Zongwu: Aspiring to be the mastermind behind the scenes

Chapter 219 New Year's Red Envelopes, The Alliance of Wealthy Businessmen

Phew—pop!

With a piercing sound, the fireworks exploded into the sky, turning into a burst of sparks!

"It's Chinese New Year!"

A loud shout heralded the start of the new year.

The capital city was decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers, and the atmosphere was joyous.

Even compared to the wedding banquet held by Wan Sanqian just a few days ago, it was in no way inferior.

In fact, it was all thanks to the wedding banquet of Wan Sanqian.

At the time, Wan Sanqian promised that if a red banner was hung at the entrance on the wedding day, he would give silver.

Although the wedding ultimately failed to take place, thirteen thousand taels of silver were still spent.

This ensures that everyone in the capital, even the poorest families, can have a good New Year this year.

Wan Sanqian... what a kind person!
However, amidst the celebrations across the land, Wan Sanqian himself seemed to be in a rather unpleasant mood.

Because just yesterday, Guihai Yidao appeared at Blackwood Cliff.

The numerous forces that were keeping watch on Blackwood Cliff were extremely excited, and many of them immediately charged out.

But against Guihai Yidao, it was nothing more than suicide.

In just half a day, over a hundred more lives were lost on the Demon Blade.

What is surprising is that among these hundreds of lives were more than a dozen high-ranking members of the Seven Absolutes Hall.

"Guihai Yidao is a spy trained by the Dragon Guard Manor. It is likely that the Seven Absolutes Hall also has a large number of Dragon Guard Manor's people planted in secret!"

"Hiss! Now he's turning around and ruthlessly attacking these people... It seems this guy is determined to betray the Dragon Guard Manor!"

"Hmph! They're all birds of a feather!"

Regardless of what people in the martial arts world thought, Shangguan Haitang, upon hearing the news, asked for a fast horse and left the capital directly, heading towards Blackwood Cliff.

However, it was clearly too late.

Guihai Yidao had long since left Blackwood Cliff, and his whereabouts were unknown.

With the vastness of the land and the protection of an organized group, it would be extremely difficult for Shangguan Haitang to find him.

Ugh.

Backstabbing someone might feel good for a moment, but chasing after them will lead to a nightmare!

When the news reached the Wan family, another disappointed person was added to the list in the capital.

This year's New Year is probably not going to be a good one.

Of course, he wasn't the only one who didn't have a good New Year.

For hundreds of families who have lost loved ones, on this New Year's Eve, while everyone else gathers together in celebration, even a table full of New Year's Eve dinner tastes like cardboard.

Ai's gaze fell equally on everyone.

Hatred may fade with the passage of time.

But it may also become more profound.

The latter will become her target.

Those who still harbor hatred after this New Year will have a glimmer of hope for revenge.

State of Song.

Qingxi County.

This county town had always been unremarkable until a momentous rebellion began.

That was the Fang La Rebellion of the Ming Cult!
Qingxi County was the first county it captured, and also the last place it held onto.

In the Water Margin, after Liangshan Marsh accepted the imperial pardon, it was sent to attack Fang La. In the end, the most tragic battle began in this county town.

Dongfang Bubai dressed as a man, his clothes as red as fire.

She stood atop the city wall, as if a king were overlooking his territory.

In fact, Qingxi County has now been completely occupied by her.

A golden figure suddenly appeared beside her.

"happy New Year!"

Jin Jiu greeted him with a smile and handed him a red envelope: "This is your New Year's money."

"boring!"

Dongfang Bubai glanced at him, his expression utterly speechless, and turned to leave.

"Are you sure you don't want to accept this? You might regret it later!"

"Ok?"

Dongfang Bubai was taken aback, sensing something was amiss.

He took the red envelope, opened it, and found a thick stack of silver notes.

"Ten million taels?"

"This is the support the organization is giving you."

"So willing?"

"Heh, money only becomes money when it's spent. If you save it, it's just a pile of dirt. Once you develop your side, the organization's strength will naturally increase. Compared to that, what is a mere ten million taels of silver?"

Jin Jiu said, "It's only because your current scale of power is still small; otherwise, it would be much more than this."

Besides...

The silver that Zhou Ming sent to the major banks in the Song Kingdom was all projections.

After a while, once this batch of silver has been circulated, he will gradually cancel the projection.

Then, another pile of silver was projected and sent to various banks in the Song Dynasty.

In this way, these silver notes were like a gift from heaven to him.

What's there to be reluctant about?
"In that case, I'll accept it without hesitation."

Dongfang Bubai calmly accepted the silver note.

Her power development did indeed require a large amount of silver.

"What do you think of Qingxi County?"

