Entice with Profit, Intimidate with Force

As the manager of this Cold Iron Mine, he would earn five hundred Sect Contribution Points a month.

If he only took the guaranteed Sect Contribution Points, Lin Lin, who owed thirty-five thousand points, would need seventy months—nearly six years—to repay what he owed.

Six years was not a long time for many Elite Disciples. They could leisurely practice martial arts while paying off those Sect Contribution Points.

By the time they finished repaying them, being able to cultivate the Superior Martial Arts they had learned to an extraordinary level would already count as exceptional talent.

They could even spare time to accumulate more Sect Contribution Points, preparing to advance to True Inheritor Disciple or even Elder of Affairs and learn the Sect's Supreme Skill.

For many Hundred Flowers Valley disciples, what limited them from learning the sect's supreme martial arts was not conditions such as status or Sect Contribution Points, but their own martial arts talent and progress.

Take Lin Lin's parents, for example. At thirty-five this year, they had long since met the requirements in status and Sect Contribution Points to learn Hundred Flowers Valley's Sect's Supreme Skill.

However, limited by their aptitude, their own strength had yet to reach the hard requirement for learning the sect's supreme martial arts.

But given Lin Lin's rate of progress in martial cultivation, it would likely take only a few years for him to cultivate all the Superior Martial Arts he had learned to the pinnacle of great mastery.

His situation was the opposite of his parents'. His martial arts talent was sufficient, but his status and Sect Contribution Points were not.

If he waited another six years before considering how to earn more Sect Contribution Points and preparing to advance to True Inheritor Disciple or even Elder of Affairs in order to learn the sect's supreme martial arts, it would be far too late.

Therefore, on his very first day on the job, Lin Lin began considering how to earn more Sect Contribution Points without delaying his own cultivation.

And finding a way to increase the Cold Iron Mine's output beyond its current level was a very good direction to pursue.

"Only two hundred Silver Taels, really?"

Facing Lin Lin's question, Chi Bencheng and Shi You exchanged a glance. Both saw surprise in the other's eyes.

They had not expected this young senior brother to be so aggressive the moment he arrived.

Was he not afraid of overplaying his hand?

Not only failing to gain more benefits, but instead making it impossible for the Cold Iron Mine to operate normally, reducing its output, and bringing sect punishment upon himself?

Had he already weighed it all in his heart, or was it simply the immaturity of youth?

Yet despite Lin Lin's aggressiveness, neither Chi Bencheng nor Shi You showed any anger.

After all, they could not beat Lin Lin.

Nor did they want to fall out with him completely and leave everyone unable to make money.

Thus, when faced with Lin Lin's questioning, the two could only explain patiently.

Chi Bencheng said, "Senior Brother Lin, the sect allocates five thousand Silver Taels a month to our Cold Iron Mine for purchasing supplies. Of that money, four thousand taels must be used to buy food and fodder for the Miners, as well as to forge mining hoes and other production tools. None of that can be cut."

"Otherwise, the Miners will go hungry and lack the strength to work. Without enough tools, mining efficiency will be low. Without fodder, the livestock will be unable to haul goods. Then we will not be able to maintain the Cold Iron Mine's required monthly output."

"Of the one thousand taels saved, we can give you one hundred taels. More than thirty of us overseers will divide the rest, leaving each of us with only thirty taels."

"Senior Brother, you know that we Outer Sect Disciples not only have ordinary talent, but also come from poor families. We all rely on this tiny bit of extra income to sustain our martial cultivation."

"If Senior Brother is truly dissatisfied with the one hundred taels, then we can offer you two hundred taels from the extra one thousand taels we save, while us overseers receive only twenty-five taels each. How about that?"

At the side, Shi You also complained, "Senior Brother Lin, the sect allocates six thousand Silver Taels for the Miners' wages."

"Among all the Miners, only five or six hundred are slaves or criminals. The wages of the remaining ordinary Miners cannot be reduced."

"Otherwise, a riot would be a minor matter—we overseers can easily suppress it with our martial arts. What we fear is that they will all strike and leave the mine. Then the Cold Iron Mine will fail to meet its required output. We can be ruthless toward some Miners who cause trouble, but we cannot be ruthless toward every Miner."

"If there is not enough Cold Iron Ore collected by then, not only will Senior Brother be punished by the sect, but so will we."

"There are roughly twelve hundred taels to be skimmed from the wages. If Senior Brother is dissatisfied with one hundred taels, you can take three hundred taels, and we overseers can divide the rest."

As they complained, they also carved out a portion of the benefits for Lin Lin.

To them, offering a portion of the silver to the Elite Disciple serving as manager was only proper. Even if Lin Lin had not brought it up now, they would have found an opportunity to speak to him about it later.

Only when everyone could make money would no one be left without money.

However, the initial offer of two hundred taels had merely been an attempt to fool Lin Lin because of his young age.

And now that Lin Lin was pressing them so hard and felt that two hundred taels a month was insufficient, then five hundred taels a month should satisfy him. That was also the limit they could accept.

Manager Senior Brother Lin Lin could eat the meat, but they junior brothers serving as overseers needed at least a sip of the soup.

Otherwise, if Lin Lin continued pressing them and tried to keep everything for himself without even leaving them a mouthful of soup, then he could not blame them for refusing to show this senior brother any respect.

Lin Lin watched the two perform with a calm expression.

As expected of seasoned old hands who had spent many years in the martial world. They were quite practiced in this combination of threats and inducements.

Offering him five hundred taels a month to soothe his emotions was enticing him with profit.

And openly and subtly pointing out that if Lin Lin remained dissatisfied after taking five hundred taels, they would not hesitate to secretly cause trouble and make the Cold Iron Mine unable to continue production, bringing sect punishment down on Lin Lin—even if they were punished alongside him—was intimidating him with force.

After this combination of blows, anyone with a normal brain would stop making trouble and peacefully join their circle to earn stable profits.

If Lin Lin had no further aspirations for Sect Contribution Points, he would probably have done the same.

But since Lin Lin needed Sect Contribution Points, the situation was completely different.

Meeting their expectant gazes, Lin Lin answered with a question of his own.

"Do you two junior brothers of Affairs know that the sect's rewards for this Cold Iron Mine are determined by its output? If, by the end of the year, the output can be doubled, the Sect Contribution Points issued by the sect will not only double, but the sect will also take roughly half of the Cold Iron Mine's annual operating funds—around One Hundred Thousand Taels of Silver—as a reward."

"In other words, if we can double Cold Iron output over the coming year, the sect will give us an additional reward of one hundred thousand Silver Taels. If we can triple it, that will be two hundred thousand Silver Taels. If we achieve even more, the rewards will be even greater."