Meanwhile, the news of Fang Yuan displaying his great power at the Icefield Imperial City and slaughtering the members of foreign nations spread like a spring breeze throughout the Summer Kingdom.
The entire kingdom of Summer was immediately filled with joy.
In the busiest Qingfeng Teahouse in the capital, crowds of people gathered. Li Dadan, having finished his work, squeezed into a corner with other peddlers, eagerly waiting to hear the new and exciting stories that were shared daily.
As a commoner in the Summer Kingdom, Li Dadan was constantly troubled by the need to make a living. The few hungry mouths at home weighed heavily on him, making it hard to breathe.
Every day, he left home before dawn, carrying heavy goods and weaving through the streets until dusk, only to return home with legs that felt like lead.
But even then, the money he earned barely covered his basic needs.
The Qingfeng Teahouse was a rare place of solace for him, costing little and allowing him to temporarily forget the hardships of life.
Many of the people in the teahouse, like Li Dadan, were common folk who spent their days toiling for a few coins. Their dreams were simple yet distant:
It was nothing more than to provide enough food and clothing for their families, and for life to be a little smoother.
As everyone eagerly awaited, the storyteller, dressed in a somewhat faded long robe, stepped onto the stage.
With a heavy knock of the wooden stick in his hand on the table, "啪," the noisy sounds in the teahouse were instantly silenced.
"Good folks! Today's story is a world-shaking event—the great achievements of our current emperor, who personally led the expedition to the Icefield!"
Just these few words immediately captured everyone's attention, and all eyes turned to the storyteller. Li Dadan instinctively held his breath.
The storyteller then began speaking with great passion, narrating as if he himself had witnessed the entire battle.
"At that time, the great masters from various nations surrounded our emperor. They were eyeing him like tigers, and the situation was extremely critical!"
As he spoke, the storyteller suddenly raised his voice, his face full of tension, as if he too was worried about the emperor's safety.
"But our emperor remained calm... He raised his hand and summoned a divine dragon, which frightened the enemy masters so much that they ran away, throwing off their armor!"
While speaking, the storyteller exaggeratedly waved his arms, mimicking the motion of the dragon soaring through the skies.
The peddlers in the audience listened intently, and Li Dadan leaned forward, almost standing up, fully immersed in the scene.
An elderly man beside him was so excited that his beard was shaking, and he kept muttering, "Our emperor is mighty! Our emperor is mighty!"
At this moment, the people in the teahouse, regardless of their status or wealth, all felt a deep sense of pride in being from the Summer Kingdom.
However, happiness is fleeting. As the storyteller struck his wooden stick for the final time, the story came to an end, and the people in the teahouse slowly returned to reality.
Li Dadan's mind remained stirred for a long time after hearing the story, and he continued to imagine the emperor leading the expedition, his majestic presence still vivid in his mind.
He walked with the crowd out of the teahouse and returned to his simple, shabby hut.
His wife was sitting under the dim light of an oil lamp, mending an old garment. When she saw him, she lifted her head and smiled wearily.
Several children gathered around, their eyes sparkling with anticipation. The eldest son asked first, "Father, what exciting story did you hear today?"
Li Dadan immediately shared the story he had heard in the teahouse. The children listened intently, their eyes full of longing.
"Father, can we also become martial artists and fight against foreign nations?" the eldest son suddenly asked.
Li Dadan was momentarily stunned, unsure how to answer.
His wife, sensing his hesitation, quickly took over the conversation: "Of course, when you grow up, each of you will definitely become great generals!"
"Great! I want to be a general!" The children cheered and ran off.
Once the children had left, the couple fell into a moment of silence. After a while, the wife softly said, "I wish our lives could be as victorious as the emperor's—getting better and better."
Li Dadan gently nodded. "Hmm..."
At that moment, a strange sense of loss surged within him. He realized that the emperor's victory in battle seemed completely unrelated to the lives of ordinary citizens like him.
His life would remain the same, unchanging. Tomorrow, he would still have to work tirelessly, just to barely feed his family.
When he thought about it like that, the story of the emperor's campaign no longer stirred him the way it once had.
The next day, Li Dadan went out early, continuing his daily routine. As he passed through the city gates, he saw several officials putting up something on a bulletin board.
One official was shouting loudly, "The emperor's grace is vast, our new ruler has issued a new policy!"
New policy?
Upon hearing this, Li Dadan's interest piqued, and he quickly walked over. The area around the bulletin board quickly became crowded. Li Dadan, being illiterate, couldn't read the notice, but soon a kind-hearted person began reading it aloud:
"Starting today, the court is implementing reform measures: the policy of land redistribution and tax exemption will be enacted. The national land will be re-surveyed and distributed equally based on population, so that those who farm will own their own land..."
"Thirty-two types of taxes and services will be abolished, and the remaining tax rates will be halved..."
"The hereditary noble system and the low-status caste system will be abolished..."
The words of the official reading the notice were clear in Li Dadan's ears, and his shock exceeded even that of the previous day's excitement from the storyteller's tale.
Though he couldn't read, he fully understood the weight of the announcement!
The people around him were also buzzing with excitement. They too realized the magnitude of the notice!
This was essentially a complete overhaul of the Summer Kingdom, from top to bottom—one might even say it was revolutionary!
Could the new emperor really have such great courage?
The content of the notice was something they had never even dared to dream of!
These reform measures were casually conceived by Fang Yuan during his journey back to the Summer Kingdom from the Icefield.
As a modern intellectual, Fang Yuan had some knowledge of reform policies.
While these initial ideas might not be perfect, that didn't matter; everything could be adjusted over time.
As for whether the nobility would oppose the reforms, causing them to fail... Fang Yuan didn't worry at all.
After all, this was a world of high martial arts, where strength was the ultimate authority. His extraordinary martial power was enough to make the entire world tremble!
If anyone dared to resist the reforms, or show a false compliance, refusing to implement them properly, there would only be one outcome—death without mercy.