Chapter 78: Treating Me Like a Beggar? (Bonus chapter for Alliance Leader Lao Baoyu)

“My Lord, Lu Li has returned.”

Lu Wenxing’s voice came from outside, followed by two light knocks on the door.

Chen Yuan opened the door, and Lu Wenxing and Lu Li immediately felt a majestic Aura wash over them.

It had only been two days; how did Garrison Commander Chen’s Aura feel even more powerful?

“What did the Hall Master say? What was his attitude at the time?”

After Lu Li recounted Feng Wushang’s attitude and words, Chen Yuan knew there shouldn’t be any issues this time.

“Well done.”

Chen Yuan praised him.

This trip seemed simple, but in reality, if someone had tried to be clever and talked too much in front of Feng Wushang, the outcome might have been different.

Lu Li’s cleverness lay in the fact that he never tried to be too clever.

“Take this Cultivation Technique. It’s better than the ones you can exchange for with merit points.”

Chen Yuan handed several sheets of paper to Lu Li.

Recorded on them was a portion of the “Xuan Tian Dao Scripture.”

This Cultivation Technique was too complex, but precisely because of its complexity, a segment could be extracted for cultivation.

Just like the portion concerning Dual Cultivation that Qingyang the True Person had extracted previously.

Chen Yuan had extracted an authentic Daoist Qi Refining technique—balanced, peaceful, and profound. If categorized by rank, Chen Yuan estimated it to be at the High Grade Mystic Rank.

Within the Town Martial Hall, a Martial Artist of the Lieutenant rank like Lu Wenxing could only exchange merit points for a Low Grade Mystic Rank technique at most.

“Thank you, my Lord!”

Lu Li took the Cultivation Technique, his face filled with pleasant surprise.

Not only could he cultivate this Cultivation Technique, but his father could use it as well.

Chen Yuan had just said that this Cultivation Technique was for ‘you all.’

Lu Wenxing also bowed to Chen Yuan with sincere gratitude: “Thank you, my Lord.”

Chen Yuan’s generosity was truly impressive; it was hard not to be won over.

The simple principle of ‘clear rewards and punishments’ was something many superiors failed to achieve.

“Has there been any movement in Linyuan City during this time?”

Lu Wenxing reported: “Recently, horse bandits and outlaws have been frequently roaming outside the city, but we have driven them away.

It’s likely because the Main Hall ordered a crackdown on bandits a few days ago, causing these outlaws from the border regions to scatter everywhere.”

Chen Yuan nodded.

This was Liu Suifeng venting his anger on behalf of his daughter by launching a large-scale bandit suppression.

The trouble caused by the Poison Wolf Bandits had resulted in other bandit groups taking the fall.

“Also, upon hearing of your appointment, the four major powers in the city have simultaneously sent visiting cards, wishing to pay their respects and present gifts to you.”

At this point, Lu Wenxing added: “It’s likely your action of wiping out Qingyang Palace that intimidated them, which is why these powers are being so courteous.”

“Oh? Were these powers very discourteous to my Town Guard Headquarters before?”

Chen Yuan slightly raised an eyebrow.

The original plot only mentioned some things about Qingyang Palace; it hadn’t mentioned these powers in Linyuan City at all.

“It’s not exactly that they were discourteous, but these four families have deep foundations and are closely linked. They have thrived in Linyuan City for over two hundred years, through several generations of management. Their roots are deep, and their history is even longer than that of our Town Martial Hall. They are completely different from an organization like Qingyang Palace, which only spans a single generation.”

Lu Wenxing smiled bitterly: “Our Town Martial Hall stationed in various cities is also responsible for collecting taxes. These taxes are divided into three parts: one for our own use, one to be submitted to the Main Hall, and since the Town Martial Hall has been assimilated, a portion must also be given to the Imperial Court.

So, if these four families don’t cooperate, the Town Guard Headquarters won’t even be able to collect taxes.

When that happens, the higher-ups won’t care why you couldn’t collect the taxes; they’ll only think you’re incompetent.

Therefore, every previous Garrison Commander was very polite to these four families, not daring to spark a conflict easily.

After all, the four families are permanent fixtures while Garrison Commanders come and go. Every Garrison Commander who takes office has to maintain good relations with them, often even taking the initiative to visit the heads of these four families.

As far as I know, aside from the Garrison Commander during the Town Martial Hall’s Peak period, you are the only one, my Lord, who has made these four families take the initiative to visit.”

After listening, Chen Yuan frowned slightly and uttered four words: “Completely unnecessary.”

The Daxia Dynasty’s control over the ten border provinces was already non-existent, so tax collection was left to local powers, with only a nominal amount being collected.

For example, in Lianshan City, when the Heaven Wolf Gang and Blackwater Gang controlled the city, they had to provide a portion of the tax to the court to maintain a basic level of decorum.

The lion’s share of the taxes went to the Murong Clan and the Yiqi Guanhri Alliance, as those two were the true Dominators of Youzhou.

Linyuan City should have been the same: a small portion directly to the court, and the majority to the Town Martial Hall.

Yet, the Town Martial Hall somehow thought it should help the court collect taxes instead.

Of course, this might also have been one of the conditions for the court’s assimilation.

After a moment of reflection, Chen Yuan said: “Tell them to come to the Town Guard Headquarters to see me tomorrow. Go and bring me the information on these four families.”

Lu Wenxing nodded and immediately took Lu Li to find the information.

A moment later, Lu Li returned with the information.

