Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 384 Assumption
After watching Zhang Min leave, Li Xiangming fell into deep thought.

After an unknown amount of time, a young man with a full beard walked in.

"Hall Master!"

"Third brother?"

Li Xiangming quickly stood up and invited the other person to sit down.

Li Xiangchuan glanced at the layout of the Foreign Affairs Hall, then smiled and said, "Xiangming, it's been a long time. I haven't yet congratulated you on your promotion to Hall Master and your successful Foundation Establishment."

Li Xiangming also carefully observed Li Xiangchuan and found that his emotions were very stable, which was completely different from his dejected appearance when he visited him in the hospital years ago.

"Where has Third Brother been all these years?"

Li Xiangming asked in a low voice.

As far as he knew, Li Xiangchuan's punishment was only three years of confinement, but now more than three years have passed.

"The patriarch told me to go out for a walk, so I took a trip to Liusha County."

"Liusha County?"

Li Xiangming was taken aback.

Although Liusha County is adjacent to Pu County, it is not the territory of Heng Kingdom, but the territory of another country - Nanhua Kingdom!
If he remembered correctly, Granny Lai and the other wandering people came from the Kingdom of Nanhua.

correct!

When Li Qianxiong heard the report about the origins of Granny Lai and the others, he was quite worried about the rumored Beast Soul Sect and also very interested in the situation in Liusha County.

He never expected that Li Qianxiong would send Li Xiangchuan to Liusha County to gather information.

It should be noted that Pu County and Liusha County are separated by only one mountain.

But this mountain is the boundless Puyin Mountain.

Within the Puyin Mountains, monsters abound, making it extremely dangerous.

Even though there were many demon-hunting cultivators in Pu County, they only explored the outer perimeter and dared not venture any deeper.

Back then, Granny Lai and her companions were being chased by the Beast Soul Sect and fled into Puyin Mountain. They decided to cross Puyin Mountain to escape their "dangerous situation" completely.

However, of their dozen or so experts at the late stage of Qi Refining, only five arrived in Pu County.

This is under the condition of being extremely lucky. If one were less lucky, it would not be surprising if even a dozen or more Foundation Establishment cultivators perished at Puyin Mountain.

Because Mount Puyin is home to powerful demons at the Tribulation Core stage.

Moreover, there are quite a few of them!

Thinking of this, Li Xiangming's gaze towards Li Xiangchuan subtly changed.

To be able to traverse Puyin Mountain, his third brother must have endured many hardships that ordinary people could hardly bear.

After a moment of silence, Li Xiangming asked, "What is the current situation in Liusha County?"

"The Beast Soul Sect is all-powerful!"

After a pause, Li Xiangchuan shook his head and said, "I have recorded everything I saw and heard and handed it over to the family head. However, the family head told me not to tell anyone else. If you want to know, you can ask the family head yourself."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiangming skipped the topic and began discussing the establishment of the Embroidery Room with Li Xiangchuan.

Before he could finish speaking, Li Xiangchuan looked distressed: "The patriarch only gave me four people, all of whom are at the mid-stage of Qi Refining. With these people, it's as difficult as climbing to the sky to find out any news about Punan."

Li Xiangming smiled without saying a word. Back when he first came out and took charge on his own, when he was setting up the accounting office, Li Qianxiong refused to give him any help and told him to find his own way.

In comparison, Li Xiangchuan was much luckier.

Of course, the two faced different circumstances. The threat posed by the mysterious force to the Li family was obviously far more important than the Li family's attempt to manage Changtai Township well.

Nevertheless, Li Qianxiong, this "tightwad," was only willing to pluck four feathers.

After laughing for a while, Li Xiangming asked, "What are your current plans for the Embroidery Room?"

Li Xiangchuan pondered for a moment and replied, "According to the head of the family, in addition to intelligence work, the Embroidery Room is also responsible for eliminating some unstable factors. Therefore, I plan to temporarily divide the work of the Embroidery Room into two parts, but the current focus is still on intelligence."

"Ah."

Li Xiangming nodded in agreement.

