Chapter 186 Clan Assembly (2)

Chapter 186: Clan Assembly (2)

True to its reputation as a thriving commercial city, Hanjung’s per capita income was remarkably high.

It rivaled even places like Guryongseong, Seongdo, or Anhui, where the Lion Clan was based.

With such high income levels, the next concern was naturally children’s education.

Wealthy merchant families began sending their children, except for the eldest son destined to inherit the trading house, to various martial arts sects as lay disciples. They sent them with money bags in tow.

Thus began the era of the Great Study Abroad.

Though these lay disciples couldn’t inherit the true mountain techniques of the main sects, the world is vast and geniuses exist.

Replacing the Nine Dragons Fortress, which lacked the concept of lay disciples, three talents who studied at Huashan, Wudang, and Shaolin returned as masters.

One of them even reached the pinnacle of skill.

Considering the lay curriculum, which mostly ended with learning only the basics, this was truly astonishing.

With their families’ backing, these returning scholars began establishing martial arts sects in Hanjung.

They taught their disciples martial arts modified from the fundamentals learned at prestigious schools. Supported by their families’ substantial capital, they became major pillars of the Hanjung martial world.

Thirty years passed like this.

Now, the martial world of Hanjung revolved around the sects founded by these overseas returnees.

Among them, three boasted the greatest prosperity.

The Hanjung Sword Sect, the Xingwu Sect, and the Baicheng Society.

Except for the Bakryong Sect, the sects established in Hanjung bowed their heads to them.

It was a choice made to survive.

Of course, even so, before the Zhenwang Sect, they couldn’t escape the fate of Krillin standing before Frieza.

“…You can’t intimidate them with force. Absolutely not.”

“I know.”

The problem was, without a solid justification, he couldn’t touch them.

After all, nominally, they were the secular branches of Huashan, Wudang, and Shaolin, and members of the Han-Chung’s prominent families.

Forcing them with brute force would clearly become a major headache later.

Well… honestly, the easiest solution would be to wipe them all out, but as the representative of the righteous martial arts faction, the Jinwu Academy simply couldn’t do that.

‘We’re not some rogue faction.’

But leaving them be is also problematic.

Hanjung is the frontline. With the Ten Demon Clan potentially invading at any moment, we can’t keep those who won’t cooperate within the city.

When we must unite against enemies, nothing is more dangerous than allies harboring other thoughts.

Ultimately.

“We have to resolve this.”

Some action must be taken.

“That goes without saying. We can’t predict what problems might arise later.”

“I agree.”

Yoo So-pyeong, in charge of military affairs, and Yoo Ho-pyeong—who’d been fast-tracked to temporary deputy commander due to the shortage of literate personnel—nodded in agreement.

“First, we need to establish a justification. Only then can we look ahead.”

“So the question is how to create that justification.”

“We can’t force it.”

“Then?”

“It will naturally emerge with time.”

“Hmm…”

It wasn’t wrong.

If they resolved to check us, they’d inevitably have to attack us. That would give us our justification.

If we struck back decisively at that moment, the martial world of Han and Zhong would be forced to hold its breath.

But.

“I really don’t like it. Waiting… It feels unsettling too…”

It felt like doing your business without flushing, and I really didn’t like it.

It just didn’t seem to fit the clean style of a wireless operator.

Hoping for a good idea, I pondered for a long time with our Zhenwangmen dual cores, Du Ping and Huo Ping, but all we got was overtime work; no real sharp solutions emerged.

In the end, I decided to follow Yoo So-pyeong’s suggestion and wait and see.

After all, we couldn’t counterattack until we took at least one hit.

“Anyway, how are things now? Better than before?”

“Thanks to the senior members of the Red Dragon Hall, all the administrative tasks are handled. Now we just need to assign someone to handle taxes and military service.”

“Should we appoint a tax collector?”

“Yes, but finding a suitable person is difficult.”

“True.”

With tens of thousands of nyang changing hands, we need someone trustworthy.

And intelligent too.

