Chapter 68: Give Him All the Fame and Wealth

In the flower-filled building, Lu Yunyang listened to Nichang's report with a sullen face.

Nichang answered hesitantly and cautiously this time.

"Master, we have already investigated. Most of Yiyeguzhou's real estate is currently in the hands of Miss Jiang Jiu. In addition to the properties in Sucheng, Yiyeguzhou also has properties in Jinling, Qiantang, Yangzhou, etc."

Lu Ming also added: "You wouldn't know it if you didn't check. It turns out that Yiye Guzhou's former boss is so rich. In addition to buying shops, she often buys shops on one or two streets. She also likes to buy land. She has land in the suburbs of every city. In some villages, she even has entire villages as tenants."

Nichang also wanted to favor Jiang Jiu more, but she had too much assets in her hands and could not deceive the prince at all.

"Besides that, there is also the bank. The money that Yiye Guzhou has saved over the past ten years is not a small amount. However, I don't know what kind of agreement the bank has reached with Yiye Guzhou's former employer. I only know that the money is a lot, and no one can take it away except Miss Jiang Jiu. There is no compromise on the rest."

The more Lu Yunyang listened, the more shocked he became. "Okay, okay, no wonder he is said to be the richest man in Jiangnan. His assets are more than those of me, the Ninth Prince. I didn't check it carefully at first and thought it was because of the high profits from those businesses. I didn't expect that he had so much in private."

Lu Ming heard that Lu Yunyang's tone was not very good, so he looked at Nishang and tried cautiously.

"Master, what are you going to do? The monthly rent for these shops is indeed quite high, but if we buy them, it will also cost a lot of money, which we cannot afford. Besides, Miss Jiang has promised to give you 60% of the profits from the business."

Lu Yunyang squinted his eyes and glanced at Lu Ming coldly.

"You're speaking for her so soon..."

Lu Ming and Ni Chang's hearts skipped a beat, and they quickly knelt on the ground in fear: "We dare not."

Lu Yunyang narrowed his eyes slightly, and there was a chill in his peach blossom eyes, which took a long time to dissipate a little.

"Don't worry, I won't do anything to her. After all, my brother is the emperor's lord now. Even if she is as rich as a country, if I kill her, the money won't go into my pocket."

"It is only when it can be used by this king that it can be considered as a real use."

Lu Ming put his anxious heart back into his stomach, exchanged a glance with Nichang quietly, and at the same time slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Master, what are you going to do next?"

Lu Yunyang stood up and paced back and forth: "According to her suggestion, let the salt business be under the control of the court. In this way, the salt fields by the sea will become my territory, and I will pay 60% of the tax on the salt business to the court, and we can get 40% of the rest."

"I will write a letter to my brother. This way, my brother can dispel his suspicion of me and buy some time to recruit soldiers and horses."

Lu Ming replied: "Yes."

At this moment, the secret guard came to report: "Master, Mr. Gu wants to see you."

Gu Chengyan hurried into the secret room. Lu Yunyang looked at his sweaty forehead and frowned: "Why are you in such a hurry?"

Gu Chengyan took out a land deed from his sleeve pocket.

"Your Highness, here is the deed to the salt field by the sea. Miss Jiang gave it to you, along with the salt field, and said that the sale of salt would become the court's business, and she would no longer have the right to manage it. Just consider it as your first year's dividend."

Lu Yunyang looked carefully and found that most of the salt in the Jiangnan area was bought from Yiyeguzhou. She was willing to give the salt field to him, which showed that Jiang Jiu still had him in her heart.

Before Lu Yunyang could be happy, Gu Chengyan said, "It is now rumored on the street that Miss Jiang is the prince's concubine, and the book "Foodie Skills" compiled by Miss Jiang was actually compiled by the prince himself."

"Now everyone says that although the prince is physically weak, he actually cares about the common people. He cares about the basic needs of the people and teaches them these basic eating and drinking skills."

"They also said that Yi Ye Ping Zhou was a profiteer who made so much money from the common people. Now, we can make the daily necessities ourselves, so we don't have to spend money to buy them anymore."

The reputation of the ninth prince, Prince Qi, skyrocketed, and for a time he was revered by all the people.

But in Lu Yunyang's view, the reputation is too good and attracts attention.

"Anything else?"

Gu Chengyan nodded: "Since this book came out, many shops have opened up in the world. It is said that Miss Jiang disbanded Yiye Guzhou. Except for the workshop, other shopkeepers can stay if they are willing. If they don't want to stay, they can open their own shops with a sum of money."

"In the past few days, the government has indeed increased the number of business applications from dozens of stores. Miss Jiang changed the name of her own store to 'six plus three', and some of the fake shops were exposed."

Lu Yunyang naturally knew about it, because Jiang Jiu had explained all the consequences to him.

"This move is to cut off the source of the trouble. She has done a good job. No need to worry about them. No matter how turbulent the merchants are, the Chamber of Commerce will handle it. As long as the taxes are paid on time, it will be fine."

"Take some time to look at the salt field she gave you. After you take it over, take good care of it."

After finishing the report, Gu Chengyan did not forget to praise Jiang Jiu a few sentences.

"Miss Jiang is really smart. I thought she was too young to handle the treacherous people like Manager Cheng. I didn't expect her to use such a trick. Not only did she break the monopoly of Yiye Bianzhou, but she also made the prince gain both fame and fortune. It's really rare."

Although Lu Yunyang appeared to be calm and composed on the surface, he was already very proud in his heart. In fact, Jiang Jiu still cared about him a lot.

Just as he returned to the room after assigning tasks to his subordinates, the secret guard in charge of secret tracking came to report.

"My Lord, Miss Jiang went to worship Guanyin. On the way, she met a young man wearing a mask. Miss Jiang said she would not be back tonight. She wanted to meditate and worship Buddha in the Guanyin Temple."

"Worship Guanyin? What day is it today? Why worship Guanyin?" Lu Yunyang muttered unhappily.

The maid who served him reported back, "The young lady told the prince early in the morning, and the prince agreed. Today is the eighth day of the ninth month, and tomorrow is Miss Jiang's birthday. According to Madam Qian, Miss Jiang's birthday was celebrated in the temple in previous years."

Jiang Jiu is going to have his birthday?

Since both her parents were no longer around, she naturally went to the temple to worship them on her birthday.

How could he meet a masked man on the way to the Guanyin Temple? Lu Yunyang immediately stood up and said, "Pack up and go to the Guanyin Temple."

Speaking of Jiang Jiu, she has been busy for so many days. Because it is her birthday, she has to stay in the temple for three days as in previous years.

Aunt Qian had arranged it long ago.

Jiang Jiu had told Lu Yunyang about it early in the morning, but she didn't know whether he took it to heart.

In the past few days, Princess Qi Yang came to Lu Yunyang every day to drink and reminisce. Lu Yunyang had to deal with her while also handling official duties, which was indeed very tiring.

Jiang Jiu took Nanny Qian and went to the Guanyin Temple alone in a light carriage.

Because it was neither Chinese New Year nor a festival, there were not many people in the Guanyin Temple.

After all, they were in Su City, and the road was very flat. When they arrived at the foot of the mountain, Jiang Jiu took Nanny Qian up the stairs.

As he was walking up, Jiang Jiu suddenly discovered that there was a man lying beside the bamboo forest in front of the temple.

Wearing a black tights and holding a long sword in his hand, Jiang Jiu originally liked to meddle in other people's business, but he was wearing a mask on his face.

This mask was exactly the one Jiang Jiu wore when he was rescued.