Clan Fertility Plan

Seeing how completely Chen Daoxuan trusted the Merfolk Tribe.

Luo Li's pretty face flushed slightly, and her favor toward Chen Daoxuan deepened.

Remembering that she had misunderstood Chen Daoxuan, Luo Li felt somewhat embarrassed. "Human cultivator, we've known each other for so long, yet I still don't know your name?"

This caught Chen Daoxuan off guard.

Had he never told her his name?

"My surname is Chen, given name Daoxuan. Miss Luo may simply call me by my name."

Chen Daoxuan cupped his hands as he spoke.

"Alright!"

Luo Li gave Chen Daoxuan a deep look, then turned and leaped into the sea, with the other mermaids following close behind.

"Chen Daoxuan, I'll remember your name."

Only after the Merfolk Tribe had completely vanished did that soft, sweet voice reach Chen Daoxuan's ears.

He swept the area with his Divine Sense and discovered that the Merfolk Tribe had truly left.

Chen Daoxuan immediately flew to Redwood Island. After finding a hidden cave on the island,

he promptly poured out every Spirit Stone from his Storage Bag.

Tens of thousands of Spirit Stones piled on the ground, instantly forming a small mountain. Their overflowing spiritual radiance lit the entire cave as brightly as day.

"One, two, three, four..."

With an excited expression, Chen Daoxuan began carefully counting the Spirit Stones one by one like a wealthy old landlord.

If Luo Li had seen this scene, she would likely have been so furious her nose went crooked, and her good impression of Chen Daoxuan would have vanished without a trace.

"...sixty-three thousand nine hundred ninety-nine, sixty-four thousand!"

"Whew! 64,000 Spirit Stones, exactly right!"

A satisfied smile appeared on Chen Daoxuan's face. "If I make this trade twice, then go to Guang'an Prefecture to buy a Spirit Nurturing Grand Array, Twin Lakes Island's Spirit Vein will be settled."

Thinking of this, Chen Daoxuan grew even happier. "Sure enough, smuggling trade with other races is where the real windfall profits lie."

But immediately afterward, a sense of vigilance arose in Chen Daoxuan's heart.

With such enormous profits, he believed that across the vast Myriad Star Sea, the Chen Family could not be the only one doing it. He had to be even more careful.

"Why think so much? At least for now, the Merfolk Tribe only trades with my Chen Family. As long as they don't expose it, my Chen Family will naturally be fine. Besides, if we want the family to grow strong, how can we fear wolves ahead and tigers behind?"

Shaking his head, Chen Daoxuan laughed at himself and cast the matter aside.

He put away the mountain of Spirit Stones on the ground.

Chen Daoxuan flew out of the cave, got his bearings, and flew back toward Twin Lakes Island.

By the time Chen Daoxuan returned to Twin Lakes Island, dawn had already begun to break.

After some thought, he did not return to his Cave Mansion to cultivate, nor did he go to the Artifact Factory.

Instead, he summoned all the clan's upper ranks and convened another Clan Meeting.

Changping County.

Chen Clan Ancestral Hall.

Inside the vast council hall, the Chen Clan's upper ranks stood with lowered heads. On the left were the Artifact Factory's senior personnel led by Chen Liangyu, while on the right were the officials of the Changping County Yamen.

Chen Daoxuan's gaze swept over Chen Liangyu before finally settling on Chen Zhi, the Changping County Magistrate standing first on the right.

"County Magistrate Chen, have you completed the detailed investigation of the clan's population that I ordered?"

"Reporting to the Young Clan Leader,"

Chen Zhi cupped his hands. "This subordinate completed the investigation ten days ago. After verification by the County Yamen, it was found that the Chen Clan has 1,039 children under the age of ten. Those between fifteen and forty years old, the prime of life, are the most numerous, totaling 1,665. Those over forty are the fewest, with only 969.

"Among them, the clan has 914 adult men, while there are only 751 adult women. The population within the County City..."

Chen Zhi skillfully reported the clan's population data once more.

The results of this population review were exactly the same as the figures submitted by the County Yamen ten days earlier.

This proved that Chen Zhi had indeed not slackened during this period and had thoroughly investigated the clan's population situation.

