Seeking Truth with a Sword

Chapter 431 - 382 Nobel Family

"Can’t remember?"

The young man in elaborate attire known as Feilian looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Literally."

Yan Fu’s brows furrowed slightly as he explained, "It’s like a clear painting without any faces; you can recognize him when you see him, but once he’s out of sight, you can’t recall his face at all."

"Could it be the Faceless Skill?"

Feilian rubbed his chin. "But isn’t the Faceless Skill a secret assassination technique used exclusively by the Jieyi Sect? Could it be that You Qiong has another identity, one so well-known that we’d recognize him? But he’s so powerful, even if he doesn’t hide his identity, who could stop him?"

Feilian thought hard but couldn’t find the answer, so he gave up.

Yan Fu waved the magazine in his hand and asked, "Where to now?"

"Let me check."

Feilian took out a scroll from his bosom, unfurled it casually, and it listed rows of text. Some were checked off, others not.

[Go to the Endless Sea, dive to a trench two thousand fathoms deep][√]

[Hunt a giant tooth whale][√]

[Take a boat trip around the East Continent]

[Sit on the thrones of various countries][Zhou Kingdom√]

[Leap down from Taihao Mountain]

[Go to Li Yuan and pick a Death Birthday Flower]

[Enjoy a sword dance at the Qinhuai River]

...

These ideas were bizarre, from "Participate in horse racing, win a hundred consecutive games" to "Trick Zen monks into buying hair growth remedies."

"Let me see..."

Feilian’s finger aimlessly moved across the wishlist on the scroll and finally settled on [Enjoy a sword dance at the Qinhuai River].

"I’ve decided, let’s head to the Qinhuai River first."

Feilian clapped his hands, excitedly rolled up the scroll, pushed the door open, and shouted, "Lackey, get my carriage ready!"

Hearing his companion’s boisterous voice, Yan Fu smiled and shook his head, then put away his magazine and walked out of the room.

「Two months after the Paper Men incident, at Golden City Square.」

This year’s winter seemed colder than usual. Li Ang flipped through today’s newspaper, his gaze briefly sweeping over the temperature forecast in the upper-left corner of the paper.

Recently, Su Feng had been making a steam boiler to accompany the Spiritual Energy Machine and was aiming for more precise temperature measurement. Following the principle of thermal expansion and contraction, he filled a glass capillary with water and marked it with a scale to measure temperature.

Later, he continually improved the thermometer, substituting the water with alcohol and mercury, reducing the diameter of the glass tube, and sealing it to prevent evaporation.

On Li Ang’s suggestion, they set the freezing point of water as zero degrees and the boiling point as one hundred degrees, with one hundred intervals in between.

Because the thermometer was relatively simple to make, it quickly became widespread, and the daily temperature measurements were printed in the newspapers.

"Any news?" Chai Chai, leisurely sipping yam and goji berry porridge, asked casually.

"Mm... nothing much."

Li Ang flipped through the newspaper. "The production of the Spiritual Energy Machine is going smoothly. In Dengzhou and Suzhou, they have already loaded the machines onto ships, which were slightly modified to become ocean-going vessels. Their sailing speed and range are much improved. Workshops using the Spiritual Energy Machine are also being built vigorously.

Additionally, the railroads from Chengdu Prefecture to Yu Zhou, and from Qi State to Xuzhou have been completed, and a few new state, county, and city administrations have been established. There are also railways being constructed from Changzhou to Suzhou, and from Yuezhou to Jiangzhou."

"So soon?" Chai Chai asked in confusion. "Wasn’t it said that it would take at least half a year?"

"It’s driven by interests."

Li Ang curled his lips. "The benefits of railways are undeniable, as they can quickly gather populations, resources, and wealth. The local noble families are quite envious of that."

Chai Chai tilted her head, asking, "Do they want to collect tolls?"

"No. Train fares are high, but compared to the wealth-gathering ability of the railways themselves, it’s just a drop in the ocean."

Li Ang explained with a smile, "Once the railways are completed, each station will naturally become a transfer center. With so many people and resources moving from north to south, there must be a place for them to stop, right? The local restaurants, inns, hostels, warehouses, tea houses, and so on, won’t lack for customer flow. The noble families, even without resorting to dubious tactics, can just do legitimate business and ensure riches for dozens, even hundreds of years.

Naturally, those with money will invest and those with strength will contribute. They even hire High Order Cultivators from various academies to work fervently with the local State Mansions to build the railways. But, well..."

Li Ang sneered softly, smiling as he said, "Their actions are like weaving their own nooses."

Chai Chai blinked, puzzled, "Eh?"

"The noble families of the Former Sui and Yu Chu could contend with the court for three main reasons," Li Ang raised three fingers, explaining. "They monopolized Cultivation resources, knowledge, and the population and land. The noble families intermarried and nurtured suitable Cultivation talent, possessing military power. However, with the establishment of the Academic Palace and the construction of academies in various states and counties, such monopolies significantly declined.

The same goes for knowledge. With the public Book Collection Pavilions, State Schools, and county schools in various states, many scholars are trained each year. The court can then recruit qualified officials through imperial examinations.

Now, once the railways are completed, the rapid increase in population and resource mobility will break the last monopoly of the noble families. This change will start first with the clans in single counties. The jobs created by the railways are indeed numerous, enough to absorb tens of thousands of tenant farmers. The clans’ businesses grow bigger and bigger, while their control over the local common people weakens, eventually turning them into mercantile families.

The court has no way to deal with clans that hold lands and talent. However, there are many ways to target and suppress mere wealthy merchants. Even without targeting them, merchants disappear much faster than noble families."

Chai Chai thought for a moment then asked, "Um... won’t the noble families resist?"

"There are no lack of wise people among the noble families; they surely have also thought of this. But the current mighty trend is overwhelming, beyond human resistance."

Li Ang flipped through an article, saying offhandedly, "How many clans does Yu Country have now, eight hundred or a thousand? As time goes by, these clans will gradually decline and even disappear. Two hundred, one hundred... in the end, there might only be a few dozen left. No longer a threat to the court."

Li Ang bore no deep hatred against the noble families. Many of his friends and classmates were children of such clans. However, he disliked the way noble families corralled the local common people and established states within the state.

He wanted Yu Country’s citizens to live dignified lives, not just scrape by. Therefore, the noble families, entrenched in every State Mansion and unwilling to change, must perish.

Li Ang silently pondered the future in his mind, feeling somewhat melancholy. Mo Si’s irregularities were becoming more frequent, and the High Order realm of Rain Listening Realm still had not loosened.

He wondered if he would live to see railways spread throughout Yu Country, factories everywhere, and even modernized cities...

CREAK.

The Imperial Palace carriage stopped in front of the residence; Li Leqing had arrived.