Seeing this, Li Xiangchuan continued, "However, due to manpower constraints, we cannot use our own people. I plan to personally go to the Jinqianling and Baolong Valley areas to recruit people. When the time is right, I will send them to Punan to monitor the Geng, Liu, and Qin families."

"Write me a charter!"

Li Xiangming handed over a freshly brewed cup of tea: "While spies are the foundation of intelligence gathering, a reasonable system is even more important! I don't object to you going to Jinqianling in person, but you must have someone at home. You need to solve the problem of intelligence transmission and analysis; otherwise, no matter how many people you bribe, you won't be able to make the intelligence you obtain valuable."

Li Xiangchuan frowned, then relaxed: "I was too hasty."

He knew Li Xiangming meant that he should first complete the establishment of the Embroidery Room on Tailai Peak, and then go out to collect intelligence.

Jinqianling, or the spies in Punan, are on the front lines.

The embroidery room was for logistics.

Without a sound logistical system, even if the front lines obtain important intelligence, they will be left helpless.

Because Punan is quite far from Danggui Mountain.

If intelligence cannot be transmitted and analyzed quickly, it will soon become outdated.

Clearly, these tasks cannot be handled by a single spy.

Ultimately, at Li Xiangming's suggestion, Li Xiangchuan redefined his vision for the Embroidery Bureau and planned to divide the Bureau's intelligence personnel into three identities, from low to high, using animal totems such as rat, snake, and fox to distinguish them.

"Rat" refers to the lowest-ranking intelligence officer, usually placed in a certain stronghold. They can also be rotated. They have the authority to develop informants, collect intelligence, and report to "snake" in exchange for rewards.

The "snake" is responsible for intelligence work in a region and oversees multiple "rat nests." It generally does not collect intelligence personally but mainly engages in intelligence transmission.

As for the "Fox," only members of the Li family can take on this role. They are dedicated to analyzing intelligence and usually stay in the Embroidery Room on Tailai Peak. However, when necessary, they may also be assigned to the "Snake Den" to facilitate the rapid verification of the intelligence's value.

In addition to intelligence personnel, Lee Sang-chuan also planned to train some assassins skilled in assassination, granting them the identity of "Eagle".

However, at present, the Embroidery Room is simply unable to cultivate "eagles," and even the "snakes" must be played by members of the Li family, while the "fox" is only played by Li Xiangchuan.

"Master, what about the funds?"

When the conversation ended, Li Xiangchuan stammered.

Li Xiangming immediately had a headache; even the best system needs money to maintain it.

The family only allocates 2000 spirit stones to the Foreign Affairs Hall each year, but the Foreign Affairs Hall has as many as five departments.

The Accounting Office and the Animal Catching Office are relatively easy to manage. The main tasks of the Accounting Office are to develop the three villages and assist in opening up the road to Dai Mountain. It mainly employs ordinary people, and the salaries of its own cultivators are mostly based on merit, so it doesn't cost much spirit stone.

Needless to say, the beast-catching house was now just an empty shell. Li Xiangfeng and the others had all transformed into demon-hunting group cultivators, running their own demon-hunting groups and bearing their own profits and losses.

However, this does not apply to the Dianke Room and Shijin Room.

The work of these two organizations costs a considerable amount of spirit stones every year.

Especially the Shi Jin family, who are big spenders on spirit stones and always ask him for money!
Most of the two thousand spirit stones that were harvested from the family were used to support the expenses of the city's brocade house.

Unfortunately, all the spirit stones that Shi Jinfang earned were handed over to the treasury and deposited into the family's accounts, so he didn't get a single penny.

Now, the Foreign Affairs Hall has added an embroidery room.

To establish a sufficient number of "rat nests" in the Pudong and Punan areas and cultivate a large number of informants, one can imagine how many spirit stones it would cost.

Rubbing his temples, Li Xiangming slowly said, "I'll allocate you five hundred spirit stones first. You should find a way to recruit some capable non-family cultivators from the Academy of Military Affairs to set up a good reputation. These non-family cultivators may not be completely loyal to the Li family, but they have cooperated with us for many years. At least they won't take the spirit stones and run away."

"Yes!"

