A divine healer, a general, a young marquis! Who can rival them!

With the opening of the clinic, medicinal herbs became the top priority.

The number of people seeking medical treatment is increasing day by day, and the cost of medicine is increasing day by day.

The medicinal herb gardens on the outskirts of the city are starting to move. The seedlings have just been planted, but the distant water cannot quench the immediate thirst.

At this time, the medicines needed could only be obtained from a few pharmacies in the city.

That day, Lu Rou finished taking stock of the accounts and frowned.

"Young Master," Lu Rou said, taking the ledger, "some of these medicines don't look right!"

Pointing to a few words, he said, "Yang Hu, honeysuckle and forsythia are all good medicines for detoxification and anti-inflammation. Our clinic needs to use these medicines every day. Half a month has passed, and the price has secretly doubled."

"The price increase is very suspicious," Lu Rou said. "I asked several pharmacy owners, and they all gave the same answer: either they were out of stock or they couldn't buy it."

But the guy from Hengchang was a bit loose-lipped and told the truth: "They've got some goods hidden in the backyard!"

Yang Hu picked up the account book.

He has a plan.

Goods don't become scarce for no reason!

The fact that several pharmacies are giving the same answer suggests that someone is manipulating things behind the scenes!

Within two days, the truth came out.

The clinic's employee went to Hengchang Pharmacy to purchase goods.

They came back empty-handed.

"The shopkeeper said he's out of honeysuckle and forsythia," the shop assistant said, scratching his head. "But I saw he hid several large baskets in the back."

Yang Hu wasn't in a hurry.

I went to the south of the city to have tea with Scarface.

The local tyrant in the south of the city is the most powerful; his intelligence is the best. He's always thinking of repaying the life-saving grace he received.

Scarface laughed when he heard that.

"I know about Dr. Yang's matter," Scarface said, grinning as he pulled at the rough porcelain bowl. "The water in the city's pharmacies is deeper than what you've drunk!"

Manager Hu of Hengchang Pharmacy is the top pharmacy owner in the city. His family has been selling medicine for three generations, and he controls most of the purchasing channels for small and medium-sized pharmacies in the city.

After Yang's Medical Clinic opened, it became increasingly popular, and a medicinal herb garden was also established in the suburbs. It was clear that they would soon be growing their own medicinal herbs.

They stole someone else's job and cut off their own source of income.

They won over five or six pharmacies in the city and set rules.

The medicinal herbs that Yang Ji wanted were either refused or he was ripped off at a much higher price.

Let it out for some fresh air.

"The herbs from Yang's shop in the east of the city are of dubious origin... Herbs grown in the suburbs have little medicinal value; don't blame me if they kill someone."

Out of stock, price gouging, and a bad reputation.

The three moves were intended to either completely wipe out Yang's family or to back down and admit defeat.

"The big shots in town are all watching the show," Scarface said in a low voice. "They're all waiting to see if this quack doctor can still run rampant without his herbal medicine shop."

Scarface is going to smash up Hengchang's business.

Yang Hu pinned him down.

"A direct confrontation won't work," he said, throwing down his bowl. "Smashing his shop would make me famous, a notorious thug backed by a gang. All those onlookers are watching me closely, waiting for me to make my move!"

The only way to deal with this is through the methods used by pharmacies.

He returned to the clinic and called several people over.

Lu Yan manages the pharmacy and knows best how much stock is left.

"We need to use honeysuckle and forsythia sparingly; they should last another five or six days," Lu Yan said, flipping through a small note on the medicine cabinet. "If we really run out, I can use a different formula. Dandelion and violet can also clear heat and detoxify; you can't find these things outside the city. But it's just a little short..."

Yang Hu nodded. This was a backup plan that could hold out for a few days.

However, there are still three things to do to solve this problem.

The first thing is to submit Sun Ji's work.

Sun's Jishetang in the south of the city is the largest pharmacy in the city. It was Yang Hu who cured Old Manager Sun's heart disease. So Old Manager Sun said that if you want anything, you can just go to Jishetang.

Yang Hu went there himself.

Upon hearing this, Old Manager Sun sneered: "Old Hu's little scheme. He tried to swallow up my Jishetang back then but failed. Now he's trying to squeeze out my Doctor Yang. Whatever Doctor Yang wants, Jishetang will provide. The price will be the same as always, not a penny less."

Among the five or six stores in Hengchang United, they are all small pharmacies, and even with the addition of Jishetang, the volume of goods is still not enough.

The second thing is the herb garden.

