Seeing Tian Heng's eager gaze, Chen Qing's heart sank slightly.
Sure enough, as soon as the new territory was conquered, the veterans in the faction set their sights on it. Currently, the civil service system is not valued, but the Underworld is something everyone wants.
This thing is too good at taking care of its own exclusive forces. After death, people are guaranteed in the Divine Path Style. Whether they are meritorious soldiers, learned sorcerers, or some other kind of people, after death they are all under the jurisdiction of the Underworld. This causes everyone in the sect to have a sense of awe towards the Underworld.
In the Underworld, theoretically, the higher one's merits in the mortal realm, the better the benefits one enjoys. However, there are still ways to manipulate things. The ruler of the Underworld can decide the management of the Underworld and also determine the channels through which you can acquire merits in the Underworld. Who wouldn't want that kind of power?
No divine office can bring more profit to a family than the Lord of the Underworld.
But precisely because of this, it is all the more important that the Underworld not be given to someone like Tian Heng.
Chen Qing sighed, looking at the other party's eager gaze, and said calmly, "From now on, we will establish an appointment system for the Underworld, and we will no longer directly appoint anyone."
"Uh..." Tian Heng was taken aback at first, knowing in his heart that his master was rejecting him, but instead of saying that there was another candidate, he said that there was a new appointment system. This meant that the other party would not only not use people from his Tian Household, but also not people from the Shen Family.
A new system?
That should be open to everyone, meaning the Tian Household also has a chance!
"Your Majesty is wise; you must have devised a foolproof plan," Tian Heng said with a smile.
The flattery made Chen Qing roll her eyes. This guy was clearly reminding her that since it was a new plan, it needed to convince everyone, including the other party.
"Since you've asked, I'll tell you the truth first. Regarding the Underworld, I plan to appoint officials based on their performance and the people's votes."
"Huh?" Tian Heng was taken aback. "Political achievements? The people's vote?"
"What do you think of the status of administrative officials in Jiangnan?" Chen Qing asked the other party directly.
"Administrative officials, huh?" Tian Heng lowered his head and pondered for a moment before saying, "These days, the requirements for administrative officials in Jiangnan are very high. They need to understand classical texts to ensure education, as well as Neo-Confucianism and the knowledge of geomancy, and understand the general principles and benefits of engineering in order to introduce better projects that will benefit their region. Although I don't pay much attention to this area, I do know that recently, administrative appointments seem to be made by people from academia, young people who understand both literature and politics as well as geomancy. The overall requirements are very high, but..."
He paused for a moment, then looked at Chen Qing: "His status isn't very high."
Chen Qing smiled upon hearing this. Indeed, this was a strange thing about Jiangnan. The rulers of Jiangnan were not fixed and changed frequently. In order to cooperate with the sorcerers of the academy in project development, many older officials relied entirely on the young assistants assigned by the academy for information.
Over time, they will be sidelined because all the work will be done by the young assistants, and the county magistrates who are not doing any work will find that the people below them who are doing the work are increasingly disrespecting them.
After all, those who graduated from academies had an inherent prestige and were more respected. They were not as well-regarded as the original temporary county officials. As a result of this social custom, the original batch of county officials in each county had resigned one after another in the past few years.
Chen Qing accepted all comers. As long as they resigned, he would directly promote them to the position of assistant administrator in the local county government. At present, most of the county towns in Jiangnan are young students who have graduated from academies. With the experience of being assistant administrators, these overly young sorcerers have both governance experience and the recognition of the grassroots officials. At least for now, they get along quite harmoniously.
However, there is a problem. As Tian Heng said, their status is not high!
The new governors need to know a little about everything, and the overall quality requirements are actually very high. However, the reason why these people can serve as governors is that they lack magical talent. Even research-oriented warlocks need talent. The academy is so big and it recruits a lot of people every year. There will always be a group of people who can't keep up with the pace, can't develop their own projects, and can't become true warlocks.
These people couldn't just be left out without the sorcerer path, so they responded to the call and became assistant officials. In the eyes of traditional sorcerers, these were all outdated. In the common people's eyes, sorcerers who could directly improve the quality of life of the people were more respected, which led to the relatively low status of the officials.
This is not a good thing.
In Chen Qing's view, the ruling official should not be too powerful and autocratic, but also not too weak, otherwise it would be detrimental to people's livelihood.
"That's also a key reason," Chen Qing nodded. "If the status isn't high, then outstanding young people won't pursue this path. Those who are eliminated will be forced to choose this route, leading to a decline in the quality of officials. The status of civil officials cannot be so low."
"So, Your Majesty intends to use the positions in the Underworld to elevate the status of Underworld officials?" Tian Heng immediately understood what the other party meant.
Chen Qing nodded. " The Underworld holds an extremely high position, making it an excellent place to elevate the status of civil officials."
"But there must be conditions, right?" Tian Heng asked doubtfully. "If a civil official could take up a position in the Underworld, then their status would be far too elevated."
