Chapter 47 The Chamber of Commerce is here to cause trouble

Stealing business? Business war?

Jiang Jiu shook his head gently 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 and sniffed 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 look, she seemed to be used to it.

"Wait, let me smell it."

Lu Yunyang picked them up and sniffed them 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 doing it for many years, but it is very troublesome to do, and can only be done once a year, eight pieces each time. However, the fragrance is different every year. I remember that the best smell is osmanthus."

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

Xiang County is too small. Besides, 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 loved to burn incense, and the aroma that hit them head-on was so strong that they could not smell the aroma from other people at all.

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 because you used soap to wash clothes..."

She was even more extravagant than him; she only washed her underwear with soap.

Others...

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

"If you feel better, come with me to the Plaza tomorrow. It will officially open the day after tomorrow. You must go and watch the rehearsal. If you have any good suggestions, please give me some..."

Jiang Jiumin 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. As long as she still wanted to take back the management rights of Yiye Pianzhou, they would talk about it 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.

The Huamanlou in Suzhou is not a new opening. It is also an industry of Lu Yunyang. 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 Hua Man Lou and reopen it.

"Let's go to the Rouge Shop first. I haven't been there for the past two days and I don't know what's going on. Last time I heard that it was going to join some kind of chamber of commerce..."

Jiang Jiu was a little worried.

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

Jiang Jiu sighed: "It's just that she is too stubborn. Unless she encounters something that cannot be solved, she won't bother us."

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

Today, Sucheng is not as good as Xiangxian. Even Lu Yunyang has to seek help from the Ninth Prince.

Sometimes women's intuition is very sharp. 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 at the door of Yanzhifang.

“Not joining the Chamber of Commerce

You have to pay silver, ten taels a month, not much, otherwise, you can forget about opening a shop here."

The girl was furious: "I paid the shop fees to open the shop, and the shop is also registered with the government office. I also pay the monthly taxes without missing a penny. 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 King Qi, and all the money we collect is handed over to King 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 come into direct conflict with the Ninth Prince's men, as Jiang Jiu would not be able to handle it.

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

The visitor touched his chin and smiled contemptuously: "You can't join the Chamber of Commerce just because you want to. First, you have to sell your products to the government, and then your sales volume must reach a certain amount. Some small businesses that can't make more than a few dollars a month are not wanted by our Chamber of Commerce."

The little girl was so angry at them that her face turned pale.

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

The visitor laughed proudly and said, "The price is definitely variable. A big shop like yours charges ten taels of silver. The street stalls only charge one tael. As for these mobile vendors, we are a chamber of commerce, not the government. We don't refuse to accept their money."

Jiang Jiu listened for a long time and finally understood. Isn't this equivalent to collecting protection fees?

He told Xia Zhi: "Go and tell Jiao Niang to pay the fees first, and don't waste time entangled with them."

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

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

Jiang Jiu glanced at Lu Yunyang as if he was looking at a fool. "What can I sue? Not to mention that the Chamber of Commerce is fighting in the name of the Ninth Prince Qi Wang, the Chamber of Commerce is an organization, not an individual. The law cannot punish everyone. Even if the prefect dares to intervene, it is impossible to punish so many merchants at once."

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

Lu Yunyang raised his beautiful eyebrows, leaned 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 will easily suffer a loss..."

Jiang Jiu opened the car curtain to see the reactions of the Chamber of Commerce and others. Jiao Niang was definitely unwilling to accept this: "We can't just let it go like this. The Chamber of Commerce is using the name of the Ninth Prince to collect money everywhere. The key question is whether the prince knows about this or not?"

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 kept secret.

"As far as I know, the Chamber of Commerce has been around for 20 to 30 years. It is said that it was started by a small group of people in order to monopolize business. In the past, they only needed 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 his eyes.

"What else?"

Jiang Jiu continued to analyze: "Sixteen years ago, the emperor gave Suzhou to the Ninth Prince as a fiefdom, and several wealthy areas in Jiangnan were also divided up. Qiantang was the fiefdom of the eldest princess, and the most prosperous Jinling and Yangzhou areas were given to the emperor's brother from the same mother, the Fourth Prince."

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

"In Sucheng, when the Ninth Prince came, 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 is hard not to imagine what the Ninth Prince did in this matter."

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 huge dividend.

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