If you don't give up, I'd like to be your adoptive father.

Chapter 997 Talking about Phoenix Fairy, Phoenix Fairy Arrives

Throughout China, many counties and prefectures have built Yue Fei Temples.

This Yue Temple is not a temple dedicated to Yue Fei, but rather to the Great Emperor of the Eastern Peak.

Even in Tianmen Town in western Sichuan, there is a Yue Temple.

Paying homage at Yue Temple is a traditional custom of this era, and the most lively time is of course the 28th day of the third lunar month.

This day is the birthday of the Great Emperor of the Eastern Peak.

However, during major festivals, ordinary people will also go to Yue Temple to offer incense.

For example, right now, with only a few days left until Lunar New Year's Eve, almost all the Yue Temples in Daqin are bustling with activity and throngs of worshippers.

There are many temples dedicated to the Eastern Peak Emperor in various places, but there is only one main temple for the Eastern Peak Emperor, located at the foot of the southern slope of Mount Tai, named "Dai Temple".

The Dai Temple was built on an extremely grand scale.

Built according to the regulations of the imperial palace, it completely regarded the Great Emperor of the Eastern Peak as the Great Emperor of the human race.

It is not a single building, but a complex of buildings.

It was five li long and three li wide, and its scale was even larger than the old Xianyang Palace of the Qin Dynasty.

The reason it is so large is that Dai Temple not only enshrines the Great Emperor of the Eastern Peak, but also the main temples of the Eastern Peak pantheon on earth.

For example, the Ten Great Protectors at Dai Temple are known as the Ten Kings of Hell of Mount Tai, and each of them has his own temple.

The side hall also houses deities associated with good and evil retribution, judges, and officials.

Besides worshipping the gods, Dai Temple also offers another service—preaching sutras.

The Great Emperor of the Eastern Peak is of extremely high status, and there are scriptures and doctrines specifically designed to complement his divine duties.

In other words, he not only ruled a vast pantheon, but also wrote books and established a complete set of doctrines belonging to the Five Sacred Mountains.

There were seven or eight lecture halls, each the size of a basketball court. During important holidays, they were almost always full.

In addition, Dai Temple is also a large market.

During each temple fair, devout men and women from Jibei County and Taishan County would gather here to burn incense, hold religious ceremonies, listen to sermons, and make and fulfill vows. With so many people, merchants would also transport jewelry, silk, toys, antiques and other goods to the temple to sell.

With the year-end approaching, the huge temple was packed with people, shoulder to shoulder.

Even the passageway in front of the temple was filled with stalls selling snacks, fruits and vegetables, noodles, tea and other food.

The stone slabs on both sides of the road were also filled with people sitting.

This day is a good day for ordinary people to go to the market and offer incense; this day is also a good day for the Great Emperor of the Eastern Peak to reap the rewards.

However, Emperor Huang Feihu was not very happy in the Taishan Underworld.

"The number of worshippers at Dai Temple this year is 15% lower than last year."

He looked up at the golden waterfall cascading down from "above," his thick eyebrows furrowed in distress.

“In recent years, the population of Jibei and Taishan counties has decreased by more than half a percent. They were either conscripted into labor or fled to the mountains to become refugees. The fact that the number of worshippers has only decreased by half a percent is already considered quite good,” said Marshal Tie Tou.

Marshal Wen shook his head and said, "Brother, you are mistaken. Based on past experience, in years of famine, although the population decreases sharply, people become even more devout when they worship the gods."

By reducing the population within a certain range, we actually gain more incense offerings and prayers.

Incense offerings are provided by people, and the number of people and their level of piety are important factors in determining the total amount of incense offerings.

Tie Tou said, "Why has the incense offering at Dai Temple decreased by half a percent? Isn't it because there are too few people?"

Marshal Wen shook his head again and said, "Disasters can be divided into natural disasters and man-made disasters. If a natural disaster occurs, people are more willing to pray to the gods for protection, and that's when there will be more offerings of incense."

As for the Qin Dynasty now, brother, you've seen it yourself. Before Emperor Zheng died, the Qin Dynasty never suffered any major famines.

