Against ancestral law

"Against ancestral law? Ha!"

"Our sovereign possesses grand vision and extraordinary talent, a sage ruler in the mold of Emperor Guangming. He has already revised ancestral law time and again."

Li Xun greatly revered Emperor Jingtai, repeatedly placing him alongside the Founding Grand Ancestor and Emperor Guangming, who had restored the dynasty.

Founding grand ancestors were practically divine figures. Rising from commoner to ruler of a unified realm was beyond the reach of ordinary men.

Emperors who restored a dynasty were no small figures either. Their starting point might seem far above a founder's, but hauling a great ship back on course as it plunged toward an abyss was hardly easier than building a new one.

"Back then, the treasury was empty. They couldn't even pay the Northern and Southern Border Armies. His Majesty wanted to reform the tax laws, requiring officials and gentry to pay taxes like everyone else, and even introducing the unprecedented Immortal Tax."

Admiration filled Li Xun's face. "The officials tried to dissuade him, Buddhism and Daoism were shaken, and eighteen rebel forces rose within a year. In the end, His Majesty slaughtered his way through them, one by one, and collected those taxes by sheer force, reversing the decline in a single stroke."

Originally, Zhou Yi's only impressions of the reigning Emperor Jingtai were that he was a skilled political operator and had held the throne for a long time.

Over a decade ago, rumors had already claimed that his health was failing, prompting him to have the crown prince oversee the government. Now even the crown prince's health was beginning to fail, yet Emperor Jingtai still had the energy to promote younger talents.

Later, thanks to the fervent fan Li Xun's indoctrination, Zhou Yi learned more about Emperor Jingtai.

Buddhism and Daoism had contributed considerably to Great Qian's establishment of dominion over Cloud Continent. The Grand Ancestor had expressly stipulated in the Great Qian Code that Buddhist and Daoist practitioners who stood apart from worldly affairs would be exempt from taxes and levies forever.

In fact, Buddhism and Daoism had never paid taxes throughout history. Were mortal officials supposed to visit cultivation sects to collect money and goods?

Emperor Jingtai had done just that!

Not only did Buddhist and Daoist practitioners have to pay land and transaction taxes, they also had to serve in the Immortal Stipend Bureau and the Demon-Slaying Bureau. Even the spiritual plants grown on their mountains were subject to the one-tenth land tax because they were within Great Qian's borders.

It sounded no different from having immortals growing spirit herbs and commoners growing grain both pay taxes.

In reality, the resistance had been so fierce that it nearly toppled the court. There was no need to guess who had backed those eighteen rebel forces.

When Zhou Yi first heard Li Xun tell the story, he admired Emperor Jingtai immensely. It amounted to treating immortals and mortals alike.

The Immortal Tax was Emperor Jingtai's proudest achievement, and he had made improvements in many other areas as well. Calling him a sage ruler might be excessive, but he deserved to be called an enlightened sovereign.

"I remember you mentioning that the last person His Majesty praised as a talent fit to govern in peaceful times was Dragon Cavalry General Xu Fengxian, who was made a duke after suppressing the eighteen rebel forces?"

Zhou Yi looked at the name signed beneath the proclamation and felt an inexplicable discomfort.

An opportunist who bent whichever way the wind blew was more repulsive than an opponent who stood firmly by his convictions!

"Exactly! Since His Majesty ascended the throne, Attendant Reader Wang is only the second. Some are already saying his future accomplishments will rival Duke Xu's."

Li Xun said enviously, "With that appraisal, he'll soar straight into the clouds. Joining the cabinet and becoming chief minister is only a matter of time."

Zhou Yi shook his head. "You've got it wrong. Attendant Reader Wang is a great talent who will one day be honored as a Master!"

"Surely not? Duke Xu is a genuine peak first-grade expert, said to have a chance of becoming a Martial Saint. Attendant Reader Wang has barely reached the eighth grade of Confucian Dao..."

Li Xun kept feeling that Zhou Yi's tone was strange. His words were plainly praise, yet somehow sounded sarcastic.

Zhou Yi said meaningfully, "Can scholars and warriors be judged alike?"

"Can't they?"

Li Xun was somewhat puzzled. Great Qian had been founded through martial prowess and had produced two generations of Martial Saints. Warriors had never held a lower status than scholars.

After chatting about everything under the sun for a while, Zhou Yi began copying books.

Around the time roll call would be taken at the Punishment Office, he saw a Demon-Slaying Commandant emerge from underground and slipped into the prison with practiced ease.

When he returned from slaying demons and monsters, he discovered that Zhang Cheng had actually arrived.

"Brother Zhang, why are you here so early today?"

Zhang Cheng rubbed his lower back and sighed. "Ah, I'm getting old. My back can't quite take it anymore."

"Gasp! Which girl at Spring Breeze Pavilion is so formidable that she even subdued you, Brother Zhang?"

