Chapter 82

Kong Qingfeng, the leader of the Divine Wind Society, said calmly, "Su Bangzhu, I don't oppose the alliance, but I suggest we don't choose a leader. It would be better to avoid any face-tearing and falling out."

Qi Yuan of the Blood Robe Society didn't speak, but a faint smile lingered on his face. However, those familiar with his character knew that his lack of agreement was a refusal.

Only He Tian of the Iron Knife Society remained. Although he had a good impression of Su Xin, he wouldn't agree to Su Xin being the leader.

As Kong Qingfeng said, the five families now had roughly equal strength. An alliance was fine, but selecting a leader was absolutely impossible.

Even if the leader was just a figurehead, they wouldn't let someone with similar strength stand above them.

In short, this was a matter of status. With the title of leader, one could do many things.

Just like the Five Mountains Sword Sect in "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer."

Although the Five Mountains Sword Sect was divided, Zuo Lengshan, as the leader, held the moral high ground and had a higher status than the others.

Everyone opposing this was normal in Su Xin's view. If they agreed, that would be strange.

"Everyone, don't rush to oppose. If I become the leader, you won't get nothing. If I am the leader, I will give each of you a gift worth five million taels of silver!"

Everyone was shocked, and He Tian even stood up, exclaiming, "What did you say!?"

"I said that if I become the leader, I will give each of you a gift worth five million taels of silver. What do you think?" Su Xin smiled faintly, his expression calm.

He Tian took a deep breath and said, "Su Bangzhu, we know you have a talent for making money, but you just said five million taels of silver. Does your Flying Eagle Gang have that much in total assets?"

The others had similar thoughts.

Su Xin's ability to make money and manage the gang was well-known throughout Changning Prefecture.

After Su Xin reformed the Happy Forest, it transformed from a dilapidated red-light district into the largest gold mine in Changning Prefecture, with monthly profits increasing several times over.

But that was just a change of tens of thousands of taels of silver, far from the astronomical sum Su Xin mentioned.

The major gangs in Changning Prefecture were not poor, but they were not rich either.

For example, after Su Xin destroyed the Green Bamboo Gang, even with the silver taken by Chen Hong and Ma Qingyuan, plus the sale of some immovable assets, there was only two million taels of silver, including the Green Bamboo Gang's savings over a hundred years.

The Flying Eagle Gang's territory was larger than the Green Bamboo Gang's, but its foundation was not as deep. Su Xin earned more after taking over, but he also spent more, and it didn't even match the Green Bamboo Gang.

The Three Heroes Society, the largest gang in Changning Prefecture, had over ten markets. Although each market couldn't set the monthly fee as high as fifty taels like Su Xin's Yongle Market, the monthly income was still between thirty thousand and fifty thousand taels. With thirteen markets, the Three Heroes Society's monthly income was about five hundred thousand taels.

But with high income came high expenses.

The Three Heroes Society's lower-level members were easy to manage, with five thousand members each receiving one tael of silver, totaling only five thousand taels.

But the elite members received ten times the amount, the small leaders received ten times the elite members, and the major leaders received a hundred times the elite members.

To keep the elite core members loyal, the Three Heroes Society spent half of its monthly income on them. With the various other expenses, the remaining five hundred thousand taels didn't leave much.

Moreover, martial artists like Meng Changhe, who were at the peak of the Later Heaven realm, all hoped to break through to the先天 realm. So every summer, when the merchant caravans from Central Plains arrived, they would spend a fortune on cultivation pills.

Even if these pills were the lowest grade, they were still rare and expensive. The silver spent on them each year accounted for half of the Three Heroes Society's annual income.

So even if Meng Changhe and the others didn't live as luxuriously as other gang leaders, they still didn't save much silver.

The leaders of the major gangs were always thinking about how to make money, but they couldn't imagine what business in Changning Prefecture could be worth five million taels of silver.

Su Xin tapped the table and said solemnly, "Is five million taels of silver a lot? If I do this business to the extreme, it could even double!"

"What business is it, Su Bangzhu? Don't keep us in suspense," He Tian shouted不满地.

Su Xin didn't play games and said directly, "This business is simple. You've all done it before, but you haven't maximized its potential.

This business is monopoly! Monopolize all the specialties from the Southern Barbarian lands. No one outside our Changning Prefecture gangs can buy any goods from the Southern Barbarian lands in Changning Prefecture!"

Everyone was stunned, and only Gong Qingfeng of the Divine Wind Society seemed to have an idea, his eyes showing a strange light.

Su Xin pulled out a ledger from Huang Bingcheng's hand and threw it on the table, saying, "This is the investigation of the prices of Southern Barbarian specialties in the outside world. Although there are differences, they are not significant.

For example, the Moonlight Fox, which can only survive in the Southern Barbarian forests, has a foul smell, and even the Southern Barbarian tribes don't bother to hunt them.

