Martial Arts: Start by Obtaining the Wild World

Chapter 180 0179: Integrate the gangs; occupy the west of the city
Li Lu was quite clear about Cheng Zongyang's question.

If it weren't for the reminder from Zhao Laoqi arranged by Cheng Zongyang, he would not have been able to escape that fatal disaster!

Therefore, he was well aware of the number of forces at that time, and said without hesitation: "Six."

Cheng Zongyang fell into deep thought again.

This time, he was so lost in thought that he waited until Li Xian returned again and brought Ma Yue with him before he was brought back to his senses.

"Greetings, sir." When Ma Yue saw Cheng Zongyang, he bowed and shouted happily.

"Thank you for your hard work." Cheng Zongyang smiled slightly: "You came back so early, is everything going well?"

Ma Yue knew what Cheng Zongyang was asking, and he said, "Sir, it was because everything went smoothly, and we encountered foreign tribes taking over Shangyong County on the way, so we came back early."

Cheng Zongyang nodded and said, "Tell me in detail what you saw at that time."

"Yes, sir." Ma Yue bowed.

So he continued to repeat the story again, and Cheng Zongyang listened very carefully.

After he finished speaking, Cheng Zongyang asked a few more questions of concern. After getting a definite answer, he said to Ma Yue:

"Go back first, I'll find you later."

All of his things were at Ma Yue's house, so of course he had to take them back.

"Yes, sir." Ma Yue bowed, then bowed to everyone one by one and retreated.

After Ma Yue left, Cheng Zongyang looked at Li Lu and said seriously:
"Brother, we can start the merger now, and quickly! No delay! After the integration, we will start executing according to the plan we made before, the sooner the better. I am worried that the foreign forces that are taking over Yufeng County are already on their way."

Li Lu was shocked and said, "I don't think the integration of these four gangs will be that fast!"

According to the plan, Li Lu established a gang in each of the four districts of the county to control and manage a place. But that was just for the convenience of management.

In the future, whether outsiders take over or Daliang takes it back, the four gangs must be integrated to avoid subsequent troubles.

But now he heard Cheng Zongyang asking him to merge.

"Hurry up, even if you don't have to." Cheng Zongyang said, "Once they come, if the forces under your hands cannot be reduced to one force, you will be targeted and eliminated first."

Li Lu was surprised, but then asked: "What do you think about the follow-up?"

"My people have been brought here. They will first occupy the shops and houses that we have decided on as our base. After you integrate them, you can occupy some more. Otherwise, won't our plan be in vain?"

"What place? West or south of the city?"

"Chengxi!"

Cheng Zongyang said firmly:

"Our two families will occupy the west of the city and withdraw all our forces back to the west of the city. The other three places will be left to foreign forces. This way, they will all have places and will not fight with us because they have no place! At the same time, it is also equivalent to dividing the river and governing separately, with each occupying one place."

Zhao Laoqi and others were a little confused after hearing this.

They had no idea about the integration plan, but as Cheng Zongyang explained, they realized the seriousness of the problem.

They haven't entered the realm of rank yet. If they were to fight with foreign forces, the fate of these unranked people facing foreign forces would be unimaginable.

Li Lu asked, "Will they be willing to let us occupy the west side of the city?"

Cheng Zongyang said: "The west of the city is not ours, but we are just occupying the west of the city. They can also enter the west of the city, but whether they start a war for this or not, we have to be prepared."

Li Lu asked hurriedly: "How to prepare?"

As he spoke, his brows furrowed even more: "Among us, the only ones who can fight right now are you and me. The rest of us haven't even entered the rank yet. Even if we do, how can we be a match for those foreign warriors?"

Cheng Zongyang said: "The people I brought this time are all of the eighth rank."

This time, Li Lu was stunned.

He looked at Cheng Zongyang in disbelief, then glanced at Zhou Zhendong behind him.

Seeing the aura of his blood and energy, I thought he was just an entry-level one, but who knew he was actually an eighth-grade one!
Zhao Laoqi and the other four were also silent.

They were all afraid that the medicinal soup would be too hot and they couldn't bear it, so they chose to follow the routine body-building training. Even so, they only barely touched the threshold of entering the realm of quality.

But when they saw that someone of similar age to Cheng Zongyang was already an eighth-rank warrior, and even the people he brought with him were all eighth-rank, how could they not remain silent?

Cheng Zongyang didn't pay attention to their changes in expression and continued:

“The people I brought with me are all eighth-grade warriors with decent combat capabilities, and generally speaking, those families won’t attack us at will.

After all, if they kill us, they will also lose soldiers and generals. I don't believe that those families are united and harmonious. When the time comes, I will have ways to make them afraid.

