Start with a red name

Fang Jintang offered a further explanation in response.

Before the December allowance and pensions were distributed, the guild had 35,708 blood-replenishing pills in stock.

In December alone, a total of 17,298 blood-replenishing pills were distributed, along with 166,660 taels of silver.

The amount of compensation is slightly less than this, but not by much.

More importantly, based on the information Fang Jintang currently possesses, it can be basically concluded that many of the gang members dispatched to various parts of Yuanzhou to carry out the task of eradicating the remnants of Wuyou Palace will suffer casualties.

This means that the stock of blood-tonifying pills is not even enough for the monthly allowance in the first month of the lunar calendar.

Before Geng Xuan could reply, Xue Zhiheng stated that since they had now officially joined the Giant Bear Gang, the spoils obtained from the Worry-Free Palace would naturally belong to the public.

With the various spoils they obtained from the Sanssouci Palace Citadel and the Sanssouci Palace properties in Yuanjing City, the blood-replenishing pills alone, based on the Giant Bear Gang's monthly consumption, could not only make up for the shortfall in January, but also barely cover the needs of February and March.

If the higher-quality Essence Pills could be used to offset the monthly allowance of three Blood-Replenishing Pills, the supply could last even longer.

Xue Zhiheng's initiative to help Geng Xuan out of his predicament eased the slight frown on his face.

He wasn't troubled by the lack of cultivation resources, but rather by the fact that solving this problem would inevitably take some time.

He was worried about how to allocate his time.

In the near future, he will inevitably have to focus more of his time and energy on the Xuanyou and You states, which is what makes him feel somewhat troubled.

Xue Zhiheng's solution temporarily alleviated the problem.

— We cannot complain that these expenses are too high. The Giant Bear Gang, and even the projects that are already in the tens of thousands and will soon exceed one hundred thousand, can operate independently and efficiently. While "lucky blessings" are the most important bait, these are also an indispensable part.

Geng Xuan said to Fang Jintang:
"Let's do it this way... I remember there are still more than 10,000 Essence Pills in the guild's inventory. If we use them together with Blood-Replenishing Pills, it should last us longer."

He paused, then continued:

"As far as I know, the villages around Chiwu Mountain are in the peak season for medicinal herb harvesting every year after the autumn hunt."

But at other times, there are also some sporadic gains.

If this were placed within a neighborhood, or even within the many neighborhoods under a market, the number might not be too large.

However, if all the surrounding neighborhoods are included, the number is still quite considerable.

Arrange for some people to collect all these medicinal herbs from these workshops and store them properly. When I have some free time, I can set aside some time to refine another batch.”

"Yes."

Geng Xuan reached into his robes again, took out a folded piece of paper, and handed it to Fang Jintang.

"Take this one too."

Fang Jintang looked puzzled, but still took the paper in his hand.

When you unfold it, you'll see it covered with winding, meandering lines.

In the center of the paper, there is a small "口" character, and in some places along the lines, there are small crosses that are specially marked.

Fang Jintang, who was already puzzled, became even more puzzled after seeing this piece of paper.

Geng Xuan said from the side:
“Yuanjing has abundant cultivation resources, so we can send some support here. But money, food, and other valuables should be used for disaster relief, so we can’t send them here.”

Furthermore, if there is a shortage of money over there, we will even provide some assistance from here.

...According to what you said, with the arrival of this batch of tools, the number of able-bodied laborers involved in all the projects will exceed 100,000 around the fourth day of the Lunar New Year.

By mid-January, the number of people will have expanded even further.

Once the famine-stricken refugees begin to arrive, the expenditure on money and food will far exceed what it is now.

The few hundred thousand taels of silver in the inventory are far from enough.

As he spoke, he smiled at Fang Jintang, who was holding a precious treasure but unaware of it:

"This drawing was done hastily and is a bit rough, so please don't take it too seriously."

This is a treasure map!

Back then, I worked with Wei Wanzong and Fan Hongsheng, and we made quite a bit of money.

Apart from a very small portion that went into the gang's public treasury, the rest was later transported to Qingyuanji. Another 4.7 million taels, because of its excessive weight, were buried directly underground in Kangleji.

Upon hearing this, Fang Jintang's expression changed, his eyes gleaming as he stared at the rather hastily drawn lines in his hand, muttering:
"This... is the map to the burial site of the four million seven hundred thousand taels of silver?"

Geng Xuan nodded and said:
"The small 'opening' in the middle is directly below the recreation center, where the underground black market is located."

Those lines are a map showing the distribution of the underground tunnel network in Kang Le Ji.

The locations marked with crosses are where the nearly five million taels of silver were buried in batches.

Once you find the location, just dig straight down, you can't go wrong... just be careful not to collapse the tunnel.

"After this is over, take some men and retrieve all this silver."

As he spoke, he looked at Tang Caizhu and said:

"Senior sister, why don't you take Granny Xu, along with your two junior disciples Qingyan and Wenxuan, and escort them along the way?"

He believed that Fang Jintang and his associates wouldn't pull any dirty tricks on this matter.

