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Chapter 189 - 189: 185: Clan Council (End)

Tang Luo respectfully nodded in farewell to each person, behaving like a well-mannered young man. His previous arrogance seemed to have been a mere illusion, now he showed his true nature.

Afterward, Tang Zhi also made the council hall a quiet place by sending away the warrior group, only Tang Luo and he remained.

Tang Zhi approached Tang Luo and said,” Please have a seat, Elder Luo.”

Tang Luo respectfully replied,” Clan leader, please sit down, feel free to call me by my name.”

While he was left behind, the head of the clan and the mountains were not, indicating that it could not be about drafting new orders. Certainly, the clan leader had something to entrust him with. Preferably, it would be best for them to not address each other by their status, as after all, he was the younger one to Tang Zhi.

Tang Zhi smiled gently, sat down, and said, “Surely with your wisdom, you must know why I asked you to stay.”

“You wish to tell me to refrain from taking action against others as much as possible,” Tang Luo responded.

A glint of surprise and delight flashed through Tang Zhi’s eyes, it was reassuring that Tang Luo was clever enough to grasp the situation immediately. With the extraordinary talent of a young boy who had reached the peak of transcendence after great hardship, desire for competition was inevitable. However, engaging himself in disputes was just as pointless as dressing flamboyantly for a night-time outing.

The family’s perception of Tang Luo was that he was an exceptional loner who looked down upon the rest of his clan members. Tang Zhi originally thought he would have to persuade him further, hence he dismissed the crowd. Yet he was astonished by Tang Luo’s initiative.

“What do you think?”, Tang Zhi asked.

Tang Luo nodded and said, “I will follow the head’s orders. However, I do have some confusion, may the clan leader unravel my confusion?”

Looking at his respectful demeanor, Tang Zhi felt comforted. He smiled and asked, “You are wondering, why hasn’t the Tang Clan massively developed the wasteland and controlled the grain market yet?”

Tang Luo, who had painstakingly arranged the Five-Acre Farmland Act, was clearly not doing so for the prosperity of the Tang Clan, but for the political sake of benefiting the entire population at the expense of the Tang Clan. The reason behind such great effort primarily pertained to the high grain prices in Xiling, which were unaffordable for the common people. Just last winter, more than a hundred commoners starved to death on the city streets. This winter, the number of people struggling to survive without grain will undoubtedly increase.

The Tang Clan had accumulated hundreds of thousands of refugees from Chengzhou but concentrated on the construction of the new city. They were capable of cultivating wasteland but remained indifferent to the idea, which is why the Tang Luo proposed the Five-Acre Farmland Act. Tang Zhi understood this as soon as he saw it.

However, he knew that Tang Luo must have been full of doubts. Tang Zhi had ample manpower available for farming, yet he had been delaying the deployment of his agricultural plans. Even if not for the common people of Xiling, the Tang Clan suddenly had hundreds of thousands of refugees to feed, creating pressure on grain reserves. The outcomes for the Tang Clan and Mi Clan, due to different refugee-relief strategies, were vastly different.

When the Mi Clan led the people to Chengzhou, they used illusory methods. The majority of martial artists on board were only able to eat stale grain, and some even resorted to eating bran to get by. This type of deception caused complaints, so when the martial artists of Chengzhou were brought to Xiling, the new city of the Mi Clan began to experience several public disturbances. However, the fleeing martial artists were quickly discovered by their spiritual beasts and were killed on the spot.

In contrast, during the Tang Clan’s treasure ship voyage to Chengzhou, they were loaded with both old and new grain, attracting voluntary martial artist refugees. These people, who were at peace, brought their families to Xiling and were easy to manage. Despite this, Tang Zhi didn’t issue an order for agricultural development.

Tang Luo had been somewhat suspecting Tang Zhi, but after hearing the latter state his doubts clearly, he became more certain of his belief. A wise person who knows everything and doesn’t do something they obviously should, is not simply due to negligence, but because they have a bigger plan. He was curious about Tang Zhi’s intentions and asked, “Could the Clan Leader kindly explain why?”

