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Chapter 185 - 185: 181: Clan Assembly (3)
Translator: 549690339
A so-called strong nation, its baclebone is inevitably its prosperous population; without a prosperous populace, how can a nation be strong?
The Tang family in Xiling is so strong, yet why do they only occupy the small land of Xiling? It is nothing more than the lack of warriors or more specifically, given the current number of top-level fighters in the Tang family, the annual ’ influx of hundreds of Martial Hall peak Mortal Realm fighters and dozens of Fierce Realm warriors is simply not enough to divide amongst themselves.
This is why the leaders of the branches of the clan feel that they do not have enough skilled people in their purview to actualize their ambitions. After all, even the clan’s leader sometimes has to serve as a warrior. How can there be talk of development?
Thus, this new Five Acres rule is the foundation of making Xiling strong. Those sitting in the Clan Assembly are the true heads of the Tang family. However, their thinking is limited. They always feel that only those of the Tang surname are truly of the Tang family. The emergence of the Wancheng Treasure Ship has further strengthened this unhealthy mentality in the Tang family; they feel that what is scooped up without the worry of reprisals is the best deal.
They have also dismissed and ignored the role of the common people due to their mighty martial prowess. Or to put it differently, in their view, ordinary people are just like vines clinging to a large tree, not worth lingering mention.
If we govern by your law and mandate, then, several generations down the line, Xiling will certainly have a population in the tens of millions. How then should the Tang Clan handle such a situation?” Tang Hongjun, the second elder, had read Tang Luo’s note. He knew that this was a populist measure. The problem was that among the populace who would benefit, the Tang Clan didn’t stand to gain any sweet pie!
Low taxes will lead to a decline in the Tang family’s income. This would mean that the Tang family would lose several hundred million in gold every year for no reason. Assuming a generation is twenty years, then the Tang family would miss nearly ten billion, a loss nearing twenty billion! Even if one didn’t calculate this way, using these billions to purchase Spirit Beasts would yield results that are not weaker than the increase in force due to a huge population. What’s even more terrifying is when the population of Xiling really expands to the tens of millions. The Tang family would still be able to easily govern in the short term because of the current number of branch leaders in the Tang family. They can easily absorb even twenty million people, let alone ten million.
But what about three generations later? Underneath this large population base, naturally some geniuses will stand out. If Xiling gives birth to over a hundred Fierce Realm strongmen, whether the Tang family can still easily control them is questionable.
Therefore, he felt that Tang Luo’s Five Acres rule is not advantageous.
The words of the second elder touched the hearts of the people. While the Five Acres rule and the beautiful vision of tens of millions of people in Xiling look promising, they couldn’t immediately see the benefits this policy would bring, not to mention the potential problems it would cause in a few generations.
Tang Luo responded with a carefree smile, “If we rule accordingly, three generations later, our Tang family can be worry-free!”
“Absurd!” Tang Gaomin said loudly, “Provide them warmth, and they will have lewd thoughts; when they grow strong, they will harbor greed and resentment. If you give these common people generous conditions, it’s like fostering wolves by your bedside; when the lord is weak, they will bite your throat. How can your rules make our Tang family safe!?”
“Poverty breeds cunning, while wealth engenders a kind heart!” Tang Luo’s gaze hardened as he solemnly responded, “Gentlemen, think carefully. What level of prosperity can an individual’s five acres of land produce? It’s nothing more than being well-fed and warm! As for fostering wolves, if our Tang family is so weak that we’re surpassed by a bunch of civilians who have only practiced martial arts for under a hundred years, then such a family deserves to be overthrown and destroyed!”
These words struck Tang Gaomin’s heart. He fell silent; indeed, if they can’t even control a group of newly-trained civilians, such a clan deserves to be exterminated.
You must know that the martial prowess of clan warriors is several times that of the same-level vagrant fighters. Geniuses are only a tiny minority, so leading on a large scale is the clan’s duty.
But the effects of this law take too long to manifest. It takes a whole generation!” Tang Qi, holding the proposal, was somewhat moved, because he had realized that if this law was implemented, the leaders of the branches would benefit the most. They should fully support it because it essentially drained the wealth of the clan to reserve warriors. But this law might take too long to bear fruit.
Because in his view, before Xiling’s population explodes, this law could only result in outflow with no inflow.
“The biggest benefit of abolishing the Prohibition on Cultivation and implementing the Five Acres law is not the population explosion in Xiling.” Tang Luo answered with a smile, “It’s the people’s hearts!”
Although we, the Tang family, have good relations with the other clans, the efforts have always been relatively futile. The reason is simple; these family-centered clans operate mainly for their own benefit. Though they settle in Xiling and bolster its strength on the surface, their motives never change. If you want to talk about wolves by your bed, these are the real clans.
“But isn’t giving these commoners land and letting them nurture their children to become warriors the creation of a new clan?” Tang Qi wasn’t impressed by the talk of winning people’s hearts, because he didn’t think something intangible like this could be useful to the family. But Tang Luo’s threat theory about the clans was indeed useful to him. However, considering the Five Acres rule he wanted to implement, wasn’t this just a means to cultivate clans?
“The clans and these soon-to-be landowners are not the same.” Tang Luo said calmly, “Even if these commoners grow into clans, they are clans that have grown under the Tang family’s rule, inherently obeying the Tang family’s orders. If one day the Tang family needs to wage wars and conscript warriors, a single directive would be enough.”
This is surely not a temperament of benevolent families who would rather be wronged than dispute with others, but that of a martial arts clan. Why do they care for strong martial arts and study martial arts techniques? Is it just for self-protection? Judging from the current development of martial arts, in the future, it will not just be powerful families like the Tang clan that will wage wars, even those sanctified grounds will have to fight as well.
So, he provides for the people; the people pay back. It’s fair.
But even so, Tang Gaomin shook his head and said, “Putting aside whether or not this draft summons order is feasible, I just want to ask where does the Tang family’s benefit come from?”
He didn’t care how many people or warriors Xiling has; he only knew that once this law is implemented, the Tang family’s income would decrease significantly. If it cannot be compensated, it would be a loss to the clan’s wealth. He absolutely could not support this law.
Tang Luo looked around the table and said lightly, “Actually, the Tang family doesn’t lack money at all.”
“Only by transforming wealth into real martial power can a clan become strong. Don’t you see how the Yun Clan, once the richest in the world, was so proud, only to be annihilated in just one month?”
There was once a Yun Clan in Longzhou Chaochang, which was richer than any other and wealthier than everyone else. They were always involved in business. Among the legendary merchants in Longzhou, seven out of ten came from the Yun Clan. It was said that the Yun Clan, at its wealthiest, could use gold to build an entire city.
Even such a legendary merchant family was uprooted within a month, which was a deep-pitched sorrow. The cause was very simple: having a lot of money but not having the corresponding martial power is a path to death!
Allying with warriors? Useless, because when others want to annihilate your family, they won’t inform you for preparation beforehand. By the time the warriors who had past dealings with the Yun Clan arrived in Chaochang, the city of merchants had already become a sea of flames, and all the men of the Yun Clan were lying in the blood pool..
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