No sooner had Li Xiangchuan left than Li Xiangming, who hadn't even had a chance to catch his breath, entered and respectfully bowed, saying, "Hall Master, you wanted to see me?"

"Uncle Qianliang, there's no need for such formalities." Li Xiangming gestured for him to sit down and asked, "How are the preparations for the mission to the Huang family going?"

"Reporting to the Hall Master, everything is ready, and Qian Shi has agreed to travel with us."

"Ah."

Li Xiangming nodded. Li Qianliang's trip to the Huang family this time was to support Huang Zhencan's rise to power, and the methods he used were quite complicated.

But having a strong military force as a backing would undoubtedly give people peace of mind.

As the head of the Service Institute, Li Qianshi not only had his own cultivation level just one step away from Foundation Establishment, but also commanded many non-family cultivators. Picking a few assistants and guesthouse staff to support him was no problem for him.

“The Huang family has had dealings with the Tongbei Sect. This time, your mission is not only to bring down that old man Huang Zhenyi, but also to completely sever their ties with the Tongbei Sect, or rather, the mysterious forces.”

Li Xiangming gave a few more instructions.

Li Qianliang nodded repeatedly.

After a cup of tea, Li Xiangming changed the subject: "In the past, our Li family's vassals merely paid tribute and respected the Li family as their patriarch. I know that it was already quite difficult to do that, but it's not enough."

“Each vassal state is different in size, strength, and degree of dependence on the Li family. We cannot treat them all the same. Otherwise, if the two sides fight, which side should we side with?”

Upon hearing this, Li Qianliang cautiously asked, "What does the hall master mean?"

"I've been doing pretty much the same job as a hotel manager for many years. Now that my work direction has changed, it's time to change the content of my work as well."

Li Xiangming, with a serious expression, pushed a jade slip over.

Li Qianliang took it, his expression gradually becoming serious.

It was probably the conflict between the Chen and Huang families that put the Li family in a difficult position, which spurred this young hall master to write down a lot of reform ideas for the Imperial Academy in the jade slip.

The main purpose was to classify and categorize the vassal and allied relationships of the Li family.

According to Li Xiangming's plan, the Li family will establish an organization called the Mutual Security Society in Changyang Valley. All members who join this organization will have to sign a treaty called the Mutual Security Agreement with the Li family.

Taking the Huang family as an example, if the Huang family signs this agreement, then they will have to pay a certain amount of tribute to the Li family every year. After receiving the tribute, the Li family will have the responsibility to provide protection to the Huang family in the following year, provided that the dispute is not initiated by the Huang family.

This is actually the current vassal system of the Li family, but Li Xiangming has redefined it as an equal transactional relationship. The Li family no longer regards the Huang family as a vassal, and the Huang family no longer regards the Li family as the patriarch.

Assuming the treaty is for a period of ten years, and the Huang family stops sending tribute within the period, then the Li family has the right to immediately terminate the protection and can demand that the Huang family pay a huge amount of liquidated damages.

Similarly, if the Li family fails to provide timely shelter to the Huang family when they are in danger, they should also provide equivalent compensation.

That sounds fair!

However, the Li family is large and powerful, and their acceptance of liquidated damages is completely different from that of the Huang family.

In the past, the Li family was constrained by their status as vassals of the Huang family and had no choice but to provide assistance.

If we turn a blind eye to the Huang family, people will always talk behind our backs.

But now, the reciprocal security agreement breaks this constraint. The Li family can avoid getting involved in bigger trouble due to disputes over vassals by simply paying a sum of compensation, and will not give others cause for criticism.

After all, the relationship between the two parties is merely a transaction.

Deals always fall apart eventually, right?

Of course, Li Xiangming is also building new vassal relationships.

For example, if the Huang family wants to become a vassal of the Li family, they need to sign a suzerainty treaty with the Li family.

The suzerainty treaty formally established the suzerain-vassal relationship between the two parties. Under this relationship, the Huang family not only had to pay more tribute to the Li family, but also had to regularly send a certain number of cultivators to serve in the Li family.

In return, the Li family provided the Huang family with a higher level of protection and included them in their inner circle. Not only would the Huang family encounter trouble, but even if the Huang family wanted to bully others, the Li family would step in to help.

