Beast Taming Immortal Clan

Chapter 308 The Powerful Zhou Family [Please Subscribe]

Since Zhou Chun succeeded as the head of the Zhou family and took control of the family's power, the number of elders' meetings has increased significantly.

This is certainly related to the many things that happened after he succeeded as clan chief, but the biggest reason is that he himself prefers this kind of meeting.

Zhou Daoyi was considered a very enlightened clan leader, but even when he was the clan leader, he would avoid holding such elders' meetings whenever possible.

Because in the hearts of cultivators in this world, the authority of clan leaders and sect leaders is beyond question. Holding an elders' meeting and letting the elders intervene in the management of the clan is a weakening and questioning of their authority.

Therefore, except for certain major events involving the life and death of a family or sect, most of the time, the leaders and patriarchs of those sects and families do not convene elder meetings to allow the elders of the sect or family to divide their power.

But Zhou Chun was different. He wasn't afraid that his power as clan leader would be taken away by someone else, because he was confident that no one in the Zhou family was more suitable for the position than him.

If one day a person with exceptional abilities truly emerges in the Zhou family, he will, like Zhou Daoyi before him, gladly step down and yield the position to a more capable person.

Moreover, everything has its advantages and disadvantages. While the elders' council distributes the power of the clan leader, it also distributes the responsibilities.

Decisions made by the elders' council represent the endorsement of all senior members of the family, and even if they cause any major adverse effects later, everyone will share the responsibility.

If everyone shares the responsibility, it means that no one will take responsibility!

This is also very important!

Now that the decision had been made to convene a meeting of the family elders, Zhou Chun first sent notices to all the elders and the Supreme Elder, and then ordered his subordinates from various departments and clerks to compile the materials to be used at the meeting.

The report-style meeting was a change that Zhou Chun brought to the Zhou family.

From initial surprise to current adaptation and anticipation, all the elders of the Zhou family have personally experienced this process.

In the past, every elder who participated in the meeting would be in a heavy mood, because it must have been because the family had encountered some major problem that was difficult to solve.

But now, before attending a meeting, they all have a sense of anticipation in their hearts.

Despite being elders, they have the right to access various documents at any time and to stay informed about personnel changes and financial fluctuations within the family.

However, out of trust in clan leader Zhou Chun and not wanting to waste too much time researching, they wouldn't actually look into these things.

Therefore, attending each elders' meeting is the most convenient way for them to understand changes in the family.

This time was no exception.

Half a month later, when the elders' meeting, presided over by Zhou Chun, was held behind closed doors in the Zhongping Hall, all but a few people who were unable to attend due to important matters were present, including the two Supreme Elders and four family elders.

At this moment, after everyone had arrived, Zhou Chun took the lead and bowed to everyone, saying, "Elders, elders, the reason I have summoned you all here for this meeting is because of a recent event that has caused me great concern and unease. I would like to hear your opinions and suggestions."

After speaking, he recounted the actions of Zhou Zhengxin and Zhou Xinli, explained his punishment of them, and expressed his concerns afterward.

This matter has recently spread throughout the Zhou family, but not many of the high-ranking cultivators at the elder level know about it.

After all, these elders usually focus on cultivation, and unless someone specifically tells them, they generally don't care much about these internal family punishments.

Upon hearing Zhou Chun's words, many people showed expressions of surprise.

"What you're saying, Masaharu, is something that definitely needs to be taken seriously."

"Things are different now than before. Although our Zhou family is more powerful now, we are also more likely to attract attention. There are countless people who are jealous of our Zhou family in secret."

"If we are not careful and give others an opportunity to cause trouble, it will definitely bring unnecessary trouble and losses to the family!"

Zhou Mingde spoke in a deep voice with a solemn expression, first stating his own views.

In fact, he himself felt this most deeply.

The battle between Golden Core cultivators that took place outside the family's mountain gate was caused by him, which brought a powerful enemy to the family.

To resolve this matter, the Zhou family undoubtedly paid a considerable price.

Therefore, he certainly did not want a similar incident to happen in his family again.

