CHAPTER 474: CHAPTER 468 ARE YOU CREATING AN EXAMPLE?

Zhao Ming: "My father was the first to disapprove, and the other elder members are also very displeased with him."

With Zhao Song leading, the other elders will surely follow suit and oppose him firmly; Zhao Ji’s desire to become the Clan Leader is impossible.

If Zhao Hanzhang and Zhao Erlang were unsuccessful and needed to rely on the clan’s goodwill, the elder members, except for the Fifth Uncle, might turn a blind eye to Zhao Ji’s past mistakes, even if uncomfortable, they would endure them;

But now Zhao Hanzhang is the most promising descendant of the Zhao Family, even Zhao Erlang has risen along with her. The news of Zhao Erlang being appointed as the Prefectural Governor of Nanyang Country just arrived the other day, and the clan members were so astonished their mouths were wide enough to swallow an egg.

So, fearing Zhao Hanzhang’s authority, the elder members will suppress Zhao Ji from becoming Clan Leader, not to mention they already disapproved of him.

Zhao Ji can use tactics to compete for the title with the main branch, even suppress the main branch; these actions seem not significant in the eyes of the elder members, but he should not have discarded Zhao Changyu’s coffin and the main branch’s descendants.

Just this one mistake is enough for the elder members not to let him inherit the position of Clan Leader.

As a Clan Leader, lacking the filial spirit and legacy of ancestors; and lacking the benevolence and foresight to nurture the clan’s descendants, the elder members would have to lose their minds to choose him as Clan Leader.

A Clan Leader’s character will decide the rise or fall of the family.

Thinking of this, Zhao Hanzhang looked up at Zhao Ming, lightly tapping her knee with her finger, "Uncle Ming, do you also favor the First Son as Clan Leader?"

Zhao Ming raised his eyelids to glance at her, leisurely picked up a wine pot and poured himself a cup, sipping as he said, "That’s your elder brother."

Zhao Hanzhang remained silent.

Zhao Ming didn’t need her to respond and continued, "Do you want to be Clan Leader? That’s even harder than wanting to be Yu State Governor. Not to mention anything else, even if my father loves you dearly, he wouldn’t agree."

Zhao Ming drank up the wine from his cup, put down the cup, and looked at her, saying, "I wouldn’t either."

Zhao Hanzhang: "...Uncle Ming has misunderstood. I would have to be utterly senseless to even consider becoming Clan Leader. Besides, I am destined to marry out, Fu Tinghan and I are a marriage, not a residence arrangement."

She leaned her body, placed her arm on the table, and gazed at Zhao Ming with a soft smile, speaking quietly, "I mean, Elder Brother probably wouldn’t make a suitable Clan Leader, far less than Uncle Ming, so Uncle..."

"Stop talking nonsense," Zhao Ming’s face darkened, and he said coldly, "The position of Clan Leader is only passed on to the main branch. This is our Zhao Family’s ancestral teaching and cannot be changed!"

"Uncle shares the same lineage as my ancestors, was also from the main line. Only our branch is the main line, hence we have always inherited the position of Family Head, so..."

Zhao Ming looked at her sternly, "That was four generations ago, if you count from here, it’s not much nor little, just the fifth generation. If you really count this way, your Seventh Ancestor could come and compete for this Clan Leader position."

Zhao Hanzhang thought of her dear Seventh Ancestor, shivered involuntarily, "Choosing Clan Leader should prioritize virtue and ability..."

"No, it should prioritize the main line," Zhao Ming said with a solemn face, eyes deeply looking at her, "Third Lady, if virtue and ability were the criteria for deciding Clan Leader position, then whenever there’s a need to change the Clan Leader position, the family might fall into endless internal conflict. Ancestral teachings are summarized from blood and tears, you must not disobey."

Zhao Hanzhang did not expect the biggest resistance to nominating Zhao Ming as Clan Leader didn’t come from the Fifth Uncle, but from Zhao Ming himself.

She sighed and nodded, "Alright, let’s put this issue aside for now, I think Uncle Ancestor must live long, talking about these matters now is too soon."

Zhao Ming pressed his lips together and said nothing.

Zhao Hanzhang herself didn’t anticipate one day she’d pray to heaven for Zhao Zhongyu to live longer. She summarized her psychological activities and couldn’t help but complain to Fu Tinghan, "This is surely picking the tallest among the dwarfs, sigh, the second house truly gets worse with each generation."

Fu Tinghan couldn’t quite comprehend the persistence of this era, "Why must it be the main line, Uncle Ming clearly is more suitable to be Clan Leader."

"Because of the phrase ’following precedents’," Zhao Hanzhang said, "If starting from Zhao Ming there is a precedent, later branches, even lesser branches, as long as they are dissatisfied with the Clan Leader, can use this precedent to challenge the main line, compete for the position of Clan Leader."

She sighed, "I am aware of this hidden danger, but...Zhao Ming truly is too suitable to be Clan Leader. Now that Zhao Zhongyu holds the Clan Leader position, he thinks of the clan, still capable of retreat, but once Zhao Ji and Zhao Yi ascend, with their disposition and intellect, do you think we can live harmoniously?"

Fu Tinghan wasn’t familiar with those two, only met them a few times, but those few encounters were enough for Fu Tinghan to recognize their capability and mindset. Plus, in the past two years, Zhao Hanzhang occasionally dealt with them, Fu Tinghan directly shook his head, "They most likely would die at your hands."

Zhao Hanzhang lowered her gaze and said, "Other family disciples who commit crimes can be killed, but if I kill the Clan Leader of the Zhao Family, even if the clan doesn’t turn against me, our relationship would be hard to revert to the past. Yet to endure their foolishness, bringing troubles to me, is not acceptable."

"So, the best way is to change the Clan Leader," Zhao Hanzhang sighed again, "Zhao Ming truly is the most suitable candidate."

Fu Tinghan always struggled with handling complex relationships compared to Zhao Hanzhang, so regarding this matter, he found it hard to offer her advice, and could only stay by her side doing arithmetic to accompany her.

Zhao Hanzhang propped her chin in thought, her mind already extending the consequences of various choices to a hundred years later. If there’s no more reasonable excuse, choosing Zhao Ming as Clan Leader indeed brings later troubles to the Zhao Family, especially becoming increasingly serious as time passes.

For the present, it’s certainly good, but being a Clan Leader requires considering the present, a hundred years, or even hundreds of years later.

Yet from Zhao Hanzhang’s perspective, actually, there’s no need to worry too much. A hundred years, several hundred years, even a thousand years later, after several migrations of the clan, it has long branched out, even to the point where the influence of clan forces is minimized. Eventually reaching a stage of knowing national law without awareness of clan law, by then, the impact of this matter on clan succession will be reduced to an insignificant level.

There is even a hint of rebellion in her heart, thinking let Zhao Ming become Clan Leader, so what? There’s already various struggles in clan succession, now just one more choice of competition.

As Zhao Hanzhang was feeling rebellious, Zhao Ming leisurely came along, clearly unsettled in his heart as well, always contemplating, finally offering an excellent idea for Zhao Hanzhang, "Arrange a marriage for Erlang, choose a wise lady to marry him, and have children quickly, taught by you. If you’re unavailable, hand them to me."

"As long as the child turns eight, not like Erlang, he may inherit the Clan Leader position."

Zhao Hanzhang: "...Uncle Ming, Erlang hasn’t even turned thirteen yet."

This is practically destroying the nation’s flowers.