"It's not bad for a short person to pick the tallest one. But that's only for now. When the Ming Cult grows stronger in the future, it will still need to move to another place."

In this day and age, any place with beautiful scenery and advantageous location, or even large cities, is occupied by various forces.

Dongfang Bubai could only find places to set up camp in the many county towns outside these major cities.

Among the many counties, Qingxi County, which had been occupied by Fang La and undergone extensive military transformation, became the primary target.

Thus, the Ming Cult settled here.

With Dongfang Bubai's abilities, he quickly gained complete control of the county and expanded outwards from there.

"With Qingxi as the center, I have already taken control of several counties. After the New Year, I plan to continue expanding southward."

"South? What about the north?"

"No rush in the north. Let's wait and see if those guys can fight the 'Sun Moon Cult' first!"

That's right, the Sun Moon Cult!
It's not the Ming Cult.

Zhou Ming's strategy was to have Dongfang Bubai develop in the south of the Song Dynasty under the name of the Ming Cult.

However, that was only the initial strategy.

After conducting on-site investigations for a period of time, Dongfang Bubai expanded upon this strategy.

The elite forces of the Sun Moon Cult settled in Qingxi, renamed themselves the Ming Cult, and used this name to expand their influence.

However, they are developing in secret, without revealing their activities for the time being.

However, another group split off, claiming to be the "Sun Moon Cult," and forcefully entered Haikou, heading towards the Suzhou and Hangzhou area.

After all, everyone knows that the Sun Moon Cult has abandoned its Ming Dynasty roots and gone to the Song Dynasty. If it remains silent, it will naturally arouse suspicion.

In this way, the reputation of the Sun Moon Cult can be used to cover up the actions of the Ming Cult.

"Speaking of which, those guys must be having a lot of trouble right now, and they can't even enjoy the New Year, right?"

"It's not just that we can't get by, it's that we can't get by at all."

Jin Jiu said, "It's almost time. Would you like to take a look?"

"What?" Dongfang Bubai was baffled.

Jin Jiu waved his hand, and a light screen appeared in front of him. On the light screen, a scene of a luxurious hall was displayed.

"what is this?"

“You can think of it as a kind of spell,” Gin said. “Here it comes.”

As the voice spoke, two figures, one old and one young, appeared in the hall within the light screen.

The elderly are wealthy and noble, while the young are valiant and brave.

"Huh?" Dongfang Bubai recognized the young figure: "Yi Jifeng from Mingjian Villa?"

"Yes, that's him."

"Hmph, this guy has been very eager lately, ruining quite a few of my plans!"

Yi Jifeng left the manor because of the Sun Moon Cult and visited various powerful forces, wanting to warn them of the threat posed by the Sun Moon Cult.

However, since the Sun Moon Cult was completely silent at the time, although the major powers greeted him politely, they eventually dismissed him after failing to find any information about the Sun Moon Cult.

Fortunately, Dongfang Bubai proposed a strategy of having the Sun Moon Cult appear in the open to draw attention away from the enemy.

Thus, the Sun Moon Cult appeared, occupied the estuary, and aggressively advanced towards the Suzhou and Hangzhou area.

This naturally met with resistance from many local forces.

After hearing the news, Yi Jifeng went to provide assistance.

During this period, I don't know how many times I thwarted the actions of the Sun Moon Cult.

Fortunately, the Sun Moon Cult was an open target, designed to draw attacks and thus conceal the Ming Cult.

Otherwise, Dongfang Bubai would probably have to take matters into his own hands and deal with this eyesore himself.

"And who is that old guy?"

"That's the head of the wealthy Zhu family from Jiangnan!"

"It's him!"

Within the light screen, the Zhu family head smiled and said, "Nephew, rest assured. The old manor lord did a great favor for my Zhu family back then, and now you have also stepped forward to protect my property under the Sun Moon Divine Sect. I will never forget such a great favor."

"Now that we've formed an alliance with other chambers of commerce, I will definitely vote for my nephew as the leader of this alliance."

"In that case, thank you very much, Master Zhu."

"Nephew, you're too kind. It's all what I should do!"

Yi Jifeng's face was filled with an uncontrollable smile of joy.

Because of the threat posed by the Sun Moon Cult, several wealthy businessmen in the Suzhou and Hangzhou area have decided to join forces to fight against it.

During this period, Yi Jifeng was very active, saving dozens of lives and protecting many businesses of various families.

Although it is arduous, if we can seize the position of leader in this alliance, we will surely be able to restore the prestige of Mingjian Manor!
Therefore, all the hard work was worthwhile!
While he was pondering, several wealthy people walked in from outside the hall.

"Haha, Brother Zhu, Happy New Year!"

Happy New Year! Happy New Year!

"Old Hu, you actually came too?"

