Chapter 324 — Gaosong's Vision

Gao Yang had many thoughts in his mind, yet he found it very hard to make those around him understand all of them.

He wanted to change this world, to build a new order. Though at first he had merely wanted to survive in this world, that intention had gradually shifted as he lived here longer. But how easy was it to change the world?

Even looking only at tiny Ansu, he could see in this kingdom a mighty inertia accumulated over seven hundred years—the inertia of the landed nobility, the inertia of the common folk, the inertia of the social system. Everything in this country was built upon the old order, and unless that order changed, nothing would change.

He had indeed carved out a domain of his own, establishing Cecil Territory and an entirely new social order upon this land at the far southern frontier, but in truth even he knew this was only a beginning. He could draft new laws, could use arcane technology to advance the forces of production, could assemble a more advanced administrative team and implement more scientific and rational territorial management—but all of this was merely "surface" work.

Whether it was those who administered the territory or those who were administered, barely a year ago they had all been members of the traditional Ansu system: petty merchants, impoverished scholars, ordinary commoners, even serfs and slaves under the rule of the traditional landed nobility. They could indeed obey Gao Yang's commands now and do what he required of them, but in their bones they had not changed. To them, the new laws and new order of the territory were merely another lord's another set of rules. They knew what to do, but many of them did not really know why they did it.

So long as people's minds remained unchanged, every change could only be temporary, and the dividends brought by industrialization would be vastly wasted because of the limitations of "people." Gao Yang knew this deeply, which was why he had to impose education upon the territory by force—especially compulsory education for minors. He had not only ordered cultural classes in reading and writing to be established in the schools; he had in fact also introduced general education on the structure of the kingdom, the history of nobles and commoners, the laws of social resource distribution and their rationality. All of this was his effort at ideological cultivation.

It was easy enough to bring a new batch of machines into the territory, but to enlighten the minds of the people of this age was very hard. Those serfs and slaves who had nothing and had been oppressed so long sometimes even resisted it. They had already accepted and adapted to their fate, even identified with the rules of the entire Ansu system. If you told them that lords and slaves flowed with the same blood, they would even think you a heretic, beyond all reason. Yet this was not because they were ignorant and benighted—it was because this age had forcibly twisted them into such a shape.

Sometimes Gao Yang also wondered whether the new order, new laws, and new ideas he was pushing forward so vigorously were too rash. But one thing he was clear about: the magic tide would not wait for anyone, and the war between Typhon and Ansu would not wait for him either. The more he understood the current situation of this world, the more he felt that time was insufficient, so he had to strive to push every schedule to its fastest. Were it not for the two sharp swords of the magic tide and the war hanging over his head, why would he need such urgency?

For a time Gao Yang sank into a daze of reflection, until Rebecca's voice roused him: "Ancestor, what are you thinking about?"

Gao Yang came back to himself. Looking at Rebecca, her face full of curiosity, then at Heddy behind her with a thoughtful expression, and at the few trustworthy faces around him, he smiled slightly: "Rebecca, do you remember something I once said to you? The reason the nobles have been steadily declining and rotting away over these seven hundred years is not that something went wrong with the nobility's own lineage, but that they have nothing to fear."

Rebecca thought for a moment, then nodded: "You did say that to me..."

"Protect the subjects, defend the land, uphold honor—these noble precepts themselves are not wrong, but to expect the nobles to observe them relying solely on their own conscience would be sheer fantasy," Gao Yang said, shaking his head. "Many nobles trumpet the nobility of bloodline, trumpet innate justice, and even have scholars use all manner of theories to prove that the blood of nobles is naturally endowed with the elements of morality and justice, so that nobles need no additional moral supervision to strictly keep the precepts. But in truth this is all nonsense."

At these words, almost everyone's eyes went wide. Rebecca and Heddy stared slack-jawed at their ancestor, as if unable to believe that such a heretical sentence had come from the mouth of a great noble of Ansu's first founding generation. And Solgelin, seated in the chair nearby, could not help pinching his own chin, watching his old friend with a smile.

"Where is there any such thing as innate nobility? Nobility is all whitewashed by later generations," Gao Yang continued. "Do I not know the origins and experiences of those people at the kingdom's founding? The descendants of a bunch of apprentices, blacksmiths, and carpenters—how did they become innately noble seven hundred years later? To put it plainly, it is simply that no one ever beat them, and one by one they swelled up beyond all recognition..."

Seven hundred years ago, when the Xuan Yuan Sect said such things, no one could refute them, so the people in the room could only listen earnestly. But there was still one person present who could interject—none other than Solgelin, of equally ancient history. This elf ranger looked at Gao Yang with a smile and waited until the other had finished before speaking unhurriedly: "Then, my old friend, if one day you beat them all, what new order do you mean to establish afterward? You must know that even the legendary sage-king of the ancient Gondor in his day—the dynasty he founded also had its day of decay and collapse. Humans are a short-lived, forgetful, and fickle race. Can you guarantee that the new order you establish will forever be as you wish?"

At this point the conversation had all but laid certain matters bare, and the room fell suddenly quiet.

"Of course not," Gao Yang answered Solgelin's question simply and bluntly. His first two words startled everyone, but then he laughed: "So what I establish is not the order of one city or one kingdom, nor the order of one dynasty or one age. What I establish is the order of civilization as a whole—an order in which no noble is innately noble any more, in which no ruler may act without restraint. On that day, whether the one seated on the throne is an emperor, a king, or something else, he must tremble with fear at every moment, must forever be cautious, because there will always be a force that can drag him down from the throne after he errs."

That was enough said; many things did not need to be explained too plainly.

For a moment the room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Amber could not help touching her own neck, then looked at Gao Yang with great seriousness: "Honestly, you're not going to kill me to keep me quiet after this, are you?"

Gao Yang did not answer, merely resting his hand casually on top of Amber's head with a smile on his face.

"Seven hundred years ago you were always able to bring people surprises, and seven hundred years later it is no different," Solgelin rose from his chair. The elf ranger came before Gao Yang and suddenly dropped to one knee, solemnly performing the salute of a human knight before his liege. "As I promised before setting out—Solgelin Frostleaf, willing to return to your command."