Chapter 171: A Slow Change
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The second-floor lobby.
Fang Ping walked in with Tan Zhenping.
In the lobby,
When they entered the lobby, there were not many people around. There was maybe around thirty or forty of them congregated in the s.p.a.ce. This was almost all the martial artists that Sun City could a.s.semble.
Naturally, this was not all of the martial artists from Sun City. After all, Sun City had a large population.
However, there were a lot of martial artists that went to the big city without ever coming back. This was one of the reasons why the numbers did not tally with the census.
Most of the Sun City citizen martial artists that had been invited by Sun City actually came from the surrounding counties.
The moment Fang Ping went upstairs, someone enthusiastically said, “Little Brother Fang has arrived! How lucky are we to see him?”
“Old Brother Fang will bring glory to us Sun City citizens this time! We’ll be the victors of the National Champions.h.i.+p!”
“…”
All these people were behaving friendly even though it was the first time they had met.
Nevertheless, Fang Ping was not shy with them either as he responded with smiles.
After exchanging courtesies for a bit, Fang Ping whispered, “Uncle Tan, did everyone a.s.semble from all the cities just to have this tea party?”
The entire situation then looked exactly like a tea party.
Tan Zhenping whispered, “I’m unsure of the specifics, but this whole thing was actually organized by Commander Bai. Since we were just tasked with helping out a bit, we invited some martial artists to join as well…”
“Commander Bai…”
Speak of the devil.
The moment the two of them mentioned him, Bai Jinshan arrived at the scene!
Fang Ping had never met Bai Jinshan before this. Previously, the image he had of Bai Jinshan was an overweight pot-bellied man.
Therefore, the moment he finally laid eyes on him, Fang Ping was caught off guard.
Instead of a fat-headed piggy guy, Bai Jinshan turned out to be a middle-aged hunk that gave off a refined aura.
Other than being good looking, he walked in a majestic manner that made it seem like he would do well in a fight.
Previously, when Tan Zhenping said that none of them could be worthy opponents, Fang Ping a.s.sumed that Bai Jinshan would be the same.
At that moment, however, the only person in the entire crowd present that gave Fang Ping the sense that they might be lethal in a fight was Bai Jinshan. This meant that Bai Jinshan was undoubtedly strong.
“It seems that Sun City has not hit rock bottom yet…”, Fang Ping muttered.
When Bai Jinshan arrived, everyone took turns greeting him.
Bai Jinshan had a smile on his face as he walked over. When he arrived in front of Fang Ping, Bai Jinshan needed no introduction. With a smile on his face, he said, “You must be Student Fang Ping, the cream of the crop of MCMAU students. Sure enough, you look young and promising, and give off an extraordinary vibe…”
After being praised by Bai Jinshan for a bit, Fang Ping modestly returned some courteous praise as well.
There were still a few more people waiting to greet him, so Bai Jinshan quickly ended his meeting with Fang Ping.
When he was done greeting everyone in the crowd, Bai Jinshan said with a smile, “Everyone, kindly take a seat. Please make yourself at home, we’re all Sun City citizens here. I’m sure it wasn’t an easy feat for everyone to gather here so let’s just let loose and have a chat.”
Even though he said that they should just let loose and have a chat, naturally, most of them still remained formal with each other.
Among the martial artists that came this time, were two Rank-3 martial artists.
The fact that Sun City was a smaller place compared to the others was one of the reasons why there were not any middle-ranked martial artists present. In recent years, the number of middle-ranked martial artists that came from Sun City could be counted on one hand.
w.a.n.g Jinyang was one of them, but he had relocated to River City and did not he show up for this either.
Among all the people that Bai Jinshan greeted, one of the Rank-3 old men spoke up with a smile, “Commander Bai, you’ve already mentioned that, regardless of our closeness, we’re all from the same hometown, so we’ve all come back because we missed it. That is why we set aside everything to gather here together.
“Over here in Sun City, just speak up if there’s anything that relates to our territory. After that, we can deal with it together. Time is precious, after all…”
“Since Old Zhang brought it up, then I’ll stop beating around the bush.”
Bai Jinshan chuckled before sighing. “Since Governor Zhang broke through the Grandmaster barrier, Nanjiang’s martial sciences circle has been getting more and more dissatisfied.
