In the next few days, Yilin County was calm on the surface, but underneath was an undercurrent.
The hot stamped post of "Yilin Chamber of Commerce" was delivered to all the martial arts schools in the county and Lineage on time on the third day after Martial Arts Tournament ended.
The wording is modest and the etiquette is thorough, and the seal is also printed with the emblems of Green Dragon, Zhao and the Zhou family.
But everyone understands what this post means.
"Jianghe."
Su Derong walked out of the main hall, his left arm still wrapped in a bandage, his face looked better than the previous few days, but his face was full of sorrow.
"Third Senior Brother." Chen Jianghe closed, "How is the injury?"
"I can't die." Su Derong twitched the corner of his mouth, with a bitter smile, "This arm needs to be nursed for a while."
He sat down on the stone bench, took out an account book from his arms, and opened it.
The page was rusty, the ink on it was still fresh, but it was full of bad news.
"After the establishment of Chamber of Commerce, the only short-distance business of the Escort Bureau was all taken away by the Zhao Family on the grounds of unified dispatch by Chamber of Commerce. Now there are more than thirty brothers in the Escort Agency, practicing boxing in the yard every day, but no matter how hard they practice, there is no work to do, no money to earn... Sooner or later the people's hearts will break up."
Chen Jianghe looked outside the hospital.
Through the crack in the door, he could see several young martial arts disciples cleaning the courtyard, their movements a little weak.
Most of these disciples come from Outer City ordinary families and enter martial arts schools to learn skills. They hope that after completing their studies, they can find jobs in escort agencies, nursing homes, or Inner City certain industries, earn a small amount of money, and support their families.
But what about now?
"This side of the martial arts school..." Chen Jianghe asked.
"It's even worse." Su Derong closed the account book, "Yilin Chamber of Commerce issued a notice to all martial arts schools: Any member of Chamber of Commerce, his disciples will have priority in obtaining temporary job quotas in various industries within Chamber of Commerce, with favorable monthly rates, and more opportunities to participate in hunting exotic beasts and share profit resources."
He paused. "But the premise is that the martial arts school must join Chamber of Commerce and accept unified deployment."
"Those who didn't join?" Chen Jianghe asked.
"Those who haven't joined..." Su Derong smiled bitterly, "The disciples can't find any temporary jobs outside. Chamber of Commerce owns restaurants, inns, carriage shops, pharmacies... all the industries, one The law does not accept martial arts disciples who are not members of Chamber of Commerce. Even some young Lineage who were originally good friends with us now dare not hire people privately for fear of offending Chamber of Commerce."
Chen Jianghe Silence.
This is a monopoly.
In the name of "Chamber of Commerce", the actual annexation was carried out.
If you don't join, all your livelihood will be cut off, and the way out for your disciples will be cut off.
What does a martial arts school rely on to maintain? It depends on the training paid by the disciples, the feedback from the disciples after they become masters, and the cooperation with all forces.
Now, these three roads are all blocked.
"Where are Yufeng Martial Hall and Guangde?" Chen Jianghe asked.
"Yufeng Martial Hall The owner of the martial arts gym took two of his direct disciples to the Green Dragon Gang main hall yesterday." Su Derong said, "Guangde Martial Hall's The gym owner... is still holding on, but nearly half of the disciples in the gym have left, some have joined other martial arts gyms that have joined Chamber of Commerce, and some have simply left Yilin County to make a living elsewhere."
He paused and looked at Chen Jianghe: "The Qian, Sun, and Li families are also having a hard time. Chamber of Commerce is at Inner City's purchasing channel for all medicinal materials, cloth, and grain. All are controlled by the Zhao Family and Green Dragon Gang. If the three companies want to get the goods, they must either buy them at a high price from Chamber of Commerce, or... go out of the city to find the source of the goods themselves."
Chamber of Commerce's move is to completely drive the uncooperative forces to a dead end.
In the afternoon, Chen Jianghe changed into inconspicuous coarse cloth clothes and left the martial arts gym alone.
After not walking far, I saw a circle of people surrounding the alley.
As I got closer, I saw several young people wearing different martial arts costumes, surrounding a man squatting in the corner.
The man was about thirty years old, wearing Guangde Martial Hall shorts, squatting on the ground, holding his head in his hands, and his shoulders were shaking slightly.
"Senior Brother Liu, don't be like this----" a young disciple whispered, "the master said, he will find a way----"
"Finding a way?" The man called Senior Brother Liu raised his head, his eyes were red, "What are you thinking of? All the temporary positions in the martial arts school have been taken away by Chamber of Commerce. There is no position in the escort bureau, nursing home, or medicine collection team. Yes! My mother is sick and is waiting for money to get medicine. My wife just gave birth to a baby and can't even drink the thick porridge! I--I have been practicing boxing for eight years, Dark Strength has reached the threshold, and now I can't even find a job!"
