The New Year is approaching, and for many people, celebrating the New Year every year is like passing a customs.

The wages of the helpers need to be paid, new clothes for the children need to be prepared, ingredients for entertaining guests need to be purchased, and debts need to be paid off...

So at the end of the year, children are still happy, but adults are often more sad than happy.

As the emperor of today, Li Shimin definitely has no shortage of money.

According to people's fantasies, he should be living a carefree life like a god.

However, in the Daming Palace, Queen Changsun's condition has not improved, but it has cast a shadow.

"Your Majesty, this is a new product from the Chu Palace. It's called a lighter. It's very practical."

Li Zhong took out a lighter from his arms and handed it to Li Shimin.

Li Shimin is in a bad mood these days, and Li Zhong naturally knows it.

Now that he finally found something he could do to have fun, he naturally took the initiative to talk about the lighter.

"lighter?"

Sure enough, Li Shimin's attention was attracted by this new term.

"That's right, it's a mechanism for igniting fire. Regardless of whether it's windy or rainy, as long as you press this mechanism, flames will burst out. It's very convenient."

"If I remember correctly, there were some casualties due to fire breakers during field training at the Military Academy some time ago?"

"Yes, for this problem, Duke Yi Guogong specially asked people to publish a reward announcement in newspapers such as "Datang Daily". It is said that this lighter was launched by Guanshishan Academy to apply for the reward."

Since he prepared this lighter to make Li Shimin happy for a while, Li Zhong naturally found out the ins and outs of the lighter.

"Since the Military Academy has a demand for this lighter, Kuan'er arranged for people to make this thing, which is a rare and serious thing to do."

Without Li Zhong having to say anything, Li Shimin knew that there must be Li Kuan behind the lighter at Guanshishan Academy.

This is not to say that this lighter is difficult to make, but that this ingenious design is not something ordinary people can come up with.

Just like cooking, this thing itself is not difficult at all.

But how many people think that cooking in an iron pan will be delicious?

…

Liangzhou City is becoming more and more prosperous.

Due to the opening of the cement road, the distance from Liangzhou to Chang'an City has been shortened by at least half.

As an important transit point on the Silk Road, countless merchants enter and leave Liangzhou City every moment.

If there are people, there is a need.

If there are people, there is a market.

Liangzhou City, whose population has long exceeded 500,000, is now the largest city in the northwest.

"Askar, I heard that you opened a wine shop in Bei City. How is it? How is the business?"

As the governor of Liangzhou, Shangguan Yi is busy because he has a lot to do.

But if I say I'm not busy, I'm actually not busy either.

Everything is on track, he just needs to deal with some problems step by step.

So from time to time, he still has some free time.

Today, after listening to Aska's report on some grassland trade matters, he took the time to chat with him for a while.

"Master Fu, when it comes to wine restaurants, no one in Liangzhou City can beat Diandu De. However, the wine and food in Dian Dude are too expensive and ordinary people cannot afford them. However, many of the dishes in it are delicious.

It’s very popular. My subordinates are thinking about imitating Diandoude and building a mid-range restaurant.”

Askar's face remained calm, because neither Ma Zhou nor Shangguan Yi prohibited the dependent Hu people from doing some business on their own, and even encouraged such things.

In order to get more Hu people to work loyally for the Tang Dynasty, the most important thing is to rely on profit.

Simply promoting benevolence, righteousness and morality is of no use.

"This is true. The most important reason why Diandude's wines and dishes are so popular in Liangzhou is that their use of spices has reached the level of perfection. The beef and mutton that used to be full of tangy smell will become...

Plate after plate of exquisite food.”

Shangguan Yi is also a frequent customer of Diandu De. He went there often when he was in Chang'an City. Dian Dude opened a branch in Liangzhou, and he would patronize it from time to time.

"Yes. In recent years, spices have become the most popular thing among grassland herdsmen after salt and tea. However, although the price of this spice has dropped a lot compared with previous years, it is still too expensive for many herdsmen.

It’s too expensive. The most important thing is that the use of spices actually requires skills. Many herdsmen do not correctly master the combination of spices, resulting in a very poor effect, which also has some impact on the expansion of spice sales.”

Askar, as the first Hu people to join the northwest trade, was very trusted and knew much more information than the average person.

“Spice combination?”

Shangguan Yi frowned, thinking about something.

Working next to Li Kuan, Shangguan Yi's emphasis on business was not comparable to that of ordinary governors of the Tang Dynasty.

Let’s not talk about how much revenue selling spices to the Hu people brought to the Tang Dynasty. It only increased the Hu people’s dependence on the Tang Dynasty to another level. This value cannot be simply measured in gold and silver.

The greater the demand for spices in the Tang Dynasty, the more prosperous the trade in Southeast Asia would be, and the greater the stimulation effect on the shipbuilding industry would be.

At the same time, the importance of the Municipal Shipping Department and the revenue from the Municipal Shipping Tax will increase.

Moreover, the importance of naval forces will also become higher and higher.

"Yes, there are many types of spices. Although a single kind of cinnamon can greatly improve the taste of beef and mutton; but herdsmen tend to be extravagant. A pound of cinnamon is often gone in a short time, and they cannot have so much.

Silver coins are constantly being purchased. The most important thing is that if the type and quantity of spices added are wrong, the effect of improving the ingredients will be greatly reduced. Over time, some herdsmen feel that buying spices is not cost-effective."

This is the first time Shangguan Yi has heard of the situation Aska mentioned.

However, after debunking it, it becomes easier to understand if you think about it casually.

For example, if you put one or two pieces of cinnamon in a pound of mutton, it will naturally remove the smell and make the mutton more delicious.

But if you grab a lot of it, the mutton will no longer be mutton. It will only have the taste of cinnamon, and it will not be as delicious as anything else.

As for some more complex spice combinations, the impact should be even more obvious.

"This situation cannot be allowed to develop. Askar, you opened this restaurant, but do you have any ideas to change this situation?"

"Master Fu, I was thinking about grinding and blending various spices in advance according to the proportions. In the future, we will not sell cinnamon, nutmeg, and star anise separately, but specifically sell these processed spices? So

Once everyone buys this kind of spice, they don’t have to worry about how to mix it, and it’s easier to put the exact amount. The most important thing is that this can fully reflect the role of the spice and revive everyone’s interest in spices.”
Chapter completed!