Seventy years old is the age to take risks!

The next day, early in the morning.

As the rooster crowed in the east at dawn, two disciples were already standing in front of the Jiang residence, waiting for Jiang Yuan to come out.

Jiang Yuan opened the gate and was taken aback when he saw the two people:

"And who are you two?"

The two disciples, Jiang Yuan, hurriedly stepped forward, bowed, and spoke.

"Your subordinate, Yuan Cong, the manager of Weishui Street, greets Master Jiang."

"Your subordinate, Yuan Ming, the manager of Xishui Street, greets Master Jiang."

"Master Jiang, the assessment for the second half of the year is about to begin. We have been ordered to come and fetch you to the Zhu residence for a meeting. The head of the hall has been waiting for a long time."

Jiang Yuan suddenly realized, not immediately understanding that he was already a steward, and waved his hand, saying:

"Lead the way."

The Jiangning City branch of the black market occupies most of the outer city of Jiangning City, generally divided into four areas: east, west, south, and north, each managed by one of the four major halls handling various businesses.

The White Tiger Hall is located in the West District, and is managed by one hall master, three stewards, and dozens of inner disciples.

Monthly assessments are conducted, ranking the profits earned by the four major regions, with rewards and penalties, and distribution based on performance.

The entire organization prospers together and suffers together, but each manager will also be subject to their own performance evaluation.

Jiang Yuan was the one with the best performance in the previous month's assessment, and therefore Zhu Hu highly praised him.

However, now that I'm a butler, I can't focus on just one street anymore.

Upon arriving at the council hall, they saw Zhu Hu sitting in the main seat, his face full of worry.

Below sat two stewards, Liu Mang and Ding Wu, both trembling with fear and not daring to speak, creating a very oppressive atmosphere.

Upon seeing Jiang Yuan, Zhu Hu's face lit up with joy, and he actually stood up to greet him:

"Oh, Brother Jiang, you've finally arrived!"

Liu Mang and Ding Wu also stood up, as if they had seen a savior.

Jiang Yuan was slightly taken aback. "Hall Master Zhu, what's wrong?"

"Why!"

Zhu Hu sighed heavily, saying with exasperation, "It's all because of these good-for-nothings; they're driving me crazy."

"Last month, our White Tiger Hall came in last place among the four halls in the assessment, and the deputy leader even gave me a good scolding because of it. Sigh!"

As he spoke, he looked at Jiang Yuan and said sincerely, "Brother Jiang, you're new here, yet your assessment results are the best among us. Please give us some advice. How did you do it?"

"this....."

Jiang Yuan frowned: "Please explain in detail, Hall Master, so that I may do my part."

Zhu Hu nodded and then explained the situation of the four major halls to Jiang Yuan.

It's frustrating to admit, but the black market, as a large business guild, only makes its profits from three sources: rent, protection fees, and business profits.

Because the distribution among the four main halls was relatively fair, the rent and protection fees collected by each hall were roughly the same.

The biggest difference comes from the core business.

The black market business is no ordinary business.

The casino business of Qinglong Hall, the auction business of Xuanwu Hall, and the prostitution business of Zhuque Hall were all extremely booming, making them very wealthy.

However, their White Tiger Hall's murder business is particularly difficult to run.

Jiangning City is a relatively peaceful city. Where would someone hire someone to kill people every day?

As a result, White Tiger Hall suffered a great loss in business, only able to turn the tide when it occasionally encountered a large deal.

Despite the deputy leader lowering the assessment standards for the White Tiger Hall, it still consistently ranks at the bottom among the four halls.

If this continues, who will still choose to come to their White Tiger Hall?

"That's the situation. Brother Jiang, you've traveled all over the country for so many years, you must be very experienced. Do you have any brilliant methods to help my White Tiger Hall?"

Zhu Hu looked at Jiang Yuan with anticipation.

He was too eager to improve.

