Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 32 Differences in Opinions
"Okay." Zhong Wenyuan responded, "By the way, the headmaster said last time that after we settle down here, we will distribute spiritual stone salaries and adjust everyone's salaries. I wonder if there is a plan now?"

"If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten about it. What suggestions does Senior Brother Zhong have?"

"Since the headmaster has clearly stated his intention to increase everyone's salaries, we must not go back on our word. Otherwise, our reputation and prestige would be damaged. In my opinion, how about increasing everyone's salary by 10% to 20%?"

Song Xian pondered for a moment, "If the salary is only increased by 10% to 20%, isn't it too little? A cultivator like Shen Fan, who has four spiritual roots and is at the first level of Qi Refining, only gets five spirit stones a month. Even if it's increased by 20%, it's just one more spirit stone."

"He followed us across thousands of miles to this remote and cold place without a single complaint. He finally settled down here, but the monthly increase is only one spirit stone. Isn't that a bit unreasonable? Wouldn't that discourage everyone from following him?"

"So, according to the Master, how should we handle this?"

"I have an idea. From now on, spiritual root qualifications will no longer be the only criterion for salary amount."

Zhong Wenyuan frowned and said, "If spiritual root aptitude is not the standard, then what is it?"

"Spiritual root qualifications can be used as a reference for salary amount, and the other is contribution to the sect."

"Master, please forgive my bluntness." Zhong Wenyuan shook his head and said, "That's absurd! Contributions to the sect are always a matter of opinion. For example, does refining pills count as a contribution to the sect? Does managing the spiritual medicine garden count as a contribution to the sect? Does looking after the treasury, managing the shops, patrolling the mountains, etc. count as contributions to the sect?"

"Of course forget it."

"Then who's older and who's younger? Don't those inner sect elites who sit in the Spirit Gathering Array training room all day contribute anything? If the sect encounters trouble, don't the inner sect elites still have to be the main force?"

"In my opinion, in normal times, the main focus should be on the disciples' financial contributions to the sect. In wartime, the main focus should be on their impact on the war. Of course, this requires a set of clear and detailed rules. I just have an immature idea at the moment."

"Master, you've overcomplicated a simple matter. If we follow that approach, not only will it be complicated and troublesome, many people will undoubtedly be dissatisfied, and it will be difficult to balance everyone's interests. Dividing salary levels by spiritual root qualifications is the fairest approach. This is natural and natural, and no one will complain. If anyone wants to blame someone, it's only my own spiritual root qualifications that are not good enough."

Song Xian said, "Although everyone will accept this distribution system, it is not a good thing for the development of the sect. No one knows the situation of Qingyun Sect better than Senior Brother Zhong. The inner disciples receive high salaries but do not contribute much, focusing only on cultivation every day."

"All the mundane affairs of the sect are handed over to outer disciples whose spiritual roots are not good enough. They receive low salaries and have to take care of so many affairs, which will inevitably breed corruption."

"The Qingyun Sect, such a powerful sect, has fallen to this point in just a few hundred years. Even the Sect Master had to secretly sell off property from the treasury to raise the money needed to purchase Foundation Establishment Pills. This was all because the sect's disciples all enriched themselves."

Zhong Wenyuan said, "This isn't just a problem for the Qingyun Sect. From what I understand, all sects are like this. I doubt that the Qianqing Sect doesn't have disciples who embezzle money, yet they've still been able to rule the Qin State for so many years. The reason our sect has declined is because we don't have a Foundation Establishment-level cultivator in charge. This is the source of everything."

"Therefore, the sect must allocate more resources to cultivate disciples with excellent spiritual roots and aptitudes, so as to ensure the continuation of the sect."

"If the headmaster is worried about his disciples enriching themselves and engaging in excessive corruption, he should strengthen supervision over them."

Song Xian said, "Corruption among sect disciples is a systemic problem. Strengthening supervision alone will not solve it. Without institutional changes, the corruption problem will never be solved. If even a sect as powerful as the Qianqing Sect suffers from serious internal corruption, it further proves that the system is flawed."

Zhong Wenyuan frowned slightly and remained silent, obviously disagreeing with this statement.

At the same time, he was also very surprised and amazed. In his eyes, Song Xian was just a young man who had just started out. He had been practicing in the mountain gate before and had basically never been involved in dealing with sect affairs. Where did he get so many weird ideas?

Although he neither understood nor agreed with these ideas.

Seeing him like this, Song Xian knew that he was very resistant in his heart. This was also within his expectations. Reforming the sect system was inherently difficult, and there would inevitably be some people who opposed it.

Especially those who are a little older and have long-term experience in government affairs, like Zhong Wenyuan. Most of these people are conservative or even diehards, because they have been vested interests in maintaining the original system for most of their lives, and their thoughts have long been solidified.

It is unrealistic to expect to change their long-held ideas with just a few words.

Song Xian didn't expect to achieve results with just a conversation. He just wanted to give him a heads-up in advance and let him know that he had this idea. Then when he implements it in the future, it won't seem sudden and make people feel at a loss.

No matter what, he now has to focus on uniting the people around him.

We will deal with the restructuring later.

