On the twenty-sixth day of the first lunar month, the Yin family sent someone to invite Yang Anxuan to the village to discuss matters. Yang Anxuan knew that the sugar frost matter had been decided.

In the Yin family meeting hall, Yang Anxuan met the three family heads, Yin Xi, Deng Jing, and Cen Na. There was a plate of snow-white icing sugar on the table in front of Yin Xi.

Deng Jing and Cen Na looked at the heroic Yang Anxuan with complicated emotions. Last year, Governor Yang brought his three sons to Yinjiazhuang to raise food. In fact, the three families had secretly made a bet.

The Deng family took custody of Yang Anshen, and the Cen family took custody of Yang Anyuan. Only the grandson of the Yin family had a good relationship with Yang Anxuan, the third son of Prefect Yang.

At that time, both of them laughed secretly at Yin Xi's old eyesight, how could he fall in love with a child with a yellow mouth, and later let Yin Ji follow Yang Anxuan.

Facts have proved that Yin Xi has a unique vision and is very accurate in judging people. The Yin family soon got rewards from Yang Anxuan.

First, Yun Jie Zhi made the Yin family profit, and then Yin Ji changed from a village commander to a military prince, which was on par with Cen Minghu. Judging from the trend, there is still hope of surpassing him.

After Governor Yang helped Yin Youqi become the commander-in-chief of the county, both of them knew that Deng and the Cen family would never be able to be on an equal footing with the Yin family, and they would only become vassals of the Yin family from now on.

Yang Anxuan was designated as a top-middle-class person, and the relationship between the Yang family and the Yin family became closer and closer. The two families complemented each other and were destined to go further in the future. It wouldn't be long before the Deng and Cen families could only hope to lag behind.

On the sixth day of the first lunar month, Deng Jing and Cenna came together to pay Yin Xi New Year greetings and saw the snow-white sugar frost.

After tasting it, both of them were full of praise, asked where this thing came from, and wanted to buy some to take home and enjoy.

Yin Xi told them that this substance is called sugar frost, which is extracted from stone honey using the secret recipe given by Yang Anxuan.

As the heads of the family, both of them knew that this thing was valuable, and once it came out, it would definitely attract wealthy families to compete for it. That small dish of icing sugar was like a plate of shining gold.

Deng Jing smiled and said, "Congratulations to Brother Yin, the clan has gained another treasure."

Cen Na was a little jealous and said: "Brother Yin, maybe you can give some benefits to the Deng and Cen families."

Yin Xixuan smiled and said: "The Yin, Deng, and Cen families are brothers who share weal and woe. I am just about to invite you to discuss this matter. Yang Anxuan wants to sell me the secret recipe for making sugar, and he wants to pay five hundred

For two golds, I want to unite the efforts of the three families to buy the secret recipe."

Deng Jing and Cena both took a deep breath. Five hundred taels of gold was not a small amount, it was enough for the entire family for ten years.

Zenner swallowed, glanced at the snow-white frosting in the dish, and said with difficulty: "It's worth it."

Deng Jing did not rush to reply, but looked at Yin Xi and asked, "What do you think, Brother Yin?"

After Yang Anxuan's advice, Yin Xi was determined to win the sugar frosting.

Yin Xi smiled and said: "When Yang Anxuan gave this secret recipe to me, he mentioned that it should cost at least one tael of sugar and one tael of gold. It should not be sold cheaply."

Deng Jing hesitated and said: "It's so expensive, not many people will buy it."

Zenner said disapprovingly: "How can ordinary people afford this thing? But brother Deng, don't worry, there are many rich people. As long as the goods are good, you don't have to worry about not being able to sell them."

"Brother Cen Xian is right." Yin Xi nodded and said, "I want to give this gift to the emperor through You Qi. If the emperor has a reward, it will be worth a hundred times the money. If Tang Shuang can enter the palace and be favored by the emperor, he will do well.

The price will be very high, and the supply will definitely exceed the demand. I'm afraid it will be difficult to buy two candies even for a lot of gold."

Deng Jing was a careful person and asked: "Brother Yin, how much icing sugar can be obtained from one pound of stone honey?"

"I have tried many times. One pound of stone honey can yield three ounces of high-quality icing sugar, four ounces of yellowish-brown second-grade sugar cubes, and the rest is residue."

Deng Jing calculated it and said: "One pound of stone honey is less than two thousand yuan, and you can get three taels of sugar, at least three taels of gold, and inferior sugar cubes can get at least one tael of gold, which is twenty times the profit. It's a good deal."

