"Reform?" Zhao Zilong muttered under his breath.
Bibi Dong explained, "More than two hundred years ago, the Star Luo Empire's overall strength was actually slightly inferior to the Heaven Dou Empire's. It was precisely because they carried out certain reforms that the Star Luo Empire can now completely crush the Heaven Dou Empire in overall strength."
"You should know that in the Heaven Dou Empire, all land belongs to the nobles. Ordinary people have no land at all and can only rent land from the nobles, becoming tenant farmers. After growing crops, they can only keep a very small portion for themselves."
"The Star Luo Empire's main reforms were to emphasize agriculture and suppress commerce, recruit displaced people, reclaim wasteland, and distribute grain and farming tools to the refugees. They were exempt from taxes for the first two years and began paying taxes after the third year. This also caused the Star Luo Empire's population to grow."
"Besides that, the Star Luo Empire also implemented a military merit system. Whether commoner or slave, as long as they enlisted and killed enemies on the battlefield, they would cut off the enemy's left ear as proof. Kill three enemies and become a squad leader; kill five and become a ten-man leader. As long as you had sufficient ability, you could become a new noble. This made the Star Luo Empire's soldiers exceptionally high-spirited in every war, and from then on, the Star Luo Empire gradually surpassed the Heaven Dou Empire in military strength."
Zhao Zilong listened and could not help rubbing his chin. "So that's how it is!"
Bibi Dong looked at Zhao Zilong and continued, "Although the Star Luo Empire's system is somewhat better than the Heaven Dou Empire's in my eyes, its laws and governance are still inferior."
"Power in