Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 118 Different thoughts

Afterwards, Zhong Wenyuan proposed to do business in Muhe Grassland, and Shen Fan also whispered about the shortage of materials for puppet refining. After this, the budget has risen to 37,000 spirit stones.

"Now the sect only has 28,000 spirit stones at most. Even if we empty the treasury, we can't take out so much at once. Instead, we have to eat one bite at a time and take one step at a time. The sect has just had some surplus money, but we are spending it lavishly. What should we do if we encounter an urgent need to use spirit stones?" Lu Yuan couldn't help it anymore and said with a sullen face.

As the person in charge of the sect's finances, he witnessed with his own eyes the treasury filling up little by little, and he had a particularly strange feeling about it, just like a miser. Although the wealth was not for his own use, he always felt distressed and reluctant to see it being spent like water.

This is how Lu Yuan feels now. He knows that saying this will definitely make people unhappy, because every use here is legitimate and reasonable. If he cuts off any one of them, it will definitely make the relevant people dissatisfied. But it feels like a thorn in his throat that he will feel uncomfortable if he doesn't say it out, so he finally said it out.

Sure enough, as soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of several people on the field changed slightly. Zhong Wenyuan frowned, Lin Zixiang turned his head to look at Lu Yuan, and Shen Fan's face immediately became more worried, and he looked at Song Xian.

To avoid an argument if others started to speak up, Song Xian quickly said, "Let's make a plan first, and we'll see how the situation develops later. Aside from a few necessary expenses, like the construction of the alchemy room, we can slow it down a bit and don't need to spend so many spirit stones all at once."

Lu Yuan held his head high and chest puffed out, his face straight and straight, his voice heavy and firm: "Then please direct us to use that money first. I just calculated that the expenses have reached 37,000 spirit stones. If you come to me for all of it, I won't be able to give it even if the treasury is emptied."

Song Xian pondered, "We absolutely cannot afford to save on the costs of the alchemy room and shops in the market. Allocate another 10,000 spirit stones for laying the fire veins, and give 5,000 spirit stones to Senior Brother Wenyuan to go to Muhe Grassland for business. Pay this amount first. The total is 21,600 spirit stones."

"We can allocate 1,000 spirit stones initially for the development of the puppets, and we can add more later. Similarly, we can allocate 1,500 spirit stones initially for the raw materials for the Jade Fragrance Pill. As for everyone's salaries next year, let's hold off on paying them for half a year! Let's finish the things at hand first."

"Also, take out another 1,000 spirit stones to purchase talisman paper for testing spiritual roots. This year, test all the children of appropriate age in all the villages and towns around us. If there are any with spiritual roots, we will accept them into the mountain gate."

…………

After the meeting ended, everyone dispersed. Zhong Wenyuan quickly found Song Xian alone again. As soon as he sat down, he asked directly, "Master, are you still going to follow your original plan and recruit independent cultivators to join the sect?"

"Right now, the sect is in urgent need of manpower in all areas. The Alchemy Hall will be completed next year, and the Jade Fragrance Pill production will be expanded the year after. We also need to open new shops in Bianxi City, which will require even more help. Even if we start recruiting children of the right age with spiritual roots now, even achieving Transcendental Transformation requires several years of training, so it's impossible to make it in time."

"Then how will the salaries of the recruited monks be distributed? Will they be paid according to the same standard for all disciples of this sect?"

"Of course. Brother Wenyuan, if you have anything to say, just say it!"

Zhong Wenyuan's expression was solemn, and his voice was deep: "The total income of the sect deposited into the treasury this year is less than 3,000 spirit stones, and this includes the several thousand spirit stones from Apu. If this expense is deducted, this year's income is negative."

"To be honest, I've been patient about this for a long time and have wanted to talk it over with the Sect Leader for a long time. But I knew the Sect Leader would definitely not take it seriously, or even be unhappy about it, so I've been forbearing. Today, it has reached a point where I have to resolve it."

"The Master is kindhearted, and all the disciples of the sect can see this. However, the governance and maintenance of the sect cannot be achieved through blind giving."

"The salary set by our sect for its disciples is a bit too high. Even the disciples of a large sect like the Luoyun Sect don't receive as much as our disciples."

"The headmaster said earlier that all the brothers and sisters have worked hard all the way from Pingyuan County to this remote Bianxia Town, and they have never left each other. Their salaries should be increased. Therefore, it is reasonable to raise everyone's salary to the original sect's dual-attribute spiritual root standard."

"But now that we have established a firm foothold here, if we continue to pay salaries to those recruited independent cultivators at this rate, the sect's finances will simply not be able to sustain it."

"This salary was originally intended as an incentive and compensation for the fellow disciples who followed us all the way from Qingyun Sect, but now it has become the standard for all disciples. We don't have such a strong financial foundation to provide such a high salary to all disciples."