"Since you, Lao Li, are here, how could I, Lao Hu, not come?"

The group greeted each other warmly.

"So it was them... Hmph! Looks like Yi Jifeng is going to get played!"

Do you know them too?

"nature!"

The wealthy people gathered in the hall at this moment were all from the most prosperous areas of Jiangnan.

The Lü family in Hangzhou.

The Wang family of Suzhou.

Pujia on the sea.

The Li family, merchants from Jiangxi.

The Hu family, Huizhou merchants.

In addition, there was the Zhu family, who were the hosts.

The combined wealth of these families is enough to rival half of the Song Kingdom!
While the strengths of business families like theirs lie in wealth and connections, they are certainly far inferior to those forces operating in the underworld when it comes to martial prowess.

But with the resources and foundations of these major families, any one of them could rival the Sun Moon Cult.

Furthermore, if they were to utilize their connections, they could easily invite several grandmasters to destroy the Sun Moon Cult.

However, these people gathered together, saying they wanted to join forces to deal with the Sun Moon Cult.

Haha, are you kidding me?
A single entity could rival the Sun Moon Cult in terms of military force.

Why bother playing League of Legends?
The head of the Zhu family even said he wanted Yi Jifeng to be the leader of the alliance.

It's obvious they're trying to scheme against him!

Jin Jiu shook his head: "There was a scheme, but it wasn't just him that was targeted, but all those in the martial arts world who were chasing fame and fortune!"

He then explained what these guys were thinking.

Merchants are driven by profit, even if they have the strength to fight against the Sun Moon Cult or even destroy it.

The first thought that popped into their minds was not to take immediate action, but to find a way to achieve their goal at a lower cost, or even without any cost.

Just like in business, bargaining is a natural thing to do.

If one could make a huge profit without any investment, that would be ideal!
They formed the alliance to raise their banners and attract young, passionate heroes and martial artists obsessed with fame by using keywords such as "righteous path," "people," and "exorcising demons."

At that time, we can use these people to deal with the Sun Moon Cult.

And they can sit comfortably in the rear without losing any of their strength.

At most, it will just consume some money and food.

Compared to the lives of the loyal warriors he had trained, what did a little money and food mean?

"In that case, it seems that Yi Jifeng's desire to become the leader of the alliance is just wishful thinking."

Dongfang Bubai sneered: "Since their goal is to attract more martial artists to help them fight the Sun Moon Cult, they naturally need someone with a great reputation to be their leader."

A mere, long-decayed Mingjian Manor, and a still-young Yi Jifeng—these hold no appeal whatsoever!

"good."

Gin nodded.

Inside the light screen, the members of the six major families exchanged a few words and understood the meaning of the Zhu family patriarch.

Pu Jia laughed and said, "The Sun Moon Sect was known as a demonic sect in the Ming Dynasty for its evil deeds, and it hasn't stopped now that it's in the Song Dynasty. I, Pu Jia, fully agree with Brother Zhu's idea. If we are to form an alliance against the Sun Moon Sect, I will definitely join!"

The Pu family is in the maritime business.

Unfortunately, the Sun Moon Cult arrived and immediately occupied the estuary. Although they controlled far more than just this one waterway, the estuary was the most prosperous one.

Although the Sun Moon Cult wouldn't stop the Pu family from doing anything, they did collect tolls at the estuary.

The Pu family has suffered considerable losses during this period.

Now that the Zhu family is going to take the lead in forming an alliance to deal with the Sun Moon Cult, they are naturally very happy.

The person sent by the Wang family was a steward, who also said, "Since Brother Zhu has spoken up, our Wang family is willing to help."

"The Li family is the same."

"Although the influence of the Sun Moon Cult has not yet expanded to our area, its ambitions are great, and it is likely not far off. Therefore, our Hu family is willing to join."

Everyone spoke up, expressing their willingness to join.

An alliance was formed in an instant.

Yi Jifeng couldn't help but feel excited.

The head of the Zhu family said, "It is an honor for the Zhu family that you gentlemen have given me face to join the alliance. However, we are all merchants and do not have much reputation in the martial arts world."

Therefore, although the alliance is formed, I suggest that a renowned hero from the martial arts world be invited to serve as the alliance leader. What do you all think?

"Brother Zhu is absolutely right!"

"That's right. Matters of the martial world should be left to the martial world to deal with. We businessmen shouldn't get involved."

Everyone understood what the Zhu family head meant and echoed his sentiments.

"Then, which hero in the martial world do you think is worthy of this important task?"

"Haha..." Wang's steward laughed: "If we're talking about heroes in the Jiangnan region, besides 'Southern Murong,' who else could possibly be the leader of this alliance?"

Yi Jifeng's face immediately froze.

(End of this chapter)