Chapter 230: Chapter 146: Another Sixty Years Pass, All Living Beings Enter My Dream

Why would these Noble Families report these unregistered people?

After all, if they did, they would have to pay significantly more in taxes.

Most importantly, the prestige and status these Noble Families enjoyed in their regions came from the fact that their families had produced Cultivators!

It was this connection that allowed them to lord it over everyone and run rampant in their territories!

Back then, Emperor Wenchang was merely a puppet of the Immortal Sects. Even though he was aware of this situation, he could only turn a blind eye.

As time passed, the problem grew ever more severe!

’Equality for all. Those three words are simple enough to say, but putting them into practice is harder than climbing to heaven.’

Wang Xiao couldn’t help but shake his head.

The population census alone was already meeting with immense resistance.

To say nothing of the land reforms he planned to implement, or the various other policies intended to benefit the common people at the expense of the Noble Families.

’A new nation cannot be built without tearing down the old. If these vermin dare stand in my way, then they have no reason to exist!’

A cold glint flashed through Wang Xiao’s eyes.

This wasn’t the ancient past of the Real World, but the Cultivation Immortality Realm, where individuals could wield immense power.

Sometimes, the solutions to many problems didn’t need to be overthought.

Kill whoever stands in the way!

Carve out a bright new world through slaughter!

This path might cause short-term chaos, but it was undoubtedly for the good of the Yongchang Kingdom’s future.

Most importantly, Wang Xiao had no fear of them rebelling.

He sought to forge a new destiny for the common people, which naturally required bottom-up reforms, ensuring that his policies would benefit every citizen of the Yongchang Kingdom!

Only that could be considered forging their destinies, and only then could he draw closer to the Destiny Great Dao and begin to grasp its nature. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Otherwise, he would only be maintaining the superficial stability of the Yongchang Kingdom.

Its inner nature would remain unchanged, and the lives of the common people would not improve in the slightest.

Their own destinies would remain unchanged.

What, then, would be the point of him being Emperor?

"Xiyue, gather your people and travel to every province. Within five years, you are to record the entire population of each province in the census. Pay special attention to the household slaves taken in by the Noble Families. Every last one of them must be registered!" Wang Xiao commanded.

"Yes, Sir." Shangguan Xiyue nodded.

Even with Wang Xiao as Emperor, she wasn’t used to calling him Your Majesty, so she maintained her previous form of address.

After a moment’s thought, she asked, "And if those Noble Families don’t cooperate?"

Wang Xiao set a memorial aside, his voice chillingly cold:

"Then kill them. Keep killing them until they cooperate!"

「That night.」

Shangguan Xiyue took a host of generals at the Peak of Body Cultivation from the frontier, along with several hundred elite soldiers, and departed the Capital City on their Imperial Artifacts.

The reforms that would affect the entire world and the fates of hundreds of millions of people had truly begun the moment she left the Capital City!

"Chen Fang, summon the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, the Six Ministers, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice... summon all of them to the Imperial Palace to see me!"

Wang Xiao commanded.

Although he possessed the strength to suppress any treason or rebellion, he still needed his subordinates’ help to implement and enforce his new policies and reforms. He couldn’t do it all alone.

That was why, even when a Cultivator controlled a country, the majority of those who actually fought in its wars were ordinary people.

"Yes."

Seeing how serious Wang Xiao was, Chen Fang dared not tarry and hurried off to summon the officials.

「Three months later.」

In the ninth month of the First Year of Celestial Mandate.

A series of revolutionary decrees issued from the Imperial Palace and quickly spread throughout the provinces.

First, provinces were divided into commanderies and counties, and the script and language were standardized across the land.

Second, an annual imperial examination was established, allowing anyone who passed to be appointed to an official post anywhere in the kingdom.

Finally, all people, whether Cultivator or mortal, were declared citizens of the Yongchang Kingdom, entitled to the same rights.

In addition to these, there were more detailed reforms touching upon every aspect of government, commerce, and daily life.

The reforms were truly bold and sweeping.

At first, the common people paid it no mind. Similar measures had been decreed in the past, but they had all ultimately come to nothing.

However, when the people saw the uncooperative Noble Families across the land being uprooted one by one by the Government Office—when even those families with Cultivators were swept away like leaves in an autumn wind—a glimmer of hope finally sparked within their hearts.

Perhaps this new Emperor truly intended to revolutionize the world, to give ordinary people a chance to strive, to struggle, and to change their own fates.

Perhaps their lives would no longer be sealed at birth by a Spirit Root, doomed to forever fall short of Cultivators no matter how hard they tried.

As the reforms progressed, the torrent of opposition across the land grew ever stronger.

Large Rebel Armies even seemed to spring out of nowhere, their influence spreading across one province, then several!

However, these Rebel Armies never lasted long before they were utterly annihilated. Even the Noble Families who had plotted the uprisings from behind the scenes were rooted out by the new Emperor and publicly executed!

For a time, the scheming Noble Families across the land gradually quieted down.

Only then did they realize that this new Emperor was unlike any who had come before.

He was a true, bona fide Cultivator.

Moreover, he was a Cultivator capable of suppressing an Immortal King.

Even the Cultivators they relied on for backing had to give this new Emperor a wide berth.

He was simply not someone they could hope to oppose.

Soon, after a series of setbacks, the new policies and laws were finally being implemented smoothly across the provinces.

As the reforms progressed with fiery momentum across the land...