Liu Ye knows about and can identify medicinal herbs. Recently, she has been keeping an eye on the medicinal herb gardens in the city. Yang Hu asked Liu Ye to plant honeysuckle and forsythia, which are considered lowly plants, in the ground first. Liu Ye accepted the order and immediately led the farmers she had hired to plant the medicinal seedlings with roots dug up from the mountains, row by row. Liu Ye squatted on the ground, measuring the moisture of the freshly turned soil, her eyes shining as clear as a mountain spring.

"These wretched lives, they'll come back to life with just a little water," Liu Ye wiped away her sweat. "We rushed things too much. Every season we can get out as early as possible is a season we can control. We don't know if the medicines from the city will work. Only the medicines that grow in our own fields are truly under our control."

The last thing fell to Lu Rou.

"They're raising drug prices so we can't hold on any longer," Yang Hu told Lu Rou. "Write down all the changes in drug prices over the past two weeks. Record exactly which pharmacies raised prices and by how much. You'll need it someday."

Lu Rou nodded, blinked, and had already guessed a bit.

After completing the three steps, Yang's medicine stabilized.

Hengchang is waiting to see how Yang Ji Guan Zhang is handled.

After a week's wait, Yang's shop opened on time, and all the medicines were still there.

Manager Hu couldn't sit still any longer.

He had stockpiled a room full of honeysuckle and forsythia in his warehouse in order to raise prices and make a fortune to force Yang Ji to submit. However, he did not expect that Yang Ji had enough stock and that other clinics would not have much demand. Moreover, medicinal herbs have time limits.

Herbs that clear heat and detoxify will mold and rot after this solar term.

The room full of medicines was about to become a burden in his hands.

The news had been circulating for a while.

"Hengchang inflated drug prices and cheated Yang's family; it's said they lost a whole room full of medicines and suffered heavy losses."

"I've heard that Yang's medicinal herb garden is doing well. If I grow my own herbs in the future, will I still need to ask the pharmacy to raise prices?"

"Doctor Yang from the east of the city! A few days ago, in the herb garden on the outskirts of the city, he saved a man bitten by a snake, pulling him back from the brink of death. Isn't that enough for him?"

The tide turned, and the small pharmacies that had previously colluded to raise prices panicked.

Stockpiling goods will only lead to losses. Yang's side has Sun's backing, and they already have their own stock in their own garden. If this drags on any longer, they'll be the ones who lose money.

Several small pharmacies successively relented, secretly lowering their prices back to normal, and even sent people over to inquire, wanting to resume business with Yang's.

Yang Hu didn't make things difficult for them.

If you can buy the medicine, then buy it, as long as the price is right.

Only Hu, the manager of Hengchang, was left with a warehouse full of medicine that was stuck in his hands. Not only was he heartbroken from the losses, but he was also ridiculed for being someone who tried to trip someone up but failed miserably, and he couldn't hold his head up in the city.

That evening, Lu Rou put away the account books and placed them on Yang Hu's desk.

"Young master, we didn't lose a single penny this time!" Her eyes sparkled. "I remember exactly who raised the price over those two weeks, and by how much. It's crystal clear!"

Yang Hu smiled.

"Remember this well!" he said. "From now on, when dealing with pharmacies, keep this in mind, and no one will be able to fool us!"

Throughout this whole affair, he didn't throw a single punch or kick; he relied entirely on Sun Ji, his own land, and Lu Rou's account.

Lu Yan listened as she sorted through the newly arrived medicinal herbs, her expression relaxing.

Qin Ying wiped the knife in her hand without saying a word.

But she didn't pick up the knife that was resting on her lap for a long time.

"You," she said, "treating illness is like treating illness, and doing this kind of business is also like treating illness!"

"Same here!" Yang Hu took a sip of tea. "When pharmacists try to trip you up, it's like an illness. You have to find the root cause. A direct confrontation is a bad strategy; cutting off the root is much more effective than smashing their facade!"

The medicinal materials hurdle was handled quite smoothly.

However, it's unlikely that Manager Hu of Hengchang will let them off so easily.

His family had been selling medicine for generations, dominating the city's pharmacy scene. Now, a mere out-of-town doctor had easily disrupted their business, even causing them to lose a warehouse full of goods! This grudge... had become huge!

Liu Ye returned from the suburbs and said that the first batch of honeysuckle and forsythia planted in the medicinal garden had already started to sprout. In a few months, their own land would start to produce medicinal herbs, and they would no longer have to depend on the city for their favor.

Yang Hu stood in the courtyard, looking at the medicinal herb garden in the north of the city.

The root sank even further down.

One thing after another happens in this city, but as long as your roots are deep enough, you can handle any number of problems!