Chapter 75 Market Research

"Young master, are you going to open a store?"

Xie Hong's plan to open a store was only mentioned to a few close friends, but Mr. Dong had no idea. When he went out the next day, he was surprised when he heard Xie Hong mention it. He had some speculations in advance, such as Xie Hong planned to take the exam for convenience or something else, but he never expected that Mr. Xie would come to Xuanfu to open a store.

On that day, Xie Hong extorted money from the Gu family. Butler Dong not only knew about it, but also participated. That was 30,000 taels. He couldn't think of any need for Xie Hong to open a store, and he opened a store in Xuanfu.

"Young Master, Xuanfu is not a good place to make money." Butler Dong is not Xie's mother, so naturally he would not say anything about scholars who cannot do business. He was considering the actual situation. "You also saw it yesterday. Xuanfu is only lively in Gulou and Pailou areas, but the background of the shops in that area is unusual..."

"My brother Xie is also a thousand households, and the Jinyiwei is a thousand households!" Ma Wentao was dissatisfied and said loudly. Xie Hong was anxious about opening a store, but he was worried about his family, so he had to let Erniu stay at home and only brought Ma Wentao out alone.

"Hmph, do you know how many high-ranking officials there are in Xuanfu?" Butler Dong gave Ma Wentao a blank look, with disdain in his tone, "No need to say, the governor, the general, the general, the general, but the majesty... Humph, there are also deputy generals, generals, and six departments... Tsk tsk, I'm sorry, I'm not a villain looking down on you, but the water in Xuanfu is deep."

Xie Hong waved his hand with a smile and said he didn't mind, but opening a store was related to his plan, so how could he give up easily? He asked: "Mr. Dong, what do you mean is that all the stores in that area are official?"

"Not all of them are most, and the rest are also opened by these adults. Even if you pay a lot of money to buy, they will not sell them easily." Butler Dong shook his head and was very dissatisfied with Xie Hong's opening a store. "Besides, even if you buy a store, you won't have any business. Didn't you see it when you entered the city yesterday?"

"You mean..."

"Even on the street south of the archway, the shops to the west were opened by ordinary merchants, and you saw them too," Mr. Dong sighed and continued to persuade: "Xuanfu City is not as good as other places. If you want to do business here, you have to do business with those officials to make money. Ordinary people are military households, where is the money?"

"Young Master, with the central thoroughfare street as the boundary, the east is home to the official family, and the rich are all here; and the west is home to the ordinary military households, so it is not an exaggeration to say that they are poor people. There are few communications between the two sides, so the shops in the west of the street can only do poor people's business, and of course the business is very poor."

Xie Hong suddenly realized that no wonder there was such a strange scene. It turned out that the market was polarized, and except for public business, other private transactions were suppressed. This was not difficult to understand. He asked again: "But after passing Sipailou, it seems that the business on both sides of the street was very good."

"The avenue west of the Gulou Tower is called Hubu Street, which is where the Ministry of Revenue Department is located. Later, the Governor's Office was also located on this street. There were many officials in these two yamen, so..." Butler Dong paused for a moment, Xie Hong saw that his face was a little strange, and he only smiled and said, "Hehe, it is inevitable that the poor people live nearby will be inconvenient."

Is this forced demolition? It turned out that there was such a fashionable thing at this time. Xie Hong widened his eyes and was very surprised. No wonder when Butler Dong talked about the west side of the archway yesterday, he had the same tone. The living conditions there were imagined. The situation in Xuanfu, a military town with a population of tens of thousands, was so complicated, which was something Xie Hong never expected before coming.

The consultations from later generations left an impression on Xie Hong that Xuanfu should be very prosperous. Well, there may be many beauties and gold everywhere. Otherwise, how could such a borderland attract Zhengde?

Now when we look at it, Xie Hong was very puzzled. There seemed to be nothing special about Xuanfu. Well, only if we have an investigation, we have the right to speak. Xie Hong decided to go to the prosperous area. In addition to seeing if we could buy a store, we also went to see the teahouses and restaurants here.

When he heard that he wanted to go for a walk, but Housekeeper Dong didn't object. The prosperous Xuanfu was far better than Beizhuang. He thought that this young master was just a whim. When he actually saw it, he would probably give up. Mr. Xie is a smart man, so how could he do stupid things? What else could he get except to lose money when opening a store in Xuanfu?

Xie Hong's idea is also very simple. Zhengde, a young man, likes nothing more than eating, drinking and having fun. Anyway, he will come to Xuanfu sooner or later. As long as he manages one of them, it will be successful. The Xuanfu is just such a big place, and Zhengde has lived in a few years, so why can't he come to him?

Let’s take a look at the food first. Xie Hong’s cooking skills that day surprised his family and neighbors. He felt that copying some recipes from later generations might make him famous.

"Fuxianglou, Mr. Dong, is this the best restaurant in Xuanfu?"

