Chapter 71

The words "reform" were the last thing the people present wanted to hear.

Shafeiying’s reform had directly stripped them of all their power, and now, Su Xin was actually proposing another reform. What more did he want?

The people present were inclined to oppose, but when they saw the body of the major head still lying on the ground, everyone immediately fell silent.

Su Xin glanced around and said in a deep voice, "In the future, the subordinates of all major and minor heads in the Feiying Gang will no longer participate in gang wars. They will only be responsible for routine patrols and managing territories. The monthly pay for all gang members will be fixed at one tael of silver, ten times more for minor heads, and another ten times more for major heads.

The monthly regular fees collected from the territories must all be handed over to the gang. No one is allowed to withhold any part of it privately.

In addition to the current four halls, a new Supervision Hall will be established, headed by Li Hua. Every major head’s subordinates must have someone from the Supervision Hall to oversee the monthly regular fees."

The faces of the major heads present immediately turned extremely ugly. Su Xin’s move almost reduced them from major heads to the status of senior gang members.

Receiving a fixed monthly pay, not being able to keep any of the regular fees collected from the territories, and having someone specifically monitor them—what kind of situation was this?

Su Xin continued, "I know you will all be dissatisfied with these changes, but my principle is only one: merit comes first, and the capable should lead!

If you want more power and more monthly pay, you can give up your status as major heads and join the Battle Hall. As long as you earn merit in gang wars, your monthly pay will not be lacking.

The rights of the Transmission Hall and the Benevolence Hall will remain unchanged, but from now on, Huang Bing will become the hall master of the Benevolence Hall, with Zhuang Li as the deputy hall master. The Transmission Hall will be directly managed by me.

The Punishment Hall has the right to enforce laws but not to make judgments. To punish gang members, you must wait for the Supervision Hall to report first before taking action."

This reform of the major halls was a fatal blow to Dong Chengwu and Zhuang Li.

During Shafeiying’s reform, the Punishment Hall had already lost its law enforcement power and only retained inspection rights.

But now, they didn’t even have the opportunity to supervise; they were merely tools for enforcing punishment.

The Supervision Hall would allow you to enforce laws only if they permitted it; otherwise, you could only watch.

Although he was dissatisfied, Dong Chengwu did not dare to oppose Su Xin.

He already had a grudge against Su Xin, and if he spoke up now, he was certain that Su Xin would kill him on the spot.

Dong Chengwu did not dare to speak, and Zhuang Li was even more hesitant.

Huang Bing was Su Xin’s confidant. With a new emperor, there were new ministers. It was already good that he could retain his position as deputy hall master, and at least the power of the Benevolence Hall had not diminished.

Su Xin tapped the armrest of his chair and said, "Among all the halls, the Battle Hall will undergo the most significant reform. Now, all gang members can join the Battle Hall, and the monthly pay for Battle Hall members will be two taels of silver.

However, Battle Hall members will not participate in gang management; they will only be responsible for gang wars, and rewards will be distributed based on merit after each war.

Joining the Battle Hall means putting your life on the line. If you want money and power, you must be willing to risk your life! Those who join the Battle Hall and retreat in battle will be executed immediately!

The Battle Hall will be directly managed by me, with Lin Fuhu as the deputy hall master, along with three other deputy hall masters and several major and minor head positions. As long as you have the strength and merit, you can be promoted."

This reform was the most crucial part of Su Xin’s plan. The other changes were minor adjustments.

In Su Xin’s view, the previous model of the Feiying Gang was a complete failure.

During gang wars, most of the subordinates of the major heads would slack off, with only a few eager to earn merit and fight at the front.

Although there was the Battle Hall led by Lin Fuhu, with only a few hundred members, it was like a drop in the bucket, and the investment was high.

Now, Su Xin’s reform directly divided the gang members into two categories: combat personnel and non-combat personnel.

Non-combat personnel faced almost no danger, but their monthly pay was only enough for a basic living.

Joining the Battle Hall meant risking life and death, but it also meant receiving a large monthly pay and rewards.

This way, the choice was entirely up to the gang members. The timid and fearful could manage territories in the rear, while those with ambition and a desire for money could join the Battle Hall.

As a result, the efficiency of gang wars and the overall combat power of the gang members increased several times.

The major heads present looked at each other. They understood Su Xin’s vision for the Battle Hall, which would truly become the foundation of the Feiying Gang.

They could also join the Battle Hall, but after years of living in luxury, how many of them still had the courage to fight on the front lines?

When they were major heads, they would command from the rear during gang wars, and the number of times they actually fought was minimal.

After careful consideration, almost everyone chose to continue managing territories in the rear, even though their power and monthly pay were reduced to the minimum. At least they still had their reputation and safety.

Only one person chose to join the Battle Hall, and that was Liu Shengming.

Among the many major heads, Liu Shengming was relatively young, so he did not want to retire to the rear just yet.

Moreover, he had spent a lot of money to save his incompetent son, and it was only through Su Xin’s help that the matter was resolved.

That incident had drained his resources, and if he did not join the Battle Hall, the monthly pay from his position as a major head would not be enough to sustain him.

