Chapter 97

Starting from the first day of the fifth month in the fourth year of the Yingli era, the peaceful and tranquil life of the brothers at "Qingyuan" gradually began to change. The first to take action was the trade group. Fan Wucheng put aside all his other work, and together with Song Feiyang, accompanied by Liu Yunyan, went to the "Yanjue Tower" to meet with the owner, Mr. Lu, and formally began negotiations for the transfer of the brothel. Although buying a well-operated brothel from the other party was not an easy task, with the strength of "Qingyuan" as a backing, combined with Fan and Song's rich experience in business negotiations, and Liu Yunyan's assistance, the transfer negotiations were quite successful, and Fan and Song were very confident about the success of the negotiations. As the acquisition of the brothel proceeded smoothly, other preparatory work related to the cooperation also began one by one.

On the fifth day of the fifth month, the Dragon Boat Festival, Wang Xiaojun, on behalf of all the committee members, invited Yuxu Zi to "Qingyuan" to celebrate the festival together. While everyone was drinking chrysanthemum wine in a lively atmosphere, Zhang Weixin took the opportunity to express his hope that Yuxu Zi could come down the mountain and take on the important task of reviewing new employees for the team. Yuxu Zi's response was indeed as everyone had expected; he politely declined the brothers' invitation, citing the need to manage the Jade Void Palace and the inability to spare the time. Although the brothers were somewhat disappointed, they did not give up. They then proposed that Qingchen could help with this task. Yuxu Zi had no objections to this and readily agreed to the brothers' request. He called Qingchen over, personally conveyed the thoughts of the senior masters, and asked for his opinion.

Although Qingchen was initially surprised by this matter, he did not hesitate much. After a brief moment of thought, he readily agreed, stating that he would do his best and would not let down the trust of the senior masters. Seeing Qingchen agree to help, the穿越者们 were all very pleased, and Liang Ziyue, who was in charge of the review group, was the happiest of all. Although he was a senior uncle in terms of seniority, he was actually younger than Qingchen. Feeling relaxed, he had no senior uncle's airs and pulled Qingchen to play finger-guessing games, drinking chrysanthemum wine very happily.

After the Dragon Boat Festival, on the sixth day of the fifth month, Yuxu Zi left "Qingyuan" and returned to the Jade Void Palace, accompanied by the old immortal Fuyao Zi, who had been staying at "Qingyuan" for over a month. Although the穿越者们 were somewhat reluctant to see them go, they had a lot of work to do, and Qingchen was about to help them. It would be difficult to serve the Grand Master well if he stayed at "Qingyuan." Moreover, Yuxu Zi had been practicing Tai Chi diligently and felt that he needed more guidance, so he hoped the Grand Master could stay at the Jade Void Palace for a while to instruct him. Therefore, the brothers did not try to persuade them to stay and saw them off at the West Gate of Liangxiang City on the morning of the sixth day, before bowing farewell to the Grand Master and returning to "Qingyuan."

After the group returned to "Qingyuan," the four committee members immediately directed the servants to prepare the vehicles, loaded with the generous gifts they had prepared, dressed neatly, and set off in a grand procession to the residence of the magistrate of Liangxiang, Hu Youdao, to attend his son's wedding. For the穿越者们, although Hu Youdao was only a seventh-rank magistrate, the saying "a county official is better than a current manager" held true. Moreover, Hu Youdao was both a county official and a current manager. Although there was a relationship with Zhong Youpeng, the穿越者们 would not miss such a good opportunity to build relationships and improve connections, such as birthdays and weddings.

When they first arrived last year, the穿越者们 were short of money and stayed at the Jade Void Palace. When Hu Youdao's birthday came in July, they did not have much to offer, or rather, they did not have the means to offer much. Now the situation was different. The穿越者们 had a considerable amount of money and had been living in Liangxiang for a long time. It would be inappropriate not to give a generous gift for Hu Youdao's son's wedding. Not only would they attend this time, but they would also not miss Hu Youdao's birthday in two months. Moreover, the need to build relationships and improve connections was not limited to Hu Youdao. For relatives like Zhong Yuwai and Han Tuiguan, during festivals, birthdays, weddings, and funerals, a generous gift was also necessary. In addition, for officials and constables at all levels in Liangxiang County, although they did not need to give as generous gifts as to Hu Youdao, they still needed to give red envelopes during festivals. Furthermore, the committee, on Wang Xiaojun's suggestion, had already started to gather information about Feng Cheng, the manager of the Nanjing留守府, and planned to proactively visit him to build a relationship, so that the team could have more support in Youzhou in the future.

