The world is like a prison, my body is holy

Chapter 135 It starts with a single step
The foggy, dim sky resembled the eve of dawn, with the moon setting and the sun yet to rise.

A village, so simple it resembled a refugee camp, sat loosely in the center of a barren, desolate land. Countless armored heroes wandered listlessly among them, gathering in small groups, uttering dry, bitter words of solace.

"Hey, isn't this Lord Liu from Chizhou? Have you eaten yet?"

"Eat up, northwest wind!"

"What a coincidence! I'm also eating the northwest wind!"

"Hahaha……"

Wang Wen, whose spirit had left his body, concealed the golden light of his merits and transformed his imposing golden armor and crimson robes into an ordinary set of armor belonging to the Heavenly Guard. He then mingled among them and walked slowly forward.

Among the passing spirits, quite a few ghosts thought he looked familiar and nodded or crossed their hands in greeting.

Wang Wen also nodded with a smile, crossed his arms, and chatted with them, keeping them company and joking around.

Chen Sandao and Ji Liang, who had also transformed into full-body armor of the Imperial Guard, followed closely behind him...

A short while later, three ghosts and spirits appeared in the sky above the town and resumed their original forms.

Wang Wen's smile faded, and he looked at Chen Sandao with a blank expression: "Did you notice anything amiss on the way here?"

Chen Sandao glanced at him furtively, then racked his brains for a long time before finally saying with his hands clasped, "This humble general is foolish and begs for guidance from Your Excellency!"

Ji Liang, who was standing to the side, noticed that something was off about the atmosphere inside the Divine Palace, but after thinking about it for a long time, he still couldn't figure out what the problem was.

Wang Wen looked down at Chen Sandao with a headache, pondering how to discipline him.

To be honest, this guy is loyal enough and has the courage to risk his life, but his ability... is really questionable.

Placing him in the position of the chief general of Huangshan Temple is indeed unworthy of his position.

However, Huang Laodeng once said something very reasonable: "When one person attains enlightenment, even his chickens and dogs ascend to heaven; this has been the case since ancient times."

Given the relationship between Chen Sandao and Wang Erhu during Chen Sandao's lifetime, and the fact that Wang Wen continued to follow Chen Sandao's lead even after his death, Wang Wen had to support Chen Sandao regardless of his abilities. This was a matter of attitude; seemingly supporting Chen Sandao, but in reality, it was reassuring all his loyal followers.

No entrepreneur can avoid doing this; otherwise, it will be difficult for their business to grow.

However, no entrepreneur can keep doing this kind of thing, otherwise, it will be difficult for their business to last.

Imagine if an entrepreneur's subordinates were all relatives and friends who rose to their positions through nepotism, each adept at indulging in pleasure and lording it over others, yet utterly incompetent at getting things done. What potential or future could such a group have?
In a sense, this is why many entrepreneurs, once their companies reach a certain level of success, will ruthlessly purge former partners and key contributors...

It's not that these entrepreneurs are the kind of people who can only share hardships but not prosperity and turn their backs on others. It's just that these partners and contributors who have fallen far behind the group's development speed have become obstacles to the group's further progress, and even stumbling blocks and bloodsuckers!
On the importance of lifelong learning...

After thinking for a long time, Wang Wen felt that Chen Sandao, a rough man who couldn't read a single word, couldn't be disciplined through preaching. He had to let him learn from experience in real-life situations.

"I say, you remember!"

He put his hands behind his back and said seriously.

Chen Sandao bowed respectfully: "Please give your instructions, Your Excellency."

Wang Wen: "First of all, now that the temple has begun to accept incense offerings from the surrounding people, it must take on its responsibilities, not only the responsibility of protecting the area and ensuring the safety of the people, but also the responsibility of guiding the souls of the dead and punishing evil and promoting good. Today, the underworld has not yet been returned to the capital and the six paths of reincarnation are not fully established. The responsibility of guiding the souls of the dead and punishing evil and promoting good is our Huangshan Temple's duty to shoulder without hesitation!"

"Not only believers who come to the mountain god temple to burn incense and pray for blessings, but also those who accumulate virtue and do good deeds, even if they do not believe in my Huangshan God Temple, you should still guide their souls into the temple to enjoy their remaining lifespan after their death."

"Later, Judge Ji, you will personally summon all the officers and soldiers in the town and publicly select the three hundred soldiers with the highest virtue to call upon my divine name. I will then bestow upon them the black robes and official badges of the underworld officials, who will be dedicated to guiding the souls of the dead."

