Chapter 996 - 845: The Scales Are Not Balanced

As if afraid there were loopholes, Manxi immediately followed up, "Tell them the Heavenly Court is pressing hard. For now the setup of the defensive grand formation takes priority. Order them to recover the money no matter what, and they must not delay it for any reason, or they will be severely punished without leniency!"

With such a huge commotion stirred up, if he weren't scrupling over Mulan Jin, he really would have liked to detain Shi Chun and the others first before saying anything more.

The decree here was transmitted to the Southern Region, Western Region, and Northern, and the three Commanders Shi Chun and the others all expressed firm compliance without the slightest hesitation, saying they would recover the over-issued funds as quickly as possible.

Only after receiving their replies did Manxi feel a little more at ease.

In the Grand Sect Hall of Qiankun Sect, perched atop the undulating peaks of this spiritually rich land, Sang Ruhai was describing in detail the situation over in the Heavenly Domain to the Sect Master and a group of elders.

When he finished, a voice of astonishment rang out in the hall, "On credit? And he wants to put several tens of billions on credit? Where does he get the face for that? We haven't even settled the account for the disciples of mine he killed—does he really think my Qiankun Sect is that easy to bully?"

The Sect Master waved a hand to signal Sang Ruhai to withdraw first, then asked everyone, "Only one question: do we extend credit, or not?"

Someone pondered aloud, "With the strength of our Qiankun Sect, if we grit our teeth and front the money, it's not that we can't afford it. At the end of the day, the real issue is whether they'll stiff us on the debt."

"I'm not worried about them stiffing us. As long as a formal contract is signed, other parties might default, but the Heavenly Court still won't go so far as to stiff our Qiankun Sect."

"Fronting that much money all at once would put even our Qiankun Sect under sudden financial strain."

"The question is, if we don't do it, will some other interested party step in and do it instead?"

After quietly listening to the discussion for a while, the Sect Master spoke, "The positions throughout the Heavenly Domain, top to bottom, are destined for a complete reshuffle. In this upheaval, we have an opening. If we intervene now, only then can we create more say for ourselves later. The positions of Domain Master and Commanders definitely won't fall to us; our goal is to fight for two to three City Lord seats. That way, when new Spirit Veins appear, our odds of claiming them will be much higher."

"If that's the case, I'm afraid we really do have to let him buy on credit."

"As long as the contract is drafted cautiously, it shouldn't be a big problem. It's just that for quite a long period, the ready cash in our Sect's hands is going to be tight…"

There really wasn't much fun to be had in the Heavenly Domain, and Wu Jinliang's drinking buddies had all left one after another.

Young Master Nan stayed a bit longer, but in the end they still had to part ways.

Before the farewell, Shi Chun, seeing him off, still smiled and said, "If you think of any good ideas for bringing in new population, I hope you'll let us know promptly."

Young Master Nan nodded, then teased Wu Jinliang, "Jinliang has already brought in quite a few people, hasn't he?"

There's such a thing? Shi Chun turned to look at Wu Jinliang, wondering how he'd not heard of it.

Wu Jinliang looked embarrassed and said to Duan Xiangmei, who was following beside him, "Let's go talk about something."

Duan Xiangmei immediately bowed slightly to the few of them and tactfully stepped aside.

Only then did Wu Jinliang give a dry laugh and say, "Chun Tian, I haven't been only thinking of myself. I've been recruiting people for all three of our sides at once—but I'm guessing we won't be able to pull that many in."

Shi Chun said, "What method? Let's hear it."

Wu Jinliang spread his hands. "Nothing special. I just told the ones who own brothel businesses to bring some people over and open up shop. They think there's profit to be made, so they agreed."

"..." Shi Chun reflexively glanced at the desolate mountains and wild hills all around. Open brothels here? Those young masters would actually go along with that?

"Putting it that euphemistically is a bit too modest," Young Master Nan said with a laughing jab, then turned to Shi Chun. "Hasn't that business with your salary payouts been making a huge stir lately? Everyone's heard about it more or less. Guess what Wu Jinliang told people? He said there are over a hundred thousand rich folk here, and if you open brothels in this place, it would be hard *not* to make a fortune. He tells people it's a multi–tens-of-billions mega deal! Once they hear that, they suddenly see the light, slap their thighs, and hurry back to get things moving."

"..." Shi Chun was left speechless. Thinking it over, it actually wasn't wrong.

Young Master Nan went on, "And it's not just brothels. If someone has a restaurant business, he goes and tells them it's a multi–tens-of-billions mega deal! If someone has a clothing shop, he runs over to say it's a multi–tens-of-billions mega deal. If someone has a pharmacy business, he also goes and pitches it as a multi–tens-of-billions mega deal. There's more than I can list; I can't even finish in one go. In short, whenever he sees someone, he pulls them aside to say there's a multi–tens-of-billions mega deal, and one by one they actually fall for his spiel and let him wind them up into high spirits."

