Volume 5, Chapter 96 – Extending Grace

By the end of May, the weather had begun to turn hot.

Outside, the debate over the “definition of the demon race” was still raging fiercely. A great many people were expressing their views through the internet, newspapers, and various media channels, and among them, nearly two-thirds were, in relatively subtle ways, expressing their lack of understanding toward Bai Xiang.

“Yes, the Federation has never counted as our ally.”

On the television screen, a middle-aged to elderly man with a smooth, gleaming bald head and a goatee sat on a sofa, voicing his opinion to the host.

“A lot of young people who only started remembering things in the first year of Zhengyuan may not know this part of history. Even in the previous dynasty, before the Starsea Federation was forced to cohere into a single whole, they were already showing obvious hostility toward us.”

The female host tilted her head slightly, watching his expression, then smoothly picked up the thread. “So you actually support the position of our Zhengyuan Palace, is that right?”

“I definitely support it!” the bald man nodded. “Ah, that is absolutely beyond question. I support it for sure… What I was saying just now was only to make certain people understand that no matter how far ahead the Federation may currently be, whether in technology or in certain other things, they can never be humanity’s true savior. That is impossible. They are, in all likelihood, destined to be hostile, and there will definitely be conflict in the future.”

“But what I actually want to say here is this: was there really a need for us to reveal our attitude this early?”

“It has now been ten days since the Demon-Expulsion Edict was issued, and we can directly see the statistics. At present, seventy-six foreign-funded enterprises have announced their withdrawal, and more than one hundred joint ventures have fallen into disputes and production standstill. So if we truly do not intend to go to war with the Federation, and if we cannot achieve a certain degree of military success in the short term, then isn’t this behavior of ours just causing unilateral losses?”

The host nodded. “That is indeed no small loss.”

“So I hope that Zhengyuan Palace, and some of the people in the research institutes, can be a bit more cautious.” The bald man sighed. “I personally absolutely support His Majesty. There are just some things that I really cannot keep bottled up.”

There were many remarks like this.

Some were more subtle, some more explicit, but they had probably all seen what happened to those who “opposed the court.” No matter who it was, they had become smarter. All of them first expressed support, then proceeded to raise doubts, circling around with hypothetical scenarios and trying to guide the public into imagining whether events might still develop in some other direction.

“Ah, this really is a familiar trick…”

Working alone in her office, Bai Zhuqing shook her head and sighed after reviewing the situation.

She had suffered from this sort of thing many times before. In fact, because she could not kill and purge as freely as Bai Xiang, and thus did not inspire enough fear in these people, the comments she had endured in the past had been even more excessive.

But look at things now.

Not a single one of those people dared show their heads openly anymore. No matter how uncomfortable they felt, at most they could only resort to this kind of veiled sarcasm, and that gave Bai Zhuqing a faint sense of satisfaction.

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But it still was not enough.

Far from enough.

The Demon-Expulsion Edict that her sister had issued had a full main text to it. Once rendered into plain language, it ran to more than ten thousand words. It laid out the standards for dealing with various circumstances involving “demonic-power contamination,” including “hereditary symptoms in those who do not cultivate qi methods.”

What did that mean?

In truth, it referred to “atavism of demonic power” and “manifestation of demonic power.”

Bai Zhuqing herself had experienced that kind of thing before. It referred to the fact that when a human bloodline had been passed down for long enough, then as time went on, its descendants became more and more likely to display atavistic traits, awakening some of the characteristics of their ancestors’ power.

As long as one did not cultivate qi methods, this was unavoidable.

Why? Because the previous dynasty had revered the Sword Dao, and even before the previous dynasty there had still been demonic-power contamination. Passed down generation after generation, that contamination had long since taken root deep within every person’s bloodline. The only way to cleanse it was through the cultivation of qi methods.

Great Xia claimed to have three hundred million citizens who cultivated qi methods, but its total population was more than four hundred million.

That meant there were still more than one hundred million people who either did not wish to cultivate, or simply could not enter the path, no matter how they tried.

Then there were also the huge numbers of refugees gathered in from North Yu, plus the great wave of Illusory Realm refugees that had poured in across the borders over this recent period. Altogether, those groups totaled more than two hundred million people.

There was no way they could all be treated as demon race and simply slaughtered across the board.

Bai Zhuqing understood, and she knew that “those people” understood as well. The only point left at which they could still try to turn things around internally was to influence the thoughts and wills of this segment of the population, then use the public opinion of that segment to pressure the Imperial Court, or at least create some interference.

She knew that for Bai Xiang, this was no more than the last desperate resistance of cornered foes.

But “those people” did not know that.

So they would do it anyway.

Call them stupid, call them suicidal, try to reason with them if you liked.

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It was useless.

Once offices and利益 were at stake, they would only grow more frenzied.

“In this regard, the method Sis came up with is excellent.”

“Those who do not cultivate qi methods shall have no right to inherit family property.”

“With that one measure, countless households and kinship groups are effectively split apart.”

At first thought, this would surely create social unrest. Many families would protest.

