Chapter 162: Second Ring Mission, The Yin God System?

The Golden Sword Head instantly killed 1,366 criminals, and Yang An and Jia Pu flew away.

The Inspection Bureau immediately fell silent.

Long Xiao still followed Zhao Xing; Chen Shijie said nothing more, merely nodded at Zhao Xing, and then departed.

The first ring mission ended; Zhao Xing rested at the Inspection Bureau for one night and set out the next day.

On the Swordfish Flying Boat, he used the Dream Retention Method to review the first ring mission, and soon woke up again.

This time, the severe sentencing of the lawbreakers within the Divine Might Army was correct; if it happened again, Zhao Xing would still choose to sentence them all to death.

As for offending people? This impact is not significant.

First, Zhao Xing is not yet a soldier of the Divine Might Army; those dead criminals only blame Qiu Mingyi.

As for the living, view them in two parts: first, the lower-ranking soldiers below the seventh rank, and second, those above the seventh rank.

The lower-ranking soldiers below the seventh rank lack such strong subjective intent; whatever characterization the imperial court gives the matter can basically settle things at this level. Moreover, these dead people had no grievance; they truly deserved to die, so there is no way they would hold great resentment toward Zhao Xing.

To put it bluntly, they are not qualified to resent Zhao Xing, because the highest among those beheaded was only a Zheng Seventh Rank, while Zhao Xing, once he completes the mission, will also be a Seventh Rank military officer! And he will only be stronger than those rotten people like Hong Tai!

Those above the seventh rank will make a clear judgment on this matter, knowing Zhao Xing had little room for choice; even if he did not sentence them, Qiu Mingyi would. Just as Chen Shijie and Long Xiao, upon hearing Zhao Xing mention it, knew to avoid suspicion and knew he had accepted a 'Inspection Mission'.

They basically have some understanding of Zhao Xing's identity, including his performance during training at the Ten Yang Grotto-Heaven.

Before Yang An appeared, perhaps this group would have thought Zhao Xing was too ruthless, giving the Inspection Bureau the chance to execute without asking; if one were to act, one should have first asked Duke Boping, Yang An.

However, after Yang An appeared, Zhao Xing's influence on this matter faded significantly.

Because after Yang An arrived, the one who spoke was Qiu Mingyi of the Inspection Bureau, not Zhao Xing holding the Grand Inspector's Order; this attitude explains many things.

Qiu Mingyi also actively responded, because he knew the imperial court was testing a genius, not trying to destroy one. If he still pushed Zhao Xing to the front to speak with Yang An, that would be him being immature.

Zhao Xing understood this point clearly as well, so as soon as Yang An appeared, he said not a word, bowed, and withdrew; to outsiders, the impression that Zhao Xing was just going through the motions became even more reasonable.

"If he were a rash fool, truly believing he held the power of life and death, thinking he could defy the Wang Hou, and at that moment still went up to hard-fight the big boss, insisting on killing, saying killing was unavoidable, then he would be a complete fool," Zhao Xing thought inwardly.

No matter how righteous and stern the words, that was not the time for him to speak.

If the Military Realm demanded a new recruit hard-fight a Wu Hou to receive the highest evaluation, that would be too unreasonable.

Seeing this attitude in the sentencing was enough; doing any more would be crossing the line.

"The whole matter, the greatest worry was that Yang An would use special privileges to pardon the criminals; this would mean he had a huge conflict with the imperial court's current rectification wind. If he were a narrow-minded person, my act of executing without asking would not be tolerated by him."

"He came, but did not pardon, proving Yang An is at least smart enough to see the imperial court's intention: rectifying the border army's conduct is the great trend. Furthermore, he only asked Qiu Mingyi, not even glancing at me; this was to dilute my influence, making it easier for me to act later."

"As for the process of this execution..." Zhao Xing recalled Yang An's actions; those criminal generals, though clearly so rotten, were still willing to die for Yang An.

"Remarkable," Zhao Xing evaluated thus.

Yang An could sever his own arm, speaking words of today's painful loss of limbs.

Such a commander has charisma!