It wasn't just Shi Chun; Feng Chi and Tong Mingshan and the others standing by were also taken aback. They hadn't expected Wu Jinliang to have quietly done something this big already.

Wu Jinliang said, "It's not that they fell for my spiel—it's that the three Region forces under us really did issue several tens of billions in pay. That's a fact, so it'd be a waste not to make use of it. So, whether they come to build brothels or to build restaurants, they're not going to just set up in my Northern territory. They'll expand into the cities under all three of our sides." He spread his hands again. "Everyone, that's loyal enough, right? I'm not hogging it all for myself."

Shi Chun thought for a moment and asked Young Master Nan, "What do you think, how many people can this pull in?"

Young Master Nan hesitated. "To be serious about it, even if the three Regions together have thirty cities, and each line of business sends a few people to each city, at most we're talking tens of thousands of people. The upside is that if the basic industries take shape quickly, it'll help with your next step of bringing in a larger population. At the very least, you'll have an edge over the Eastern Commander's side."

Shi Chun nodded. "That makes sense."

Young Master Nan said, "Alright, I'll see you off up to here. Oh, right—are you going to have the Golden-haired Rat Clan come over? They've got several hundred people now, you know."

Shi Chun hesitated, then shook his head. "We don't even know if we can hold onto these positions. I don't know if coming here would be good or bad for them. Let's wait a year and revisit it."

At that point, he more or less understood Young Master Nan's predicament too. If the man pulled every string of favor he had to bring a bunch of people here, only for them to receive no attention and suffer for nothing, there'd be no point, and it would be hard to explain to them.

"Alright, we'll leave it at that, I'm off. Everyone, until we meet again." Young Master Nan clasped his hands in farewell and then flew up into the sky.

Above the bustling Heavenly Capital, a towering Immortal Mountain floated in midair, half veiled in clouds and mist. On the main gate of the jade pavilions and celestial palaces atop the mountain hung a plaque inscribed with the words "Beiju Governor Mansion."

Although Beiju is in fact controlled by the people of the Beijulu Royal Court, the Heavenly Court still has its own personnel to interface with affairs on the Beijulu State side, and this place is precisely the corresponding Governor Mansion.

The Beiju Governor's name was Lu Dui, an ordinary-looking man, with slightly narrow eyes and a plain light-gray robe, sitting in an upper-floor pavilion leafing through a stack of documents.

Outside the pavilion, a man in brocade robes and splendid clothes arrived. Both Wu Jinliang and Shi Chun knew this person; he was the very Lu Zhanxing who had just gone to the Heavenly Domain for a meeting, and could also be considered an old friend of Wu Jinliang's.

After going upstairs, Lu Zhanxing stood before the desk and paid a respectful salute. "Uncle."

The Beiju Governor was in fact his own biological uncle.

Lu Dui lifted his gaze from the documents to glance at him, then dropped it back to the papers, giving a small grunt. "You've been to the Heavenly Domain?"

Lu Zhanxing replied, "I've been there, just came back."

Lu Dui asked, "How's the situation?"

This nephew's trip to the Heavenly Domain had been at his instruction to begin with. The structure of personnel there was frankly abnormal, and he had not yet managed, in the short term, to build up the necessary intelligence network, so he could only send his nephew to make a personal run.

Lu Zhanxing said, "Still the same barren mountains and wild plains, but under the Heavenly Court's urging, the opening of the prefectural office and the building of the city have already been pressed ahead. Under normal circumstances, there shouldn't be any overdue delays. It's just that a bit of an accident happened with those three divisions under Shi Chun's control."

"Accident?" Lu Dui lifted his eyes and asked, "What kind of accident?"

"Shi Chun and the others handed out the funds for opening the office and building the city…" Lu Zhanxing explained the situation of how distributing the money had led to them having to run up debts.

"Back-paying five years of salary…" Lu Dui muttered and weighed it for a moment, then snorted. "Looks like he's seen that Manxi is going to move against him. This is him resisting. Petty tricks, not worth mentioning, they can't change reality."

His gaze fell on his nephew as he sized him up. "I've already communicated with all sides. This time one Commander's position is going to be yielded to me. You've been idle after removal from office for decades. When you head to the Heavenly Domain, you need a proper standing again. If you commit another mistake, even if I want to support you, it'll be hard."

"Yes." Lu Zhanxing assented, but was also somewhat curious. "There shouldn't be any big problem within the Heavenly Domain. Why would they make Manxi and the others yield their seats for no reason?"

