Merchants in Jade City sought protection from different forces.
Only a few of them were directly protected by the Golden Roc Fort and the Meng family. These merchants had to pay the two powerful families at least tens of thousands of taels of silver a month in exchange for their protection.
The majority of merchants in Jade City sought protection from young masters of Golden Roc Fort and several other gangs, which were affiliated with the Shangguan or Meng families.
As for remaining small vendors and business owners in the city, they all had their own protectors on the streets as well. Most of these protectors could only be considered as middlemen. They collected money from various small vendors and business owners and used it in turn to pay for the protection of the gangs or the young masters of Golden Roc Fort.