."

Zenner's eyes shone and he said anxiously: "I bought this secret recipe. Brother Yin, how do you plan to distribute it?"

Yin Xi smiled and said: "Deng and Cen each contributed 150 taels, accounting for 30%; the Yin family received 200 taels, accounting for 40%."

Deng Jing said: "This secret recipe was traded between Yang Anxuan and Brother Yin. Deng and Cen together can take 50% of it."

Zenner echoed: "Exactly."

"The good intentions of the two good brothers have been accepted by Yin. The brothers have settled the accounts clearly. They will hold as many shares as they pay, and there is no need to give in." Yin Xi said categorically: "The matter of shareholding has been decided like this. There is one more thing to do next.

I want to tell these two worthy brothers."

When Deng Jing and Cen Na heard that Yin Xi wanted to promote their granddaughter to be the crown prince's concubine, they were both shocked. No wonder the Yin family treasured Yin Hui like a treasure.

Both families had come to ask for marriage. After the news that "Xue loses three points in vain, Mei Xun is fragrant", many princes and grandsons came to ask for marriage but were rejected by the Yin family. This was their original plan.

Yin Huizhen has gone to Beijing with her friends. It has been more than a year or two since the Yin family planned this matter. The depth of Yin Xi's scheming is shocking.

Deng Jing cupped his hands and said, "Mrs. Huizhen is extremely intelligent and will definitely be chosen as the crown prince's concubine as she wishes. The Deng family is willing to give out 10% of Tang Shuang's dividend as a congratulatory gift."

Cen Na also added: "That's right, the Cen family will also receive a 10% bonus as a congratulation."

Yin Xi was very satisfied with Deng Jing and Cen Na's statements, which shows that after the Deng and Cen families learned that Yin Huizhen might become the crown prince's concubine, they tactfully expressed their intention to follow the Yin family closely.

He stretched out his hand to stroke his beard and said with a sinister smile: "The two kind-hearted old men understand. The frosting is of great importance, and selling it will definitely attract covetousness, so I don't want to rush to sell it yet."

"I'm going to send the sugar frosting I made in advance to Jiankang, so you can find a way to present it to the palace. If the emperor likes it, the sugar frosting will not have to worry about sales, and the price will rise."

"Since the two brothers are kind-hearted, let's give out 50% of the profit each." A trace of guilt flashed in Yin Xi's eyes, and said: "I also intend to give up 10% of the dividend to Huizhen, so that we can make 20% of the profit.

As the dowry for this girl Huizhen."

Deng Jing and Cen Na were also quite satisfied with this arrangement. The frosting business was extremely profitable. Without a strong backing, the three families, Deng and Cen, would never dare to get involved in this business.

If Yin Huizhen could become the crown prince's concubine, the situation would be completely different. Who would dare to seize the property of the emperor's relatives?

Deng Jing and Cenna stayed in Yinjiabao for a day. The three families were going to Guangzhou to buy sugarcane fields, make their own stone honey, and finalize many details such as how to sell it.

The two of them went back to the fort to discuss with the clan elders. On the 22nd of the first lunar month, they handed over the collected gold to Yin Xi and agreed to invite Yang Anxuan to Yinjiazhuang for discussion on the 26th.

Five hundred taels of gold were piled on the table like a small mountain of gold. The servant who came out carrying the gold stared at it and couldn't take his eyes away.

Yang Anxuan once owned five thousand taels of gold. This amount of gold was nothing to him. He asked his servant to find a piece of silk cloth to wrap it up and put it beside the table. This attitude made Deng Jing and Cen Na treat Yang Anxuan

The rating has been raised a little higher.

Yang Anxuan took a sip of tea and said, "Mr. Yin, is this tea produced in the village?"

Yin Xi nodded and said, "That's right. If An Xuan likes it, when the new tea comes out this year, I will ask someone to give you more."

"I wonder when the new coffee table in the village will be released?"

Yin Xi said: "The earliest batch is at the end of February."

Yang Anxuan came to Yinjiazhuang today not only to get money but also for new tea.

In addition to being pleasing to the eye, there are only three reasons for noble people to help each other: mutual benefit, use of value, and gratitude.

Yang Anxuan wanted to ask Xi Hui for help, so he thought about what gifts he could give to impress him.

The Xi family was rich, so they would definitely not take money and silk seriously, and Xi Hui was a self-sufficient person, so using money to give gifts was just asking for trouble. Yang Anxuan remembered the tea he drank with his father when he visited Xi Hui, and he impressed Xi Hui with his words of tea.

