No Money to Cultivate, but Money for a Banquet
"Wei-mei, you've been working in our Dangwu Village for over six years now."
"And the time I spent traveling and chatting with you, all added up, doesn't even add up to two months." Tang Tiansong gently stroked Yu Wei's left hand with an apologetic expression.
"Tiansong, as the head of the clan of more than 30,000 people, you have it tough and are really too busy. Yu Wei has no complaints about you at all."
You must ensure that these 30,000 people live in peace and prosperity, support and train 3,000 tribal soldiers to guard against the barbaric Western Rong savages, and also improve your own cultivation.
"Tiansong, you've really had a tough time." Yu Wei started massaging Tang Tiansong's shoulders.
"I am already Qi Refining Realm cultivator, and I feel that it will take me at least two years to break through to the Qi Refining Second Layer."
The key to cultivating immortality lies in enlightenment; one must not be too hasty...
I've made up my mind. For the next six months, I'll spend every day with you, and we'll travel and enjoy nature every day.
"Yu Wei, tell me, how big is the sacrifice I've made for you?" Tang Tiansong raised an eyebrow.
"Whispering sound...
Although I am not a naturally Aperture Opener, I am unable to become a cultivator.
"But you think I don't know? Tianzi and Tianya both told me." Yu Wei deliberately went a little harder.
"The Spiritual Qi in Carefree Cave is more concentrated, but it's definitely not enough for three people. Are you planning to give it to Tianlan and Tianzi so they can go to Carefree Cave to meditate and cultivate?"
Since Lord Little White didn't come to inform you, you don't dare to go to Three Graves Mountain to kill the Demon Beast now.
So, you do have quite a bit of free time right now.
"Hey, these younger siblings who betray their own brother." Tang Tiansong's lips twitched.
"However, Yu Wei and Tianlan have indeed come to regard you as their sister-in-law."
Oh, I forgot.
"Men and women shouldn't touch each other, and we're not married yet." Yu Wei recoiled as if she'd been electrocuted.
"Hey, we've been married for ages."
"All that's left is to consummate the marriage..." Tang Tiansong pulled Yu Wei into his arms.
"Tch, even though I have no family left, I still need you to marry me properly." Yu Wei looked at Tang Tiansong with deep affection.
"You, Yu Wei, are the love of my life, Tang Tiansong. I, Tang Tiansong, will only marry you in this life, so of course you must marry me properly."
Not only do I want a formal marriage, but I also want to hold an engagement banquet first, with a thousand tables.
When the wedding banquet is held, I want to set up three thousand tables and have a three-day, three-night continuous feast.
I am the chieftain of a clan of 30,000 people, and you are the matriarch of a clan of 30,000 people. Of course, we should marry you properly.
Tang Tiansong had a happy expression on his face.
Although Tang Tiansong truly loved Yu Wei, he wouldn't tell her about the [Aperture-Opening Pill] given to him by Mystic Spoon Immortal Venerable.
"A banquet with a thousand tables would cost around two or three thousand taels of silver."
"Isn't this a bit too extravagant..." Yu Wei hesitated.
"How much money can a banquet of several thousand tables cost? Don't forget that your husband's family is rich."
"And there are two mines," Tang Tiansong chuckled.
"Furthermore, the expenses for the banquet were all earned by the people under my rule, Tang Tiansong."
This is called keeping the good stuff within the family.
They'd love for me to throw banquets every day, all year round.
"Hehe, my husband is truly amazing; he's so selfless."
"When they hold their own wedding banquets, they're always thinking about how to benefit the people under their rule." Yu Wei pouted, stood up, and poured Tang Tiansong another cup of tea.
"But, Tiansong, why do I feel like you've been looking so worried lately?"
Now that you've broken through to the Qi Refining Qi Refinement, you can be considered a notable figure among the cultivators of Prosperous Dragon Lake, where Spiritual Qi is scarce.
Cui Xueyong's father, Cui Lihai, is nearly sixty years old, but he has only Meridian Opening Seventh Layer Refining Realm.
The Cui Household is a moderately large cultivation Lineage, with only about fifty cultivators.
Tianlan and the others had all Meridian Opening Fourth Layer.
Last month, among your 30,000 people, you found 21 individuals aged 9 to 25 who were born with Aperture Opener and could cultivate immortality.
In that case, including Song Wenchang, the Dangwu Village, our Tang Household has twenty-nine cultivators of all ages, which can be considered a Lineage cultivators.
Tiansong, you said it yourself, our family owns mines and is rich, so what are you worried about?
Don't put too much responsibility or pressure on yourself.
"If you're really tired, our clan leader is quitting."
Tang Tiansong gave a wry smile, "Yu Wei, although our family owns a mine, we're still short of money."
To be precise, the problem is a lack of money for cultivators— Spirit Stone.
There's a huge shortage...