Of all this population data, what Chen Daoxuan valued most were the adult population and the children under ten.

In this world, men and women generally married quite young. Girls typically married at around thirteen or fourteen, while men married somewhat later, though usually no later than fifteen.

The reason the Chen Family had failed to grow stronger over so many years on Twin Lakes Island was, on one hand, a lack of cultivation resources, preventing enough cultivators from emerging to protect the clansmen. On the other hand, the clan's industries were too meager to support a vast population.

The Chen Family, a small clan like this, did not dare dream of a mortal population in the tens of millions like the Guang'an Prefecture Zhou Family.

After all, the clan's mortals also consumed all kinds of resources.

Clothing, food, housing, and travel all required resources.

Though cultivators might disdain these resources, for Cultivation Families, they were vital resources that affected a clan's foundations, because they determined the scale of a clan's population.

For instance, the basic condition for sustaining a population—food!

Chen Daoxuan did not know how many Spirit Veins the Zhou Family controlled, but everyone in Guang'an Prefecture knew that the Zhou Family alone possessed more than several hundred islands used to grow ordinary grain.

Not to mention the cargo ships constantly coming and going through Guang'an Prefecture, endlessly supplying the Zhou Family's clansmen with food.

It was precisely because of this food that the Zhou Family's population had continued to grow, eventually reaching tens of millions.

Chen Daoxuan also wanted to emulate the Zhou Family's development model, though he needed to make certain changes on that foundation.

If the Chen Family wanted to grow stronger, relying on the few thousand people on Twin Lakes Island was utterly impossible.

Every member of the clan's upper ranks understood this clearly.

However, the clan's circumstances were difficult. It could not even guarantee the spiritual qi needed for cultivators to cultivate. Blindly expanding the clan's population would only drag the clan down completely.

As someone who had crossed over, Chen Daoxuan understood that if a population could not be transformed into productive power, it would ultimately become an enormous burden on the clan rather than a source of support.

Fortunately, because of his presence, the Chen Family had sparked the beginnings of Immortal Realm-style industrialization in the outskirts beyond Changping County.

And industrialization's demand for population was beyond question.

Take the Flying Sword Factory in the Industrial Zone, for example. Though only fifteen workers were needed to keep the Flying Sword Factory running,

the manpower required around this Flying Sword Factory was far more than fifteen people.

For example, those who procured Spirit Mine ore as raw materials, those responsible for managing the factory, and those responsible for packaging the Crimson Shadow Flying Swords—in other words, the workshops that produced sword cases.

When Chen Daoxuan sold Flying Swords to Human cultivators, he could hardly sell them as he did to the Merfolk Tribe, without even any packaging.

All of this required a large population.

Moreover, as the Flying Sword Factory expanded in the future, its demand for population would only grow greater.

Therefore, not only did the Chen Family need to expand its population, Chen Daoxuan also did not intend to use that expanded population for growing grain.

Yet food was also a crucial foundation of the clan. The Chen Family could not keep relying on outside purchases to sustain its food consumption.

Chen Daoxuan already had a solution in mind for this situation.

However.

For the Chen Family at present, there were only two most important matters:

First, cultivate a Spirit Vein.

Second, expand the clan's population.

Chen Daoxuan intended to handle both matters together.

The matter of the Spirit Vein was already easy to resolve. Now and in the future, expanding the clan's population would be the Chen Clan's fundamental policy.

At least for the next three hundred years.

The expansion of the Chen Clan's population would not cease.

Thinking of this.

Chen Daoxuan looked at Chen Zhi and said, "County Magistrate Chen, the day after tomorrow, I will set out for Guang'an Prefecture to procure supplies for the clan. During the two months I am away, I want your County Yamen to establish a Clan Fertility Plan department, specifically responsible for encouraging and guiding the clansmen to have children.

"I'll set a target for you. Within three years, I want the clan's population to increase tenfold!"

At these words.

Chen Zhi's expression changed on the spot. Looking troubled, he said, "But Young Clan Leader, there are not many women in the clan capable of bearing children. To increase tenfold, this..."

"I know there aren't enough women in the clan right now, but there soon will be."

Chen Daoxuan said calmly.