9: Chapter 9 Making Money from Money is Easy

"What are you crying for?!" Lei Lie shouted, "In front of Zhou Yun, what kind of behavior is this?!"

Who knew, after that scolding, the City Guard cried even harder, "I don't want to either! But I can't help it! I just want to cry! Wuwuwu!"

This crying perhaps resonated with the other City Guards.

Several City Guards quietly turned their heads and wiped their eyes.

Being in Flower City, only they themselves knew how difficult things were for them.

With over 60,000 citizens, there were only 21 of them, the City Guards.

In the days without a City Lord, it was they who maintained the basic order of this city.

Yet, all they received was a monthly salary of 5,000 copper coins, collectively paid by the merchants in the city.

5,000 copper coins a month is certainly quite substantial compared to the ordinary citizens of Flower City.

But after all, they are not ordinary people; they are Professionals!

If they went to a lower-level city or an Intermediate city, given the concentration of Spiritual Qi there, why would their strength be limited to the Bronze Rank?

Lei Lie thought for a long time and finally made a decision.

"Thank you, Zhou Yun, for your generous gift!"

With his stance made clear, the remaining 20 City Guards naturally didn't need to say more.

"That's right!" Zhou Yun patted his shoulder.

Although the time they had been in contact was short, he could see that this Lei Lie, as well as the 20 City Guards he led, were all useful talents.

He would inevitably need them to contribute more in the future.

Just think about it, Professionals appearing in a small city like Flower City with such thin Spiritual Qi!

How rare!

If there were sufficient Spiritual Qi supply, their future prospects would be limitless!

Lei Lie slowly stood up, looked at the Spiritual Rice in his hand, and sighed: "Such precious Spiritual Rice, it's just too much of a pity to eat it directly like this."

"If only it could be planted."

Zhou Yun expressed confusion, "If you want to plant it, then plant it! Is there some difficulty?"

Although for him, with the System by his side, as long as the citizens needed it, supplying the whole city by himself was not a problem.

But after all, he was the City Lord, not an ATM.

If the citizens could be self-sufficient and return to a normal city ecosystem, that was what he would be most happy to see.

Hearing Zhou Yun's question, Lei Lie sighed again, "If it could be planted, that would be good. But where would the fields come from to plant it?"

Zhou Yun was even more puzzled.

Why was it getting stranger the more they talked?

He asked the question in his heart, "Although Flower City is not big, surely it doesn't lack places for cultivation, right?"

To this, Lei Lie did not answer directly, but asked in return: "There are over 60,000 people in the city, but over 40,000 have lit up red lights and entered the execution line. Does Zhou Yun not find it strange?"

"Of course it's strange!" Zhou Yun said thoughtfully, "Could it be related to the fields?"

"Exactly!" Lei Lie nodded, "Among the refugees in the city, except for a small number who have their own problems and have lost their labor force, the rest are almost all capable of labor and willing to work."

"Logically speaking, they should not be judged to have entered the execution line."

"But the metal ring will not make mistakes, and the lit red light is also a fact."

Although Lei Lie did not explain it clearly, Zhou Yun had already understood, "It's because of a lack of job opportunities, right?"

"Zhou Yun is wise!"

Lei Lie sighed with emotion: "Flower City's economy is depressed, and there are only so many merchants in the city, so the job positions they provide are naturally limited. This leads to many people not having opportunities even if they want to work."

"If it were just like this, it would be fine; at worst, they could cultivate it themselves and be self-sufficient."

"But! The fields in the city are now all in the hands of the wealthy, and there are simply no surplus fields to distribute to other citizens!"

After listening to Lei Lie's words, the situation in Zhou Yun's mind became clearer and clearer.

"Those wealthy families have many fields in their hands, but they can't cultivate them all by themselves, so they hire people to plant them, but only pay meager wages, right?"

"That is exactly it!" A rare look of hatred appeared on Lei Lie's face.

Zhou Yun seemed to realize something, "If even the fields are in their hands, what about the houses where the citizens live? Are they also..."

