Double Brightness Trade Market
He Dezong did not arrive as quickly as everyone expected. Ten days passed, and only a Gray Spirit Falcon brought He Degong a letter.
According to He Degong, this was because the Senior Lang behind the He Household suddenly summoned He Dezong to give him instructions, and He Dezong naturally dared not refuse, which is why he could not come.
However, in his letter, He Dezong not only promised that the He Household would still open a shop in the newly built Chongming Market, but also that Lu Xun's caravan would be handed over to the Chongming Sect immediately.
He also carefully reminded the caravan not to rush off, but to wait until he had time to take Kang Dabao to meet the heroes of the surrounding mountains and rivers first.
Upon hearing this, Kang Dabao felt that his elder brother was indeed one of the most outstanding figures among his peers. Overjoyed, he dragged He Degong out for several rounds of heavy drinking.
He Household, who was bewitched by Shao Meng, was quite resentful. His caravan wasn't under the eldest son's jurisdiction, so why was He Degong giving it away to him like that?
However, his resentment dissipated considerably after confirming the handwritten letter from He Dezong.
He didn't dare disobey his patriarch's decision, given his limited influence, so he decided it would be easier to return to the clan and report to his elders for their judgment.
He Dezong was unable to come, but the two market clerks sent by the state court arrived much earlier than Sect Leader Kang Da. The two market clerks, one old and one young, did not seem to come from the same family.
The younger one, surnamed Deng, was still young, barely old enough to be considered a boy. However, he held a more prestigious position, seemingly from a noble Aristocratic Clan, and was the leader of the two.
The young man surnamed Deng never got involved in any official duties. He spent his days wandering around in a white feathered robe and carrying a flying sword, while he bossed around the elderly chief strategist who was actually in charge, showing him no sympathy whatsoever.
However, he was quite polite to Sect Leader Kang Da and not arrogant at all.
Accompanying the two city accountants were a large group of people, including geomancers, formation masters, and cooks recruited by the state government.
From the words of the young man surnamed Deng, Kang Dabao realized that the state government did not intend to rebuild this area into a market town, but rather to develop it into a larger-scale residential market.
Hearing this, Sect Leader Kang Da was quite pleased, because if that were true, the scale would be much larger, and his share would be more valuable.
However, the young man surnamed Deng did not finish his sentence, only saying that the adults above were still discussing it, and if the matter was truly settled, the state court would send another acting magistrate.
This is to be expected; if a market were to be built on the site of the Chongming Market, it would be considered a viable business in the eyes of the state government.
A mere city lieutenant is insignificant; if Double Brightness Trade Market is to be truly established, the prefectural government would need to send at least two or three Foundation Establishment to oversee the operation.
In this way, although Kang Dabao, as the city constable, would inevitably face more constraints, his safety would be guaranteed, which would put the cultivators who had just experienced the Three Incense Cult's beast attack at ease.
However, since the young man surnamed Deng hadn't said everything, Kang Dabao assumed it wasn't true and obediently cooperated with them in purchasing the spiritual materials needed to build the market.
Unlike the stingy attitude of Sect Leader Kang Da when he first established Chongming Market, the young man surnamed Deng was generous and an excellent customer.
Putting everything else aside, the fact that they're recruiting martial artists to be teachers this time is actually offering Spirit Stone.
However, the requirements were a bit high. They didn't want martial artists at the Skin Refining Realm; they only wanted masters at the Bone Refining Realm or above, and offered five Spirit Stone every two days for one hundred people.
This price is quite generous. As soon as the news came out, the martial artists in the vicinity were in big trouble. Many Qi Refinement cultivators from small families searched all over the world for them, just to earn some Spirit Stone stones to make a living.
However, their methods were mostly crude and they left no room for maneuver, which led to an incident where a martial artist poisoned a cultivator and was then beaten to death by the same martial artist.
This incident attracted the attention of many cultivators. The martial arts force that had killed the cultivator didn't even have time to wait for the cultivator's family to retaliate before it was wiped out by a wandering cultivator who saw injustice.
This is not surprising, since if both sides are cultivators, no one would care about the casualties between them.
But if a martial artist rebels, one's position determines one's perspective, and it's perfectly normal for someone to stand up for justice.
This little incident was quickly forgotten, because soon there were many other ways to make money.
The state court needs to establish a market town, which requires more than just the Master. It also needs to fund the purchase of a series of basic spiritual materials such as spirit wood, black iron, and wind copper.
Moreover, unlike other places where it's difficult to collect payments, here, as long as the seller doesn't sell inferior goods, the buyer in the state court settles the payment in Spirit Stone very readily.
Taking advantage of their proximity, Sect Leader Kang Da, along with many of his close associates who had previously done business in Chongming Market, snapped up all these procurement deals that had virtually no barriers to entry, and each of them made a profit.
In this way, Kang Dabao managed to win back some people's hearts.
Wei Gu, who was currently idle on the mountain, was also summoned down by Sect Leader Kang Da to help out free of charge.
It has been some time since Kang Dabao gave Wei Gu the array master's notes from the Spirit Stone mine. The latter only said that the array master's skill was indeed superb, but it was still too obscure for him. He needed to study it diligently and would hardly make any progress in the short term.
So, Sect Leader Kang Da came up with this idea. Wei Gu was nominally representing Chongming Sect to serve the state court, but in reality, Kang Dabao wanted him to hang out with the array masters sent by the state court and see if he could steal some skills from them so that he could reach the level of being able to study the array masters' manuals as soon as possible.
Recently, more and more families have been trying to give gifts to Sect Leader Kang Da. Previously, Sect Leader Kang Da was worried about whether his Chongming Market could be rebuilt, but after the state government took over, it has really become a hot commodity.
Those who are truly influential don't need to come to Sect Leader Kang Da to pay their respects. Long before Kang Dabao and Jiang Qing had paid their respects to the Acting Sima Gun, they had already returned with a thick stack of letters.
Many Foundation Establishment forces, such as the Illusory Sword Alliance and Zi Maple Valley, which were originally close to the Xuanwei Niu Household, seem to have found a backer in Acting Sima Gun or the state court Capital Region Faction represented by Acting Sima Gun.
Acting Sima Gun wanted to handle a business deal, he would always include them in the deal.
Therefore, it's possible that when Kang Dabao went to visit Acting Sima Gun, the latter must have already known about the Chongming Market to Double Brightness Trade Market, which explains why Sect Leader Kang Da's "investment attraction" went so smoothly.
Even more noteworthy than this news is that the influence of the state court seems to be expanding rapidly in the local area. Some Foundation Establishment forces in Cloud Horn Prefecture have completely disregarded the pressure from the Two Instruments Sect and thrown themselves into the arms of the state court.
These are important matters that Sect Leader Kang Da can think about in his spare time; they don't require him to expend too much effort.
The uneventful days passed quickly. Kang Dabao spent his days shuttling between the sect and the market, constantly on the go without a moment's rest.
That day, when he stepped into the newly built market archway, he saw that the original word "Xu" on it had been erased and replaced by the word "Fang" chiseled into it.
A flicker of joy crossed Sect Leader Kang Da's heart. Just as he was about to ask someone, he saw a young man surnamed Deng and another person walking towards him. The young man said loudly, "Market Commandant Kang, the officials sent word today that the upgrade of Chongming Market to Double Brightness Trade Market has been finalized. This is the acting captain who just came from the state court to report for duty."
Kang Dabao's smile faltered upon seeing the newcomer. "Well, another acquaintance!"
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