157: In front of Xuanwu Gate, subdue the Drunken Sword Immortal

Every single one of them was so shocking!

Every single one of them was a complete subversion of the old order!

To investigate the Buddhist Temple was to become an enemy of all believers!

To distribute land equally was to completely sever the Foundation of the aristocratic families!

To expand the army by three million was to place all the Empire's resources on war!

And to allow Shu Mountain to enter the world and establish an army of Cultivators was an unheard-of, unimaginable feat!

If it were any other emperor who dared to issue even one such imperial edict, it would likely immediately lead to chaos and war across the land.

But now, the one speaking these words was Li Chengqian.

The Kaiyuan Emperor, who could make a hundred thousand troops defect with a single word, make a Saint bow with a single thought, and shatter an Immortal's Dao Heart with a single sword!

Therefore, no one dared to object.

Daoist Qingwei and the five Grand Elders felt a monstrous wave surge in their hearts as they listened to these imperial edicts.

They looked at Li Chengqian, their awe reaching its peak.

They finally understood why Heaven's Mandate had chosen him.

This courage, this means, this domineering attitude that disregarded all rules... besides him, who else in this world could bear such a heavy responsibility?

"We, your humble subjects... obey the imperial edict!"

This time, Daoist Qingwei sincerely and deeply bowed to Li Chengqian.

He knew that from this moment on, Shu Mountain would be completely tied to this young Emperor.

They would prosper together and suffer together.

The Wine Sword Immortal, who had been silent, watched this scene, his eyes, which had just recovered a hint of vitality, once again becoming complex.

He looked at Li Chengqian, this young man who had just shattered his Dao Heart, now beginning to turn the gears of the world's destiny in a way he could not imagine.

He suddenly felt how childish and ridiculous his previous accusations against Li Chengqian were.

What "you don't understand the common people," what "your Dao is control."

In the face of a true world-ending Heavenly Tribulation, in the face of the most fundamental need to "survive," did discussing these things still have any meaning?

Perhaps... perhaps this madman could really create a miracle?

The Kaiyuan New Deal, like a storm sweeping across the land, spread wildly from Chang'an to the entire Great Tang Empire.

Li Chengqian's will, through a series of cold imperial edicts, became the sharpest blade of the new dynasty.

The first blade struck at Buddhism.

The Shence Army and the Bad People, like tigers and wolves, rushed into every Buddhist Temple in Chang'an City and even in the various prefectures of the Great Tang.

There was no persuasion, no negotiation.

Only cold blades and unquestionable commands.

"Your Majesty has decreed to investigate temple properties and for monks to return to secular life!"

Countless monks, who usually lived in luxury and received offerings from believers, were dragged out of their meditation rooms; their robes were roughly stripped off and replaced with ochre clothes symbolizing prisoners.

They were terrified, they cursed, they shouted the name of "Buddha."

But their only response was cold sword hilts and merciless chains.

Some Buddhist Temples, relying on their numerous believers or their collusion with local magnates, attempted to resist.

But their resistance, in the face of absolute power, seemed so ridiculous.

The iron hooves of the Shence Army shattered the magnificent temple gates.

The embroidered spring sabers of the Bad People stained the solemn Buddhist halls with blood.

"All who resist shall be treated as rebels and killed without mercy!"

This was Your Majesty's imperial edict.

Thus, one by one, the previously high and mighty bald heads rolled to the ground, staining the green lamps before the Buddha with blood.

Countless gold and silver treasures, countless land deeds and property titles, were carried out in boxes from deep secret chambers, piled up like mountains, dazzling to the eye.

These riches were enough to fill the Great Tang's treasury tenfold!

The common people watched this scene with mixed feelings.

Many of them had once been devout believers in these Buddhist Temples.

But when they saw the venomous and greedy faces of those usually kind-faced "eminent monks" when their homes were raided...

When they saw the wealth, enough for them to live for several lifetimes, unearthed from behind those resplendent Buddha statues...

