Chapter 15
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Chapter 15: Making Money
Making money in Baishi Town is a serious matter.
Over the past year, Yun Ye not only improved his cultivation and knowledge but also gained a deeper understanding of Baishi Town.
He had been planning to make money a year ago, but due to limited information, he could not determine the final outcome.
After a year of investigation, he finally understood the main situation in Baishi Town and was ready to begin.
Baishi Town is divided into four parts.
First, the rulers of Baishi Town: the government.
The government controls the military and has many revival of Spiritual Roots serving them, making it the strongest class in Baishi Town.
The administrators of the government are not town heads or county heads; they are called Spiritual Law Officials.
For generations, the head of the Ji Family has served as the Spiritual Law Official, wielding overwhelming military power that no one can rival in Baishi Town…
At least, that’s what the books and those from noble families say.
As the government is the Ji Family’s personal territory, they generally meddle in important industries, aiming to keep most of the profits for themselves.
The talismans purchased by the Yang Family earlier came from the government; no other family could sell them.
Since the government intervenes in lucrative industries with high barriers to entry, it does not conflict with Yun Ye’s money-making plan, but he must still be cautious.
The second part is the noble families.
Some noble families in Baishi Town are already in a position to challenge the government, quietly collecting resources and remaining unharmed.
If one wants to create something groundbreaking, they must first face the pressure from these noble families.
The third part consists of merchants.
Local merchants in Baishi Town are supported by noble families, but there are also outsiders. Some outsiders are quite influential, even to the point that the noble families and government do not dare to suppress them. However, they are reluctant to create conflicts with local powers that could affect their profits, making them the most stable type.
As for the fourth part, it can be summed up in two words: commoners.
After roughly understanding the situation in the four major parts of Baishi Town, Yun Ye cleared all his grand money-making plans from his mind.
The reason is simple.
What is the theme of the feudal era?
Land monopolization.
Market domination.
Collecting rent, gathering protection fees, training enforcers, establishing strongholds, gaining strength, and then cycling through those steps again.
In a small place like Baishi Town, once the snowball starts rolling, it becomes a one-handed cover of the sky.
The noble families can now stand on equal footing with the government; any small bug daring to come out and snatch food is simply asking for trouble, looking for death.
Thus, Yun Ye can never make money on a large scale; he must adopt the least conspicuous, simplest, and even seemingly trivial methods. Otherwise, once attracted attention, his life would undoubtedly be in danger.
So, Yun Ye pulled out the simplest and most basic way to make money.
Food!
The people consider food to be essential, making this the best yet most overlooked industry for making money.
What he let Wang Yao taste was a homemade sauce, and from Wang Yao’s reaction, it was clear there was great potential.
According to research, Baishi Town already has a citizen class.
Commoners have jobs, such as refining ores for noble families, gathering herbs, grinding ink, or even working as servants, doing laundry, or in brothels.
These jobs can support a family, and if one cannot awaken their Spiritual Roots to work in these areas, it is still far more promising than in a small village.
However, the downside is the restricted freedom. Whether in noble families or brothels, fluctuations in production are not allowed, so once you sign a contract, it’s for life with no other options.
As for the money-making positions offered by the government, they follow the same pattern—once you sign, it’s for life, with no chance to withdraw, whether in production types or…
Revival of Spiritual Roots!
Yes.
Even a revival of Spiritual Roots cannot escape this web; they can only live with more dignity.
As a reincarnator, Yun Ye knows that the feeling of helplessness comes from a lack of power, so he does not care about these strict rules. The reason he does not join is simply that these jobs are not profitable enough or are too demeaning, wasting his time.
Compared to these troublesome jobs, buying some beans and salt, and making sauce based on his memories, is a hundred times faster for making money.
The finished sauce, though stored in ordinary clay jars, skyrockets in value due to the rarity of the seasoning.
The key point is that this is just a plant-based sauce, with very low production costs.
If sold whole to the wealthy, a profit of hundreds of times is entirely possible.
Unfortunately, rich people will not buy it; for them, simply stealing is easier.
So, Yun Ye can only do a bit of simple packaging—
Selling snacks.
Yun Ye cannot do this work himself; he needs to cultivate and study. Therefore, to save time, he sought Wang Yao and three commoners.
These four people were candidates he had observed for a long time, and at least on the surface, the probability of problems was low.
Yun Ye handed the sauce to Wang Yao and asked him to work with the other three commoners to hire them to prepare food for sale.
After promising them thirty percent of the profits, all three eagerly agreed, even pounding their chests, vowing to not let Yun Ye down.
The reason is simple: Baishi Town does not produce spices, and cooking can only involve adding salt or rare herbs.
In a world ruled by power, where everything is taken by force, innovation is nearly nonexistent, more dire than in a feudal dynasty. Although there are seasonings, there has been practically no improvement, and the flavors are hard to describe.
In this situation, plant-based sauces are a game-changer. Not to mention competing with chefs raised by noble families, they are perfectly suitable for making a living in Baishi Town, almost free money.
As for foods that use herbs as seasonings…
They taste good, but even the families of Spiritual Law Officials cannot afford such meals, which doesn’t affect Yun Ye’s business.
To be honest, Yun Ye refrains from directly selling the sauce because it has quite an important function.
For example, while various Superior Foods have increasingly better effects, their tastes also become increasingly unpleasant.
The higher the rank, the more complex the production process, and the greater the cost—there’s no need to research something as unimportant as taste.
Even for Jade Dumplings, their deliciousness comes from the unmatched quality of the raw materials, plus they are merely the lowest-grade Superior Food, and the production process is not complicated.
Otherwise, even raising it just one level would drastically lower the taste.
For wealthy people, if conditions are unsuitable, so be it; if conditions are suitable, they certainly won’t mind paying extra for things that taste better.
Once the market caters to the wealthiest groups in Baishi Town, the profits to be gained are no small sum.
Yun Ye is able to earn such large amounts of money but won’t live to spend it, so he won’t get involved.
He only needs the lowest-grade Superior Food for his three meals a day, which costs about thirty to fifty dark copper.
At this level, it will definitely not attract any attention.
Furthermore, the ordinary people Yun Ye employs, with their identity from the Academy, are enough to intimidate.
If problems arise even in such conditions, Yun Ye can only say… a trashy life, I wouldn’t want to stay for even a second!
And the actual results were indeed well within his control.
The three earn about two hundred dark copper in pure profit every day; after deducting thirty percent, Yun Ye can still receive over a hundred, and even if he shares part with Wang Yao, it is enough for him to cultivate.
In reality, the three can earn much more than this, but born in Baishi Town, they understand the darkness surrounding them better than Yun Ye. Want to hide your wealth?
Ha! When you are focused on making money, you can’t think about anything else, but local bullies are just waiting to collect protection fees.
Want to hide?
That’s basically a dream.
If you have nothing, you can stay inconspicuous!
Not making large sums of money is the only way to survive in Baishi Town!
It’s only because the cost of the sauce ingredients is extremely low that the eyes and enforcers of the noble families would never anticipate it; otherwise, the daily profit of two hundred dark copper would need to be surrendered at least three-quarters, squeezing the profit margin to the lowest and making a living for the noble families.
Disagree?
Do you have the corresponding power to fight back?
Or rather, does an ordinary person wish to oppose the noble families that have many revival of Spiritual Roots?