Besides, it is impossible that all of them are warriors this time. I estimate that the number of their warriors should be limited."

Cheng Zongyang immediately told Li Lu about the rules of the Thirteen Royal Clans.

The royal family would not care about the conquests between the lower third-rank families, and Cheng Zongyang did not mind them attacking him. He could take control of the entire west city.

The reason why I didn't think of doing so is to understand the situation first.

Otherwise, they would feel that they are too aggressive and unite, which would be troublesome.

To put it another way, what he needs now is time.

The grain outside the city has not been harvested yet, so we have to be frugal. It won't be too late to make plans after we understand their situation.

When Li Lu knew this rule, he felt relieved. If the thirteen royal families didn't care, it meant that they were less wary. If it was a lower third-grade family, it also meant that the warriors were not strong, and there wouldn't be many more.

At the same time, seeing Cheng Zongyang so confident also made him feel relieved.

But he became more and more awed by the power behind Cheng Zongyang.

It is really possible to train a large number of warriors at any time!
He knew something about Cheng Zongyang's family background.

In his opinion, the Cheng family, as a farmer in Jinqiao Village, can have what they have today thanks to the mysterious master behind Cheng Zongyang.

His current strength is also closely related to it.

Therefore, he never had any thoughts that he shouldn't have. Only by deepening the relationship, his cultivation and his future can go further and further.

"Okay, then I'll follow your arrangements."

Li Lu did not hesitate any longer and continued, "After the integration, how will the gang get its financial resources? We can't just go back to the old ways of collecting money from the people and shops and opening a black market, right? Those foreign forces won't let us do that, right?"

Cheng Zongyang had a preliminary idea when he was thinking about this, so he said:
"Yes, I opened an escort agency and also ran some other business."

Li Lu's expression brightened up, and he quickly asked, "Tell me in detail, wait a minute..."

Li Lu quickly looked at his nephew beside him and said, "Bring me some pen and ink to write it down."

"Okay." Seeing this, Li Xian hurried away.

Cheng Zongyang was also at a loss for words. But a good memory is not as good as a bad pen, so it's better to write it down. At the same time, he also said: "It's just a preliminary idea. For the specifics, you have to find someone with experience to try it out."

"No problem. There are so many people in the city, and there should be many who have been involved in escort business before." Li Lu agreed.

After a while, Li Xian came back with pen and ink.

After getting ready, Cheng Zongyang began to say: "I don't need to explain this to the escort agency. You all know what kind of business it is. There are two purposes. One is to increase the source of funds for the gang. After all, there are so many people to support, and the escort agency is a good source of income.

Secondly, because there is no government, there are no restrictions from the laws of the dynasty. In the future, as more and more people join the gang, they will have to be assigned a job and have more experience. Only through actual combat can their combat power be improved quickly and the safety of the gang industry be guaranteed.”

After listening to this, Li Lu started asking questions while waiting for Li Xian to record it.

But Cheng Zongyang had no experience either, so he just asked him to find someone with experience, such as Xu Dong.

But Xu Dong has not come back yet, let's talk about it later. There are so many people in the county, it is impossible that there is only one person who used to work in the escort agency, right?
After Li Xian wrote it down, Cheng Zongyang continued:
“As for opening a black market, this is of course not possible in the short term. After all, we don’t understand the situation of foreigners yet, and the territory in the west of the city has not been truly established.

We can consider it after the territory that belongs to us is finalized and the county town has recovered its former prosperity. After all, there are always people who want to deal with shady things in shady places, right? "

Li Lu smiled when he heard this: "Okay. Open it later. This is also a lucrative income. As for the gambling den and brothel?"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Zongyang fell silent.

Since ancient times, eating, drinking, having sex and gambling have been impossible to eradicate.

Rather than letting others make money, it is better to give it to your own people. As long as the standards are well established and the rules are set, it is fine.

Eating and drinking means restaurants and wine shops, which will be the Cheng family's property in the future. As for the two types of gambling, it's not bad to leave them to Li Lu's gang.

But the next moment, he thought of his oath contract.

This seems... feasible for gamblers in a casino, right?

For those guys who are addicted to gambling, they can simply sign an agreement by borrowing money... and this can even lead to the development of a lending industry in the future!

Suddenly, Cheng Zongyang's eyes lit up and he thought, let's give it a try.

"It can be arranged. The gang has more people and can arrange new places. But strict rules must be formulated. Women of good character cannot be forced into prostitution. People must be completely voluntary. These rules will be explained in detail after the gang is established."

Now it is just a framework. If it is to be expanded, he will naturally impose restrictions. At the same time, if it is to be done, it must be done on a larger scale and in a more standardized and orderly manner.

There are too many examples of this kind in past lives to learn from.