"That's right, I heard that this restaurant was opened by the General Manager's house." Butler Dong told me seriously: "Young Master, this place is not as good as Beizhuang County. If anyone offends it, please take responsibility for it. Don't cause trouble here."

Xie Hong was amused and crying. In your eyes, I am just a person who loves to cause trouble? In the past, I had to do it, but I didn’t have a halo of mocking, so how could I offend anyone if I see you? I am a professional, and now I just have to investigate the market.

When I entered the door, I saw that the decoration of this restaurant was really magnificent. The pillars, tables, chairs, and even the handrails of the stairs were carefully carved, which was indeed unusual. Well, it wouldn't be a good product, right? According to Xie Hong's experience, the better the decoration of the restaurant, the more ordinary the dishes, the more this should be. This should be the same here? Even if it is not, it should not be comparable to the dishes of later generations.

As soon as the dishes came up, Xie Hong, who had always been a god after traveling through time, was stunned. The dishes that came were of all colors, fragrance and flavor. Not to mention him, he was an amateur, even if he was a chef from later generations, he might not be able to compare. Unless he made the seasonings that were not available in this era, Xie Hong would not think of any way to make a better dish.

However, now 80% of peppers are still in Africa or South America. The Age of Discovery has just begun, and there are peppers, but they are extremely expensive. It is too nonsense to be famous. Xie Hong wants to cry but has no tears. Who said that those who are later generations must be better than those in ancient times? He listens to others and believes them to kill people.

"Waiter, you can still make a few more copies and deliver them to me..." The service was also thoughtful. Xie Hong asked, and it turned out that there were some takeaways delivered in Fuxiang Building! After eating good things, Xie Hong still had three people from home hanging, so he ordered the waiter to deliver one. Looking at the waiter's quick movements, in a trance, Xie Hong seemed to have seen the home delivery of the future generations...

Okay, let’s not eat anymore. I didn’t do catering either. I originally planned to open a teahouse. Let’s take a look at having fun first. This is my professional expertise.

When it comes to entertainment, this era mainly involves brothels and teahouses. Needless to say, brothels have never eaten pork and seen pigs running. Xie Hong naturally knew it. However, brothels in this era are actually quite complete, integrating bars, concert halls and nightclubs. Of course, if you spend money, it would be common to want to hold a banquet in brothels.

In short, brothels are the most powerful entertainment venues in this era. As for solving physiological problems, they are of course one of the functions, but this is a problem after entertainment. If you are just doing that, you should not go to brothels, but to go to brothels.

After listening to Butler Dong's introduction, Xie Hong shook his head. He didn't want to open a brothel. As far as he knew, except for music, these projects in brothels could not arouse Zhengde's interest at all. Besides, if you open a brothel, Qing'er knew that the little girl would definitely be unhappy.

Speaking of music, Xie Hong stopped outside the largest brothel, listened for a while outside the Tianxiang Tower Gate. The music inside was melodious and melodious, and sometimes it became exciting, which was very beautiful. National instruments in later generations were not popular, and Xie Hong listened few, and he didn't seem to be so beautiful in his impression. Could it be that the musicians of this era have surpassed those of later generations? Xie Hong felt a little big.

Well, we can not focus on music, but have music teahouses. If music is used as a supplement, we can plagiarize novels such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Journey to the West! Zhengde, a young man, must like to tell stories. Thinking of this, Xie Hong pulled Dong and Ma into the most lively teahouse.

"The Hebei army was like waves and waves cracked. Guan Gong ran straight to Yan Liang... Yan Liang was caught off guard and was stabbed by Yun Chang's hand and stabbed him under the horse..." When the three of them entered, they were talking about the key points. A storyteller was talking so hard that he was talking. The audience around him held his breath and looked forward to it. Even the waiter looked sideways and didn't bother to greet the guests.

Well, Guan Gong killed Yan Liang, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, this guy remembers... Hum? Three Kingdoms? Xie Hong didn't care at first, but when he came back to his senses, he was shocked: The Romance of the Three Kingdoms was written during the Zhengde period? That's not bad. Since the Three Kingdoms have come out, what about other Water Margin and Journey to the West?

If all of them are out, who will I copy? Could it be that I will copy online novels? Even if I really copy them, no one will listen to them. This generation gap has spanned five hundred years!

Xie Hong really can't calm down now. If there is no specialty in opening a store, how can we ensure that we attract Zhengde? Although Xuanfu City is not big, there are seven or eight teahouses, and with a few brothels, the entertainment industry has been monopolized. If you open one of them by yourself, even if Zhengde comes, it will probably not notice it. So why do you still open a store?

Underestimating the ancients, Xie Hong sighed. Although he knows how to play, many things can only be displayed when he comes to the front. The current situation is that if you can't see Zhengde, you have to attract Zhengde, and several ways you can think of already exist. What should you do? He was really worried this time.
Chapter completed!