Calculating Cultivation

“Cultivator Yi Rong summons you,” a servant told me as I was about to leave the compound. I reversed course and made my way to Master Yi Rong’s room. I knocked, and he bade me enter.

He was sitting on one of my rocking chairs, moving slowly, and his breath was shallow. “Yuan Zhou, come here.” I went to his side, and he looked at me.

“I wish I could have taken you to the sect one more time, but the end is quickly coming. I have already sent word to the sect to come collect my corpse.”

“I understand, master,” I replied softly.

“So blessed, yet so foolish. This Yi Rong will impart one last piece of advice and hope you listen.” I nodded at this and paid close attention.

“It might tempt you to lock yourself away and use businesses to make money and gather resources. That is fine. I wish I was half as clever as you at twice your age. But do not be fooled by the peace of Half Moon City. You live in the sect's shadow. Personal power. Techniques. Fighting style. They are all important.”

“Yes, master Yi Rong.” I hadn’t really considered this, but I would ask around to get a better understanding of the dangers of this world.

“If I was just twenty years younger, I would have taught you the Parting Cloud Sword Style and techniques. Instead, I will leave you with a few mementoes and advice.” He held up a silver ring with various small etchings on it. It was slightly blurry in my vision. He reached over and I held out my hand. He put the ring into my hand and then used his hand to close up my hand around the ring.

“That is a low rank spatial storage ring. It is yours now. I have severed the connection to my energy. You cannot open it until you reach the second rank. Inside is a copy of my notes on my cultivation. As my personal apprentice, I entrust you to submit them to the sect on my behalf. Normally, this is done when you enter the sect.”

“I will, master. Don’t worry.”

“You can read my foolish thoughts and attempt at cultivation. You will also find my notes on various earth techniques and the Parting Cloud Sword Style. I hope you carry on this legacy and find someone worthy to pass it onto.”

“I will, master. I promise.”

“Finally, my last bit of advice before I am carted off. Be bold. Be daring. The path of defiance is foolishness, but it is good foolishness. One does not challenge the heavens themselves by being timid. The only thing that matters is your own success. Ignore the words and drama of others. And when you reach immortality, sip a cup of tea and remember me fondly.”

“I swear it to the heavens, master,” I replied, and wiped my eyes. There was a knock on the door.

“Enter,” Yi Rong said. Two cultivators in robes of the Cloudy Moon sect entered. They glanced at me and then looked at Yi Rong. “Go Yuan Zhou, for my time has ended.” I backed away. The two cultivators gave a nod to Yi Rong, who returned the nod.

I bowed deeply to both of them and then left the room. I gripped the low ranked spatial storage ring in my hand. It was a great treasure that had the value of 10,000,000 taels or a level 5 spirit coin. It just felt like a normal ring to me at the moment, but its value was immense.

Wiping my eyes some more, I left the compound. I made my way to a jeweler and purchased a fine silver chain, which I hung the ring on and under my clothing. This was something people would actually kill for. Spatial items were incredibly rare.

They required expensive materials and a cultivator who was well versed in smithing and enchanting. A low ranked ring could contain about a shoe box or two worth of supplies. A mid-rank ring could contain a crate’s worth of supplies. Cultivators used them to store precious items and resources.

I had learned about them as part of the doll shop while having accessories made for the various action figures. It was a tremendous gift that one would normally leave for their descendants or family. But Yi Rong had no family. He just had me, his apprentice.

When I reached immortality, I would sip some tea and pour a cup for my first master.

The important thing now was to focus on getting there. I had a meeting with the three big mine owners in Half Moon City in a couple of days. I had already made a reservation at the Illuminated Moon. Invitations and confirmations had already returned.

The first was Yao Guiren, the heir of the Yao family. They owned about 60% of the mines around the city and even sponsored a cultivator once a generation into the Cloudy Moon Sect. I would consider them the richest merchant family inside Cloudy Moon City. Since he was named heir, Yao Guiren handled all the day-to-day aspects of their family businesses. This was primarily smithing, metalworks, and mining.

The second person who was coming was Jingguo, personal administrator for the city lord of Half Moon City. They had their hands in several businesses and controlled 20% of the mines, primarily to equip the soldiers of Half Moon City.

The third and final person who had been invited was Qiao. A lesser merchant whose primary wealth was in a trade caravan, but he controlled about 10% of the mines around the city. He was a lot like me, with his hands in several completely different businesses as they caught his fancy.