Their faith wavered.

Especially when they heard that seven-tenths of this wealth was to be offered to the deposed Retired Emperor.

Their faith completely collapsed.

It turned out that what they worshipped was not Buddha.

But a group of robbers in cassocks.

The second blade struck at the aristocratic families.

"Your Majesty has decreed the implementation of the equal-field system! All who seize commoners' land or conceal population shall be investigated, and if confirmed, their families shall be confiscated and exterminated!"

This blade was even more bloody and cruel than the one that struck at Buddhism.

Because the Foundation of the aristocratic families was much deeper than that of Buddhism.

They had been entrenched in local areas for hundreds, even thousands, of years.

Their descendants were everywhere in the court and the countryside.

Their marital ties were intricate.

Their influence was enough to turn any political decree into a mere scrap of paper.

In their view, if the Emperor changed, then he changed.

No matter how domineering Li Chengqian was, there would always be places where he needed their support.

As long as they united to resist the New Deal, this young Emperor would eventually have to compromise with them.

However, they were wrong.

They underestimated Li Chengqian's resolve.

And they underestimated Li Chengqian's... ruthlessness.

Facing those aristocratic families who feigned compliance but secretly tried to obstruct the "equal-field system" with various means.

Li Chengqian's response was only one word.

"Kill!"

Blood stained the rivers of Jiangnan.

Fire burned across the fortified villages of Guanzhong.

One by one, ancient families that had lasted for hundreds of years were annihilated under the iron hooves of the Shence Army.

Their wealth was confiscated.

Their land was divided.

Their clansmen, regardless of gender, age, or youth, were all demoted to official slaves, never to rise again.

The bloody massacre intimidated all those with ulterior motives.

It also made the people of the world witness, for the first time, the terror of this new ruler.

He truly intended to flip this old world's table upside down!

And amidst this blood and fire, a new order began to be established.

Teams of Officials, carrying tools for measuring land and brand new land deeds, entered every village.

"By Your Majesty's imperial edict, land shall be distributed to households! All citizens of our Great Tang shall have land to cultivate!"

When those tenant farmers, who had toiled for landlords their entire lives without even a single piece of land of their own, received the land deed with their name written on it from the Officials...

They cried.

They trembled with excitement, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed desperately towards Chang'an.

"Your Majesty is wise!"

"Long live our Emperor! Long live! Long, long live!"

The most humble, the most sincere, and also the most magnificent "Power Of Will" of humanity, rose from every corner of the Empire, converging into an invisible torrent, surging towards Chang'an, towards the person who had given them new life.

Li Chengqian stood at the highest point of the imperial palace, feeling this power.

His face remained expressionless.

He knew this was just the first step.

He had used the butcher's knife and benevolence to forcibly bind this country together.

But this rope was still very fragile.

He needed more power.

His gaze turned towards Shu Mountain.

Chang'an City was undergoing earth-shattering changes under Li Chengqian's iron fist.

Blood and new life intertwined strangely in this ancient capital.

Meanwhile, the Xuanwu Gate tower had become a forgotten corner.

Li Chengqian did not leave after handling all government affairs.

He simply stood quietly, his gaze fixed on the drunkard who had remained like an outsider from beginning to end.

The Wine Sword Immortal.

Si Jian.

Li Chengqian already knew his identity from Daoist Qingwei's explanation.

The Junior Brother of the previous generation's Shu Mountain sect leader, a rare sword Dao prodigy in a hundred years, who had left his sect and wandered the world due to dissatisfaction with Shu Mountain's precepts.

A very interesting person.

And a very powerful fighting force.

Li Chengqian could feel that although the Wine Sword Immortal's Dao Heart was shattered and his sword broken, his Foundation remained.

That understanding of the "Dao," that Realm of "unity of heaven and man," had not disappeared.

Given a chance, a goal, he would still be that peerless expert who could suppress three thousand Immortal swords with a single finger.