At the beginning of July, news that the Zhang brothers, Zhang Tie and Zhang Yang, had split the family caused quite a stir in You Province. If it had merely been an ordinary division of assets between children of a wealthy clan, it would have been nothing. But Zhang Tie and Zhang Yang were both famous figures in You Province, practically the most closely watched pair of brothers in the entire province. Naturally, news of their split drew considerable attention.
Another reason the Zhang brothers' split caused such a sensation was that, immediately afterward, Zhang Tie made a high-profile announcement in Torch Dragon Territory—Torch Dragon Territory would seek merchant groups and families across the provinces of Great Xia to cooperate in producing Torch Oil.
The moment this news emerged, countless powerful families with their eyes on Torch Oil practically leaped to their feet.
Over the past few months, perhaps even Zhang Tie himself had not realized that with the advent of Torch Dragon Territory's Torch Oil, all of Torch Dragon Territory had already become the focal point of countless Great Xia families.
Anyone with half a brain could see Torch Oil's immense value in both economic and military fields. Especially after Torch Dragon Territory used its new engines and planes soaring into the skies to provide the most direct proof of that value, Great Xia's great clans had begun to stir one after another.
Yet those qualified to get a hand in the Torch Oil trade in Great Xia were by no means ordinary families or merchant groups. While one eye was fixed on Torch Dragon Territory's Torch Oil, their other eye was watching Xuanyuan Hill.
At Xuanyuan Hill, it was already set in stone that Devouring Party leader Meng Shidao would soon assume the post of Grand Minister of