Marry the villain and the whole court kneels down and calls her the queen

Stealing business? Business war?

Jiang Jiu shook his head slightly and handed two bars of soap to Xia Zhi.

"Take it and use it."

Xia Zhi picked up Yiye Pianzhou's soap and put it under his nose to smell it: "Their soap is not as good as the one made by the girl herself. Ours is more fragrant."

Lu Yunyang looked at Jiang Jiu in shock.

She made the soap herself, and judging from Xia Zhi's calm expression, she seemed to be used to using it.

"Wait, let me smell it."

Lu Yunyang picked it up and sniffed it twice, comparing them carefully: "Indeed, this one is more fragrant and more delicate. Madam, is this really made by you?"

Xia Zhi smiled proudly: "Of course, my daughter has been making it for many years, but it is very troublesome to make. It can only be made once a year, and it costs eight yuan each time. However, the fragrance is different every year. I remember that the best smelling one is osmanthus."

"The fragrance of plum blossoms is the lightest, while the fragrance of jasmine is elegant."

Xiang County is too small, and Jiang Jiu only made it for his own use and did not circulate it, so it is normal that everyone does not know about it.

Moreover, the ancients liked to use incense, and the fragrance that hit them in the face was so strong that they could not smell the fragrance from others.

Lu Yunyang then looked at Jiang Jiu suspiciously: "No wonder you always have a faint fragrance on your body. I thought it was body odor, but I didn't expect it was from washing clothes with scented soap..."

She was even more extravagant than him. He only washed his underwear with soap.

others……

He doesn't seem to wear old clothes very often.

"If you feel better, come with me to Hua Man Lou tomorrow. It's officially opening the day after tomorrow, so you should definitely go and see the rehearsal. If you have any good suggestions, please share them..."

Jiang Jiu keenly noticed that Xiangzhi's topic was wrong and suddenly changed the subject.

"Okay." Lu Yunyang touched his nose and agreed readily.

He didn't want to talk about it today, but as long as she still wanted to take back the management rights of Yiye Pianzhou, they would talk sooner or later. He wanted to see how a weak woman like her could fight against those jackals.

The next day, early in the morning, Lu Yunyang followed Jiang Jiu to Huamanlou.

Hua Manlou in Sucheng is not newly opened. It is also Lu Yunyang's property. It is just very low-key on weekdays and is managed by Gu Chengyan.

Since Jiang Jiu is here and has brought the courtesans Nishang and Chu Yu with him, at least there should be some appearance.

So Lu Yunyang cooperated with Jiang Jiu to redecorate Huamanlou and reopen it.

"Let's go check out the Rouge Shop first. I haven't been there for the past two days, so I don't know how it's going. I heard last time that they were going to join some kind of guild..."

Jiang Jiu was a little worried.

Xia Zhi comforted her: "It's okay, Jiao Niang will take care of it."

Jiang Jiu sighed: "She is just too stubborn. Unless she encounters something that cannot be solved, she will not bother us."

Last time, in order to find out Xiaojiu's background, Lu Yunyang set up a scheme and almost sold Jiaoniang out, but Jiaoniang didn't say a word. If the girls from Hongxiuzhao hadn't seen it and notified Jiang Jiu, I'm afraid Jiang Jiu would have really gone to the county government to file a complaint.

Now Sucheng is no match for Xiangxian County, and even Lu Yunyang has to seek help from the Ninth Prince.

Sometimes women's intuition is very sensitive. Sure enough, as soon as Jiang Jiu and his companions' carriage arrived at the entrance of the alley, they saw a group of people gathered in front of the Rouge Shop.

"If you don't join the Chamber of Commerce, you have to pay silver. Ten taels a month, not much. Otherwise, don't even think about opening a shop here."

Jiao Niang was furious: "I paid the store fees to open my shop, and the shop is also registered with the government office. I also pay all the taxes every month. You are just a chamber of commerce, not a government office. Why do you take my money?"

The visitor was quite arrogant: "We are the Sucheng Chamber of Commerce. We pay taxes to the King of Qi, and all the money we collect is given to the King of Qi. Even if you are a newly opened shop, you must know that this is the prince's fiefdom. Even the prefectural government has to listen to the Ninth Prince."