Zhou Yi genuinely sucked in a breath of cold air. If even an expert of the upper third grade couldn't endure it, she had to be some demon or ghost, or a practitioner of an essence-harvesting technique.

Zhang Cheng had spent who knew how long in the Demon-Slaying Bureau. There was no way he would fail to recognize demons or unorthodox arts.

"Can't blame the girls. It was those old fellows at White Cloud Temple. They took turns casting curses on me when I wasn't paying attention."

Zhang Cheng snorted. "I picked that tea through my own abilities. Why should I pay for it?"

Zhou Yi couldn't help giving him a thumbs-up. The Master of White Cloud Temple, True Person Changchun, was a first-grade cultivator renowned throughout Great Qian. That Zhang Cheng had stolen his spirit tea and suffered nothing worse than an aching back was proof enough of his prowess.

Zhang Cheng had once inadvertently revealed his cultivation: the second grade of Martial Dao, with a Yin Spirit capable of roaming by daylight. There was still a considerable gap between him and True Person Changchun, who had cultivated a Yang Spirit.

Of course, Zhang Cheng belonged to the Demon-Slaying Bureau, so the Master of White Cloud Temple would not go too far. It was merely a warning to keep him from coming back to wreak havoc.

They chatted off and on, and soon their shift ended.

On his way home, Zhou Yi passed the Capital Prefectural Office and found a great crowd gathered around an Imperial Proclamation.

A scholar among them was reading aloud, amplifying his voice through Confucian Dao magic so that it could be heard from far away.

"...The sage sovereign's honor or disgrace hinges upon this day; glory to endure a thousand ages rests upon this very moment..."

The Imperial Proclamation contained the Proclamation Against Demons.

It was read aloud again and again without tiring. Rather than thinning, the crowd only grew larger.

"We'll have plenty to keep us busy from now on."

Zhou Yi shook his head and left.

He thought little of Wang Bo'an, but had no objection whatsoever to Emperor Jingtai's preparations for a sweeping purge of demons.

Demons and monsters held values different from those of humanity. Many acts they considered perfectly normal were, from a human perspective, vile crimes.

Among ordinary people, murder and arson already made someone a rare, serious offender. To demons, such things were merely casual acts.

If Great Qian could eradicate its demons entirely, the world might not become bright and just, but the number of wrongful deaths each year would fall by seventy or eighty percent.

With Emperor Jingtai's endorsement, the Proclamation Against Demons swiftly spread throughout the realm, and the people's resolve to slay demons and monsters reached unprecedented heights.

The court then announced a thorough investigation of all demons and monsters in the realm. Whether or not members of the Demon Race had harmed anyone, they had to undergo the Heart-Questioning Spell. Any who dared resist would be bound and sent to the Demon-Slaying Bureau. As for Demonic Dao cultivators, they would not dare show themselves even without an investigation.

As Zhou Yi had expected, the Ministry of Works grew busy.

The quantity of demon and monster materials logged each day more than doubled.

Zhou Yi delighted in the work. The number and quality of demons directly affected his Dao Attainment. Slaying several demons from the Earth-Class Prison each day, he experienced a rate of growth he had not enjoyed in a long time.

Ten thousand years were too few; he had to seize every moment!

There was also an unexpected piece of good fortune.

When Zhou Yi delivered the Daoist Scriptures he had copied to Top Scholar Hall, Shopkeeper He told him some good news.

Tales of the Executioner was selling like mad.

Its sales had already been good, but under the influence of the Proclamation Against Demons, Top Scholar Hall had printed another fifty thousand copies over just six months.

"That's only the number printed in Luo Prefecture. Top Scholar Hall has branches in other prefectures too, though the profits there fall far short."

"Some small bookshops have already begun printing unauthorized copies. There are tangled interests involved, so it's difficult for us to stamp it out."

Shopkeeper He settled Zhou Yi's share for the thirty thousand copies already sold, a full two thousand five hundred taels.

"Don't trouble yourself over it, Shopkeeper He. I'd like this book to spread more widely too."

With his royalties in hand, Zhou Yi was suddenly flush with money again. There was no helping it-even immortals needed money.

The ways to make quick money were all written into the Great Qian Code. With Zhou Yi's abilities, he could easily carry them out without gods or ghosts being any the wiser.

Yet while Zhou Yi could deceive anyone else, he could not deceive himself.

How could gold and silver repair damage to his Dao heart?

Zhou Yi did not want to end up in the Demon and Monster Compendium one day. Running into the demons he had personally slain would make for an unbearably awkward scene.

"How did you end up in here too?"

"I made a mistake."

"What kind of mistake? Corruption, or problems with your personal conduct?"

"..."

Zhou Yi would rather copy books.

I spent the whole afternoon in a meeting and couldn't sneak in any writing, so the update was late.

There's one more chapter, probably around eleven. My deepest apologies.