"The rest should be trained diligently, and those who are diligent and outstanding can be given priority to be transferred to the position of underworld constables."

"In addition, you two are given three days to come up with a trial system for rewards and punishments for managing underworld officials. The so-called trial system does not need to be too demanding in terms of being perfect and fair, as long as it can function normally. However, the essence of this system must be that the capable rise and the incompetent fall. Those who damage the reputation of the Divine Palace and violate the rules will be severely punished!"

Based on what he saw and heard during his inspection of the shrine, the biggest problem within the shrine is not the lack of resources, but the stagnant environment!
More than ten thousand spirits of the Celestial Guards reside in this narrow, desolate space. Rather than enjoying their remaining lifespan in the underworld, they are more like prisoners.

No, even if someone goes to jail, new people will come in, and there will be a time limit.

New faces bring news, and news brings entertainment.

A deadline provides hope, and hope provides motivation.

These spirits of the Celestial Guards stayed in the Divine Palace, seeing the same people and talking about the same topics day after day, as if their lives were frozen on the day they died in battle. Their so-called lifespan in the underworld was just an echo of their previous life, and their ghostly life was just a shadow of their human existence.

This is definitely not a healthy social environment.

On a smaller scale, this stagnant life will erode their fighting spirit and courage, turning these loyal and courageous soldiers into a group of listless and numb ghosts.

On a larger scale, this kind of ghostly existence, so incongruous with the way they died, will cause resentment in their hearts. Moreover, the closed environment and the group effect will cause the resentment to ferment. If they are not careful, these loyal and brave souls will turn into fierce and evil ghosts.

Neither outcome was what Wang Wen wanted to see. Coincidentally, he also intended to thoroughly govern the ghost people under his jurisdiction, attempting to gain merit and good karma from the perspective of a local official.

If his measures are implemented properly, they can bring fresh vitality into the shrine, connecting this cramped underworld with the outside world, thus creating a vibrant social environment.

Secondly, it gives these heroic souls a hope for advancement. With hope comes expectation and motivation, preventing them from being forced to give up or harboring resentment. While solving their worries, it also creates a group of elite reserve soldiers for the Huangshan Temple.

It can be said that it kills two birds with one stone!
Of course, the scarcity of resources was also a very serious problem.

So, under the grave, alarmed gazes of Ji Liang and Chen Sandao, Wang Wen continued calmly, "Secondly, select literate and capable spirits and quickly establish a shrine registration center to register all spirits. Based on their performance in daily training, grant diligent individuals the opportunity to return to their hometowns and visit relatives and friends, with two or more underworld officials dispatched by the shrine to accompany them, minimizing disruption to the normal operation of the mortal world."

"Including the souls of believers who are later brought back to the palace, their lives will be considered, and those who have done good deeds will be chosen to give them the opportunity to return to life after seven weeks and to bid farewell to their relatives and friends in a dream. Similarly, two or more underworld officials will be dispatched by the palace to accompany them to prevent any malicious events from interfering with the normal operation of the human world."

"All the souls of heroes who have returned to their hometowns need not be prohibited from revealing the whereabouts of their souls, and they are also allowed to receive offerings from relatives and friends."

This move is also a win-win strategy!
Firstly, the resources of the underworld largely depend on offerings from the living world. For example, paper houses made in the living world, when delivered to the souls of the dead with the blessing of the wishes of relatives and friends, will become magnificent three-story buildings, allowing the souls of the dead to return to their hometowns and appear in their dreams. Without the guidance of the shrine, they will ask their relatives and friends to send them food, clothing, shelter, and other necessities. These resources are continuously transported into the shrine, accumulating like grains of sand to form a tower, eventually transforming into villages, towns, and cities!
Secondly, every soul that returns to its homeland and appears in a dream can be regarded as a senior missionary of the Huangshan Temple. Every word they say to their relatives and friends that contains the word "Huangshan" can be translated as "Please allow me to recommend my Lord Huangshan God to you"... The recommendation from their mouths is definitely much more effective than Wang Wen personally appearing in front of people!
Offerings made in the mortal realm are transformed into resources within the divine palace, while the incense offerings from the mortal realm are an important resource for the divine palace's advancement.

When these two factors work together to snowball and sweep across the entire Great Zhou Dynasty, the Huangshan Divine Palace will soon be promoted to a true underworld!

Upon hearing this, Chen Sandao was completely bewildered, his brain overloaded: "Brother, I'm sorry for being so presumptuous, but even if I died again, I couldn't accomplish any of these things!"

If you ask him to chop someone up, even if he can't win in a direct fight, he can still use his brain to come up with countless dirty tricks to try.

