Longzang

Chapter 780 Step by Step
Migrants who move to Qingming will gradually integrate into the region after living there for a period of time, and their understanding of human life will also improve slightly. The improvement of one or two people is not noticeable, but when the number reaches millions, the impact becomes very obvious. Now that tens of millions of people have suddenly flooded in, the boundaries of human life have begun to expand again, naturally slowing down the progress of cultivation once more.

But Wei Yuan did not intend to stop there. After all, there were still a large number of powerful families in Xiangrong and the other three counties. They were like independent kingdoms, binding people firmly to the land and preventing them from moving.

Wei Yuan first cut off the internal and external transportation of the three counties, then cut off the grain supply to the three counties, and sent many spies to observe the people's living conditions. As a result, he found that people were starving to death in many places, but the families remained steadfast, preferring to watch people starve to death rather than allow them to leave the land.

Seeing that his strategy was ineffective, Wei Yuan had no choice but to resort to drastic measures.

After reorganizing the two prefectures of Hanyang and Huangping, Wei Yuan returned to the Southern Military Camp. The camp housed 100,000 troops and nearly a year's worth of provisions. While Wei Yuan was trapped in the illusion, the Zhao state launched several probing attacks, all of which resulted in heavy losses.

In the central camp, Wei Yuan stared at the unusual map before him, his brows furrowed. Different colors marked different sizes of land, each representing a family or powerful clan.

According to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, these civil officials' families were required to pay taxes, but not much. Powerful and aristocratic families paid even less, less than ten percent of their annual output. However, according to the laws of the Jin Dynasty, civil officials were exempt from taxes. This Jin law was enacted fifty years prior, and in that short time, the entire Xiangrong Commandery had collected almost no silver.

Prefect Zhuang Zhong of Xiangrong County was directly murdered by Wei Yuan, but the other households remained united, and even cutting off their food supplies was useless. Each household had stored grain, which was certainly not enough to feed the tenant farmers, but if it was only supplied to the master households, it could last forever. Therefore, each household was resolute, and the master households did not care whether the tenant farmers lived or died, and could all shift the blame onto Wei Yuan.

Faced with this situation, Wei Yuan was at a loss for what to do. He consulted his advisors, and many civil officials unanimously agreed that levying taxes on scholars was a grave mistake and a reactionary act.

Wei Yuan thus understood that once people have interests at stake, it's like they're welded to the ground; without using ruthless methods, you can't expect them to budge an inch.

Wei Yuan now faces only two paths: one is to amend the Jin laws. However, this path is clearly unfeasible. The King of Jin is nearing the end of his life, and what he values ​​most is his posthumous reputation. If the Jin laws are abolished and scholars are taxed again, one can imagine how history will record it. Therefore, even when Wei Yuan proposed amending the Jin laws to the King of Jin, it was flatly rejected.

The second path is war. Historical records mention a demonic cultivator who wanted to gain fame and fortune, but lacking connections, he had no way to advance.

After repeatedly failing the imperial examinations, and amidst widespread turmoil and suffering, he angrily raised an army, stormed the secondary capital of the dynasty, and began massacring powerful families. One prominent clan, numbering over ten thousand, was reduced to only two young children. These two children were unknowingly illegitimate, which is why they survived.

However, this demonic cultivator's practices were too ruthless, attracting the intervention of immortals, resulting in his defeat and death. After him, two prominent families among the fifteen prominent clans suffered heavy losses, with too many talented young people killed, leading to their decline.

These families were all stubbornly unyielding; many had been imprisoned for over half a year, yet they still refused to back down. The Right Chancellor even arranged another marriage for his granddaughter, as if the new husband were already dead.

After listening to the entire report, Wei Yuan fell into deep thought, standing in front of the map for an entire day.

It wasn't until the next morning that Wei Yuan, who had been as still as a statue, showed any expression. He pointed to the 116 largest families on the map and said, "Please invite the heads of these families to the camp for a meeting. I want to see them all three days from now, without missing a single one."

A general asked, "What if someone refuses to come?"

