… …
By the time he returned to Zhu Men, it was already close to night.
After a busy day, he was tired and went to bed early.
In the end, in the middle of the night, Qin Yang suddenly appeared in his room, giving the alert Zhu Minglang a shock.
"Master wants you to go over." Qin Yang appeared and disappeared like a ghost. Her black brocade robe blended into the night. If it weren't for the light in her eyes, Zhu Minglang would have thought that his room was haunted.
"What's the matter? Can't you talk about it tomorrow?" Zhu Minglang was still very sleepy.
"It's about swearing an oath," Qin Yang added.
Zhu Minglang immediately jumped out of bed and splashed his face with water.
… …
Zhu Minglang's courtyard was quite far from Zhu Tianguan's study. He had originally chosen this small courtyard to avoid being disturbed by Zhu Tianguan.
As a father, he was awe-inspiring and dignified on the outside, but in reality, he was just a chatterbox. Sometimes, Zhu Minglang was very annoyed by him.
He walked toward the study. The room wasn't particularly large and was surrounded by peach trees. It was just a spacious wooden study without a loft. Many ancient objects were placed inside, most of which were castings with a long history.
The night was slightly chilly. Stepping into the study, one could see that the other side was completely open. Facing the sparkling lake was one side.
Several stone lanterns stood in the water, illuminating the gently swaying waves even more gently. Looking along the surface of the lake, one could even see a few wooden boats sleeping under the moon in the distance … …
"Are you hungry?" Zhu Tianguan sat in front of a long table filled with food and wine.
Seeing how he was wolfing down the food, he must have been busy during the day and didn't have time to eat.
"I'm not hungry. Please take your time." Zhu Minglang shook his head.
Zhu Tianguan took a sip of wine and casually wiped his mouth with a handkerchief on the side. "We can basically confirm that there really are ancient ruins in the land of Li Chuan. No matter how I coerced and enticed them, those old geezers just wouldn't let go."
"Then I can only return to Li Chuan as soon as possible and escape with the people I know," Zhu Minglang said helplessly.
Zhu Minglang couldn't just watch as the people of Li Chuan were reduced to slaves.
"Now, we have two choices. First, we can shed all pretense of cordiality with them. Whoever dares to fight with us, we will destroy them."
"Secondly … this is the competition method they proposed. It's extremely disadvantageous to our Zhu Sect, so I feel that it's safer to directly declare war on them."
It was rare for a clan to declare war in the capital of Extreme Court, where power was stable and the structure was clear. But in other big countries, it was quite common.
It was nothing more than an irreconcilable conflict between two factions, and they became enemies. Basically, whenever they saw someone from the other side, they would attack.
If it was light, they would cripple or cripple them. If it was heavy, they would directly kill them.
"Let's talk about the second option for now. How is it disadvantageous to us?" Zhu Minglang said.
Directly carrying out the first option was too violent!
For Zhu Tianguan to say something like that, it meant that he had the confidence to destroy the competing factions. Even if he couldn't, he could use the Zhu Sect's current strength to force them to retreat.
But doing so would make the Zhu Sect many enemies!
The Zhu Sect had only become the leader of the other clans in recent years, so their foundation wasn't very stable yet.
"The second option, to put it bluntly, is that they are deliberately humiliating us. You know that the true strength of our Zhu Sect doesn't lie in the clan itself, but in the factions that share our prosperity and our downfall. For example, your grandfather's Distant Mountain Sword Sect … "Zhu Tianguan stood up and faced the open wall, gazing at the Dripping Lake shrouded in darkness.
"I know that, so even if we want to destroy those factions, we'll most likely need someone else to do it," Zhu Minglang said.
"They know that our clan's main focus isn't on nurturing Divine Mortals or dragon sheds, so they deliberately integrated the competition into this year's competition. Those sly old foxes don't want to get involved in this mess, so they pushed the responsibility onto the younger disciples. "
"The competition is in the competition?" Zhu Minglang said in surprise.
The competition was a competition between factions.
To put it bluntly, it was to use all the strength of the entire faction to obtain greater benefits for their own faction.
Normally, the decisions were made by the senior uncles and masters. Especially when it came to the competition for territory, large scale battles and direct declarations of hostility were common.
In fact, it was the dragon sheds' factions that used up a lot of resources. No matter how rich a city was, it might not be able to support the expenses of a team of dragon sheds.
Not to mention the factions that reared dragons. They raised and collected young spirits every year, and the selection of young spirits required a large amount of money and manpower.
In a rich territory, there would definitely be a bloody fight for the right to rule over it. Factions would often fight with each other!
Meanwhile, the competition was purely a competition between the younger disciples of the various factions. It was mainly a friendly competition.