“I’d like to do it myself, but I’m too busy…”

“Hmm… Why not entrust it to Miao Chongguan? She’s incredible with money management, right? ”

“I haven’t dismissed the idea, but entrusting the temple affairs to Sangryeon feels a bit…”

“What’s the harm? Surely she’s not the type to run off with the money? Besides, most high-tax payers among the common folk are merchants—she’d likely handle it better?”

If Myohyang oversees tax collection, no merchant would dare evade taxes.

She’d know their annual earnings like the back of her hand.

“Hmm…”

After a moment’s thought, Yoo So-pyeong nodded.

“Understood. I’ll discuss it with Chief Miao soon.”

“Then let’s call it a day. “

”Yes.”

The night shift warriors of the Jeonwangmun, who had lit up the night in Hanjung, could only leave work well into the night.

* * *

Half a month.

A short time if you think it short, a long time if you think it long.

Pal, who had been on leave, returned and entered group training for the rotating duty cycle consisting of strike, reconnaissance, and guard duties.

He joined the duty later than the other ro, but there was no need for worry.

After all, the leftover rations spilled by Woo Je-jun, the former deputy leader of the Oedang Iljo, alone could fill an entire Damas truck.

In fact, the other Rolas, who were new to this kind of duty, would likely find it much harder.

Ah, tax collection was assigned to Myohyang.

No matter how he thought about it, there was no one more trustworthy than her, and besides, no one would dare cheat her when it came to money.

Instead, I agreed to help Sang-ryeon a little.

“Please maintain order in the market district.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes, if you do that, the Sang-ryeon warriors will have their hands free, so I can move with them.”

Thanks to that, the security squad was tasked with maintaining order within the city, guarding the city gates, and even directing traffic in the market district.

In the past, this might have been considered excessive work, but now it didn’t matter.

The headcount of the Jeonwangmun was twice that of the branch members during the Gu Ryongseong Hanjung branch days.

With Jeong Hwaran’s help, the manpower shortage was solved; with Myo Hyang’s help, the tax issues were resolved.

He thought the only thing left was the cleaning service.

“…Really?”

Various problems began erupting simultaneously.

“Yes. When we chased after the man causing trouble at the tavern, he stubbornly denied any wrongdoing.”

“And?”

“We forced our way in and brought him back, but…”

Woo Je-jun, who had been speaking, looked down at the training ground.

Over fifty martial artists had occupied the area.

They were members of the martial arts sect to which the man captured last night belonged.

“It’s turned into this mess.”

“The guy you brought in is definitely the culprit, right?”

“We verified it multiple times. We even confirmed it with the tavern owner.”

“Then?”

“He’s stubbornly denying it to the end.”

“Damn.”

Even in a standoff, he’s pulling this kind of nonsense.

Back when it was the Hanjung branch of Guryongseong, they didn’t dare utter a peep.

“Drive them out.”

“Yes.”

The moment Woo Je-jun descended, the suppression began.

“We are also citizens of Hanjung!”

“Hmph! The Jeonwangmun, was it? Some upstart who rolled in from who knows where, got lucky winning the competition, and now acts so insolent… The future of Hanjung looks bleak!“

”How dare you! Even if I die today, I will fight to the end and expose your actions to the world.”

For a moment, he considered just killing him, but quickly shook his head.

‘Sigh… Bear with it.’

Because that wasn’t crossing the line.

Just as the suppression was in full swing.

Clunk.

Myohyang entered.

Her usually gentle face now held a sharp edge.

Wondering if today was the day, I cautiously asked.

“Why? Is something wrong?”

Thud.

She plopped down on a chair, crossed her arms, and began to huff and puff.

Then, her eyes welled up with tears.

“What is it? Did some jerk bully you or something?“

”Huu… Well, it’s like this…”

After a moment of deep breathing, Myohyang explained the situation.

Meticulous as she was, she had started scrutinizing every administrative document the moment she was assigned the task of tax collection and discovered several errors.

No matter how carefully she processed them, paperwork in the martial arts world—where there were no computers, let alone ballpoint pens—couldn’t possibly be accurate.

It was only because Myohyang was good with numbers that she caught them.