If Yang An had told the soldiers: "These brothers broke what laws, how they deserved to die, once they committed crimes they are no longer my brothers."

It would be useless; the effect would be small.

When they started fighting, they said they were all brothers; I, Duke Boping, will not shortchange any single brother; how can it be that now you are no longer my brother?

They might not say anything verbally, but in their hearts they would feel this commander is too heartless.

But if he said, "I am willing to share their punishment, even to chop off my own hands and feet," then the effect would be different.

Whether it was a show or acting, regardless of what Yang An thought internally, or whether he was pretending, he did it!

Judging by deeds, not by heart; this is enough to make the entire Divine Might Army unite and serve with their lives.

Moreover, Yang An finally demoted himself to a laborer, wanting to kill the barbarians and atone for the dead brothers; in this era's background, anyone would be moved to tears.

While making everyone take it as a warning, he also conveniently gave the Divine Might Army a goal: kill the barbarians.

"Great shots who can shake the world are never simple; I was the one who thought too narrowly of the person."

The difficulty of this mission is actually mainly Yang An's attitude; judging from Yang An's behavior, there is obviously no need to worry about this person lacking tolerance; one could even say working under such a person is very good.

From the conversation between Hong Tai and Qiu Mingyi, one could also hear that Yang An previously giving up the commander position was still to protect the positions of others; obviously, the other party's behavior was consistent, not a temporary show.

"Regardless, I will not stay on this train for too long; once I complete the nine-ring mission, I will be Seventh Rank; afterwards, seizing opportunities in the Great Barbarian Suppression War to reach Fifth Rank, I will then leave the Divine Might Army."

Zhao Xing stopped thinking about this matter and began to look at the second ring mission.

As soon as he opened the Earth Mirror.

He saw that the evaluation for the first ring mission had been released.

【First Ring Mission 'Inspecting the Divine Might Army' has ended.】

【Military Realm Evaluation: Top Grade A】

"As I thought," Zhao Xing smiled slightly.

Then he looked at the second ring mission.

【Second Ring Military Affairs: 'Temples of Anping Prefecture'】

【Location: Anping Prefecture】

【Military Realm Intelligence: Anping Prefecture is located west of Datong Prefecture. Since the establishment of the Nine Heavens Ying Yuan Prefecture two hundred years ago, there have been many folk legends about strange gods and immortals; the common people spontaneously built Yin God temples, setting up spirit altars in their homes for worship. The objects of worship include not only spirits of the human race but also spirits of strange beasts.】

【Below is the specific list of temples, totaling 52 temples, including the origins of the temples, their main areas of worship, and the major deeds of the Yin Gods over the past two hundred years. Please proceed to Anping Prefecture to investigate each one individually and decide on the retention or removal of the temples.】

"Folk temples?"

After seeing the second ring mission, Zhao Xing could not help but frown.

The difficulty of this matter far exceeds the 'Inspecting the Divine Might Army' mission.

Because this involves the Great Zhou's 'Yin God System'.

The Yin God System is an extremely important part of a Qi Fortune Dynasty; one could even say it is the foundation.

Enjoying incense after death, with the Yin Soul remaining forever in the world, resting with the nation, is the dream of all officials.

This is not merely about leaving a name in history.

Because as long as the incense does not cease and the dynasty does not perish, the Yin God can exist forever.

Equivalent to another form of immortality!

Being enfeoffed as a marquis or appointed as a general is, for the strong, actually not difficult to achieve, nor is it the ultimate goal.

The greatest temptation is to be enfeoffed as a Yin Spirit and enjoy incense offerings for ten thousand generations!

Because this era holds a mainstream belief: death is not the end; being forgotten is. If one can transform into a Yin Spirit, one can roam freely in another world!

Thus, the Great Zhou dynasty flourished with rites, music, and sacrifices.

Zhao Xing had received this mission in his past life and understood the difficulty involved.

"Even wanting to shake the Yin Spirit system; the Jing Emperor of this period truly has great ambitions," Zhao Xing thought silently.

One radish, one pit; the positions of Yin Spirits are limited and cannot be enfeoffed infinitely.