Based on the current situation of welcoming and sending off, the relevant functional groups estimated that the amount spent on various social activities in the fourth year of the Yingli era might reach 700 to 800 guan. In addition to the living expenses of the team members, the costs of the technology group's research and development of various products, the operating costs of various industries, the maintenance costs of Feilong Fort, and the large amount of funds required for the initial phase of the "Expansion No. 1 Action," the total annual expenditure was estimated to reach 8,000 to 10,000 guan. Currently, the team's account, including the various assets received when taking over Wuhu Fort, was about 200,000 guan. Although the money could theoretically last for 20 years, no one in the team would just lie around and do nothing. Everyone understood the principle of "sitting on a mountain of wealth and eating it all away," and the 20-year estimate was just a theoretical value.

As the team continued to develop, its scale would definitely expand, and the number of people relying on the team for survival would also increase. Moreover, there were still over 20 people in the team who were single, and they would definitely get married in the future, and after marriage, they would have children. Once they formed families, their needs for food, clothing, and living space would increase.

In particular, the members of the Dongshan faction, who were mostly white-collar workers before the穿越, were accustomed to a high-quality life. In this era of relatively scarce material and spiritual resources, they naturally sought enjoyment in other areas to compensate for the loss of their previous superior lifestyle. The most obvious manifestation was that, in addition to their regular work, they increasingly preferred to use servants for other tasks, which put a strain on the existing servants at "Qingyuan" — after all, there were only five or six people who were originally the masters. The team had to hire more servants and maids, and their salaries were paid by the team's finances.

In contrast, the military穿越ers from the Xigu faction, who had received some training in the army before the穿越, were more resilient and could handle many daily tasks on their own at the beginning. However, everything is relative, and since the members of the Dongshan faction could demand more servants for their comfort, the members of the Xigu faction naturally followed suit and gradually adopted the practices of the Dongshan faction.

The committee and the expanded committee meeting had discussed this issue, and some people suggested reducing the number of servants and doing more things themselves. However, this led to a debate among the participants. Many argued that this was not a peaceful era, and various disasters could happen at any time. It was better to enjoy life while they could rather than sit on a mountain of wealth and not be able to enjoy it. Moreover, these people were not just lying around; they were also contributing to the team's development and construction in various ways, so others could not say much. Some even suggested that if the team's finances were tight, they could hire their own servants and pay their salaries with their bonuses. However, for safety reasons, the committee could not approve this idea. As a result, the meeting ended without a resolution, with everyone sticking to their own views.

In fact, the living expenses of the team members did not account for a large proportion of the team's expenditures. The main expenses were the maintenance costs of Feilong Fort, which were much higher for 300 people than for 30 people — although the cost of one bandit was much less than that of one穿越er, the difference in numbers was significant. After the bandits of Feilong Fort submitted to the team, they no longer went down the mountain to raid, and all their expenses were covered by "Qingyuan." It was estimated that this year's expenditure would account for more than one-third of the team's total expenditure. However, this money could not be saved, as it was a lifeline for the team, and they could not cut off their own retreat to save money.

Another reason for the large estimated expenditure this year was the "Expansion No. 1 Action." At least one brothel needed to be acquired, and possibly more, so the trade group submitted an estimated expenditure of about 3,000 guan to the committee and the finance group, which was almost as much as the budget for Feilong Fort. Like the maintenance costs of Feilong Fort, this money could not be saved.

In stark contrast to these huge expenditures was the team's potential income this year. Even with a relatively optimistic estimate, the team's total income for the year would not exceed 2,000 guan. The main sources of income were the dividends from "Tianfulou" and the rent from the more than 1,000 acres of good land in Fan County, while the income from the other two shops was much less.

Faced with such a significant deficit, even with the substantial amount of money in their hands, the committee members felt deeply uneasy. In the current situation, it was difficult to reduce expenses, so the only option was to increase income. The best way to do this was through business, and after careful comparison, the trade group proposed the following points to the committee.

