Chapter 677: Population Problem, Part 2

Chapter 677: Chapter 457: Population Problem, Part 2

“But as soon as we got here, this woman latched onto a local steward. She said I couldn’t give her what she wanted. I knew I couldn’t keep her, so I chose to let her go. But she still has to pay me back for the food on our journey. She’s a woman, yet her bowl had more porridge than I did, a grown man! I couldn’t let that stand, so I went to argue my case, and that’s how the fight started…”

Zhao Gong’s face darkened as he listened. What was all this ridiculous nonsense? Still, the man sounded so genuinely wronged that it didn’t seem like he was lying.

But he couldn’t just take one person’s word for it, so he questioned the woman next. Under the pressure of Zhao Gong’s powerful Divine Sense, the slightly plump woman dared not lie. Her story was largely the same as the man’s, just skewed toward her own perspective—claiming she had no choice but to rely on someone else, that she had to swallow her pride to survive, and that now she just wanted to be her own person.

“Rules are rules. You tried to take her food by force. Even though there was a reason, you must still be punished to make an example of you. Take him away and give him thirty strikes with the board.”

Zhao Gong was in no mood to judge the right and wrong of the matter. He simply handed down the punishment and announced the man’s fate.

The original crime warranted beheading, but Zhao Gong had only ordered thirty strikes with the board—a punishment the man would likely recover from in half a month. Seeing the man being dragged away, Zhao Gong turned to Yu Man City.

“Did you hear all that? The unfair distribution of porridge was the main cause of this whole farce. As for that steward of yours, I see no need for him to continue in his post.”

Yu Man City forced a smile. Zhao Gong now had leverage over him. He cursed inwardly. ‘Playing with women is one thing, but how could you be so undiscerning? You got me into trouble, and you still want to be a steward? Go clean the latrines!’

Yu Man City even shot a glance at the woman. ‘What a troublemaker. Where did she even come from, having none of the proper Confucian virtues? Even though I’m a White Mountain Person myself, I can’t stand her type.’

After dealing with this little incident, Zhao Gong said to Yu Man City:

“I have to inspect the next settlement. The next time I come, I expect to hear how you’ve handled this. As for that man, he has some skill and a sense of responsibility. He managed to snatch food from the jaws of Corpse Ghosts and still keep this woman well-fed and plump. I think he’d be quite suitable as a steward.”

Yu Man City was stunned for a moment, then nodded. He was also quite curious to see if the woman would continue to cling to the man after he became a steward.

…..

In the Sect Leader’s Quiet Chamber in the Qingyuan Sect, Liu Xun was reporting to Fang Qingyuan on the mortal population of the sect and the alliance.

“The sect’s population is currently approaching one and a half million, and it’s still growing by fifty thousand each year. Nearly twenty thousand of that is from natural births, while the rest are mortals migrating from the various Sect Clans of White Mountain. Although we’ve already tightened the conditions for migration, many mortals are still flocking to us.

I think we need to impose stricter limits. Most of the sect’s farmland has already been cultivated. All that’s left are some lakes, swamps, and forested mountain areas where we haven’t settled anyone. I estimate that the sect’s lands can support a maximum of two million people. At this rate, we’ll hit that ceiling in less than ten years.”

Listening to Liu Xun’s report, Fang Qingyuan closed his eyes in contemplation. The last decade had been the best period of development for the Qingyuan Sect. Besides the addition of Bear Wind, which had greatly increased the sect’s strength, the constant influx of people from the outside and the steady stream of various orders were the true foundation of the Qingyuan Sect’s growth.

It was just a shame that the Qingyuan Sect was about to be choked by its own success. A sect with a territory of only fifty to sixty li in radius—smaller than an Immortal Mansion—was somehow crammed with a population of one and a half million.

This had made the Qingyuan Sect the most crowded sect in all of White Mountain, with a population density comparable to the Immortal Cities in the Qi Yun Territory.

Was a large population good? Of course it was. Currently, the number of Immortal Children who ascended in the Qingyuan Sect each year was as high as thirty or forty. That amounted to three or four hundred Cultivators in a decade, and three or four thousand in a century.

Cultivators represented heritage, combat power, and strength.

However, a large population also had its downsides. Resource consumption was one thing, but more people also meant more problems. Right now, just managing these one and a half million people required a hundred of the Qingyuan Sect’s disciples.

In the Cultivation Realm, the Great Zhou Academy promoted a feudal system. The basic idea was that mortals should be governed by mortals, and Cultivators by Cultivators. This was the prevailing philosophy in the Qi Yun Mainland.

But in White Mountain, this model didn’t work well. In the eyes of the White Mountain People, everything belonged to them, so why add a mortal lord in the middle?

Besides, even if a mortal lord was wise and powerful, he would have to be replaced in fifty or sixty years at most. How could that compare to the lifespan of a Cultivator?

Fang Qingyuan also disliked such a crude management style. Having witnessed the efficiency of the information-age civilization in his past life, he found it difficult to tolerate a system so backward, one on par with medieval times. As a result, many of the Qingyuan Sect’s internal administrative structures had been adjusted according to his views.

He wouldn’t dare say it was unique in White Mountain, but in terms of efficiency, it was definitely several levels above its peers. Just looking at how such a small territory supported a population of one and a half million, only the orthodox Lianshui Alliance in White Mountain could compare.

“Then let’s keep pushing people to the other members of the alliance. What does everyone think about that?”

Fang Qingyuan tapped his fingers on the table, asking for the opinions of the other allies in the Qingyuan Alliance. Currently, the Qingyuan Sect was the dominant power in the alliance, but Fang Qingyuan had no desire to be a despot. He wanted everyone’s interests to align with his, so they would willingly follow him forward.