In recent years, there have only been sporadic minor disasters.

Unfortunately, a large number of laborers were conscripted, leaving fertile fields barren. The people lacked manpower, but not favorable weather; they didn't need to pray for divine intervention.

This principle is easy to understand.

The family owns 20 acres of land, so the negative impact of sporadic minor disasters is only about 10%.

Losing one or two male members in a family could have a negative impact of more than 50%, and twenty acres of land simply cannot be cultivated.

Farmers naturally care more about their relatives who have been conscripted than about the poor harvest.

Having no desire for favorable weather and abundant harvests, they naturally wouldn't have high expectations of the gods.

But favorable weather is only one aspect.

The calamities caused by demons and monsters are also a major disaster for this world and this era.

For example, in the Xisha Islands, the main social contradiction in recent decades has never been the harvest, but the demonic threat.

Just as the weather was favorable, the Qin Dynasty also did very well in dealing with the troubles caused by demons and monsters.

Because of Ying Zheng's "county-level martial arts academy" policy, a village might have two or three ordinary immortals.

What kind of ghost can withstand the beating of two or three human immortals?
If a "large shipment" were to be encountered, it would surely alarm the county constable.

Just like the "evil god" (mountain god) that Xiaoyu and Goujiao encountered in the dilapidated temple.

In the face of demonic calamities, the common people do not need to pray to gods for protection; the imperial court can protect them.

The mighty mountain god was wiped out by a mere county constable who led his yamen runners.

Not only in the Qin Dynasty, but even during the Journey to the West period, when Li Shimin had lost all power as emperor, there were still few demons and monsters in the land. It was only after Tang Sanzang left the land that he began to frequently fall into the hands of demons.

"The things that ordinary people pray for are mainly related to humanity. For example, they pray that the court will not take away the men in their family next year, or that the men in their family who are working as laborers outside will return soon."

This concerns state affairs; we cannot handle it!
"If believers cannot have their wishes fulfilled, the amount of incense offerings will naturally decrease," Marshal Wen sighed.

Qin Shi Huang's Qin dynasty took over many of the duties of the gods, greatly reducing the people's reliance on them.

However, the divine way has almost no influence on the human way of the Great Qin.

Take, for example, the matter of laborers.

In later times, whenever unusual celestial phenomena appeared, the emperor would have to issue an edict of self-reproach, change certain national policies, and allow the people to rest and recuperate.
A great deity like the Great Emperor of the Eastern Peak can even directly negate certain actions and policies of the emperor.

If the Great Emperor of the Eastern Peak succeeds, the people will naturally offer him even more devout faith.

However, in the Qin Dynasty, even the True Form Map of the Five Sacred Mountains Emperor was forcibly taken away.

Who dares to manifest unusual celestial phenomena to explicitly or implicitly indicate that the emperor has committed a grave offense?
Are you out of your mind?!

"If it's half a percent less, so be it! Although we are gods, we don't have much need for incense and prayers."

"If we save a little money on weekdays, even half a percent less won't matter," said Marshal Ironhead.

This is also true.

Even if a county town in the human world contributes negatively to the country's GDP and needs the imperial court to subsidize it, does that mean the county magistrate should go hungry?
The county magistrate's salary will not be short by a single copper coin.

If the Great Emperor of the Eastern Peak were placed in the Heavenly Court, he would at least be a high-ranking official of the "Nine Ministers" level. Would he lack incense offerings and divine power?

Even if the Dai Temple is closed down, they will still have incense offerings.

At most, the county's finances are tight, so Commissioner Geng's daily life is a bit tight.

He couldn't compare to the dashing magistrate of a wealthy county.

The Great Emperor of the Eastern Peak and the Ten Marshals lead relatively simple daily lives and have little need for incense offerings. Yes, simple, not frugal.

Given their status and position, they must be very extravagant, but in small quantities and infrequently.

Huang Feihu said with a blank face, "Tie Tou, do you know how much incense and prayer power we consumed when we performed the divine sacrifice to summon the True Form Map of the Five Sacred Mountains the day before yesterday?"

