Chapter 164 Arrangements and Discussions
Sometimes, when a vicious person commits a crime in the city, the city lord's mansion is also responsible for arresting and apprehending them. If you encounter a ruthless person, it is common for the entire army to be wiped out.
In Chiyuan, the cost of maintaining order has always been very high.
2. Spirit Field.
Of the 80,000 hectares of spiritual fields outside the city, 40,000 hectares were cultivated by experts from the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect when Guiling City was established, and have always belonged to the City Lord's Mansion. The remaining 40,000 hectares were cultivated by later people and are their private property.
The main crop grown in the spirit fields is spirit rice. Since the offering cycle to Guiling City is five years, the main crop grown is also first-grade spirit rice [Qingyuan Rice], which is harvested every two and a half years!
It's enough to grow two crops, which can be sold to the Jinmanlou branch in the city. In five years, it can earn a million spirit stones. If you include the costs of seeds, labor, fertilizer, etc., the net profit will be around 800,000 spirit stones.
Even though he emptied the city lord's mansion, there are still three thousand early-stage Qi Refining cultivators outside the city. The three major families also have a lot of cultivators, but due to their poor combat strength, they are basically not considered cultivators.
There were also many members of the Tuoba family among them, as well as survivors who were not in the city lord's mansion at the time of the incident.
Wang Yu had once issued an order to exterminate the tribes. If the Bai family knew what was good for them, they would make amends by performing meritorious service. If they did not act, the Guan and Jiang families would help him complete the order to exterminate the tribes in order to gain recognition.
Therefore, he was in no hurry to go out. As for the third source of income for the city lord's mansion, it came from the nearby sect forces.
3. Shuimo Sect, Wenxiang Sect, Zilong Mountain.
These three Core Formation factions are allowed to open branches in Guiling City to sell their products, and in addition to normal taxes, they are also required to pay land use fees.
A family can earn 100,000 spirit stones over five years, which adds up to 300,000. Some smaller sects, like the Lingjiu Sect, also participate, with prices ranging from 30,000 to 50,000 depending on the size of the land they use.
Little by little, over a five-year cycle, you can earn five or six hundred thousand!
The income from these three sources brings the city lord's mansion a profit of nearly three million every five years. This is the value of this fertile land, far exceeding that of the three major families in the city.
But these ledgers are records of Zhuo Kuangsheng's life.
During the century that Tuoba Lei usurped power, the Core Formation forces did not pay a single penny, the three major families evaded taxes through various means, and the spiritual fields outside the city were also seized by others.
It would be good if they could keep even half of it; that's the difference between having no connections and not having connections. Wang Yu felt a pang of heartache seeing this.
Of course, managing a city cannot be based solely on its revenue.
There are also considerable expenses.
The city guards consisted of 3,000 men, the patrolmen of 1,000 men, the farmers of 5,000 men, the personal guards of 100 men, and the miscellaneous servants of 500 men.
Supporting such a group of people would cost nearly ten thousand, and the expenditure would be at least one million spirit stones every five years. Ever since the position of Lord of Guiling City was established, this group has never been at full strength.
In addition, there is a shrine with no upper limit.
They only accept cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage and above. The salaries they offer are not only high, but they also have various special requirements to meet, such as alchemy rooms, earth fire rooms, spiritual herbs and spiritual metals, etc.
Fortunately, the seniors had already helped build it to near completion, so Wang Yu didn't need to spend any more money. The number of people in the ancestral hall also amounted to a large sum of spirit stones.
In addition, 500,000 spirit stones need to be kept as working capital to ensure the normal operation of the city lord's mansion, and to be able to acquire the most valuable items at auctions.
Then subtract the million that must be offered to the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect.
Only 500,000 yuan could end up in Wang Yu's private pocket, and that's under ideal circumstances. There are still many properties that he hasn't gotten back yet.
It took me a long time to read through all this information.
Wang Yu took a deep breath and slowly exhaled after a long while.
"The art of business..."
As the sun rose and the moon set, nothing happened that night.
Wang Yu, who had been pondering the future development issues, finally put down his pen and listed out one by one the problems that Guiling City needed to solve.
In his view, the Guan family's skills in making paper, ink, brushes, and inkstones could not only be used to cooperate with the Shuimo Sect, but also to be sold to nearby cities.
However, each of their families only has about a thousand true practitioners, resulting in very low production, and they are unwilling to let outsiders learn the essence of their craft.
Minor squabbles.
Paper made from spirit bamboo can be sold to talisman cultivators, in addition to those who practice the art of painting.
Needless to say, ink can be used to make talisman ink or as a medicinal ingredient for alchemy. However, it is troublesome and time-consuming to prepare.
The pen is an indispensable tool for talisman masters.
Besides inkstones, the Guan family possesses special skills that can perfectly meet any need of a talisman master. There is a city near Guiling City called [Sanmao City]!
It is surrounded by three sacred mountains covered with yellow thatch grass.
This yellow thatch, once dried, happens to be a superior material for making yellow talisman paper, and over time, the cost of learning talisman-making in Sanmao City has become exceptionally low.
The number of talisman masters increased every year, and over time, the city earned the reputation of being the "City of Talismans," becoming very famous.
If the Guan family were to negotiate, they would definitely be ostracized by the locals. If Wang Yu were to negotiate, he could use the channels of the City Lord of Sanmao to dump his products.
Of course, it's still unknown.
Every city has its own interest groups, and rashly getting involved may not be a good thing. This is merely a development strategy set by Wang Yu.
The most important goal now is to completely seize control of Guiling City.
