Not just the two of them, Chu Xue was also utterly bewildered, and Ruo Shui, deeply interested, sat up from the **. If the wealthy did not spend extravagantly, pouring out their money, how would the poor even manage to survive? These initial remarks sounded absurd, yet upon closer reflection, held a certain kernel of truth.

Ren Bo was only stunned for a moment before letting out a cold snort, anger flaring in his eyes: "My Lord speaks nonsense and twists logic! The rich being extravagant to support the common people is truly a fallacy! In times of peace, perhaps it holds some logic. But here, on the Eastern Front of Yunlu, amidst constant warfare between cities, it is a path to ruin! You must know that the world's resources and manpower are always finite. An extra portion used here means one less portion there. Our Qiantian Mountain is surrounded by powerful enemies; we should be practicing agriculture and war, valuing diligence and frugality. All resources must be poured into the military! If it is as My Lord suggests, diverting manpower, sending the populace to work for those powerful merchants and clans, how many will then be willing to serve in the army?"

Clearly quite agitated, Ren Bo’s beard trembled slightly: "It is one thing for My Lord to favor luxury, but why utter words that disturb the people’s hearts? Do you not realize such words, once spread, will surely shake the foundation of the state? The nobles and merchants within the realm will follow suit. The simplicity left by the late sovereign will surely vanish without a trace!"

This time it was Zong Shou’s turn to be dumbfounded, choked by the rapid-fire questioning. He mused that this old man actually possessed genuine talent, as his own excuse had been dismantled so quickly.

He only knew that in later ages, nations not only promoted the circulation of money but also encouraged public consumption. He had simply forgotten the peculiar circumstances of this era. These words, well-reasoned and presented, held substantial merit. However, seeing Ren Bo’s righteous indignation, Zong Shou inexplicably felt a wave of irritation, unwilling to be proven wrong by the other man.

His eyes immediately narrowed, and countless thoughts flashed through his mind, even activating the Great Yi Luo Tian Kong Ming Fa to rapidly deduce and calculate.

Beside him, Chu Xue had already let out a quiet sigh of relief. She thought that the Chancellor was indeed wise; how could such extravagance and waste possibly be made to sound reasonable? The Young Lord was clearly talking nonsense to fool people. Just as she was thinking this, she abruptly heard Zong Shou let out another light chuckle: "Chancellor, do not be angry! Zong Shou only has one question for the Chancellor. I wonder, in the past two years, how much grain has one mu of land yielded for the common people?" As he spoke, he picked up a bear's paw and began gnawing on it, grease dripping down his mouth.

Ren Bo’s white eyebrows shot up; he almost overturned the table but forced himself to endure and answer: "Last year, one mu yielded four shi of grain. This year has not yet reached harvest time. But based on my estimates, it should be around four shi and two dou."

Upon saying this, Ren Bo’s gaze contracted slightly, as if he had realized something, a look of deep thought crossing his features. "Four shi, four shi and two dou, that is close to the number. I also recall that the year before last, one mu yielded three shi and eight dou, correct? This is not just true for Qiantian Mountain City, but for other states as well, is it not?"

Seeing Ren Bo did not deny it, Zong Shou finally nodded: "Then, with the Chancellor's insight, you must surely know the principle of low grain prices hurting agriculture." "Naturally! The more grain there is, the greater the supply exceeds demand, and grain prices naturally fall..."

Ren Bo’s expression had already turned somewhat solemn and self-reproachful. The grain yield of Qiantian Mountain was gradually increasing; why had he failed to notice this phenomenon? Fortunately, he had discovered it early; otherwise, it would surely have brewed a major disaster.

Xuan Yunlan, thinking carefully, also felt a chill run through her. "If this grain cannot be sold, then things like oil, salt, clothing, and pottery naturally cannot be exchanged either. And since the world's farmers do not study martial arts and are unprepared, most will have no means of livelihood. Chancellor, is that not the reasoning?"

The entire sleeping chamber fell silent. Zong Shou secretly smiled, then continued to inquire: "Does the Chancellor also know the approximate number of spirit beasts in the wilderness outside the city in recent years? Are they decreasing annually, or are they increasing?"

Ren Bo’s face was ashen, but he could not avoid answering this question: "Ren Bo does not know the exact figures. I only know that since this year began, there have been over four thousand three hundred incidents of spirit beasts harming people, which is three times the number of previous years."

Zong Shou chuckled, knowing he had completely seized control of the situation: "Then, of what I consume now, how much originates from fertile fields, and how much comes from the wilderness? And of the implements used for this, how much is derived from those spirit beasts?"

Ren Bo glanced over and saw that the majority of the items on the table were game, and the rest was sourced from the Sea of Clouds. Moreover, while the decorations were luxurious, a considerable portion of them were indeed taken from spirit beasts. The constant temperature formation was the same in this regard. "The wealthy merchants and nobles of this world, after accumulating wealth, have nowhere to spend it, mostly resorting to hoarding it. But if those beast cores and spirit stones cannot circulate externally, how can we strengthen the citizens of Qiantian, and how can we elevate the martial spirit of our city?"

