From the Carp that Brings Children to the Celestial Officials

Chapter 184 Prosperous Incense Offerings
"What do you mean?"

The woman looked at Zhu Xin with some hostility. How dare a few mere ninth-rank wandering gods block her way?

"This humble servant is merely following the orders of the county magistrate and the prefect. Please, Madam Siyuan, do not make things difficult for us."

Zhu Xin chuckled, but still refused to give way.

In the Shinto system, having a high divine rank is one thing, but having high martial prowess is another. Unless you have a superior-subordinate relationship, even if your divine rank is higher than others, you may not necessarily be able to win a fight.

The woman weighed the situation in her mind and figured she was no match for these filthy people, so she went back indignantly.

Of course, the main reason was that when she heard that the Lord of the Prefecture was behind this, she dared not act recklessly anymore.

Zhu Xin watched the woman's retreating figure and curled his lips into a smirk.

He could naturally guess what this woman was up to. However, Tai'an Prefecture wanted to take over Yuanling Mountain recently. Although You Ming was still dragging his feet, Tai'an Prefecture was at least showing goodwill.

The minor incident of You Ming severing the bodies of two minor gods was easily suppressed.

Since the person is still alive, it's not a big deal.

However, Zhu Xin also had some concerns. If the delay went on for too long, the household might become impatient, and there might be pressure to lower the price.

When relationships are good, even big things seem small.

When relationships are strained, even small things become big problems.

Hopefully, Youming will have a better solution by then.

……

In recent times, Yuanling Mountain has become increasingly famous.

In particular, the poem "Inscribed on Yuanling Mountain" spread among the students of the imperial examinations, and was discussed in various prefectures of Bingzhou, and even heard of in some nearby prefectures.

In addition, it is springtime, the best time for outings and picnics.

Many literati, wealthy merchants, and officials on leave would bring their families and friends to Yuanling Mountain to enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Anyone who visits Yuanling Mountain cannot help but praise its exquisite scenery, with many even declaring it the most beautiful of all mountains in the world.

In terms of overall heritage, Yuanling Mountain is naturally far inferior to those famous mountains.

However, the mountain spirit born from You Ming's use of the [Fetal Light Divine Contract] has an innate appearance score of 8. In terms of appearance alone, it is probably only comparable to the mountains and rivers of the Immortal Realm.

Since we're all cultured people, no matter how much we know, we should recite a few lines since we're already here.

Some merchants, unable to write any poetry themselves, would hire someone to write it for them, and then promote it extensively to avoid being accused of being greedy and materialistic.

As a result, the number of people going to the Niangniang Temple to burn incense has increased significantly every day.

To everyone's surprise, the temple was extremely effective in granting children.

Because it is obvious that in almost every village at the foot of Yuanling Mountain, every family has children and grandchildren, and they are all extremely healthy.

Even high-ranking officials and nobles naturally hope that their families will prosper and their lineage will continue.

But soon, another piece of news began to circulate among the people.

It turns out that Yuanling Mountain only protects some villages within its vicinity; other places are beyond its protection due to limitations in authority.

Most people initially found it absurd, but after some investigation, it turned out to be true.

Many high-ranking officials and nobles were aware of this, for their positions allowed them to vaguely know that deities resided in the world, and that each deity had their own rights and responsibilities. Indeed, divine power was difficult to reach outside the jurisdiction of the deities.

However, for those high-ranking officials, wealthy merchants, and powerful figures, this is a trivial matter.

They could simply move their household registration to the vicinity of Yuanling Mountain. This might be extremely difficult for ordinary people, but for high-ranking officials and nobles, it was just a matter of making a few words.

For a time, Dadun Village, Yangjiaoshuichi, and Dachenzhuang became the most sought-after areas.

Because these three villages are closest to Yuanling Mountain, everyone naturally believes that this place is the most efficacious.

If it only goes this far, that would be fine.

However, it was true that soon after the families who moved here got pregnant.

This incident, of course, further ignited public sentiment, prompting more and more people to want to move there.

This was naturally a good thing for the local area, especially since those who wanted to come were all prominent figures. As a result, the county government was alarmed and ordered people to maintain order while processing their household registrations.

Most of these people are of high status, so their housing, food, drink, and daily entertainment must be of high quality, which can greatly boost consumption in Changning County.

It was thanks to You Ming that a red line was drawn, prohibiting anyone from building houses on the mountain; otherwise, someone might have actually wanted to build houses inside Yuanling Mountain.

However, this cannot continue.

For the nearby villages, where people have lived for generations, the sudden arrival of a group of outsiders who were arrogant and had terrible tempers, coupled with the fact that the area was dominated by clan power and had many people of the same race and surname, meant that if you bullied one, you would naturally anger a whole group.

In this situation, the two sides clashed several times.

Seeing that things couldn't continue like this, You Ming sought advice from the county magistrate.

The county god was naturally happy to facilitate this, because he had put You Ming in charge of these villages and he was entitled to a share of the incense offerings, and he even took the lion's share.

Over the years, he has been able to accumulate such wealth, and this contribution to the promotion of Changning from a county to a prefecture is truly indispensable.

If it weren't for the constant pressure from other forces, he would have long ago handed over the right to raise and nurture the children of the entire Changning County to You Ming.

Who in this world would go against the tradition of offering incense?

The result of the discussions between the two parties was that a new site would be planned and new houses would be built!
Because these three villages were all built around the Feng River, they were separated by the Feng River to avoid any further conflicts.

For example, the original residents of Yangjiaoshui Village lived in what is now called Qiancun (Front Village), while the newly built area across the river is called Houcun (Back Village).

This would minimize conflicts between the two sides. If people from the back village wanted to buy something, they could send someone to the front village. Alternatively, people from the front village could simply take a boat or cross a bridge to sell their goods in the back village.

However, You Ming also knew what kind of people the powerful and wealthy in this world were.

He also set a rule that only if people lived honestly in this place, did not bully others, and did not harm the villagers, would his divine duties be effective; otherwise, no matter how much incense was offered, he would not pay attention to it.

As the three villages closest to Yuanling Mountain became highly sought after, newly built houses quickly sold out.

After discussing it with the City God, You Ming decided to further develop the other villages under the jurisdiction of Yuanling Mountain.

Although these villages are a bit far from Yuanling Mountain, the effect is the same.

As a result, Changning County continued to recruit craftsmen to build houses on a large scale. If there were not enough people in the county town, they would recruit from the prefectural city or neighboring counties, and specially dispatch passenger ships to bring people over.

If the wages and benefits are sufficient, everyone will naturally be happy to come and work.

(End of this chapter)