“The pile of reformation doc.u.ments at my side of the province is already a few meters tall!
“Every day has a new policy, a new reformation doc.u.ment. In all honesty, it hasn’t been easy for us.
“Therefore, tackling the reformation policies is one of the main objectives why everyone here has been invited to this gathering.”
The old man who was called Old Zhang by Bai Jinshan replied with a smile, “Commander Bai, let’s get straight to the point. What are we here for?”
“Old Zhang, please don’t misunderstand. I did not gather everyone here just to seek gratuitous financial help.”
Bai Jinshan waved his hands, knowing what they were thinking.
Their thought process was probably ‘A hometown meeting, nothing more than that, seeking some gratuitous financial help, some fundraising, getting someone to invest…
‘The government needs some investors, and everyone here can get something out of it as well. It will be a win-win situation, so there is nothing wrong with it.’
However, it really was not about these things this time.
“The situation this time is that each county in Nanjiang is required to form a martial artists team. I wonder if everyone is aware of this?”
“Yeah, I know about it. I’ve seen it on the news. So, is there a problem with forming a team?”
When Fang Ping heard the conversation, he shot a glance at Old Zhang. ‘Is this guy in on this whole skit with Bai Jinshan?’
“Sigh, martial artists are scarce in Sun City. According to requirements, the team should’ve been formed by the end of last year and training was supposed to have started this year.
“But here in Sun City, we’ve yet to complete the team until now.
“Therefore, part of the reason why everyone here was invited was to help in the development of Sun City. I only wish for everyone’s help in thinking up a plan for it.
“Another reason for this gathering is to see whether there are any martial artists here that would like to join the team…”
Bai Jinshan did not have a chance to finish his sentence before someone in the crowd interrupted, “Commander Bai, everyone’s busy here. Where would we find the time to join your training or whatnot? Is it really impossible for you to find a few people from Sun City to complete the team?”
“Exactly. Not to mention, all of us have our own companies to tend to. Moreover, some of our companies are situated abroad, so how will we be able to find time to come back and join the team… ”
“Yeah. I’kk be busy too. If Sun City’s really lacking in funds, it’s no problem for us to donate a little.
“But if it’s a huge amount then I can’t be too sure. Thirty to fifty thousand is no problem for me.”
“…”
Everyone expressing their worries sort of set the tone for that day’s agenda.
Nevertheless, Bai Jinshan did not worry too much about it. He smiled and said, “Relax guys, I never said that I needed everyone to join the team. I’m not here to force anyone to do anything.
“However…”
Bai Jinshan paused for a bit before suddenly saying, “However, the higher-ups have just issued another set of administrative doc.u.ments recently.
“I don’t know if all of you realize this, but everyone that was invited today, including some of the people that are absent, remain a part of Sun City’s census.”
“Hum?”
Some were doubtful because not everyone that left Sun City would update their census status when they relocate.
However, it was true that everyone present was still part of Sun City’s census.
“The administrative doc.u.ments for the higher-ups are relatively simple. In the future, martial artists will be implementing a dual management system policy.
“The governing place of residence and place of registered permanent residence will be implementing dual management.”
The crowd still did not understand what he meant. ‘Okay, so what?’
Bai Jinshan smiled leisurely. “Let me elaborate a little more. After implementing the dual management policy, all of you will have to return to Sun City every year to carry out a year-end a.s.sessment in the future.”
“Eh?”
“What year-end a.s.sessment?”
“Commander Bai, can you be more transparent?”
“…”
Bai Jinshan forced a smile and said, “Martial artists have been enjoying, with them running their own companies, privileges of tax exceptions and reduced taxes. If a martial artist wanted to join politics, the a.s.sessment criteria will be lowered. If he wanted to join the Military Department, he would instantly become a non-commissioned officer.
“If he wanted to join any type of industry, he would be given a priority position and special treatment.
“However, the number of martial artists is increasing. To be frank, I can’t even differentiate some martial artists that act like normal citizens.
“If the numbers keep increasing, and the privileges follow suit, then there will be an oversupply. And if supply keeps increasing, demand will decrease, making something invaluable.
