madnovel Chapter 602 The City of Peace
Chapter 602 The City of Peace
Chapter 602 The City of Peace
Qingwan led her people to the city walls and issued the first decree: people were allowed to enter the city, but no one was allowed to leave.
Afterwards, Qingwan had the monks bring the runaway slaves who had nowhere else to go into the city, settle them in the city's temples, and re-register their household registrations.
Most of the properties in the holy city belong to the temples, which is more than enough to temporarily accommodate these people.
Some nobles, unaware of the situation, came to pay their respects upon learning that people had arrived from the sacred mountain.
Qingwan didn't mince words and directly stated her purpose: to have these nobles release all their servants, and preferably take them to a temple to register them.
Furthermore, these nobles were instructed to return and reorganize their properties, which would then be redistributed later.
Many noblemen were dumbfounded. They thought that a real Buddha or Bodhisattva had descended to earth and exempted them from offerings and taxes, so that they could enjoy a life of luxury.
Why should their property be divided among others, among those lowly slaves?
Giving away hard-earned silver to the poor? Isn't that a sin?
Some even suspected that the one who descended was a demon, and the one who was killed was a true bodhisattva...
However, they wouldn't dare to say such things out loud.
A nobleman lamented, "How can the wealth accumulated by my family over generations be given to those people... This Buddha wants to save all sentient beings, yet he uses my family's wealth to do so..."
Qingwan said calmly, "What kind of business has your family accumulated through generations of hard work? How much land have you cultivated? How many hours have you worked in the fields every day? Or how many goods have you produced?"
Qingwan was too lazy to argue with this aristocratic gentleman who was lying on top of her, so she changed the subject and said, "I'm just asking you whether you're willing or not?"
Beside them, several burly monks glared angrily at the group of nobles.
Although the Great Buddha Temple collapsed and the three living "Bodhisattvas" are gone, the greatest power in this area still belongs to these groups of monks.
Nowadays, some monks, in order to save their lives, have chosen to abandon the darkness and embrace the light, allowing Qingwan to do whatever she wants.
Even now, these Buddhist monks still wield considerable influence over the city's noble lords.
Seeing this, the nobles dared not say a word; their deeply ingrained beliefs prevented them from rebelling against these monks.
This wicked person needs another wicked person to teach them a lesson.
Qingwan said, "Go back. Someone will come to investigate one by one later. Anyone who takes advantage of the situation to cause trouble will be sentenced to death!"
Many nobles trembled upon hearing this and quickly left.
Of course, there were also a few astute nobles who stepped forward to express their willingness to cooperate and offer up their family fortunes.
Qingwan could tell that some people had opportunistic intentions, but since it was a time when she needed people, she could use some of them first and then settle the score later.
Suddenly, Qingyi spoke up: "There's a fight going on."
Qingwan couldn't help but ask, "Where?"
With a single thought, Qingyi led everyone around her to a mansion.
Two groups of people were fighting each other, and the scene was somewhat chaotic.
However, when Qingyi released a little bit of her pressure, both groups couldn't withstand it and stopped.
After some questioning, it was learned that some servants saw the golden giant destroy the Great Buddha Temple and were granted freedom, but they were stopped when they tried to leave.
These servants had been oppressed by others in their daily lives, and then a conflict broke out, with both sides fighting for their lives.
Upon learning the details, Qingwan ordered the mansion to be sealed off and all the owners, their relatives, and their subordinates imprisoned for trial.
As for the servants, they were sent to stay temporarily in a nearby temple.
Qingwan then said to Qingyi, "The city is probably in a lot of chaos right now, so please keep an eye out..."
Upon hearing this, Qingyi nodded her little head, then suddenly took to the air and flew above the Holy City, her gaze fixed on the city.
If anyone causes trouble or tries to escape the city, they will not escape her notice.
Qing Wan then went from street to street, gathering a group of people and occasionally issuing new regulations for people to follow.
In an instant, the entire holy city descended into chaos.
The old order is broken, and a new order needs to be established slowly; chaos is an inevitable process.
After several days of this turmoil, the order in the city was finally stabilized.
Everyone was re-registered, with no distinction between different classes; everyone became a commoner.
Even those who had neither houses nor land were allocated houses and land, thus gaining basic living security.
Many temples in the city were renovated, and the Buddha statues were no longer enshrined; instead, they were transformed into residential courtyards, charitable halls, or schools.
However, the locals are heavily influenced by Buddhist thought. In order to prevent some people from becoming Buddhist in private after the temples are gone, Qingwan simply erected several large statues of the Buddha in several squares in the city for people to admire. This way, people don't have to spend any money on incense or offerings, and she hopes to gradually change the locals.
In addition, Qingwan renamed the Holy City as Taiping City.
Every day, people patrol the city, spreading the new regulations and encouraging people to follow them.
Compared to some of the unwritten rules of the past, the new regulations are much clearer and more civilized.
After all, in the past, it was not illegal to beat or kill slaves in the street.