I greeted each man personally as they entered the dining room, and we took our seats as tea and refreshments were served. “So, the heaven-sent child has come to take our money, Jingguo,” Yao Guiren said. I merely smiled and sipped my tea while the pre-discussion drama was carried out.

“Well, his mine is quite successful. But he invested quite a bit into it,” Jingguo said.

“Quite a bit is an understatement. That document you sent us was quite the interesting read,” Qiao added.

“It is merely to give you all some insight and consider the numbers for my proposal. In exchange for managing rights for ten years, ten percent equity during that time, and five thousand tael per mining camp, I am confident I can increase the value of each mine and stabilize the revenue and increase it by at least ten percent, but most likely much more,” I replied.

“And if you fail, what then? We will lose money and other contracts?” Yao Guiren challenged.

“Then you would be compensated if such a thing were to happen. Everything except beast attacks and the mine running out of ore I would take responsibility for.”

“Can you even handle that kind of commitment? We aren’t talking about a few bronze coins here!” Jingguo questioned. I smiled and pulled out a document and handed it to him. He frowned as he took it. He looked at me and I just smiled and nodded as he unfolded it.

His eyes went wide. “You have a line of guaranteed credit of a million taels from the Coinage Guild,” he whispered in awe. They had been willing to do that after I showed them my inner disciple badge along with my businesses. I didn’t plan on using it, but it was a powerful show of force. Jingguo passed the document to Yao Guiren, who looked it over with an intense gaze and then passed it to Qiao. I sipped my tea.

“I am surprised you haven’t asked for more,” Qiao said as he passed the document back to me.

“There is no need for me to be greedy and you already invested a lot into the mines. I am making them run smoothly and produce more ore consistently. In ten years, when the contracts end, I suspect you will all want to keep them in place to avoid the headache mining produces.” There were grimaces at that.

Mining was a nightmare. The time, money, and effort I had to put into my mine was astronomical.

“How do I know you will give equal attention to all the mines?” Jingguo asked.

“Each mine will have its own problems, but I plan to get them to the same standard as mine. There will also be monthly audits and reports submitted to each of you on the status of your mines. And even then, I have the collateral if things go poorly.”

“You refuse to be responsible for beast attacks? That is the majority of my problems,” Qiao said, and I nodded.

“I plan to mitigate them by providing safe housing for the workers. But even I am helpless if a level 3 beast sits in a mining camp.” They nodded at that.

“What is to stop us from just copying you and your methods?” Yao Guiren asked. It was a good question and one I had thought about heavily.

“Nothing.” That appeared to shock them all a bit. “My share is tiny for the amount of headache and risk I am taking. If you wish to copy me, that will take time and effort ‌which you could spend on other things. I believe that after ten years, you will want my management to continue with how smoothly things are running.”

“It is you and not your father?” Jingguo asked.

“Yes. This is my own venture.” Well, it was the venture of my company Zhou Holding Company Limited, but there was no distinction between an owner and their company in this world.

“Alright. I think you will fail, but I have been thinking about selling the blasted mines, anyway. This will be a good way for me to get my money back,” Qiao said. The other two looked at him in surprise. With his agreement, half of the mines under Jingguo’s control and sixth from Yao Guiren, I gained control over 30% of the mines in range of the city.

I could tell that Yao Guiren probably wanted to see what I did and copy it. Jingguo was more risk averse and needed to ensure the ore flowed into the city. A member of the Coinage Guild was called and witnessed the signing of the contracts, and kept a copy in reserve, as well as each person kept a copy for themselves.

I offered several of the debt slaves at my mine an increase in wage if they became foremen at the other nine mines. Ting had hired ten people to act as managers and I had them stay at my mine for a week to understand how things were run and to learn from my manager there.

I warned them there would be audits and their paperwork had to be kept up to date. I then deployed a foreman and a manager to each mine under my control after half a month of getting them trained up. During this time, I had also expanded my pre-cast block production.

There were some growing pains, like making sure the carts came to pick up the blocks along with other supplies. Or some mines having issues like frequent cave-ins. The first issue was fixed by having a manager handle the block production and creating a central supply warehouse all the carts stopped at to get supplies before heading to the mines.

The cave-ins required investment into proper bracing inside the mine itself. Once the housing was constructed at each mine, I had them begin work on vertical shafts. There was a slight downturn in production at the start while the debt-slaves were put to work on various improvement projects in the mine or building their underground homes, but once they had a safe place to sleep, things quickly improved.