The agreed-upon two-week meeting has arrived as scheduled.
Outside the city lord's mansion.
Since the new city lord took office, a major wave has been coming. During this period, the five major districts have been more and more obedient than the other. Beneath the seemingly calm situation, there are turbulent waves that can destroy people!
Each faction had its own agenda, their eyes gleaming as they exchanged greetings.
The Bai family's eldest elder, the Guan family head, the Jiang family head, representatives from the three factions, plus Chao Yunniang from Yunmeng Pavilion—seven people in total, no more, no less.
As for the two family heads, Guan and Jiang, who swore they wouldn't come, they were sent back by the ancestor after they returned and reported what had happened.
They said the new city lord was shrewd, and if he wanted to gain their support, the matter of the barbarian tribes could only be done once, so they didn't need to worry.
The representatives from the three factions arrived decisively, and as everyone exchanged pleasantries, the gates of the city lord's mansion opened wide once more.
In one corner of the vast square, there was a pile of frozen flesh and blood of more than 500 cultivators, which sent chills down one's spine.
At that moment, Wang Yu's voice came from afar.
"If any of you need these materials for any cultivation techniques or secret arts, please feel free to ask. I, the city lord, will sell them to you at a 20% discount."
The red-faced old man from Purple Dragon Mountain's eyes lit up. The earth vein purple dragons raised by their sect needed to be fed with flesh and blood full of spiritual energy.
Thirty-two thousand.
“Very good, then let’s sell it to the fellow Daoists of Purple Dragon Mountain.”
Mr. Wang, who is extremely wealthy, no longer cares about these spirit stones, but his frugal nature remains, and he can't bear to waste these things. It would be good if he could sell them for 32,000.
"Please come in, everyone."
The city lord's mansion is surrounded by high walls on all sides, with only four gates on the front, back, left, and right. It is also elevated by 108 steps, so just to get from the street to the mansion's entrance, one has to climb quite a distance.
Upon entering, one is greeted by a 500-acre plaza, flanked by side rooms connected by covered bridges, with numerous stone lions standing along the way.
At the end of the square, there are 360 white jade steps.
It can be said to have taken the concept of ascending to the extreme. It is the largest and tallest building in the entire Guiling City, with the palace above the jade steps, and all the lattice doors with carved dragons and phoenixes are wide open.
The conference room is now bathed in direct sunlight.
Wang Yu sat sideways on the high place, propping his chin up with his left hand as if he were dozing off, with a huge three-tailed snow fox lying behind him as a backrest.
His feet were stacked one on top of the other on the head of the chair that resembled a bed. Sunlight streamed down, illuminating his pale skin. His lazy eyes were lowered, not looking at the people who were walking towards him.
This gesture has different meanings in the eyes of different people, and they will have different feelings in their hearts.
The Fragrance Cult and the Ink Painting Sect: carefree and unrestrained young men.
Bai Family Elder: Arrogant!
Chao Yunniang: A gentleman as beautiful as jade, unparalleled in the world.
The red-faced old man from Zilong Mountain: Disrespectful to elders, extremely arrogant!
Patriarch Jiang: ...
Patriarch Guan: Screw you! If it weren't for the formation here, I would have shown you how treacherous Guiling is!
No one dared to voice these true feelings; they could only endure and tolerate them, since Wang Yu held the moral high ground.
His actions in killing the thief were justified and well-founded; even the most upright official would have to praise him for his good work.
If they were to surround and kill Wang Yu, they would be defying the dignity of the Holy Sect, and everyone would be doomed. They couldn't fight him; they could only submit.
The purpose of Wang Yu's summons was something most people could guess: to restore the old system and expel those audacious individuals who had occupied the city lord's mansion's spiritual fields.
As for how much of that they accounted for.
That's a matter of opinion.
In the silence, the Jiang family head spoke first: "The city lord arranged for the spirit testing to be moved forward half a month ago. My Jiang family cultivators have already completed the spirit testing for the city lord. Here is the list, please take a look."
As the scroll containing the list floated to Wang Yu's front, the Guan family head quickly presented a copy of the list as well.
"This is the list of those who were tested for spiritual energy in previous years. There are quite a few promising talents with four or five spiritual roots. They are all being cultivated into spiritual farmers. My Guan family is willing to send out three hundred people."
"Oh, by the way, this is a list of the young members of the Guan family. The city lord can choose any two as his apprentices."
On the side.
The eldest elder of the Bai family was stunned. How long had it been? And they had all betrayed them. But whenever he thought of the ancestor's instructions, he could only wait patiently.
After all, the head of the Bai family was executed as an accomplice.
This matter could implicate the entire Bai family. Their shady dealings with Huangquan Temple are not to be faked and could be easily uncovered.
To put it mildly, it was Bai Cheng's own idea; he went his own way and died unjustly. It was all because of Lord Wang's words. So he really did come to apologize with thorns on his back and prepared a lot of apologies.
Seeing that the task assigned to him had been handled well, Wang Yu then spoke.
"Tomorrow, all those whose spiritual roots have been detected will be sent to the City Lord's Mansion. I wonder if the three factions would be willing to provide some manpower?"
Shuimo Sect: "By order of the sect leader, all garrisons in the North District are at the command of the city lord."
Wenxiang Sect: "Our leader's meaning is the same as that of the Shuimo Sect."
The old man from Zilong Mountain: "..."
Wang Yu didn't say anything when he saw this.
"In that case, the city defense matters shall be handed over to the two factions for now, and the 100,000 spirit stones required for the land rent over the next five years shall be waived for the time being."
Everyone: "..."
(End of this chapter)
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