Gao Wuming: From Dockworker to Physical Achievement

The only slightly troublesome thing is the Iron Body Martial Arts School.

Having already experienced the strength of the Iron Body Martial Arts School's instructors, Chen Yi was not afraid.

He reached out and rummaged through the middle-aged man's body for a while, then found two deposit slips.

They were all in denominations of one thousand silver dollars, and each had a stamp on it.

Tianhai Concession Bank.

"Indeed, no man can get rich without windfall gains, and no horse can get fat without night grazing. Two thousand silver dollars, how long would it take me to earn that much as a laborer?"

Chen Yi pondered for a moment.

At a wage of fifteen copper coins a day, it would take thirty years of hard work to save up two thousand silver dollars without eating or drinking.

Given this situation, this turbulent society.

Look at what has happened in thirty years.

Chen Yi put the deposit certificate into his pocket.

We will no longer need to live in shacks.

Unfortunately, the middle-aged man only had silver dollars on him and didn't know the training method he was talking about or how to train.

"The boxing techniques can be passed down, but the training methods are absolutely the core secret of the martial arts school, and can only be obtained by direct disciples, so don't think about it for now."

"But with the stat panel, even if it's just about gameplay, I can still improve."

Chen Yi thought to himself.

Then he turned to look at the laborers surrounding him.

After killing the middle-aged man from the Iron Body Martial Arts School, the laborers looked at him with fear.

Chen Yi didn't intend to put on a friendly front; kindness here would only be taken advantage of and eaten up.

The more vicious they are, the better they live.

"From today onwards, I'll set the rules for this dock. Any questions?" Chen Yi said.

"Brother Yi, you'd better run! You've offended the martial arts school, and if they come to retaliate..." shouted a laborer who knew Chen Yi.

After saying that, he was somewhat smug, feeling that he was thinking of Chen Yi's best interests.

Hearing his words, some of the laborers became restless. Although Chen Yi was powerful, he had offended the martial arts school and probably wouldn't be able to stay at the docks.

If I go to the Iron Body Martial Arts School to report the news now, I might be able to get the position of Wang Hu.

Chen Yi narrowed his eyes. Sometimes, the harm caused by a fool can be much greater than that of a bad person.

The power generated by killing should have instilled fear and obedience in the laborers, but the words of the fool have instead caused unrest among them.

Just then, a bespectacled guy suddenly jumped out and knocked the idiot down from behind.

Then he punched and kicked him, saying, "You call me 'Brother Yi'? Call me 'Master Yi,' understand?"

Then, he stood up and shouted to the surrounding laborers, "Iron Body Martial Arts School has become the foreigners' dogs. There are martial arts masters everywhere causing trouble for them. They can't even take care of themselves, how dare they cause trouble?"

"Besides, if Master Yi can kill one, he can kill a second. Iron Body Martial Arts School, bah, it's a doghouse."

After the bespectacled man said that, the laborers who had been somewhat agitated quieted down again, and fear returned to their faces.

"Four-Eyes, come here."

Chen Yi's expression improved, and he greeted the bespectacled man.

Look at this four-eyed guy, he's so good at getting things done, that's what you call a smart person.

The bespectacled man's face lit up with joy, knowing he had made the right decision to stand up. He quickly ran to Chen Yi and said, "Master Yi, please speak."

"What's your name?" Chen Yi asked, sizing him up.

His dark, thin appearance was no different from that of an ordinary laborer.

But ordinary laborers wouldn't know about the Iron Body Martial Arts School.

After work each day, I either go to brothels or go to sleep, and I don't get nearsighted.

The guy with glasses clearly has a story to tell.

But Chen Yi didn't care.

Intelligent people are the rarest of all.

"Master Yi, my name is Qin Tianqi," the bespectacled man said respectfully.

"Have you studied before?" Chen Yi asked.

"My family used to be wealthy, so I did have some education."

"How did you know that the Iron Body Martial Arts School was working for foreigners?"

"Master Yi, I buy a copy of every newspaper that comes out on the street as soon as it's new."

