"The two families have brought so many people to threaten him. He probably won't dare to do so anymore!" The commoners were discussing in low voices.
"If he kills someone today, I'm afraid he won't even dare to step out of the county government office in the future!"
"Sigh, this County Lord also seems to want to do something. What a pity, the Bai and the Yang families are too powerful!"
"Don't watch anymore. I think the county magistrate will eventually release them in the end."
...
Zhang Beichen knew that today was a critical day. If he didn't handle it well, he would lose all his prestige and would never be able to establish himself in Baiyang County!
He looked at the crowd and roared, "Yang Zhuang, Yang Zifan, Bai Mu, and Bai Yong have committed murder. According to the law of Qin, they should be beheaded! Execute them immediately!"
"Don't you dare!" Yang Shan shouted angrily when he heard that Zhang Beichen was not showing him any respect.
Bai Liangpu stared at Zhang Beichen and the executioner, his voice cold and gloomy, "Let me see who dares to kill them!"
The executioner raised the knife but didn't dare to swing it down. He knew that if he were to behead them, he and his entire family would be in trouble when he got off the execution ground.
"Back down!" Zhang Beichen scolded the executioner.
The executioner quickly retreated, and Yang Shan and Bai Liangpu thought that Zhang Beichen was going to compromise. However, Zhang Beichen used his spiritual energy and shouted again, "Yang Zhuang, Yang Zifan, Bai Mu, and Bai Yong, you have committed a capital crime. Today, according to the laws of Qin, you are sentenced to death! Behead them!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a law condensed in the sky. It was the one that stipulated the death penalty in the laws of Qin.
The text of the regulation transformed into a golden saber in the air. As the golden saber fell, the four of them were beheaded at the same time, and their blood splattered on the execution platform!
"A legalist disciple!" Bai Liangpu and Yang Shan were stunned at the same time. Zhang Beichen's technique was clearly a spell of a legalist disciple.
Legalists could follow the rules of the law and execute orders with spells. Those with high cultivation could even use the national destiny and momentum of the country to suppress the enemy!
"Dead? They were killed?" The disciples of the two families were also shocked. They looked at Zhang Beichen with some fear.
They had thought that Zhang Beichen was a weak scholar. They didn't expect him to have such means.
The commoners who were watching from afar were even more surprised and happy.
Seeing the beheading, they were naturally afraid. However, the people he killed were all tyrants of the county, so they couldn't help but cheer.
"Good kill!"
"This magistrate has balls!"
"This should have happened long ago. With such a county magistrate, the county can be governed well!"
"It must have felt good to kill them, but I'm afraid he won't have a good time in the future."
"Is this the power of the Order of Reward and Punishment?" It was Zhang Beichen's first time enforcing the law. Looking at the bloody scene, he felt a little uncomfortable.
What he had just used was the 'Order of Reward and Punishment' technique he had obtained in the simulation, which was a spell technique that made use of the law.
The power of such a spell would increase as the country grew stronger, or if their own realm and the perfection of the laws increased.
Therefore, the cultivation of legalists was to enforce the law, create laws, and implement reform.
Below the platform, Bai Liangpu and Yang Shan had already calmed down.
"Even though he's a legalist disciple, he's only at the early stages of the Dao-entering level. The disciples of my clan are far more powerful than him!"
"You're just in the early stage of the Dao-entering realm, yet you dare to be so arrogant! Today's enmity will be avenged in the future!" The two of them looked at Zhang Beichen coldly.
If it wasn't for Hu Cheng's presence, they definitely wouldn't have tolerated it.
"Good kill! It's really satisfying to see County Magistrate Zhang punishing the wicked!" Bai Liangpu clapped and said.
"It's just that there are still many evil people in Baiyang County. I hope that County Magistrate Zhang will be more careful in the future, and not let evil people take your life!"
Yang Shan added, "That's right. I heard that demons have been appearing in the county recently. They eat human flesh and drink human blood. County Magistrate Zhang, please don't run around. Otherwise, you'll be harmed by the demons!"
The two of them didn't even try to hide their threats. The bailiffs were terrified. They knew that these two families would really do such a thing.
