Chapter 92: An Unexpected Result

"The plan is almost perfected; now it is just waiting to be implemented!"

After seeing off those few elders, Shen Yu turned around and cast their affairs to the back of his mind, turning instead to perfecting his grand plan for developing Xiaozhou.

Subsequently, he began summoning his subordinate officials to discuss his major undertaking; there were many things he needed to handle now. As for the minor matter of Anping Town, Cheng Lin would handle it well enough himself.

The man was, after all, a Deputy Commander of the Black-Clad Guard; one who could climb to his current position was naturally no mediocre person. Do not be fooled by how respectful he was in front of him, appearing not too shrewd.

In reality, he was very clever; when it came to schemes and methods, he was not lacking in the slightest.

In front of a superior, one must naturally lower one's own profile. Otherwise, if you show yourself to be more capable than your superior in everything, just try and see if they don't make things difficult for you later.

Shen Yu was still very much at ease leaving the affairs of Anping Town to him. If he couldn't even handle such a small matter, then Cheng Lin should hurry up and strip off that official uniform, go home, farm the land, and raise his children.

Having dealt with the last of the matters at hand, Shen Yu walked out of the study and then went to the hall for meetings.

"My Lord, My Lord!" Upon seeing Shen Yu arrive, everyone stood up respectfully.

These were the officials sent by the Imperial Court to assist him, having entered Xiaozhou following the Black-Clad Guard. They were all doers, and their backgrounds were quite clean.

Perhaps they also knew what kind of temperament Shen Yu had, so the Imperial Court was quite cautious when sending people; those who dared to take or seize were strictly forbidden from being sent to his side.

Xiaozhou was already a poor place to begin with; if anyone dared to reach out their hands after coming here, given Shen Yu's temperament, he would guarantee he could behead them and hang them on the city walls.

By then, it wouldn't be the faces of the lords in the Imperial Court that were lost; perhaps after Shen Yu killed them, the Imperial Court would still have to send someone to offer condolences and cheer him on, shouting that it was well killed.

Regarding the current Shen Yu, the Imperial Court's attitude was very clear: they were supporting him with all their might.

Their current attitude was simply to give him whatever he wanted; he didn't even need to open his mouth, and they would arrange everything clearly for him.

It seemed that those with ulterior motives already knew about him entering the True Soul Realm, and there were quite a few who knew.

It was just that these people did not know that his cultivation had already reached its limit; as long as a Spiritual Qi Surge did not arrive, there was likely no one in the entire Jianghu who could cross hands with him.

In other words, he was already the best in the world. Of course, this was on the premise that those sleeping old monsters did not wake up.

According to Shen Yu's current strength, he could be completely carefree and not care about anyone's thoughts. Even if he committed a crime, there would be people scrambling to help him cover it up.

But after witnessing everything here in Xiaozhou, Shen Yu thought about what he could do; in the end, he still couldn't bear the situation of starving people filling the fields.

The suffering of Xiaozhou was truly the worst in the entire Dasheng Dynasty. One pair of pants worn by an entire family was not just a saying; even people starving to death at home was the norm.

There was no hope on anyone's face, only numbness and living mechanically day after day. When the day came that they truly could not live on, they would die in that numbness.

Those ignorant children, instead of thinking about playing happily every day, were looking for food everywhere.

Hunger, that was extreme hunger; from birth to growth, and finally to death, perhaps the majority of the people in Xiaozhou had never eaten a full meal in their entire lives.

Looking at those emaciated children with dull eyes, it would be one thing if it were just one or two, but every place was like this; any person would find it unbearable to watch.

This was not a disaster area, yet they lived even more miserably than in a disaster area. Those with even a little power and influence exploited the people below them to the extreme.

In Xiaozhou, being able to survive was a difficult thing in itself, even living in humiliation was a difficult thing.

Even here, being sent into a Brothel could be counted as a stroke of good fortune, because one could eat their fill there; how tragic that was.

Therefore, when he first entered Xiaozhou, Shen Yu was shocked by this place.

Originally, he thought that what he had seen when going north to provide disaster relief was already the limit. But he did not expect that this limit would be refreshed here in Xiaozhou.

It was precisely because of this that Shen Yu would go to such lengths to try and develop this place. Anyway, his cultivation could not advance any further, and he had no other pursuits.

Being able to settle his mind and bring benefit to a region was perhaps also a good choice.

Gathering his thoughts, Shen Yu raised his head to look at these people, then said softly, "Everyone sit, no need to be constrained!"

After they were seated, Shen Yu saw the hesitant expressions of these people and couldn't help but ask, "What is it? Do you have some matter?"

"My Lord, this, this..." The people sitting there looked at each other, but no one was willing to speak first.

They dared to do things that offended people, but offending a master who killed without blinking an eye like this, they really had to think it over carefully.

"Stuttering and stammering, speak!"

"My Lord!" Stared at by Shen Yu's gaze, someone finally stood up. "We have all looked over the plan the Lord has laid out, and we are all impressed by the Lord's plan to the point of prostration..."

"There is no need for flattery, get to the point!"

"This, yes!" After hesitating for a moment, this person said, "My Lord, your plan is indeed good, and once completed, it will definitely be able to turn Xiaozhou into a wealthy land!"

