Conferred Gods: Start with a Phoenix clone

Chapter 248 Reform
"Teacher, what should we do next?" disciple Yu Qing asked in a low voice.

After seeing the thousands of immortals coming to pay homage to the Biyou Palace, Yu Qing no longer cared about the wealth and glory of the world.

If the Shang Dynasty was still the only dominant power and there was only one rebel in Xiqi, then it would be fine for the master and disciple to help quell the rebellion and then return to the mountain.

Now the descendants of the Yin family are all fighting each other, why should we get involved? Let’s just go back to the mountain.

Yu Qing and Ji Li were both disciples accepted by Wen Zhong in the mortal world. They originally had little idea about immortals, but this time their horizons were broadened.

Everyone was running towards Rome at all costs. We brothers were short-sighted and didn't realize that we were only one step away from Rome. Now that we know, why are we still retreating?
The eldest disciple Ji Li shook his head at him and said, "Don't provoke our teacher. Didn't you see that he vomited blood just now?"

Yu Qing also knew that he had spoken out of turn and immediately shut up.

Wen Zhong stood in the clouds and looked at the city of Chaoge.

Even though Emperor Shitian hid well, the breath of the sea of ​​blood was still captured by Wen Zhong's divine eyes.

Wen Zhong was very disappointed with Yin Jiao's behavior of inviting foreign tribes and foreign religions into the Central Plains.

After much deliberation, the old master decided to help King Zhou.

King Zhou is the orthodox one.

He has the strongest military power, has been in power for more than ten years, has a high prestige, and occupies the Central Plains region. In theory, he is the most likely to end the troubled times.

When Wen Zhong arrived in Xiaodu and met King Zhou, he raised his hand and whipped him twice without saying a word.

E Lai was furious and drew his sword to strike, but was kicked away by Master Wen.

"Old Master..." King Zhou was annoyed and anxious after being beaten, but he did not resist in the end. He knew that he needed Wen Zhong very much now.

Even Yin Jiao knew how to win over Molizhitian, putting on a smile and pretending to be stupid, let alone King Zhou. Being able to bend and stretch is the most basic quality of an emperor.

King Zhou is a bit like a king in adversity and a king in prosperity.

In adversity, he can often suppress his various preferences and emotions.

"I apologize for your rudeness, but the country is in imminent danger. I beg Your Majesty to issue an imperial edict."

"What is this edict?"

Wen Zhong said decisively: "Reform!"

Previously, the Shang Dynasty was invincible with the support of taxes from all four directions. Now, all four sides have rebelled, and only the Central Plains is left, so changes must be made.

“First, human sacrifice must be abolished.”

In troubled times, people are the most precious. The Shang Dynasty would often offer a thousand or ten thousand human sacrifices to their ancestors. However, the ancestors were useless in times of crisis and could only arouse more hatred among the people.

As an immortal, Wen Zhong certainly knew that the barbaric system of human sacrifice was actually constantly consuming the fortune of the Shang Dynasty, but this bad habit was inherited from Cheng Tang and it was difficult to change it in a hurry, so he did not do anything.

Now it has reached the point where if we don’t move, the country will perish. This must change.

King Zhou did not have much reverence for his ancestors. Canceling human sacrifices and increasing the population meant that he could have more soldiers and collect more taxes, which was not a problem.

"can."

Wen Zhong continued, "Second, release the slaves and make them free citizens."

"This." King Zhou hesitated for a moment. He was afraid that he had just released the slaves, and in the blink of an eye these people would run to Xiqi and Nanjun.

The taxes in Xiqi and Nanjun are relatively low. He is located in the Central Plains and has to fight wars in all directions. If the taxes are too low, he will have no money to fight.

"Just strengthen supervision at all border checkpoints." "I'll follow your instructions, Grand Master. Anything else?"

