Chapter 177

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Chapter 177: Contractors

Five Elements Sect, Zhang Wanjing’s cave

"Master, you are truly wise and mighty. With just one move, you have extinguished the enemy. With the new rule, those…"

"Master, you will definitely go down in history. Whenever people talk about Zhang Wanjing of the Five Elements Sect, they will think of…"

"Master, you have now become highly respected and admired by thousands. How do those disciples refer to you? When they speak of you, they…"

"Master…"

"Ahem, Junior Brother, can you please stop flattery? Even Senior Brother can’t stand it anymore."

Lin Jiang caught Zhang Wanjing and flattered him relentlessly. Zhang Shuhua, who was beside them, couldn’t stand it anymore. He wondered why he hadn’t noticed before that his Junior Brother was so shameless, always praising others without any sincerity.

Before, Zhang Wanjing listened to the praise with half-closed eyes. Now, he opened his eyes and said. Why stop praising? Please continue.

"No words can describe Master’s remarkable achievements. Disciple has nothing more to say."

"Is that so? Then you can leave."

"Please, Master, can you bear to chase away your disciple without reminiscing about the relationship between master and disciple?"

"Stop the nonsense. You really think I don’t know what you’re thinking?"

"Haha, Master understands me well. I want to start a small business, Master."

"If you want business, why are you coming to me? I don’t have money."

"Alright, I’ll be honest, I want to take over the sect’s restaurant."

Lin Jiang said directly, explaining that the restaurant is like a cafeteria, and he has been eyeing it for a while.

"Junior brother, the restaurant belongs to the sect. How can it be contracted to disciples?"

"Senior brother, you’re mistaken. During the recent crackdown on corruption in the sect, I discovered how many people were involved in the restaurant. The corruption and wastefulness here are truly shocking. Master knows about it."

"Xiao Yi is right, the wastage in the sect’s restaurant is appalling. We disciples consume more food than is actually disposed of."

Zhang Wanjing explained that the Five Elements Sect’s cafeteria is free, and the daily expenses are calculated based on the number of registered disciples. However, many disciples at the mountain gate don’t eat at the cafeteria. Some are guarding outside, others are in seclusion, and some have servants to cook for them at home.

Despite so many people not eating, the cooking still continues. Of course, they also deduct a lot, but they still end up throwing away a significant amount of food every day.

It’s not entirely considered wasteful because the Five Elements Sect also keeps many spiritual beasts for consumption. However, Zhang Wanjing still sees it as wasteful, especially this time when many lower-level disciples were caught in the cafeteria’s corruption scandal.

"Apart from corruption, waste, and bad-tasting food, there are sixteen food stalls inside the mountain gate. Except for the two stalls inside the inner gate, the food in the stalls outside is so bad that even the dogs won’t eat it. Master, the biggest disrespect towards food is making it taste bad, don’t you agree?"

"Yes."

"Therefore, I am willing to respect food."

"This reason alone is not enough to convince me. As a master in the sect, I must set an example and cannot give you special treatment."

"I don’t need special treatment, I have legitimate reasons to manage the food stalls."

"Then go on."

The sect’s system is rigid in all aspects, not just at the higher levels. Reforming the food stalls can bring about changes in many areas. For example, spiritual paddy. Outer disciples are required to plant spiritual paddy for the sect and have to contribute a large amount of it each year for tasks. They have very little left for themselves, so their enthusiasm for farming is low.

Before, we made efforts outside the gate, improving irrigation and optimizing seeds. But the sect just increased the task load and nullified all our efforts. Now we are back to where we started, right?

"Yes."

"The master also doesn’t want to extinguish the hope of these disciples, right?"

"Yes."

Then, we can do this. The amount of work for farming disciples should be paid with spirit stones. Depending on how many spirit stones they contribute, we can adjust it every ten or twenty years according to the market price. This way, the disciples will have enough profit incentive for farming. It’s called being profitable.

In fact, it’s not just for spiritual paddy, but also for low-level spiritual medicines and such. The sect doesn’t need to spend so much manpower and resources to manage these. The sect only needs to control high-grade elixirs and strategic pills like the Building Foundation Pill.

"Then, aren’t you afraid of price manipulation?"

"No need to worry. If it’s ordered by the higher-ups of the sect, there are rules to deal with them. If it’s an outsider, do you think Five Elements Sect’s swords are made of tofu? They will be taken care of."

"Haha, I think I understood. It sounds a bit like a whip technique, but didn’t the whip technique fail?"

