章 20: Chapter 17 Setting the Plan
The next day.
Qing Yu suddenly sat up from bed, one hand pulling out the Mystic Iron dagger that was hidden under his pillow.
"Your alertness is commendable," a dark figure stood in front of the bed, quietly watching him.
"Brother Gao, you could scare someone to death popping up like that, you know?" Qing Yu replied irritably.
Xiao Gao didn't respond, instead, he just threw a thick notebook to Qing Yu.
Catching it, Qing Yu gauged its heft with a shake, "Information on the Four Families?"
"A detailed introduction. Real-time intelligence couldn't possibly be compiled into a single booklet."
Qing Yu opened the booklet, which contained highly detailed information on the Four Families, complete with portraits of various family members.
The Four Great Families of Yang City indeed had a long heritage, with numerous side branches and even some illegitimate children who hadn't dispersed yet—no wonder just the introductions took up such a thick booklet.
Speaking of which, the Four Great Families didn't know whether to count themselves lucky or not. Originally, the border army had left people in Yang City solely to stabilize the region, providing a backup route. After all, the army was set to march to the recently conquered Qing Province from the Southern Border. If something went wrong and they couldn't hold it, there would be a fallback option. Therefore, although the border army withdrew from Yang City, the court still considered it under the jurisdiction of the border army.
As it turned out, Emperor Daqian had frightened the Miao people so thoroughly they dared not invade again, and Qing Province remained unharmed.
However, to be on the safe side, Yang City was still part of the border army, and border towns like this generally did not establish government offices. As a result, with the rise of trade with the Southern Border, Yang City evolved from a mere strategic border town into the sole trade route between Province Qing and Ling.
With Emperor Daqian gone to heaven, the court was in chaos over the succession. Seizing the opportunity, Lord Zhen Shan made a very bold decision: pretending that the Miao people were attacking, he took control over Yang City under a military pretext.
The situation in the court was a mess, and although some recognized Lord Zhen Shan's ruse, to stabilize him, they begrudgingly acknowledged his occupation of Yang City.
The new Emperor ascended the throne and was still unable to deal with Lord Zhen Shan. Having just taken the throne, the last thing he needed was to antagonize a major border general—what would the other border generals think? Helplessly, they still had to concede to Lord Zhen Shan's arrogance. However, there were maneuvers to contain him; the Emperor decreed the establishment of a City Lord for Yang City, to be elected from the remaining families, with the position rotating so that each family had an opportunity.
Lord Zhen Shan was wise enough to quit while he was ahead, considering all those families were his subordinates anyway.
Having read through the origins of the Four Great Families of Yang City, Qing Yu looked at the next section; this was where the drama began.
Initially, the struggle for the position of City Lord led to open and covert battles between the Four Families, all fighting tooth and nail. Later, as trade and profits increased, the Four Families could only look on enviously. Most of the profits went to the Zhen Shan Army, while they could only sip the leftovers. The problem was, these profits passed through their own hands—who could bear it?
At first, they only secretly skimmed a bit off the edges, but as their boldness and appetites grew, they started to quietly pocket insignificant items like medicinal herbs. Some then realized that no matter how well they developed, they were limited to Yang City, still working for others, and began to contemplate leaving Yang City.
This touched a nerve in Lord Zhen Shan. If one started, who knows if the others wouldn't follow suit. Without people, who would serve as City Lord and help him control Yang City? Let's not forget, the Emperor's edict explicitly stated that the City Lord could only be elected from the Four Great Families.
What followed was a purge, getting rid of the restless and keeping the obedient. The current City Lord from the Song Family was the most compliant during the purge, and from that point forward, the position of City Lord in Yang City became a hereditary seat within the Song Family.
Having read this far, Qing Yu felt he almost had a strategy in mind and lazily stretched himself.
"Eh, Brother Gao, you're still here?"
"..."
Qing Yu stared at the booklet for a long while; Xiao Gao stood motionless and silent by his side, having not uttered a word all this time.
