When almost all the wealthy and powerful families realized that their core interests had been affected, they tore off all disguises.
Thousands of prominent families and noble clans of the entire human race as well as twelve heads of aristocratic families collectively appeared at the foot of Daofeng Mountain and wrote a petition, requesting that Fang Yun stop all reforms before eliminating the demon world to avoid turmoil in the human race. If Fang Yun insisted on having his own way, they would not mind helping the Qing Kingdom to purge the court.
Afterwards, the kings of Qing and Gu issued two imperial edicts in succession.
The first imperial decree announced that a special commercial tax of 30% would be imposed on all goods from Jingguo, in order to protect the country's workshops and workers.
The second imperial edict reprimanded Fang Yun for disrupting the internal affairs of Jingguo. If Fang Yun continued in this way, the two countries would sign a thousand-year alliance with the Jingguo royal family and were willing to send troops to help the Jingguo royal family eliminate the treacherous ministers.
The Jing Kingdom royal family did not respond and remained silent.
But it was this silence that made the whole world see that Fang Yun and the Jingguo royal family were completely on opposite sides.
The royal family remained silent at this time instead of refuting Qing and Gu, which meant that the royal family of Jing might agree to form an alliance with the two countries at any time.
The King of Wu State did not forget to join in the fun and wrote an imperial edict in his own handwriting saying that if Qing State dared to use force against Jing State at this time, then Wu State would directly attack Qing State.
However, later on, the Wu Kingdom's cabinet stated that it would never use military force against the Qing Kingdom when the demon world invaded, causing Wu Jun to scold all the cabinet officials but he could do nothing about it.
Because one of the aristocratic families that opposed Fang Yun was in Wu State.
At the same time, many officials above the fifth rank in Dongyunzhou, Yanzhou and the capital spoke out one after another, expressing their firm support for the king of Jingguo. If there were treacherous ministers in the court, they would fight to the end at all costs and restore peace to Jingguo.
Many low-ranking officials did not speak out, but began to use various means to obstruct Fang Yun's reforms.
Especially in Dongyunzhou and Yanzhou, the three levels of personnel, namely, runners, clerks and officials, collectively rejected reform, making it difficult for Fang Yun's reform to proceed.
The personnel of the Criminal Hall had to lie low. It would have been very easy to impose severe punishment on officials in one or two places, but when more than half of the officials in the two states opposed it, even the Criminal Hall did not dare to take action, because once those officials were arrested, it would inevitably lead to the paralysis of government offices in various places. The Li Hall and the Dongsheng Pavilion would certainly find an excuse to force the Criminal Hall to leave Jingguo and interrupt the reform.
Soon, the Third Palace and Fang Yun launched a counterattack.
The Dragon Palace of the East China Sea announced that it had discovered that the demons were intercepting intelligence from the Shengyuan Continent through the waterways of Qing and Gu, and had imposed a temporary water ban on Qing and Gu, prohibiting the people of the two countries from engaging in all activities on the water, including fishing, fish farming, passenger transport, freight transport, sightseeing, etc. After three days, the ships of the two places must leave the water, otherwise the dragons will destroy them all. However, it will not affect the ships and personnel of other countries.
The East Sea Dragon Palace also planned that if all demon spies were still not eradicated after a month, all bridges on the waterways would be destroyed. If demons were still found after two months, a more comprehensive investigation would be launched, and it was not ruled out that anyone from Qing and Gu would be prohibited from using water.
When this news came out, both countries were in an uproar.
The two countries' imposition of high commercial taxes can indeed prevent Jingguo's goods from flowing into the two countries, but if the price is a complete water ban, it is equivalent to killing one thousand enemies and losing two thousand of their own.
Previously, the East China Sea Dragon Palace’s ban on sea traffic for the Qing Kingdom only included the ocean and the Yangtze River, and there were no restrictions on other rivers. But now, the Qing Kingdom is not even allowed to use a bamboo raft on a small river.