“What the government is trying to say, is that starting from ’09 onwards, there will be an a.s.sessment policy implemented for the martial artists.
“Every year, martial artists must return to their hometown according to the census data to carry out the year-end a.s.sessment.
“Of course, this is mainly directed at martial artists Rank-3 and below. For martial artists that are middle-ranks and above, they can do the a.s.sessment anywhere they want.
“Once they pa.s.s the a.s.sessment, everyone can continue going about their own day.
“If they fail, they can choose either to do the a.s.sessment for one rank below their current rank or have their martial artist ident.i.ty revoked completely!”
“What?”
“An a.s.sessment?”
“What kind of a.s.sessment? Everything has been going fine for us and we’ve been following the current regulations perfectly for so many years. If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. Why should we suddenly do this a.s.sessment?”
“…”
Everyone started to ask questions one after another. Unmoved, Bai Jinshan maintained his smile and said, “Actually, it won’t be too hard. It’ll mainly test your Vitality and combat techniques.
“I mean, you’re all martial artists. If a martial artist can’t do any combat, could he even be called a martial artist?
“But the a.s.sessment really isn’t hard. It would be no sweat if everyone took some time to practice their combat techniques. If you follow what I tell you, it’ll be an easy pa.s.s.
“Therefore, I’ve gathered everyone here in case any of you don’t understand. Now it’s time for us to discuss the strategy so that everyone here is up to speed.
“There are a lot of people that are currently unhappy with us. They think martial artists have encroached too much on society’s resources. The public’s opinion is that martial artists are exactly like them, so why should martial artists enjoy privilege?
“In order to avoid this dispute between martial artists and non-martial artists, the government could only change the rules to slightly increase the difficulty for specific rankings.”
…
Fang Ping heard what he said but was not caught off guard at all.
Previously, talk of this had already been floating around.
He just never expected them to arrange an event and a.s.semble everyone for a meeting with the local leader to explain everything.
Fang Ping thought that it was quite unnecessary.
However, after he thought about it, he saw some advantages in doing so too. There could be some benefits in allowing everyone to have a grace period and not issuing the doc.u.ments enforcing it straight away.
On the other hand, Fang Ping still did not agree with the government’s decision.
‘A grace period?’
‘There shouldn’t be such a thing!’
However, Bai Jinshan was not done yet.
The reason he a.s.sembled all of them over was not merely to announcing that piece of news. There was also to be some changes for martial artists who rely only on their Vitality. This was all discussed by the higher-ups for a long time beforehand, and they had come to this final decision.
Therefore, he had a.s.sembled everyone here for another reason.
“Other than to announce the year-end a.s.sessment problem, there’s still another reason why I’ve invited everyone over. It’s about the formation of the team.
“From this year onwards, all martial artists must take out a month of their year to partic.i.p.ate in the locally organized training cla.s.ses! This will happen annually!
“Of course, martial arts university students can be exempted. So can Military Department martial artists. As well as martial artists that join any sort of national research projects…”
Everyone was caught off guard. ‘We still have to join training cla.s.ses?’
Most of them were around fifty or sixty years old. They wondered, ‘We’re required to attend training cla.s.ses at this age?’
‘A month every year. That’s not a short duration.’
Almost instantly, someone retorted, “This is like the year-end a.s.sessment issue. Commander Bai, you wanted to talk about the a.s.sessment, so we agreed to it. No big deal, right? Everyone can just practice at home, even though that will take up a lot of our time.
“Now, you’re asking us to take a month of our time to attend training cla.s.ses. Is that really necessary?
“We’re not students here. We’re all adults. All of us here have things to do.”
“Exactly…”
Bai Jinshan laughed. “So, you don’t want to attend it?
“Easy, then just let go of your martial artist’s ident.i.ty. Then you won’t need to attend it!
“I’m just notifying everyone about these policies. I wasn’t the one who developed it.
“During the year-end a.s.sessment, if anyone is absent from training cla.s.ses, it’ll turn into an a.s.sessment project instead. Failure to complete the training for one month will result in the revocation of one’s martial artist ident.i.ty!
“These are not rules that I, Bai Jinshan, have set to make things harder for everyone. All of these decisions were made by the higher-ups.