Because they were all young and didn't have many connections, their strength was very limited. Even if there were some conflicts between two forces in the competition, it wouldn't affect the overall harmony. The disciples would eventually look for the elders to make the decision, and the elders would also look for the background of both sides to deal with it peacefully.
Even if a situation like Zhu Tong was killed on the battlefield, or if Zhu Tianguan killed Hao Shaocong, it would not trigger the Zhu Sect and Zi Zonglin's grudge against each other.
"Say, don't you think they've gone too far?!"
"It seems like I, Zhu Tianguan, am too kind to these pedantic, stubborn people who take advantage of their seniority."
"For the next few days, don't casually go out. I'll get the Broken Sect to exterminate a few small powers that have been causing trouble for us. Then, I'll cut off the supply of weapons for a few of the Empire's armies. I'll also transfer the Black Armoured Army from the Pei Country over …"
Zhu Tianguan's aura was heavy. It was as if he had suffered a great grievance during his trip to the imperial court because of the competition.
"Father, please calm down," Zhu Minglang immediately advised.
"Calm down? They're going to ride on our heads soon. We, the Zhu Sect, don't train dragon sheds and divine mortals, but they want us to compete with them for the right to rule over Zulong City in the competition. What's the difference between that and asking us to get lost? Son, let's not talk about the fact that this piece of land is related to you. Even if it's a completely new piece of land that has nothing to do with us, the Zhu Sect can't take it lying down. Do they really think we're still the same as before? "Zhu Tianguan said angrily.
"Father, let's do as they wish. We'll compete with them based on the results of the competition. Nan Lingsha and I have already participated and entered the second round," Zhu Minglang said.
"How can we do that? Our Zhu Sect will be at a disadvantage if we compete with those sects that have thousands of years of history. Why don't we let those sects, factions and palaces compete with us in forging? "Zhu Tianguan said.
"So, father, you'd rather destroy their sects than believe that I can stand out in the competition?" Zhu Minglang said.
"It's not a matter of whether I believe it or not. It's a matter of fairness. We're the new largest faction now. There are bound to be some old sects and old sects that don't like us. If we give in once, there will be a second time, a third time … There's no need to go to the competition with them. I'd like to see how they're going to compete with us. The Zhu Sect is definitely going to take the land in Zulong City! "Zhu Tianguan said.
Zhu Minglang nodded.
Indeed, in this entire matter, the various factions of the Extreme Court Continent had used this method to compete, and they were bullying the Zhu Sect.
"How about this? We can agree to their proposal, but all the major powers have to contribute more resources to the competition. It's a competition between factions, not a competition between disciples. How can they only use those shabby things to embarrass themselves? If we want to play, let's play big with them! "Zhu Minglang said.
Zhu Tianguan's eyes lit up.
That's a good idea!
I agree to this method, but all of you have to increase the stakes and increase the scale of the competition to what it should be.
As for the Zhu Sect, they don't have to contribute anything. They just have to share the ownership of the land of Li Chuan so that all the factions have the right to compete for it!
"The Purple Division Forest's Red Sparrow City, the royal family's Thunder Iron Mine, the Azure Dragon Palace's Truefire Cauldron, the Holy See's Forge Camp … I've wanted these good resources for a long time. I was just worried that they wouldn't give them to us." Zhu Tianguan immediately smiled.
"If they want to make things difficult for us, we'll skin them alive. Father, tomorrow we'll act like we're going to war. Then we'll have the factions that are on good terms with us pretend to persuade us and suggest that we increase the stakes of the competition … "
Zhu Minglang picked up a wine cup and handed it to Zhu Tianguan.
"The factions that are on good terms with us will place a large bet first. It has to be at least the level of a city-state's resources. This will force the other factions to either withdraw from the competition out of fear of losing too much, or they'll all lose a layer of skin. When Nan Lingsha and I win this competition and collect all the benefits, we'll return the resources of the factions that are on good terms with us. We'll split the other factions' resources fifty-fifty! "Zhu Minglang picked up a wine cup and poured a cup for himself and Zhu Tianguan.
Zhu Tianguan's gloominess was swept away when he heard this. His face was full of smiles.
He raised the cup that Zhu Minglang had poured for him and clinked glasses. "Fifty-fifty!"
The black-robed Qin Yang stood quietly in front of the room.
Her gaze swept over the faces of the father and son. She saw that their smiles were incomparably coordinated, just like two old foxes …
Which faction was going to be unlucky this time?
In the past, when the Zhu Clan was still the weakest of the Six Great Clans, Zhu Tianguan and Zhu Minglang rarely suffered losses under those large powers.
Now that the clan was flourishing, it was likely that those factions that were still causing trouble for the Zhu Sect wouldn't have a good ending.
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