The policies of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom did not completely favor commoners. Soul masters still retained many privileges.
Policies such as subsidies for lower-tier soul masters and the granting of noble titles to mid- and high-tier soul masters were all preserved, and a large number of new benefits were added, such as a merit system.
As long as one carried out missions, they could obtain a certain amount of battle merit or service merit, which could be exchanged for Gold Soul Coins, various cultivation resources, and even soul bones or divine medicines.
In a world where strength reigned supreme, absolute equality was nothing more than a joke—and not a funny one at that. Nangong Lingyun did not force the issue.
He merely imposed strict restrictions on wanton slaughter and unprovoked oppression.
Acts such as Zhao Wuji killing everyone in an entire restaurant—including other diners—just because he was unhappy with a meal, as well as large-scale population plundering and trafficking and other excessively insane behaviors,
were strictly prohibited. No matter who violated these rules, they would be executed on the spot.
Moreover, for crimes committed in the past, aside from a few particularly egregious cases, the vast majority of ordinary soul masters were granted amnesty, with the law only taking effect from the day it was promulgated.
Even so, countless commoners revered him as a god and were immensely uplifted.
They also knew that asking for too much was unrealistic. As long as their right to survive was guaranteed, they were already very satisfied.
In a tavern in Chang'an City,
Nangong Lingyun disguised himself as an ordinary-looking middle-aged man. He ordered a pot of cheap wine and a few simple dishes, then quietly sat in a corner, listening to the people around him chatting about everything under the sun.
Throughout history, many policies, when implemented at the grassroots level, often ended up completely contrary to the original intentions of their creators.
For example, during Wang Anshi's reforms, there was a policy called the Green Sprouts Law. Its original intent was to eliminate private usury and exploitation by placing lending under state control, with a lower interest rate set.
Under normal circumstances, it reduced interest from the outrageous "thirteen returned for nine borrowed over three months," a 45% profiteering rate, to an annual interest of 20%. For commoners, this should have been a massive benefit.
At the same time, it could also generate revenue for the state, achieving the effect of "no increase in taxes for the people, yet sufficient funds for the nation."
However, in actual execution, grassroots officials discovered opportunities for profit and forcibly compelled large numbers of people who had no need for loans to borrow money.
At the same time, these officials' relatives found excuses to directly divert state treasury funds and goods as capital for business.
Those with a shred of conscience would return the principal after making money, but many simply found scapegoats to execute as substitutes, turning the loans into bad debts. In the end, a perfectly good policy was turned into a disastrous one.
Therefore, Nangong Lingyun would occasionally conduct incognito inspections across various regions to personally examine how policies and regulations were actually being enforced.
With spatial attributes allowing free movement, countless transformations, and an almost ghostly unpredictability—combined with a mental domain that could practically present everything happening within dozens of kilometers—there was virtually no place on the entire Douluo Planet beyond his surveillance.
And sure enough, he discovered quite a few "clever little geniuses." One could only say that when it came to making money, human creativity was limitless.
At this moment, as news spread across the giant projection screens,
the tavern, which had been relatively calm with only a few people quietly chatting, quickly became lively.
Nangong Lingyun originally thought everyone would be excited.
They were indeed excited—but along with that excitement came even more worry.
Some were concerned that once he became a god, he would immediately leave for the God Realm. The empire currently didn't even have a single prince. Ah Yin was pregnant, but no one knew whether it would be a boy or a girl. What would happen in the future?
Others worried that after his departure, Qian Daoliu and Bibi Dong would become the strongest duo in the country. Would the Spirit Hall rise from the ashes or even seize control?
There were even people who swore with absolute confidence that the emperor's ascension to godhood was actually a conspiracy of the God Realm, some dirty scheme meant to lure him up there and ambush him.
Nangong Lingyun listened with a head full of black lines.
All he could say was that these people really worried about far too much.
However, this also made him decide that when he publicly ascended to godhood seven days later, he would announce that he would not abdicate for at least a hundred years.
The issue of succession had always been the foundation of a nation throughout history. Those who worried, and those who saw opportunity, were certainly not limited to just these people.
Of course, he would still go to the God Realm—at the very least to see what the current situation was like there, to check on the Golden Dragon King, and to look at the spacetime coordinates of other planes under the God Realm's jurisdiction.
As for the God Realm's rules—that gods could not easily descend to the lower realms, and once they ascended, they could not leave…
His situation was different from others. For now, he did not plan to ascend through the traditional method. Instead, he would use an ultra-long-range spatial wormhole to enter the God Realm as a visiting guest.
A guest naturally had the right to leave.
Over the next few days, Nangong Lingyun conducted incognito inspections in Heaven Dou City, Star Luo City, Spirit City, and the Sun Moon Continent.
In addition to assigning a large number of new tasks to the Dark Division and the Ministry of Punishment, many plans were further refined and detailed.
When he returned to the imperial palace, he happened to see Qian Renxue playing Landlord with two Tsunades, acting as the landlord every round and slaughtering them mercilessly.
"Xue'er, you're here?" he asked.
"Mm!"
Tsunade played a three. Qian Renxue, utterly bored, casually tossed out a king bomb, four twos, four Aces, four Kings…
In just half an hour, she had won to the point of complete numbness. Even drawing good cards stirred not the slightest emotional fluctuation.
"Uh, there's something I should probably tell you."
"What is it? Why be so polite with me? Don't tell me my mom's pregnant?"
Qian Renxue turned her head, a strange look on her face.
Nangong Lingyun's skin was as thick as city walls. Normally, whenever there was something to say—even something rather perverted—he would just state it outright. Yet today, he was actually laying groundwork beforehand?
Could it be that he had decided to make Gu Yuena the empress and wanted to test her reaction?
But hadn't he said he had no plans to establish an empress anytime soon? Why the sudden change?
Qian Renxue had spoken purely as a joke.
But what she never expected was—
The moment those words left her mouth, both Nangong Lingyun and the Sage Body Tsunade instantly wore extremely bizarre expressions.
Their mouths hung half-open, faces stiff, looking utterly dumbfounded.
"Huh? What's with your reactions?"
"You… guessed very accurately."
Qian Renxue froze instantly.
Her eyes widened, pupils contracting sharply. Her mind went completely blank, and for a moment she didn't know how to react.
After a long while, she cautiously asked,
"Whose?"
"Who else could it be? Who else has the qualifications to subdue that woman?"
"Thank goodness…"
Qian Renxue patted her chest, a look of relief appearing on her face.
If it had been that trash Yu Xiaogang, she would have completely collapsed.
But in the very next second, she flew into a rage, grabbed Nangong Lingyun's arm, and bit down hard.
Covering her face, Qian Renxue felt an unparalleled sense of absurdity surge through her heart.
In the past, her mother had been her father's disciple. Now, something like this had happened again. Was she fated to clash with ethical absurdities?
How would later history books even describe this plotline?
Nangong Lingyun knew that Qian Renxue wouldn't truly explode. He gently hugged her from behind and comforted her in a soft voice:
"Alright, don't be angry. Since things have come to this, I'll properly compensate you tonight."
~~~
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