Chapter 158: Revenge for the Idol! (Part 2)
Shen Ruoyan looked at the sky and urged, "Jiang Dazhu, it's getting late, we should go!"
Jiang Chengfeng turned his head and glanced at Shen Ruoyan, then whispered in Ah Hui's ear, "Dear, there are so many foods. Did Miss Shen pay for them?"
Ah Hui chuckled and said angrily, "Brother Jiang, you can't settle accounts like this!"
Jiang Chengfeng also grinned, and Ah Hui finally understood that Brother Jiang just didn't want to see her sad and was teasing her on purpose. She felt sweet in her heart.
After leaving Yipinxuan, Jiang Chengfeng found that Shen Ruoyan seemed to be in a bad mood. It is speculated that Shen Ruoyan informed Ah Hui last night not for food, but just to give him a face so that he could say goodbye to Ah Hui. But do you think I can be grateful to you in this way? Don't you underestimate me?
Everyone was speechless. When they approached the South Gate, they saw from afar three or four yamen runners holding torches and shouting, while posting notices on the city wall.
Jiang Chengfeng was puzzled and gave a wink to Deshun beside him. The latter rode forward to check and came back soon.
Shen Ruoyan also poked her head out and asked, "What does the notice say?"
Deshun replied respectfully: "In reply to the eldest lady, it is an official notice posted by the Governor!"
"Official document?" Shen Ruoyan frowned slightly. As far as she knew, Governor Ye seldom posted official documents, but once he did, it must be something big.
Out of curiosity, Shen Ruoyan jumped off the carriage to check, and Jiang Chengfeng followed. It was dawn, and the official documents were all written in vertical rows with dense small characters. Jiang Chengfeng was dazzled and asked Shen Yao what was written on it.
Shen Yao glanced through it and said, "It's about a new tax, and it says it's for raising money to repair the river and benefit the people of Jianghuai! It's about standardizing the management of brothels on both sides of the Qinhuai River, and it also says that these brothels will pay brothel business tax. Anyone who pays the tax can go to the government office to register and get a formal business license!"
Jiang Chengfeng stroked his chin lightly, thinking that Old Ye's move was really brilliant! At first, he only gave Old Ye the idea of adding new taxes, but he didn't expect Old Ye to use it flexibly and bring it to the standardization of operations, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.
As a result, many privately-run brothels would be bleeding, because the government had not issued an explicit ban on these private brothels from operating, and Old Ye had taken advantage of a loophole.
Having a formal business license issued by the government is equivalent to obtaining recognition from the government. Even if those private brothels know that this is a trick used by the government to make money, driven by huge profits, these private brothels have to pay taxes and silver.
Just as Jiang Chengfeng was sighing with emotion, Shen Yao continued, "This document also says that the Governor-General has ordered the Jianghuai Commander-in-Chief, Long Fengyang, to dispatch the Cavalry Infantry Battalion to repair the river, and also called on the gentry of the province to donate money to repair the river! It is emphasized that in order to defend their homeland, all the soldiers and civilians of Jianghuai must work together. Anyone who does not obey orders is destroying the Jianghuai province and is a sinner of the country!"
Jiang Chengfeng nodded and smiled, remaining silent.
Seeing that a new tax was to be levied on brothels, as a businessman, Shen Ruoyan, although she despised the business of brothels, sighed repeatedly, "Businessmen have a hard time. If officials want to levy taxes, they only need to talk! I don't know who came up with this stupid idea to set up a new tax!"
Jiang Chengfeng was very upset. The person who came up with the bad idea was right in front of him!
"Ahem..." Jiang Chengfeng coughed dryly, then laughed and said, "Miss, you can't say that! There's a saying that goes, existence is reasonable! The brothel business has lasted for thousands of years, which shows that the market demand has always existed! It's just that the development is not standardized now, and there is a trend of abnormal development. The government just uses taxation to correct it! In this way, the government can increase tax revenue, and the development of brothels is also regulated. It kills two birds with one stone, don't you think?"
The talk of regulating development is completely nonsense. Where there is demand, there is a market. This is true in ancient and modern times. The establishment of new tax items for brothels will not have much impact on the owners of brothels. The tax burden is transferred to the customers, which is similar to the principle of consumption tax.
From today on, the value of the girls in the brothels will increase, and the literati will have to spend more money if they go to the brothels! But this can't be blamed on me, because it's because men like to visit brothels.
Shen Ruoyan stared at Jiang Chengfeng thoughtfully and asked uncertainly, "It seems like you came up with this bad idea?"
"How is that possible?" Jiang Chengfeng hastily denied, "Such a perfect idea, how could a fool like me come up with it? It must have been thought up by the extremely smart staff beside Lord Ye!"
Shen Ruoyan curled her lips and turned to get on the carriage, but suddenly heard a crisp sound of horse hooves behind her. Jiang Chengfeng turned his head subconsciously and saw a woman in a fiery red official uniform riding a big white horse, shouting to the officials who were posting notices: "Have you posted it?"
Jiang Chengfeng looked carefully and found that this was Miss Xinyuan.
Miss Xinyuan is quite popular. When she shouted, the runners turned around and shouted, "It's done!"
Miss Xinyuan nodded and was about to turn her horse around and leave, but she saw a servant in black riding a chestnut horse not far ahead. The servant was actually smiling at her with a sly look in his eyes.
After being stunned for a moment, Miss Xinyuan suddenly became angry. Damn Jiang Dazhui, he actually came to my door himself, let me see how I am going to deal with you!
"Brothers, quickly catch Jiang Dazhu riding the red horse. Lord Zhu has a big reward!"
Hearing Miss Xinyuan's shout, the officers were stunned for a moment, and then overjoyed. They rushed up and surrounded Jiang Chengfeng. One of them shouted, "You bold thief, why don't you get off your horse!"
Jiang Chengfeng just looked at Miss Xinyuan with a smile, "Oh! Miss Xinyuan, I didn't expect you to be so hardworking and come to work so early? But I'm just curious, what do you want to do with all this?"
Miss Xinyuan's pretty face turned cold, and she shouted angrily, "You are so bold, Jiang Dazhu, you beat Mr. Zhu yesterday, I saw it with my own eyes! I want to arrest you today, do you still want to arrest you?"
Jiang Chengfeng glanced at the constables around him and spread his hands, saying, "Miss Xinyuan, why didn't you say so earlier? If you have an arrest warrant signed by the prefect, you don't have to arrest him. I will go to the government office myself!"
Miss Xinyuan was stunned. What official document did she have? She did this just to help Master Zhu get revenge! At the same time, she was wondering, could it be that Jiang Dazhu already knew something in advance?
