Bestowing Office

The three of them arrived before a courtyard. This courtyard was clearly a full size larger than those around it. Su Hu and Old Father Su were already waiting at the gate. At the sight of the three men, their eyes lit up, and they hurried forward and knelt in salute. "This commoner greets the honored officials!" Under the Great Qian Empire's official system, commoners had to kneel when meeting officials. Officials separated by two ranks and four grades also had to kneel on important occasions. Within two ranks, apart from kneeling before one's superior officer, ordinary formal greetings sufficed.

They welcomed the three into the front hall. Su Hu's wife hurriedly served tea, then withdrew.

The old Daoist took a small sip. It carried a faint fragrance, but felt somewhat coarse on the tongue. It was not fine tea, yet it was rare enough in this place. He set down his cup and said, "The county magistrate takes this matter very seriously and instructed us to investigate it thoroughly. This office has examined the corpses; they were indeed harmed by ghosts, but the ghosts have already been destroyed. On my way here, I inspected the area around the village. It is fairly clean, with no Ferocious Ghosts wandering about. It seems you will have peace for a while, and I shall report this to my superiors. Still, now that you have an Ancestral Spirit and its protection, you are no worse off than a township. You can be said to have found fortune amid misfortune."

Old Father Su attended to him carefully. "Indeed, indeed. It is only a pity that Village Chief Wang could not live to enjoy such blessings." As he spoke, he even squeezed out a few tears.

"Yes. The county magistrate has taken pity on your village's sparse manpower and granted you leniency, exempting your village from this year's corvée labor. Taxes, however, cannot be exempted. You must supervise them properly and allow no delays." Hearing this, Old Father Su hurriedly knelt. "Thank you, sir. I will certainly handle this matter well." Had Fang Ming been present, he would have seen another thread of Fortune appear beside the Life-Bound White Qi above Old Father Su's head. Old Father Su then knelt toward the county seat and gave thanks. "Many thanks for the great lord's benevolence!"

Supervising taxes was the responsibility of a village chief. The meaning of those words was that Old Father Su was to become the village chief of Qingyu Village.

Village Chief Wang was dead, and Qingyu Village needed a new village chief. In theory, Wang Qiao should have succeeded him, but unfortunately, he had fled the village last night. Though understandable, it had cost him dearly in reputation. Su Hu, by contrast, had led the effort to carry the temple into the village and saved everyone. He had rendered the entire village a tremendous service. With Old Father Su becoming village chief, no one could utter a word of objection.

But the village's approval alone was not enough; the county also had to agree. So Old Father Su sent Su Hu to report the matter in the county, bringing a full ten taels of silver to grease the wheels above and below. Though Wang Ying had some connections in the county, once a person left, the tea went cold. The Su family spent silver lavishly, and the position of village chief naturally fell into their hands as easily as plucking something from a bag.

Those ten taels of silver did not belong to the Su family, however, but were Fang Ming's doing. Because of Su Hu's actions, his family might not share glory and ruin with the Land God, but they were still deeply tied to him. The Su family becoming village chief would benefit him as well. Thus, he sent the Su family seven or eight taels of silver through a dream. Aside from letting them use it, he also intended to smooth things over with the authorities for himself, lest he be branded as some demon or heretical evil. That would be trouble. The Su family added a little more, making up ten taels, which was enough. The Daoist spoke with Old Father Su for a few more moments, then they left the house together and came before the Land God Temple.

Seeing the little temple, he was not surprised. Folk worship had yet to take on fixed forms; there were temples, memorial tablets, and earthen altars. He had seen them all. After examining it carefully, he burned a talisman. Finding nothing unusual, he nodded and said,

"Yes, the worship still continues, and it is not a ghost. You may rest easy."

After speaking with Old Father Su a little longer, he showed signs of departing.

Seeing his chance, Old Father Su presented two taels of silver. "You have suffered greatly on the road, sir. We have no way to repay you. This is but a trifling gift; I beg you to accept it!" At the time, even a Subordinate Ninth Rank official only received one tael of silver as monthly pay. The Daoist declined a few times before accepting. Old Father Su also gave the burly constable five hundred copper coins, while even the young constables received one hundred each. The young man lacked experience and beamed with delight, making the burly man's face darken.