I also instituted strict record keeping on their debts and sending meat every week they met their daily quota. The salary for my managers was 40 bronze coins a day or five percent of what I made off the mine. Since I made about 1 tael a day, that was normally 50 bronze coins. Quite a large sum for regular work. My foremen made 20 bronze coins a day, which was quite high.

One thing I told my direct employees was that they could always go work somewhere else if they gave me two weeks’ notice and there would be no problem, but we would not rehire them. Also, they might make more money for a short time while they set things up, but then they would likely be kicked out or have a pay cut.

I only lost one manager to poaching by Yao Guiren, and he was struggling. Since my pre-cast block operation was separate from the mines themselves, they just got the finished product. I was the only one who made pre-cast blocks. Also, the foreman didn’t want to change things in how the mine was run, creating further difficulties.

Every time Ting delivered a report on the poaching attempt, I just smiled. My foremen didn’t even consider it as I had saved their lives from unending misery as debt slaves. They had a chance to pay their way to freedom.

I had monthly reports written up and sent to each of the stakeholders. One report from each mine and a summary report for all mines. I didn’t hear a word of thanks, but I knew it made things exceptionally easy for them to follow. They just got to sit around while the money flowed in, and I dealt with the problems. It was my managers dealing with the problems, but that was the power of delegation.

All mines were operating at above 90% efficiency, which I considered the benchmark for success. I heard that the owners each took a tour from my managers and were impressed at how well things were working and the construction of the vertical shafts to go deeper and the pumps being used.

Even with all the costs, their income had doubled or tripled per mine and they could keep them running for much longer with the vertical shafts and pumps being put into place. Prospecting for a new mine was a massive headache and expense.

While I was only making about 9 tael a day from management of the mines, it was a steady flow of income. A consistent revenue stream was quite important in my mind without a huge outlay on my part.

The system I had developed made it very easy for me to bring in other mines under my management, which was exactly what happened. Jingguo passed over the other three mines and Yao Guiren passed me nine more, which put my control at 70% and my ownership at 3% of the market. Yao Guiren had 20% left that was outside my control, but they were mines that processed spirit ores.

There was no way he was going to let those get controlled by anyone outside his family and, most likely, not even himself. The remaining mines were owned by the foremen running them. I had approached them with my offer of management, but they had refused, which I accepted graciously.

This meant my passive income from mine management went from 9 tael a day up to 21 tael a day. But that wasn’t the full picture. I purchased the overflow ore myself and had my smelter handle it, so I could resell the excess bars that were smelted.

I didn’t even hide this in the contract. The mine owners could direct up to six carts to their own smelters and they would always get six carts. Any cart after that, I could divert to my smelter and pay for the ore. I am sure at least one of them realized what I was doing, but it wasn’t something I hid. It was included in the contracts I had prepared but worded to sound like I was guaranteeing their preferred smelters business no matter what.

Since they were getting paid for the ore, they weren’t losing out on money as part of the mines. But that was the power of vertical integration on my end. For the four to six remaining carts that came from each mine that I purchased, I would make 1 to 2 tael off them with the finished metal bars.

So, while I was making 21 tael from the mines, I was making another 32 tael from my smelter every day. I mostly sold the extra bars to caravans to export in crates to not pressure the local market. That meant 53 tael per day was flowing into my pockets.

That kind of income eclipsed even my father’s income of 10,000 taels a year, since I was now making over 19,000 tael a year on mine management alone.

The best part was that no one complained or made a fuss. They could always back out of the contracts after 10 years and I was only taking a small percentage. The ore shipments might have raised eyebrows, but I wasn’t stealing, and it was all clearly documented. Also, their own smelters got consistent deliveries, which is what they preferred.

If I had sold the extra bars inside Half Moon City, then there would have been issues, but by selling them to a caravan to be transported out of the city, the local market was more than fine and no one’s toes were stepped on.

I even had appointed a head manager for all the mines to audit them regularly and handle the day-to-day issues. That was when a servant came to my office to inform me that my father had requested my presence. The fact it was a request, not a demand, showed that I had considerable standing.

Of course, I didn’t want to create drama, so I quickly hurried back to the compound and made my way to my father’s office. My clothes were ones I had purchased myself from the top tailor here in Half Moon City. Another sign of my financial independence.

A servant opened the door as I entered. I bowed deeply to show my familial respect. “Father.”

“My son, Yuan Zhou, come sit,” he said with a smile and gestured to a side table where tea was prepared. I took a seat, and a servant served us tea. Once the pouring was done, the servant was dismissed and the office door closed. “Do you know why I have called you?”

