As the capital of Fengzhou, although Changfeng Prefecture was not as prosperous as Lu County, it was a place where important figures gathered.
Most of the powerful people in Fengzhou lived here.
The relatives and friends of the county officials and state officials all had a large number of farms and shops here.
Many sects and clans were also gathered here. Just the sects and clans that controlled gold, iron, grain, salt, cloth, coal, and other industries numbered as many as 20. Each of them was a large sect or clan that had existed for thousands of years.
Their martial strength was not weak either. Just this Changfeng Prefecture City alone had six top-notch Inner World experts.
In any other county, this was almost impossible.
After all, there were no major clans like the Seven Distinguished Families in Fengzhou, nor were there any top sects like the Daoyi Palace or the Baolin Buddhist Hall. Top-notch figures in the Inner World realm were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns, and there were no more than 20 of them in the entire State.
Now, there were six in this Prefecture City alone. In the entire Changfeng Prefecture, there were probably no less than ten!
These people were the biggest local tyrants in Changfeng Prefecture City and even the entire Changfeng Prefecture.
It was not easy to deal with them.
Even if Cui Heng succeeded the position of State Overseer of Fengzhou, it would be extremely difficult for him to suppress these people with his power.
Therefore, after Hui Shi came to Changfeng Prefecture City in advance, he chose the simplest and most direct method.
Kill!
He held a list of the powerful people in the Prefecture City. He had obtained it from Wu Yin. After coming here, he immediately went to look for them.
He directly went to ask.
Anyone who did not respect the new Lord Overseer would be killed on the spot!
As the current Hui Shi had contributed to the implementation of the new decrees in the various counties of Lu County, he had already been promoted to the Inner World realm by Cui Heng.
Even without counting the rune of the Heavenly Dragon’s Mighty Bodhisattva Fist, his martial skills were already among the best in the world.
It was naturally more convenient for him to deal with these nobles.
At first, when Hui Shi first attacked, there were many attempts to rebel. There were even large clans who gathered private troops and the sects and let their disciples form teams to surround and kill Hui Shi.
However, as Hui Shi killed more and more people, the nobles in Changfeng City no longer resisted.
Some people even changed their attitude.
As long as they saw Hui Shi visiting, he would immediately express that they would definitely welcome the new Overseer respectfully and would not have any complaints.
Of course, just killing them was not enough. After Hui Shi suppressed these rich and powerful people in all aspects, he began to use the ability he was best at when he implemented the government decrees in the various counties of Lu County—the ability to confiscate property and divide the land!
The commoners who had been oppressed by the rich and powerful in Changfeng City for a long time were all cheering.
Moreover, because the officials said that this was a decree issued by the new Overseer, they wanted all the commoners to be well-fed and live in peace.
This immediately caused the hearts of the people in Changfeng City to swoon.
Therefore, when Cui Heng led everyone to the entrance of Changfeng Prefecture City, he saw countless citizens coming to welcome him happily.
This was not an arrangement made by anyone.
They were all people from the city who’d sincerely come to welcome him.
“Lord Overseer, you haven’t even entered the city, but you’re already loved by so many people. Fengzhou can be ruled!” Wu Yin said excitedly. He had been here for many years, but he had never seen the people welcome someone so warmly.
“This is just the beginning.” Cui Heng nodded slightly and smiled. “Come, follow me into the city!”
….
After being beaten by Hui Shi’s iron fists, the local tyrants of Changfeng Prefecture became much more obedient.
Moreover, after Cao Quan’s death, Wu Yin had already begun to govern the people’s livelihood.
Therefore, after Cui Heng entered the city to take up his post, he did not encounter a lot of troublesome matters.
However, after gaining control of the entire finance and army in Fengzhou, he discovered a serious problem.
He wanted to rely on the entire Fengzhou to implement the new government decree everywhere and gain the love of the people and the hatred of his enemies. But his plan to gather the seven emotions of life was not perfect.
That was because after the chaos of King Yan’s rebellion, the people of Fengzhou had already dwindled to the extreme. Other than a few counties, there were not many people left.
In the State Overseer’s Office.
“The disaster left behind by the war is actually so heavy?!” Cui Heng looked at the information he had just obtained and was instantly speechless. “In the vast Fengzhou, Lu County alone accounted for 30% of the population!”
Although he had long known the style of King Yan’s army, burning, killing, and plundering everywhere they passed by, this was the first time he had seen the destruction of the entire Fengzhou from a macro perspective.
This was the privilege of a State Overseer, and it was information that only a State Overseer could have access to.
Fengzhou had one prefecture and twelve counties.
As the capital of a State, Changfeng Prefecture had gathered a large number of aristocratic families and sects, and they had not suffered much from the military disasters. Although the population here was not as large as Lu County, it was still more than 1.1 million.
Among the 12 counties, Lu County was the most prosperous and had the most population. It had more than 1.3 million people.
Xiling County, which was adjacent to Lu County, originally had more than 800,000 people, but now, it had been slaughtered clean by King Yan’s army. Nine out of ten households were empty, and the remaining population was less than 100,000.
Yanshan County was the place where King Yan’s army rose up from. It was also considered the rear of King Yan’s army. It had been governed for several years, and the people’s livelihood should not be too bad.