“It’s just one month, which is four weeks.
“The training can be split into four separate days if you wish to attend it that way, as long as you apply for it in advance.
“Unless of course, none of you can take out four weeks of your time in a year…?
“If you can find the time to travel and do other things, so why can’t you find the time to train?
“Since martial artists have been enjoying life so much, giving up a little bit of your time shouldn’t be too much of a problem, right?
“We’re only asking you guys to attend the training, not sentencing you to death. Why is everyone so opposed to it? Why is everyone reacting so severely? If we were to force you to join the war, I dare not think about the revolt then!”
Toward the end of his announcement, Bai Jinshan’s tone was no longer friendly. He said coldly, “I repeat, this is an order from the higher-ups!
“Everyone here must execute it!
“This goes for everyone who’s present here – we will notify the rest that are absent.
“In case anyone chooses to act dumb or act like they haven’t gotten the news, that’s alright too as we’ll be publicly announcing the doc.u.ments on the news.
“Anyone who doesn’t partic.i.p.ate in the training or doesn’t attend the year-end a.s.sessment will have their martial artist’s ident.i.ties revoked immediately. Any privilege and status related to being a martial artist will also be withdrawn!
“Moreover, all reduced or exempted taxes are to be paid back!
“This is directed to people running companies. As for people in politics and other industries, the consequences are the same.
“Since you’re not a martial artist anymore, then you will be treated exactly like the non-martial artists. Any obligations that have to be a.s.sumed, will be!
“I mean, some even exploit their privilege. You know who you are!
“In the past, there hasn’t been any investigations.
“But currently, there’s a growing demand to investigate and trace accountability!
“Everyone, let me say it again. It’s not me, Bai Jinshan, who wishes to make things hard for you. You are all martial artists!
“If you weren’t martial artists, then where would you get all your riches and wealth? Why is it that non-martial artists that are no worse than you can work as your helper, your a.s.sistant?
“In the past, the government gave preferential treatment to all of you in hopes that everyone could contribute to the country and society!
“However, the current situation shows that not everyone shares the same sentiment…
“Do you guys think that it’s okay to constantly demand without ever returning the favor?”
Most of them were speechless except for the few that refuted, “Commander Bai, it’s complete rubbish for the government to suddenly behave this way!
“Are training cla.s.ses really necessary?
“But what about the formed team?
“No big deal. If each one of us donates a little for the team of martial artists to practice, wouldn’t it be more beneficial than making us old folks join?”
Bai Jinshan laughed. “I agree, but… even if I voice out, it’s useless. Unless you guys want me to look for Governer Zhang for advice?
“The top management has reached an agreement. As for us… the only thing we can do is implement it!
“Let me be honest with everyone here. There are only two roads we can take. Either we choose to execute what has been ordered, or we give up our martial artist’s ident.i.ty.
“Of course… you can also take the third road. Do you fancy trying a revolt?”
Everyone’s faces turned pale. ‘Revolt my a.s.s!’
The entire group consisted of Rank-3 and below martial artists, or maybe it was Vitality martial artists. Honestly, was there any difference between them and non-martial artists?
There were close to no Vitality martial artists among the middle Rank-3s and above.
Most of the Vitality martial artists were mostly Rank-3 and below. Now that the top management had reached an agreement, there would not be objections from organizations with a high density of martial artists, such as the martial arts universities, the Military Department, and the Department of Investigation Services.
Non-martial artists could only hope for the fall of these Vitality martial artists!
It could therefore be said that there were not many martial artists who would not be pleased with these new implementations.
In the entire nation, there were millions of martial artists. Excluding the ones from the Military Department and martial arts universities, there were still around 200 thousand Vitality martial artists in total.
It was not a low ratio either, as they made up about one-fifth of the entirety.
The larger half of the 200 thousand people would be indifferent toward it. Since there was a requirement for an a.s.sessment, they would do it without much fuss.
On the other hand, the remaining half would not be willing to let go of the privilege that they had enjoyed for so many years. Even if they were not pleased with it, most of them would still do it the right way, though begrudgingly.
The remaining few in the group would be the minority that would still have to make a decision.
There were thousands of them, but it was unlikely that they reached five figures.
