Chapter 381: To Swank, To Build the Sea-calming Palace (1/2)

Chapter 381: To Swank, To Build the Sea-calming Palace

Translator: TransnEditor: Transn

Peace descended onto Zhou Bao's Wuyang Region ever since the Bigwheel Temple gifted Zhou Bao with three Pure Yang Celestial Devices.

Of course, the peace referred to was the peace among the leaders of the Divine Wind Palace, the Immortal Palace, the Bigwheel Temple, the Tian Long Taoism and the Mingyi School. During this period, they did not harass Wuyang Region. Similarly, Zhou Bao did not stir up any trouble either.

He looked as if he were really focused on cultivating his skills and starting to oversee his own territory.

Within a short period of time, a set of rules and regulations had been issued by the Lord Mansion. Backed by Zhou Bao's huge financial resources and powerful background, the whole Wuyang Region once again became the main focus of the world, and also became the most prosperous place in the northwest.

Yes, it was indeed the most prosperous place now.

Because Zhou Bao suddenly broadcasted some news which made every Barbarian Tribe clench their teeth in fury: Black Demon Chama in the Blacktail Plain had surrendered to him, and was now his subordinate; the tumultuous Wolf Lord from the northwest prairie was also his subordinate; no one was allowed to touch them, as it would seem that they were going against him as well. When will all this end?

The mere thought of this gave the people a massive headache.

It was overbearing!

Too overbearing indeed!

As soon as the news was announced, the lords of several large territories, who had been preparing their experts for battle against Black Demon Chama, had to give up their plans with a lot of sighings and headshaking. They called him all sorts of names secretly, but no one dared to even mutter dissent publicly.

Sealing off the Blacktail Plain with Black Demon Chama forced the surrounding Barbarian Tribes to turn to Wuyang Region. Everything from personnel, materials and horses, had been procured from Wuyang Region. In this way, it was hard for Wuyang Region not to prosper.

Earlier, Wuyang Region was in an unstable condition because of Bigwheel Temple. Many people built a few small territories around Wuyang Region to use as transit points, leaving the cargo, personnel and so on in these small territories. This however was extremely inconvenient and wasted a lot of unnecessary resources. Now that Wuyang Region was safe, the situation had changed. All the equipment and materials were routed to Wuyang Region and it was now the transit point.

On the other hand, having gained experience in Jiang City, Jiang Xiao and others were very adept in this business. In just two to three months, Wuyang Region had flourished and gaining prosperity. No one had any doubts that in the near future, it would become the most powerful territory among Barbarian Tribes in the northwest, even in the whole north, and would eventually become an empire.

During the development stage, Wuyang Region was undergoing large-scale construction with a large number of personnel and materials coming into the region. The materials that were meant for other territories in the northwest would be forcibly retained as long as they were thought to be of use for Wuyang Region. It was not an outright robbery, of course, but rather a forced purchase at a fixed price, which had shown Wuyang Region's great financial resources to all people.

Wuyang Region was well known to all for its wealth. Zhou Bao had made a lot of money from the Cool Breeze Gang and from the battle which destroyed Northern Yuan. Now that Wuyang Region was on the right track, Zhou Bao started to embark on a mission of ”liberalizing business, abolishing the guild”, which meant collecting a large amount of business tax by virtue of its geographical location. The steady flow of wealth into Wuyang Region had given Wuyang Region the financial resources it needed to support the massive construction.

No one was aware that these projects did not cost Zhou Bao a single penny. The construction of the Sea-calming Palace on Jilei Mountain was entirely funded by the Immortal Palace, and he was ostensibly in charge of the matter. Outwardly, it appeared as if the people of Wuyang Region were buying and selling materials, and Anyuan Store was responsible for providing the items, but, in actual fact, the expenses were paid for by the Immortal Palace. What was incredible was that the Immortal Palace did not even send anyone to oversee the transaction of the goods, and Jiang Xiao would submit an account to Golden Rooster every other month. This allowed Zhou Bao to take advantage of this loophole, and he asked Jiang Xiao to charge more expenses than was actually spent each time, and thus he was able to claim more money. Jiang Xiao was shocked by this state of affairs, saying that Zhou Bao would be the first corrupt official in the world if he were to take office.

Zhou Bao disregarded this. What was the Immortal Palace?

It was one of the most powerful influences in the Four Eastern Regions, out of the secular world, equivalent to an immortal mansion in the eyes of the ordinary people. Would such a place be short of money? No, definitely not. For them, it was like having the Midas touch, the ability to turn everything into gold. Money was like sand to them. If he were not a member of the Immortal Palace and had some qualms in taking too much money, he would definitely try to get more.

The Immortal Palace was out of the realms of the human world, but Wuyang Region was not!