First, making money through the operation of brothels. Although some穿越ers, especially female穿越ers, found this method of earning money somewhat dishonorable, most穿越ers were indifferent. They believed that since operating a brothel was necessary for cooperation with the "Feiyan Hall," it was normal to fully utilize the brothel's money-making potential to create wealth for themselves.

Second, using the successful experience of "Tianfulou," they could open high-end restaurants in Youzhou City or other larger cities in the Liao Dynasty, and if possible, even in the territories of the Later Zhou and Southern Tang.

Third, using the team's technological advantages, they could quickly develop products that did not exist or were rare in this era, such as glass products, and then open luxury specialty stores to earn substantial profits.

In addition, Fan Wucheng, the head of the trade group, even suggested combining brothels, restaurants, and specialty stores to create a large shopping and entertainment center that integrated eating, drinking, playing, entertainment, and shopping, similar to a modern shopping mall. He argued that this unprecedented idea would attract people in this era. However, while his suggestion was good, it was difficult to implement. Not only would building such a shopping and entertainment center require a significant amount of money, but the location was also a problem. A large commercial city like this could not be supported by the Liao Dynasty in terms of population or purchasing power. To achieve good results, the shopping mall would need to be opened in Kaifeng, Jiangning (Nanjing), or Jiangdu (Yangzhou), the largest cities of the era. Therefore, although Fan Wucheng's suggestion was praised by the participants, it had to be put on hold until the conditions were ripe.

Before realizing Fan Wucheng's grand vision, the穿越ers could only make money through the first three methods. The first method was already in progress and did not require further discussion. The second method had no room for development in Liangxiang City, as "Tianfulou" had already occupied most of the relevant market in this small county. Building another restaurant here would be competing with themselves. Therefore, the trade group suggested that the next development direction should be Youzhou City, and the brothel and restaurant could be considered together. Although they could not build a shopping mall now, they could still build a large-scale entertainment and leisure center in a city like Youzhou. The specific plan would need detailed investigation. Given that the trade group's current focus was on the "Expansion No. 1 Action," this matter would have to be postponed until after the action was completed.

As for the third method, the trade group believed that the focus should still be on glass products, which had a high profit margin. However, due to the current research and development conditions, the technology group could not produce the relevant products in the short term, and the trade group was "a skilled housewife without rice to cook," so they could only wait patiently.

Although the trade group's suggestions could not provide immediate, tangible financial benefits to the team, they were still approved by the committee, which hoped that they could implement these suggestions when the conditions were right. The members of the trade group expressed no problems, as they were confident in their abilities.

The issue of financial deficit and increasing income and reducing expenses was not something that could be solved in a short time, and the committee and relevant functional groups were very clear about this. Therefore, they did not waste too much energy on this issue, as there were still many things to do in May.

On the eighth day of the fifth month, the radio station at "Qingyuan" received two telegrams. One was from Feilong Fort, where Qian Yuanshan and Zeng Zhilin reported that the special forces squad had completed the relevant training and was ready to take on the team's security work. Everyone at "Qingyuan" was very pleased, as this meant that the plan to disperse and live separately could now be implemented. Therefore, the committee immediately replied, instructing Zeng Zhilin and Tang Chao to hand over the work at the fort and quickly lead the "Qingyuan" security class and the "Jingyuan" security class down the mountain to first move into "Jingyuan" — after the穿越ers moving to "Jingyuan" had settled in, the "Qingyuan" security class would move into "Qingyuan" to perform its duties. The remaining group at Feilong Fort immediately took action, and Zeng Zhilin and Tang Chao led the team down the mountain that day, while Qian Yuanshan, Lu Yue, and Mutel continued to stay at the fort.

The other telegram was from Wang Feng, who was escorting Zhang Xiaofei back to the Yuxing Temple. He reported to the committee that he and Zhang Xiaofei had entered the territory of the Liao Dynasty and would arrive at "Qingyuan" the next day. Wang Xiaojun was naturally the happiest to receive this news. He sent a telegram instructing Wang Feng not to let his guard down and convened a committee meeting to discuss whether they should hold a formal and grand welcome ceremony, as they had done for Xie Tian and his brothers. The committee members were in agreement that it was necessary. They believed that whether to hold a welcome ceremony represented the team's attitude towards new members, which would determine their status in the team and how the servants and maids would view these new members. If they did not give new members the same treatment as