“The Li Clan had saved up 1,000,000,000 portions of soul medicine, 279 soulgrounds, and 1,000 inactive large-scale spell formations. And how about the Chen Clan? 2,000,000,000 portions of soul medicine! That alone could fund thirty percent of the military expenditures you just referred to, Heavenly Duke Chen! Can you imagine how many cultivators it would take to use up that many resources?
“In the third wave of shakedowns, the clan of Heavenly Marquis Gongsun Dao turned out to have hundreds of thousands of sets of materials to create spell formations! Plus, they had 10,000,000 soul bombs! If those bombs detonated, they could destroy most of Arch-Emperor City!
“If the heavenly marquis clans are like that, then what do you think the heavenly dukes’ are like?! In this matter, I will not be shutting my mouth. You will!” By the time he finished speaking, he was yelling. Chen Haosong’s chest heaved as he glared angrily at him, and yet, he was incapable of offering a retort. As for the grand heavenmaster, he simply sat there quietly, looking at Bai Xiaochun with shining eyes.
The one to speak next was the bearded heavenly duke. “Even if the heavenly marquis clans have deep reserve savings and power, Bai Hao, that only goes to show how strong the Arch-Emperor Dynasty is. One of the main reasons the Celestial can’t invade us easily is because of how intrepid and valiant we are. The resources we have help us groom our successors, and pass on their strength from generation to generation. They protect the glory of the Arch-Emperor Dynasty, and also ensure that there are only 108 heavenly marquises! In fact, that is also why the number of heavenly dukes and kings is limited!
“When you have a sharp blade, you keep it that way, you don’t grind it down until it’s dull!”
Bai Xiaochun waved his hand dismissively at the two heavenly dukes. Focusing on the grand heavenmaster, he said, “Wrong! I believe that the most important principle in the world is fairness. Fairness is the only way to ensure the continued growth of the dynasty. That is the only way to guarantee that a dynasty can stand strong and tall!
“Why do these clans only view their certain heirs as important? Why do those heirs get all the resources? Why are other children of the clan so vastly unimportant? It's not fair to the other children, and it’s especially unfair to the bastards!
“Why is only a designated successor allowed to take over for a dead heavenly marquis, and thus control the wealth of the clan? It’s simply not fair to both the other members of the direct bloodline, and the bastard children!
“Therefore, I suggest… that the wealth of the clans that make up the aristocracy be equally distributed…. Give that wealth to all heirs, regardless of their status in the bloodline, and regardless of whether or not they are bastards. Everyone should have the chance to become a successor, and everyone should have an equal share of the resources!
“Heavenly marquises. Heavenly dukes. Heavenly kings…. Their wealth and resources should be equally divided among all their children!
“That would be a gift to the people, and grace to the commoners. Only in that way can the Arch-Emperor Dynasty grow stronger than ever. I hope that in the future, we won’t just have 108 heavenly marquises. I hope that we will have many more. And more heavenly dukes too!
“At the same time, everyone will proclaim the glory of the grand heavenmaster, thank him eternally, and offer oaths of unending loyalty!!” As his voice echoed out with thunderous volume in Heavenmaster Hall, Bai Xiaochun flicked his sleeve to add emphasis to his words.
This was… a truly vicious plan!!
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Chapter
788: Proclamation of Universal Grace!
It was a vicious plan through and through!!
In fact, it was vicious to a completely shocking degree, to a level that would leave many people bristling with anger. Chen Haosong felt like his heart was being struck by hundreds of thousands of lightning bolts. Face falling, he actually staggered slightly as he stood there.
“Grand Heavenmaster, you mustn’t do such a thing!!” he said, trembling. He had many heirs, and if this plan were carried out, it could shatter his entire clan!
Furthermore, nobody would be able to revolt against the Grand Heavenmaster because of it. After all, he wouldn’t be the one to take away the resources! The chaos which would result in each and every clan would force them all to do everything in their power just to remain stable!
In the end, it would essentially take all the biggest clans and reduce them to dozens of smaller clans!
With no clans able to maintain a dominant position, it would be hard to even state what the political situation would be in the years to come. Chen Haosong didn’t even dare to think about it.
“This Bai Hao is completely ruthless!” he cursed inwardly. “Why won’t he just go and die already!?!?”
This vicious plan was clearly an extenuation of the shakedowns. However, the ones to be shaking down the clans wouldn’t be Bai Xiaochun, it would be the children in the clans, and those people in the clan who were loyal to them!!
Bai Xiaochun was asking to hand a sharp blade to the bastard sons and the members of the direct bloodlines who had no right of succession. Then he would have them raise that blade up over the heads of the clan as a whole!
It was a very crafty plan. It would sow chaos within all of the nobility and aristocracy by turning the clans on themselves internally. The people who currently held power would be badly burned, and no one else….
After all, all of the children were members of the direct bloodline, and carried the requisite blood of the clan. Short of exterminating all descendents, any given marquis, duke, or king would be incapable of smoothly resolving all of the resulting conflicts.
Contrariwise, it would be a boon to the bastard sons and other children with no right of succession. Although such people normally did get access to better cultivation resources than the average cultivator, it was nothing compared to the true successors. For the most part, they only slightly benefited from the vast wealth of their clans.
But if this plan were to be carried out, everything would change…. Everyone would have equal access to the wealth, successors, non-successors, and bastards alike!
How could people like Chen Haosong not go mad!? How could they not be passionately opposed to it? Of course, unluckiest of all… were the current appointed successors!
They would be suffering catastrophic blows, and their futures would essentially be ruined! One could only imagine how much they would hate Bai Xiaochun. Whatever hatred they already felt would increase exponentially, and would permeate their very marrow.
As for the people currently in power, they would be skating on even thinner ice. All of the wealth they had worked so hard to build up, all of their savings, would be divided up in the clan. It would make it impossible for them to say if they could continue to bask in their previous glory.
On top of that, such people would then be forced to watch helplessly as their chosen successor squabbled and fought with the other children. Their hatred for Bai Xiaochun would reach towering heights, to the point where they would desire nothing more than to drink his blood, dine on his flesh, and crush his bones to bits.
Before, Bai Xiaochun had been a dangerous knife that could be directed at anyone, which was why everyone had wanted him dead. But now, that knife was threatening everyone!
“This is complete insanity!!” the bearded heavenly duke said, chills running up and down his spine. Although he was loyal to the Grand Heavenmaster, the mere thought of how terrifying this plan was left him in utter terror of Bai Xiaochun!
Scalp tingling in fear, he clasped hands toward the Grand Heavenmaster and bowed deeply. “Grand Heavenmaster, you mustn’t do such a thing!”