But if you ask him to take the lead in drafting any system or establishing any institution... it's like a dog trying to bite a hedgehog, he has no idea where to start.

Upon hearing this, Ji Liang's expression was as fascinating as that of someone performing a traditional art called "face-changing."

At first, he was solemn, then gradually became shocked, and finally, he suddenly realized something, his face filled with reverence: 'Your Excellency is truly a celestial being, unfathomable!'

After listening to Wang Wen's instructions, he had figured out the problem with the Divine Palace.

He viewed Wang Wen's arrangements from a problem-solving perspective and realized that every word and phrase of Wang Wen's arrangements was like a skilled butcher's knife, cutting right to the heart of the problem; moreover, each arrangement not only solved the problem but also strengthened the foundation of the Divine Palace...

This is practically a god-level dragon-slaying technique!

Is this the kind of vision and wisdom that an ignorant and incompetent street thug could possess?
It's confirmed, everyone! Our Lord must be the reincarnation of a great god from the underworld!
Ignoring their complicated expressions, Wang Wen pondered for a few moments before speaking again: "Finally, let the Huangshan Sacrifice be held every year on the day of Jingzhe. From now on, on this day every year, I will use my great magical power to connect the Yin and Yang realms, just like the Ghost Festival, so that all the souls in the palace can visit their relatives and friends in the mortal world in their dreams, and so that all the offerings of blood and food in the mortal world can be delivered to the hands of all the souls in the palace..."

"You must do the work ahead of time. Every year, two months before the Awakening of Insects, you should start the publicity work in advance. You must let every soul in the palace know about this matter, and you must also let every believer who comes to the mountain god temple to burn incense and pray for blessings know about this matter. You must also appease the emotions of the souls in the palace and make preparations for receiving offerings of blood and food from the human world."

"In these three matters, you, Chen Sandao, shall be the primary person in charge, and Judge Ji shall be the secondary person in charge."

Upon hearing this, the two clowns were completely dumbfounded. If they still had scalps, they would definitely feel their scalps tingling right now!

“I know these things are complicated, trivial, and difficult.”

Wang Wen looked directly at the two of them and calmly said, "But I believe that as long as you do your best and put your heart into it, you can do these things well. But if you don't even have the courage to try... then you should step down and give way to a more capable person as soon as possible, so that I can select another capable person to take charge of these matters."

He said these were not PUA tactics, and if he were in charge of these matters, he was not only confident that he could accomplish them, but he was also confident that he could make them extraordinary!

To put it bluntly, he had already broken down these matters into very small steps, so they didn't need to exert much initiative or rack their brains. They just needed to follow his instructions step by step...

In short, he gave them the opportunity, and if they can't seize it, they can only blame themselves for being unambitious!
Considering their past relationship, he might not actually strip them of their authority on the spot.

But finding a retirement home to leave them idle is inevitable.

"Brother...you know me!"

As soon as Wang Wen finished speaking, Chen Sandao came to his senses and clasped his hands in a fist salute without thinking: "I'm not a very ambitious person, but I always do what you say without hesitation... However, I've never done anything like this before. If I mess this up, I don't care whether I live or die, but please don't let it ruin your important business!"

He started out speaking with a strong and clear voice, but the more he spoke, the softer his voice became, and the more he hesitated.

Ji Liang, standing to the side, gave this fellow an admiring look: 'You know how to talk!'

Wang Wen patted his shoulder expressionlessly and said calmly, "I'm not blind. I can tell whether you've put your heart into it or not. As long as you've put your heart into it and done your best, even if you mess up the job, I can still cover for you!"

This is perhaps the difference between men and women.

A man only needs an attitude, and that's really all there is to it.

He wasn't afraid that Chen Sandao would make mistakes; he was only worried that the guy wouldn't use his brain to do anything and would just drift through life like before.

His business is expanding rapidly. If he continues to try to do everything at once, even if he were made of iron, how many nails could he possibly hammer?
Thinking of this, he suddenly said, "When Er Gou was promoted to Lingtai Lang, I changed his name to Xu Wu. Now that you are a divine general, don't call him San Dao anymore. I will also change your name to... Chen Feng, the sharpness of a sword, the sharpness of a sword is forged through tempering."

Chen Sandao was stunned for several seconds before he clasped his hands and bowed deeply: "This humble general will do his utmost and will not disappoint Your Excellency!"

Ji Liang knew perfectly well that his martial uncle's words were both a warning to Chen Sandao and a message for him, so he immediately clasped his hands in a salute and said, "I will obey your command!"

(End of this chapter)