Su Shilei turned over and said, “I won’t go back either. I must study hard. Even if I’m not going to be the shopkeeper anymore, I heard from Shopkeeper Liang that if I do well and the shop does good business, I’ll get a bonus at the end of the year.”

　　”Even if it’s only one or two taels of silver a month, it’s better than digging for food in the fields.” Su Shiyi’s eyes also lit up.

　　Before, in the prefecture and county, Brother Xing said that if they could be kept and given jobs in the capital, that would be their great fortune. Su Shiyi didn’t understand it before, but now he knows.

　　Liu Shu later discovered that the four children of the Su family all worked more carefully and seriously, were quick-handed and willing to learn. Even Su Shiyi, whom he had scolded before – this kid was too thin-skinned to risk it all, now has the courage to entertain people in front.

　　Although I’m still a little dull, it’s a good thing to be brave.

　　Liu Shu told Brother Zhou Zhou about these changes. After listening, Li Zhou Zhou said, “This is the ability of Liang the Boss to train people. We should learn more from him. Even if we are in charge of the backyard and the shop in the future, we can’t let the subordinates deceive us.”

　　”That’s right.” Liu Shu thought back. He always scared those four people before. Although he had gained a group of loyal people who didn’t dare to betray him and fool Brother Zhou Zhou, they were too scared to do their job.

　　A slap in the face and a sweet date will be given.

　　Liushu learned it!

　　In the first few days, Li Ji’s Braised Pork was bought by old customers, like the Lin family, who just gave face and bought a few more boxes to show their support. Later, Gu Zhao promoted it in Hanlin, saying that it was a shop opened by my wife’s uncle’s family, and the braised duck they gave as a New Year’s gift was that one. Then Lord Zhao and Lord Tian placed an order.

　　The same is true for Yan Jinxin.

　　This wave is the second batch of returning customers.

　　The guests bought some, and passers-by saw them and couldn’t help but come in to take a look and buy some too. This went on for a while, especially for the Lin family, who bought them to show their support. But when they took them back, the masters saw that they were new food and ate them with wine, praising them highly. They bought four boxes in total, and gave one box to the old mother in the back.

　　The Lin family served the old lady a bowl of silver noodles with some refreshing vegetables and braised duck offal according to the way braised duck is eaten. Old Mrs. Lin tasted the rice and ate only two chopsticks of the bowl of noodles, eating up all the duck offal and drinking some of the soup.

　　After that, he no longer thought the distance was too far and came to buy it every day, often buying seven or eight boxes at a time.

　　There are many people in the Lin Mansion.

　　The Li family had new income, and after waiting for the settlement at the end of the month, they found that Li Ji Luzhu had sold two thousand ducks this month alone. After deducting the cost of making the ducks and boxes, they still made a profit of one thousand three hundred taels.

　　The purchase price of a duck was seventy wen, so two thousand ducks cost one hundred and forty taels of silver. The boxes were a bit more expensive, so if we calculated the price based on the ducks, it would only be about one hundred and forty or five taels. There was also the cooking materials, which Liang, the manager, did not know about and never interfered with the work in the kitchen, so he did not check it, so he charged two hundred taels, and the firewood was more than one hundred taels, so the total was six hundred taels.

　　After deducting the wages of the shop staff and the miscellaneous food and drink expenses, the total amount is that much.

　　Shopkeeper Liang was stunned. He didn’t expect that food could make so much money. Well, the Li family’s cooking skills were unique and special, and the products were not cheap. Rouge and powder were only bought by female relatives. A box of rouge and powder would only last for ten days or half a month. Unlike the duck, once it was delicious and eaten, wouldn’t they come back to buy it the next day?

　　Now he can sell seventy ducks a day, but he hasn’t yet expanded the business. One reason is that the supply of ducks is insufficient and in short supply. Now every household outside the capital city raises ducks first – he heard from the duck farmers.

　　Shopkeeper Liang was also a man who had seen the world. He was a little surprised but then he calmed himself down and said to Mrs. Gu that this business was a long-term plan and it would be best to stabilize it first and not be too arrogant.

　　Li Zhouzhou meant the same thing. He originally ordered thirty or forty ducks a day, but later Manager Liang increased it to sixty or seventy. That was already the limit, and any more would be a waste of time. A stable customer base was the only way to achieve long-term success.

　　His family does not have deep roots in Beijing, so he’d better not show off and attract jealousy.

　　Both of them were clear-minded people. After a few words, Manager Liang knew the future direction of Li Ji’s business. He just needed to keep these regular customers in his hands.

　　The salary has increased.

　　This is a good thing.

　　Li Zhouzhou gave each of the four members of the Su family one or two taels of silver. He did not dare to give more than that, for fear that the children would not be able to hold on to the extra money and would become impatient. If his words were overheard, they might be seduced by bad people and change their temperament.