But the fur of the Moonlight Fox is highly valued by the nobles in Central Plains. A complete fur is worth a hundred gold pieces! Not silver, but gold!

But do you know how much the merchants pay the Southern Barbarian tribes for these furs? A single fur is worth only a few taels of silver. If they encounter a Southern Barbarian who doesn't know the market, they can get it for a bag of coarse rice!"

The breathing of everyone present became heavy. Although they knew the Southern Barbarian specialties were valuable, they didn't expect them to be this valuable.

This wasn't just a tenfold profit; it was a thousandfold!

Of course, they also knew that while the merchants made a lot, the risks were also high.

The journey to Southern Hunan was dangerous, with many bandits and robbers.

The merchants from Central Plains had to hire powerful bodyguards at a high price to protect them, so the investment was not small.

But even so, the profit from a single trip to Southern Hunan was astonishing.

Su Xin sneered, "Whether you say the Southern Barbarian tribes are simple or naturally foolish, we can make countless profits from them!

In the past ten days, I have contacted the leaders of the largest tribes in the Southern Barbarian forests and offered to buy their products at five times the market price.

In the future, if they want to trade, they just need to send someone to tell me, and I will prepare it for them. These tribal leaders will become my most loyal allies.

The Southern Barbarian tribes have a good trait: they stick to their word. Once they swear to their gods, they won't go back on their word.

From now on, if merchants from Central Plains want to buy Southern Barbarian specialties in Changning Prefecture, they have only two choices: buy from me or go to other prefectures, which are much farther away.

But the entire Southern Hunan is closest to the Southern Barbarian forests, and the other prefectures are only near the edges, with only small tribes that produce very little.

So, what do you think the merchants will choose?"

Everyone's eyes turned red. How could they choose? As long as Su Xin's price wasn't too outrageous, they would definitely buy from him.

Of course, they could also hire people to go into the Southern Barbarian forests to find valuable herbs and animal skins.

Some have tried this, but the Southern Barbarian forests are humid and full of toxic mists, poisonous insects, and other dangers. Even先天 martial artists can't stay for long, only the Southern Barbarian tribes, who live in such environments, can survive there.

With the merchants' strength, hiring先天 martial artists to protect them in Southern Hunan was already a significant achievement.

If they dared to ask先天 martial artists to go into the Southern Barbarian forests to collect herbs for them, the martial artists would likely throw them into the forests for a few days.

Su Xin threw the ledgers from Huang Bingcheng and Li Huai onto the table and said calmly, "This contains over a thousand items, all Southern Barbarian specialties, with the purchase and selling prices I have marked.

As long as I become the leader, I will hand over the tokens of the Southern Barbarian tribes to you, and you will trade with them in the future."

Su Xin then turned to Qi Yuan, the leader of the Blood Robe Society, who was the hardest to deal with because they didn't lack money.

It was rumored that in the Blood Robe Tower, assassins were divided into five ranks: black, blue, green, purple, and blood.

Only the lowest-level black assassins were paid in silver. The other four ranks required rare treasures as payment.

"Qi Bangzhu, I know your Blood Robe Society doesn't need money, but I think you need this." Su Xin handed a ledger to Qi Yuan.

"This is a compilation of almost all the poisons found in the Southern Barbarian tribes, over a hundred types. As long as Qi Bangzhu has the token, these poisons will be reserved for you."

Qi Yuan opened the ledger and saw the familiar names of poisons, some of which he had never heard of. His hands trembled, and his usually calm face showed excitement.

Su Xin was right. The Blood Robe Society didn't need money, and neither did Qi Yuan. He wanted to leave the Blood Robe Society!

The Blood Robe Tower had hundreds of branches like the one in Changning Prefecture, which provided various services, such as supplying poisons from the Southern Barbarian tribes.

To outsiders, the branch leaders seemed powerful with the support of the Blood Robe Tower.

But only they knew that they were the lowest disciples in the Blood Robe Tower, not even formal disciples, and could be discarded at any time.

Have you ever seen an assassin organization's member like Qi Yuan openly exposed to the public?

The Blood Robe Tower didn't bother to hide their existence. These low-level branches were expendable, and they could easily create hundreds more.

So, these branch leaders dreamed of leaving this awkward position and becoming true members of the Blood Robe Tower.

To become a true black-level assassin, one needed either sufficient strength to pass the Blood Robe Tower's assessment or enough merit to be personally trained by a high-level assassin, improving one's strength until reaching the black level.

PS: Don't complain about the inflation of silver. The amounts mentioned earlier were indeed large, but they have been adjusted and won't affect the subsequent story. As for the purchasing power of silver, it varies in different dynasties. This is not a historical novel, so don't overthink it. In this story, one tael of silver can barely feed a person for a month, as mentioned earlier. The cultivation resources for martial artists are much more expensive than other things. Imagine how much the swords of Gan Jiang and Mo Ye are worth? So, in the later stages, some things can't be bought with silver, and silver will almost disappear.