But this kind of business can only be done by gangs. His Cheng family can invest in it, but they cannot touch it directly.

Li Lu's smile became brighter when he heard this: "Okay, okay."

These two are both businesses that make a lot of money. As long as you can open them, you will make money!
Li Xian, Zhao Laoqi and the other four also nodded happily. This kind of business is the easiest to do.

Cheng Zongyang said at this time: "These are all things for the future. It's not too late to talk about it later. Now we should shrink the gangs in four areas and occupy the west of the city. Then we should streamline the gang members. Only qualified people will be kept. The rest will be dismissed."

Li Lu, Li Xian, Zhao Laoqi and others all nodded in agreement.

After confirming it, Cheng Zongyang planned to have a meal in Tianduan Village in the evening, and then left with Zhou Zhendong.

After seeing Cheng Zongyang off, Li Lu returned to the back hall alone.

He said to Li Xian and the other three, "The four of you, before tomorrow, each select and keep 300 people, for a total of 1,200 people. The rest who meet the requirements but cannot be retained due to the number of people being reached can be used as reserve personnel. We will bring them in when we expand our manpower in the future."

Chen Eryun asked: "Sir, instead of doing this, why don't you just keep more?"

Li Lu shook his head: "Without knowing the power of the foreign race, our large number will only attract his attention, and even fear. Although we are all ordinary people, we are also a force.

According to the plan of my brother Cheng and I, we will have fewer people in the early stage and keep a low profile. We will make subsequent arrangements after we understand their origins and situation.

Now, we have almost fifty ninth-grade warriors.

Later, we will select qualified and trustworthy people to continue training them as entry-level warriors in Tianduan Village. After that, we can gradually increase the number of entry-level warriors.

In the future, the incoming personnel will lead the reserve personnel. This way, your workload will be much less.

Our development will gradually increase and expand in a low-key manner, and will not attract the attention and counterattack of foreigners all at once!"

After hearing Li Lu's explanation, everyone understood and no longer had any objections.

Later, Li Lu established a new gang according to the plan, named Tianduan Gang!

On the surface, Tianduan Village is the property of the Tianduan Gang.

But when setting up a new hall, with Li Xian and four others in charge, he frowned about the name.

"Think about the name yourself. You are all responsible for it anyway."

Although he could come up with a name, he used to think that the gangs would name their names like Azure Dragon and Black Tortoise, which sounded too domineering and unrealistic.

Although he was a government official at that time, he always felt that a small gang in a county town would be easily beaten up if it had such a conspicuous name.

Therefore, he left the naming task to Zhao Laoqi and the other three as he was too lazy to rack his brains.

As a result, when the four of them heard about the opportunity to come up with their own names, they immediately came up with one name after another that he couldn't hear.

Zhao Laoqi: "Qiankun Hall, is it domineering? If not, how about Disha Hall? Tiangang Hall?"

Xiao Bing: "Mine will suppress the martial arts hall! Suppress all martial artists! When I enter the rank, I will be invincible among those of the same rank, and I can exchange one for one with those of the same rank!"

Li Xian: "Qinglong Hall? I remember that a gang in the county had this hall before. Uncle, do you think it's okay? No, Suzaku? Black Tortoise? White Tiger?"

Chen Eryun: "Fengyun Hall! It has my word 'Yun' on it! I will never change it!"

Li Lu's face turned black and he kept shaking his head.

Can you take back what you told them to name you?

He was too lazy to listen, and walked out just leaving a word:
"Think about it carefully. Before the sun sets tomorrow, I want all the streamlined personnel to gather at the entrance of Tianduan Village's meeting hall!"

After leaving the county government office, Li Lu breathed a sigh of relief.

It is not difficult to integrate the gangs, but the difficult part is how to arrange the original gang members and select the remaining ones. Time is tight.

But as the boss, he doesn't need to think about these things and can just leave them to his four subordinates.

If the boss has to do everything, what’s the point of being the boss?
As for Cheng Zongyang, he had already brought Zhou Zhendong to several shops in the west of the city.

It used to be a grain store with three large fronts, a backyard and a warehouse. It can be used not only for business but also for living and storage.

After that there will be salt shops, pharmacies, and in the future restaurants, wineries, etc.

Although they won't be used in the short term, they can be occupied first. These shops are basically nearby, and are also close to the city gate.

The location is pretty good.

As for whether outsiders will rob us when they come, it depends on who is stronger!

night.

After some arrangements, they arrived at the door of the meeting hall inside Tianduan Village.

There were three large tables at this time, accommodating more than twenty people in total.

After Cheng Zongyang introduced everyone to each other, they started eating, drinking and chatting casually.

In the future, everyone will understand and help each other until foreign forces enter the city!

(End of this chapter)