Upon hearing this, Ren Bo finally understood Zong Shou’s intention, breaking out in a cold sweat, struck speechless. Zong Shou let out an even colder laugh, delivering the final blow with a decisive question: "Since that is the case, where have I erred?"

Ren Bo stood frozen on the spot, his expression flickering chaotically. He remained silent for a long time. When he finally spoke again, he bowed deeply. "Your subject, Ren Bo, understands! From this day forward, we shall encourage hunters and reduce farmers, focusing on clearing out the fierce beasts in the wilderness. My Lord possesses foresight that spans ten thousand miles, achieving several goals in one stroke; it was I who was wrong. I beg Your Lord to forgive my earlier disrespect!" After speaking, he bowed once more. With an air of utter dejection, he retreated from Zong Shou’s sleeping chambers, forgetting entirely the purpose for which he had sought Zong Shou, leaving in a state of disarray.

Watching Ren Bo’s receding back, Zong Shou’s slight feeling of triumph suddenly vanished completely. Deep in his heart, a touch of guilt arose; he had indeed gone a bit too far this time. Though he was an old man now, seemingly much gentler in temperament, his competitive nature had not changed at all. He murmured thoughtfully: "This Ren Bo, if he encountered a wise ruler, could surely become a capable Chancellor..." Originally, he had merely used him out of necessity as there was no other choice. Now, it seemed this man truly possessed the talent for governing the state.

His words were barely audible, but Chu Xue, standing nearby, heard them clearly. Her eyes immediately showed confusion: "Chancellor Ren is certainly a capable Chancellor. Since the late sovereign brought him back, the lives of our Qiantian Mountain City clans have improved greatly. The Young Lord must also be a wise ruler. Chancellor Ren never praises anyone; even the late sovereign was criticized by him. But since the Young Lord ascended the throne, Xue'er has heard the Chancellor praise you twice now."

Zong Shou let out a wry smile, musing that he had little connection to any wise ruler; he was merely bullying others with the advantage of ten thousand years of foresight. Xuan Yunlan also sighed: "Hearing a single word from the Lord is better than reading ten years of books. Yunlan always believed that simplicity in the populace was always good, but I never considered that spending money could also promote the people's livelihood..."

Just as Zong Shou was beginning to feel overly pleased with himself, Ruo Shui suddenly let out a 'poof' of laughter, her delicate body once again collapsing onto the **: "I saw the Lord blink several times just now." Xuan Yunlan was utterly confused by this, but after a moment, Chu Xue understood, a knot forming in her chest, her look of reverence turning to contempt. She knew Zong Shou had a habit of blinking whenever he was lying. This meant that when he ordered the palace decorated and summoned the banquet earlier, the Young Lord had likely not thought that far ahead. And those words that made Ren Bo retreat in shame must also have been nothing but deception. Worse yet, he had delivered them with an air of righteousness—truly shameless!

Zong Shou’s face was already thicker than a city wall; he showed no anger nor did his face flush, merely offering a faint smile, unconcerned. After enjoying the sumptuous feast, Zong Shou took out several dozen sheets of talisman paper and the prepared spirit ink, one by one, from his Small Qiankun Bag. All were high-grade items, sourced from the Seven Spirit Sect and the Qingyin Gate, exclusively for direct disciples, rare on the market. However, these materials were not gifts from Wei Xu; he had purchased them himself. His senior brother clearly knew of his wealth and refused to give him any of these things. Zong Shou was helpless and had to purchase them from Zhao Yanran and Xuan Yunlan. The latter was manageable, but the former demanded an exorbitant price, severely fleecing him. Thus, another grievance was added between the two of them. For this matter, Zong Shou had inwardly complained about Wei Xu for a whole day.

Composing himself in deep thought, Zong Shou suddenly picked up his brush. On the talisman paper, he wrote the character ‘Swallow’ and the character ‘Purify’. Recently, his martial arts cultivation had advanced rapidly with Wei Xu’s assistance. In contrast, his spirit arts and soul power had stagnated. Even cultivating a tenth-grade Saint Spirit-level meditation technique had failed to change this. Unless these two characters were understood, his cultivation could not achieve true progress. Wei Xu seemed to have known his intention before leaving. Among the spirit arts codices he left behind, aside from the Great Yi Luo Tian Kong Ming Fa and dozens of secret techniques from the Cang Sheng Dao, most of the rest were related to the characters ‘Swallow’ and ‘Purify’. However, very few spirit masters in this world chose to condense true talismans of these two characters. Zong Shou had examined some, but they offered little help. His recent contemplation seemed to have reached a dead end, yielding no new insights for a long time.

But fortunately, he now had a new option. Suddenly drawing his sword, he took the damaged Nine Qilin Sword in his hand. After only a few moments of hesitation, Zong Shou’s face hardened with resolve. "Xiao Jin, whether your master can advance this time depends on you!" As the thought arose, a torrent of silver-white light laced with faint golden threads flowed down Zong Shou’s left arm, a '****' that permeated everything. In an instant, it completely enveloped the damaged Nine Qilin Sword, turning the golden blade silver-white. And at the very moment this silver membrane completely covered the sword, Xiao Jin began to devour! First, it secreted a specialized ****, causing the spirit gold to decompose, and then it directly absorbed it into its body. Any metal useless to it was directly purified and expelled.

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