“For the Tang Clan, to establish an unparalleled hegemony!” Tang Zhi crossed his arms against his back, his gaze piercing through the void as though scrutinizing the long river of time. A wave of growing ambition gushed out from within him!

Despite being a mere young man at the highest stage of transcendence, his intimidating aura was no less than that of a Fierce Realm practitioner.

This made Tang Luo secretly startled, but not because of the overwhelming aura. Rather, he couldn’t connect the two topics together which is why he asked, “Could you elaborate?”

“Elaborate?” Tang Zhi chuckled and shook his head. Remembering that the person in front of him was only a fifteen-year-old boy, even if highly intelligent, he couldn’t understand the situation fully. Hence, Tang Zhi decided to reveal some parts of his plan.

Not because he desired to share, but because he recognized the potential in Tang Luo. With Luo’s talent and diligence, he could be the pillar of the Tang Family in the near future. If Tang Zhi could lay this ambitious foundation, the one to propel the family to the peak would indeed be this fifteen-year-old boy! “Without the Mi Clan, do you think that the Tang Clan is capable of unifying both shores of Lingjiang?” Tang Zhi asked.

Tang Luo immediately understood that by ‘hegemony’, Tang Zhi was targeting the Mi Clan, which lined up with his suspicions! However, he couldn’t figure out what the decision to cultivate fields had to do with Mi Clan.

Moreover, if both clans were to engage in a battle, no matter how intact the Wancheng Treasure Ship might be, who knows how many would survive the conflict, let alone unifying the three-thousand-mile-long shores of Lingjiang. Even retaining the dominance of Xiling would not be certain.

Therefore, he asked, “When will the battle between the two clans occur?”

“Wait.”

“Wait for what?” Tang Luo frowned, still confused.

“Heaven’s Will, Geographic Advantage, and Unity of the People.”

As the most popular entertainment in Xiling, the battlefields were naturally a significant source of profit for the Tang Clan that they did not wish to ignore. The battlefield pavilions in North City were, in some way or another, partially owned by the Tang Clan. Ownership was essentially an arrangement to collect protection money, as a percentage of each year’s earnings would be handed over to the Tang Clan for their operations. Moreover, the Asura Martial Arts Hall, one of the four major establishments in Xiling, was a property of the Tang Clan, and was situated right in the center of the North City along Golden Avenue.

Old Man Xu’s ‘Sword Challenging the World’ began in this hall. Unfortunately, he couldn’t set up a private meeting venue. The reason was simple: he was rather short of funds. He thought that several millions of gold would be enough, but realised that it would still fall short if one wished to rent a venue for a long-term basis. Moreover, he had to frequent the brothels daily, so he couldn’t afford to spend money on this.

Therefore, Old Man Xu had to seek out Xu Shuhui in a girlish manner, pleading, “Aunt, please stand up for your nephew.”

In actuality, there was no need for him to ask. Xu Shuhui had already started making arrangements. The venue was the Asura Martial Arts Hall and the stand-in fighter arranged for Old Man Xu was Yuan Quan.

Yuan Quan had been a servant of Xu Changfeng, Old Man Xu’s father, in the past, he was even held by Yuan Quan when he was a child. By having Yuan Quan fight as his substitute, it not only helped to deter martial artists of mediocre skills, but it also ensured that the glory rightfully belonged to the Xu Clan.

“Young Master!” As soon as Yuan Quan saw Old Man Xu, he bowed deeply, filled with excitement.

Although he had been in Xiling for more than ten years, he had always viewed himself as a warrior of the Xu Clan. That was because when Xu Changfeng had sent him here, he had been told that if Tang Sen failed to treat Shuhui right, Yuan Quan had to hurry back to tell the Xu Clan without delay..