But one had to understand that the truly unlucky cases, meaning families in which not a single close relative had any aptitude for qi methods, were actually very rare.

There were three hundred million qi cultivators. That ratio was right there. In most families, there were bound to be several qi cultivators.

Then as the detailed regulations of the Demon-Expulsion Edict were gradually rolled out, the question of inheritance rights over family property would inevitably set descendants who could not cultivate qi methods against those who could.

That was effectively the same as breaking up the bonds of clan and bloodline. It would not go so far as total collapse, but it would be enough to restrain certain people from huddling together and scheming as family units, and enough to curb their hostility toward the Imperial Court.

“Brilliant.”

The more Bai Zhuqing read, the more she admired it.

“In terms of effect, it is practically no less than a modern version of the Edict of Extending Grace.”

The Edict of Extending Grace was a supreme open stratagem.

The Demon-Expulsion Edict was one as well.

One had to remember that although Great Xia appeared to have skyscrapers, cars and airplanes, as well as “cultivation technology” like qi talismans and qi arrays, the lingering poison of the previous dynasty meant that people’s thinking had still not fully broken away from feudal society. Many families still placed enormous weight on the ritual norms of the old dynasty.

Take inheritance and succession, for example. They were still often tied to the legitimate eldest son, with children born of secondary wives barred from sharing in the division.

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Once the Demon-Expulsion Edict came down, if the legitimate son could not cultivate qi methods while a secondary son could, then that secondary son would instantly become the family’s future hope.

Would such people oppose the Demon-Expulsion Edict?

Impossible.

Even if they had to quarrel bitterly with their families, this would still buy the Imperial Court time and room for its next moves.

“As for hereditary demonic power, this is how it is being handled. But for demonized humans and demonic beasts who directly join us…”

Bai Zhuqing turned a page, frowning slightly as she sank into thought.

“Sis only wrote here that a dedicated bureau should be established to handle resettlement. I may as well expand and refine that myself.”

“That bureau should receive earmarked funding, and like the Demon-Suppression Directorate, answer directly to the Imperial Court. It should be specifically responsible for gathering demonized humans and demonic beasts out of refugee and displaced populations, bringing them back under bureau management and instruction. Ideally, they should be taught qi methods and have their demonic-power contamination cleansed.”

“Since refugees and displaced persons generally have limited combat capability, the level of force required for the work would also be lower than that of the Demon-Suppression Directorate. Personnel can be directly transferred in from rear-line military cultivators.”

“The teaching of qi methods can be coordinated with local academies. Special classes can be created, or instructors can be brought directly into the bureau to teach.”

“Once the cleansing is complete, these demonized humans will be able to shed their demon-race traits. At that point, they can be given new identities and helped re-enter ordinary life.”

“Good… this bureau shall be called the Instruction Directorate.”

Having settled the commission, name, and scope of authority for the Instruction Directorate, Bai Zhuqing took out a jade token and said, “Sword One.”

“Master!”

A black shadow appeared instantly.

“Take this to Tian Yaozhong, the one who survived after submitting that memorial before. Have him use this to gather personnel.”

“Yes.”

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The sword attendant accepted the order and quickly withdrew.

“Sword Nine,” Bai Zhuqing said again.

“Master.”

Another black shadow appeared at the side.

“I told you to help Sword One look into the matter of the Zhenyuan Sword. How is it progressing?”

“The one at the Federation estate was probably a feint,” the shadow replied. “The follow-up investigation hit a dead end. All the estate servants committed suicide, and our people turned the entire manor upside down without finding any trace of the sword embryo.”

“As for the Silver Sea Merchant Guild… Meng Qiaosheng seems to have disappeared. Their internal situation is also in complete chaos.”

“Disappeared?” Bai Zhuqing let out a disdainful snort. “What is his mother scheming at this time… Draft a letter in my name and order her to proceed to Zhennan as quickly as possible. She must personally explain these matters clearly to His Majesty!”

“Yes!”

“And also, how is the collection of cultivation methods going?”

“Reporting to Master, through private-sector solicitation, as well as inspection of refugee and displaced populations, we have newly obtained 1,228 cultivation manuals of various kinds. Of these, thirty percent are Sword Dao methods, thirty percent are voidfiend methods, and the rest are assorted miscellaneous practices.”

“So that means there are quite a few body-tempering arts from the Illusory Realms in there as well?” Bai Zhuqing brightened. “Get them delivered to me as quickly as possible.”

She was gathering these cultivation methods not for her own use, but for Bai Xiang’s sake.

After all, her elder sister’s talent was simply too astonishing. Let alone flipping through a few books, she could probably gain enlightenment from going for a walk or taking a bath. How could such an advantage possibly be left unused?

Naturally, one had to gather as many manuals as possible and draw together the classics.

If Bai Xiang could comprehend even one little bit more from those books, it would already be a gain.

After asking a few more questions about the reserves and deployment of cultivation resources, Bai Zhuqing waved everyone away and began making the final arrangements to the administrative affairs.