What is the point system?
Many people had looks of confusion on their faces.
Li De didn’t let the crowd stay puzzled for long and began explaining directly.
“In the future, Dawn City will use a point system to measure your contributions to the city.
The land will permanently belong to Dawn City but can be allocated to you for farming. For the first three years, you’ll need to pay 30% of your harvest as tax.
Land distribution will begin tomorrow morning.
After three years, if your points reach 10, you’ll only need to pay 20% of your harvest as tax.
If your points reach 20, you’ll only need to pay 10% of your harvest as tax.”
The crowd was thrilled. Only paying 30% of their income as tax? And after three years, with enough points, they could pay even less?
Goddess above, this was truly a divine blessing.
In the villages and towns outside, even those who owned their own land had to pay 40% of their harvest in taxes annually to the nobles, and sometimes even half because the nobles controlled power and could provide protection.
“And this winter, I will establish schools and mage towers in Dawn City.
The first commoners to earn 10 points can send their children to school to study knowledge and magic.”
Li De didn’t give the crowd much time to discuss before dropping another bombshell.
“Within three years, strive hard to earn points. After three years, if you have 20 points, you can apply to become an official resident of Dawn City.
If you don’t earn 20 points within three years, you’ll be relocated outside of Dawn City to live in the surrounding villages.”
Li De’s words delivered a strong impact to the crowd below.
The fact that land allocation would take place tomorrow reassured everyone. Moreover, the news that mage towers and schools would be built in Dawn City during the winter was an unexpected delight.
But what worried them was the prospect of being expelled from Dawn City and forced to live outside the city if they couldn’t earn 20 points within three years.
Whether they were newcomers or early arrivals, it made no difference.
Dawn City, which had been managed by vampires for over a hundred years, was even more refined than Green City. The vampires’ sense of aesthetics was undeniable; the city was beautiful.
For peasants who had always lived in villages, this big city was far superior to their shabby towns and villages.
No one wanted to leave a lively, spacious, and clean city to return to a desolate and remote village.
Just as the crowd was buzzing with discussion, Li De continued without pausing.
“Points will become your most important asset in Dawn City.
As long as you earn 100 points, regardless of age, gender, or background,
you will be granted the title of Knight of Dawn City by me, and I will bestow upon you noble status.”
The crowd, who had been somewhat nervous, instinctively swallowed hard at these words, their hearts uncontrollably racing.
By earning 100 points, they could be granted noble status.
Goddess above, this was a divine favor! Praise the Goddess, praise the Saintlight Vampires!
Below, Rekel listened with a dry throat, and almost instantly, an idea surged uncontrollably within him.
Noble, I want to become a noble!!
In this world where nobles held absolute power, it was nearly impossible for commoners to ascend to nobility. Social classes were more rigid than mountains, and the pathways upward had long been blocked by the ruling nobles.
In the Nolan Empire, each year, only a few hundred people might be granted new noble status, mostly due to military achievements, with mages accounting for seventy percent of those.
This was also why mages were so highly regarded—it was the only known path for commoners, aside from risking their lives on the battlefield, to join the ruling class.
But now, a city lord who controlled vast lands and held a prestigious position publicly declared that as long as they earned enough points and contributed sufficiently to the city, regardless of identity, gender, or age, they would be granted noble status.
This was simply a tremendous stroke of good fortune.
“Those granted noble status will be able to send their children to the mage tower school for free, regardless of whether their children have magical aptitude. The mage tower of Dawn City will ensure your children become esteemed mage lords, of course, provided you can earn 100 points.”
“How do you earn points?
It’s simple. Each year, just pay your taxes on time, and you’ll earn 1 point. In the future, we will open more channels to earn points.”
Li De finally paused, his gaze burning into the crowd below. The point system was the foundation for Dawn City’s future development. At this moment, only he understood how powerful this system truly was.
“To become an official resident of Dawn City, you need 20 points?
Besides earning 1 point each year through taxation, how else can we earn points? I don’t want to leave this city.”
“Earning 100 points will grant noble status. Goddess above, do we really have a chance to become esteemed noble lords?”
“Enforcers, do you know how the point system works? Besides agricultural taxes, how can we earn points?”
The crowd buzzed like boiling water, heatedly discussing.
The depth charge Li De had dropped was simply too powerful.
Setting aside the issue of land, everyone was mentally prepared for that, but the sudden introduction of the point system brought both immense surprise and unexpected joy.
Accumulating 100 points to gain noble status—goddess above, that meant becoming a noble, an esteemed noble lord!!
They wouldn’t dare dream of becoming a noble. They were just farmers who worked the land. How noble and prestigious the lords were!
But now, an opportunity was placed before them. Though they weren’t yet clear on the difficulty of earning 100 points, there was hope nonetheless, wasn’t there?!
In truth, Li De greatly underestimated the weight of noble status in the eyes of commoners. As the undisputed ruling class, nobles wielded such power that they could execute commoners at will without facing legal repercussions, while commoners would face the harshest punishments for offending a noble.
Nobles were the ruling class that controlled the fates of those beneath them, possessing absolute power and strength.
Becoming a noble was the ultimate aspiration for nearly all commoners.
Most of these people were residents of border villages and towns, places with no upward mobility. Some families hadn’t left their homes for generations, spanning hundreds of years.
Giving them hope of becoming nobles was akin to opening a direct path upward and instilling them with strong aspirations.
If land was the fundamental lifeline, then becoming a mage and a noble was undoubtedly the light they saw ahead, the delicious cake luring them forward.
Even Rekel, a Level 7 warrior who had once served as a mercenary in Nolan City, the capital of the Nolan Empire, and possessed considerable experience, couldn’t resist such temptation.
Though reason told him that acquiring these newfangled points would surely be difficult.
He was fearless. The land had already bound his heart, and the prospect of becoming a noble outright captured his soul.
He, Rekel, would undoubtedly become a noble of Dawn City.
Praise the great Saintlight Vampires, praise Lord Kachar!
Li De watched the bustling, heated crowd below with a calm expression. A slap followed by a sweet date was the best way to manage subordinates.
The sweet dates had been handed out; next came the slap.
Thinking of the Wild Wolf Gang that caused trouble tonight and the blasphemer who he just suppressed, his gaze turned slightly cold.