If the business woman does not help the poor, the villain's dream of prosperity will be shatter

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "This was given to me by a fellow villager of mine. He said it is growing very well and will look festive if left outside."

He generously offered, "Miss, if you like, you can pick and eat them. But do you really know them? Please don't eat them and get sick."

Qin Shu's eyes turned slightly, and she said, "Shopkeeper, how about I tell you to make a pot of topping with this fruit?"

The shopkeeper hesitated.

Qin Shu smiled and said, "Don't worry, shopkeeper. If anything goes wrong, I will compensate you for all your losses."

The shopkeeper waved his hands quickly.

I picked a few tomatoes as I was told, washed them and cut them into pieces.

Put hot oil in a clean pot, add tomatoes and stir-fry slightly, then add water.

When the water boils, beat three eggs and slowly pour them into the tomato soup.

Add salt and coriander at the end.

This pot of tomato soup was enough to pour over more than ten bowls of noodles.

While cooking, Qin Shu noticed that there was a large jar of coarse salt on the table next to the shopkeeper's stove.

This coarse salt is snow-white and crystal clear.

Salt is expensive and rice is cheap.

Moreover, salt has always been controlled by the imperial court.

Selling illegal salt is a serious crime.

There are two kinds of salt circulating in the market: one is official salt, which is sold publicly. However, the official salt is expensive and must be purchased from the salt bureau specially set up by the government.

Even in the Qin Mansion in the past, the salt they bought was crushed into pieces using stone mortars.

The dishes I usually cook are bland.

The other is private salt.

The price of private salt is relatively cheaper.

But if you want to buy private salt, you have to risk being caught.

Even so, ordinary people are still willing to take the risk and buy relatively cheap private salt.

As for the poor people whose lives were even more difficult, they could only make saltpeter themselves.

Like this shop, a full jar of coarse salt is placed directly on the stove.

This is not showing off, but being arrogant.

Qin Shu took her eyes off the salt shaker and called out to the customers in the store, "Come on, today, I'll treat you all. Everyone, have a try."

At first, some people were afraid to eat it. The red, yellow, and green colors looked very bright, but they didn't know if it was poisonous.

Qin Shu started eating first.

Seeing this, other customers also tasted it carefully.

After tasting it, everyone exclaimed, "It's really delicious!"

"It has a refreshing aroma, slightly sour and sweet, and the scent of coriander. It's not greasy at all!"

"Delicious, delicious! Shopkeeper, what is the name of this fruit? Do you have seeds? I want to take it back and plant a few trees."

"Yes, yes. Didn't this girl just say that this fruit can be eaten raw?"

Qin Shu immediately explained: "This kind of fruit can only be eaten when it is fully ripe and the whole fruit turns red. It is indeed slightly poisonous when it is not ripe."

“It’s sweet and sour, very delicious.”

A middle-aged man with a beard walked up to Qin Shu and asked with a smile, "My friend, you seem to be very familiar with this fruit?"

Qin Shu turned her head and looked at him: the man was very fair, completely different from the rough style of this Beiguan.

Although he was dressed in a coarse linen robe, he had an elegant demeanor.

More like a scholar who is well-read in poetry and books.

Qin Shu smiled softly, "Because this is one of the several vegetables I have tried to grow."

The man's voice was low and gentle, like a spring breeze. "My master accidentally got the seeds of this kind of fruit from Jin, but he has never been able to find the key to planting it."

"If you have time, could you please come over and have a chat in the teahouse?"

Just as Qin Shu was about to stand up, the man quickly said, "No hurry, my friend, eat first."

He bowed to Qin Shu and said, "I will go to the Wenzhu Elegant Room of the First Tea House to wait for you, my friend."

Qin Shu nodded in agreement.

Not long after the man left, another person appeared outside the door and looked into the store for a long time.

His eyes swept over Qin Shu and Fu Ying, then he pretended nothing had happened and slowly left.

After Qin Shu and Fu Ying finished their noodles, they left a dime on the table and left.

The two were walking in front. Fu Ying suddenly looked sideways, then took Qin Shu's hand and walked to a stall selling pearl hairpins.

He picked up a hairpin inlaid with tiny beads, gestured at Qin Shu's hair, and calmly picked off a bead.

He lowered his hands and moved his fingertips slightly.

The beads flew out silently.

I heard a cry of "Ouch" and a man in a white robe collapsed on the street about ten feet behind me, knocking over a stall selling rouge.

The people around gathered around.

Taking advantage of the commotion, Fu Ying put his arm around Qin Shu's waist, took a few quick steps, and flashed into a Yipintang teahouse on the street.

Without waiting for the waiter to come forward to ask, Fu Ying said in a cold voice: "Wenzhu Yashi."

When the waiter heard this, he stepped back and gestured, "Sir, please follow me."

Just as the two entered the elegant room, a man in a black robe ran quickly on the street outside the teahouse, craning his neck to look around.

He returned to the teahouse, stood at the door and looked inside for a long time without any results, then left in disappointment.

In the Wenzhu Elegant Room, there was only an elegant man sitting there.

When the man saw the two people coming in, he quickly stood up and bowed to Qin Shu, "He Zhiwen, the chief official of Suizhou Governor's Office, pays respect to Qin Jiezhen."

Qin Shu raised her hand quickly, "No need to be polite, Mr. He."

She asked doubtfully, "What did the Chief Secretary say before?"

He Zhiwen smiled, gestured for the two to sit down, and poured them a cup of tea.

Then he smiled and said, "Actually, I came here on the orders of my master to meet with the governor."

"Don't worry, Governor. I just arrived in Suizhou not long ago, and not many people here know me."

Qin Shu nodded slightly.

He Zhiwen did not keep the question secret and asked directly: "Has Jiezhen seen the jar of salt in the noodle soup restaurant?"

Qin Shu responded softly.

He Zhiwen gently twisted his beard and said, "Linbei Road is rich in two things: one is salt, and the other is iron ore."

"In the eight prefectures and sixty-seven counties of Linbei Road, there are six salt wells, two salt ponds, and three iron mines. It can be said that 80% of the salt in the entire Great Zhou Dynasty came from Linbei Road."

Qin Shu was shocked beyond words.

Because in her understanding, or in the understanding of everyone in the entire Zhou Dynasty, most of the salt used by the people of the Zhou Dynasty came from sea salt in Hedong Road.

Logically speaking, sea salt should have a strong smell.

The "sea salt" from Hedong Road is pure white and contains almost no impurities.

There is no mixed taste either.

It would make sense if the so-called "sea salt" was mineral salt and lake salt smuggled out from Linbei Road.

If what He Zhiwen said was true, then there was more than just a problem in the officialdom of Linbei Road.

Even Hedong Road was involved.

Therefore, that small seal should be a very important seal in the entire smuggling salt trafficking line.

Those complicated patterns, like the VIP cards Qin Shu had made before, are an anti-theft and anti-counterfeiting mark.

Only if those subtle lines match, can this smuggling of salt be successful.