Longzang

Chapter 1001 So-called Welfare

Wei Yuan calculated the time, read the official document again, and then personally wrote a letter of recommendation before publishing the document and setting the date for the temporary Dao Foundation Ceremony.

In less than an hour, new announcements were posted on bulletin boards in major cities of Qingming. Large crowds gathered, most silently reading and exchanging opinions. Anyone with a suitable cultivator in their family rushed home to deliver the news. This was a path leading directly to the Dharma Aspect stage; if successful, it could surpass even a Foundation Establishment ancestor.

Several out-of-town businessmen stood a short distance away, watching the surging crowd beneath the notice board. An older businessman said to the younger men beside him, "There's something different about Qingming compared to other places. Have you noticed what it is?"

The young people were completely baffled. They guessed several things, but none of them were correct.

The older merchant said, "Didn't you see? There's no one reading the notices on this bulletin board."

The young people then realized that it was true.

In the other nine kingdoms, notices were usually read aloud from the bulletin boards. These were usually scholars who would read notices to the public when they had nothing else to do. In case of important matters, the government would also send someone to read the notices.

However, there was no one to read the list in Qingming. Even for such an important event as the Provisional Dao Foundation Ceremony, no one was specifically assigned to read the list. People just glanced at it and left in a hurry.

One young man reacted the fastest, thinking even deeper, and exclaimed in horror, "In the Azure Netherworld, does everyone know how to read?!"

The merchant sighed, "Even if not everyone is literate, most people can read."

"This... Qingming is this wealthy?" The young people were all astonished. They had only been here a short time, and they had already found it incredible that everyone in Qingming had meat to eat, but they never expected that it would reach the point where everyone could read!
The merchant narrowed his eyes slightly, then left with several young men.

Standing at a distance beneath the bulletin board in Yong'an City, Xiao Yu read through the new announcements, especially Wei Yuan's prominent recommendation. She frowned and asked, "Why didn't he sign his own name?"

The Lesser Yang Star Lord beside him said, "He clearly desperately needs human resources, yet he only takes what he is entitled to. I really don't know whether to say he is of noble character or stubborn and ignorant."

Xiao Yu said, "I deliberately didn't sign my name, so he should be able to understand it. But wait, that guy is usually shameless and has a face as thick as a magic weapon, why would he be so polite? Besides, this is not the time to talk about face in such an important matter."

Shaoyang Xingjun was also somewhat puzzled, but suddenly an idea popped into his head. As he pondered this, Xiaoyu sensed it as well.

Is it possible that the luck of a Dao Foundation cultivator is not that important in Wei Yuan's eyes?

Qingming was extremely efficient; the news spread throughout Qingming within two hours, naturally reaching the merchant guilds of the major families stationed there. The Xu, Bao, Zhao, and Cui families had all deployed specialized spirit-grade communication artifacts capable of instantly transmitting messages to their distant main families. However, the capacity for transmitting messages was limited to twenty or thirty characters, counted by the word.

The Bao family had specially set up a magical artifact in Bao Yun's Ding'an City, and the message needed to be relayed twice to reach the distant Bao family.

Half a day after Wei Yuan decided to publish the announcement, the distant Xu and Bao families became lively, with many young men carrying their luggage rushing towards the specially designed high-speed airships.

Many who couldn't make it in time were simply carried by their elders. The two great families were wealthy and powerful, and not only did they prepare the fastest immortal-grade flying boats, but they also had several Imperial Elders take turns piloting them, which was how they were able to reach Qingming in time.

So Wei Yuan began to gradually gain some luck, but this trickle was far from meeting his needs, even if it contained some high-level luck.

The number of cultivators is still too small, and their usefulness is limited until they reach a high level. In contrast, the fortune of mortals is vast and inexhaustible.

As he accumulated more and more resources, Wei Yuan felt as if he were carrying a huge mountain on his back, slowly moving forward. With every move he made, it seemed as if he was constantly stirring up some kind of invisible sea, with ripples spreading far and wide, and he didn't know what they were affecting.