"Perfect. Brother Gao, can you tell me which family has started to become restless again, or perhaps, all the families have become restless?"
After the cleansing incident, Lord Zhen Shan consciously began to suppress the number of Innate Realm experts among the Four Great Families to keep a firm grip on them. By now, there was only one Innate in Yang City who was close to death.
"At the moment, it is still unclear which families are involved."
"It's beyond me where they get their confidence from—just a bunch of Postnatal realm..."
Xiao Gao did understand, "They want to invite the court to station here."
"Tsks," Qing Yu clicked his tongue, truly audacious as bears and leopards. They were actually planning to help the court undercut Lord Zhen Shan. It's amazing he can still sit still, making bets with Mr. Mo. If this ship were to capsize, it would be a joke.
On second thought, it's not surprising. The Innate Realm can extend life by fifty years. It's not that the Four Great Families cannot ascend to the Innate, but they dare not; life spent, a plethora of longevity is useless. However, being forced to live fifty years less, no one would tolerate it, not even the supposedly most loyal Song Family. Qing Yu figured, not one family would reject the court stationing there.
"Thinking about it, the usual methods won't work. If time drags on, Mr. Mo might lose even less than forty percent of the profits. It's only by using bloody methods to instill fear that the families harboring secrets will seek powerful backers." Qing Yu pondered, stroking his chin.
"Then, which family should we start with?"
The Li Family runs brothels, the Zhang Family taverns, and the Sun Family is even more outrageous—all the bandits and mountain bandits within miles are under the Sun Family. Alas, one of the rulers of Yang City, to degenerate to such a state, it's a sorrowful thought. At least the City Lord Mansion is better off; it can collect taxes, and also from the Li, Sun, and Zhang families, because they all have to pay taxes to the City Lord Mansion on time, as the only Innate realm expert is there.
In the city, the Iron Saber Association, Qingshan Gang, and Five Tigers Sect are backed by the Li, Zhang, and Sun families, respectively. The Iron Saber Association is mostly comprised of brothel bouncers, and the Qingshan Gang of street thugs; these two gangs occasionally clash with each other, causing headaches for the City Lord Mansion. It's rare to see gangs mixed up to such an extent.
The Five Tigers Sect is called a gang, but it's more of a martial arts school. The Five Tigers Martial Arts School could be considered the alma mater of all the bandits and robbers in the vicinity, with one speciality—robbery. Bandits around Yang City, if they haven't studied at the Five Tigers Robber Professional School, are not only looked down upon but also face unemployment, or if not, death.
True Martial Dao Sect.
The main peak, Chonghe Peak, is the tallest among the Zhenwu Seven Peaks, piercing the heavens and looking down upon the other peaks.
Atop the peak, within a training platform, mist swirled, obscuring the surroundings.
Upon closer inspection, this mist seemed to flow in patterns.
Suddenly, the mist began to move more rapidly, and at the center of it, as if a hurricane were spinning, a large swath of mist was drawn into the center and funneled into the palms of a young man wearing a purple Daoist robe, forming a ball of cloud-like Qi.
"Disperse," commanded the young man, causing the ball of Qi to burst open, scattering Qi Force in all directions, clearing the mist around the platform.
The young man slowly ended his training and expelled a solid Qi Sword from his mouth.
"Junior Brother Qingzhou, what important matter brings you here?" the young man turned to address a figure that had been waiting behind him for a long time. His appearance, with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, naturally exuded bravery and was quite extraordinary.
Qingzhou bowed respectfully, "Senior Brother Qingxu, Qing Yuan Qingcheng did not send the message eagle on time yesterday. I fear something may have happened in Qing Province."
Qingxu walked past Qingzhou, heading off the platform, with Qingzhou turning to follow.
"It doesn't matter. That homeless dog, whether alive or dead, is of no concern to us. What is there to worry about?"
In his words, disdain filled his voice for the 'homeless dog' he mentioned. As for Qing Yuan Qingcheng—who that was, he couldn't remember, even less so than the homeless dog.
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