"Yes, so performance is key!" Chen Qing smiled. "In the civil service system, to get promoted, you need a lot of performance and a good reputation among the people. The governor serves a three-year term, and at that time his performance and reputation among the people will be evaluated. This will be done by the Earth Yin officials and newly appointed officials. The people will also have the right to vote at the triennial general meeting."
"Those with outstanding political achievements and a good reputation among the people, even if they cannot be promoted, will have the opportunity to enter the Underworld and become the City God of a county. If they wish to continue to manage a larger prefecture in the mortal world, they will have the opportunity to become the Underworld of a prefecture."
"This..." Tian Heng hesitated for a moment, then asked curiously, "It was indeed a good idea at first, but... what about afterwards? Wouldn't the positions in the Underworld be insufficient for the ever-increasing number of civil officials?"
"Why isn't it enough?" Chen Qing looked at the other person.
"Isn't the City God Underworld always appointed?" Tian Heng's heart suddenly skipped a beat.
"I never said that," Chen Qing said with a smile.
Tian Heng was stunned. He had always thought that there was no lifespan limit in the Underworld, because it could grant others a longer Underworld Lifespan. Could it be that he himself could not maintain an eternal Underworld Lifespan?
Seemingly seeing through the other person's thoughts, Chen Qing immediately said, "You're overthinking it. How could such an important place as the Underworld be allowed to be controlled permanently? Do you think it's feasible?"
"Uh..." Tian Heng lowered his head. As a subordinate, he naturally hoped it was feasible, but from the perspective of the entire force, permanently holding onto a position of power without any transfer of authority was definitely more harmful than beneficial!
"May I ask, how long is the lifespan of the Lord of the Underworld?"
"It depends on the rank of the deity," Chen Qing said with a smile. "The higher the rank, the longer the Underworld Lifespan, but one cannot hold a position indefinitely. Take the lord of the Underworld in a prefecture as an example. His lifespan is about a thousand years or more, but he cannot hold a position for a thousand years. He rotates every ten years. If he does not receive a real position during the rotation period, he is an unranked underworld deity. He can choose to continue to stay in the Underworld to cultivate and improve, or he can choose to Samsara."
" Samsara?" Tian Heng frowned. " Samsara is a path most people would choose, right? Would a former chief official of the Underworld have wanted to Samsara?"
"Yes, they will," Chen Qing said with a smile. "No matter what, the lifespan of God of the Underworld will eventually come to an end. The earlier Samsara, the greater the Divine Path rewards and the more fortune they will receive. Their aptitude and luck will both be better, allowing them to advance even further in the future!"
"Where else can we go?" Tian Heng asked doubtfully. "If one becomes the highest ruler of the Underworld, or even the ruler of the West Sea like myself, then that's the end, isn't it? Samsara is just repeating the same path again, isn't it?"
"The road has no end," Chen Qing said with a smile. "This world is bigger than you imagine. There's an even wider world out there. You'll understand in the future that everything here is just the beginning!"
Upon hearing this, not only Tian Heng, but also Ao Zhen, who had initially found it amusing, had her eyes light up.
A wider world?
From outer space?
Ao Zhen stared intently at Chen Qing. The Dragon Palace had long recorded that beyond this world, there was a world of almost infinite size, and within that world, their own world was as insignificant as a speck of dust.
But that is the world outside Tianwai. Even though the Dragon Palace has existed for countless years, no one has ever dared to go out, even at the Dragon King level, because Tianwai. In addition to the vast world, there are also very terrifying things. The giant pythons in the Tianwai Palace that are more powerful than the Dragon King are said to be just food for other things in Tianwai!
Is Chen Qing's future plan actually from beyond the heavens?
At this thought, a strange light appeared in Ao Zhen's eyes. If it were true...
"I'll return to Jiangnan first. You and Wei Gongcheng will manage the aftermath in the southeast. This matter will be discussed again later," Chen Qing said, glancing at the approaching dawn.
"Very well, then I'll respectfully see you off, my lord." Tian Heng quickly bowed.
Chen Qing nodded, and the next second, he turned into a white light and disappeared from the spot.
Tian Heng glanced at Chen Qing and immediately knew that he had used the Divine Descent Technique. He was puzzled. The Divine Descent Technique consumed a great deal of Power of Faith, and he was usually reluctant to use it. Moreover, this matter of the Southeast Underworld's distribution was so important, yet he did not stay to oversee the overall situation. After all, the Shen Family was eyeing this place covetously.
The fact that the deity descended directly back at this time suggests that something more significant has happened within Jiangnan.
--
In Liuzhou Prefecture, Chen Qing transformed into a beam of white light and descended directly into the courtyard. Without even having time to greet his elderly mother, Chen Qing hurriedly arrived at the academy.
At the academy, Jiang Xiaoling was already waiting for Chen Qing in a courtyard.
"You used the spell I left you to notify me at the last minute, is it something important?" Chen Qing looked at the other person, and actually guessed what it was, otherwise he wouldn't have been in such a hurry to come back.
Sure enough, the next second I heard the answer I expected.
"Commander Zhang Zhengyuan of the Federation Central China Region wishes to meet with you!"
Two more updates tonight