They escorted them all the way beyond the village. Even after the ox cart had gone far away, Old Father Su maintained his respectful farewell posture. Only after the cart had vanished completely from sight did he let out a long breath, knowing the matter was settled. He straightened his clothes, clasped his hands behind his back, and slowly strolled back into the village.

Do not underestimate a village chief. This was still equivalent to a clerical official. Working hand in glove with the tax collectors who came to collect levies, one could line one's pockets and grow rich. Tax collectors invented all manner of pretexts, driving villagers to ruin, and then the village chief would play the good man, taking the chance to buy their land at low prices. This pattern had practically become standard practice. The Wang Family's fifty mu of land had been acquired this way.

Adding last night's disaster, the village's fifty-seven households and three hundred twelve people had dwindled to just thirty-five households and a hundred fifty-odd people. More than a dozen households had been wiped out entirely, leaving their homes and fields vacant. Qingyu Village had been founded by refugees. As for relatives, they only had fellow villagers, along with the in-laws created through years of intermarriage. The villagers were shrewd. They knew that if they did not act quickly, the authorities would seize everything in the blink of an eye.

For a time, adoptions and marriage alliances came one after another without end. Every aspect of it had to pass through the village chief's hands, so he could claim a share. These benefits were not even much, yet they were already enough to attract Qingxi Township's covetous eyes. Fortunately, Old Father Su had moved quickly and spent enough silver to keep the meat rotting in his own pot. If Wang Qiao had not still been alive, leaving those fifty mu with an owner, perhaps even the county would have stepped in to take a bite.

On the ox cart, grass grew lush and orioles flew along both sides of the road. All things burst with life; it was truly a fine spring scene. The young constable drove in front. Seeing the constable looking as if he wanted to speak but hesitated, the Daoist could not help saying, "If you have something to say, say it!"

The burly man said, "Sir, I have never heard the title of Land God before. And hearing the villagers say that this spirit can enter dreams has made me somewhat uneasy."

The Daoist smiled upon hearing this. "Some ghosts were disgraced officials or criminals in life, while others were ghosts driven out by great clans. Most do not wish others to know their true names, so they often use titles instead of their real names. No one of great consequence has died within this prefecture recently, so it should not be a problem."

"As for entering dreams, I have heard of it as well. An Ancestral Spirit at an altar can indeed enter dreams, but it consumes a great deal of power and comes with many restrictions. It can only last a brief moment and is not used except in dire emergencies. What Ancestral Spirit could possibly make a single dream last ten years? That is merely the wild talk of ignorant country men and women!"

In truth, the old Daoist's cultivation was still shallow, and he did not understand this matter very well either. But for the sake of those two taels of silver, it was better to let sleeping dogs lie. Besides, once it had become a worshiped spirit, could it really run away?

The burly man let out a long breath. "Let us hope so!"

Before they knew it, time had reached the fourth month.

Qingyu Village threshing ground.

By now, the Land God Temple and the altar had become one. Incense burned endlessly before the temple. Fang Ming sat upright in the main hall, gazing at the hall filled with Incense and Fire Prayer Power, deeply satisfied. Within him, the Divine Seat Talisman continuously inhaled and exhaled Incense and Fire Prayer Power, refining it into Divine Power.

The worshiped spirits of this world possessed no divine seats and could not refine Divine Power. Most offerings were filled with countless differing thoughts, leaving their Divine Power mixed and impure. The worshiped Ancestral Spirits became wrapped in resentment power and could not leave their altars, which was exceedingly troublesome.

After careful observation, Fang Ming discovered that as long as someone became a believer, they would offer him one thread of Divine Power every day. If they worshiped and burned incense once, another thread of Divine Power would be produced. However, there was a limit to how much Divine Power one person could provide Fang Ming in a day, varying from person to person. Children provided around three threads, while adults provided anywhere from five to ten. He Song provided the most, with a daily limit of ten threads. He also possessed the highest innate Fate Pattern in the village, with Life-Bound Qi that was white tinged with red.