Wei Yuan gained new insights every day, gradually discovering that although human fortune is the most basic and seemingly useless, it seems to change when the quantity reaches a certain level. It seems there are great secrets within human fortune; even the immortal Zhao Li has a saying that a mortal's fortune must exceed one hundred million. Wei Yuan naturally noticed that Xiao Yu had no intention of signing her name, and while he was touched, he also felt a little helpless.

The current foundation of one's spiritual energy is insufficient compared to the lower levels, being far too small to match the overall human fortune; it is also insufficient compared to the higher levels, lacking the divine quality of a Dharma body. This slight divine quality is what distinguishes ordinary earth from precious metal. Therefore, a foundation that is neither quite good nor bad is of some use, but not very significant.

Wei Yuan carefully treasured Xiao Yu's sentiments, planning to write her a few more letters after the great calamity to express his feelings.

After arranging the Dao Foundation Ceremony, Wei Yuan took the Sixth Princess and headed straight for the Zhao Kingdom.

……

King Zhao sat upright in the main hall, exuding a majestic and aloof aura. When the ministers occasionally stole a glance, they were all filled with dread.

In the past two weeks, King Zhao has been like a completely different person. He is decisive and ruthless, able to listen and make decisions. He is both open to advice and able to distinguish the useless talk of pedantic scholars. Moreover, he will immediately turn his back on them if he hears empty talk.

Over time, the court has become pragmatic and avoids empty talk, always getting to the point and avoiding nonsense. However, there is one thing that King Zhao considers trivial and pointless, yet the ministers would rather die than back down: bestowing various honorific titles upon King Zhao.

Today in the court, a renowned censor-in-chief stepped forward. He was a middle-aged man, and although he had a short beard, his dashing appearance was still undeniable. One could imagine that his youthful beauty must have been no less than that of the King of Zhao in his prime.

He then declared loudly, "Judging from Your Majesty's actions, you rival even the legendary ancestors Tang and Shun, and are in no way inferior to the founding ancestor of the Zhao state. Moreover, you have the potential to surpass your predecessors. Therefore, Your Majesty's posthumous title should include the character 'Ancestor'!"

The officials were initially shocked when they heard him mention posthumous titles, but they were even more shocked when they heard the word "ancestor." However, the scholar then presented his reasoning point by point, which was well-founded, supported by historical precedents, and the more they listened, the more reasonable it became.

The officials initially thought the man was flattering them, but after listening carefully, they realized it wasn't flattery at all. They needed to think it over carefully to discover that it was indeed flattery.

At this moment, King Zhao displayed extraordinary composure, managing to suppress the corners of his mouth, which earned him the utmost admiration from his ministers.

The ministers immediately began to consider what posthumous title would be worthy of his achievements. "Martial Ancestor"? That would be presumptuous. "Civil Ancestor"... that's not bad.

Before the court assembly began, an official approached King Zhao and whispered something to him. King Zhao immediately replied, "That's all for today's court assembly. We can discuss this again tomorrow."

The officials were somewhat puzzled, but they all knew that King Zhao must have something important to attend to, which was why he had ended the court session early. Otherwise, given King Zhao's current diligence, there was no reason for the court session to end prematurely, let alone be extended.

After the court session, King Zhao hurried to the imperial study. There he found Wei Yuan already sitting and waiting.

King Zhao looked at Wei Yuan with a complicated expression, took two quick steps, and said, "Your sudden arrival is truly a blessing for me!"

Wei Yuan smiled and said, "Your Majesty, there's no need to be so polite. The one above is too lazy to look at us right now, so please say whatever you want. We're all pretty busy, so let's get things done quickly and leave some time for other things."

King Zhao said, "Alright! Enough with the nonsense, bring out all the good news! I still have Chunyi on my side, who's always scratching the wall, and I can hardly contain him anymore."

Wei Yuan quickly took out a piece of jade paper and said, "I've come today to discuss welfare matters. The specific system has been thought out, and after these days of refinement and improvement, the details are perfected, and it's ready for implementation."

King Zhao took the jade paper, examined it carefully, and then said with some doubt, "Your system is indeed very good, but it puts a lot of pressure on the national treasury. There is something I don't understand. The national treasury has limited funds, so why not use them to subsidize those who are useful, but instead give relief to the poorest people first? As the saying goes, 'bad people come from poor and remote places.' Isn't this just supporting idle people?"

(End of this chapter)