"The Intendant agreed just like that?"
In a side room of Bai Yousi's Vermilion-Sash courtyard, Qin Bao looked at the pile of documents and files on Zhang Xing's desk, finding it hard to believe.
"Why wouldn't he?"
Zhang Xing propped his legs, which supposedly could no longer circulate true qi, on the desk. Reclining in a large backed chair, he leafed through a file and chatted with Qin Bao, who was waiting to leave work with him. "Did you think I was joking that day? If we actually put this thing together, it really will be enormously beneficial to Great Wei..."
"I know, I know." Qin Bao sat down somewhat uneasily. "Once the Black Ranking comes out, if a few words can stir up infighting among bandits, that alone would be an enormous windfall. But the White Ranking..."
"Is exactly what you think." Zhang Xing kept leafing through the documents without looking up. "Once the White Ranking comes out, the martial world will fight among itself, cultivators will wear one another down, legitimate gangs will turn against each other, and scions of great clans will constantly show off their courage and pick fights. For the court, that's also a good thing whose benefits outweigh its drawbacks... the court would love for all those White Ranking heroes to die off too. What's so hard to understand? Even the Outstanding Talent Ranking makes it easier for the court to win people over. Your clan's son ranks first on the Hebei Outstanding Talent Ranking, so why isn't he entering government service? This second son from a commoner family ranks eighteenth on the realm's Outstanding Talent Ranking, and sooner or later the court will recruit him. Why is your Bai Clan trying to win him over? Are you harboring treacherous intentions?"
Qin Bao sighed