Chapter 172: A Freshly Revitalized Wu Shan City

Wu Shan Cheng.

Happy Neighbor Tavern.

"Did you hear? Wu Shan Cheng's tide has turned!"

"From now on, Wu Shan Cheng will no longer have the four major families, but only the Gu Family as the sole major family, co‑ruling with a few small families!"

"This is a Good Thing for us; the East City under Gu Family rule is far better than the South, West and North Cities ruled by the Wang, Chen and Jin families."

"If it weren't for the restriction of the three major families, I would have moved to East City long ago."

"Moreover, the Gu Family claims that the other three districts will adopt the same governance as East City, which will greatly reduce our living pressure!"

"Is it true? If so, from today I will be the Gu Family's most loyal supporter!"

Under the Gu Family's directive, many people spread the Gu Family's favorable policies in the major taverns.

Whether it's the hiring price for extracting raw crystal spirit veins or the populace taxes in the governed districts,

they are far more advantageous than when the other three major families ruled.

At first, the crowd indifferent to the four major families' campaigns, after hearing the news, began to look forward to Gu Family's rule.

And after the City Lord's residence accepted Gu Renbei's generous gift, it turned a blind eye to all this.

Wu Shan Cheng's Bijang were traditionally appointed by the four major families.

The downfall of the Wang, Chen and Jin three major families was a heavy blow to Wu Shan Cheng's city defenses.

But Wu Shan Cheng is not situated at a border pass like Mu Shan Cheng.

With the three major families gone, they can simply select personnel from the small families to serve as Bijang.

Those families, though not like the original four major families, each still have over ten Military Patriarchs stationed.

Nevertheless, each family can always muster at least one Military Patriarch.

The Gu Family has no objections to that.

The City Lord's main task is to consolidate Wu Shan Cheng's rule.

Other families are isolated and have limited resources.

Given enough time, they will eventually turn to the Gu Family's embrace.

There is no need to antagonize the City Lord's residence over such trivial matters.

Gu Family members are fervently taking over the spirit veins originally belonging to the three major families, while hiring the small families' Military Patriarchs to guard them!

Occasionally, bandits around Wu Shan Cheng raid the raw crystals produced by the spirit veins.

It's the Gu Family's first time controlling so many spirit veins, and they cannot spare enough manpower at once.

Hiring the small families' Military Patriarchs only requires giving them a share of the extracted raw crystals, which is an absolutely profitable deal.

The daily extraction amounts differ little, so even those Military Patriarchs cannot embezzle effectively.

Thus, the Gu Family quickly solidified its rule over Wu Shan Cheng.

Not only that, the Gu Family truly lives up to the tavern patrons' talk.

In the other three districts, they also implement extremely populist policies.

Nowadays, on every street and alley, any mention of the Gu Family is met with laughter, cheers, and admiring gazes.

After enjoying doubled resources, Gu Family members' strength is rising at a rapid pace.

The only blemish, perhaps, is Elder Qi's report that two Jin elders fell through the net during the Gu Family's night battle.

That night, the three major families' chaotic battle involved many combatants.

Although Gu Xiao Dao crushed the enemy, slaying the vast majority of the three major families' Military Patriarch elders.

Nevertheless, some inevitably fled amid the chaos.

Seeing Gu Xiao Dao's worried expression, Gu Ren chuckled,

"Family Head need not worry; I've dealt with the brothers Jin He and Jin Li plenty."

"Those two are cowardly and only hobby is collecting gold, silver and jewels."

"Even if you lent them a hundred more guts, they still wouldn't risk death to retaliate against the Gu Family!"

Gu Xiao Dao heard this and let out a slight sigh of relief.

But he still said,

"That said, to be safe we must still try to track down the brothers Jin He and Jin Li as much as possible."

Gu Ren nodded, and after leaving he prepared to go to the Drunken Immortal Tower in Jian Nan Prefecture, spending money to investigate the whereabouts of the Jin He brothers.

Money can make ghosts turn the mill; this truth never grows old.

The Gu Family can spend money to have Blood Red Pavilion hunt the Jin He brothers.

The two brothers, already struggling to protect themselves, would never dare seek revenge on the younger generation of the Gu Family.

But Blood Red Pavilion's assassins charge too much.

If they were hired to assassinate a Military Patriarch, it would likely cost a fortune!

Moreover, Blood Red Pavilion is not an intelligence agency.

If the Jin He brothers decide to hide their identities, Blood Red Pavilion cannot resolve the matter quickly.

In contrast, the Drunken Immortal Tower, as Ben Lang Guo's largest chain tavern,

is also Ben Lang Guo's biggest intelligence hub!

It is said that with enough money, any information can be bought!

Gathering the Jin He brothers' intel from the Drunken Immortal Tower, then the Gu Family's own agents act.

That is undoubtedly the most cost‑effective method!

Gu Ren, who oversees the Gu Family's resources, possesses the most crucial skill: meticulous accounting!

Otherwise he could not manage the entire family's finances!

In a thriving environment, Gu Han and Gu Chen and the Mu Shan Cheng convoy returned to Wu Shan Cheng.

Seeing the familiar surroundings, some Gu Family descendants felt a hint of homesickness.

"It's been a few months since we returned; it feels like the days we left Wu Shan Cheng were just yesterday."

"I think the changes are quite big; the city gate guards seem to have many more stranger faces."

"Where are the people from the other three great families? The city gate guards on duty today seem mostly our Gu Family people."

Gu Family descendants obediently followed behind the crowd, waiting for the city entry inspection.

The city gate guards in charge of the entry inspection are a lucrative post with plenty of gains.

In the past, it was usually controlled by the people of the four great families.

The quotas were also evenly split among the four great families, with none yielding to another.

As for the smaller families, they basically had no chance to intervene in the city gate guards.

But today, not only did we not see the people from the other three great families, we also saw many more stranger faces—how could Gu Qian Yue and others not be curious?

The convoy's advance speed was very fast.

Not long after, it was Gu Han and others' turn for the routine inspection.

"Qian Yue? How did you come back?"

A city gate guard on routine inspection, upon seeing Gu Qian Yue, was momentarily stunned.

He is a collateral branch member of the Gu Family, and by seniority he is Gu Qian Yue's uncle.

But there is still a status gap between the main and collateral branches.

He could not really call Gu Qian Yue his nephew.

He voluntarily laughed and greeted Gu Qian Yue.

"The military camp gave us a month's leave, just right to come back and have a look."

Gu Qian Yue had no airs, responding with a light smile.

"Just go in directly; no need for inspection."

That city gate guard smiled and waved his hand, indicating that Gu Qian Yue and others could directly enter the city.

"Let's still handle things according to the rules."

Gu Qian Yue did not directly enter the city, but said,

"So that later the other three families won't deliberately use today's incident to find fault."

The several city gate guards nearby, also from the Gu Family, upon hearing this, immediately laughed and said,

"Now we let others try to find fault; no one dares to cause trouble for our Gu Family."

"Now in Wu Shan Cheng, aside from Chengzhu Fu, everything belongs to our Gu Family."