Jiang Yuan frowned slightly. He had indeed traveled all over the country and had been involved in many businesses in his early years, but since he was just an ordinary person without any background or financial resources, he couldn't use much of his experience from his previous life.

Perhaps it would actually work on the black market?

The black market is not a traditional martial arts sect; everything is based on money and profit. If I can help the black market make money, it might actually be a good path to advancement.

Thinking this through, Jiang Yuan hesitated for a moment before saying, "Hall Master Zhu, don't be hasty, I have a plan."

"Oh? Brother Jiang, please tell me quickly." Zhu Hu's eyes were full of anticipation.

Jiang Yuan analyzed, "Master, our White Tiger Hall deals in murder. It's probably impossible for us to receive a large number of murder commissions in a short period of time, and we can't possibly complete them."

"Then we'll have to make money from other places."

"Other places?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Mang suddenly realized what was going on and interjected, "Right, right, right! Rent, Master, how about we raise the rent for each stall to one tael per day, and the rent for the shops to one hundred taels per month?"

With just one word from him, he increased the rent by more than three times.

"You bastard!"

Enraged, Zhu Hu slapped Liu Mang across the face, yelling, "One tael a day? You idiot, are you crazy for money?"

"Use your pig brain and think about it properly. Would any fool come to our black market to do business for one or two ounces a day? Huh?"

Liu Mang was stunned and speechless.

Indeed, with such high rents, who would want to do business in the black market?

For example, a vegetable seller might only earn seven or eight hundred coins a day, and would even lose a lot of money if they came here!

Of course, where there is a sleeping dragon, there will naturally be a phoenix chick.

After thinking for a moment, Ding Wu interjected, "Master, I think it would be better if we kept the rent unchanged and increased the protection fee for entering the outer city to three large coins. What do you think?"

"Shut up!"

Zhu Hu slapped Ding Wu across the face with his other hand, gritting his teeth: "Use your muscle-bound brain to think this through. Do you think any idiot would come to our black market to buy things for three large coins as a protection fee? Huh?"

Ding Wu covered his swollen face, looking aggrieved: "Master, this was Brother Jiang's suggestion, not mine."

Zhu Hu sighed, his face full of helplessness: "Brother Jiang, is there any other way?"

Jiang Yuan laughed heartily and said, "You've misunderstood. I don't make money from exorbitant rents and protection fees."

"Oh dear, Brother Jiang, stop keeping me in suspense, you're driving me crazy!" Zhu Hu said anxiously.

"Master, please don't be impatient. Listen carefully to what I have to say."

Jiang Yuan slowly said, "The way of merchants is actually a skill of dealing with people. It's better to study how to take ten taels from one person's pocket than how to take one tael from ten people's pockets. The latter is much simpler than the former."

"Although our black market is somewhat special, it's still based on the same old business practices. The key isn't price, but reputation and traffic. The more traffic you get, the more money you make."

Zhu Hu, Liu Mang, and Ding Wu were completely bewildered and had no idea what was going on.

"Oh, brother, we're all roughnecks and don't understand those complicated rules. Just tell us what to do directly," Zhu Hu said impatiently.

"Alright, fine."

Jiang Yuan coughed, feeling like he was talking to a brick wall, and said, "Master Zhu, I have a few suggestions."

"First, the rent for stalls and shops in every street market will be reduced by half."

"Secondly, we will abolish the protection fee and replace it with a membership fee. By registering as a member for one month, you will become a VIP of our White Tiger Hall. You will not only be able to freely enter and leave the outer city to do business, but we will also provide business protection."

"Third, strengthen protection measures and prohibit anyone from bullying those doing business on the black market; violators will be executed immediately!"

"Fourth, establish dedicated reception staff to meet any reasonable requests from people entering the black market, and always comply with their needs."

"....."

Jiang Yuan spouted off a string of random suggestions, leaving Zhu Hu and the other two dumbfounded.

Damn it, she's gone mad!

Is this a black market or a charity market?