The reason why mountain bandits would be suppressed by other underworld organizations like the Dark Building and Black Heaven Gate, or even smaller groups like Poison Valley and Black Cloud, basically boils down to an issue called "conflict of interest".
As mentioned before, the underworld in Dawu Country completely defeated the White Sect twenty years ago. With the government thoroughly corrupt, the underworld ushered in a heyday of rapid development, truly entering a civilized dark age. So what is a civilized underworld?
From Zhang San's memories of how powerful groups like Dark Building and Black Heaven Gate effortlessly took over the overseas markets occupied by other small underworld groups abroad, you can get a sense.
In essence, a civilized underworld refers to an underworld that prioritizes wisdom over violence.
In contrast, predatory groups like horse bandits, mountain bandits, and pirates belong to the barbaric underworld of the old era.
The underworld businessmen of the civilized underworld have long understood one thing - amassing wealth through wisdom, or more precisely, with wisdom as the mainstay and violence as an accessory, earns far more than relying on violence alone.
Let's not even talk about the three big industries of the underworld - brothels, gambling dens, and drug trafficking. Just looking at protection fees, for example...
In a small county like the one Zhang San was in, which was Poison Valley's turf, basically every business and household had to pay them a "protection fee" every month. Xiu Wangchou even witnessed in person how the underworld collected money in Zhang San's shop.
You might think this kind of extortion belongs to "predatory" industries, right? But that's not the truth.
Or rather, although the "protection fees" extorted by the underworld from the common people constitute a form of plunder, it's a civilized form of plunder rather than a barbaric one.
First of all, as a capitalist, oh no, a proper underworld businessman, you must understand that wealth itself is created by people. The fish caught by a fisherman, the grain grown by a farmer, these are all wealth, all of which can be exchanged for money.
However, the number of people in this world is limited. Naturally, in the absence of any particularly emerging industries, the amount of wealth produced annually or even daily within a society is also limited.
Put simply, there's only so much money to go around in this world.
In a stable society, wealth does not suddenly increase or decrease dramatically.
The lifelong goal of capitalists, oh no, underworld businessmen, is essentially to funnel more of society's money into their own pockets.
So how do they achieve this?
By indiscriminate plunder?
That would be foolish.
Through research, civilized underworld businessmen eventually uncovered the secret to wealth.
Let's first talk about the archaic horse bandits. In the eyes of underworld businessmen of the new era, they are the barbarians of the old era.
If you're going to rob people, why rob them of everything?
Even farmers need to buy tools and seeds, even oxen for ploughing, right? If you rob them of all they have, it will inevitably affect their production, and reduced output means reduced wealth.
Won't you then have less to rob next time, or even nothing at all?
You spend so much paying off corrupt officials, yet engage in behavior that continually decreases your own income. If you aren't barbarians of the old era, then what are you?
Some horse bandits even massacre entire villages. To underworld businessmen of the new era, this is the height of stupidity!
Wealth is created by people. Barring major societal upheavals, the total amount of money in a stable society does not decrease dramatically. Massacres are absolutely the culprit behind economic destruction.
In contrast, today's underworld businessmen still rob people, for example through so-called "protection fees", invented by underworld businessmen of the new era.
But how should civilized robbers go about their business?
That is, they rob, but not completely.
The sustainability of an industry is what underworld businessmen of the new era care about most.
But in this age where official taxes and miscellaneous fees virtually amount to "legalized robbery", how can underworld businessmen squeeze out more money?
Let's continue with protection fees as an example:
If they extort too much, impoverished households may choose death over submission. To be frank, as capitalists, oh no, underworld businessmen, they don't actually have much interest in killing to set an example. After all, if they could make money from killing, they would have done so long ago.
But the reality is, killing doesn't actually make them money. On the contrary, it leads to lost earnings in the future.
If they extort too little... well, no need to elaborate right? How could underworld businessmen possibly be satisfied with that?
So what is the "right amount" of extortion for a civilized underworld? This does seem to be an issue.
But the reality is... you're overthinking things.
From Zhang San's years of research, he knows that all major underworld organizations have teams of "experts" who specialize in studying the prices of goods, grain, and living necessities in various prefectures and counties, as well as various official taxes and fees, in order to estimate an average "expenditure" value.
This allows them to know approximately how much it costs for an average person to survive in that location.
Another group of "experts" is dispatched to study the income models and directions of various civilian industries in different places, such as farmers, fishermen, restaurants, martial arts schools, grain shops - calculating the average monthly and yearly "income" earned.
This allows them to estimate how much a given profession earns on average per month or year in that location.
Finally, based on the average values of each industry, the underworld charges them different protection fee rates. For example, Zhang San's art shop paid a fixed rate of five taels per month, whereas a rice shop might pay fifty taels.
In short, I rob you, or rather, I exploit you, but I leave you just enough to get by.
This amount of money is only enough for you to eat and pay rent. After you've eaten, please continue working.
Next month I'll be back to rob you again.
No matter how hard you work, you will never starve in front of an upstanding capitalist like me, oh no, underworld businessman like me, but don't expect to eat your fill either.
The benefit of doing this is that it greatly suppresses the populace's will to resist. After all, they can still survive right? Additionally, after being fed, they have the strength and ability to continue producing wealth.
Underworld businessmen exploit these two points to keep the entire protection fee industry running on a "virtuous" cycle - that is, the industry can provide sustained wealth.
This, is the underworld's fifth biggest industry after brothels, gambling dens, drug trafficking, and contract killing - protection fees!
Isn't this much smarter than the barbaric, kill-the-goose-that-laid-the-golden-egg style of plunder?
But over the past decade or so, the unchecked growth of mountain bandits, horse bandits, and even pirates disrupted this industry.
After all, the underworld's collection of protection fees is already extremely meticulous - which locations, which industries, how much they should charge. Coupled with the government's taxes and fees, the truth is commoners and small businesses have very little wealth, barely living from meal to meal.
Yet you mountain bandits and horse bandits still fight to expand your power?
And every time you raid, you take everything!
Do you know how many perfectly law-abiding citizens and businesses, who paid me protection fees promptly every month, have starved to death on the streets because of you?
Whose money do you think you're stealing?
Is it ordinary people's money?
No!
You mountain bandits! Bandits! Shameless scum! You're stealing my money! - Quote from a famous underworld leader
So around seven or eight years ago, the underworld began a massive campaign to suppress bandits. Only old-school predatory groups like Lin Nu timely switched careers and thus narrowly avoided immediate death at the hands of their underworld brethren.
The underworld's suppression of bandits signalled the official end of the era of "predatory" underworld reliant solely on violence, murder, and plunder.
What followed was the era of civilized underworld, exploiting the poor through new-age "predatory" industries like protection fees, and the rich through "business" ventures like brothels, gambling dens, and drug trafficking.
The true civilized underworld has finally taken center stage in history.