However, there was simply too much cash involved, and any unexpected event could occur. Given that he didn't have time to accompany them personally and didn't want to engage in any kind of entrapment or test their humanity, having Tang Caizhu escort them along the way was the safest option.

"Yes." Although somewhat surprised, Tang Caizhu readily accepted this extra responsibility.

In Geng Xuan's eyes, it was even clear that Tang Caizhu felt much more relaxed after agreeing to the matter.

Upon seeing this, Geng Xuan smiled inwardly.

He thought for a moment, then said:
"These past few months have been the period when cultivation resources and various medicines in Yuanzhou are the scarcest and most expensive."

We are in dire need of cultivation resources, so I won't go into that.

However, we also have quite a lot of other types of general-purpose drugs in our hands.

Although there is a considerable demand for drugs such as deworming, hemostasis, and detoxification during the project.

But compared to what we already possess, this is nothing.

Originally, the Giant Bear Gang didn't have many of these drugs in stock.

However, after the Battle of Qingyuanji ended, this type of medicine was the most abundant among the various medicines found in the nearby Chiwu Mountain.

If valued at current market prices, its worth would even exceed one million taels.

But this is still a small part; the real problem lies within the "Ochre-Red Eye" basin.

The supplies stored in the central warehouse of the basin, by weight, naturally consisted of more than 2.2 million shi of grain and meat, which made up the vast majority.

However, in terms of value, the majority of the money comes from the various medicines commonly used by cultivators for stopping bleeding and detoxification.

At the current market price in Yuanzhou, it is worth nearly fifty million taels.

Even in normal times, its value would be as high as twenty or thirty million taels.

The reason for this situation is that the value of a single dose of this type of medicine is far less than that of resources such as Blood-Replenishing Pills, Essence Pills, and Mysterious Nether Pills, and can even be said to be too low, so there is no need to transport it back to Xuanzhou over a long distance.

On the other hand, these drugs are in most urgent need after the frontline battles.

In Dong Guan's grand strategy, placing it within the "Ochre-Red Eye" basin, located between Yuanzhou and Haozhou, to take into account both prefectures, was the most suitable arrangement.

This is much more convenient than first transporting the goods back to Xuanyou and Erzhou, and then turning back to transport them to Yuanzhou and Haozhou.

However, what he didn't expect was that all his plans were ruined by "Su Ruiliang," who even took the pot away.

In Geng Xuan's plan, there was no such massive demand for drugs.

He first explained the situation to Fang Jintang, Xue Zhiheng, and others before saying:
"...You can discuss how to sell these drugs as much as possible without causing drastic price fluctuations."

We just need to keep a medicine worth two or three million taels of silver in reserve.

If we do well, conservatively speaking, we should be able to acquire no less than 40 million taels of silver.

Whether it's disaster relief or construction projects here, with this money as ballast, there shouldn't be any pressure.

Hearing him make such a decision so casually, everyone present was deeply shocked.

They never imagined that "Su Ruiliang" would invest so much in disaster relief and this project.

When Su Ruiliang decided to stake the entire Giant Bear Gang on these two matters, they already felt it was outrageous.

But right now, they're only thinking to themselves, "This is nothing." Given the madness and obsession Su Ruiliang has shown in these two matters, he probably wouldn't even blink an eye if the entire Giant Bear Gang were used as expendable resources!
It was only at this moment that they seemed to truly understand just how determined Su Ruiliang was to push forward these two matters.

That was completely beyond their comprehension.

While deeply moved, they all took a solemn look and accepted the entrustment with the utmost seriousness.

The brief meeting resulted in the decision of several important matters.

Geng Xuan thought for a moment and asked the others, "Does anyone have anything to add?"

After exchanging glances for a while, everyone chose to remain silent.

Of course, it's not that they have nothing to say, but comparing the decisions Geng Xuan just made, and thinking about it carefully, there's absolutely no need to discuss what they wanted to say here.

Since the gang leader has repeatedly made it clear that he will no longer concern himself with trivial matters and has handed over the power to handle these matters to them.

There's no need to bring this up here at this time.

Geng Xuan looked around and, seeing that no one spoke, decided to end the meeting.

Chen Zhan, who was standing to the side, suddenly spoke up: "Chief, I have something to say to you."

"Oh, you say."

"You gave me a task before..."

As Chen Zhan spoke, Geng Xuan still looked somewhat puzzled.

He had experienced so much these past few days that he needed to think it through carefully to match Chen Zhan's words with his own.

"Fan Xue'er, Fan Shuang'er..."

As Chen Zhan uttered those two names, memories instantly surfaced in his mind.

Geng Xuan hurriedly asked, "Has there been a result regarding their matter?"

"Ah."

"What exactly is their family situation?"

Upon asking this question, Geng Xuan sat up straighter, leaned forward slightly, and adopted a focused listening expression.

Everyone else was equally confused.

The same thought almost popped into her mind, and it was exactly the same question that Geng Xuan asked.

What exactly is going on?
Chen Zhan, however, began to speak earnestly, seemingly oblivious to everyone else.