Fang Ming had no desire to drain the pond to catch every fish, so he issued a divine decree restoring the grand rites on the first and fifteenth of each month. At other times, everyone could worship as they pleased. He knew he had manifested too many miracles recently, which was not good, so after organizing the worship arrangements, he no longer entered dreams. Instead, he focused on research and observation, circulating Divine Power and accumulating experience.

Through his research, he discovered that gods were very similar to businesses from his previous life. Believers invested Divine Power in deities, and deities granted protection to their followers. In his previous life, shareholders invested money in businesses, and businesses paid dividends to shareholders. If a believer could only offer five threads of Divine Power each day, yet required a god to spend ten threads to grant their wish, it was like a company's debts growing faster than its finances. Bankruptcy would come sooner or later. As for the god, its Divine Power would be severely depleted, and it would stand on the verge of slumber.

Therefore, one had to clearly mark the prices for believers. The more Divine Power a believer spent, the more effort one put into fulfilling their request. Spend too much, and the god would go bankrupt; spend too little, and the god would not seem efficacious, causing believers to dwindle.

That was precisely Fang Ming's current approach. Depending on how much Divine Power believers offered, he transformed roughly half of it into protective qi and bestowed it upon them. He stored the rest and kept accounts. As for other requests from believers, he considered income and expenditure. For example, if they prayed for their livestock to be cured of illness, the Disease-Dispelling Art required five threads of Divine Power. He would price it at six threads, and once the believer had saved up six threads, he would cast the art for them, earning one thread of Divine Power. Unless it was a crisis, he would not make special exceptions. If an emergency expenditure arose, he would record it first and have them slowly repay it later.

In this way, accounts could be formed. With a rough calculation, his net daily income stood at around twenty-five threads of white Divine Power. His current total net profit was roughly five hundred threads of Divine Power, strength he could use freely. There was also a reserve fund of around one thousand threads, kept ready to fulfill the villagers' wishes and not to be touched lightly. Finally, there were the roughly three thousand threads of Divine Power absorbed and purified from the entire altar last time. Those were free gains, and they delighted him beyond measure.

In truth, all the Divine Power was gathered within his body into a huge mass. How he used it was still only a matter of a thought. If he encountered danger himself, then to hell with all rules and calculations—he would use however much he had. But with a proper system in place, he could sustain this undertaking over the long term and steadily expand it. He could also use it to restrain subordinates and establish an organization. He resolved to follow these rules from now on.

With that single thought came great enlightenment. In his previous life, Land Gods had been like employees of state-owned enterprises: whether they did much or little, their pay remained fixed, so they had no drive. But now, he himself was a private business owner. The more he did, the more he earned. He did not even have to pay taxes. He could grow as large as he wanted, and in the end, it would all belong to him.

He immediately made up his mind to gather exceptional talents, recruit wandering souls, spread the faith, and make his enterprise—no, his divine office—bigger and stronger. He would establish an organization and put it to his own use. The moment that thought arose, he felt Fortune stir greatly. He hesitated no longer and left the temple.

The land within ten li around Qingyu Village was now his territory. Unfortunately, the previous great sweep had cleared out every ghost, leaving not even half a ghost to be seen. So he came to the boundary with Dachang Village.

Fang Ming looked at the invisible boundary before him, gritted his teeth, and stepped across it. At once, he felt his connection to the Land God Temple's divine statue weaken somewhat, though it was no great hindrance. He laughed loudly, gaining another realization. The Land Gods of his previous life should also have been able to cross their boundaries and travel abroad. It was only because of the Heavenly Court's restrictions: the moment they stepped even slightly beyond their borders, the Night Patrol Gods would seize them day and night to demand an accounting. Thus, later generations came to believe that Land Gods could only act within the scope of their own office. What utter nonsense!

He had cast off another great restriction.