Chapter 1324 Merger
Tang Shaoyang thought the meeting would be quick with the draft. They just needed to decide which path they wanted to take and be done with it. However, it went longer than he thought because the factions were reluctant to disband their factions. Even though he had expressed his desire to disband the factions and merge them into one, there were some of them who were reluctant to do it. About half of the factions wanted to maintain the faction instead of becoming the sub-faction.
The faction in charge of Australia, a few factions from Southeast Asia, wanted to maintain the status quo. Because of that, the meeting continued to seek the third solution which they could not think of even after two hours of meeting.
"What about for you who want to disband and join the Tang Empire take the second solution, but for you who want to maintain your faction, you can stay as it is," Alissa spoke up, catching everyone's attention, "We are wasting too much time for something insignificant. There are more important things than this, such as the Dimensional Tower. We haven't properly explored the tower, and I would like to suggest that we continue our activity in the tower!"
Tang Shaoyang nodded his head, fully agreeing that they were wasting too much time on such a significant issue like this, "We can proceed with Queen Alissa's suggestion. However, if we proceed with the third solution, then we must discuss a different treatment for the factions to stay separately."
"What do you mean by a different treatment, Your Majesty?" The representative from Australia asked.
"Different treatment because they are willing to disband their factions, that's a sacrifice that I must recognize," Tang Shaoyang replied seriously.
"That's actually quite simple. For example, the people part of the Tang Empire's faction just need to bring materials if they want an item from the Dwarven Confederations, and the vassal from separate factions must pay the cost to make an item that will be decided by The Dwarven Confederations. That is just one of them, and it can be applied to the other products we produce," Zhang Mengyao nodded in agreement with Tang Shaoyang's idea about a different treatment.
"We will draft more detailed regulations for the vassals from the separate factions later. You can expect to sign a system contract and take an oath that you will abide by the regulations," Li Shuang added.
"That solves the problem, right? We chose the third solution, and you can choose if you want to be the Tang Empire's sub-faction or remain in your respective faction as our vassal," Tang Shaoyang concluded the meeting.
The different treatment suggestion was to coerce these people to disband their factions. Thanks to Legion Guild, Asahi Guild, and The Mongolian were willing to disband their factions. He had the justifications to enforce the different treatment. It sounded fair instead of like a threat. That was the softer way to make the other factions disband and unite under one banner instead of having separate factions that were unregulated by the System.
If it was the old Tang Shaoyang, he would enforce the second solution forcefully. But he recognized that was not the right way to do things and changed his approach.
The representatives who disagreed with the second option exchanged glances. The third solution would be the best for those who did not want to disband. However, the different treatment made them hesitate to remain as a separate faction.
"What if we decide to end our vassalage," The representative of the Australian Faction spoke up, "This is different from what you promised to us when you offered us to be your vassal. We can't accept the condition if you treat us differently just because we don't want to disband our faction!" He cleverly used "us", as if his voice represented the other factions too.
Tang Shaoyang knew that this man was using the same tactic as him. The Australian representative tried to coerce him not to employ the different treatment.
He furrowed his brow, looking at The Australian's representatives. There were always people like him, after all.
"How convenient that you try to end the vassalage after we get rid of the threats and capture all territories in Australia," He sounded displeased with how the man threatened to leave the Tang Empire. Especially after he worked his ass off for months to fight the God Ranks.
The tension arose as everyone in the room heard the reply. They could tell by the tone that Tang Shaoyang was not happy with the challenge.
"If you say so, but then you must leave Australia," Tang Shaoyang turned toward Li Shuang, "We will be choosing a new representative for Australia. It's better for the people who live there to decide, what do you think?"
"Wait! Wait… wait…!" The two Australian representatives got up from their seats, "What do you mean we are leaving if we end our vassalage!?" He raised his tone, questioning Tang Shaoyang. Australia was theirs, if someone had to leave, the Tang Empire must leave their territories. At least, that was what he thought when he thought about ending the vassalage.
The Australian planned to leave the Tang Empire, just waiting for the right time. While right now was not the ideal time to quit, it was the right time to test the water. He wanted to see the Tang Empire's reaction. And he did not expect to receive such a reaction from the Tang Empire.
"Is that not clear enough? Leave means to leave, you hand over Australia to the Tang Empire, and we will appoint someone else to manage the territory. You can bring anyone who wants to follow you, but you can't force or threaten them to follow you," Tang Shaoyang made it clear that he was not joking with his statement.
"What do you mean leave!? Australia Territories belong to us! Even until all the territories are under our faction name! You can't take it away from us!" The representative snapped out and raised his voice. He could not accept that he was being kicked out of his own home.
"Is that so? How many territories does your faction capture on your own?" Even though Tang Shaoyang did not hear the full story, he knew it was Yu Shun who did the job. Yu Shun used his zombie to capture Australia in a few months.
The Australian representative stumped in his own words for a moment before quickly responding, "We capture the territories together with Yu Shun. We did it together!" He was not going to admit that it was Yu Shun who captured Australia alone.
"Together? Do you mean Yu Shun killed all the zombies while you claimed the territories? Is that what you mean by together?" Tang Shaoyang shook his head and chuckled, "The Tang Empire has the right to more than half of the territories your faction owns. My people captured those territories, and we give them to your factions to manage. Since you are going to end our relationship, then you should give back those territories to us, no?"
"No, we will not give what we own. We own those territories, and we will never give it back to the Tang Empire!" It was hard to accept the terms, and he blurted those words out, clouted in anger. Australia's representative was not willing to give up even an inch.
"I see…." Tang Shaoyang chuckled once more as he saw through Australia's representatives when they became the Tang Empire's vassals. They wanted to use The Tang Empire for protection and also helped them capture all territories in Australia. That was their aim by becoming the Tang Empire's vassal. He was being used by these people to take over the territories before they decided to end the vassalage.
"That's your purpose from the start by becoming our vassal, using us to capture all those territories for your own. Now the threat from the World Government and the invasion are gone, so you don't need our protection anymore." Australia's representative flinched a little, and Tang Shaoyang caught the subtle movement.
"That's nonsense. We decided to end the vassalage because our vision does not align anymore!"
"Oh, really? I don't think we speak anything about vision or goal. We just try to solve the mess in the vassal system which is not part of the system. What vision are you talking about?" Tang Shaoyang did not bother to call the man's name anymore. He decided that they needed to swap the heads of the people who managed Australia and expel them from the Tang Empire's territories. These people might become a tumor for the Tang Empire, and maybe the second rebellion might happen because people like them. Tang Shaoyang was not going to let it fester, not even giving them a chance, decisive to kick them out.
Tang Shaoyang raised his hand as the man tried to speak again, "I am not going to waste my time speaking with you anymore. I will give you three choices. First, leave your faction and leave the Tang Empire's territories, including Australia. We will fund you, giving you enough food to survive for a month and decent equipment. Second, Give back the territories captured by Yu Shun. Third, you can keep those territories but be prepared for a war!"
Park Nam Hoon of the Legion Guild secretly shook his head. He could not imagine that there was someone stupid enough to do something like that after what The Tang Empire managed to achieve. The thought of ending the vassalage crossed his mind, but he knew the consequence afterward. The Tang Empire might treat them nicely because they were vassals, but the Tang Empire was not a pacifist. They would take what belonged to them back regardless of the method.
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