He took care of me and supported me. It is said that we became friends over tea.

Thinking of tea, Yang Anxuan had a gift in mind.

Nowadays, people drink tea and make cakes. When drinking, they bake, grind the foam, sift, boil water in a tea pot until it boils, add tea foam, stir up the soup with a teaspoon, and finally pour the tea into a bowl, then add seasonings and mix with the tea.

Drink the foam together.

This way of drinking tea was gradually replaced by the brewing of loose tea in later generations. According to the saying that existence is the truth, Yang Anxuan planned to show Xi Hui the way of drinking tea in later generations in advance, maybe he could impress Xi Hui with this.

Yang Anxuan smiled and said: "I recently learned a method of making tea. I hope Mr. Yin will tell my servants when the new tea is picked."

Yin Xi immediately thought of "Tiangong Kaiwu" mentioned by Yang Anxuan. There was no need to ask which book this tea-making method must have come from.

He looked at Yang Anxuan with a complicated expression and said darkly: "Don't worry Anxuan, I will definitely send someone to invite you when picking tea."

After learning about the existence of "Tiangong Kaiwu", Yin Xi immediately sent more than a dozen tribesmen around Luoyang to search for the Song Taoist mentioned by Yang Anxuan, hoping to find this book.

More than a month passed, and the people sent to search reported back that they found many Taoist temples, but there were no Song Taoists.

Unwilling to give up, Yin Xi sent a second group of more than 20 people to spend more time in Luoyang. They not only looked for Taoist Song, but also inquired about where Yang Anxuan liked to go hunting in Luoyang. Maybe they would find something.

…………

In early February, the second imperial edict to encourage farmers was issued. Along with the edict came an official evaluation document approved by the Ministry of Officials of the Shangshu Province.

Originally, the Dazhongzheng assessment was submitted to Situ for review, and the official record was just a formality. Unexpectedly, something unexpected happened this year.

Yang Anxuan, who was classified as upper-middle grade, was demoted one level by Situ Sima Daozi and became upper-low grade.

This surprised the scholars who didn't know the reason. Some people secretly rejoiced, and Chen Shen was one of them. It seemed that something was done in the capital, and they finally vented their bad breath.

Through Wang Xu's bribery of Zhongshu Ling Wang Guobao, Chen Shen was promoted from the chief administrator of Xinye County to the prefect of Xiping County, Ningzhou.

Although he was promoted, it was hard to leave his hometown, and Xiping County of Ningzhou was far to the southeast. Chen Shen couldn't help but feel a little sad.

After he leaves, the Chen family's foundation in Jiyang will definitely be suppressed. Fortunately, the northern border is unrest and Xinye belongs to the front line. There is no worry of war in Xiping County.

In December of the 19th year of Taiyuan, the Jin and Yan countries made an alliance in Zhongshan City: the two countries would not attack each other; they would set up five small markets on the north bank of the Yellow River to exchange supplies.

When the covenant was passed back to Jiankang, the court was filled with joy, and thoughts of the Northern Expedition to regain the homeland had long been forgotten.

The court's decree was issued again. Zheng Feng, the minister of Yi Cao who went to Zhongshan City to negotiate peace, was appointed as the chief envoy. Xu Hao, the minister of Sanqi, was appointed as the deputy envoy. General Deng Fang and others were promoted to one rank each; General Yang Siping of Li Feng was promoted to the rank of deputy envoy.

General Saolu, guarding Mengjinguan and assisting in the defense of Luoyang City; General Jianwei, Xi Hui, the governor of Yongzhou, was promoted to the general of conquering the captives and also served as the governor of Qinzhou.

Xiahou Zongzhi, the governor of Henan, and Yang Quanqi, the governor of Xinye, each received a reward of 50,000 yuan; as for Yang Anxuan, Hu Fan and other soldiers who went deep into the northern border, they were rewarded a total of 100,000 yuan and 200 pieces of brocade and silk.

The decree ordered Wang Gong, the governor of Qingyan, Xi Hui, the governor of Yongqin, Yu Kai, the governor of Yuzhou, Yin Zhongkan, the governor of Jingzhou, and others to recruit and train new soldiers, tighten border security, and not slack off to guard against changes.

Yang Anxuan didn't care much about the reward given by the court, but the soldiers who went deep into the enemy's territory and experienced life and death were only rewarded with 100,000 yuan and 200 pieces of brocade and silk, which was so meager.

The court attaches great importance to family background and despises meritorious soldiers. How can the soldiers serve it?
Chapter completed!