Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 329 The Southern Chu court is far too complicated.
Finding someone suitable to "walk the path of impermanence" is not so easy.

Even with Zhang Chengdao's help, they only found eight suitable people after a month.

Actually, we found dozens of suitable candidates, but after assessment or "review," most of them turned out to be somewhat unsuitable, so in the end, only eight people were left.

Of course, not all of those who were "eliminated" failed the assessment; some simply encountered accidents...

For example, one of the minor officials, who usually looked respectable, was so frightened by a masked man who "broke into the government office at night" that he wet his pants on the spot. It turned out that this man was not afraid of anything except ghosts and spirits!
To avoid hiring an innocent person who might die while trying to recruit a good person, He Yu had no choice but to give up on this well-known "upright official".

In short, after a month of back and forth, only eight "strongmen" were captured. Although it wasn't many, it was enough to give He Yu, who was so busy he barely had time to breathe.

Thus, Zhang Chengdao reverted to his lazy and carefree self as the sect leader of the White Stone Immortal Sect. Apart from going to work once a week, his daily routine consisted of wandering around the sect, appraising the new products his disciples had developed, giving random pointers on their studies, or hiding in his room playing Bubble Dragon. Occasionally, when he had accumulated 30 member red envelopes, he would open another batch of red envelopes, living a very carefree life.

"Why is it still 'Ge Gen Tang' (Kudzu Root Decoction)? Did I accidentally stir up trouble for 'Ge Gen Tang'?"

After accumulating 30 member red envelopes and opening them in a fit of rage, as expected, I received more than a dozen trendy junk items, the most of which was [Kudzu Root Soup], which I received three times.

What remained were various materials that Zhang Chengdao now had more of, but in any case, they were spiritual materials, and having them was better than having none...

That's the only way I can comfort myself.

Fortunately, according to the law of conservation of Europium and African energy, Zhang Chengdao hadn't gotten any good items for two consecutive months. After using up the last 5 of his 30 pulls, he finally got some really good stuff.

"Received 10 servings of Pumpkin Seafood Porridge".

"Obtained the [Zouwu Bell]".

"Received 30 [animal hides]".

"Obtained the [Family Heirloom]".

"Received 10 servings of [Jade White Soup]".

The last 5 draws were surprisingly lucky. Aside from the 30 pieces of [animal hides] being worthless, even the two types of food were decent, plus two treasures.

Of these two treasures, the [Zouwu Bell] is already a familiar one; I've drawn three of them in total, including this one. The only thing that's different is the [Heirloom], which is a bit abstract.

This item is a top-tier red flash item, and theoretically it should be the most valuable. Its value is comparable to the rare red flash manual that was originally called "Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Source," but was actually a "Great Sword Summoning Technique."

The problem is that its function is very unclear, and its use is not apparent from the text description!

In the original game, the so-called "increase of 10 labor points" means that after being given to a villager, it will make the villager more capable.

Whether it's building houses, gathering resources, logging, or mining, efficiency can be greatly improved.

But...

Where do you get labor value in real life?!

What kind of attribute can such an abstract concept be replaced by?!

However, since it is a red flash item, it must have its unique features.

Just like when I drew the [Superior Seeking Wood Branch] last time, although I can't use it in real life like I do in the game, the benefits of the Seeking Wood grown with the [Superior Seeking Wood Branch] are almost the best among all the red-flashing items!

It could even be said that the rapid recovery of spiritual energy in this martial arts and cultivation world is largely due to the [Supreme Seeking Wood Branch]!
Therefore, even if the so-called "increase of 10 labor points" cannot be reflected in reality, this [family heirloom] is definitely not an ordinary item!
Thinking of this, Zhang Chengdao decisively put the jade pendant called "Family Heirloom" on his waist. It was quite beautiful, with a faint golden-red light flowing around it.

The drop rate for this 30-pull was quite good, so Zhang Chengdao walked briskly towards the several halls behind Lingxiao Palace, where Xu Ying and Ye Shuyun usually handled sect affairs.

"Shuyun!"

Upon entering the room, Zhang Chengdao greeted everyone, then put on a very kind and benevolent smile, holding up the Zouwu Bell and saying, "This is the Zouwu Bell. Wearing it can make one as light as a swallow. Your senior brothers and sisters all have one, so you can have this one!"

The saying goes, "It's not scarcity that's the problem, but inequality." It would be best to wait until later and then take out a few more to distribute to all the direct disciples one by one.