In addition to the suzerainty treaty, Lee Sang-myung also prepared a treaty called the Comprehensive Protection Agreement.

The agreement stipulated that all members of the agreement would be fully subservient to the Li family, not only by contributing their own production and providing manpower, but also by being controlled by the Li family in economic and diplomatic matters, and even by participating in wars unconditionally if the Li family were to be involved.

Of course, the Li family will also unconditionally protect the members of the agreement and appropriately support their growth.

The jade slip indicated that the future work of the Dianke family should not only involve bringing the surrounding forces into the Mutual Peace Society, but also striving to sign higher-level suzerainty treaties and comprehensive protection agreements with them.

In this way, the Li family can gain control of Pudong more quickly and comprehensively.

After reading this, Li Qianliang swallowed hard.

But there was still a dense text below. Li Qianliang wiped the fine sweat from his forehead and continued reading.

Li Xiangming also made detailed divisions within the alliance.

In the past, the Li family regarded the Chen family of Baolong Valley, the Luo family of Shangqingyuan, and Lingwu Sect as allies.

However, in the jade slip, they were at most considered to be in a cooperative relationship, or even relegated to the neutral category.

The new alliances, still based on diplomatic agreements, are mainly divided into three types: trade alliance agreements, wartime mutual protection alliance agreements, and strategic alliance agreements.

First is the trade alliance agreement, which refers to the agreement members unifying prices, sharing resources, eliminating trade barriers, and engaging in in-depth trade exchanges.

Simply put, it's about everyone making cakes together and working hard to earn money.

Secondly, there is the wartime mutual protection alliance agreement. As the name suggests, when any member of the agreement encounters war, the other members must provide unconditional assistance, and even participate in the fighting, to ensure common security.

Finally, there are strategic alliance agreements, which mean that the parties to the agreement share the same strategic interests. Such agreements not only incorporate elements of the first two types of cooperation but also maintain a consistent pace in multiple areas, including the economy, diplomacy, and even education.

Strategic alliances can be considered the closest comrades-in-arms, sharing both prosperity and adversity.

After a long while, Li Qianliang put down the jade slip, feeling as if a heavy burden was pressing down on his heart.

According to the jade slip, the Li family currently has no allies.

The work of the guest room staff is arduous and has a long way to go!

"Has the patriarch already seen this jade slip?"

Li Qianliang asked in a low voice.

"No."

Li Xiangming shook his head: "I came to you privately because I hope you will present it to the head of the family."

"I?"

Li Qianliang was stunned, not understanding why he was entrusted with such an important matter.

After all, if this reform is implemented, it will be a great achievement.

Its importance is no less than that of Li Xiangming's reform of the animal trapping house.

Li Xiangming remained silent. Since returning to Puxian, he had risen through the ranks and become the head of the Foreign Affairs Hall.

But he knew very well that becoming a hall master was the end for him.

At his age, he is not old enough to be a clan elder.

And the position of head of the family.
Shaking his head, Li Xiangming tried his best not to think about it, and instead smiled faintly at Li Qianliang, saying, "I have my own ideas. I'm having you hand them over to the family head so that you can advance further and not disappoint me."

While the credit was tempting, it was no longer so important to Li Xiangming.

On the contrary, his "shining" presence within the family made him a target of envy and criticism.

Although his motives were not to blame, his actions of secretly leading the disciples of Green Cloud Cave to rescue Li Xiangcheng were bound to cause dissatisfaction among many people. He acted first and then informed others, lifted the siege of Baolong Valley, and had Long Yang eliminate many Huang family elites.

Although he had good reason at the time, outsiders did not know the inside story.

Li Qianxiong asked him about Li Xiangcheng and Baolong Valley, but he also involved the clan elders, hall masters and deputy hall masters. Wasn't this just to remind and warn him?

For the time being, Li Xiangming planned to keep a low profile and hone his skills.

Li Qianliang was unaware of all this, but he felt that he was highly valued, so he stood up solemnly, cupped his hands, and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Hall Master. I will definitely take good care of the guest room."

(End of this chapter)