This not only involves the transportation of goods, but also involves a large number of related practitioners and various interest groups. Once they vent their anger on the royal family, Qingjun must give an explanation.
If it was just the first step of water ban, Qing was a big country with great ambitions and could hold out for a long time, but destroying the bridge would be like cutting off the two legs of Qing.
Qing State has dense waterways. If all the bridges are broken, it means that basic land transportation will also be interrupted and the entire Qing State will be paralyzed.
As for the Dragon Clan's suggestion of banning water extraction, it is impossible to implement, but it shows the determination of the Dragon Clan and Fang Yun.
This is a threat from the dragon clan, and even more so a threat from Fang Yun.
On the discussion list, many people from Qing began to criticize Fang Yun.
"As expected of a Virtual Saint, you actually came up with such a vicious method! Qing Kingdom raised commercial taxes, and your Jing Kingdom just made no money or made less money. But you, a dignified Virtual Saint of the human race, joined forces with foreign races to open a water ban, which banned the lives of countless people in Qing Kingdom! If you are dissatisfied with the King of Qing, please target him, and don't murder the people of Qing Kingdom!"
"The human race's Xu Sheng colluded with the dragon race, flirted with the ancient demon, and rashly changed the law when the demon world launched a massive attack, causing unrest in the ten countries. I think the real Fang Xu Sheng is dead. I don't know what he is who walked out of the Burial Valley. Maybe he has the soul of a demon hidden in his body!"
"Please, Saint Fang Xu, spare the millions of people in Qing Country who depend on water for their livelihood."
Scholars from various countries have successively expressed their opposition.
"Only the people of Qing Country are human beings, but the workers of Jing Country are not? Why do you want to increase taxes on the things we worked so hard to make?"
"We are all selling things, and each one relies on his own ability. You, the Qing Kingdom, can adjust the commercial taxes, and we outsiders have no right to object. But since you dare to adjust the commercial taxes, you can't blame others for the water ban. The two countries were originally good, but you started the trouble first, and then pretended to be innocent after the trouble? You are like a shrew."
"I admit that the East China Sea Dragon Palace went too far, but we have to think about who started the provocation with despicable means? Is Jingguo's normal sales a provocation? No! However, your Qingguo Guguo suddenly raised commercial taxes and interfered in Jingguo's internal affairs. This is a provocation, and this is the root cause!"
There were more and more articles criticizing Fang Yun on the discussion board. Three hours after the East China Sea Dragon Palace announced the water ban, a shocking news appeared on the discussion board.
After a middle-aged fisherman from the Qing State learned about the water ban, he used the last money in his family to buy some meat and arsenic. His family of seven ate it and all died.
Finally, the neighbors discovered that the fisherman wrote ten big words on the wall with blood before he died.
"Xie Fangxusheng forced a family of seven to death!"
The discussion board was immediately in an uproar, with scholars flocking in to criticize Fang Yun.
"The human race is a false saint who takes human life lightly!"
"Everyone says Fang Yun is very intelligent, but has he ever killed all the barbarians? Today, my hands are stained with the blood of the people, and I don't need a sword to kill people!"
"For fame and fortune, and to earn a little more from Jingguo's small workshop, Fang Yun has lost all conscience!"
"The Dragon Clan is colluding with Fang Yun to harm the people of the human race. As scholars, can we just watch and watch? We should join the team to stop Fang Yun's chaos and stand with the forces of justice!"
Those who originally supported Fang Yun had to shut up.
Death is the greatest thing. At times like this, even fair words will be misinterpreted and become a handle.
The leaders of various countries watched the debate coldly, and they all became suspicious of the death of the seven members of the family. It was very easy to induce an ordinary fisherman to die with the means of the miscellaneous family, and it would not leave any traces. Unless the half-saint took action personally, no one would know the real reason.
It is impossible for a semi-saint to personally take action for this matter, not to mention that no one can be 100% sure that there is something fishy about this matter.
The voices against Fang Yun on the discussion list rarely became mainstream.