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Tang Zhi was wearing a gentle smile, lightly clapping his hands.

“Clap, clap, clap, clap”

The people around the table stared at Tang Zhi’s reaction, daring not to rashly make any judgment. They turned their focus onto Tang Cunfu’s face, hoping he could produce some tangible evidence.

Tang Cunfu remained unmoved, stood up straight, and stated excitedly, “Why is the Wancheng Treasure Ship not ready to set sail? Why are the clan’s craftsmen building a great number of ice ships? Why did the foundry receive an order for ten thousand pieces of ice-breaking weaponry?”

“And what about the wooden fortresses being built outside Xiling City and the fresh food supply of a massive seven hundred thousand tons! Is all this also for trade?”

There were no fools present at the meeting. If they still could not understand Tang Cunfu’s words, they wouldn’t be occupying high positions. Yet, the biggest question still remained unresolved.

“Assuming that all this preparation is to accommodate a large number of refugees, where will such a significant number of refugees come from?” asked Elder Tang Gaomin.

Tang Cunfu, looking at the still smiling face of Tang Zhi, snorted: “The biggest flood in a hundred years has inundated Chengzhou, covering eight hundred miles in water. I guess this news will be widespread in Xiling by the end of the year.”

“Because my wife is from the Xue family in Chengzhou, I received the information in August. Yet our respected clan leader began preparing for this significant event as early as April. Admirable! Admirable!”

The smile finally left Tang Zhi’s face, replaced not by the seriousness Tang

Cunfu expected, but rather a look of profound admiration.

He sat up straight and asked Tang Cunfu, “Did you deduce all this from a single family letter?”

The crowd was taken aback. Tang Zhi’s question was undoubtedly an affirmation of Tang Cunfu’s words, suggesting that the harvest indeed had little to do with the acquisition of land.

However, nobody saw this as a problem because Tang Zhi’s actions would undoubtedly strengthen the Tang Clan’s power. The Tang Clan and Mi Clan were overly wealthy due to the Wancheng Treasure Ship, and Xiling had remained peaceful for too long.

The wealth of the Tang Clan is enough to support a small city alone. What they lack now is population, consisting not only of members of the Tang Clan, but more importantly, a large number of martial artists and civilians.

More people means more wasteland to be reclaimed, and more martial artists means stronger power.

It’s hard to tell how many displaced martial artists and civilians will come from the eight hundred miles affected by the flood, but the Treasure Ship’s voyages would undoubtedly be able to bring back hundreds of thousands of people, meaning the Tang Clan could build a new city on the borders of Xiling!

They didn’t think Tang Zhi did anything wrong. On the contrary, they were very appreciative. With an additional hundreds of thousands of people, it was only a matter of time before the Tang Clan surpassed and crushed the Mi clan! Seeing the expressions of the people, Tang Cunfu mocked: “Are you still thinking that Tang Zhi was considering the expansion of our Tang Clan?”

His statement shocked everyone present.

“Tang Zuo is the brother of Tang Zhi. At the beginning of the year, he hastily established a new clan branch and needed a large number of martial artists. And this Dark Thunder Hall, while allegedly under the Elder Council’s command, is actually dominated by Tang Zuo.”

The Sect Head, Tang Kuan, hasn’t sent any clan disciples to serve in neighboring villages or industries in Xiling for a full three months, as he is said to be training some new knowledge. From what I understand, the clan disciples have been studying manipulation tactics for these three months.”

Tombine this with the incoming large number of refugees and martial artists into Xiling, do you all not understand?”

“Perhaps the Martial Hall will share some martial artists, but the main portion will undoubtedly be pocketed by Tang Zhi himself, otherwise why would he hide this from all of you!”

“When power expands to such an extent and the Sect Head stands with him, I must ask, do we still have to abide by the clan rule of elevating the virtuous?!”

Tang Cunfu’s well-reasoned speech made the people’s eyelids jump in astonishment.