"The Supreme Elder is absolutely right. Our Zhou family may not be afraid of trouble, but we must not provoke it."

"The family has developed too quickly in recent years. The younger generation has only enjoyed the benefits of the family's rapid development, but they have no idea about the hardships and difficulties the family faced before. They don't know how hard-won their current life was!"

"This incident occurred because we focused our energy on other things and neglected this aspect of education."

"It's time to pay attention to this matter. We must reverse this unhealthy trend, wear down the arrogance of those tribesmen, and prevent such incidents from happening again!"

The one who said these words was the Fourth Elder, Zhou Jiarui.

As an elder of the Zhou family and the designated acting patriarch when Zhou Chun was away, he had the deepest understanding and involvement in family affairs among all the elders.

He also interacted a lot with the younger members of his family, so he had a good understanding of their thoughts and conduct.

Hearing his words, Zhou Daoyi suddenly looked at Zhou Chun and asked, "Then, Zheng Chun, what are your thoughts?"

"Your Excellency is wise, and I do indeed have some thoughts."

Zhou Chun nodded and immediately began to share his thoughts.

"In my opinion, to reverse this unhealthy trend, firstly, we must make these clansmen realize how much harm such behavior that violates clan rules will bring to themselves and their families; secondly, we must let them know that although the Zhou family is not weak now, it is far from enough to give them the right to act recklessly outside, and their limited abilities are simply not enough to allow them to run rampant in the cultivation world!"

"The former could revise and change the clan rules, increase the penalties for such incidents, and establish new clan rules that clearly tell them that the clan will not protect them for their intentional acts of murder for money, so that they will not expect to get away with it by hiding in the clan after committing evil deeds outside!"

"For the latter, it would be best to unite with other forces to hold some martial arts competitions, letting them witness the strength of the elites from other forces, thereby crushing their arrogance!"

At this point, he bowed to the two elders and said, "Of course, these are just some of my personal thoughts, just a preliminary idea. As for how to proceed, I would like to ask the two elders and all the elders to discuss it together."

"Hmm, Masaharu, your idea is not bad, but you need to be careful to maintain the right balance when implementing it."

Zhou Mingde nodded in agreement with Zhou Chun's idea.

Then, just as Zhou Chun had said, the nearly ten senior members of the Zhou family began to discuss ways to rectify the family's conduct, based on the ideas provided by Zhou Chun.

After this discussion, everyone reached a consensus.

With the consent of the two elders, the modification of the clan rules' punishment intensity and the formulation of new clan rules were both permitted.

However, the new clan rules were not as heartless as Zhou Chun had said. For clan members who made mistakes outside, in addition to punishing them internally, the clan would still provide them with some protection, provided that the clan could cover up their mistakes.

Sometimes, siding with relatives regardless of right or wrong is a necessary means of maintaining public morale.

Zhou Chun understood this and did not have much objection.

As for the matter of joining forces with other factions to hold a martial arts competition, it was agreed upon by the higher-ups.

However, whether this matter can be accomplished, whether it can be done well, and whether it can achieve the effect Zhou Chun described are all uncertain at this point.

After all, the Zhou family is indeed in a class of its own among the cultivation families in Lanzhou. The young cultivators of the Zhou family are indeed stronger than their peers from other families, otherwise they would not have become so arrogant.

Therefore, if we really want to curb their arrogance, we can only ask those Golden Core families, or those powerful immortal cultivation clans whose strength is only slightly inferior to the Zhou family, to participate.

However, those families may not be willing to participate in the activities organized by the Zhou family, nor may they be willing to serve as a whetstone for the Zhou family.

After discussing the matter of rectifying family traditions, Zhou Chun opened the palace door and had the clerks waiting outside bring in documents and reports to report on the current personnel and resources of the Zhou family.

"Elder, Clan Chief, and all elders, as instructed by the Clan Chief, I am now reporting to you the verified information on the Zhou family members."

"Currently, there are 285 cultivators in my Zhou family, including 216 members of the Zhou family clan, 71 members of the maternal relatives, 180 male cultivators, and 106 female cultivators."

