What a lucky world!

Chapter 157: The First Survey of Qianyuan Wuzhai
(PS: The number in the title is wrong, but I have to wait for the editor to come to work to correct it)
Zhang Mu naturally didn't know what Shisan Niang and Wei Wuyou were thinking at this moment. He just paused for a moment and then said, "Shisan Niang, Master Wei, I have an unwelcome request."

Wei Wuyou, who had recovered from his shock, and Shisan Niang exchanged a glance. Wei Wuyou then said with a smile, "Brother Mu, it's a bit strange for you to say that."

Shisanniang also glared at Zhang Mu coquettishly and said, "We are family, why are you asking such an unreasonable request?"

Zhang Mu's face was solemn as he said, "These are troubled times, and I want to do my part for the village."

“It is said that if you know yourself and your enemy, you will win every battle.”

"I want to know the specific situation of the counterfeit at present."

"Only in this way can we effectively improve the strength of the village as quickly as possible and cope with the upcoming changes."

As soon as Zhang Mu finished speaking, the hut fell into silence.

Zhang Mu's request sounded innocent at first; he simply wanted to learn more about Qianyuan Wuzhai. However, considering Zhang Mu's identity, this question was actually quite sensitive.

Since he spoke, he naturally did not want to know the superficial things, but wanted to explore the root cause.

In other words, it means taking stock of your assets.

But who is qualified to take stock of the family assets?

Of course it’s the head of the family.

Don’t think that Zhang Mu is now being called “Young Master” by everyone in the mountain stronghold, but this is only because of his relationship with Lin Jinglong, and everyone calls him that in private.

At most, it carries everyone's expectations.

But it has no legal inheritance meaning.

In fact, no matter how much Lin Jinglong values him, as long as he does not publicly determine his status, Zhang Mu will be just an ordinary member of the village.

At most, he is a talented junior.

That's why Zhang Mu said that his question was an unreasonable one.

It's like a prince stopping the Minister of Revenue to ask how much silver is left in the treasury; or stopping the Minister of Personnel to ask about his plans for appointing officials in the court for the next year...

In any normal court, none of these important officials would take a prince seriously.

I would like to ask, yes, but wait until you enter the Eastern Palace and clarify the relationship between the monarch and his subjects.

This has touched upon the great righteousness and authority.

Zhang Mu's eyes swept across Wei Wuyou and Shisan Niang, without much emotion in them.

It's not that he didn't know about these taboos, but under the Tianji Ranking, he and Qianyuan Wuzhai were already bound together. The current situation was complicated, and he couldn't care less.

Wei Wuyou and Shisan Niang looked at each other again, and then Shisan Niang chuckled, breaking the silence in the hut.

"I thought it was nothing." Shisanniang smiled brightly. "I didn't talk to you about this before because I didn't want to distract you and delay your cultivation. If you want to know, I will tell you everything I know."

Wei Wuyou nodded slightly and said, "What do you want to know?"

"All of them!" said Zhang Mu.

"All?" Wei Wuyou confirmed.

"Yes." Zhang Mu nodded. "The village's economic transactions, personnel distribution, combat power composition, and the distance of allies... the more detailed the better!"

Wei Wuyou's eyes lit up with seriousness when he heard this. He raised his hand, twirled his mustache, looked at Zhang Mu, and said, "You really want to take over the family fortune!"

"Let me speak first." Shisan Niang said.

Wei Wuyou nodded and made a "please" gesture.

"As of last month, the number of people who depended on my Qianyuan Martial Village for their livelihood was approximately 3,200, of which over 600 were soldiers of the village."

Hearing this number, Zhang Mu's eyes flickered slightly.

This was different from his previous estimate.

He was not surprised that there were more than 600 combat soldiers, but he was surprised that the total population of the stronghold was more than 3,200?
Where have you ever seen so many people in the village?
According to his idea, in a place like Wuzhai, the ratio of combat soldiers to ordinary people is about one to two, or at most one to three.

