Zhao Cheng spoke unhurriedly.
No matter the era, there was never any shortage of such people. Their so-called reputations did not come from any true service to the common folk; they were merely puffed up by those within their own circles.
In this world, commoners formed one circle, while scholars formed another.
So-called prestige did not mean fame among the common people, but fame within the scholarly world.
The Two Worthies of Wu City were precisely such figures—their names spread widely among scholars, and they had many students.
Throughout history, few great rulers had dared kill people of this kind. After all, the realm always needed people to govern it, and offending the scholars would bring endless trouble.
But Zhao Cheng was not afraid. The path he walked was rooted neither in the clans of the realm nor in these scholars, but in the mud-legged peasants—the lowest, most suffering people.
These people were the foundation of his earthly Dao kingdom.
Yellow Heaven Daoist's failure had already proven the unreliability of the clans and the scholars. These people stood too high and had too many choices, so they were all grass on a wall, bending whichever way the wind blew.
Thus, the first thing Zhao Cheng did after taking the city was spread his own mighty name throughout Wu City. Those clan magnates thought he was saying it for them to hear, but in truth, it was meant for the weeds and chaff they held in such contempt.
That was the foundation Zhao Cheng had chosen.
It was also the source of Zhao Cheng's confidence that, in his ideal, even if all under heaven rebelled, he could slaughter all under heaven and still leave the realm as it was.
The realm today was no more than the realm of aristocratic houses