Fan Xueer and Fan Shuanger are sisters.

Fan Xueer is the older sister; she is already married, and her husband is Jiang Dazhi.

My younger sister, Fan Shuang'er, has just turned fifteen and is not yet married.

Zheng Guimei is their mother, and Fan Laoshuan is their father.

They are all residents of Qingyuanji and run a small food stall. It's not big, but the food is clean and made with care, which has earned them a lot of praise from customers.

Of course, the more important reason is that both sisters are very beautiful.

It may have been intentional, using the sisters' appearance to attract more customers, and also to have the sisters do some light work.

The heavy and tiring work in the kitchen was all taken care of by Fan Laoshuan and Jiang Dazhi, the father-in-law and son-in-law.

The two sisters worked in the main hall, attracting customers, taking orders, and handling payments, while Zheng Guimei was responsible for cleaning and tidying up… Although ordinary, their lives were manageable.

Chen Zhan spoke earnestly, and Geng Xuan listened attentively.

But apart from the two of them, everyone else present was completely baffled.

Although puzzled, everyone could vaguely discern some clues from the two people's attitudes. Everyone listened attentively and did not ask any questions rashly.

"...The incident occurred during the battle of Qingyuanji."

Their food stall is located slightly north of Qingyuanguan Square, adjacent to the main street and a side alley.

With the start of the battle at Qingyuanji, all residents north of Qingyuanguan were forcibly relocated to a concentrated area south of Qingyuanguan.

During the forced relocation process, Zheng Guimei refused to leave, which annoyed a small team responsible for supervising them, who wanted to use some forceful measures.

Finally, after much pleading from other members of the Fan family, they gave up and moved the five members of the Fan family to a location south of Qingyuanguan.

Because housing was extremely scarce at the time, all the residents of Qingyuanji were forcibly relocated to a very small area. The Fan family of five only received one small room.

This is really inconvenient for their family.

Geng Xuan nodded slightly. It wasn't just a matter of the space being too cramped. The Fan family's actual situation had brought together a multitude of awkward factors, making it extremely inconvenient to be crammed into one room.

"...Later they discovered that this was actually feasible."

Housing arrangements can be adjusted by simply giving the person in charge some money.

Fan Laoshuan and Jiang Dazhi then took out some silver to bribe officials and get a better place to stay.

Upon hearing this, Fang Jintang, the current deputy leader of the gang, instinctively tensed up.

Everyone else present, including the middle and senior management, was on tenterhooks.

"...But they didn't know that their family had been targeted from the moment they were forcibly evicted...more precisely, the two sisters, Fan Xue'er and Fan Shuang'er, were being targeted..."

"...The Fan family successfully switched to two rooms, but no one was happy about it."

Because on the very night that his family changed rooms, the squad leader of the team responsible for supervising their relocation, under the influence of alcohol, broke into the room where the two sisters, Fan Xue'er and Fan Shuang'er, and their mother, Zheng Guimei, were living together.

...The Fan family was alert enough, and the squad leader was also afraid that the commotion would get out of control, so he left reluctantly.

Although he failed, the Fan family was quite frightened.

"...Later, after the battle of Qingyuanji ended, you, the leader, led a group of people north to the 'Ochre-Red Eye' basin."

Under Feng Yu's leadership, Qingyuan Village cleaned up the mess, which was in complete disarray.

Everyone was busy with their own affairs, making the situation even more chaotic than a war.

The squad leader who had once barged into the Fan family's home came to visit again.

Moreover, he wasn't the only one who went that time.

Besides him, there were three other people in the team who were closest to him.

They subdued the entire Fan family immediately, and then the four of them entered the room where the three women were staying.

"...Afterwards, all five members of the Fan family were murdered."

The bodies were disposed of that very night, mixed in with the thousands of fallen soldiers, and buried in a deep pit.

"...The next day, the people in the neighborhood saw that the two rooms were empty, but they did not find it strange."

Firstly, everyone was just getting together temporarily and didn't really pay attention to their neighbors.

Secondly, although the battle of Qingyuanji ended, Qingyuanji was also reduced to ruins. Everyone was most concerned about what would happen in the future, and the situation was very chaotic.

No one seemed to care about the sudden disappearance of the Fan family.

Geng Xuan said softly:
"Then how did you find out all this so clearly?"

"At first, I was only sure that the Fan family had been harmed by that squad leader, but I didn't know the specifics."

However, through some clever design.

One of the three who participated in the operation that night, during a small gathering, was given a lot of drinks by his teammates, and he boasted about it, revealing the inside story. "Chen Zhan explained.

Geng Xuan nodded slightly and said nothing more.

Inside the room, the atmosphere was deathly silent; no one spoke.

After a while, Chen Zhan asked, "Chief, how should this matter be handled?"

"How should we handle this?" Geng Xuan whispered.

He turned to look at Fang Jintang and said, "I suddenly realized that our gang is missing a very important organization."

"What?" Fang Jintang asked in a low voice.

"The Hall of Punishments." (End of Chapter)