His voice was hoarse and full of despair. "The owner of the museum told me to wait - wait? I can afford to wait, but my family can't wait!"
Several young disciples around him lowered their heads, and some secretly wiped their eyes.
Chen Jianghe paused in his steps.
Senior Brother Liu seemed to notice someone looking over, raised his head, and met Chen Jianghe's eyes.
He was stunned for a moment, and then he recognized Chen Jianghe. A complex look flashed across his face, including awe, envy, and a hint of unspeakable bitterness.
He lowered his head silently and stopped talking.
Chen Jianghe was silent for a moment, then turned and walked towards another street.
Along the way, he saw similar scenes more than once.
Two disciples squatted on the street corner selling the long knives they carried with them. The knives were good, but few people asked about the price.
He even saw a young man wearing Yufeng Martial Hall martial arts uniforms, kneeling in front of a pawn shop, holding an ancestral jade pendant, and bargaining with the shopkeeper in a choked voice.
Chen Jianghe kept walking, but his heart gradually sank.
He walked to the medicine shop at Outer City.
The shopkeeper is an old man in his fifties. In the past, I always greeted him with a smile when I saw him.
Today, he had a frown on his face. When he saw Chen Jianghe coming in, he managed to squeeze out a smile, "Young Hero Chen, are you here?"
"Shopkeeper," Chen Jianghe nodded, "Grab three pairs of medicines for promoting blood circulation and dispersing blood stasis."
The shopkeeper responded and turned around to grab the medicine, but his movements were much slower than before.
Chen Jianghe noticed that several commonly used medicinal materials in the medicine cabinet were empty.
"Shopkeeper Wu," he asked, "Why are White Peony Root and Szechuan Lovage Rhizome gone?"
The shopkeeper sighed and said in a low voice while grabbing the medicine, "Young Hero Chen doesn't know. Starting yesterday, Chamber of Commerce issued an order that all medicinal materials must be prepared by them." My shop is pretty good, but some small shops have been cut off from stock and can no longer be opened."
Chen Jianghe Silence.
The shopkeeper handed over the wrapped medicine, hesitated for a moment, and then whispered, "Young Hero Chen, I have nothing to say. You are now a master of energy transformation and have a bright future. But Yilin County----I'm afraid things are going to change. You----make plans early."
Chen Jianghe took the medicine bag and nodded. "Thank you, shopkeeper, for reminding me."
When we returned to the martial arts hall, it was almost dusk.
Li Chengyue was still leaning in the recliner, with the thin blanket covering his body, closing his eyes and relaxing.
But Chen Jianghe could see that the master was not asleep.
Those eyes that were always hazy with drunkenness were moving slightly under the eyelids at this moment.
"Master." Chen Jianghe approached.
Li Chengyue slowly opened his eyes and looked at him. "Did you see it?"
Chen Jianghe nodded.
"What do you think?" Li Chengyue asked.
"Chamber of Commerce's move is to remove the firepower from under the cauldron." Chen Jianghe said slowly, "It will cut off the livelihood of the martial arts gym, cut off the way out for the disciples, and force all forces to either surrender or... to fend for themselves."
Li Chengyue twitched his lips. "Xiao Qing has always used this method. When Green Dragon Gang rose up, he relied on this method to monopolize Black Wind Ridge's hunting rights, and then use resources as bait to win over a group, suppress a group, and finally one family became the dominant one."
He paused. "Now he has joined forces with the Zhao Family and Zhou Family to establish Chamber of Commerce. It is just a matter of moving the methods he used outside the city to the city. The goal is bigger and the ambition is bigger."
Chen Jianghe was silent for a moment and asked, "Master, how should we... respond?"
Li Chengyue did not answer immediately.
He looked up at the last trace of clouds on the horizon for a long time.
Then, he spoke slowly, his voice was low but the words were clear. "Jianghe, remember."
"There has never been true cooperation in this world." The so-called Chamber of Commerce, the so-called alliance, is just a fig leaf for the strong to annex the weak. What Xiao Qing wants is not cooperation, but the entire Yilin County."
"What he wants is that all martial arts schools listen to his orders, all Lineages look up to him, and all resources are in his hands. What he wants is that this Yilin County will have only one voice from now on."
Chen Jianghe was shocked.
Li Chengyue continued, "Today he is cutting off your livelihood and forcing you to become a disciple. It seems to be just a commercial squeeze. Tomorrow, he will take action against you in the name of safeguarding Chamber of Commerce's interests. The day after, he will completely erase you on the grounds of violating Chamber of Commerce's rules."