This is more than one to five!
As if sensing Zhang Mu's confusion, Wei Wuyou explained, "The village's population, in addition to its own growth, mainly comes from refugees. Last year, when people were fleeing famine, the village absorbed hundreds of young men and women, which at least gave them a chance to survive."

Zhang Mu recalled the huge group of refugees from the famine and understood. But then he asked, "But I didn't see so many people in the mountains..."

Having lived in the mountains for almost half a year, Zhang Mu saw mostly young and strong soldiers, and not many elderly, weak, women, children, or ordinary people.

"Qianyuan Wuzhai is just the front gate of the mountain." Shisanniang explained with a smile, "Ten years ago, Big Brother Lin has been leading people to reclaim the deep land of Qianyuan Mountain."

"Now more than a thousand acres of farmland have been reclaimed behind the mountain."

"Most people are working in the back mountains."

Zhang Mu was a little surprised to hear this answer. A long-lost word jumped into his mind:

Base!
But immediately afterwards, Zhang Mu heard Wei Wuyou sigh.

"The Qianyuan Mountains are vast. If I could use them all, I could accommodate not only two or three thousand people, but even one hundred thousand. I wouldn't lose a place to establish my hegemony."

"But the mountains, rivers, and lakes are full of demons and evil spirits. The deeper you go, the higher the demons' cultivation level. The small area we have reclaimed now is already the limit of the village's expansion."

"Second in command, Lu Xuanxiu, has been stationed in the back mountains for a long time, guarding against attacks from demons."

At this point, Wei Wuyou glanced at Zhang Mu meaningfully and said, "That's why Brother Lu enjoys such high prestige among the people."

Zhang Mu nodded slightly and continued, "What about the money? To support so many people, the village must cost a lot..."

"It's really stressful." Speaking of this topic, a trace of worry crossed Shisanniang's face. "Those people in the mountains are the foundation of our village's fortune. Therefore, newly reclaimed land is tax-free for three years. Even after three years, only one tenth of the tax is collected, which can be said to not bring much back to the village." "Even if the village collects grain, it will be purchased at a price slightly below the market price."

"Even if there's a demonic rebellion, the copycats will have to provide subsidies."

"In the past three years, the mountain has barely been able to contribute two or three hundred taels of silver each year, which can only be said to be better than nothing."

"Our expenses mainly come from training soldiers, maintaining weapons and equipment, and purchasing daily necessities. This costs us approximately one hundred thousand taels per year."

"This is still a situation where there is no war and no pay."

Zhang Mu was silent.

One hundred thousand taels a year is enough to support a stronghold with more than six hundred combatants. It sounds like a lot, but at least each person can get more than one hundred and sixty taels.

But the poor are good at literature and the rich are good at martial arts, so practicing cultivation requires money!

Not to mention that a soldier's appetite is comparable to that of three or five ordinary strong men, Zhang Mu himself is deeply impressed by the consumption of elixirs alone!
If it weren't for Xuan Ji's friendly supply of the medicine, he really wouldn't be able to afford the pills.

From this perspective, it is easy to understand why the entire village, even Lu Xuanxiu, who he is not very familiar with, dotes on Xuan Ji.

This cat can really make elixirs!

Back to the 100,000 taels, it's impossible for all of this money to be spent on training soldiers. Don't weapons and armor cost money? Don't repairing formations cost money? And don't maintaining official relationships cost money?
Seeing Zhang Mu's frown, Wei Wuyou quickly smiled and said, "We can't just talk about expenses, we have to talk about income as well."

"Of course!" Shisan Niang nodded and continued to say to Zhang Mu, "There are two most stable sources of income in the village."

"One is the border water fee, which can bring in around ten thousand taels of silver a year."

Shisan Niang called it the border water fee in a euphemistic way, but it was actually just a toll.

When Zhang Mu was in the escort agency, the tribute the agency had to pay to the mountain stronghold every year referred to this fee.

As mentioned before, there are many demons and evil spirits in the mountains and wilderness. Back then, the founding emperor Taizu dismantled the sects and established military camps to spread military power throughout the world. On the one hand, it was to eliminate the threat posed by the sects to the court, and on the other hand, it was to ensure transportation throughout the world.