Anyway, having found the errors, Myohyang sprang into action immediately.

She intended to personally visit Sangryeon’s warriors to compare the documents with the actual figures.

And then.

“What?”

Not only was she blatantly ignored while checking the Han-Jung Sword Gate records, but she was also accused of all sorts of things like, ‘Why is a woman meddling in this?’ ‘What authority does the head of Hanjung Sangryeon have to do this?’ and so on. They seized on every possible pretext to pick a fight.

Myohyang was incredibly angry, but she gritted her teeth, persevered, and finished the task. As soon as she was done, she came straight to me.

As she spoke, her emotions seemed to boil over again; her face clearly showed her indignation.

“Even though I delegated it to you?”

“Yes, they claimed they hadn’t heard anything about it.”

“But you have the credential.”

When I assigned her the task, I issued her a credential with [Tax Collector] written in huge letters.

“That’s only why I finished the job and returned. Without it, I wouldn’t have even started and would’ve been chased away.”

“Ha… Really, these bastards seem to have forgotten my temper…”

The rumor that I was Master Beogung’s immediate disciple probably hadn’t spread this far, but I was once the temporary commander of the Hanjung Branch.

There’s no way they wouldn’t know me.

The battle fought to rescue the Golden Dragon Sect Leader… while not quite legendary, it was certainly a famous fight in its own right.

Yet, they could still act like this for two main reasons.

They believed I couldn’t do anything to them as long as they didn’t cross the line. And…

‘They must have something else to fall back on.’

It must mean they’ve allied with a power of considerable stature.

But that’s just the confidence of a frog in a well, like Vegeta before he witnessed Frieza’s fourth transformation.

“This won’t do. I’ll just have to kill them all. Tell Sangryeon. Tell him to close shop for three days.”

If I truly step in, I could turn the Hanjung martial world into a sea of blood within three days.

“Please hold back.”

But Myohyang gripped my hand tightly.

“If you don’t want to block the rapidly advancing path of Han-Jung.”

“……”

Myohyang was right. No merchant caravan would visit a city turned into a sea of blood.

Committing such an act might bring temporary relief, but cleaning up the mess would take an eternity.

“Hmph…”

I barely composed myself and began thinking of a solution.

‘I never imagined I’d be ostracized like this…’

This isn’t some martial arts high school.

Just as I closed my eyes for a moment, the attendant’s voice reached me.

“Master, Park Ryong, the Sect Leader, has come to see you.”

“Let him in.”

Creak.

“I don’t know what all this fuss is about. Master Bihyang isn’t the type to act like that.”

He entered, grumbling after seeing the commotion outside.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing much. I came to give you this.”

He handed over a box as big as a person’s head.

Judging by its ornate exterior, the contents seemed to be quite high-end.

“Thanks to the budding technique Master Jin passed down, our Donhyang Pavilion’s sales are climbing by the day. So I brought some good tea.”

“……”

It wasn’t exactly a welcome gift for someone like me, frozen stiff.

Still, I couldn’t cold-shoulder someone who’d gone out of their way to bring a present.

“Oh? Well then, let’s have a cup.”

“I’ll brew it.”

“Thanks, sis.”

Over tea, we chatted about this and that.

Among the topics were the recent series of events.

“Huh, rebelling against the former royal family, who were legitimately entrusted with the Han-Chung by the Nine Dragon City… Those bastards must have lost their minds.”

“Exactly.”

“If it were up to me, I’d drag the entire Royal Clan Assembly here and give them a good thrashing.”

“Hearing Lord Beogung speak eases my mind a bit.”

“Heh heh, worries always seem smaller when shared, don’t they? When I have troubles, I too unburden myself by talking with those in the Royal Clan Assembly…”

“Hold on.”

An idea struck me like lightning, cutting off Bukgung Janghwan’s words.

“The Royal Clan Association?”

That was it.

If using my own hands was difficult, couldn’t I just borrow someone else’s?

Especially if that ‘someone else’ was a relative – it couldn’t be more fitting.

“Bukgung Munju. That Royal Clan Association thing, where is it held?”