After setting the new gang system, the Feiying Gang needed some time to adapt to the reforms, and these scattered tasks were entrusted to Huang Bing.

After killing Shafeiying, Su Xin’s side quest was completed, but the system immediately issued a new main quest.

"Activate main quest: Dominate Changning Prefecture. Task explanation: Become the largest gang in Changning Prefecture and be nominally recognized as the supreme leader by all forces in Changning Prefecture. Time limit: one year.

Quest reward: Open the store system, reward: one draw from a specified category (limited to 3.5-star level)."

Receiving this quest, Su Xin felt both joy and worry.

He was happy that the store system could finally be opened, providing a stable channel for him, so he no longer had to rely on accumulated draws to take chances.

However, he was worried that this quest was the most difficult of all the main quests so far.

Becoming the largest gang in Changning Prefecture was relatively simple. If Su Xin invested heavily in training the Battle Hall members and continued to improve his own strength, even with the most conservative estimate, the Feiying Gang could surpass the Three Heroes Association and become the largest gang in Changning Prefecture within half a year.

However, becoming the nominal supreme leader of all forces in Changning Prefecture was much more challenging.

What did it mean to be the supreme leader? It meant making the Three Gangs and Four Associations recognize that the Feiying Gang, led by Su Xin, was the largest, and that they would respect him as their leader, willing to be his subordinates.

But how difficult was this?

Among the Three Gangs and Four Associations, the Green Bamboo Gang and the River Gang were weak, and if they did not submit, Su Xin could force them to.

However, the Four Associations were not so easy to deal with.

The Three Heroes Association, for example, had three hall masters who were all at the peak of the Later Heaven stage, and Su Xin had no confidence in defeating them.

The Iron Knife Association and the Divine Wind Association were old gangs that had existed for over a hundred years, with deep roots.

The Blood Robe Association, although having a low presence among the Three Gangs and Four Associations, had an extremely astonishing background.

Behind the Blood Robe Association was the Blood Robe Tower, the largest assassin organization in the martial world, known for daring to assassinate anyone, from the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty to the abbot of Shaolin and the head of the Xiao family, as long as the commission was paid.

The Blood Robe Tower did not establish the Blood Robe Association in Changning Prefecture to compete for territory but to collect some specialties from the Southern Barbarian region.

Changning Prefecture was the largest city closest to the Southern Barbarian region, and every summer, many Southern Barbarian tribes would come out of the forests to sell their specialties.

These items were rare in the outside world, and many merchants came to purchase them. If they could be transported out of Southern Hunan, the prices would at least double a hundred times.

The Blood Robe Tower needed some poisons produced in the Southern Barbarian region, and many of its assassins were experts in using poisons.

Therefore, the Blood Robe Association did not value territory in Changning Prefecture. It only symbolically controlled six territories and did not even collect regular fees. It only sent people out every summer to purchase poisons from the Southern Barbarian region.

In the entire Changning Prefecture, the Blood Robe Association held a unique position. Even when the Three Heroes Association was the most powerful, it did not dare to provoke the Blood Robe Association.

Behind the Blood Robe Association stood the Blood Robe Tower, and even a low-level black-clothed assassin could destroy all the gangs in Changning Prefecture.

Even if Su Xin had the strength to dominate the entire Changning Prefecture, he could not make the Blood Robe Association recognize him as the leader.

They could simply request help from the Blood Robe Tower, and everything would be resolved.

Su Xin rubbed his head, feeling a headache. This was indeed a difficult problem, and he needed to think carefully.

"Strength, what I lack most is still strength," Su Xin sighed.

Putting aside the issue of dominating Changning Prefecture, the first step was to make the Feiying Gang the largest and strongest gang, comparable to or even surpassing the Three Heroes Association.

Su Xin had just broken through to the peak of the Later Heaven stage and had not yet explored the realm of the Innate stage, let alone touched its threshold. Breaking through to a higher realm in a short time was impossible.

Therefore, the current strategy was to rely on the system and see if he could draw some items to enhance his combat power.

Entering the system, Su Xin asked, "How many villain points and draw opportunities do I have now?"

The system replied, "The host currently has 1300 villain points, one intermediate draw, and 37 basic draws."

Su Xin nodded. With the points, he had four intermediate draw opportunities, which was enough.

With the store system about to be opened, Su Xin did not want to waste his precious villain points.

The more he understood the villain system, the more he felt that the draws were a trap, and villain points were the key in the later stages.

Even the advanced draws had a chance of drawing nothing, which was a bottomless pit.

Since learning this rule, Su Xin had given up on accumulating time to exchange for advanced draws. Without enough villain points, everything was just a dream.

PS: Thank you to the readers Xingchen Ye Ying 1, Ling Ye, Shu You 081029183253413, Mo Zhu Xin, Kou Tian Wen Gui, Xiao Luo Yan Chen, Fa Biao Shan Yang, Da Kai 110, Pugo1ng, Gao Cheng Guang, Lu Xun X, Kuang Feng Zhi Qiu, and Liu Xiao for your support.

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