Two hundred years of wealth, wiped out in one day!

This year it may seem like only half a percent less, but what's reduced is the total harvest, not just half a percent of the surplus.

In previous years, the surplus was less than half a percent of the total harvest!

The Dai Temple can continuously earn the power of incense offerings and prayers, but the vast Taishan Divine Palace has tens of thousands of deities, and the annual expenses are not small.

If 1000 points of incense offerings and prayers are collected in a year and distributed to all the gods and deities within Mount Tai, plus the Emperor's own "salary," the profit belonging to the entire Mount Tai may be less than 50 points.

These 50 points are not the income of the Great Emperor of the Eastern Peak.

He might earn 800 points a year, with the remaining 150 points divided among the gods.

The 50 points of incense profit belong to the "public account" of Taishan Prefecture.

The day before yesterday, Mount Tai Prefecture, like Mount Hua Prefecture, also conducted a large-scale divine sacrifice, and the divine power consumed was naturally deducted from the public account.

Huang Feihu is the Great Emperor of the Taishan Underworld, but the Taishan Underworld is not his private enterprise.

He's the CEO of a state-owned enterprise!
State-owned enterprises (SOEs) should not be allowed to make investments by their CEOs using their own money.

Of course, we are still in a "feudal society".

The Taishan Underworld is not a purely state-owned enterprise; it is more like Huang Feihu's "feudal state."

If the Taishan Underworld were to experience a major malfunction and be severely lacking incense offerings and divine power, it would indeed resort to personal funds. Before doing so, it would certainly force ordinary ghost servants to reduce their wages or even work for free.

"You damned Phoenix Fairy!"

Recalling the sacrificial ceremony two days ago, Marshal Ironhead couldn't help but curse, "That barbarian must be deliberately seeking revenge! She doesn't want us to have an easy time, and she'll find any opportunity to annoy us, to annoy us to death."

Marshal Wen shook his head and said, "Given Yu Fengxian's personality, she will definitely take revenge on our Taishan Underworld if she finds an opportunity."

However, her forceful summoning of Zhenxingtu the day before yesterday cannot be considered a targeted attack against us.

We made the first move; that's one reason.

Secondly, none of the attempts to summon the mountain and water gods from the True Form Diagram were successful; it wasn't just one person from the Taishan Underworld who failed.

She wasn't targeting us.

"If this isn't retaliation, then what is real retaliation?" Marshal Ironhead asked.

"How would I know? I can only be sure of one thing: never let such a petty person gain power, for petty people become rampant when they do."

Marshal Wen looked at Huang Feihu and said, "Your Majesty, I have received news that the River God seems to have changed his mind."

He had previously held a private banquet, secretly inviting many immortals from the grottoes on both sides of the Yellow River who had close ties with the Dragon Palace, asking them to use their connections in Xianyang City to help Yu Fengxian become the Grand Tutor of the Qin Dynasty.

Even though Li Si sent his immortal retainers to spread the word to various Taoist temples, inviting virtuous people to Xianyang to join him in supporting the Qin Dynasty.

Because the River God delivered the message first, very few immortals responded to Li Si.

Now, the River God's attitude has drastically changed. He feels that Yu Fengxian becoming the Grand Tutor of Qin poses a huge threat to the repossession of the True Form Map, and wants to turn his attention to Li Si.

Marshal Ironhead stared with his eyes as big as copper bells and shouted loudly, "Has the River God been confused by the Phoenix Fairy?"

He worked alongside Li Si to restore the Qin Dynasty. He didn't kill Yu Fengxian, but he ended up getting himself killed.

Marshal Wen waved his hand and said, "It certainly wasn't the River God who personally intervened. He merely acted as a go-between, introducing the immortal who intended to become the Grand Tutor of Qin to Li Si."

"Are there really such stupid immortals?" Tie Tou asked skeptically.

"Why did Yu Fengxian take the initiative to go to Xianyang and even become the head of the Heavenly Emperor's Palace?" Marshal Wen asked rhetorically.

“Yu Fengxian has a stroke!” Tie Tou said.

