Chapter 9: A Village Feast
Those that completed their tasks could retain their existing land and might even receive additional rewards from the empire.
However, those that failed had their land reclaimed by the empire.
Everything produced on the land belonged to the respective sect, and sects could trade land among themselves.
As a result, while there was competition among the sects, they also collaborated frequently, often working together to complete tasks and petition the empire for more land.
When Bok Taejin first learned about this, he thought the sects resembled ancient landlords.
There might be competition between them, and some might seize opportunities when others fell into hardship.
However, for the most part, they formed a shared interest group.
The sects had to unite in order to balance the power with the empire and continue extracting benefits from it.
Still, the relationship between sects and the empire was not entirely antagonistic—many times, the sects relied on the empire for certain forms of support.