"Thank you so much, Master!"

Ye Shuyun accepted the exquisite brass bell with great surprise and happily wore it on her waist.

Yes, indeed. Zhang Chengdao didn't know what ancient times were like before he traveled to this world, but in this world, people especially liked to hang all sorts of things on their waists. And the belts weren't made of cloth like in the TV series or movies he had seen before, but were made of leather, with some metal rings embedded on them, or with many short leather straps hanging down to hang things.

Leaving aside common items like tokens representing various factions and wallets, some people are well-prepared and also carry various small items such as flints, syringes (for sewing), knives, and water bottles (or wine jugs) for emergencies.

Of course, some people simply hung their weapons on top. Every time Zhang Chengdao saw this, he worried that such heavy weapons would break the belt and cause the pants to fall down...

In short, there didn't seem to be anything wrong with Ye Shuyun hanging a small copper bell on it.

Just as he was taking a few more glances, Ye Shuyun hung up the small bell and then cupped her hands towards Zhang Chengdao, saying, "By the way, Master, Headmaster Xu and I were just about to come to see you. This is a letter from the Southern Chu Kingdom. After they sent envoys to make some purchases last time, they have sent another letter this time. Everything else is fine, but the Southern Chu Emperor wants to exchange various spiritual materials with the White Stone Immortal Sect for 20,000 taels of gold and 100,000 taels of silver every year. He also wants some low-grade magic treasures and spiritual herbs. I wonder what Master thinks?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chengdao thought about it carefully.

There's nothing wrong with this.

Based on the current output of spiritual materials by the White Stone Immortal Sect, many spiritual materials will only accumulate more and more, especially various ores and wood.

How much do those outer disciples consume for cultivation? The sect has already built all the buildings it needed to build, and they're not needed anymore. Rather than letting them gather dust in the warehouse and our own backpacks, we might as well make the most of them. Selling them to others or to the Southern Chu Kingdom is the same.

As for low-level magic weapons and elixirs...

Zhang Chengdao glanced again at the [Kudzu Root Decoction] and [Traumatizing Powder] in his backpack, both with a maximum limit of 999, and his lips twitched almost imperceptibly. Magical items weren't easy to sell, but if he could sell spiritual herbs for more money, that would be great!
I can finally clean up all this junk!

However, despite thinking this in his heart, Zhang Chengdao asked the two men, "I wonder what Steward Xu and Shuyun think?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Shuyun looked at Xu Ying, clearly waiting respectfully for Xu Ying to speak first.

Xu Ying did not refuse, but coughed lightly and said, "Ahem, reporting to the sect leader, I have thought about this matter. Some things that are not important can be sold, but gold and silver are useless to us. We might as well use other things to trade, which may bring us more benefits."

Zhang Chengdao then realized that, indeed, he had almost forgotten that the sect used spirit stones, and soon the entire cultivation world (although there were only a handful of sects) would also be implementing the "cultivator-only" currency issued by the Immortal Alliance. Gold and silver, apart from decoration or as consumables in cultivation, were indeed of little use to the White Stone Immortal Sect.

If everyone's cultivating immortality, why bother with "gold reserves"?

"What Steward Xu said makes sense, and that's what I think too." Ye Shuyun then cupped her hands and said, "The sect's market sells all kinds of spiritual materials, magic treasures and pills. Last time, the envoy from the Southern Chu Kingdom bought a lot of things from the market. At that time, they didn't have any spirit stones, so they had to exchange some with the Ye family to buy them."

"But next time we come, the Ye family won't have as many spirit stones. After all, the Ye family also needs to spend them, and this matter ultimately needs to be documented in a set of rules. We can't always act in private like this."

Zhang Chengdao nodded, agreeing with their views: "That's right, there should be some rules."

Then he paced back and forth in the room, lost in thought.

There's no doubt that accepting gold and silver will definitely result in a loss.

But it doesn't seem like I'd make a profit from buying other things either.

Ask yourself, in the whole world, besides the White Stone Immortal Sect, where else can you find a place that can both "produce" various magical treasures and pills, and also "produce" basic spiritual materials?

Even the small sects that outer disciples secretly help only produce very low-grade spiritual materials, which are of very limited use.

In this situation, asking the Southern Chu Kingdom to provide something with a spirit as a settlement item is simply making things difficult for them!

