How to make money is always one of the most important issues in every game. Hope this summary can help you find a way to become rich in this game. Enjoy!
Cricket battle
Just like Gwent to The Witcher, cricket is also the core of this game. You can win a lot of money from others. The only issue is that you have to spend a lot of time capturing a king of cricket. Which one is the best? That is another story, and I don’t know, because I have never tried this system. What I have heard are 八败, 天青蓝, and 三段锦.
Za Xue (杂学)
Rather than “miscellaneous,” I think it refers to some skills that are not advocated by the mainstream or elites.
a. Building a lot of Markets (the building attached to the 9th-grade book of Za Xue) but do not upgrading them
b. Building Hua Fang (花舫, 8th-grade building), which requires water area, and upgrading it to 20. The (poor) translation of Hua Fang should be a boat with many beauties (flowers). Hua Fang has the highest basic income among all buildings.
Tips: The income of each building is also determined by where the visitors come from. Visitors will only come from the map you have unlocked. So, never go to poor villages (the third place of each map), which will reduce the average income. And try to increase the local culture and stability of each visited map by spending favors or eliminating local gangsters. It will also increase the income.
You are Evil
NPCs always have good items, so you can “borrow” these tiems from them or kidnap NPCs. The best targets are members of Ranshan (然山), which are weak but rich. If you are strong, you can also try Wuxian (五仙), Baihua (百花), and Kongsang (空桑). However, be careful, you will become a part of darkness if keep doing bad things. Asking the head of Yuanshan (大小元山) for help when necessary.
Tips: never do bad things in front of other people, if you do not enjoy being attacked by the relatives and friends of the victim. Use the uniform system, wear 山野竖褐, and make the target 50% certain you are a rude person. Then, be rude at the person, who will then run away (around 5 checks) and have a high chance to stay alone. Then, do what you want to do.
Becoming a doctor or pharmacist (my favorite)
One of a few ways to produce 5th-grade items without reading any books. Only produce medicines that can increase attributes. No injury drugs, no antidote, no internal breath drugs, which are cheap. Then, find a merchant, whose character is kind and make him or her like you (two pink hearts is the best). The price of one 5th-grade medicine is over 2000.
You can also cure others after making that person 50% certain you are a doctor. The fee of treatment is mainly determined by the grade of the drug you have used. So, overtreatment is highly recommended. 10000+ for a 4th-grade drug.
Manufacturing
A rule of this game is the lighter the item is, the more likely it will have the Expensive character. So, you can make a lot of needle boxes or cloth bags and sell them.
Becoming a book seller (will be feasible in February 2019)
Building Library, which is attached with the 4th-grade book of 诗书 (ShiShu, poetry? Literature?). Then, find a kind person, who likes you, and you can exchange Kungfu books from that person without any costs. Currently, the price for Kungfu books is zero, but it will change in the next update.