "I asked him to do it."

Master Qi realized that he had not made his words clear, so he said again: "He is working as an accountant. He is diligent and has a lot of work to do. When he is not busy, he is always helping others do this and that."

Chen Shao asked: "How is it going?"

The Seventh Master glanced at Zhao Liangzhu and said, "Liangzhu is teaching him."

"He has never worked as an accountant before," Zhao Liangzhu continued, "Luckily, he has a quick mind. After learning for half a month, he is almost able to get the hang of it."

Chen Shao asked again: "Does he live in the pharmacy, or does he go home every day?"

Qi Ye said, "Live in the medicine shop."

Chen Shao called Fu Jiu, "Go to the pharmacy and invite Wang Zheng to come over for a meal, and get to know him while you're there."

After Fu Jiu left, Chen Shao naturally turned the topic to planting medicinal herbs. She didn't be tactful or hide anything, but said directly: "In the afternoon, Xu Xianmin and others told me that the herbs we were going to plant can be found everywhere in the fields, and there is no need to waste manpower or land to plant more. I wonder if they have told Uncle Liangzhu about these words?"

Zhao Liangzhu was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said, "I did."

Chen Shao looked him straight in the eye: "Uncle Liang Zhu, do you not trust what they said, or do you have other ideas?"

"No, I trust them very much." Zhao Liangzhu said, "And after they said that, I went back to Zhaojia Village and looked at the fields. The fact is indeed as they said, the herbs to be planted can be seen everywhere. The reason why I confirmed their idea and chose to plant is also very simple. Doctor Peng of Wanhetang gave me a prescription for headaches and fevers. According to Doctor Peng, this prescription is his secret. And according to my observation, the people who came to see the doctor half a month ago, especially those with headaches and fevers, did get better faster after taking his prescription than other doctors' prescriptions.

"The herbs used in his prescription are also very common, but the weight ratio of the herbs is slightly different from that of others. With this prescription, Huimin Pharmacy can prepare a large amount of powder, like the business of several commercial companies, and take the prepared powder to other county cities to sell for money. It can be said that as long as Doctor Peng does not give the prescription to others, then the Huimin Pharmacy in Hongyuan County can not only be self-sufficient, but also make a lot of money with this prescription.

"According to Xu Xianmin and others, the medicinal herbs in the prescriptions don't need to be planted by the people. Just picking wild herbs is enough for the medicine shops. But they obviously didn't think about the fact that there are hundreds of county towns in Datong, and there are many county towns and towns under the county towns. Once our prescriptions are amazingly effective in curing diseases, the amount of medicinal herbs needed will increase exponentially. And what are the consequences of exponential growth? Just as they worry, when these herbs that are usually regarded as weeds can make more money than food, will the people still be willing to farm? Will they also empty the fields to let them grow herbs?

"Since we can't stop the people from abandoning their fields, let's set a rule from the beginning. Each family can only use a certain amount of land to plant medicinal herbs. Let each family supervise each other and make it a habit! In this way, if the people want to make more money from medicinal herbs, they can only turn their attention to the wild, instead of turning their attention from the wild to their own fields."

Sure enough, ginger is still spicy.

He is indeed a very good businessman.

While Chen Shao praised repeatedly in his heart, he couldn't help but say: "The rules were set at the beginning. If someone violated it in the middle, they would be punished so that people would be convinced."

Zhao Liangzhu agreed: "That's the truth."

"If nothing unexpected happens, every county town, or even every county town, will have a Huimin Pharmacy in the future." Chen Shao asked with a smile, "Doctor Peng's prescription, is it unique to the Huimin Pharmacy in Hongyuan County, or is it unique to all Huimin Pharmacies?"

Zhao Liangzhu said without any hesitation: "Of course it is exclusive to the Huimin Pharmacy in Hongyuan County. It's not impossible for other Huimin Pharmacies to have it, but they have to exchange it for other prescriptions."

Chen Shao looked at the Seventh Master.

Master Qi also said without hesitation: "We must exchange it for other prescriptions."

Chen Shao chuckled twice and looked at Zhao Liangzhu again, "What if Uncle Liangzhu manages more than just the medicinal materials of Huimin Pharmacy in the future?"

Zhao Liangzhu's blood boiled instantly, "Sir..."

Chen Shao stopped him and said, "Answer me first."