Wei Yuan said calmly, "Not coming is an insult to me. I don't care whether they want to or not, but every single one of them must come in three days. If they won't come alive, corpses will do."

Upon receiving the order, the generals immediately led their troops out of the camp. In no time, the three prefectures were filled with cries, shouts, and curses, and people flocked to the capital to file complaints.

Three days later, at noon, Wei Yuan emerged from the back hall and sat inside the military tent. At that time, more than ninety people and about ten corpses stood inside.

Wei Yuan then asked, "How many households are left?"

"Reporting to you, sir, those families have already abandoned their land and fled; there's no one left in the houses." Wei Yuan's gaze swept over the heads of the various families, and he suddenly smiled, saying, "I've been without food for more than half a year, yet you heads of the families are still eating your fill, looking rosy-cheeked and fat. It seems that ordinary methods really can't deal with you!"

One of them immediately shouted, "Wei Yuan! You've committed such a vicious scheme, causing immense suffering and death. Aren't you afraid of retribution?!"

Wei Yuan wasn't angry. He said, "It's hard to say whether I'll suffer retribution, but you're about to be in trouble."

The patriarch, unfazed, sneered, "Do you know who I am?! Let me tell you, my uncle is..."

Wei Yuan waved his hand, and someone nearby swiftly swung a knife, beheading the family head. The crowd gasped in shock, their expressions turning pale.

Wei Yuan said calmly, "If your family's backing isn't of the highest rank, and you're not closely related to the immortals, then don't bother talking about your background. Doing so will only lead to your demise. I've gathered you all here not to take your money or land, but you still have to pay your taxes. You can use people to offset your taxes; one able-bodied man is worth three taels of silver."

I don't care how this person got here, as long as there's someone there. Send someone home now to deliver the message. Everyone eat well today; this is your last meal. Your next meal will be after I see this person. If no one comes, you'll all go hungry for now.”

After Wei Yuan left, the family heads exchanged bewildered glances. Although many families had signed a pact of mutual defense, agreeing not to pay taxes even if they died, Wei Yuan wanted a person this time, which seemed somewhat acceptable.

Only the land remains unchanged forever; people, on the other hand, are like weeds in a field—cut one crop, and another grows back, sprouting up again every few years. As a result, many landowners softened their stance, writing home to ask their families to take stock of their tenants and hand over the rent to offset taxes.

After settling the remaining issues in the three prefectures, Wei Yuan returned to the mortal realm. By this time, the progress in the fragment of the world had reached the predetermined milestone; a road illuminated by lamplight had been built, dividing a plot of land a thousand feet in diameter.

Wei Yuan personally led a team of nearly a thousand cultivators to thoroughly clear the divided plots of land, annihilating all the hidden monsters and vengeful spirits within, and harvesting three streams of profound energy.

The road was still being built forward. Every thousand feet it was built, it would start to be built to both sides, and then back again, dividing the fragments of the world into isolated thousand-foot squares. Wei Yuan would then clean up each square one by one.

Beside the gate of light, a sizable small city has been built, filled with furnaces burning with spiritual energy. Even those with only the initial stage of cultivation can move freely within the city. Mortals without cultivation, on the other hand, can move around indoors.

Many people are exceptionally intelligent, but their cultivation levels are mediocre. Once these people are able to enter the fragments of the world, they immediately accelerate their research progress significantly, gradually restoring the true nature of this world.

As the road continued forward, a towering building, hundreds of feet tall, appeared before Wei Yuan. Its upper half was long gone, its original height unknown. But even this remaining section was enough to inspire awe at the ingenious craftsmanship of the outer world's architecture.

In front of the building was an open space, now covered in filthy mud. But Wei Yuan, having experienced the illusion, knew that this open space must have once been a vast, verdant meadow. In the extraterrestrial world where land was incredibly valuable, such a large lawn was a symbol of wealth.

A rectangular wall stood in the mud, with several characters on it, presumably the name of the building. However, Wei Yuan didn't recognize any of the characters and had to have them copied and sent to the rear for research.

At that moment, a ray of light fell on Wei Yuan's face. He looked up and found that some floors of the building were still lit up.

Wei Yuan suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

(End of this chapter)