“Not precisely, but my guess is the fact that I now have a greater income than the entirety of the Yuan family businesses,” I replied. He gave me a look at that.

“I was going to inquire about your progress on your cultivation, but I have heard talk of you. Managing mines?” He asked.

“It was quite a lucrative venture. I hate to sound rude, but my personal income now exceeds twenty thousand tael per year,” I replied with a smile. My father stilled at that and slowly set down his teacup.

“Twenty thousand tael. My son, you are treading in dangerous waters,” he told me.

“I doubt it. I have not stepped on any toes and have been accepted as an inner disciple into the Cloudy Moon Sect,” I replied and sipped my tea. His eyes widened in shock.

“Yi Rong took you as his personal disciple before he died?” He asked to confirm, and I nodded. My father let out a sigh.

“I thought you knew?” I asked.

“I thought he favored you slightly. Being declared a personal disciple of a Core Formation Cultivator is serious. Very serious. And the fact the sect already approved your admittance as an inner disciple.” I pulled out the badge they had given me from my robes and held it up. I then put it back away.

“You have eclipsed everyone and am truly a genius favored by the heavens,” my father said. “I must know how you scammed that Yao Guiren out of all those tael.”

“There is no scam involved. I simply made the mines more profitable.” I explained what I had done, leaving out the information of ore shipments to my smelter.

“Clever. You took a small bit of food off the plate of many giants while enhancing the taste. If you were not going to join the sect, I would name you my heir right now,” he said with a smile.

“Thank you, father, for your kind words.”

“Do you have any opinion on who I should name? Everyone else has given their opinion,” he said with a slight grimace.

“My first brother, Yuan Yun, is stable. He won’t ruin things, but he will not increase the family fortune. He prefers to take his time and do what has always worked. My third brother, Yuan Liang, is ambitious, but his tastes are excessive. He might make a foolish decision or two, which could lead to ruin. My fourth brother, Yuan Niu, is hardworking, but he lacks insight. He would be more easily taken advantage of by someone like me.” My father nodded at all of this.

“If you want stability, pick Yuan Yun and if you want someone more ambitious, Yuan Liang. However, if you want someone hardworking than Yuan Niu,” I replied.

“Insightful. Truly insightful.” We drank our tea for a bit in respectful silence before my father spoke again. “What are your plans for your businesses when you join the sect?” he asked.

“I was hoping they would run on their own with only occasional input from me. Cultivation requires many resources,” I replied.

“Indeed, it does, which is why this family has not funded a cultivator and has only cared for the ones who have mostly retired and wish to live their last years in comfort.” My father set his cup of tea down. “I would ask that you appoint one of your brothers to act in your place.”

“May I ask why?” I inquired.

“So, they have a future once the leadership of this family changes hands.”

“Is this the favor you are asking of me?” I asked, and my father winced slightly.

“I would prefer not to. I ask you as your father and for the support you have enjoyed.”

“What about my sisters’ marriages?” I asked. I had spent little time with them since they were a baby and a very young brat, respectively.

“I have yet to arrange them.” I nodded slowly at this.

“My mother?” I asked.

“Like all concubines, she will be housed and cared for until her death,” my father said.

“I will offer a position to my fourth brother, unless you are picking him as heir?” I asked, and my father shook his head. “Finally, I will arrange a dowry of a thousand taels for each of my sisters, but they will be allowed to pick their own marriages or their own path.”

“That is quite generous of you,” my father replied.

“Well, I will let you explain things to Yuan Niu. When he is ready, he can come see me in my office. I will give him a salary of ten taels a month, which should cover his living expenses,” I replied.

“Twenty,” my father said. We had a slight staring contest.

“Twenty, but if he steals or causes problems, he will be let go,” I replied, and my father nodded at this. We stood up and bowed to each other.

The next day at the family dinner, my father made an announcement. Yuan Yun was named heir to the Yuan family. Yuan Liang and Yuan Niu were being stripped of their positions. Both got up and left angrily. I still had my place at the head table to the right of Yuan Yun.

“Congratulations brother,” I said to him as dinner was served.

“I should thank you. Father said you recommended me when he was considering you for the position, brother.” I shook my head.

“I am content with my businesses and plan to focus on my cultivation in the coming years,” I replied.

“So, you truly are joining the sect? Father mentioned you would be.”

“They have accepted me as an inner disciple already with the support of Master Yi Rong.” My brother’s eyes went wide. “But that is something between us and father,” I replied, and he nodded.

“I understand not wanting to make a fuss. Let me congratulate you, brother. May your journey to immortality go smoothly,” he said kindly, and I smiled a bit at that.