Yu Wei frowned slightly.
"Don't worry, our family may not have the money to cultivate immortality, but we certainly have enough for a wedding banquet." Tang Tiansong pinched Yu Wei's cheek.
"My mother and I have agreed that we will hold our engagement banquet on the ninth day of the tenth lunar month, the month after next. We will have a thousand tables."
"We'll have a formal wedding banquet, scheduled for the sixth day of the ninth lunar month next year, with 3,000 tables, lasting three days and three nights," Tang Tiansong said with pride.
Yu Wei nodded, "But isn't setting up three thousand tables a bit wasteful?"
"What's the waste?"
As the saying goes, "Don't let the good stuff go to outsiders."
The expenses for the banquet were all earned by the people under my rule, Tang Tiansong.
Even those who can't make money can still enjoy a few meals of wine and meat.
"Hehe, this will make all 30,000 of my people happy, unforgettable, and a cause for universal celebration." Tang Tiansong's lips curled slightly.
"Then we should accept less or no gifts from the clansmen. This way, your prestige as the clan leader will be even higher," Yu Wei suggested.
"Wei-mei is indeed clever; she and your husband are thinking the same thing."
"I plan to give each family one to nine copper coins as a gift, so the whole family can have a big feast together," Tang Tiansong said with a smile.
"However, wealthier Lineage tend to ask for more in betrothal gifts."
Now, under the jurisdiction of Dangwu Town, there are five villages: Miao Household Stronghold, Willow Bay Village, Dangwu Village, Eight Springs Village, and He Household Hamlet, totaling 5,816 households. In the past, the so-called wealthy households, those with assets of more than a thousand taels of silver, numbered only twenty or thirty.
Currently, under the jurisdiction of my Tang Household, there are approximately two hundred wealthy households with assets of a thousand taels of silver, and even thirteen extremely wealthy households with assets of ten thousand taels of silver.
The reason these wealthy households were able to become rich so quickly in less than four years was not only because they were smart and hardworking, but also largely because my Tang Household took care of all the business in the mines, such as ore smelting, ore transportation, tool procurement, the miners' food, clothing and daily necessities, and coal sales.
In other places, clan chiefs take a cut of two to ten percent, or even more.
My Tang Household only takes five per thousand.
Hehe, in less than thirty years, I think the number of people under the rule of my Tang Household will reach 60,000.
"The population will double in less than thirty years?"
"Does Tiansong intend to annex other villages or take in a large number of refugees?" Yu Wei asked with some concern.
"To annex other villages is no easy task."
Besides, annexing other villages will definitely lead to deaths, which I don't like.
I don't like being bullied, and I don't like bullying others.
As for refugees, Non-Self our kind, and we don't know their backgrounds, so we dare not take in too many. At most, we can only provide them with a few meals."Tang Tiansong smiled bitterly. "The reason why the number of people under the Tang Household's rule has doubled in less than thirty years is entirely due to the welfare conditions that my father, Tang Yuan, suggested I set in the letters he left behind."
Now, all members of my Tang Lineage who live to a ripe old age receive monthly subsidies for basic food and clothing.
For every male infant born into the Tang Lineage, the family will be rewarded with a calf, ten acres of fertile land, and ten taels of silver.
For each female infant born, the reward will be two lambs, five acres of fertile land, and five taels of silver.
Furthermore, the Tang Household established a special Childcare Bureau for children under five years old, providing wet nurses, doctors, and nannies to help clan members raise their children to the age of five.
I heard from Tianzi that nowadays, the people under my Tang Household's rule are having babies every single day.
"Ah, if this continues, the Tang Household's money will run out sooner or later." Yu Wei also gave a wry smile.
Although my dad says, "Many hands make light work."
However, with more children, thanks to the rewards and subsidies from my Tang Household, I found that the tribespeople not only didn't become poorer, but actually became wealthier. Children are hope, and with children, the tribespeople are more motivated.
The children's food, clothing, and daily necessities, including clay figurines, rocking horses, and other toys, have also led to an increase in business opportunities for the tribe.
"There is fertile land, yes. The land under the jurisdiction of my Tang Household can fully support sixty or seventy thousand people. It's just that besides grain, we really need to buy a lot of oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, clothing, and herbs." Tang Tiansong curled his lip.
"Fortunately, my Tang Household owns a coal mine and a copper mine, two mineral resources that can support our clansmen and soldiers."
However, I've also investigated, and I estimate that these two mines can only be mined for about thirty years.
Thirty years later, it won't be so easy to dig it up.
What will happen thirty years from now, when all the coal and copper mines are exhausted?
"Should we cancel these benefits?" Yu Wei asked.
"Thirty years later?" Tang Tiansong was somewhat bewildered, thinking to himself, "Thirty years later, the Dragon-Gazing Lake Desert, where my father suggested diverting water, will probably become a land of plenty for miles around..."