Chapter 101: Tang State (II)

Li Qi was so shocked by the Great Deer Kingdom's affairs that he was somewhat speechless.

However, this was not the end.

The conversation continued.

More shocking revelations completely overturned Li Qi's understanding of this world.

The Dao of Reason developed many things, besides 'Mirror Flower Water Moon', there was also the magnificent 'Heavenly Palace', which were artificial stars, named Heavenly Palaces, hanging in the sky.

They could regulate the weather and even directly launch attacks; anything below the seventh rank would die upon contact.

Artificial satellites? Space-based weapons?

Li Qi was utterly bewildered.

There were also Earth Flow Vehicles built on the Earth Veins, which Mortals could ride, traveling three thousand li in a single day.

However, their construction was expensive, requiring the Earth Veins to be cleared and connected to the Qi, and every thousand li required a Di Qi (Earthly Qi) deity to personally guard and suppress it to prevent possible Qi riots and Dragon turning over.

For this reason, currently there was only one vehicle lane extending from Tang Nation to the capital of Song Kingdom.

Furthermore, Tang Nation extremely disliked illicit worship and wild gods.

Upon arrival, they immediately slaughtered all temples that used humans as sacrifices, killing all those mountain spirits and wild monsters.

Only those who were kind to humans, did not consume humans, and protected a region were spared.

After the slaughter, came the enfeoffment.

Some were local benevolent gods, some were heroic spirits who died in Tang Nation's wars, and some were ghosts of local virtuous and respected individuals who died of natural causes.

The Tang Nation court personally enfeoffed them, with long scrolls and large seals, covered with the imperial decree, only then could they be considered 'Orthodox Gods'.

Thereafter, they would serve the Tang Nation's emperor as their monarch, diligently working for the people, and also had to obey the local government's dispatch to pacify one region and protect its water and soil; only then could they enjoy incense offerings.

All the Di Qi (Earthly Qi) deities mentioned earlier were like this, all were Orthodox Gods enfeoffed by Tang Nation, responsible for suppressing their respective thousand li sections of the Earth Flow Vehicle, diligently and never daring to abandon their posts.

Any illicit worship or wild gods not among the 'Orthodox Gods' either fled, abandoning their long-established incense offerings, or were directly killed and turned into resources.

After a period of rectification, although there was some unrest, it was ultimately established.

After that, came the slaughter of Shamanes.

Without mercy, all Shaman Dao practitioners who had reached a rank were arrested and thrown into prison.

According to Tang Nation, the existence of Shamanes and Shaman Dao was the source of illicit worship and wild gods, and anyone involved in Shaman Dao would inevitably bring disaster to the country, so they either sincerely reformed or died.

And then, came the implementation of the law.

All the above actions were rooted in law, and everything done was traceable by law, with no private executions whatsoever.

Tang Nation's laws were extremely detailed and regulated many things.

Although the people could receive protection, enjoy favorable weather, and not worry about oppression, they absolutely could not overstep the bounds of the law, otherwise the punishment was equally severe.

However, according to Jing Yan, although the laws were humane, the punishments were unforgiving.

The people of Great Deer Kingdom might be very unaccustomed to them, and initially, many people in Song Kingdom were also unaccustomed and subconsciously broke the law.

Then, after six months of strict rectification, severe crackdowns, and legal popularization activities, nearly one-tenth of Song Kingdom's residents, approximately over one hundred million people, suffered imprisonment and punishment.

The remaining people naturally became as silent as cicadas in cold weather, no longer daring to offend.

In short, life in Song Kingdom has undergone earth-shattering changes in the past two or three years.

For Song Kingdom, Tang Nation was a completely new world, not even on the same level.

And Li Qi, just hearing this description, felt cold sweat pouring down.

Damn it.

How could they fight this?

Could Shaman God Mountain withstand it?

It sounded precarious.

Had he not chosen the wrong side?

Was it still not too late to change allegiance now?

Fortunately, the conversation continued, and soon, it shifted from describing the changes in Song Kingdom to the events that had occurred earlier in Snake Tail County.

Li Qi suddenly thought of something and asked Jing Yan, "By the way, I observe that Manager Jing is kind, fair in his dealings, and very particular and methodical in his business.

Why would he offend the county magistrate and flee Snake Tail County in such a hurry?

He doesn't seem like the type to offend people."

At this point, Jing Yan sighed, "Manager Jing is naturally kind to others, but I cannot stand certain dirty deeds.

The county magistrate's matter was caused by me."

"What happened?" Li Qi asked curiously.

"Nothing unusual.

The son of the county magistrate of Snake Tail County wanted to forcibly take a Family's daughter as a concubine.

I happened to witness it, then beat him up, that's all," Jing Yan explained.

"Such a thing… it should indeed be stopped, but you just left like that?

After you left, wasn't it equivalent to doing nothing?

Instead, it would make that girl suffer the county magistrate's malice for nothing, and she probably wouldn't be able to escape afterwards," Li Qi's expression was subtle, and he raised an eyebrow.

You beat someone up and then ran away.

You ran, but what about that girl?

"I also considered this point, so I simply castrated him, then packed our luggage, and brought both the girl and her widowed mother with the caravan.

This way, he won't be able to harm others in the future, and he won't find that girl either," Jing Yan said.

Li Qi wiped a cold sweat.

Oh my god, big sister, you really don't follow any rules when you do things, do you?

No wonder Manager Jing had to flee overnight.

Doing such things openly, are you afraid there isn't enough trouble?

However, looking at it now, the Jing Family people don't seem to think this is wrong, and he hasn't seen anyone ostracize Jing Yan.

On the contrary, although they all avoided Jing Yan and cheered for Li Qi during the gambling match, it was clear that no one truly harbored ill will towards Jing Yan.

In Li Qi's opinion, the Jing Family had an excellent Family tradition, seemingly all benevolent.

Although based on individual personalities, there were both violent ones like Jing Yan and gentle ones like Manager Jing, no matter what, they were all extremely united, gentle, reasonable, yet not weak, and could make decisive decisions when faced with problems.

It was as if after Jing Yan intervened for someone, Manager Jing, upon learning of it, didn't complain, immediately arranged for people, and fled the city that very night, taking a small path to the ferry, not waiting for the other party to cause trouble or intercept them.

Only such a Family could do business abroad…

"Running away like this isn't wrong.

It's getting late, so I'll take my leave now and won't disturb big sister's sword practice."

Li Qi looked at the sky; during their conversation, it had already grown completely dark, and it was time to go back.

"Alright." Jing Yan was also very direct and immediately saw him off.

As for Li Qi, on his way back, he pondered whether he should also run away.

"I was recruited on the main street… although we fled overnight, someone should have seen me with the caravan… if the other party really is the county magistrate, will I be targeted…?" He thought to himself.

If the other party was truly petty, when he returned to Snake Tail County, he might indeed be sought out.

However, Old Ma was still there.

Tsk, a bit troublesome.