Chen Yuan flipped through it; the Town Guard Headquarters’ records on these four families were quite detailed.

The four powers in the city were the Sun Family in the east, the Wei Family in the south, the Yang Family in the west, and the Green Scale Gang in the north.

All four had been developing in Linyuan City for over two hundred years, dividing the city into east, south, west, and north. Their strengths were fairly balanced, with each Family having a Lunhai Realm expert in charge.

Only the Sun Family was slightly stronger; besides their Lunhai Realm head, the Sun Family Old Ancestor was also in the Lunhai Realm.

However, he was over a hundred years old, and his blood and Qi had entered a stage of decline. He had long since lost his combat power; a single exertion might cause his blood and Qi to fail, leading to death.

Until a Martial Artist reached the Yuan Dan Realm, their Lifespan was hard to push past its limits; a hundred years was already considered long-lived.

Some Martial Artists, due to numerous internal injuries from battles in their early years, would see their Lifespan drain even faster during their decline, making them even shorter-lived than ordinary people.

Chen Yuan closed the documents, a cold sneer appearing on his lips.

He hadn’t gone through all the trouble of joining the Town Martial Hall through indirect means just to beg for food on his knees.

How things would proceed would depend on the attitude of these four families tomorrow.

At noon the next day, the heads of the four families arrived at the Town Guard Headquarters.

Inside the Council Hall, Sun Family Head Sun Tiancheng, Wei Family Head Wei Jisheng, Yang Family Head Yang Lin, and Green Scale Gang Leader Qiao Haiduan sat facing each other.

“This new Garrison Commander puts on quite the air, actually making us wait here.”

Wei Family Head Wei Jisheng snorted with some dissatisfaction.

Previous Garrison Commanders, upon arriving in Linyuan City, would book a banquet at a restaurant and specifically invite their families to build rapport.

This one was different; they had taken the initiative to come to him, yet they still had to wait.

“Isn’t it normal for capable people to put on airs?”

Sun Family Head Sun Tiancheng, thin and elegant in temperament, took a sip of tea and said slowly, “None of those previous Garrison Commanders wiped out Qingyang Palace as soon as they took office.”

Hearing this, Wei Jisheng stopped grumbling.

Chen Yuan’s destruction of Qingyang Palace was the real reason they had taken the initiative to visit him.

The four families in Linyuan City had never been on the same side as Qingyang Palace.

Qingyang Palace had only begun to develop in the last twenty-odd years, while the history of these four families exceeded two hundred years.

It wasn’t that Qingyang Palace didn’t want to establish itself within Linyuan City, but all the resources in the city were already completely occupied by these four families, and no one else could get a foothold.

But Qingyang the True Person was, after all, a Lunhai Realm Martial Artist, and he had several decent Disciples.

Yet, he was wiped out by Chen Yuan in a single day, which had a significant impact on them.

That was why they had acted out of character this time and taken the initiative to visit Chen Yuan.

At that moment, the Council Hall doors were pushed open, and Chen Yuan strode in. He sat in the main seat and casually cupped his hands to them, saying, “Sorry to keep you all waiting.”

The four also cupped their hands in return: “Greetings, Lord Chen.”

At the same time, they observed Chen Yuan, all thinking to themselves how truly young he was.

In their families, Disciples of this age wouldn’t even be considered to have started their careers; the most successful ones would only be managing some Family businesses, and even then, under the supervision of an elder.

This one, however, had already become a Garrison Commander and was in charge of a city.

Sun Tiancheng smiled and said, “We have long heard that a young Garrison Commander had come to our Linyuan City, but we didn’t expect Lord Chen to be this young. Truly a person of outstanding talent.

The four of us have come this time, firstly, to meet you, my Lord, and become acquainted.

Secondly, to present you with gifts to congratulate you on taking charge of Linyuan City.”

As he finished speaking, Sun Tiancheng pulled a brocade box from his robe, inside of which was a luxuriously designed dagger.

The scabbard and hilt were made of pure gold, inlaid with various jades and gemstones.

This item wasn’t a precious weapon; it was purely a craft piece. Chu Hongshang had one before as well, though it wasn’t as ornate as the one Sun Tiancheng brought out.

Meanwhile, the other three also brought out their gifts and placed them on the table in front of Chen Yuan.

Wei Jisheng presented an ancient jade. It was just an ordinary ancient jade, not yunling jade, said to be a burial object from a royal Family of an Imperial Dynasty a thousand years ago.

Yang Lin presented a piece of calligraphy and painting, a unique work by a court painter from the previous dynasty.

Green Scale Gang Leader Qiao Haiduan was the most direct; not being particularly refined, he simply gave gold.

It was actually a large golden Buddha weighing over thirty catties.

Chen Yuan looked at the gifts presented by the four families, slightly raised an eyebrow, and looked at them with a half-smile.

“The gifts you’ve sent are quite valuable, making me feel somewhat unworthy of them. So, what is it that you all want?”

Hearing Chen Yuan say this, smiles appeared on the faces of Sun Tiancheng and the others.

This Lord Chen might be young, but he certainly knew how things worked.

“It’s very simple. We don’t need you to do anything, my Lord. We only ask that you act according to the rules of Linyuan City.

As for the specific rules, the veteran Lieutenants under your command should be well aware of them.”

Sun Tiancheng said with a chuckle.

Chen Yuan also showed a hint of a smile, then suddenly flicked his hand, sweeping the golden Buddha and jade pendants away.

“You want to teach me how to do things with just this little bit of stuff? Are you treating me like a beggar?”