However, Yanshan County was barren to begin with. Before the war, there were only about 500,000 people. It was already very good that there were still 200,000 people left.
As for Hedong County, Hongyuan County, and Shimen County, they had also been attacked by the Yan bandits. Most of the people’s businesses were gone, and the people were struggling to survive. Their population had also plummeted. It was already a blessing to have more than 500,000 people. Other than that, it was Luo’an County and Changxing County.
Although neither of these places had encountered any war disasters, the local governor was from a wealthy family and only cared about military power. He did not care about the people’s livelihoods, and the other was a freeloader who did not care about military affairs. Neither of them were good people.
Under such governance, Luo’an County and Changxing County were naturally in a mess. Countless people had starved to death and frozen to death in the various counties. There were refugees and beggars everywhere, and there were probably less than 600,000 people in total from the two counties.
Yunshu County was a frontier fortress. The permanent population was less than 100,000, and there were no big clans or sects. There were not even many merchants. In such a place, whether or not a new government decree was implemented did not make much of a difference.
In all, the population of Fengzhou was at most four million.
When Cui Heng saw this data, he was numb.
How big was Fengzhou?
In terms of area alone, it was equivalent to one Shanxi Province and half of Hebei Province on Earth.
Moreover, there were many fertile lands that were suitable for farming, which was why it was called Fengzhou.
In such a large area and with such conditions, there were only about four million people left.
How terrifying!
In fact, this was not considered rare in an ancient society wrecked with war.
However, to Cui Heng’s cultivation, it was a rather troublesome matter.
In places like Hedong County and Xiling County that had suffered serious military disasters, the new decree was useless. This was because the local aristocratic sects had long been killed already.
Although the Hongyuan and Shimen Counties had also suffered a military disaster, there were still the Grand Prosperity Monastery and the Lotus Flower Monastery in these two places. There were quite a number of powerful landlords left, and they could be used as a place for the second batch of soldiers.
But no matter what, there were still too few people.
Even if the new government decree was implemented in the entire Fengzhou, it would probably not be able to collect enough Seven Emotions.
As such, he had to spread the decree to the surrounding areas.
Otherwise, there would not be enough people.
Moreover, this would also cause dissatisfaction among the other county factions.
He could also receive a lot of emotional feedback.
The so-called surrounding area was actually the territory of the neighboring States. To put it bluntly, it was to expand the territory and population of Fengzhou!
Whoosh!
Cui Heng put down the stack of information and closed his eyes slightly. After pondering for a moment, he opened his eyes and looked at the people below. He suddenly said, “Hui Shi, Chen Tong, listen up.”
At this moment, Zhang Shuming, Hui Shi, Liu Litao, Chen Tong, Xu Feng’an, and Wu Yin were standing in the inner hall.
Hui Shi and Chen Tong immediately stepped forward to await orders.
Cui Heng nodded slightly and said in a low voice, “I order Hui Shi to patrol the seven counties. He can temporarily represent the administrative and military authority of Lu County, Yan Mountain, Hongyuan, Shimen County, Luo’an County, and Changxing County to implement a new decree.
Chen Tong, your orders are to act as an army officer. You will temporarily follow Hui Shi to the various counties to implement the new government decree. You can recruit soldiers and form an army. If you see commoners being bullied at the border with other states, you can act at will and lead your troops to rescue them.”
As soon as this order was given, everyone present knew what he meant.
He was clearly trying to expand his territory.
“Yes! We will follow your orders!”
Hui Shi and Chen Tong replied in unison and gladly accepted the order.
Liu Litao and Xu Feng’an naturally did not have any objections. They were already familiar with Cui Heng’s style of doing things. As long as he decided on something, he would definitely do it.
As for Zhang Shuming, he already treated Cui Heng as a Heaven Monarch.
The Heaven Monarch naturally did whatever he wanted.
Not to mention in the Lower World, even the Upper World was the same.
“Lord Overseer, aren’t you being a little too hasty?” Wu Yin was a little worried. He stepped forward and persuaded, “I know that you want to carry out the Great Harmony plan and benefit the people of the world. This is a good deed.
However, if we rashly take on such an intense campaign and seize other counties to carry out reforms, I’m afraid it will cause all the sects and families in the world to counterattack crazily.
300 years ago, Heavenly King Hongwu killed all the Deity Realm experts in the world and wiped out the aristocratic families and sects. He almost unified the world and rebuilt it anew. However, just as he was about to succeed, he suddenly disappeared. This was definitely not without the help of the Immortals and Buddhas of the Upper World.
Lord Overseer, the 100-year period is approaching, and the Immortals and Buddhas of the Upper World are about to descend. If you are too anxious, the Immortals and Buddhas of the Upper World will definitely interfere. I’m afraid that it will add to your suffering. Please reconsider.”
“Haha, what Sir Wu said is exactly what I want.” Cui Heng laughed when he heard that. He nodded and said, “With my political decree, those sects and aristocratic families that attacked Hongwu back then will indeed jump out.
“Moreover, in two months, when the Immortals and Buddhas of the Upper World descend and discover the decree I’ve implemented, the people who attacked Hongwu back then won’t be able to hold back anymore.
“At that time, we can capture them all and settle the score together!
“How much effort did this save me?
“Why not?”