But if they don't want spiritual materials and only want ordinary grains, cloth, and luxury goods, then they are even less useful to the White Stone Immortal Sect.

Gold and silver are not as good!

At least in many "professional" cultivation practices, such as weapon crafting, formations, and talismans, gold and silver can be used as consumables.

unless……

Unless, of course, another "targeted assistance" program is implemented, providing technology to the Southern Chu Kingdom to allow them to cultivate or produce low-grade spiritual materials as goods for exchange, then they might actually be able to gain some benefits.

Moreover, they probably wouldn't reject this model.

After all, this way they can also produce spiritual materials themselves, which is a win-win situation, so why not?

So Zhang Chengdao shared this idea with Xu Ying and Ye Shuyun. Xu Ying agreed wholeheartedly, but Ye Shuyun hesitated. However, she did not explicitly say that it was inappropriate and simply agreed to the matter. The two then discussed discussing it with the envoy from Southern Chu the next day.

Although Ye Shuyun's expression was strange, Zhang Chengdao felt that such a brilliant plan would be impossible for any normal person, including the emperor of Southern Chu!

however……

"What?! The envoy from Southern Chu has refused?"

A day later, Zhang Chengdao was completely stunned when he learned that the envoy from the Southern Chu Kingdom had rejected the win-win proposal without even thinking about it.

He racked his brains but couldn't figure out the reason!
Is the Southern Chu court really that complicated?!

“Master, actually…” Ye Shuyun seemed to understand something, sighed, and said, “The situation in the Southern Chu court is complicated. It seems that the imperial power is supreme, but in reality, there are many powerful families and clans sticking together. Even if the emperor wants to implement any decree, he needs the consent of most of the clans…”

"In the Southern Chu Kingdom, there are no martial arts masters in the countryside, which means that martial arts masters are all in aristocratic families. Do you know that the most famous martial arts forces in Jiangnan, besides our Ye family, are Wuyai Academy and Tingfengwenyu Pavilion?"

"Although the former is called an academy, its students and disciples are actually similar to a sect. The latter is said to be a place for pleasure, but behind it is the Prince of Jiankang, who is the uncle of the current emperor of Southern Chu. He likes to recruit scholars and literati. However, he is also clever and does not care about military affairs at all. He only claims to love poetry, literature, music and dance. In fact, there are quite a few warriors serving under him."

After Ye Shuyun finished speaking, Zhang Chengdao understood what was going on.

In short, the entire Southern Chu Kingdom is like a piece of cake.

Although the emperor appears to be the owner of the cake, he actually has to cut it into pieces and distribute it among others, and even his hands are controlled by others when he cuts it.

Of course, he could also choose to be uncontrolled, but the consequence would be like the previous emperor of Southern Chu, who "accidentally fell into the water" and died of a cold.

Now that the cake has been divided very evenly, everyone is afraid that their slice will be smaller.

To prevent their cake from shrinking, they refused any changes, not even bringing in another slice from outside—

If other people's cakes get bigger, then my original cakes get smaller, right?
This idea seems absurd, but it does exist in political power, and it was common even in the modern era before Zhang Chengdao's time travel.

This is probably why, when the Southern Chu Kingdom had clearly defeated the Northern Xiao Kingdom and even reached the foot of its capital, it suddenly withdrew its troops, not only abandoning the attack but also handing back most of the territory it had already conquered.

Surely they couldn't have really been scared by that grandmaster from the Northern Xiao Kingdom?
Don't forget, the Southern Chu Kingdom has more Grandmasters than the Northern Xiao Kingdom! If it really comes down to a head-on confrontation, the Southern Chu Kingdom might not be unable to overcome this tough nut to crack!
"However... Master, although the envoy from the Southern Chu Kingdom refused, Second Senior Sister..."

After a long pause, Ye Shuyun hesitantly added, "Second Senior Sister said that she represents the Northern Xiao Kingdom and wants to sign a similar agreement with the White Stone Immortal Sect. The White Stone Immortal Sect would provide the technology, and the Northern Xiao Kingdom would carry out planting or breeding. The spiritual materials produced would be traded with the White Stone Immortal Sect as goods..."

"Furthermore, she said that she can do as she pleases in her fiefdom of Liaoxi, but she needs your help to improve the spiritual energy there. After all, Liaoxi is too far from Baishi Mountain, and the concentration of spiritual energy is too low, making it difficult to carry out planting or breeding..."

(End of this chapter)