In this way, the court was able to communicate with the whole country without spending a penny, and the country prospered rapidly.

Of course, the fact that the imperial court didn't spend money didn't mean no one had to bear the cost. The cost was that each military stronghold had the right to collect the so-called "toll" from passing caravans.

This is also the foundation for the establishment of various mountain and water martial arts villages in Dayun Dynasty.

Don't underestimate this authority. With this authority, Wuzhai has the right to intervene in business and even the right to set prices for some commodities.

The Tianxia Wuzhai and the imperial court broke up, and the fuse was the dispute over water fees here!
A thought flashed through Zhang Mu's mind, but Shisan Niang's introduction continued.

"Secondly, the Shanzhai also has some businesses in various cities. Some of them are run by Shanzhai people under their own names, or they have formed partnerships with local families. If you are interested, I will write a list for you later."

"Although each of these businesses has its profits and losses, the overall income is stable, with an annual income of approximately 80,000 to 90,000 taels."

"These two parts can basically cover the cost of the copycat."

"Besides that, we guard Qianyuan Mountain, a treasure mountain, and we also do some business in rare mountain treasures, medicines, and monster skins. It's not very stable. If we're unlucky, we can only make a few thousand taels a year. If we're lucky, we can make thirty or fifty thousand taels."

"The rest is a business of robbing the rich to give to the poor."

"I don't understand. Even though we've got our knives out there, there are still some people who don't know how to live or die."

"Seventy percent of this business goes to the government. It brings in about 10,000 to 20,000 taels a year."

"This is the income and expenditure of the cottage."

"After deducting this year's estimated expenses, the Shanzhai's account now has a surplus of about 70,000 to 80,000 taels."

Zhang Mu tapped the table with his fingers, lost in thought.

A surplus of seventy or eighty thousand taels may sound like a lot, but for the entire village, it is not enough.

Apart from anything else, if you want to improve the soldiers' cultivation in a short period of time, you have to use resources to pile them up. I'm afraid these 70,000 or 80,000 taels will be gone in a flash.

In Zhang Mu's opinion, the surplus must at least cover the consumption of the stronghold for three years to be considered acceptable, which is 300,000 taels!
"After talking about silver, let me talk about luck money." At this time, Wei Wuyou spoke again.

Hearing this, Zhang Mu became even more serious.

To put it bluntly, money is easy to earn, but this luck money is the real foundation.

"The minimum amount of Luck Money that the Shanzhai can gather each year is about 200 pieces. The rest is up to us."

A faction's Luck Money is earned by consuming its Luck, and there's a balance here. If too much is consumed, the faction's Luck declines, and disasters may follow. However, if one is reluctant to spend, even if the Luck is great, the faction's strength cannot support it, and the Luck will dissipate on its own.

Therefore, it is very important to maintain a balance in the number of conversions.

Zhang Mu calculated in his mind. The rule of the mountain stronghold was that those in the Yangye realm could get three luck coins every month. Currently, there were five people in the Yangye realm in the mountain stronghold, including him, Ye Hanzhou, Old Man Lin, Wei Wuyou, Shisan Niang, and Lu Xuanxiu. The annual expenditure was 216 coins.

Already overdrawn!
You know, this does not include Xuan Ji’s share and the rat demon Shu Daoshan who surrendered to him!

It seems that Ye Hanzhou's expenses have increased.

But that's not the case. Ye Hanzhou's joining meant Qianyuan Wuzhai had gained another Yangye Realm warrior, significantly enhancing the village's strength. Now it all depended on how the village could utilize this boost to maximize its luck.

Therefore, when Wei Wuyou said two hundred coins, he used the word "base".

From this perspective, the conflict provoked by Frost Moon Mountain at this time is both a challenge and an opportunity for Qianyuan Wuzhai!

"I have a general understanding of the financial aspect." Zhang Mu nodded and looked at Wei Wuyou, "What about strength?"

"If we really go up against Shuangyue Wuzhai, what are our chances of winning?"

(End of this chapter)