Unless these people networked well, they could either act in accordance to the policy, or simply give up their martial artist’s ident.i.ty.
Out of the billions of people in Sino Nation, there were only a small number of people that were dissatisfied with Vitality martial artists. Therefore, it would not have a huge impact.
The crowd was getting clamorous, but among them, Fang Ping nodded slightly as he agreed that there needed to be change.
It was just that they did not expect the whole process to have been done so easily. Just like that, they had started implementing it. Obviously, Bai Jinshan was forcing everyone to accept everything immediately.
What could they do if the rest did not agree with it?
If you dared to not partic.i.p.ate in the training, the higher-ups would merely revoke your martial artist’s ident.i.ty. This was a fair exchange.
Once the policy was publicized, non-martial artists would instantly side with the new policy.
In that case, it would be impossible to start a rebellion!
“In addition to this…”
Bai Jinshan suddenly spoke up, “In addition to this, the government will be rewarding the martial artists with outstanding performance!
“In the future, the local government will have policies that aid students from martial arts universities or martial artists that join the military.
“Policies include family work arrangements, subsidies for family businesses, or subsidies for lack of resources during practices. All these things will be covered by the local government. Furthermore, there will be allowances, subsidies, and green channel credit loans for them.
“For example, outstanding students like Student Fang Ping, or military personnel will be getting plenty of rewards!
“Previously, Student Fang Ping showed what he was capable of in the National Champions.h.i.+p, and the Sun City government has made the decision to award Student Fang Ping a reward of 500 thousand.
“Let’s hope that Student Fang Ping continues to move forward and go all the way! May he become a middle-ranked martial artist soon, and go all the way to becoming Grandmaster martial artist!”
Fang Ping thought that this was slightly excessive. ‘I’m getting 500 thousand just for this?
‘Did the meeting go in one big circle just for me to earn some bucks?’
Fang Ping did not care much for the 500 thousand.
The main thing on his mind was the change in the att.i.tude of the government!
Compared to the unrestrained way they had previously done things, it was good that they were starting to carry out and integrate the new plan immediately.
By integrating casual martial artists into the training and making them practice combat techniques, there would be hundreds of thousands of capable martial artists in just a few years. Since the end of the National Champions.h.i.+p, Fang Ping started to realize the need for change as it got clearer and evident.
So much so that even a small city like Sun City had started to implement the changes.
Even though the result would not be seen immediately, forcing casual martial artists to take a month out of a year to train was a subtle policy that would change everything drastically.
When Bai Jinshan was done and saw that the atmosphere was tense, he suddenly let out a chuckle and said, “Take it easy, everyone. In truth, it’s not that big of a deal.
“The training isn’t as hard as everyone thinks. It’ll be a breeze.
“Just treat it as if you are attending some CEO training course. It won’t be all about military control. It will include some business management, you can bring your phones, and there will be some videos for you to watch!”
In the beginning, they used a carrot and stick method, but they were slowly trying to appease the crowd now.
…
After being appeased by Bai Jinshan, everyone started to feel better.
Even though a month was a long time, they could split it into four parts. Thus, they finally loosened up on the idea. It would be merely a week every time, and it was not like they had to go into prison. They just had to partic.i.p.ate in the training, then they would be able to carry on managing their business.
Who knows, a number of martial artists coming together could end up becoming a way to network and expand their contacts.
It was true what Bai Jinshan had said. It would not be very different from standard CEO training courses they attended.
The crowd started to comfort themselves as it was the only thing they could do. Their fists were not hard enough to fight, so the only thing they could do was comfort themselves – unless of course, they chose to give up their martial artist’s ident.i.ty. Otherwise, there was no other way around it.
The whole time, Fang Ping acted as a looky-loo. In the end, he bagged 500 thousand, which was an unexpected bonus.
That day’s meeting was mainly about this.
Bai Jinshan stopped mentioning the matters relating to team recruitment, team formation, or the lack of funds. It seemed that Sun City had its plate full at the moment.
When Fang Ping was done observing and was about to leave, Bai Jinshan suddenly called out for him.
Fang Ping was slightly caught off guard and was not sure why he was being called for. Even so, the only thing he could do was stop in his steps.