Chapter 133 - Revenue

“There are certainly Family Clans like yours around, but I believe the most common tenants in this area are Foundation cultivators living on their own, or with just their direct, small family,” Duo Wengze explained, taking a sip of tea.

Shu Yang had invited him over to the Shu Clan Estate, their very first guest. He figured he would need to know quite a bit about the situation in the city before starting to make any moves.

Duo Wengze was an excellent source of information, and Shu Yang believed it was a great relationship to have even after he had found out what he needed. Not only was he a disciple of the Sword Sect, he had the last name Duo, which happened to be the name of one of the three Golden Clans in the city.

If Shu Yang wanted to integrate into the city, Duo Wengze was an excellent person to go through.

“I happen to know that there is an alchemist living just down the street, Master Chinu,” Duo Wengze continued. “He apparently comes from a Qi Refining Family in the north of Zhixian Immortal Land, and has managed to rise to his position through hard work and talent. But even as an alchemist, which is the most profitable of all arts, it’s not enough to support his entire family to move into this area.

“As far as I know, he keeps a few talented family members in his courtyard to make use of the spiritual qi here. Once it’s clear they can’t build a Foundation, he sends them back to their spiritual mountain and takes in a new talented youngster to try again.

“A situation like that is very common. Still, there are Founding Clans around like yours as well. I should have the information back at the office. I can take a look and let you know whatever I’m allowed to share.”

“That would be greatly appreciated,” Shu Yang said. He planned on going around to get acquainted with his neighbours later. It would be helpful to know a bit about them beforehand.

Duo Wengze stayed and chatted for a while longer, and then excused himself, having to get back to work.

Shu Yang was curious about his experience in the Sword Sect, as well as the details of how a Golden Clan like the Duo Clan operated. But seeing as they had just met, Shu Yang didn’t ask anything too private.

‘I’ll ask him about everything properly once we get to know each other a bit better.’

Shu Yang escorted Duo Wengze to the gates of the estate, and just as he was about to leave, Duo Wengze turned around and asked in a low voice. “Excuse me for asking, but I’m just too curious. Just what is your relationship with Bian Fenglin?”

‘Damn. He just had to ask.’

Shu Yang had hoped to keep it a mystery. His relationship with Bian Fenglin would work as a wonderful shield for his family if anyone ever had ill intentions to his family.

Unfortunately, their relationship had come to an end now as Bian Fenglin had fulfilled his promise to escort them to the Sword Sect. Shu Yang certainly wasn’t stupid enough to lie about that.

But he had hoped that Duo Wengze might misunderstand how close they were, and in turn spread the word that there was a connection between the Shu Family and Bian Fenglin. Shu Yang couldn’t be blamed if that were to happen.

Alas, he couldn’t lie about it, so he told Duo Wengze the truth. “We don’t really have a relationship. He owed me a favor, which is why he helped me settle down here. He also took an interest in my granddaughters, as they comprehended sword intent at the young age of six, so he brought them back to join the sect.”

“Really? Are they such geniuses? Both of them?” Duo Wengze asked.

Shu Yang laughed, “I’ll tell you all about it when you come over next time.”

“Alright. I’ll keep you to that,” Duo Wengze laughed and waved goodbye.

‘I’m not sure how rare the twin’s talent is in these parts. Hopefully, their status will demand a certain amount of respect for the family.’

Shu Yang walked back to the Main Mansion and entered the Resource Allocation Office, which he had established just the day before.

For now, the one in charge, and the only one working there, was his daughter Tianyue.

“Dad, can’t you find someone else to take care of this? It’s too much responsibility,” Tianyue complained as soon as she saw him.

Shu Yang rolled his eyes, “If you really don’t like it, I’ll find someone else to do it.”

“Hey, who else would be as good as me? I’ll do it, I’ll do it,” Tianyue muttered, “Am I not allowed to complain a bit?”

‘Why bother to pretend to be dissatisfied?’

Shu Yang knew his daughter well enough to know she loved this kind of work. She was probably also the one most suitable.

‘No one should have any complaints when they hear about the new system.’

‘The only problem is how to find sources of revenue to keep this kind of resource distribution up in the future.’

Shu Yang had given a lot of thought on how to structure everything as his family grew. He had Clan Rules established long ago, but they might be getting a little outdated, and needed a second review.

But what was most important was the matter of how to distribute resources in a fair way.

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After giving it a lot of thought, Shu Yang had come up with a preliminary system.

He would give a certain amount of spirit stones to each of his family members every month, and that was it. No one would get any other resources, nor would they have access to any spells, manuals, or recipes that Shu Yang had collected. Everything would have to be bought from the family with the spirit stones they got.

If what they were looking for couldn’t be found in the family, they could use the spirit stones outside in the city to buy what they needed.

There were exceptions, of course. Shu Yang would still give the Shu Art to everyone to practice with, and if he felt someone had a talent that should be nurtured, like alchemy, he wouldn’t withhold crucial information from them.

But that was all at Shu Yang discretion. As a rule, everyone had to buy what they needed. Hopefully, there would come a day when everything that could be needed was available to buy from the Shu Family itself, and no spirit stones had to go outside.