The words of those of high status are law, and their actions are quite barbaric.
Once order was restored in the city, Qingwan selected some people to go to villages and towns in all directions to supervise the implementation of the new laws and regulations.
A more civilized trend is spreading across this harsh land.
The Bale family drove their cattle and sheep northward back to the village.
Herds of cattle and sheep trotted briskly across the familiar hills toward the village that was nearby.
As winter approaches, even these cattle and sheep feel a chill and don't want to stay outside in the freezing cold; they want to go back to their warm homes.
On another mountain, a pack of wolves followed at a leisurely pace.
On the back of the wolf king sat a pretty young girl, none other than the shepherdess Pearl.
The wolf king, who previously claimed to be a bodhisattva messenger, wanted to take the girl Pearl as his slave, but now the roles have reversed, and he has become the girl's mount.
Of course, all of this is because of Lu Zheng.
Lu Zheng only used a small spell to enable Pearl to control these wolves and protect the shepherds and other people in the area.
At first, Pearl was afraid of the identity of the wolf king and dared not accept it, but later she accepted it in a moment of impulse and is now very skilled at commanding the wolf pack.
Seeing that they were nearing a village, Pearl asked the wolf king to carry her to her family so that she could go into the village with them.
Pearl instructed the wolf king, "You should stay nearby, but you must not steal livestock, and you must not eat people!"
The wolf king couldn't help but speak up: "Don't I need to go into the village? As long as I reveal my identity, they definitely won't let you be slaves anymore..."
Pearl couldn't help but say, "What is your identity? That Bodhisattva's mark is gone. They'll think you're a monster, and they'll think I'm a monster too..."
Pearl did want her family to have a better life, but things weren't as simple as they seemed. Bringing a wolf to the village might cause some trouble, especially since there were monks in the village.
And if they weren't slaves, what would their family do?
They had no money, no land, and all they knew was herding livestock.
But these cattle and sheep don't belong to them, and they can't afford to buy them. Without their status as slaves, they probably wouldn't be able to survive.
We can't let the wolf king threaten those people to extort money, can we? Wouldn't that make them the bad guys?
Pearl did not grant the wolf king's request, but instead drove the cattle and sheep to the village with her family.
Before long, the group arrived outside the village.
Pearl's bright eyes shone as she saw a large crowd gathered at the notice board outside the village.
The few bald monks were the most eye-catching, but they looked unfamiliar and were dressed plainly, so they were not the monks worshipped by the village.
Pearl felt a little strange, but she suppressed her curiosity and didn't dare to look at it too closely.
Hearing the commotion, the crowd below the notice board saw a shepherd leading his herd of cattle and sheep back.
A villager's eyes gleamed as he spoke up, "Hey, it's the herdsmen from the Zabu family... it's the Bale family! Bale's family, come here quickly!"
Seeing villagers waving to them, Bale and his companions couldn't pretend they didn't see it.
They quickly bowed their heads and approached the crowd, all making a gesture as if to kneel.
Upon seeing this, several monks' expressions changed slightly, and they quickly stepped forward to help the person.
"Hey, hey, stand up straight! You don't need to kneel anymore, you don't need to kneel anymore!"
A tall monk spoke with a smile, trying his best to sound kind.
The Holy City, oh, the current Taiping City, has issued a rule that kneeling is strictly prohibited except on important occasions or ceremonies.
Now everyone is equal. If these monks still accept anyone's kneeling and worship, their legs will be broken.
The Bala family was helped up by the monks, still somewhat bewildered and uneasy, not knowing what was going on.
A monk put his hands together and said, "May Buddha have mercy! Now that a new Buddha and Bodhisattva have come to the Holy Mountain, all the old rules have been abolished! You will no longer be slaves."
"You're shepherds, aren't you? These cattle and sheep will be yours in the future, and you'll also get some land and houses..."
The Bale family listened in a daze, as if they were dreaming.
Pearl couldn't help but ask, "A new Buddha or Bodhisattva?"
The monk, with a devout expression, slowly said, "Yes, half a month ago, the Buddha manifested, his image reaching a thousand feet in height, his divine power awe-inspiring... We are here on the orders of two female bodhisattvas to proclaim the new rules..."
Although there are regulations prohibiting the propagation of Buddhism, the reason for saying this is because ordinary people nowadays believe in this kind of thing the most, and it is so easy for them to cooperate with them.
To complete the mission, we'll keep these people in the dark for now.
In the future, the temples here will be converted into schools to educate the people.
The idea that new Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will no longer receive incense offerings is hardly a form of propaganda.
"Female Bodhisattva?"
The young girl, Pearl, was stunned. A new Buddha or Bodhisattva had arrived? What about the previous three?
The monk nodded and said, "Yes, they are all very powerful. We are fortunate to have seen their true forms with our own eyes."
The monk gave a brief description of the two men's appearances.
The young girl, Pearl, was immediately stunned. Weren't they talking about the two girls she had met before?
(End of this chapter)