"Just as Zhou Yun thinks!" Lei Lie sighed, "Most of the house deeds in the city are also in their hands. The citizens only enjoy the most basic right of residence."

Hearing this, Zhou Yun sighed endlessly in his heart.

The entire city, all the property and land, was in the hands of merchants; he, the City Lord, was practically worse off than a commander with no troops!

After pondering for a moment, he asked again, "Then how did those wealthy families get their fields?"

Lei Lie slowly shook his head, "The difficulty lies in the fact that their fields were all obtained through legitimate means. And even if Zhou Yun wanted to forcibly collect them, I'm afraid that..."

He did not finish his sentence, but Zhou Yun understood his meaning completely.

Since these merchants dared to seize fields and houses, how could they not have some armed forces under their command?

"I have a general understanding of the situation."

Zhou Yun nodded noncommittally, "Call all those wealthy families in the city over; I want to talk to them."

Lei Lie wanted to say something, but seeing the faint smile on Zhou Yun's face and thinking of all the previous events, he ultimately didn't say it, but followed the order and took the 20 City Guards out.

Lei Lie's efficiency was very high.

In less than 20 minutes, a group of people had been brought.

Unlike the shabby attire of the Flower City citizens Zhou Yun had seen before, these wealthy city families appearing before him were all dressed in brocade clothing.

Judging solely by their clothing, compared to them, Zhou Yun looked like a bumpkin!

In the council hall, just as Zhou Yun stood up from his chair, a fat man with hands full of various jewels came up to greet him.

"Commoner, Minister Wang Fugui, is the president of the Flower City Chamber of Commerce. If Zhou Yun has any instructions, just inform this commoner directly."

He was all smiles and spoke politely, but Zhou Yun only felt it was all fake.

So he didn't talk much nonsense and got straight to the point, putting forward his request, "Currently, the citizens in the city lack fields to cultivate, so I hope everyone will distribute the surplus fields in your hands, of course..."

Who knew that before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Minister Wang Fugui.

"Zhou Yun!"

He said with great seriousness: "No matter where you are, land is the foundation! Although people in the Chamber of Commerce have a few acres of land, how can there be any talk of surplus fields?"

"Zhou Yun has just taken the position of City Lord and is not familiar with the situation in Flower City, so please do not listen to the ulterior motives of some people!"

"You!" Lei Lie glared, immediately wanting to lash out, but was stopped by Zhou Yun's hand.

"So, in your hands, there are indeed no surplus fields?" Zhou Yun asked.

"Actually... it cannot be said completely that there are none."

Minister Wang Fugui smiled and said pointedly: "For example, if you want to plant Spiritual Rice, then fields, if squeezed, of course there are some."

Squeezed?

Zhou Yun was amused by this statement, "It seems you also know that I have Spiritual Rice in my hands. Then why don't you tell me, how exactly are you going to squeeze it?"

To this, Minister Wang Fugui seemed to have a plan already and spoke eloquently, "We provide the fields, you provide the rice, and the citizens provide the labor! The three of us cooperate! We will split the harvested Spiritual Rice with you in a one-to-nine ratio!"

"We get one! Zhou Yun gets nine!"

"The proceeds are settled once a year. And during this period, the food and lodging of the citizens will also be handled by our Chamber of Commerce. What does Zhou Yun think?"

Zhou Yun's smile grew wider.

Well said.

Very clever.

A one-to-nine split?

I get nine?

The beads of the abacus are practically hitting me in the face!

Proceeds settled once a year?

After one year, when the Spiritual Rice in the fields matures, they could kick him away in the blink of an eye!

Afterwards, the citizens would still be refugees, the fields would still be theirs, the problem would remain unchanged, but the wealthy merchants would be even richer.

Why else would they say that the rich are always the rich?

Making money from money is just easy!

Zhou Yun sighed repeatedly in his heart.

Clearly they already have so much, yet they are never satisfied, always thinking of getting more.

Can you ever finish earning all the money in the world?