Xiuxian: But It's Not a Game

Chapter 61 Lishui Town, Third Brigade
P.S.: Damn, I feel awful. Sore throat, cough, which triggered a toothache, then a headache, runny nose, and my whole body aches and feels weak. I think I've caught the flu. Luckily, I had 30,000 words saved up beforehand, otherwise I'd be doomed.

They sped all the way back to the Poison Mist Swamp, sending them a message halfway there. By the time they arrived at the base, everyone had already returned.

Upon meeting, Shi Ning asked with a smile:
"Brother Su, why are you calling us to gather so urgently? Is there something good happening?"

Su Yu chuckled:
"Correct answer, but no reward."

They were all a little surprised. After they went inside and sat down, he went straight to the point and told them about it.

"That's the gist of it. If you're willing to come and help me, I will definitely not treat you unfairly. I guarantee you'll be promoted to elite members within three years. Also, at the end of the year, I will join the Xuanzhen Immortal Sect, and I will promote one of you to deputy squadron leader. During my absence, you will manage the First Squadron for me."

The group looked at each other, both surprised and astonished.

An hour later, Su Yu left the base alone and headed straight for Lishui Town.

They neither agreed nor refused, saying they needed to think about it.

Su Yu was naturally in no hurry and told them to think it over carefully.

The sword rainbow traversed the mountains, speeding all the way to the Chensha River, where it could see the Li River, which was about ten miles wide, and the town of Li River located in a triangular position on one side of the Li River.

The town is small, and the flow of people is far less than that of Chensha Town.

Two Tier 5 Whale Boats are moored at the dock on the side of the town facing the Sunken Sand River, while three Tier 4 Wave-Piercing Boats are moored at the dock on the side closer to the water.

The huge dock had been cleared out, and a large number of members of the Third Brigade had gathered there, divided into five groups. However, two of the squadrons had already assembled and formed ranks, which was in stark contrast to the scattered mess on the side.

Outside the plaza, a large number of non-guild players were watching.

Su Yu's eyes flickered slightly, and she sent a message to Hu Qingfeng:

"I have arrived."

On the dock square, Hu Qingfeng, who was squatting with the members of the Fifth Squadron chatting and building relationships, immediately stood up and replied upon receiving the message:

"Captain, all 621 members of the Third Battalion are already in the square."

"Ok!"

His subordinates, noticing Hu Qingfeng's serious expression, asked him curiously:
"Brother Hu, who is that?"

"Captain Su Yu."

"It turned out to be him."

"I didn't expect Commander Chu to value him so much that he would entrust an entire battalion to him."

Someone laughed:

"That's normal. Every year, the top students in the small exams are given special attention. He was first in this year's exams, and the quality of this year's exams far exceeded that of previous years, so he will definitely be given special attention."

Hearing his subordinates' discussion, Hu Qingfeng remained calm and silent.

What his subordinate said was exactly what he was thinking. Although Hu Zhilin, who was already the deputy regimental commander and the fifth battalion commander, was his father, he was very clear about his own abilities, and even more clear about how valuable a newcomer like Su Yu was.

He clearly remembered that he couldn't even get into the top ten in the class eleven years ago, and the level of that class was far inferior to that of the current class. The strongest among them was Wei Xia and Lan Yiying, who were now on par.

This year, either Su Yu or Ding Lingyu could easily sweep aside the previous ten years.

This was only the tenth session he had seen; their actual level would rank in the top ten throughout the entire 180-year history of the Thousand Feathers Guild.

Because he knew this, he never even considered competing with Su Yu for anything.

He glanced at Mu Chen and Xiao Yunya, who were already lined up in the dock square, trying to win over people. Recalling their previous antics and attempts to join forces with him, he could only sneer.

In his opinion, the two men seemed rather dim-witted, completely unaware of their own limitations, and actually trying to go against their superiors.

He was curious whether they would openly oppose the captain in the future; he was eager to see what would happen.

While he was pondering for a short while, a streak of sword light flew from afar, heading straight for the town's dock. Upon seeing this, Hu Qingfeng immediately shouted:

"Silence, the captain is here."

The sound was as loud as a bell, and could be heard in half the town.

The square fell silent as everyone looked at the sword rainbow that crashed down into the town's dock square, landing in a human shape—it was Su Yu.

Hundreds of eyes were fixed on him, filled with curiosity, astonishment, envy, scrutiny, and so on, but no one spoke.

Su Yu glanced across the square and saw Hu Qingfeng flying over, calling out from afar:

"Captain, this is Hu Qingfeng from the Fifth Company reporting for duty!"

Then another graceful figure flew over from the other side and said in a crisp voice:
"Gu Yao from the Fourth Squadron reporting to the Captain!"

Su Yu nodded with a smile:

"Captain Hu and Captain Gu, thank you for your hard work. Please return to your posts."