‘I should look for more spells, cultivation manuals, and most importantly, legacies for the various arts. Alchemy and formations should be prioritized. But I’ll see what I can find.’

“I made a list,” Tianyue said, “I wrote down what everyone in the family is owed. But you still need to tell me how much the guests will receive.”

“I haven’t decided yet. It will mostly depend on the work they do,” Shu Yang answered. Guests referred to those who lived with them, but weren’t a member of the family, or married into the family, like Shen Ye and Qianyue’s brothers.

“Set it to 10 low-grade spirit stones each,” Shu Yang said after giving it some thought. It wouldn’t affect him much, and it would leave everyone with something. But if they wanted more, they would have to work for it. Shu Yang was still thinking of a good use for everyone, and hadn’t decided on anything yet.

As for the rest of his family members, Shu Yang had been very generous. All his children would receive 500 low-grade spirit stones each month. It didn’t matter what they worked with, or how high their cultivation was.

Perhaps not very fair, but Shu Yang didn’t want to make any distinction between his children in that kind of way.

His grandchildren were different, though. How much they received depended entirely on their cultivation. 2 low-grade spirit stones for everyone 10 years and older, 10 for 3rd grade martial warriors, 15 for the 2nd grade, 20 for the 1st grade, 50 for Innate, and 100 for Masters. In case they practiced both body cultivation and spiritual cultivation, they would receive reward for both.

It would obviously favor the more talented descendants, but there had to come a point where a distinction was made. Shu Yang couldn’t treat everyone equally forever. Besides, even 10 spirit stones each month was incredibly generous, and even those without talent should be able to advance to the 3rd stage easily with those kinds of rewards.

‘Hopefully, this will make everyone excited about practicing a bit more seriously.’

As for the wives, and future husbands, of his children and grandchildren, they would receive half of whatever their partner earned.

The notable exception was Xiaoshi. As a Foundation expert, Shu Yang had decided that she would receive 1 middle-grade spirit stone, or 1000 low grade spirit stones, each month. That would be the case for any future Foundation cultivator as well.

He had even noted down that Xiaorong was to be awarded the same amount each month. She might not be doing much in the day to day, but just having a Foundation cultivator at hand to make use of was worth the money.

All in all, it would cost him almost 100 middle-grade spirit stones every year. With rent, that was 320 middle-grade stones that he lost each year.

‘It’s fine for now. I have enough to last us over ten years. But I can’t be lazy, we need a way to make money, and lots of it.’

Shu Yang’s goal was to break even within ten years. He knew that it would be very difficult, but it shouldn’t be impossible.

“By the way, are you sure you want to give me so much? And do you realize how much Tianan’s family will get? Having so many wives is cheating,” Tianyue said, looking up from her papers.

“It’s fine,” Shu Yang said.

“I don’t even know if I can spend it all,” Tianyue said. “Should I just save them? That seems like a waste.”

“Do what you want with them,” Shu Yang said with a shrug, “Just do your job well, and you’ll have earned them. If you really can’t spend them on yourself, see if there is a business opportunity or something you can use them for.”

“Like what?” Tianyue asked.

“I don’t know,” Shu Yang said, shrugging, “I have too many thoughts right now, I don’t know what will work and what will not. Maybe you can open a store in the outer city or something? If you manage to open up another source of revenue for the family, I would be very grateful.”

Tianyue’s eyes lit up slightly. “I didn’t think about that. Maybe I can ask Teacher to help.”

“Sounds good,” Shu Yang said, quite pleased.

As for Jiangxi’s son Yeshen, who Shu Yang had promised to nurture, he wouldn’t receive any spirit stones. He wasn’t a part of the family, in the end.

But that didn’t mean Shu Yang would break his promise, he would just give him all the resources he needed directly.

‘Living in a place like this, and stuffed with resources, that kid better not fail to advance and make a liar out of me.’

“Actually, do you think this place has over heard the story of Queen Shuangyu? Probably not, right? Maybe I can print a bunch of copies. It will definitely sell well,” Tianyue said, hand on her chin.

“What?” Shu Yang asked.

“Queen Shaungyu?” Tianyue questioned. She pulled out a book hidden beneath a bunch of papers and showed it to Shu Yang. “Don’t you remember giving it to me?”

“Right,” Shu Yang said, smiling. “Maybe. You can try.”

A book like that would definitely not bring in any profit. No one would waste spirit stones on a mundane book. But Shu Yang didn’t feel the need to discourage his daughter.

‘To think she still keeps it with her.’

“Why don’t we go and see if we can find a book store later? I need to buy a few things,” Shu Yang suggested.

“Okay,” Tianyue said, nodding eagerly.

“Good,” Shu Yang said.

‘Perhaps there will be a few examples of other families’ Clan Rules that I can draw some inspiration from.’

Shu Yang left his daughter and walked out of the Main Mansion, planning on looking for his other children.

‘I should try to motivate everyone to find a revenue source for the family, perhaps someone will actually come up with something.’

Shu Yang had a few ideas himself, that he would set in motion soon, but it never hurt to see what his children could come up with.