"It is just that regarding the budget, Xiaozhou is truly a bit..."

Speaking to this point, the person who spoke chose silence. Shen Yu was a smart man; he would understand what he wanted to say.

At first, they were very worried after seeing Shen Yu's plan, because this plan was too grand, and the manpower and material resources required were countless.

Especially to complete such a large project, it would inevitably require conscripting corvée labor and drafting able-bodied men; Xiaozhou was already miserable, wouldn't this be fatal?

As it turned out, Lord Shen later said that clearing the roads of Xiaozhou would be entirely voluntary, and corvée labor could not be forcibly conscripted.

At the time, they thought this Lord Shen had gone mad; just kidding, who would volunteer for this dirty and tiring work? If things went wrong, it could even cost lives.

However, when they saw Shen Yu's budget, they all obediently shut their mouths.

They had never heard of working for the Imperial Court and being paid wages, and the wages offered were so high.

Honestly, even if we aren't conscripting corvée labor, there's no need to throw away so much money!

If Shen Yu knew what these people were thinking, he would definitely tell them what supply and demand meant, and what a market was.

Opening up the roads of Xiaozhou, widening the official roads, and other projects would inevitably require a large amount of manpower, and could even mobilize the entire population of Xiaozhou.

Especially upon hearing that the wages were so high, the people of Xiaozhou, who were terrified of hunger, would certainly swarm over.

And paying these workers, and paying them so much money, was to let them spend it.

Wherever there is consumption, there will be a market; those merchants' sense of smell was not just ordinarily keen. Before long, those merchants who smelled the scent would trample the threshold of Xiaozhou.

You can't return empty-handed once you've come; during this time, Shen Yu had also learned that although Xiaozhou was poor, it really had many local specialties.

Xiaozhou had many mountains, and there were countless rare treasures within them; wouldn't the merchant guilds have to transport them out once they arrived?

With goods coming and going, the market in Xiaozhou would slowly open up. Coupled with the roads being repaired better and better, the merchant guilds would naturally come in an endless stream.

By then, Shen Yu would bring out some solid goods and create a few large-scale industries. Then, with each region adapting to local conditions and developing according to their respective resources, Xiaozhou would be able to slowly rise.

But while Shen Yu's plan was good, these subordinate officials discovered a fatal issue. Their Xiaozhou had no money!

The project Shen Yu proposed was too large, and he also wanted to pay the workers such high wages; they simply could not afford it.

It's poor; not only is Xiaozhou poor, but the Xiaozhou government office is even poorer. Previously, in order to curry favor with Shen Yu, the imperial court had spent a huge sum of money to have them bring it along to Xiaozhou.

This sum of money looked like a lot, and if used slowly, it might not be spent in a lifetime. But if used to execute such a grand plan, it would be stretched thin.

Not enough, far from enough!

Even if Shen Yu took all the money from the various forces in Xiaozhou that he had pacified and put it into the government office, this hole still couldn't be plugged.

Unless they paid the workers less. Otherwise, they really couldn't hold out.

A project this big, how could it be completed in a year or two? Could it be that they still had to reach out and ask the imperial court for more? And such a large sum of money, the imperial court couldn't easily produce it either.

Besides, the imperial court only has so much money a year; if it were all given to Xiaozhou, what would the other places do?

If by any chance they encountered a natural or man-made disaster, what would they use for an emergency? In the end, it would still be the common people who suffered.

Those present were all pragmatists, and they were all knowledgeable, so naturally, they wouldn't just fix their gaze on a single Xiaozhou.

Therefore, they suggested to Shen Yu that it would be best to pay a little less in wages. The money Shen Yu gave was too much; even if it were less, it would still be enough to support a family.

Seeing that Shen Yu didn't speak, someone among these few people finally spoke again, "My Lord, why don't we pay a little less in wages?"

"No! Not a single copper of the wages can be reduced!"

"My Lord!" Hearing this, the person who spoke became anxious. Such a large amount of wages, let alone supporting a family, if one saved for a year or two, it would even be enough to keep a mistress.

We aren't saying you shouldn't give it, just that you should give a little less, enough for a family to live on; idealism is not acceptable!

"You don't need to worry about the money; this official will find a way. You just need to be responsible for the execution!"

"My Lord, such a large sum of money will inevitably hurt the imperial court's vitality. In case of an emergency, the imperial court..."

"Rest assured, this official has a sense of proportion and will not ask the imperial court for money!"

"But My Lord, if we don't ask the imperial court for it, and we can't reduce the common people's wages, then this money..."

"This official has money, the kind that has a lot of money!" This was said so arrogantly that it made everyone shut their mouths immediately.

Shaking his head, Shen Yu had thought they had some serious matter; it turned out to be just this. Could things that can be settled with money even be called problems! He hadn't even taken out the money from Evil Man City yet.

As a top-tier power that dominated a region, the gold, silver, and jewels of Evil Man City were more than one could imagine. Let alone the current plan, even if two more came along, it wouldn't be a problem.

As for the wages, not a single cent can be reduced. If reduced, how could they stimulate consumption, and how could they attract those merchants over?