"Apart from the Supreme Elder, the Clan Chief, and all the elders, including the relatives of the clan cultivators, the Zhou family currently has 33 core members, 80 elite members, and 161 ordinary members."

"Among these clansmen, there are 46 late-stage Qi Refining cultivators, 97 mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators, and 99 early-stage Qi Refining cultivators. There are also 33 clansmen who are too young to have entered the Dao of cultivation yet."

At the lower end of the hall, a young member of the Zhou family stood holding a book, slowly reporting on the situation of the Zhou family members in a slightly nervous tone.

Upon hearing his report, Zhou Zhengyuan, who was usually engrossed in alchemy, exclaimed in surprise, "Our family already has so many cultivators?"

His impression of the Zhou family's size was still from the time when there were fewer than two hundred people.

I never imagined that such a big change would happen to the family in just over ten years.

"Thanks to the special birth allowance policy implemented by the family, the younger generation in the family has been more active in having children in recent years. In addition, the number of ordinary people in the family has also increased significantly every year, providing the family with more children with spiritual roots. Therefore, the family's population has indeed grown quite rapidly."

"In addition, the family is now thriving, and more female cultivators from both small and large families are willing to become Daoist partners with family cultivators, which has led to a relatively rapid increase in the number of family relatives who are also cultivators."

Zhou Chun answered with a smile, saying that this was one of his achievements, and he was naturally very gratified and happy to talk about it.

"No wonder the family's demand for pills to improve the cultivation of Qi Refining stage cultivators has increased significantly in recent years; it turns out the family's number of cultivators has grown to this extent!"

Zhou Zhengyuan murmured as if he had just realized something, as if he had solved a mystery.

His expression then changed slightly, and he couldn't help but look at Zhou Chun and ask, "But with so many family cultivators, the consumption of food and supplies must be enormous. Can the family's finances support this ever-increasing expenditure?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chun chuckled and said, "Sixth Brother, don't worry about that. Although the family's expenses are not low, the income is also considerable, so maintaining the current level of expenditure shouldn't be a problem."

Hearing this, Zhou Zhengyuan immediately smiled and said, "Then I'm relieved. In any case, an increase in the number of family members is a good thing; with people, there is a future!"

"Zhengyuan is absolutely right. With people, there is no future. Our Zhou family doesn't need to worry about the number of cultivators increasing too much; our only concern is not having enough people!"

Zhou Mingde nodded repeatedly, his words filled with joy at the large increase in the number of cultivators in the Zhou family.

Zhou Daoyi couldn't help but sigh, "That's exactly right. In the cultivation world, having a child with spiritual roots is a matter of luck, but controlling the growth of the number of cultivators and reducing their numbers is a matter of countless methods!"

The only way to increase the number of cultivators is through birth.

However, there are many ways to reduce the number of cultivators.

Whether they died in war or accident, were married female cultivators, or were sent to sects, these can reduce the population burden of a cultivation family.

Therefore, for the Zhou family, when it comes to controlling the growth rate of the family's cultivator population, it is easy to control, and there is no need to consider it now.

"So what's the family's financial situation like right now? Judging from your tone, Masazumi, the family's income must be quite good!"

Zhou Zhengyuan stared intently at Zhou Chun and asked with a tone of anticipation.

Even though he doesn't usually concern himself with external affairs, he knows that whether he can live comfortably depends entirely on the family's financial situation.

After all, since he successfully established his foundation, he has not actually fought with other cultivators of the same level, nor has he gone out on any adventures.

This means that he can hardly obtain any income from outside the family, and his dependence on the family is the highest among all the elders.

Therefore, he sincerely did not want his family's finances to be in trouble, so as to affect his spiritual practice.

"Yes, the family income is quite good right now, and we expect it to get even better in the future!"

Zhou Chun nodded with a smile, her tone quite smug.

This is also his achievement. It was his hard work and dedication after he became the clan leader that transformed the Zhou family from a financial deficit to a prosperous one.

Without keeping them in suspense, he immediately had the younger member of the Zhou family report on the Zhou family's financial situation.

(End of this chapter)