Chapter 062 Shen Fangxu’s Grand Plan

“So, Qingjin, what are your plans for the future?” Shen Fangxu asked again.

“Father, what about you? What do you think?” Qingjin pondered for a moment and asked simply.

“Qingjin, the situation now is that whether you’re willing or not, those from the Dao Court won’t let you off easily. Unless you end up like your second uncle, a coward who ruined himself.”

Second Uncle Shen immediately covered his face with his hands, muttering silently, I can’t hear this, I can’t hear this.

“Father, I want to fight for it,” Qingjin said, glancing at his uncle with amusement.

“Let me share my thoughts then. Qingjin, I plan to fell all the ironwood trees around here and build a small city right on this spot. Meishan is just a small city three li across from east to west—if we clear the ironwood forest here, we can build a city at the entrance of the peninsula, also three or four li from east to west,” Shen Fangxu explained.

“Build a city?” Qingjin was surprised.

“Yes, build a city. Although many of the great clan heirs don’t like to come to the Eastern Wilds, there are plenty of sons from humble families and small households willing to risk it all for adventure. The key is, they have nowhere suitable to settle. The cities built by the Dao Court are especially unfriendly to them. Whether it’s food, clothing, lodging, or buying pills and weapons, everything is exorbitantly priced. Even the most basic wound powder costs several times more than it does in the heartland. Yet, when they purchase special products from the Eastern Wilds, like the meat of fierce beasts, the prices are insultingly low.

At the very least, they pay only half what such goods would fetch in the central lands. For instance, a ninth-grade fierce fish—here in the Eastern Wilds, its meat sells for just eight red gold coins per jin, but in the human heartland, it would fetch at least twenty per jin.

Over the years, the Dao Court has amassed mountains of wealth just by exploiting the difference in prices across the four borders. But the wandering cultivators from humble backgrounds hardly earn anything for their troubles.”

“So, you mean we provide a base for these wandering cultivators and also profit from the price difference. But where will we sell these products from the Eastern Wilds, and where will we buy the pills and weapons they need?” Qingjin frowned.

“Once the city is built, people will naturally come,” Shen Fangxu replied with a mysterious smile. “Actually, there’s no shortage of channels or merchants—the real shortage is the power to protect the city. The beast tides in the Eastern Wilds are relentless, with minor surges every month and major ones once a year or every few years. Over in Dongli Mountain, there’s constant fighting, which is why Meishan County seems somewhat safer. But we don’t have that trouble at Panshe Mountain. With our underwater Dao site nearby, which beast tide would risk coming here to court death?”

Qingjin suddenly understood. The Eastern Wilds never lacked those willing to risk their lives for profit. Even out in the wilderness, there were special human camps dedicated to supplying wandering cultivators and buying up special Eastern Wilds products.

Moreover, building a city here would be even safer than Meishan County. After all, what kind of reckless beast would dare provoke an innate god-demon who resided here?

“But if we want to build a city, we don’t have enough manpower,” Qingjin pointed out.

“Why do it ourselves? We can hire people—just set aside some land for their use after the city is built, and we can even collect rent,” Shen Fangxu said.

Qingjin was speechless, thinking to herself, Isn’t this getting something for nothing? “Would people really agree to that?”

“Why not?” Shen Fangxu looked smug. “As long as there’s profit, those people will do anything to get a bigger share of the pie. You just watch from the sidelines and let your father handle this.”

Qing Xiaohu piped up, “Father, isn’t the lord supposed to be me?”

“Step aside, let your brother handle it. From now on, your brother will be the city lord.” Shen Fangxu pushed his youngest daughter out of the way with a big hand, as if shooing a duck.

Qingjin couldn’t help but laugh.

Qingzhen asked in confusion, “Father, why don’t you become the city lord?”

“If I became the city lord, would this city belong to you children or to the Shen family? Your big brother is a direct disciple of the Dao Master—if he’s the city lord, everyone will give him some respect. Anyone else wouldn’t have that standing.”

Madam Feng was the first to nod in agreement with her husband, and she quickly pulled her daughter away as well.

“You’re just a little girl, don’t get involved. Once it’s built, your brothers can run things—you just enjoy a good life,” she said.

Qing Xiaohu wholeheartedly agreed.

“Then let’s go with Father’s plan,” Qingjin decided.

“Ah, that’s right. Old Zhao, this time you and I must make a name for ourselves in the Eastern Wilds,” Shen Fangxu said spiritedly to Uncle Zhao. Uncle Zhao nodded in approval.

Shen Fangxu was a man of action. No sooner had he decided to build a city than he sent people to contact his network and look for suitable trading caravans and merchant guilds to partner with.

The very next day, representatives from merchant guilds and caravans arrived to negotiate with him. By the third day, teams had entered the site to start felling ironwood. At first, everyone chopped wood while nervously keeping watch for the wild beasts that might be attracted by the noise.

But after several days without any sign of beasts or monsters, they realized that building a city here was indeed safe.

Once the safety was assured, the four construction teams already on site immediately increased their manpower five- or sixfold. The worksite expanded several times over. Other merchant guilds and caravans, upon hearing the news, also came to Shen Fangxu, asking for entry.

Building a city was a massive undertaking—the more hands, the better.

Shen Fangxu welcomed almost everyone, insisting only on quality and quantity. All the buildings erected would belong to Qingjin and the city, to be rented out at low prices in the future.

Panshe Mountain’s geography was already close to the human border—in other words, true Eastern Wilds lay just beyond. Even just entertaining passing wanderers and caravans each year would bring considerable profit.

Moreover, with a Dao site at their back, the place was exceedingly safe. Many merchant guilds and caravans, seeing the opportunity, pestered Shen Fangxu for the right to own property here, even if just a small piece.

Even a small house has everything one needs; if that’s not enough, they could always dig underground.

But Shen Fangxu wasn’t stupid—how much could it cost to build a house? Even renting cheaply was already generous; owning property outright was out of the question.

Every building in the city would belong to his son.

Amid all the bargaining and wrangling, in just over ten days, a small city four li long from east to west and three li wide from north to south began to take shape.

Many buildings within were already finished.

All seven or eight hundred of the Shen family’s original subjects were assigned to logistics: boiling water, cooking, laundry, tool repair, hauling grain, and supplying vegetables and meat.

Recently, local chickens and rabbits had been consumed at an alarming rate. Almost all the grown male rabbits were gone, and even several of the less fertile females had been eaten. The chicks were hit hardest—only fifty or sixty remained.

Fortunately, the young hunters brought back more than a hundred adult chickens and several large baskets of eggs.