Peng Shizhong spoke, "Hmm, you’ve done well in this matter. Notify everyone, tomorrow we’ll set up the incense hall at the fishery to deal with the traitor!"
"Yes!"
Upon hearing this, Zheng Chuan immediately responded.
The noise from the competition area had ended, and what followed was quite straightforward.
The Fishing Guild moved into the Village Chief Residence at the heart of Xiantao Town. Furthermore, from today onwards, the town’s merchants had to pay their protection fees to the Village Chief Residence, which would then hand over thirty percent to Guild Cao, as a brother guild.
The rest would be confidently managed by the Fishing Guild themselves.
Moreover, Xiantao Town had a piece of salt field, which, from now on, would be the responsibility of the Fishing Guild, and at least seventy percent of the town’s salt consumption would have to be purchased from the Fishing Guild’s salt fields.
This represented a terrifying income.
And it was one of the main benefits of holding the position of Village Chief.
Additionally, Xiantao Town had a ferry, known as Xiantao Ferry.
This ferry transported a large volume of goods every year, and although the ships that carried these goods generally belonged to Guild Cao, the dock management fell under the Village Chief.
That meant Guild Cao had to carve out a portion of their own profits for the Fishing Guild.
You can imagine the interests involved here.
The Fishing Guild and Guild Cao were each large guilds with over a thousand members.
To operate such huge guilds, a vast amount of money was required.
Therefore, they must have significant profits to support them, as merely collecting protection fees from merchants was insufficient.
Thus, after these two large guilds pledged allegiance to the court in those years,
the court granted them certain privileges, such as the ability to open gambling houses, brothels, and offer loans.
These were the gray industries of that era.
Additionally, these guilds also engaged in illegal industries in private.
For instance, trafficking in illegal salt and reselling ironware.
As previously mentioned, Daqian was a dynasty established by the Alien Clan who invaded the Central Plains; therefore, the Mulan people were very distrustful of the Han people, setting up many systems to restrict them.
For example, we’ve mentioned the four-class system before.
And as noted, Han people were not allowed to name themselves and had to use numbers instead.
Another example is the restriction on the use of ironware by Han people.
At the beginning, when regulations were strictest, even a village with dozens of households could possess only one iron kitchen knife.
That knife had to be tied at the well from which Han people drew water, and someone would check every few days to ensure the knife hadn’t gone missing.
After all, a kitchen knife was also an iron implement, and anything made of iron had potential as a weapon.
If Han people had weapons, they might rebel!
Therefore, Daqian had always promulgated the Limited Iron Edict!
However, such commands weakened as the nation’s control waned, and management became increasingly lax, much like the situation with names.
What was once strictly forbidden eventually became a semi-acquiescent state where non-numerical names could be used.
The same went for ironware—nowadays, ordinary families had kitchen knives, and the court would not accuse a household of plotting rebellion for this reason.
However, large-scale selling of iron products was absolutely forbidden, including pig iron, wrought iron, and iron ore.
Because on a large scale, it could potentially become weaponry supporting rebel forces.
But precisely because the court banned it, and in times of chaos, for either home protection or revolutionary uprisings, you couldn’t do without ironware.
Hence, the price of iron was inflated.
And with enough profit, there would always be those who dared to take risks, such as guilds.
Coincidentally, Mianshui County possessed two iron ore mines, now under the control of these two guilds.
This was the core interest of both the Fishing Guild and Guild Cao.
The real money-making ventures lay here; as for fishing and transportation, well, those were just the bare necessities. The real fortune lay in these illicit industries!
Xiantao Town lacked iron mines, but it did have a salt field, which was critical in managing salt consumption for nearly ten thousand residents.
Chen Jie, through the competition platform, seemed to have won only the position of Village Chief.
But behind that lay so many interests, the kind that a guild needed to pay attention to.
Peng Shizhong had been preparing for a loss, given that Xiantao Town was initially under White Tiger Hall’s jurisdiction. But then Chen Jie won.
Was he not pleased to have retained these industries?
The members of the Fishing Guild, as if surrounding a hero, clustered around Chen Jie and proceeded to the largest restaurant in Xiantao Town, Xiantao Restaurant.
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And the Shopkeeper of the restaurant had everything ready.
Every one of these grand competitions had to be celebrated with a banquet here.
This arrangement wouldn’t change regardless of who won or lost the match.
If the Fishing Guild won, they would host the banquet. If Guild Cao won, they too would host a banquet.
The owner of Xiantao Restaurant was bound to make a profit!
Today, the principal table in the restaurant seated Peng Shizhong, along with his two adoptive sons, Feng Xuan and Zheng Chuan, Wu Zhong, and Doctor Bai.
Chen Jie, due to today’s victory, was exceptionally invited to dine at the principal table.
At the banquet, Peng Shizhong raised his glass to praise Chen Jie, adding words of admiration.
Chen Jie repeatedly demurred, not daring to take full credit. Under Doctor Bai’s prompting, he returned the toast to Peng Shizhong.
Peng Shizhong looked at Chen Jie with a smile and said, "Jiu Si, you’ve done quite well. It’s rare for a young man to accomplish what you have. You’re truly talented!"
"Thank you for the compliment, Hall Master."
Peng Shizhong continued, "Jiu Si, have you ever considered working at the White Tiger main hall?"
Upon hearing this, everyone’s gaze simultaneously shifted to Chen Jie.
This was another test from Peng Shizhong.
If Chen Jie agreed readily, he would appear eager for quick success.
If he hesitated and dithered, it would seem disingenuous.
So everyone watched him, curious to see how he would handle it.
Chen Jie understood this was a test for himself as well.