The registrar, Liu Wen, secretly complained inwardly. He resolved in his heart that after today, he would find an excuse to resign and escape from Baiyang County.
"Let's go!" Just as Bai Liangpu and Yang Shan were about to leave with their men, Zhang Beichen suddenly shouted, "Stop!"
"What's wrong? What else does County Magistrate Zhang want to do?" The two of them turned around.
Zhang Beichen looked at the crowd and said loudly, "Today's execution is only the first thing I have done as part of the county government. There's a second matter that needs to be completed!"
"Oh?" Bai Liangpu and Yang Shan were no longer in a hurry. They wanted to see what Zhang Beichen could do!
Zhang Beichen stood on the execution platform and shouted to the people in the distance, "This county has tidied up the laws and articles of the county and found many areas that are unclear."
"That's why the county has decided to perfect the laws and regulate the county's governance. Today, I'm issuing a law here to reorganize the county!"
"You still want to issue a new law?" Bai Liangpu and Yang Shan had already understood Zhang Beichen's intention. This was the cultivation of legalists to perfect and improve the laws.
However, in a kingdom, the laws had to be compatible with the national destiny. Otherwise, it would be difficult to enforce the laws. If the wrong law was implemented or the decree could not be carried out and was abandoned halfway, one would suffer a backlash, and in serious cases, one might even die!
And in all the kingdoms, countless legalist disciples had died because of their failed reforms!
Although Zhang Beichen was only changing the laws of a county, with his first realm cultivation, he would not be able to withstand such a backlash!
Zhang Beichen didn't care about this. He started to read out his improved law.
"This law is called the 'order to cultivate grass'!"
As soon as Zhang Beichen finished speaking, golden words appeared in the sky.
The 'order to cultivate grass' was actually a decree from another time and space. With this decree, Shang Yang explored step by step and finally perfected the 'Laws of Qin', creating a strong Kingdom Qin.
Zhang Beichen used this law in the simulation. Now that he was in Baiyang County, he had revised and improved the law to suit the local conditions.
"The first rule!" Zhang Beichen began to shout, "Population survey will be conducted in Baiyang County starting today. Everyone's name, age, and birthplace will be collected. Those who do not have a clear slave status will all be considered Baiyang County's residents. Foreign refugees can register their citizenship."
Bai Liangpu and Yang Shan's expressions changed drastically when they heard Zhang Beichen's first rule.
More than 70% of the population in the county were servants and slaves of the two families. Many of them did not have a clear slave status. If this policy was implemented, many people would be able to get rid of their slave status and become legal citizens!
Although Zhang Beichen didn't have the authority to abolish slavery, this rule alone was enough to hurt their families!
"Preposterous!" Yang Shan immediately shouted.
"This method won't work!" Bai Liangpu cursed as well.
However, Zhang Beichen ignored them and continued to read the second line.
"The second rule."
"In Baiyang County, land ownership is often unclear, often leading to disputes. Therefore, from today on, we will re-measure the land and clearly determine the ownership of the land. Any land without clear ownership will be taken as government-owned land."
As soon as the second message came out, the two families began to curse.
"What kind of bullsh*t decree is this? We're not going to execute it!"
"All the land here is ours!"
First, he reduced the population, then he seized the land. Zhang Beichen was really vicious! Bai Liangpu's face was very dark as he said, "It's a pity that we will definitely not carry these out!"
"The third rule!" Zhang Beichen was still reading. At this time, some people had already noticed the strangeness.
"Look, the decree he's chanting has formed huge golden characters in the air and they haven't dissipated for a long time!"
"I think I heard the sound of a great bell!"
"I've heard that if the decree is in line with the country's laws, it will promote the country's development and strengthen the country's fate. They would be protected by the fate of the nation and form the phenomenon of 'heaven and earth resonance', borrowing the power of the nation to create laws. Could it be that his 'order to cultivate grass' can reach such a level?"
"That's impossible, right? Only the grand legalist cultivators could reach this level. This magistrate is just a nobody, and his realm is only in the early stage of the Dao-entering realm. How can he have such divine power?"