"Yes, despise goods and value virtue, avoid slander and stay away from beauty." What Wen Zhong said was actually the idea of ​​being close to virtuous ministers and staying away from villains. Queen Jiang also said these words in the past, but they sounded harsh to King Zhou at that time. Now the country is in turmoil, and he has to listen even if he is unhappy.

"I will follow Grand Master!"

King Zhou implemented reforms under Wen Zhong's advice.

Although the liberation of a large number of slaves dealt a heavy blow to the slave-owning class, it did significantly increase the country's strength in a short period of time.

King Zhou had limited ability in governing the country, but he was indeed a good leader in fighting wars.

The king of a country personally put on armor and took the lead in the charge. The inspiring effect he played was unimaginable to ordinary people. More than a dozen nobles who were unwilling to release slaves were defeated one after another. The wealth and population accumulated by their ancestors were transported into Xiaodu in batches, and the precarious Shang Dynasty stabilized again.

King Zhou was in internal turmoil, and there was also a war in Nanjun.

From the beginning to the end, King Zhou never gave the Deng family the title of Marquis of Nanbo and the right to rule over the two hundred princes in the south.

Now we simply don’t want it either!
Deng Jiugong had been feeling aggrieved for two years, but now he was like a dragon entering the sea, personally leading his troops to attack those princes.

Although they were called princes, they actually ruled over only about 18,000 people at most. The Deng family army swept through them as easily as plowing a yard and digging a hole.

They left no way for the two hundred princes in the south to survive, forcing the remaining princes to seek refuge with E Shun, the Southern Marquis, who had fled to the Huaihe River area.

The Deng family also gained a large number of people and food by conquering these weak princes.

Xiqi.

Yin Hong was completely sidelined. Under the advice of Ji Dan, Ji Chang implemented a whole set of reform systems throughout the country, including the feudal system, the patriarchal system and the well-field system. The monarch and his subjects, the major and minor clans, and the public and private fields were all clearly divided.

The monarch-minister system was aborted due to strong opposition from his brothers Ji Fa and Ji Xian, but Ji Chang did not comment on this. However, the system of major and minor clans and the well-field system were implemented, giving the people a clear standard and freeing the relationship between brothers and between the public and private sectors from the previous confusion.

King Zhou's reforms were thorough, while Xiqi's reforms were only halfway through, not thorough enough.

The Deng family did not engage in internal competition, but instead launched a war.

Deng Xiu and Li Jing led their troops eastward and were about to destroy E Shun, occupy the Huai River, move south to Wu Hui, and dominate the entire south.

The strategy that Wen Zhong set for King Zhou was to stabilize the north and south directions, first east and then west. The Duke of Dongbo claimed to have an army of 600,000, but in reality there was a lot of water in it, and 300,000 would be enough.

Jiang Wenhuan, who succeeded the throne of Duke Dongbo in the original time and space, fought a small battle at Youhun Pass. From the time Ji Chang died and Ji Fa established the Zhou Kingdom and officially raised the banner of rebellion, the battle lasted for more than ten years. There was a small thought of not wanting to be the first bird to stand out. The low combat effectiveness of the Dong Lu army was also a reason.

In Wen Zhong's opinion, Dong Lu is the easiest to defeat.

Then he pacified Xiqi and recruited the northern princes to surrender.

In the end, with his old face, he was able to persuade Huang Feihu to surrender.

At present, Jia and Concubine Huang are both alive. Huang Feihu in this time and space has no deep hatred with King Zhou. He just ran to the south to protect himself because of the chaos in Chaoge.

Once Huang Feihu surrendered, Deng Jiugong was given the title of permanent governor of Tiannan, and the Shang Dynasty was unified again.

Deng Chanyu is not important. People who practice Taoism will not stay in the mortal world for long.

This is what Wen Zhong planned and did.

The fact is that Deng Chanyu really didn't care about these worldly things. After Deng Jiugong returned to Nanjun and Deng Xiu went to conquer the East, she returned to Mount Emei to practice Taoism.

(End of this chapter)