Bad man, good king

In a world filled with magic, unexplainable events, and beings, there was a country that was making its debut, and rising fast.
The kingdom was thriving, and so were the citizens.
Schools were being built all over it, be it in towns, cities, or villages, big and small.
The king decreed that a tutor shall go and live in villages which were too small for there to be a separate building built for a school.
Besides a scholar tutor, and an academic school, dojos for martial arts, and physician abodes have been set up everywhere where the people of the kingdom were.
The resources for such an endeavour came from the industries of the kingdom which are heavily developed by the king, and as well as trading.
The nobles are all also helpful, and there is a religion spreading with the support of the King, in order to pacify and stabilise the situation of the civilians.
If you had to ask whom was the responsible for such a flourishing kingdom, everyone would talk about the new king, and his loyal ministers.
If you had to ask whom is the most fearsome, bloodthirsty individual in the kingdom, everyone would say it is the king.
For it’s true that the king moves, talks and acts for the sake of the kingdom.
But it’s also true that the sake, the benefits, the good of the kingdom equates to his own well-being, resources, wealth, and power.
His speech, when he ascended the throne was peculiar.
“I care not for you, but for my name.
I care not for the kingdom, but for what it can bring for me.
I care not for what others think, but what those saying can bring about.
I care not for the kingdom, but I am not one to fail.”
Was his speech.
People thought of the king as humorous, and eccentric, that is…until two noble families, and thousands of their members were massacred.
The reason?
They said that the king won’t last long in his reign.
The people shivered at the sight of heads on spikes, yet they quickly “forgave” the king, after he used the wealth from the noble families, to improve the roads, and establish the free educational system.
Then a long period of silence made the people rejoice, for the king is focused on governing, and he does a good job, and thus he neglects his bloodthirsty intents.
A village is razed to the ground by a noble wizard in the next period, and the king starts a purge of all corrupt nobles, and establishes a simple fact.
The kingdom is his.
Thus every soul, every blade of grass, is his.
Anyone who violates this fact, deserves death.
Nine more noble families, from which six were magician, cultivator and knight families were exterminated, alongside two merchant families.
Yet the populace celebrated, for the money “confiscated” was used to better the kingdom’s situation, military power, education and healthcare.
The king was loved and feared.
Then, an enemy kingdom invaded, at the worst timing possible.
For the kingdom has been equipped with new weapons.
The soldiers trained in new methods.
And the king…the king led all the important battles, at the forefront of the rush.
He bathed in the blood of the enemies without an emotion on his face, and quickly started a counterattack, taking more than 30% of the enemy kingdom.
Thus, the king was now feared and respected by foreigners as well.
If someone asked what kind of man the king was, they would say he is a madman, a power ambitioned individual, someone who enjoys spilling blood.
And if they asked, what kind of king he was, they would say he is an amazing king, and exceptional leader, filled with revolutionary ideas.
For this king, was a bad man, but a good king, two so opposite traits in one man…