　　Shopkeeper Liang said that there are many things that cost money in Beijing.

　　In the eyes of those young masters who really spend money lavishly, the money earned by the Li family’s business is just the winnings and losses of a few rounds of Pai Gow dice^[1] Pai Gow dice, which is nothing. However, the lower class people in Beijing have sharp eyes and are the best at selecting people and tricking them into playing for money.

　　So he was stricter, and Li Zhouzhou wanted to give each of the four people six taels at the end of the year, so he started with a monthly salary of two taels. Xiaoshu’s salary also increased, to five taels a month. He didn’t go to the store often, so Xiaoshu was in charge of everything, following Manager Liang to check the accounts, cook in the kitchen, and wash and cook for the four people – although Xiaoshu was watching over the maid, it was still very laborious.

　　Manager Liang’s salary has been restored to the previous six taels. Li Zhouzhou thinks that if Manager Liang can help him for a little longer and train the four members of the Su family to be capable, he will give him a big job.

　　In this way, the Li family could earn more than 1,000 taels of silver a month from running the shop.

　　This was the reason everyone was thinking about it at first because they hadn’t eaten it. Li’s shop was not expanding, and at one tael of silver for a duck, not everyone could afford to eat or buy it every day. After another month, the shop had a stable supply of ducks, and could sell fifty or sixty ducks every day.

　　The monthly profit is more than 800 taels.

　　That’s enough. Li Zhouzhou felt relieved.

　　Gu Zhao and Yan Jinxin’s second book has also been repaired. “Three Years and Two Tests [Bath in the Holy Grace]” is a book that flatters the emperor, as can be seen from the title. However, there is still some content in it. After all, answering questions in the exam requires one to agree with the thoughts of the superior, and the most powerful person in the Dali period is Emperor Kang Jing.

　　Emperor Kang Jing wrote poems and fu – that was twenty or thirty years ago.

　　These poems and fu were carefully selected, and they all describe the emperor’s energetic deeds of fighting wars in the south and the north.

　　When drafting the first version of the manuscript, Lord Shi first wrote a memorial and submitted it to ask for the emperor’s opinion. He waited for about two days. The emperor dealt with a lot of memorials every day. In addition to national affairs, there were also memorials of greeting from various places. The ones submitted by the Hanlin Academy naturally did not fall into the category of memorials of greeting, but they were not among the urgent and important national affairs either.

　　Emperor Kang Jing would sometimes delay reading the memorials submitted by these unimportant departments. Gu Zhao’s teacher said that it was not so straightforward, but what he meant was that when Emperor Kang Jing was in high spirits, after reviewing the memorials submitted every day, he would sometimes get bored and read the memorials from various places while smiling and calling them flatterers.

　　If things were good, he would write “good” with a red pen. Sometimes, when he was in a good mood, he would reply, “I am in good health and my food is delicious. My dear, you don’t have to worry about my health.”

　　Sometimes the flattering articles are so messy that they don’t even have any literary talent. Emperor Kang Jing would scold the person who can’t even write a good flattering article, and then stop coming around him, as it would be an eyesore.

　　This person’s transfer to Beijing to serve as an official has been cancelled.

　　Gu Zhao listened to it and said:

　　It’s just a face full of fantasy.

　　But the teacher wouldn’t use this to deceive him, right?

　　”…When His Majesty was young and in a good mood, he was very approachable.” Sun Mu sighed, recalling some memories, “Nowadays, the emperor’s grace is unpredictable.”

　　After listening to what the teacher said, Gu Zhao was able to outline the young emperor, young, energetic, open-minded, and somewhat lively and unrestrained. Emperor Kang Jing is now in his twilight years, and he is worried about his sons. While thinking about the father-son relationship, he is also wary of these sons wanting to take his place.

　　I don’t trust anyone and I am skeptical about everything.

　　Gu Zhao didn’t know what to say. It was just like the country of Dali. It still looked prosperous on the surface, but after the flowers bloomed, it was already showing signs of decline.

　　When it was Lord Shi’s turn to submit a memorial, he received a reply two days later. It was obvious that the emperor was very satisfied because the four words “OK, do it quickly” were written on it in red ink.

　　That means it can be published and printed.

　　The second volume of “Three Years and Two Tests” is out.

　　The capital has entered the hot summer.

　　The Zichen Palace where His Majesty lived was covered with ice, but the iceberg was far away, and the young eunuch did not dare to stop fanning himself. His Majesty was having lunch with the eleventh prince, and in the evening, the eleventh prince had diarrhea with bloody stools.

　　The poisoning case that caused panic in the palace in the previous life has finally happened.