“Thank you. Father also asked me to help Yuan Niu land on his feet,” I said.

“Father told me, and it is fine. Thank you for making things easier on Yuan Niu,” Yuan Yun said.

“Any idea what will happen to Yuan Liang?” I asked.

“What happens to anyone contending for the position of heir. They are cast out of the compound and given an allowance as long as they don’t disgrace the family name, they can keep it. But their children will not inherit their family name. They will take lesser positions within the family and soon my children will handle the various parts of the business,” Yuan Yun explained.

“It makes sense to avoid drama or assassinations,” I replied.

“Indeed, it does. But I suspect Yuan Guangli will be quite outspoken.” That was the main wife and mother of Yuan Liang. We chatted and ate. After father left, I got up as well so people could take my seat to chat with Yuan Yun who had now been declared heir.

I made my way over to my mother. She looked at me and let out a sigh. “I had been hoping for the heir to be you.” She raised the back of her left hand to her forehead and tilted her head back slightly. She really liked to pick the maximum drama option wherever possible.

“Hmm, Yuan Yun will do well in the position. Also, with my recent successes, I believe I should give you a small allowance, mother.” Her eyes quickly snapped towards me. I had refused her all the times in the past. She wasn’t a terrible mother, just overly dramatic. Now that my income was stabilized and quite large and I no longer planned to invest, I was content sending a little her way.

The concubines got one tael a month on top of being able to live in the compound and gifts from my father like dresses and perfumes. But their own spending power was quite limited.

“Go on,” she finally said as I just smiled at her. She let out a small huff, knowing I was teasing her slightly.

“Ten tael a month.” She let out a gasp and brought a hand up to her mouth to cover it. “In addition, I have arranged a dowry of a thousand taels each for my sisters with the expectation they can pick their own marriage or path in life.”

My mother’s eyes went wide at this. “How… How rich are you? Ting says… I mean, I heard you earn over fifty tael a month.”

I leaned in and made sure no one could overhear. “The position of heir of the Yuan family would be a step down,” I quietly told her. She reached out and grabbed my shoulder and stared into my eyes. She clearly saw something since she let me go and collapsed into her chair.

“In addition, I have made other arrangements for my future,” I replied. She narrowed her eyes. “I know you like to gossip, mother. But some things should not be said lightly.” Her mouth made an ‘o’ shape, and she nodded.

“Of course, my genius child. I always knew you were destined for greatness.”

“Don’t cause trouble with your allowance, either. I don’t want to deal with headaches, but feel free to show off. I know Yuan Guangli is on the outs.”

“Of course, she should be on the outs. Her son was cast aside. While she won’t get demoted to concubine, she won’t be able to easily smile. Don’t worry, your mother will manage everything just fine.” I doubted that, but would not get involved.

Yuan Wen, my mother, was good at three things. The first is being a professional drama person. Everything was drama with her. The second was being amazing in bed. Not something I wished to know, but she was more favored than the other concubines on a level with the first wife. My allowance would give her the edge in clothing and beauty products. She might even host minor events on her own. She would probably do that too, since she loved drama.

The last thing she was good at was gossip. Now that Yuan Yun had been named heir and my future was solid, I could afford to make some small waves by giving Yuan Wen a small allowance.

Well, small to me, but large to her. Ten tael a month would put her living standard very high since my father handled her basic expenses since she lived in the compound. Despite all of her drama, she wasn’t a terrible mother.

I just knew that mixing her with business was a recipe for disaster. And involving her in my cultivation would see my secrets spread throughout the city in a week. I knew my hint would make her think I had arranged my own marriage.

There was a big difference between meeting a cultivator a few times and being accepted as a personal disciple and being accepted as an inner disciple of the Cloudy Moon Sect before the age of ten. It just wasn’t something that happened normally.

Cultivators lived so long that they constantly saw people come and go. Cultivation was the focus of self, so it was rare for a non-family member to be taken as a personal disciple. That was the thing of stories and legends to a degree. Most of the time, it involved a mortal providing a great service to the cultivator and their child being taken in as payment of that debt.

But I had managed on my own merits to convince Master Yi Rong. That was also why I was not booted out of the compound. My recognition at an earlier family dinner had put me in contention for the position of heir, but I had never seriously gone for it.

Even my advice had seen my father swayed towards Yuan Yun. Keeping good relations with me would be important long term. While it would take countless generations, I was a shield and a hope for the family if things ever took a turn for the worst.