After guessing Tang Geng's identity, Han Lang was filled with shock;
Tang Haoran and Tang Qin wore smiles; Tang Geng looked embarrassed; Han Kang and Ma Long were bewildered;
"What's going on? What are you talking about?" Ma Long couldn't stand the suspense and immediately asked.
Han Lang swallowed, calmed his mood, and then said, "Um, Brother Ma, Han Kang, haven't you ever suspected the relationship between those three..."
Han Lang pointed at Tang Haoran and the other two, continuing, "and another supreme noble family in Star City?"
'Boom!'
The two were jolted awake by his words!
Star City had two supreme noble families: one was the Zhao family! The other was...
The Tang family!
Han Kang nodded blankly: "We suspected! Just like you, Uncle Tang and Tang Qin didn't say anything, and we didn't deliberately ask, nor did we speculate maliciously!"
Ma Long also said, dumbfounded: "That's right! Although we've thought about it before, but... getting confirmation today is still quite surprising! You... you've been hiding quite deeply!"
Tang Haoran chuckled and said to Tang Geng, "See? These are true brothers worthy of trust! Suspicion is instinctive, but as long as you don't speak, they will choose to trust you unconditionally! And they won't pry!"
Tang Geng felt a bit ashamed.
Recalling how he had pestered Han Lang for answers before the banquet, he felt deeply remorseful.
"Uncle is right! Tang Geng admits his mistake!"
He then raised his head, looked directly at Han Lang and the other two, and said solemnly, "Since we've cleared the air, I won't hide anything anymore. Allow me to formally introduce myself, I am Tang Geng, the son of the Tang family patriarch in Star City! And they..."
He gestured to Tang Haoran and Tang Qin, "...are collateral uncles and cousins!"
"Uh..."
Han Lang and the other two were speechless, their eyes wide with surprise;
"So, you are the heir of the Tang family, and Tang Ge and Tang Qin, being from the collateral branches, were sent to Le City to manage subordinate forces?"
"You can understand it that way. However, the title 'heir' is slightly inappropriate! Times have changed, and the inheritance methods of our cultivation families are no longer what people are familiar with! All new generations of the family have the potential to inherit. Tang Qin and I have almost equal opportunities!"
Before Han Lang and the others could ask again, Tang Qin retorted dismissively.
"Hmph! You say that as if it's true! Do I, from a collateral branch, have the same privileged cultivation environment and resources as you, from the main branch? If my strength doesn't improve, how can I compete with you!"
Tang Geng smiled sheepishly, "The family rules are like this, I can't help it! Besides, you have your fortunate encounters, Mr. Han. Who has more superior cultivation resources now is yet to be determined, right?"
Mentioning Han Lang, a hint of pride appeared on Tang Qin's face.
However, Tang Haoran suddenly interjected, "Qin'er! What are you saying? Have you forgotten the family rule prohibiting comparison within the family? Moreover, your father's contribution to the family is far less than mine, you know that! He deserves such cultivation resources and environment; you can only blame your father for being useless!"
Tang Qin lowered her head dejectedly, muttering indignantly, "I was just joking! Why are you so serious!"
Tang Geng didn't know what to say to ease the awkwardness; finally, Han Lang spoke.
"Alright! Brother Tang. Why are you lecturing? We're all here! Who wants to listen to your family rules, allocations, and all that messy stuff!"
He then turned to Tang Geng and Tang Qin and said.
"Tang Geng, Tang Qin. If you don't mind, could you tell us more about the Zhao family? I don't understand, with the Zhao family's strength, Star City is such a small place, it shouldn't be enough for them to even gnaw on, right? Then why are they going to such great lengths to support the Wang family in controlling Le City? Is it just to compete with your Tang family? Or are there other interests involved?"
Tang Qin, hearing this, cast a grateful glance at Han Lang while hesitantly looking at Tang Geng.
Han Lang's question was complex, so she dared not answer on her own.
Tang Geng, however, appeared magnanimous. He chuckled and replied, "It's not some great secret, it's fine to tell brothers Han Lang and the others!"
With that, he began to explain the origin of the matter.
It turned out that,
Since the state began to coordinate the cultivator world, all cultivators in Xia Guo were also managed in an orderly manner.
Among them, in addition to focusing on cultivating the five major sects and ten great schools that Tang Haoran had mentioned to Han Lang before, there were also comprehensive support policies for other cultivator families and even individual practitioners;
And the foundation of these policies stemmed from two aspects;
First, to cultivate talent for the country; second, to combat superhumans;
There were also two ways to select talent;
The first type was the Special Investigation Bureau;
The function and role of the Special Investigation Bureau, in addition to maintaining peace between cultivators and ordinary people, was also responsible for maintaining national security and stability;
Just like Tang Qin and the others now;
Their all-out efforts to curb the infiltration of superhumans were to maintain national security and stability;
The benefit of doing so was merit.
Just like officials' performance reviews, merit not only provided promotions but also allowed them to receive cultivation resources rewarded by the state based on the magnitude of their merit;
In this era of scarce cultivation resources, with these resources, there was hope for rapid advancement in cultivation;
Otherwise, even if they lived to death, most cultivators would not be able to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage!
This relatively fair and just competitive method attracted numerous cultivators; at the same time, it also gave more cultivator families hope for continuity!
Because,
The Special Investigation Bureau was tiered!
But the merit was fixed, with rewards allocated according to size;
For example, a township was the lowest unit of the Special Investigation Bureau!
Then, starting from there, to the county, city, province, region, and finally to the national level, it was the accumulation of merit points!
Suppose a province had 2 cities; each city had 2 counties; each county had 2 townships.
If a township's merit was 1, then the county's base merit would be 2; the city's base merit would be 4; and so on.
The final reward allocation would be 8 for the province, 4 for the city...
And this did not even count their own merit;
"Oh! I get it!" Ma Long exclaimed in realization.
"In other words, the Zhao family wants to control Le City, which actually means controlling Le City's Special Investigation Bureau. This way, when the state distributes rewards, their Zhao family will get an extra share, right?"
"Yes!" Tang Geng nodded. "However, Le City has already been occupied by our Tang family. If they want to compete, they can only secretly support other families. As long as they gain the initiative on the ordinary people's side, they can still gradually compete for control of the Special Investigation Bureau."
"If I'm not mistaken, your Tang family must be using the same methods in cities controlled by the Zhao family, right?"
Tang Geng nodded noncommittally.
"No wonder you understand the Zhao family's support for criminal forces like Jin Chunfeng. But isn't this unfair to ordinary citizens? When will the country's crackdown on crime and evil end!"
Facing Ma Long's anger, Tang Geng quickly explained.
"Brother Ma Long, don't get excited! First of all, I must say that wherever sunlight shines, darkness will exist! Secondly, this method of competition is actually tacitly approved by the state. Our objectives are clear, and under normal circumstances, we will not allow the supported entities to harm the populace! Once discovered, they are almost always directly eliminated and replaced with new support! Someone like Jin Chunfeng accepting bribes to deal with ordinary people is definitely an isolated case!"
"That's more like it!"
Hearing this explanation, Ma Long finally felt a little relieved. Otherwise, with his personality, he would have definitely broken off relations with a noble son like Tang Geng on the spot!
Seeing that this question had a near-perfect answer, Han Lang immediately asked again.
"Then, what is the second way of selecting talent?"