Chapter 77: Fatty Cheng’s Clever Plan

There were too few female Territory Citizens in the Territory, and Li Ji had no way to fix this.

Even if he led soldiers to raid the bandit camps in the middle of Dang Mountain, he might not be able to get back many women. So this time, Mo Xiaobai had to figure it out himself on the sidelines, but he couldn’t quite sort out where to start.

Mo Xiaobai lowered his head to think. Suddenly, Fatty Cheng beside him spoke up: “If the Lord Baron is worried about the Territory Citizens finding wives, it is indeed a hard problem. However, if the goal is to solve some other matters, I have a suggestion.”

“Hmm?”

When Fatty Cheng volunteered, Mo Xiaobai looked at him with surprise. Could this Fatty solve a problem that even he and Li Ji found so difficult?

Even if he couldn’t solve everything completely, handling some other aspects would be good enough.

Well, if it was just to solve problems for the residents of the Territory, Mo Xiaobai personally didn’t need any help.

“Boss Cheng, what is your clever plan?”

“There is no clever plan. I have observed that Daming Village now has over a thousand people, and most of them are young men. Why doesn’t the Baron open a brothel within the Territory? With your title as a Baron, it should not be difficult to buy some official courtesans from the palace in Juancheng.”

Open a brothel?

Is this Fatty Cheng’s idea?

After hearing this, Mo Xiaobai’s first reaction was that the guy had bad intentions. However, he then just made a “tsk” sound.

It seemed like a good emergency solution!

He had actually subconsciously ignored a building so beneficial for the stability of the Territory, the brothel.

Mo Xiaobai felt a surge of excitement in his heart, but he still needed to put on a serious show. He cleared his throat and said seriously: “Maogong, what do you think about this?”

“It is indeed feasible, but the details still need careful thought.”

Li Ji nodded first, then paused and thought: “Currently, most residents in the village do not own property or wealth. Suddenly opening a brothel might be inappropriate.”

“Maogong speaks the truth; it is indeed a problem.”

Mo Xiaobai nodded after hearing this. At present, the residents of Daming Village were still eating from the same pot. All their needs were provided by Mo Xiaobai, the Lord, including Li Ji.

This model could gather everyone’s power to quickly build the Territory in the early stages, but if used for too long, it would have negative effects, and various disadvantages would appear one by one.

Changing from a public ownership system to a private ownership system was necessary. It was also a process that all Player territories had to go through.

Mo Xiaobai had originally planned to start private ownership only after upgrading the Territory to a Small Town. This was the path taken by Great Lords in his past life. However, looking at the current situation in Daming Village, the shift to private ownership had to be put on the agenda now.

They did not need to change everything completely. The only thing that needed to be changed for now was:

Pay salaries!

“Just providing food and lodging is not enough. We must also pay for their special needs in certain areas.”

“For the sake of the Territory Populace Sentiment, this Lord is working very hard!”

He muttered two sentences with a smile. Mo Xiaobai could actually afford this money. However, the Territory now had many industries, so the wages for different sectors could not be the same. How to calculate the salaries for Li Ji, Li Guang, and He Chun was another headache of a new problem.

“In my past life, I ran a farm with Luyu. We raised over a thousand farmers and fishermen, and I never thought it was this complicated.”

How to set the wages for the Territory Citizens, whether daily or monthly, Mo Xiaobai needed to discuss with Li Ji privately. Right now, he saw Fatty Cheng looking like he wanted to say something but hesitating after making his proposal. He knew this guy’s suggestion was definitely not a free act of kindness.

Thinking that Fatty Cheng had at least given him a good idea, Mo Xiaobai smiled: “Boss Cheng, if you have something to say, just speak out openly. Both I and Maogong are here. Whatever help we can give, we will provide.”

“Then I would dare to make a bold request. I ask the Baron to give the auction rights for Lingzhi Wine in Juancheng to my Cheng Ji business.” Fatty Cheng was indeed a professional merchant. He had just drunk Lingzhi Wine yesterday, and today he was already planning to profit from it.

“Auction rights?”

“Yes. The Baron might not be familiar with our industry. Although herbal merchants mainly sell various herbs, when they obtain extremely precious herbs, they gather merchants from all trades to hold auctions. I am not talented, but last year, I luckily obtained a three-hundred-year-old Gansu Ginseng from Changbai Mountain. I originally planned to use it for an auction this year. However, after tasting the noble Territory’s Lingzhi Wine yesterday, I deeply realized its value. It is no less than the rare thousand-year-old Spirit Ginseng found in the world.”

As Fatty Cheng spoke, it seemed as if he was afraid Mo Xiaobai would not agree, so he added: “If the Baron is willing to let my Cheng Ji business handle the wine, I will give the Baron nine-tenths of the auction earnings. I only want one-tenth. As long as I can help rebuild the reputation of Cheng Ji, it will be enough.”

A nine-to-one split? He only wanted to use Lingzhi Wine to stabilize the Cheng Ji brand name.

Fatty’s calculations were quite loud!

“Boss Cheng, you value Lingzhi Wine so highly?”

“To be honest with the Baron, although I am just a merchant, I deal with herbs every day and have some understanding of medicinal wines. In the medicinal wines I have tasted personally, even if Lingzhi Wine is not number one, it certainly ranks in the top three. Most ordinary people cannot see such wines in their entire lives.”

“If you know the benefits of this wine, you should also know that its production is not high.”

“Rare goods can fetch a high price. With such a famous wine, holding one auction per season, I can guarantee that each auction will bring in at least one thousand gold pieces.”

One auction for a single jar per season?

Mo Xiaobai only wanted to test the water, but he didn’t expect Fatty Cheng to have already thought out how to operate it.

Lingzhi Wine was indeed precious, but what about the production volume?

If they just planted some Ganoderma randomly in the Medicine Field every day, the Winery could actually brew wine every day. At the same time, new jars of Lingzhi Wine could be opened every day.

Of course, this secret Mo Xiaobai would never tell Fatty Cheng. He pretended to hesitate for a while before reluctantly nodding: “I felt an immediate connection with Boss Cheng. Since this is beneficial for both of us, I naturally agree.”

“Did the Baron really say that?”

“I even treated you to wine. Why would I deceive you?”

“This, this is truly… I thank the Lord Baron so much.”

“Don’t thank me yet. I also have a requirement. You just said that a single jar could fetch at least one thousand gold pieces. However, I cannot just listen to your words. Let’s set the limit at eight hundred gold pieces. If the auction price exceeds eight hundred, we will split it in a two-to-eight ratio. However, if it is lower than eight hundred gold, you will not get a single coin. Instead, you must pay me the difference to make up the full eight hundred gold.”

Mo Xiaobai did not distrust Fatty Cheng. He knew that even in the NPC world, there was back-room manipulation. To avoid being scammed, Mo Xiaobai put forward his condition.

“My condition is this simple. Think it over.”

“No need to think. If such a fine brew cannot fetch eight hundred gold, you can hold me accountable.” Fatty Cheng was very confident in Lingzhi Wine and nodded immediately without hesitation.

“In that case, let’s follow the old rules. Go to my Baron’s Manor to sign the contract.” Mo Xiaobai nodded with satisfaction. He was also very satisfied with this deal.

Daming Village almost didn’t have to do any hard work. Conservatively estimated, they could earn three or four thousand gold pieces in just one year.

Such a huge sum of money could not be earned by many small and medium-sized territories in the past life even after working hard for several years.

For Mo Xiaobai, it was just a matter of moving his lips.

Rare goods fetch a high price!

It was simply too profitable!