Da Zaojun

Chapter 155 The Blessed Land of Xiaoyao Mountain, the Heavenly Pillar Treasure of the Profound Heaven
Although they were going to raid the temple, they still needed to get the equipment for the two hundred regular soldiers first, so Song Wuji told Chen Xiu and the others to go and clear out the Tiger Fang Kingdom first.

The Tiger Tally of the Tiger Kingdom has already been handed over to Chen Xiu, along with the bronze scepter of the Tiger Kingdom's High Priest. With Chen Xiu's eighth-rank strength, he should be able to control the situation.

"The Tiger Fang people are the ancient people who fought for the throne with the Shang Dynasty in ancient times. Do not slaughter too many. Just control the nobles who have completely transformed into tiger demons. If they are not under control, kill them. Tiger soul can be extracted from their bodies and used to make magic weapons."

"Tiger nobles can transform into tigers. Although they eat a lot, they can be incorporated into the demon-hunting team and given the status of vassals."

“Those slaves who can cast bronze should not be killed either. Also, take the bronze craftsmen and other artisans with you to see how to operate that huge furnace and the Bagua Yangsui Array. This set is the best treasure.”

Chen Xiu readily agreed: "Of course! I'm not stupid. That bronze armor is quite good. If we have two hundred heavily armored soldiers, and corresponding mounts..."

"The Tiger Kingdom reveres tigers and raises many fierce tigers. It would be great if they could be tamed into mounts."

Song Wuji said helplessly, "Then will you take care of the tiger's food and drink? Besides, tigers are not suitable as mounts. However, we can let the tiger nobles take the tigers with them when hunting, but I'm afraid they will be difficult to control."

After sending Chen Xiu away, Song Wuji said to Lü Han, "The six departments of the yamen should be filled with new people. Most of the previous officials, especially the criminal officials, have been killed after receiving the City God's decree. We should recruit more people now."

Lu Han said, “Just post notices in the city to recruit people and then organize an assessment. I think the nine-rank system of litigation officers, although it is Legalist, is also something that scholars should learn. The provincial examination questions include judgment questions. I am worried that the descendants of Haoran Confucian scholars do not know the system of the eighth rank. Although a school has been set up in the county school, it has not increased much. Why not make them litigation officers?”

"The legal officers who handle disputes accumulate the power of clear judgment and uphold justice. The noble spirit of the Confucian scholar is the noble spirit of righteousness. I want to follow the path of having three thousand disciples. Although I may succeed, it would be too ambitious. If I achieve nothing myself and then teach others, I will inevitably mislead them."

Song Wuji asked, "Where is your disciple, Xin Wuyai?"

"He found his own enjoyment and became the Minister of Agriculture of the Five Elements. He was originally a scarecrow. I taught him some principles of life, but he couldn't concentrate on studying. He could only discover his original interests. A few days ago, during the sacrifice to the god Houji, he actually awakened the ritual and became the Minister of Agriculture of the Wood Element among the Five Elements, mastering the ability to breed and cultivate seedlings."

Hearing this, Song Wuji nodded and said, "Then I'll entrust the matter of criminal judgment to you and Cat Constable. Cat Constable will be responsible for making arrests, and Instructor Lü, you will be responsible for judging according to the law."

“That’s exactly the problem,” Lü Han said. “Now that there’s a great catastrophe, the original laws and regulations of the imperial court are simply not suitable for the current situation.”

“Those who do not obtain money shall be flogged fifty times. Those who obtain money shall not only be flogged fifty times, but also have the word “thief” tattooed on their faces. Those who steal three times and do not change their ways shall be strangled.”

"If people can fight even without money, wouldn't false accusations become rampant? At least you need to provide evidence."

"Therefore, there must be laws that can be put into practice now."

Song Wuji thought for a moment: "Actually, legal officials don't necessarily have to judge people in lawsuits. Why not judge demons? Every time a demon is arrested, taken to the execution ground, you pronounce the sentence, and then the soldiers behead him to complete the sacrifice of his head to the warriors. They are all sentenced to death, isn't that enough?"

"Or you could argue your case in a secret realm instead of this one, like the Secret Realm of Offering Food to Monks. There are many notorious bandits in that realm who, because of the saying 'lay down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot,' have entered the Buddhist order and escaped the law. You could arrest them and put them to trial." Song Wuji was inspired by Lü Han. Raiding temples was a quick and lucrative way to make money; otherwise, he wouldn't have come up with this idea.

Song Wuji said, "Once you reach the eighth rank and have a better understanding of the law, we can wait for Magistrate Tian to return, then discuss it further and draft some simple city regulations to be widely publicized."

“This is one way, but it may not truly fulfill the original intention of the litigant clerk to uphold justice. However, it can still accumulate some experience,” Lu Han said. “When the time comes, we will do as the city lord said and go with Chen Xiu to explore the secret realm to see if we can complete the litigant clerk’s ritual.”

Song Wuji nodded slightly, then asked about the Luohu Water Mansion: "Has there been any news from over there?"

"Several Beggar Clan disciples brought the news that Wan Xiangping, Luo Chuan, and another man named Xiong Hao had gone to the Water Mansion, while the rest were at the Iron Pillar Palace, where there were about five hundred disaster victims, but they claimed that three or four years had passed."

"But we've only been outside for a little over a month."

"The Taoist temple where the Iron Pillar Palace is located is known as the twelfth grotto-heaven, the thirty-eighth blessed land, the Xiaoyao Mountain blessed land, the Heavenly Pillar Treasure Extreme Mysterious Heaven, with a circumference of three hundred li, and has been a sacred place for cultivation since ancient times." As a scholar who had passed the imperial examination, Lü Han often attended various events organized by local gentry.

I also went to Beijing to take the imperial examination back then, and I stayed at the Tiezhu Palace Guild Hall.

The Tiezhu Palace Guild Hall will bless every Jiangxi native who is away from home.

Song Wuji silently calculated: "With a circumference of 300 li, if we consider it as a square block according to the principle of a round heaven and a square earth, it should be 1400 square kilometers."

How big is this place? It's equivalent to the land area of ​​forty-two Australian islands.

However, comparing this to these blessed lands is still a bit abstract. But it is definitely larger than all the secret realms that Song Wuji explored combined. After all, the main urban area of ​​Taichang City is only 4.8 li in circumference. Now, even if it is expanded outward by 120 steps, the circumference is only 8 li, which is equivalent to a square with a side length of 1,000 meters.

This small city, by allowing disaster victims to enter, ended up accommodating more than 25,000 people beyond its capacity.

No. However, in ancient times, the population of a county town should have been around a few thousand. The rest of the people would have gathered in towns and villages. That's how a large county could have a population of 70,000 to 80,000, and a small county could have 30,000 to 40,000. Even some remote areas, or prefectures, only had 30,000 to 40,000 people. They had to rely on exile to fill the population gap.

"Tiezhu Palace is a Taoist temple. Except for the first and fifteenth of the lunar month when it opens its gates to receive incense offerings, there is a three-day temple fair during the three Yuan Festivals of the year. On other days, it is a place of quiet cultivation and does not hold many Dharma assemblies."

Lu Han said, "The ancestor Xu Jia, who is enshrined in the Iron Pillar Palace, is the patron saint of Ganpo. I wonder if he will once again protect the Taichang territory."

Song Wuji said, "It's hard to say exactly. The people originally thought that the City God could protect them, but it didn't. However, this place is peculiar because it can change time. Its rank must be extremely high, and we can't provoke it forcibly."

(End of this chapter)