Zhao Liangzhu barely suppressed his excitement and said honestly, "If the Lord trusts me and lets me manage another Huimin Pharmacy in the county, then if the other Huimin Pharmacy wants this prescription, it must also exchange it for another prescription. This is a principle. You cannot give in because of me, or let the Huimin Pharmacy in Hongyuan County suffer losses because of me."

Chen Shao nodded and told his plan: "The situation in Hongyuan County is quite special. Even if other counties want to open Huimin Pharmacy in the future, I probably won't be as fully committed as I am now. But since Huimin Pharmacy bears the name of Huimin, it cannot afford to fail, so I need some people I trust to check it for me."

She actually made this plan temporarily after Zhao Liangzhu told her about the prescription. If Huimin Pharmacy wanted to be self-sufficient and even make money, it had to be managed by a businessman like him. And among the businessmen she knew, he was the only one she liked.

Zhao Liangzhu immediately bowed and said, "Thank you for your high regard for me, I will definitely not let you down."

Chen Shao joked, "Uncle Liang Zhu, just don't complain about the hard work when the time comes."

The Seventh Master said, "He is in his prime, what is there for him to work so hard for?"

"Uncle Liangzhu is not afraid of hard work, so Master Qi has to bear more of the burden." Chen Shao changed the subject and said, "In the future, if other Huimin Pharmacy shop owners or doctors come here to learn from us, Master Qi, please don't hesitate to teach them."

The Seventh Master did not expect that he would still have his own affairs to attend to, and he quickly agreed: "Don't worry, sir, as long as they come, I will not hide anything."

"I have faith in Master Qi's character." After talking about the medicinal materials, Chen Shao looked at Huimin Pharmacy again. Seeing that the cloth shop next to Huimin Pharmacy was still open at this late hour, he couldn't help but ask, "Who is the owner of the shop next to Huimin Pharmacy?"

Zhao Liangzhu looked over and said, "It seems to be the Zhu family."

Zhu family? Chen Shao raised his eyebrows calmly.

Qiye followed them and looked at the cloth shop. The cloth shop was a large shop with seven rooms wide and four rooms deep, which was twice as big as Huimin Medicine Shop. Looking at the spacious shop, Qiye said casually: "If our medicine shop can have such a large shop, it will be very spacious and bright."

Zhao Liangzhu's heart skipped a beat and he subconsciously looked towards Chen Shao.

Chen Shao's heart moved, and he instinctively looked back at Huimin Pharmacy. Huimin Pharmacy was actually quite spacious, but as a pharmacy serving the people, it seemed a little cramped. If the cloth shop was merged into Huimin Pharmacy, Huimin Pharmacy would not only no longer be cramped, but also... be quite impressive.

Then let’s deal with the Zhu family first.

Just as he made up his mind, Luo Shurong, Miao and the two children brought the food up.

There are six dishes and one soup, which is not very exquisite, but the portion is very large.

After dinner and half a cup of tea, seeing that it was getting late, Chen Shao called Quan Shuyu over and introduced her to Qi Ye and Zhao Liangzhu: "Quan Shuyu, my accountant. From now on, all matters concerning money should be addressed directly to her."

Quan Shuyu thought Chen Shao brought her out just to hand over the ten thousand taels of silver, but she didn't expect that he would introduce her to others so openly. Although she was shocked and touched, she bowed to Qiye and Zhao Liangzhu dignifiedly and said, "Shuyu has never done these things before. If there is anything inconsiderate in the future, please give me more advice from Qiye and Uncle Liangzhu."

Qiye was fine, but Zhao Liangzhu was very upset. It turned out that the whole family read those words in Huimin Pharmacy because of her. Although the rumors spread by the whole family earlier could not be believed, it was certain that she had followed the fourth son of Wen. With such a background, he could still be reused, which showed that Chen Shao’s previous promise to him was not false! Thinking this in his heart, he did not dare to be arrogant and stood up with Qiye, and returned the greeting to her: "This is the first time we are in charge of these things. If we offend you in the future, please bear with me, Miss Shuyu."

Chen Shao let them finish their pleasantries before calling Wang Zheng over. "You should also meet Quan Shuyu. I promised to give Huimin Pharmacy 12,000 taels of silver. You will go to hand it over to her later. After the handover, Huimin Pharmacy will be responsible for the safekeeping of the silver. The Seventh Master should have told you that Huimin Pharmacy is responsible for its own profits and losses, so you are not only an accountant, but also have to control the use of every penny of silver, and know when to save and when to spend."

Wang Zheng said yes.

