191: Fourth Generation: Overlord (87)

Decree after decree was issued from the Imperial Capital. They were no longer about conquest, but involved subtle adjustments and deepening of governance, people's livelihood, economy, and culture.

The wave of the new policy, backed by two hundred years of accumulation and the unreserved promotion of Xu Yuan, a Golden Core True Person, swept across the entire Great Shang territory with unprecedented strength and depth, even generating a powerful attraction that radiated outward.

First, promoting talent based on merit, breaking the gatekeeper clans, and gathering the world's geniuses.

Xu Yuan pushed 'promoting talent based on merit' to the extreme.

He did not look at origins or ask about backgrounds; he only valued ability.

In Great Shang, as long as one passed strict assessments, even the lowest-level Loose Cultivators and children of Commoner Families were eligible to enter the imperial court, hold important positions, and obtain cultivation resources and power far exceeding those of mundane dynasties.

This move was like throwing a giant boulder into the stagnant water of the Eastern Region's cultivation world!

Countless Loose Cultivators and geniuses from Commoner Families, who were frustrated by their low birth and marginalized by great clans in their respective nations, flocked to Great Shang from all directions like bees and butterflies smelling the fragrance of flowers.

Among these people, there were certainly those with great ambitions but little talent who were just there to make up the numbers, but after layers of screening, a large number of truly talented and ambitious capable people emerged.

They were integrated into all levels of government, Workshops, academies, and the military, greatly stimulating the vitality and creativity of Great Shang.

New types of Magical Artifacts and War Puppets from the Workshops were constantly being introduced; the administrative efficiency of the government significantly improved; and the army's battle methods and tactics became more flexible and varied.

Second, compulsory education, enlightening the people, and building a Foundation for ten thousand years.

Building upon the original Official School system, Xu Yuan issued a decree that shook the world: to implement a twelve-year compulsory education system throughout the entire Great Shang!

When this order was issued, the whole country was in an uproar, followed by a boiling excitement that swept through every corner!

The decree clearly stipulated: all citizens of Great Shang, regardless of noble or humble birth, or whether their families were rich or poor, must enter the 'Elementary Schools' established in various places once they reached the age of six.

It was completely free! Not only were all tuition and miscellaneous fees waived, but the Imperial Dynasty also bore the costs of basic food, lodging, and writing materials!

The first thing upon entering school was for Cultivators dispatched by the government to uniformly test the Spiritual Root Aptitude of all eligible children!

This completely broke the barriers of the past, where only Noble Families or those with lucky opportunities could know if they possessed the Aptitude for cultivation!

The twelve-year school system was not just for training Cultivators.

The curriculum not only taught the Foundations of cultivation but also popularized literacy, mathematics, law, and various craftsmanship skills.

This policy was earth-shattering! It completely overturned the traditional concepts of the Eastern Region for ten thousand years, such as 'Dharma cannot be lightly taught' and 'The Dao is not passed to the unworthy'!

Although miraculous effects were hard to see in the short term, educating people takes a hundred years. As generations of commoner children who received basic education grew up, Great Shang's overall population quality and talent reserve potential far exceeded those of the surrounding dynasties where knowledge and Legacy were still monopolized by Noble Families.

Of course, implementing such a massive project cost an astronomical amount of resources, so Xu Yuan implemented a third policy—encouraging trade, standardizing laws, prospering internally, and radiating to the surroundings.

Within Great Shang, laws were strict, public security was good, and commercial taxes were relatively reasonable. Coupled with its vast territory and rich resources, it attracted a large number of merchant caravans from surrounding dynasties to trade.

The high-quality Magical Artifacts, Medicinal Pills, and various novel items produced by Great Shang flowed out continuously, bringing back massive amounts of Spirit Stones and scarce resources. Economic prosperity fed back into national strength, filling the treasury and allowing more resources to be invested in military and talent cultivation.

Under this comprehensive cultivation, although the Great Shang Imperial Dynasty's territory did not expand further, its national strength, especially its 'soft power,' was expanding at an alarming rate!

The National Fortune became increasingly solid and grand, feeding back into Xu Yuan and making his Middle Stage Golden Core cultivation more stable, even faintly moving toward the threshold of the Late Stage.