Jiao Niang pursed her lips, her face full of anger, but Jiang Jiu also told her not to let her directly conflict with the Ninth Prince's men, because Jiang Jiu could not handle it.

"What if we join the Chamber of Commerce? Will the monthly management fee be waived?"

The visitor rubbed his chin and laughed contemptuously, "You can't just join the Chamber of Commerce if you want to. First, you have to sell your goods to the government, and then your sales volume must reach a certain amount. Some small businesses that can't make more than a few cents a month are not accepted by our Chamber of Commerce."

Jiao Niang was so angry at them that her face turned pale.

"Okay, since you said not all merchants need to join the Chamber of Commerce, that means other small shops also have to pay management fees. Some of them don't make ten taels a month, so do they have to pay ten taels too?"

The visitor laughed proudly and said, "Prices are definitely changing. Big shops like yours charge ten taels of silver, while street stalls only charge one tael. As for these mobile vendors, we are a chamber of commerce, not the government, so we don't charge them."

Jiang Jiu listened for a long time and finally understood. Isn't this just like collecting protection money?

He instructed Xia Zhi: "Go and tell Jiao Niang to pay the fee first. Don't bother with them and waste your time."

Lu Yunyang glanced at Jiang Jiu indifferently. He thought Jiang Jiu would fight back hard.

"If you feel the fees are unfair, you can go to the government office and sue them..."

Jiang Jiu glanced at Lu Yunyang as if he were a fool. "What can I use to sue? Not to mention that the Chamber of Commerce is fighting in the name of the Ninth Prince, Prince Qi. The Chamber of Commerce is an organization, not an individual. The law does not punish everyone. Even if the prefect dared to intervene, it would be impossible for him to punish so many merchants at once."

It seems that Jiang Jiu is not only sensible, but also very worldly-wise. She is much better than the daughter of County Magistrate Jiang.

Lu Yunyang raised his beautiful eyebrows, leaning against the carriage like a skeleton, and teased her with a sly smile: "So you're just going to let it go? I don't think you're the kind of person who would easily suffer a loss..."

Jiang Jiu lifted the curtain to see the reactions of the Chamber of Commerce and the others. Jiao Niang was definitely unwilling to accept this: "We definitely can't just let this go. The Chamber of Commerce is using the Ninth Prince's name to make money everywhere. The key question is, does the prince know about this?"

Lu Yunyang glanced at Jiang Jiu with a half-smile: "Do you know how? So what if you don't know?"

Since I plan to cooperate with Lu Yunyang, some things and ideas cannot be hidden.

"As far as I know, the Chamber of Commerce has been around for twenty or thirty years. It's said that it was originally founded by a small group of people who wanted to monopolize their business. Back then, they only had to pay taxes to the government. The establishment of the Chamber of Commerce is beneficial to businesses."

Lu Yunyang lowered his eyelids, hiding the surprise in the depths of his eyes.

"anything else?"

Jiang Jiu continued his analysis: "Sixteen years ago, the Emperor gave Sucheng to the Ninth Prince as his fiefdom. Several wealthy areas in Jiangnan were also divided up. Qiantang was the fiefdom of the eldest princess, while the most prosperous areas of Jinling and Yangzhou were given to the Emperor's brother, the Fourth Prince, who was born to the same mother."

"This will not only break the monopoly of the One Leaf Boat Chamber of Commerce, but will also allow the Fourth Prince, the Eldest Princess, and the Ninth Prince to check and balance each other."

"And in Sucheng, when the Ninth Prince arrived, the president of the Chamber of Commerce was still a small boat. As for the sudden appearance of the Jiang family and these inexplicable expenses, it's hard not to imagine what the Ninth Prince did."

Jiang Jiu didn't say it clearly because she didn't dare to say anything in front of Lu Yunyang because there was no evidence, even though Lu Yunyang was her husband and she had promised to give him a share of the dividends.

If Lu Yunyang favors his beloved and betrays her, she will be finished.