Lu Dui let out another snort, a mocking look on his face. "That method of introducing population he reported, although tacitly approved, has not yet received formal ratification. Once the prefectural city is built a month from now, the formal approval will naturally be issued. When that time comes, whatever he did to Shi Chun and his people will be what's done to him. None of this is anything for you to worry about. When the time comes there'll be a way to choke him so he can't say a word. What you need to do is keep yourself in line before things are settled, beware of being toyed with by those with ulterior motives, and don't stir up trouble."

"Yes." After responding, Lu Zhanxing hesitated a bit and said, "Uncle, after all, Shi Chun and the others are my friends. Taking their position doesn't look good. How about arranging for me to serve as Eastern Commander instead?"

Lu Dui snorted. "Drinking-and-feasting friends, and you still take it seriously? Forget about the Eastern Commander's position. Dongguo Shou's seat is probably immovable. The Carefree Sect doesn't eat grass. If they hadn't seized that position in advance, that'd be one thing; since they have, they'll inevitably use every resource to defend it. As for certain methods, the Carefree Sect will stand in the way. You won't be able to touch so much as a hair on Dongguo Shou."

Lu Zhanxing hesitated and said, "Your nephew is worried about the Xuanji Token Master. He holds a high position and great power, if by any chance he…"

Lu Dui cut him off. "You're overthinking it. If it were matters of some other Royal Court, he might intervene. But in these internal affairs of the Heavenly Court, his status is too sensitive. He won't get involved; he'll only avoid them."

Lu Zhanxing let out a slight breath and bowed. "I'll follow Uncle's arrangements in all things."

In the Heavenly Domain, within the central cave-dwelling of the Domain Master, Manxi had been harried into irritation by the commotion outside. Before he could balance this bowl of water, even a Domain Master couldn't stop the mouths of the people below.

Seeing Mo Hei enter, he hurriedly asked, "How is the recovery of the overpaid salaries on Shi Chun's side?"

Mo Hei's face was full of difficulty and hesitation.

Manxi's heart gave a jolt; he already sensed something was wrong and said in a deep voice, "Speak!"

Mo Hei said with some struggle in his tone, "I've pressed them, but for the moment there's no way to recover it."

Manxi slapped the desk and leapt to his feet, flying into a rage. "Do they dare openly defy an order?"

Mo Hei showed a bitter look. "It's not exactly defiance. It's just that they previously granted a long leave to the three divisions' troops, letting everyone go out to seek treatment and healing, and to purchase urgently needed supplies. Most of them have already gone out. Over a hundred thousand people are scattered outside, and at present we haven't established the corresponding communication channels. For the moment, even if we wanted to summon them back, there's no way to contact so many people at once. Shi Chun says that once they return, he'll carry out the Domain Master's decree. He also said that if you're truly in a hurry, he asks whether the Domain Master can contact the Heavenly Court, have the Heavenly Court issue an edict to the masses, spread the word widely and order those hundred-odd thousand people to return quickly."

"…" Manxi was at a loss for words. Only now did he recall that when the Xun Gate's ban was lifted earlier, Mo Hei had reported to him about the three divisions issuing pay and then sending their men out on a large scale. At the time he'd thought it just human nature.

Ask the Heavenly Court to help him find people? Setting aside whether he had that much face, he would at least need a justification that sounded reasonable, wouldn't he? Without a justification that could be defended, how could the Heavenly Court possibly stir up such a big commotion for his sake?

Call the troops back so they could spit out the salaries that had been paid?

There was no way to say it.

The biggest problem now was, who knew how much of the money in those troops' hands had already been spent? If they all gave some nonsense, how was he supposed to verify them one by one? Even if they all told the truth, some spent more and some spent less—how was this money to be returned? They couldn't very well have some people returning more and some returning less, could they?

If they couldn't recover it in full and could only get back part of it, the funds for the Southern, Western, and Northern divisions were still overissued. The bowl of water would still not be level, and the people below would still kick up a fuss. By then the matter would remain unsettled, and he'd have offended the three divisions who returned the money.

Thinking of this, Manxi gnashed his teeth and said, "Did Shi Chun and the others plan this all along?"

Mo Hei shook his head without speaking. He didn't know how to answer. Even if they had planned it long ago, so what? The key problem was that you couldn't find a single justifiable reason to deal with them. How the money was spent was also something you yourself had ceded authority over, and that was already common knowledge. Now the one going back on his word was this Domain Master.

Manxi had already realized that this bowl of water was destined never to be level. In the end he could only let out a vicious snort. "The days ahead are long. Let them all just wait and see!"