"That's true, it's all been in the newspapers." Chen Yi paused for a moment, then chuckled and shook his head.

He also got the news from the newspaper; others must have seen it too.

"Four-Eyes, let me ask you, if I were to manage the docks and take over the Iron Body Martial Arts School, what would it take?" Chen Yi asked.

He only worked at the dock for a month, so he didn't know much about what was going on there.

Now, naturally, I need to find someone I know well to help me.

Qin Tianqi was so good at handling things, so they gave him a chance.

Qin Tianqi said, "If Master Yi wants to take over the dock unloading business, he has to talk to the Chamber of Commerce. The business at the dock is all taken over by the Chamber of Commerce, and the Iron Body Martial Arts School is just an agent."

Chen Yi frowned slightly: "Can't we just talk to the foreigners on the ship? I'm in charge of the dock now. If they don't talk to me, no one will unload their cargo. Can they refuse?"

"Master Yi, those are foreigners." Qin Tianqi was startled, not expecting that Chen Yi would have such thoughts about foreigners.

Even the Great Xuan Dynasty was beaten so badly by foreigners that they begged for mercy. Who among them would dare to provoke the foreigners?

And those inspectors weren't pushovers either; they were armed.

The martial arts master is powerful, but how many spears can he withstand?

"Master Yi, you absolutely must not mess with the foreigners. In this Tianhai Concession, there is no difference between the imperial police and the foreigners' inspection offices. Whatever the foreigners say goes. You must not provoke them," Qin Tianqi advised repeatedly.

"You're right," Chen Yi nodded.

However, I haven't given up on this idea; I just won't use it for the time being.

We'll use it when we're stronger and more powerful.

After all, the people doing the work are on his side, so there's no reason for the Chamber of Commerce to interfere.

Moreover, it's obvious without any investigation that the prices quoted by the Chamber of Commerce to foreigners were far lower than those to other ethnic groups, using the laborers' blood and sweat to win the favor of the foreigners.

"Then let's talk to the Chamber of Commerce. Four-Eyes, you know where the Chamber of Commerce is, right?" Chen Yi said.

"The Chamber of Commerce is located in the outer concession, since many businesses are located outside the concession, and it's inconvenient to need credentials to enter and exit the concession," Qin Tianqi said.

Chen Yi then looked at the laborers around him and said, "You can continue working as usual. I can guarantee your wages; you'll get sixteen copper coins each from now on."

Fear is not enough; there must also be benefits to make people obey.

Chen Yi was well aware of this, and even though he hadn't discussed it with the Chamber of Commerce yet, he directly added a copper coin.

Of course, although the exact amount from the Chamber of Commerce is unknown, it is certainly much higher than the current wages.

Otherwise, the middle-aged martial arts master wouldn't have had two thousand silver dollars on him.

Upon receiving Chen Yi's promise, the surrounding laborers immediately began to say, "Thank you, Master Yi."

And what started as a sparse occurrence quickly became a continuous stream.

The martial arts instructors at the Iron Body Martial Arts School kept deducting their wages, but Chen Yi not only didn't deduct them, he even wanted to raise them.

It goes without saying who they support.

However, if Chen Yi really gets into trouble, these laborers will only scatter like birds and beasts.

But Chen Yi didn't care about that. As long as the laborers outwardly obeyed him, others would naturally see him as the person in charge of the dock.

This gives them leverage in negotiating terms.

"Does anyone have a knife?" Chen Yi looked at the middle-aged man's corpse on the ground.

The people in the chamber of commerce would definitely not want to change the person in charge, and even if they did, they would definitely want to lower the price; that's just the nature of businessmen.

But it's alright, he has a solution.

One of the laborers handed Chen Yi a knife, which he took and walked to the front of the middle-aged martial artist.

One cut, two cuts, three cuts.

The knife was a bit dull, and it took several swings to sever the middle-aged man's head.

Blood splattered on his face, but Chen Yi didn't wipe it off; he just stood up with his head still on his shoulders.

Ignoring the horrified looks of the laborers, he turned to look at Qin Tianqi.

"Four-Eyes, the Guided Merchants Association."