"Let's not talk about these things anymore, let's get back to the matter of increasing the salaries of our fellow disciples!"

"Before this, I thought about it and decided to distribute the salary according to the cultivation level. The monthly salary for the early stage of Qi Refining is 15 spirit stones. The monthly salary for the middle stage of Qi Refining is 30 spirit stones. The monthly salary for the late stage of Qi Refining is 45 spirit stones. What do you think, Brother Zhong?"

Zhong Wenyuan exclaimed in surprise, "Isn't this too much? This salary is equivalent to the salary of a disciple with dual spiritual roots in the original Qingyun Sect. Paying everyone according to this standard would be a considerable burden on our finances." "It's not easy for these fellow disciples to come all the way with us. It's not easy here, and the spiritual energy in Guzi Mountain is weak. If we don't keep them here with high salaries, I'm afraid they won't be able to endure the hardships and will leave one by one over time."

"We still have over 3,000 spirit stones. At this rate, the spirit stones will be gone in a year at most. What should we do then? This is not a long-term solution. I hope the Sect Master will be cautious."

Song Xian said, "Even if we pay according to the original salary, it will only last for another year or so. I've calculated that if we pay according to the original salary, our current spiritual stones will only last for two more years at most. It's not much difference. If we can't find a source of income for the sect within a year to keep the expenses balanced, no matter which method we use to distribute spiritual stones, the sect will not be able to sustain it."

"Instead of that, it would be better to give our fellow disciples more salaries. First, they will be happy and feel that their journey with us to this place is not in vain. Second, with more salaries, everyone will be more motivated and have a stronger sense of belonging to the new sect. Third, it will ensure that they will not leave the sect for at least the next year."

"But..." Zhong Wenyuan opened his mouth, wanting to say something but stopping himself.

"Brother Zhong, feel free to say whatever you want. Do we still need to hide anything from each other?"

"Then I'll be frank. I wonder if the Sect Master has considered Junior Brother Lin's feelings by doing this? Everyone is paid according to their original dual spiritual root qualifications. Junior Brother Jiang, Junior Brother Shen, Junior Brother Zhang, Senior Brother Xu, and the others will be very satisfied, but Junior Brother Lin may not be happy."

"He originally has dual spiritual roots. This means that everyone else's salary has increased, but he hasn't."

"Junior Brother Lin is young, has dual spiritual roots, and has always been loyal to the sect. We should allocate more of the sect's resources to him. He should be the talent that our sect focuses on cultivating."

"And now, the headmaster has increased everyone's salary, except for Junior Brother Lin. With all due respect, this is putting the cart before the horse."

Song Xian smiled slightly: "I have already thought about this. Tomorrow I will hold the first meeting of our Hunyuan Sect. In addition to increasing everyone's salary, I will also arrange everyone's position."

"Senior Brother Lin will serve as the law enforcement elder, responsible for upholding the sect's rules and regulations. His salary will be increased by 50% on top of his original salary."

"Brother Zhong will serve as the administrative elder, responsible for handling the sect's internal affairs. Like Brother Lin, his salary will be increased by 50%."

"Senior Brother Zhang Yi will be in charge of the sect's guard affairs, which is the original position of the head of the sect's guard peak."

"Senior Brother Lu Yuan will be in charge of the sect's financial affairs, responsible for guarding the treasury and the expenditure of funds."

"Senior Brother Zhong Yang will assist in handling government affairs."

"Senior Brother Zhang Ningyuan will be in charge of the sect's procurement matters."

"Senior Brother Xu Ning is in charge of the sect's external affairs."

"Jiang Zichen and Shen Fan are still young, so it's not appropriate for them to be assigned any specific duties."

"Junior Brother Shen Fan, let them assist Senior Brother Zhang and be responsible for the sect's protection."

"Junior Brother Jiang Zichen, let him assist Senior Brother Xu Ning in managing those ordinary people outside the sect."

Zhong Wenyuan frowned again: "What about outer disciples and inner disciples? They have to be distinguished!"

Song Xian knew he would dwell on this matter and sighed, "Brother Zhong, we've suffered a lot along the way. We even encountered an attack by the Sheshan bandits at the temple entrance of Changping City. We can be considered brothers who have experienced life and death together."

"Now is the time for us to unite as one and work together. Why should we further divide people into different levels? There are only ten of us. Is it necessary to divide us into inner disciples and outer disciples?"

Zhong Wenyuan still stubbornly said: "Logically speaking, under this situation, I shouldn't mention the distinction between inner and outer sects. However, if a sect wants to continue and develop, it must have a focus on training targets."

"The division into inner and outer sects is not to create hierarchy, but to give the sect a legitimate reason to allocate more resources to disciples with good spiritual roots."

"This is something that is inevitable in the development of the sect. You can't treat everyone equally. There has to be some bias."

"If we treat everyone equally, it may appear fair and just on the surface, but in reality it will cause great harm to the sect."

"If disciples with good spiritual roots do not receive preferential resources and special attention, it will be a waste of their talents. Conversely, if disciples with poor spiritual roots receive too many resources, it will also be a waste."

"Master, can you imagine that more than a hundred Qingyun Sect disciples will all enjoy the treatment of inner disciples?"

(End of this chapter)