Then, his gaze swept across the square, landing on Mu Chen and Xiao Yunya, who had only just gotten up, and he waved his hand without any politeness, saying:

"Go back and reorganize the team."

Ignoring the two men's somewhat unpleasant expressions, he turned his gaze to the crowd in the square, channeling his magic into his voice, which resounded throughout the area like muffled thunder:

"I am Su Yu. I have been appointed by Chu Xinyue, the leader of the Second Regiment of the Guild, as the captain of the Third Battalion of the Second Regiment and concurrently the captain of the First Company."

"Now, everyone line up in the middle!"

The squadron leaders immediately organized their teams. Presumably they had practiced beforehand, the team formation was quite fast. All four squadrons lined up in order, but the first squadron was left unattended. While the other squadrons were already lined up, this side was still a mess.

Su Yu did not scold them, but simply waited quietly for them to line up properly before continuing:

"The regimental commander personally appointed me as the commander of the third battalion. To be honest, I was very apprehensive, afraid that I would fail the regimental commander's trust."

"But since the commander trusts me, I cannot let him down."

"I will only do three things in the next year: first, reorganize the team and restore the brigade to full strength."

"Secondly, we will rebuild the treasury. After the former captain left office, the treasury was almost completely destroyed. We will strive to rebuild the treasury within a year."

"Third, we should enhance our capabilities by organizing more group activities to improve the average strength and cohesion of our members."

"The above plan requires everyone's concerted efforts to be realized as soon as possible."

Su Yu's gaze sharpened, and he said in a deep voice:

"Mu Chen from the Second Squadron!"

Mu Chen's expression turned serious, and he responded loudly.

"Xiao Yunya from the Third Squadron."

"Gu Yao from the Fourth Squadron."

"Hu Qingfeng from the Fifth Squadron!"

All four company commanders stepped forward.

"You are the captains of these four squadrons, and you will lead these four squadrons. I have three requirements for you. Can you meet them within a year?"

Hu Qingfeng immediately replied:
"Fifth Squadron guarantees to complete the mission."

"Damn, you bootlicker!"

Mu Chen and Xiao Yunya answered in deep voices.

“Great, all four team leaders are very confident, and I’m really looking forward to it.”

Su Yu smiled slightly and waved her hand, saying:
"The first company will remain, and the rest of the companies will be disbanded."

The square quieted down for a moment, then a murmur of noise arose, the queue quickly became disordered, and people left one after another.

Before Su Yu arrived at the First Company, his gaze swept over the company, which had a much smaller number of members than the other companies, and he said in a deep voice:
"Squad leader and deputy company commander, step forward!"

A stir ran through the crowd, and only three people stepped forward. "Third Squad Leader Zhao Fenglan."

"Seventh Squad Leader Cheng Yunqing."

"Tenth Squad Leader Fei Mingli."

Su Yu frowned and looked at Zhao Fenglan, asking:
How many people are left in the First Company?

Zhao Fenglan immediately replied:
"The First Squadron originally had 196 members, and now has 89 members."

"so little?"

He hadn't expected the loss of personnel in the First Squadron to be so severe; only three of the ten squad leaders remained, while the other seven had been taken away by the former battalion commander.

Although Chu Xinyue regained control of the Second Regiment, she did not get the complete Second Regiment, but rather a split Second Regiment.

The captains of the First, Third, and Fourth Battalions, who had originally opposed her, chose to leave the Second Regiment with a group of their trusted subordinates and establish their own independent operations after she regained control of the Second Regiment.

However, it's not that they left the guild, but rather that they became an independent squadron of the guild with the guild's support.

The Third Battalion has already been split up once. The original battalion had a thousand men, but now only a little over six hundred remain.

The First Squadron, originally the squadron directly under the battalion commander, was dismantled even more severely, with more than half of its members being taken away.

But that's not the worst part. The worst part is that they emptied the brigade's original vault and warehouse. Now, the vaults of the Third Brigade and its five subordinate companies are completely empty. The warehouses weren't emptied, but all that's left are some worthless materials.

Chu Xinyue was helpless about this.

This is because this situation is a tacit, unspoken rule.

Guilds are different from nations; they are just gangs. The characteristic of gangs is that they are divided into factions, and each leader has his own subordinates and base. The subordinates basically only listen to their direct superiors.

Just like the Thousand Feathers Guild, its three main groups are like three major strongholds.

Dozens of independent squadrons formed small hills.

Compared to independent squadrons, the main force regiment is more powerful and has a higher status. It can easily crush any independent squadron, but the main force regiment has no right to command any independent squadron.

Furthermore, they have the support of the guild's higher-ups, and Chu Xinyue, having just taken control of the second guild, lacks the strength to punish them.

Su Yu did not linger there for long. After tidying up the ranks, he briefly inspected them and then ordered them to disperse.