……

Coming down from the second floor, he saw Luo Shurong and his family busy packing up the tables and chairs. Chen Shao stopped, called Luo Shurong over, and then called Quan Shuyu over, introducing him to him: "From now on, the half of the profit from this shop that belongs to me will be sent to the prefectural governor's mansion and given to her."

After allowing the two to exchange pleasantries for a while, Chen Shao asked, "How much are the meals for those tables?"

Luo Shurong quickly said, "You are too polite, sir. You are already giving me honor by coming to my place for dinner. How dare I take your money?"

Chen Shao smiled, "Alright, don't bother talking to me about this. After all, I still own half of the profits of this shop. Besides, you have just opened your business, and you are spending money everywhere. If you keep talking about these etiquettes, when will you be able to make money?"

Luo Shurong wanted to refuse, but Chen Shao simply said, "If you do this, I won't dare to come again."

Luo Shurong then said, "Six hundred coins."

They sat at six tables. Considering the quantity of six dishes and one soup, six hundred coins might not even cover the cost. Chen Shao did not argue any more. After signaling Quan Shuyu to pay, he turned around and asked Qi Ye, "Are you eating the food sent by Juxianlou in the pharmacy recently?"

Master Qi nodded, "I've been really busy lately and haven't had time to look for a cook."

"Send someone to tell Shopkeeper Zhou tomorrow that you should eat here from now on. As for what to eat and how much it costs, it's up to you guys to decide." After Chen Shao finished speaking, he said to Yang Shurong, "A meal should cost the right amount. You can't charge less just because you have connections. Remember this, when I check the accounts at the end of the month, I will only recognize the profits on the books, not the money you actually received."

After Qi Ye and Yang Shurong agreed, Chen Shao asked again, "Are you the only family working in this shop right now?"

Luo Shurong said awkwardly: "There are two more cooks."

"The dishes were served a little slowly today. I estimated that we had to wait for about three cups of tea." Chen Shao said, "This is the case with only six of us. Shiweizhai has three floors, and there are at least twenty tables in total. If all twenty tables are full and all the dishes are served, it will take at least an hour to wait at the speed tonight."

Luo Shurong also knew that the food was slow to serve, but he had already spent all the money he could to open this shop, and he really couldn't spare any extra money to hire two more cooks or servants. And it was only because there were so many people that they would sit at six tables at a time. Normally, there were only four tables of people who came to the shop to eat, and at most there were four people at a table.

He originally thought that opening a food store was too simple.

Shiweizhai's location is so good that he would never have dared to do business here in the past. Therefore, when Chen Shao asked him if he was willing to take over Shiweizhai, he agreed so readily. But after the food shop opened, he saw the diners looking at the door but not daring to come in, and he suddenly realized that Shiweizhai's location is good, but it is also daunting.

A good geographical location means expensive rent; expensive rent means high prices.

But can he say he regrets it?

Chen Shao saw his embarrassment, walked around the shop briefly, and asked, "Have you ever thought of changing the way you run the business? For example, have a few fixed dishes every day, and prepare them in advance, put them in large bowls and line them up at the door, and let the diners choose. As for the price, let me give you a simple example. Ten cents for a vegetarian dish, two steamed buns, and as much soup as you want. Twenty cents for a meat dish, a vegetarian dish, two steamed buns, and as much soup as you want, and so on. All you have to do is serve the dishes to the diners. In order to attract as many customers as possible, you can also post the menu for tomorrow's meal at the door of the store in advance."

This is the modern street fast food business model.

Luo Shurong was a businessman after all. Although Chen Shao didn't explain it clearly, he quickly grasped the key points as she described it. He also immediately gave a more appropriate example and said, "It's just like those shops selling buns. There are many kinds of fillings for the buns. You just need to steam them in advance. When the diners come, they can buy whatever fillings they want!"

Chen Shao smiled and said, "Yes, that's it."

Luo Shurong clapped his hands and said "good", then quickly bowed to her and said, "Thank you for your advice, sir!"

"What kind of advice is this? I'm just repeating what others have said." Chen Shao said, "You try it first. If it works, that's great. If not, think of other ways."

Luo Shurong agreed.

After coming out of Shiweizhai and waiting for Quan Shuyu to hand over the 10,000 taels of silver to Wang Zheng, Chen Shao returned to the prefectural government.

Lei Dehou was waiting for her in front of Chengfengyuan.

Seeing her coming back, he immediately came up to her and said, "Sir."