"Yu Fengxian can gain great benefits from Xianyang! Although the Grand Tutor of Qin is a hot potato, the legacy left by Emperor Ying Zheng is too rich."

Putting aside everything else, just look at the true forms of the Five Sacred Mountains.

If an immortal were to request the Great Emperor to borrow the True Form Diagram to comprehend the Dao, would the Great Emperor grant it?

Marshal Wen glanced at Huang Feihu and said decisively, "It involves the core secrets of my Mount Tai Divine Palace. Even if you are a true disciple of the Xuanmen, you can forget about seeing the True Form Map of the Five Sacred Mountains."

But the Grand Tutor of Qin could watch it at will, whenever he wanted, for as long as he wanted, and lend it to whomever he wanted.

According to the Third Holy Mother, Yu Fengxian possessed an aura that was both frightening and familiar to her, seemingly resembling the Five Sacred Mountains.

Clearly, she is using the Five Sacred Mountains True Form Diagram to cultivate immortal techniques, and with considerable success.

Perhaps she was able to suppress the True Form Diagram because she had comprehended powerful Daoist techniques from it.

Tie Tou's face showed worry as he looked at Huang Feihu and said, "Yu Fengxian is indeed strange. Why don't we help Li Si too?"

Huang Feihu waved his hand sharply, his attitude firm, and said, "The River God's calamity energy has entered his body; he is actively responding to the calamity."

What the future holds is still unknown.

We've come all the way from the Investiture of the Gods to the present day, and we've seen countless examples. How could we possibly follow his example?

Marshal Wen asked, "What if Yu Fengxian, after gaining power, deliberately makes things difficult for our Taishan Underworld?"

Huang Feihu sneered, "As long as we keep the gates of the underworld tightly shut, and when we're free we sit quietly and recite the Yellow Court Classic, and don't go out and cause trouble, what can she do to me?"

Marshal Wen solemnly said, "The Great Emperor personally witnessed what happened the other day, how can you underestimate Yu Fengxian? She really has the ability to cause trouble for the Taishan Underworld."

Huang Feihu didn't take it seriously and said, "At worst, she let the other True Form Maps go, but kept the Five Sacred Mountains True Form Maps, making me feel embarrassed."

But how many more years does the Qin Dynasty have left?
I am not the River God.

In order to please the Heavenly Emperor, Hebo secretly made a military pledge to reclaim the true map of the Yellow River system as soon as possible, so as to slap the Ying royal family in the face before the Qin Dynasty was destroyed.

I can afford to wait a few years.

Even when the Five Sacred Mountains True Form Diagram was summoned the day before yesterday, it was only at the invitation of the River God to jointly cast a spell and put pressure on Yu Fengxian.”

At this point, Huang Feihu finally showed some anger and said with annoyance, "That fool He Bo was tricked by Yu Fengxian."

He felt that Yu Fengxian was nearing her limit, and that if Wu Yue joined in, she would definitely be crushed.

Little did he know that the seemingly evenly matched opponent he encountered was merely a disguise by Yu Fengxian.

I too lost my mind in anger.

Holding a grudge against Yu Fengxian, she failed to rationally accept the River God's invitation and fell right into his trap.

Having learned from the previous lesson, how could I repeat the same mistake and allow my anger and delusion to become a shackle of calamity, trapping me in this great tribulation again?

Marshal Wen nodded slightly. "Your Majesty is wise and decisive, far surpassing the River God by tenfold. However, if Your Majesty wishes to retreat, I fear Yu Fengxian will take advantage of the situation."

Huang Feihu waved his hand once more with a magnanimous air and said sarcastically, "Even Ying Zheng couldn't do anything to me, so what is Yu Fengxian?"
She was merely fortunate to possess the destiny of heaven during this great calamity, her luck was at its peak, and even gods and Buddhas avoided her.

Once she loses her destiny, she will naturally reveal her true colors—she's nothing at all!

No sooner had the words been spoken than a voice suddenly came from outside, “Your Majesty, an urgent message has come from the Western Mountain: an unusual force of earth veins has entered Mount Hua and seems to be heading east.”

Isn't Mount Tai to the east?

(End of this chapter)