Then, he led the three squad leaders to the town's garrison, where they introduced the basic situation of Lishui Town and the Third Brigade.

After touring the town, he gained a better understanding of the current situation of the Third Brigade.

Lishui Town is the base of the brigade. In addition, the brigade has two resource sites nearby. One is a large Yuan Tong Copper in the mountains more than 1,000 kilometers northwest of Lishui Town. It produces a kind of ore called Yuan Tong, which is a material for second and third-tier flying sword magic weapons. It can bring the brigade an income of about 160 gold every year.

The second resource point is located more than 700 kilometers north of the town, in a small spiritual vein. The Third Brigade has developed a large medicinal field there, covering more than 500 acres, where various spiritual herbs are planted. It can bring the brigade an income of about 120 taels of gold every year.

In addition, Lishui Town itself has a certain amount of income.

The annual tax revenue is approximately 70 gold coins.

The annual rent for houses in the town is about 30 gold coins.

The shops belonging to the three brigades in the town earn about 140 gold coins per year.

In summary, the annual income is 520 taels of gold.

Of this, 50% was handed over to the regiment headquarters, leaving 260 gold coins.

This income is only average; it's barely enough to maintain the basic operations of a brigade, and it won't make them rich.

To win people's hearts, you must give your subordinates hope and let them know that following you will bring them good fortune, and that all of this requires money.

But where does the money come from?
Based on the current situation of the three brigades, Su Yu summarized three approaches.

One approach is to develop new resource points. Opening two or three new resource points will immediately boost income.

The second method is to fight bosses or attack demon strongholds, which can improve team cohesion and level up. Conquering a demon stronghold and looting its warehouse can yield a lot of resources. Even the worst demon strongholds will have several level 100 demon generals and demon kings. The boss itself will drop loot, so you can get money and good stuff to fill your warehouse.

The third option is to lower prices to expand into new businesses. The three squadrons have several warships that can be used to take new recruits for training.

He remembered that normally it cost 1 gold per person per day, but they could offer discounts to attract more people, such as a 50% discount, so that a day's ride would only cost 50 taels of silver.

If you have ten a day, you earn five gold coins; if you have twenty, you earn ten gold coins.

If you can have a stable income, you can earn several hundred gold coins a year.

However, this won't last long. Constant discounting will disrupt the market, and it's highly likely that the guild will stop it after a while.

However, if the above two methods can be implemented, they can indeed quickly increase the brigade's income.

"The first step is to integrate the team and recruit some new people. Before the end of the month, I'll lead the team to pull off a few heist to ease the financial burden."

"Just like Sister Xiaoyu said, even if you can stay in the sect, you still need funds to support your cultivation. If a brigade develops well, it can provide hundreds of gold coins in income every year, which can greatly alleviate future financial pressure."

Su Yu rubbed her chin and sent a message to several company commanders via the team channel:
"Let's have a meeting in the council chamber, and bring all the existing squad leaders with us."

"receive."

Hu Qingfeng was the first to respond.

When he arrived at the council hall, Hu Qingfeng was already there, talking with several of his men. Upon seeing him, they quickly stood up to greet him.

"Captain."

Su Yu nodded and waved her hand, saying:

"sit."

"How many squad leaders are left in the Fifth Company?"

"Six."

"That's twice the number of my squadron, and I only have three left."

Hu Qingfeng laughed:
"There are advantages to having fewer people. Once everyone leaves, those who remain are obedient, and it doesn't take much effort to win them over."

"That's true."

Su Yu had a good impression of the squadron leader who had supported her from the very beginning, and said with a smile:

"The Fifth Squadron still has four platoon leader positions available. Please compile a list of candidates and submit it to me later for my signature."

Hu Qingfeng nodded gratefully.
"Thank you for your help, Captain Su."

Just then, someone came in and interrupted him. He looked up and saw that Mu Chen, Xiao Yunya, and others had all rushed over.

The group bowed to him and then sat down.

Su Yu sat imposingly at the head of the table and said in a deep voice:
"I believe you are all familiar with the basic situation of the Third Battalion, so I won't go into details. The regimental commander has appointed you as company commanders. You are all in charge of making decisions within your companies. I will not interfere under normal circumstances. I will only make three requests."

"First, each squadron should sort out its internal affairs within a month, and the ten platoons should be reorganized. At that time, they should submit the list of candidates for captains for my review."

"Secondly, each squadron should recruit 20 new people within a month."

"Thirdly, each squadron shall hand over 100 taels of gold to the brigade's treasury by the end of the month."

He looked at the crowd expressionlessly and asked:

"any questions?"

“Raise your questions now, and don’t tell me it’s impossible after you leave the council chamber.”

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment, and Hu Qingfeng immediately cupped his hands and said:
"Fifth Squadron is fine."

The others opened their mouths and all said they had no problem.

"Alright, meeting adjourned."

(End of this chapter)