However, Great Shang's 'inward-looking' strength and prosperity inevitably touched the core interests of surrounding forces, causing deeper wariness and dissatisfaction.

Great Shang's national policy of 'promoting talent based on merit' was like a giant magnet, constantly siphoning off talent from surrounding countries, especially those middle and lower-level Cultivators with potential. This shook the Foundation of each country's rule—the privileges and talent monopoly of the Noble Families.

The prosperity of Great Shang's industry and commerce, with high-quality and inexpensive goods, impacted the local industries of surrounding countries, leading to a massive accumulation of wealth toward Great Shang.

What made the rulers of the surrounding Imperial Dynasties even more restless was that Great Shang's social atmosphere of breaking classes and relative fairness was like a 'seed of thought.' As it was quietly passed into various countries along with merchant caravans and refugees, it began to subtly shake the thoughts of the bottom-level people and even some frustrated low-level Cultivators, breeding dissatisfaction with the existing order.

“Outrageous! This Wang Yuan, on the surface, follows the rules and no longer moves his troops, but secretly he is pulling the rug out from under us!” In the Tianshui Imperial Dynasty, Tian Yin Immortal Master smashed his favorite jade cup in anger. “If we allow Great Shang to continue like this, within a hundred years, the talents, wealth, and even the hearts of the people in our territories will be sucked dry!”

“This is an open scheme!” Immortal Master Ku Mu also had a gloomy expression. “He hasn't violated the rules set by the Dao Lineage and hasn't moved his troops. If we were to call him to account for this, we would instead give people a reason to criticize us. But if we sit idly by, it's no different from a slow suicide!”

A suffocating silence fell over the hall. Xu Yuan's move hit their weak spot, leaving them in a dilemma.

“Unless...” A sharp light flashed in Tian Yin Immortal Master's eyes, and he said in a deep voice, “...we can persuade the Dao Lineage to step forward again?”

Immortal Master Ku Mu's cloudy eyes shifted slightly, and he slowly nodded: “Perhaps... it is feasible. Although Xu Yuan's move was not an open display of force, its impact is not necessarily less than that of a war. If this continues, the Foundations of the Eastern Region countries will be shaken, and internal chaos will arise, which will likewise lead to the suffering of all living beings and the fluctuation of Luck.”

“Great Shang uses its new policy as a blade to carry out the reality of invisible annexation. With the loss of talent, the exhaustion of financial resources, and the wavering of the people's hearts in various countries, the balance of power in the Eastern Region will surely be completely overturned as one side waxes and the other wanes! At that time, war might not start on the battlefield, but will break out within each country! Once turmoil begins, it will affect more than just one or two dynasties. Can the Dao Lineage... sit by and watch the Eastern Region fall into such chaos?”

Hearing this, Tian Yin Immortal Master's spirits were lifted: “What you say is absolutely right, Brother Dao! Xu Yuan is just using a different way to destroy the balance! And its momentum is more hidden, its harm deeper! If the Dao Lineage still upholds the responsibility of maintaining the stability of the Eastern Region, how can they turn a blind eye to this?”

The more he thought about it, the more he felt it made sense, and his tone became excited: “Envoy Li's last intervention was to prevent his overt expansion. Now that Great Shang is using this soft knife to cut meat, the harm is even greater! We should jointly submit a petition to the Xuandu Dao Sect and clearly state the pros and cons!”

“Exactly so!” Immortal Master Ku Mu nodded heavily. “We also need to contact several other Imperial Dynasties and great Sects that border Great Shang and are similarly suffering from it, to apply pressure together! There is safety in numbers; the Dao Lineage must also consider the will of the majority of the forces in the Eastern Region!”

Soon, a diplomatic encirclement targeting Great Shang's 'soft power' expansion was intensively launched in secret.

With the Tianshui and Qingmu Imperial Dynasties leading the way, they united several dynasties and Sects that felt the same pressure. One by one, strictly worded memorials detailing Great Shang's 'economic and cultural aggression,' 'destruction of traditional order,' and 'risk of causing turmoil' were sent through secret channels to the transcendent Xuandu Dao Sect.