"Actually, I wanted to discuss this matter with the Sect Master long before Junior Brother Qi Xiaobai and Junior Sister Feng Yan joined the sect. However, Junior Brother Qi, Junior Sister Carissa, and Junior Sister Feng have all made significant contributions to the development of the sect's Jade Fragrance Pill industry, so it's fine for them to enjoy the same salary and benefits as their fellow disciples who have been through thick and thin with Qingyun Sect."

"But even the newly recruited Mu Hong and Cheng Qian are being held to this standard, and future recruits will continue to be held to this standard. This is not the way to long-term development."

"Right now, the sect is still small, with only fifteen members, and the annual salary alone requires over five thousand spirit stones. When the sect grows to fifty or even a hundred members, it will be an extremely heavy burden to continue to follow this high standard." "Things have come to this point. If we don't make timely adjustments, there will be endless troubles in the future. People are like this: it's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but it's difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. Everyone is happy when the salary is raised, but once the salary is raised, there will inevitably be complaints if it is reduced."

"I suggest that we restore the Qingyun Sect's inner and outer sect system. The fifteen people who have joined the sect now will all be promoted to inner disciples and receive salaries according to this standard. The cultivators recruited in the future will be outer disciples and receive salaries according to the Qingyun Sect's standards."

Song Xian was silent. He extremely hated the inner and outer gate system, so he insisted on abolishing it.

In his opinion, this system is the source of disaster and chaos, because it openly divides the disciples of the sect into different levels.

Once people are divided into clear classes, class conflicts are bound to arise.

But what Zhong Wenyuan said was a fact that had to be resolved. With the sect's current financial resources, it was no problem to support a dozen people. As it grew and developed, it would definitely have to continue recruiting cultivators, including cultivating young children with spiritual roots. Once the number of people increased, this would become a big problem.

"Although what Senior Brother Wenyuan said makes sense, the inner and outer sect system is definitely not advisable. Moreover, there is no specific standard for dividing the inner and outer sects in this way. Among the fifteen people now, some have high cultivation levels, some have low cultivation levels, some have good spiritual roots, and some have poor spiritual roots."

"Without rules, there will be no order. The monks we recruit in the future will definitely ask about the criteria for inner disciples. How should we answer them then? Let me think carefully about how to resolve this matter."

Zhong Wenyuan did not continue to ask about the solution. His main purpose this time was to persuade Song Xian to adjust the salaries of newcomers. The inner and outer gate system was one solution to the problem. Now that his goal had been achieved, it didn't matter whether the plan was passed or not, so he got up and left.

Song Xian was still thinking about how to solve this matter. After a while, Zhang Ningyuan came here again with a bitter face.

During the meeting just now, Song Xian noticed that he looked depressed and roughly guessed why he came.

"Master, please send someone else to take care of the shop in Nanyuanfang! I really don't want to stay there anymore." Zhang Ningyuan said dejectedly as he sat down.

The sales of Yuxiang Pills in the shop throughout the whole year were not as much as those in a few months last year. Only about 200 pills were sold in total, while Qingfengfang had sold 3,000 pills in a year. Such a huge gap made him very depressed, and he was even more discouraged about the business of Nanyuanfang Loft.

Song Xian had no choice but to persuade him kindly.

"Brother Ning Yuan, please hold on a little longer. Although Nanyuanfang doesn't sell much, it's still our business. Even after deducting the shop expenses, there's still a profit. Besides, Luoyun Sect has no involvement here, and all the profits go into the sect's pocket, so we can't close it down. The sect is short of manpower right now, and we can't transfer anyone for the time being. To be honest, I plan to recruit some more people next year and send someone to replace you then."

"I know we're short on manpower right now, but I just don't feel like staying here any longer. Aren't there three people in Qingfengfang? There's a shop there, and two people are enough. You can just transfer Junior Brother Zichen or that Mu Hong. As long as you transfer me away from that shop, I'll do anything you ask of me."

Seeing that he had said this, Song Xian had no choice but to say, "How about this! I'll discuss with Senior Brother Xu Ning and have him go to Nanyuanfang to exchange you back. Next year, you can follow Senior Brother Wenyuan to Muhe Grassland to do some trade. How about that?"

"Okay, as long as I don't have to manage the shop anymore, I can do anything." Zhang Wenyuan agreed readily, looking a lot more relaxed.

This matter has become a knot in his heart. Every time he thinks of himself guarding that shabby shop while a newcomer Feng Yan has already made a name for herself in Qingfengfang in Bianxi City, he feels extremely uncomfortable.

After he left, Song Xian quickly found Xu Ning and explained the matter to him.

When he heard that he would be transferred to Hunyuan Pavilion in Nanyuanfang, he agreed without thinking.

Because in his opinion, this was a perfect job. He had been in the sect for more than a year, and had nothing to do most of the time. He was only responsible for trivial matters such as building the mansion. It was rarely his turn to use the spirit gathering array. There were only a few people coming and going in the sect, which was extremely boring.

In Nanyuanfang, not only can one deal with various types of cultivators every day, but one can also earn extra income and share half of the proceeds from the Jade Fragrance Pills, which is much better than staying in the sect.

(End of this chapter)