I Can See Your Combat Power
Chapter 1272 - Chapter 1272 Chapter 564 Brave and Decisive

Chapter 1272: Chapter 564: Brave and Decisive Chapter 1272: Chapter 564: Brave and Decisive Yulin Pavilion, which had been indifferent to worldly affairs, handed over the closing work to the Tang Clan and then left, and Chaochang entered the formal moment of reconstruction.

Reconstruction is said, but the part of the epidemic that really affected the landscape wasn’t much, only the area of the Xiang Family and Da Lin Commerce Alliance battlefield.

The rest of the basic infrastructure remained largely intact; in other terms, Chaochang, which was originally costly and exclusive, had become a place where land was the least valuable thing after the departure of numerous powerful families and the epidemic that wiped out a quarter of the population.

The once crowded streets were now sparse. Even though the people, still in fear of the epidemic, knew it was over, they were scared, preferring to hide in the cramped and crowded quarantine zones, which, although congested, were at least safe, weren’t they?

This conservative perception caused great headaches for the clerks tasked with re-registering citizens, as convincing people took a long time whenever housing was distributed.

After all, to these people of Chaochang, there’s no such thing as a free lunch; surely, there must be some residual poison in these distributed houses.

People always suspect others with the worst possible motives, not knowing that most of the time, the ruler’s edicts are just for the sake of balance. Those who benefit are, of course, the larger portion of the population, or those with more strength and presence.

Since they dare not live there, the Tang Clan from Nangang took the opportunity to move batches of residents into the city without hesitation and uniformly distributed housing.

This also indicated that the Tang Clan’s city expansion mission had truly reached its goal, only that the current Chaochang was far different from what had been anticipated.

What is the wealth of a city? If it’s a remote mountain city, then fertile fields and dense forests are its greatest wealth.

If it is a small town by the river, the docks and ferries, the businesses that come and go, and a few specialties would count as the greatest wealth.

For a larger city-state, only unique advantages can be considered wealth, such as mineral veins, grasslands, or ports.

But for a city like Chaochang with millions of people, it’s not about what advantages can be accumulated. Here, the greatest wealth is the people!

Or rather, the talent.

Millions of people piled up in the same city can create many new needs, give birth to new professions, build new communities, and develop different levels and depths of various industries.

These branching out industries are fresh, are craftsmanship, are all the good and essence you can think of.

This is the true wealth of Chaochang, under the Yun Family’s inclusive ethos, gathering talents from every province, turning into this pearl of Longzhou.

But after the epidemic, this pearl dimmed. The top families of Chaochang who left didn’t take many people, but those they did take were all top talents from various industries.

The ones who remained in Chaochang were just the old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled, and a quarter of them died in the epidemic.

In this era where teaching skills relied heavily on masters training apprentices, without leaving written manuals and deliberately retaining some secrets, the level of every industry in Chaochang regressed by decades.

Some who claimed to be carpenters couldn’t even create slightly complex mortise and tenon joints; damn it, these aren’t carpenters, they’re just woodworkers!

And nearly all the managers of the municipal hall were taken away by the Xiang Family, making the city’s hall, which once transmitted decrees across the city in a quarter hour, completely useless.

People looked the part when they sat there, except they didn’t know how to work or use tools, with no sense of inconsistency whatsoever.

But all this was Tang Yao’s headache, what did it have to do with Tang Luo? All he wanted now was to find his wife and give her kisses and hugs.

But after the meeting in the council hall, Yun Xiu seemed to be intentionally avoiding him. Even when she was called out, she would stand far away, looking shy and timid.

It was as if they were meeting for the first time, with a demeanor of men and women not touching hands when they receive things from each other.

What was this, act affectionate and then turn away as soon as the pants are pulled up, abandoning after causing chaos like a heartless woman?

The enraged “Longxi’s Pride” wanted to find Yun Xiu for an explanation, but seeing that she was so busy she didn’t even have time to sleep, he had no choice but to let it go resentedly.

He thought there would always be a chance to meet since both were in Chaochang; he decided to wait until the epidemic eradication work was completely finished.

This way, he would also have some time to think about how to gloss over the fact that Yun Piaopiao was already dead.

After all, the woman who was the role model in his wife’s heart got the revenge on the wrong person. That Wind Media is just too blind to be true!

…

Longzhou Calendar 1787

April 29th

Under the merciless leadership of the Young Master Tang Luo, ninety-nine percent of the corpses in Chaochang had been burned to ashes. Among these were families who wailed and clung to the earth, some even went as far as to threaten death in their attempts to protect the bodies.

Tang Luo’s method was brutally simple: he just kicked the living relatives into the pit of fire, and then, when they clambered out, battered and scorched, he would heal them with his Innate Qi.

After a few such instances, no one dared to obstruct the burning of the bodies. Some distraught family members began to secretly hide the corpses.

However, within two to three days, they would invariably contract the epidemic, and upon discovery, they were quarantined.

But toward these people, Tang Luo did not offer proactive treatment; he simply waited for them to request medical attention before making their demands known.

“Reveal the hiding places of the bodies, and after they’re burned, you may receive treatment.”

“What…if I don’t tell?”

“Burning yours will do just the same!”

Lu Shaolin said that Tang Luo’s decisiveness and braveness were astonishing, especially in the matters of epidemic control, his judgement was extremely accurate.

With a heart greater than most, Tang Luo, having taken on the responsibility of eliminating the epidemic, never considered doing a half-hearted job. He did everything the physicians wanted to do but dared not.

Several prominent families that had been warned in the council hall cooperated exceedingly well; not because they sought to flatter Tang Luo, but they saw an opportunity to oppose him amidst the epidemic control campaign, having forgotten their fear.

Now, the one with the worst reputation in Chaochang might well be this Longxi’s Pride, the bereaved residents hated him to the bone, speaking countless harsh words behind his back.

The hearts of the people could be used indeed!

Upon realizing this, the several families not only did not diminish their enforcement of Tang Luo’s epidemic control orders but instead exceeded expectations in their execution.

While speeding up the process of epidemic control, this also comprehensively destroyed the reputation of Longxi’s Pride in Chaochang.

In the temporary Underground prison of the city administration building, those detained were people who had gathered in crowds to curse and craft effigies of Tang Luo, now awaiting his judgement.

“You’re able to find out even about crafting effigies. How many Wind Medias have you released?”

Seeing the charges against him, Tang Luo could not help but laugh and shake his head as he asked Tang Yao.

“No need for numerous Wind Media, everyone outside is cursing you. These are just the unlucky ones.”

After casually explaining, Tang Yao then asked, “I just don’t understand, by doing this, you won’t earn the people’s gratitude. Why bother?”

“I’m doing this to eliminate the epidemic, not for gratitude.”

Tang Luo replied indifferently, “Let these people go. I’ve burned their relatives’ bodies, aren’t they allowed a few words of curse?”

“I fear that this resentment will eventually turn into a knife that wounds!”

“Hmm, I think you’re somewhat misunderstood about me.”

Tang Yao was taken aback, not comprehending, “What misunderstanding?”

“I have achieved Martial Arts Divinity; even if they had knives, they couldn’t touch me. Am I really to fear them turning into knives? Are you underestimating me!?”

“You know that’s not what I mean!”

“Then hurry up and release them. And put up a notice explaining how my blood runs like a dragon, and that petty curses like crafting effigies are utterly ineffective. If they wish for revenge, they should find another method!”