"There was no failure, just a failure at that time. Master, the sect’s reform is not only to eliminate corruption but also to reduce costs. Your creation of new sect rules is also for this purpose, right? With a wealthy sect, we can focus on cultivating those talented disciples and make Five Elements Sect stronger."

Lin Jiang immediately flattered, but it was not all flattery. Half of the new sect rules that Zhang Wanjing gave to Shi Yuntang came from him. They were lessons learned from centuries of history.

Zhang Wanjing thought for a moment and found Lin Jiang’s words logical. Using the restaurant as an example, it was indeed wasteful and cost a lot of resources.

The same goes for spiritual paddy, a low-grade spiritual medicine. The cultivation, harvest, and storage are all done by the Five Elements Sect themselves. It wastes a lot of resources. It is completely possible to improve the enthusiasm of the farming disciples and let them improve their efficiency. The surplus disciples can be assigned to other places, such as the newly acquired mine in the Wilderness.

"Come up with a feasible plan, and I will convince the Sect Master and Elder Shi Yuntang. If they agree, then it’s settled."

"Thank you, Master."

Lin Jiang was overjoyed, and Zhang Wanjing relaxed. This matter was almost half done, and the spirit stones would come pouring in again.

·······

"Senior Brother Xiao, can contracting the sect’s restaurants make money?"

"Exactly! It’s like the packed meals we did outside Medicine City. At that time, Medicine City had over a million people. How much money did we make?"

Yue Lin and Yue Qing were somewhat skeptical after hearing Lin Jiang’s plan. How much money could you make by contracting restaurants? How much money could outer disciples have?

"You wouldn’t understand this, there’s so much money to be made here, you’ll see."

Lin Jiang laughed, can’t make money from running the cafeteria? He remembered the cafeteria boss in middle school, changing cars every year, houses every two years, and wives every three years. At the company cafeteria during work, several high-level relatives were almost fighting over the contract. If it doesn’t make money, why should they bother?

"Senior Brother Xiao, can we really make money?"

"I’ll make you a promise, if I don’t earn a hundred thousand spirit stones in a year, you can change my last name."

"Senior Brother, there’s no need for such assurances, I trust you."

"Actually, contracting the restaurant is just an opportunity, the real money lies behind it. Spiritual paddy, low-grade spiritual medicine, all future tasks in the sect will be settled with spirit stones. What does this mean? It means that these are all commodities that can be bought and sold. It also involves low-grade spiritual medicine, spiritual talismans, formations, and many other things. With over a hundred thousand people in the Five Elements Sect, how many are in the upper echelons? Ninety percent are in the Qi Refining Period. The business opportunities here are endless."

Lin Jiang said, contracting the restaurant is just a way to stimulate the reforms that follow. Once the low-grade resources become marketized, it will be a huge piece of meat. They don’t need to take much, just a small insignificant part, and they can earn plenty.

For example, supplying a certain material for the Spirit Gathering Pill, just one is enough. The consumption of tens of thousands of people is terrifying, and it’s also fixed. As long as Zhang Wanjing and Lin Jiang don’t lose their influence, the business can keep going.

Yue Qing and Yue Lin obviously had limited knowledge and didn’t realize how terrifying the profits were. But they still believed in Lin Jiang because over the years, Lin Jiang has never failed in making money.

Meanwhile, Zhang Wanjing held Lin Jiang’s plan and found Master Qin Quan. Some elders were also present, but Zhang Wanjing didn’t avoid them and told them about it.

"Spiritual paddy, a basic spiritual medicine paid with spirit stones instead of specific items. Restaurants are contracted to individuals or businesses. Basic pills, talismans, tools, and formations are purchased as needed. Wan Jing, I ask you, what should we do with the extra disciples? Expel them from the sect?"

Qin Quan glanced at it and felt uneasy. While the cost decreased, the disciples would lose their livelihoods.

"Expanding the territory, Wilderness is winning one victory after another. With so many spiritual mountains, there are no people occupying the mines. Isn’t that perfect?"

"Um…"

"Master, what Junior Zhang said makes sense."

"Yes, Master. The sect saves on expenses, and there are people to expand the territory. Isn’t this a great thing?"

"Master, what Junior Zhang said is commendable."

Although Master Qin Quan hadn’t agreed yet, the other elders present had shiny eyes. They had broad knowledge, and what they saw was the glowing spirit stone. Moreover, it was legal and compliant spirit stone. At this moment, their gazes towards Zhang Wanjing became kind and compassionate.