Upon finishing, Tang Cunfu stared intently at the unchanging face of Tang Zhi and bellowed: “Tang Zhi! Are you trying to become the emperor of the Tang Clan?!”?????? ⁵

This time, even the head of law did not stand on Tang Zhi’s side, but instead looked at Tang Zhi’s face with a cold gaze.

The clan’s authority system relies on the dispersion of powers and a parliamentary ruling. The so-called Clan Head is the captain who leads the family forward, but is still restrained by the Elder Council.

If Tang Zhi’s objective was to use the clan’s resources to strengthen his branch, as the head of law, Tang Zheng would be the first to oppose.

Upon hearing Tang Cunfu’s heart-piercing words, Tang Zhi stood up and calmly said: “My loyalty to the Tang Clan can be judged by heaven and earth. As for strengthening myself by using my family’s foundation and relying on such coarse methods, where is the need!”

Tang Cunfu sneered: “Who ever complained about having too much power? If you didn’t harbour any personal agenda, why is it that until the year-end, you’ve never mentioned a word about this?”

“If I hadn’t brought it up, when the Treasure Ship returns with a full load of refugees, who would know how many martial artists would enter your residence?”

“The facts are in front of us, denial is futile. I came here today to serve as a representative of a hundred subsidiary clan heads and present a joint impeachment letter!”

When his cards were laid bare, Tang Cunfu took out a golden scroll from his chest, unfolded it and placed it on the table.

The names of a hundred subsidiary clan heads were prominently displayed on top!

Tang Zhi’s eyebrows slightly furrowed, and a hint of a cold smile appeared on his lips: “You wish to impeach me?”

Tang Cunfu crossed his arms behind his back and retorted coldly: “Is there a problem?”

A joint petition from a hundred subsidiary clan heads was indeed enough to initiate an impeachment session against the Clan Head.

Throughout the history of this meeting’s establishment, this was the first time someone initiated it.

When the council convenes, two hundred outstanding clan heads will participate, each with one vote.

The head of law, Sect Head, administrative head, mountain head, Wind Media head, great Elder and eight representative Elders each have ten votes, a total of one hundred and fifty votes.

Tang Cunfu held a hundred votes from the subsidiary clan heads and the mace of the council. As long as half of the remaining people were inclined to his side, the position of Clan Head would be stripped from Tang Zhi.

To impeach the Clan Head, more than 60% of the votes were required to pass the motion, which would subsequently strip the clan head of his position.

The first day of December

Tang Luo, who had arrived early at the Secret Arts Pavilion, ran into Tang Hongtao. The two sat down and began to talk.

Their conversation revolved around the recent turmoil within the Tang Clan and the final outcome as the dust settled.

“You abstained from voting?” asked a confused Tang Luo. He had thought that as a close older relative and ally of Tang Zhi, Tang Hongtao would side with the

Clan Head. He didn’t expect him to abstain, which was truly puzzling.

Tang Hongtao chuckled bitterly: “The Secret Arts Pavilion has always been neutral. How can we rashly get involved in the impeachment of the Clan Head?”

His reason for seeking out Tang Luo for a chat was not merely idle chatter. He had already decided on nurturing Tang Luo to become an elder in the Secret Arts Pavilion, otherwise, he wouldn’t reveal the operating principles of the Secret Arts Pavilion so openly.

Initially, the next Elder position should have gone to Tang Guangyu, but Tang Luo’s performance over the past few months had caught everyone’s eye. After just entering the Mortal Realm, he started refining Mortal Realm martial techniques with astonishing efficiency.

People could only marvel at the stark contrast between a genius and an ordinary person. Decades of painstaking research could not compare to a moment of inspiration from a young genius, which was downright disheartening.

Even the slightly disgruntled Tang Guangyu, after witnessing Tang Luo’s unparalleled contributions over several months, had to concede and expressed his willingness to acknowledge Tang Luo as the next Elder and admit his talent..