From the Taizu Emperor, through the Wen Emperor, to the Jing Emperor, the number of enfeoffed Yin Spirits has been increasing.

The requirements have also been constantly rising.

Among them, the Taizu reign and the Wen reign were the periods with the most enfeoffments.

Founding meritocrats cannot go unenfeoffed; having conquered the Jiangshan, they enjoyed little fortune in life, and many strong ones reached the end of their lives. If they did not enjoy fortune in life, could they not enjoy it after death?

Additionally, there were the affiliated sects and Daoist schools, the seventy-two Dao Courts; every single Dao Court had the existence of one or more Second Rank Yin Spirits, which was one of the conditions for affiliation.

For instance, the True Lord of Li Fire belongs to the First Rank Yin Spirits; his established Dao Law Body existed before the Zhou dynasty and could influence the heavenly laws of nineteen provinces.

High-ranking members of the Li Fire Dao Court could even summon the True Lord's established Dao Law Body to fight enemies, being incredibly awesome.

Other Yin Spirits, such as Shenxingdai Sect's Dai Zong, held a lower status.

They worked bitterly delivering messages for the army, with no cost involved. If Huang Chengzhi issued four urgent marching orders a day, Shenxingdai Sect's Dai Zong could only curse twice, at most refusing the job.

But with the True Lord of Li Fire, if you borrow his path to pass, you must return the path afterward; the prestige is much higher.

"The collapse of the Yin Spirit system was the final straw that crushed the Great Zhou," Zhao Xing recalled the situation of his past life mission.

Those clay bodhisattvas one by one jumped down from their altars, fierce and menacing, demanding that the common people offer sacrifices to this, offer sacrifices to that.

Moreover, countless Mao Shen were born; Zhao Xing, on a mission, would run ten li and a Yin Spirit would demand a 'toll'.

Some even demanded the sacrifice of young girls.

"Originally, the 'Yin Spirit System' could effectively prevent illegality, leaving lawbreakers nowhere to hide. But later, one family raising one Yin Spirit opened the era of aristocratic families privately raising Yin Spirits, completely blocking the detection of the imperial court's Yin Spirits; killing and robbing, with absolutely no evidence found..."

"The Jing Emperor's stinginess is not without reason; if he opens the gates too wide, by the time he dies, there will be few positions left for his descendants. However, stinginess treats the symptoms but not the root cause; adding the Hall of Heroes cannot satisfy the demand."

"So difficult! Why the hell do I, a Military Agricultural Commissioner, have to do this kind of mission?"

Zhao Xing felt a bit of a headache.

Although some of the temples on this list enshrine Agricultural Commissioners, the connection seems far too forced.

"Serving as an official under the Jing Emperor is truly damn hard; one person used as ten, truly a proper ox or horse." After cursing a few times in his heart, Zhao Xing began to seriously sort through the mission.

Difficult to handle, but it must be handled!

No one can shake Old Master Zhao's determination for long life and immortality!

【Yan Guang Temple: Sixth Rank Yin Spirit】

【Location: Pingjiang County, Hongyuan Commandery, Anping Prefecture.】

【Military Realm Intelligence: Yan Guang was a native of Pingjiang County, born in the 233rd year of Yong'an. In the third year of Dingxin, he participated in establishing the Nine Heavens Yingyuan Prefecture. His highest official position in life was the Official Sixth Rank Upper 'Director of the Pingjiang Water Office'.】

【In the 58th year of Dingxin, Yan Guang died of old age in office. Having diligently managed water control for sixty years, he received commendation from the imperial court, was posthumously enfeoffed as the Third Class Marquis of Pingjiang, and received the evaluation of a Meritorious Official.】

【The Yan family established a family shrine for Yan Guang in the 60th year of Dingxin, at which time common people came to worship. In the 65th year of Dingxin, common people in many places spontaneously built temples. In the 89th year of Dingxin, Yan Guang's spirit tablet was taken out of the Hall of Heroes and enshrined in the temple at Pingjiang Reef Fortress. In the 143rd year of Dingxin, Yan Guang's Yin Soul received incense offerings and rose to the Seventh Rank Yin Soul Realm.】

【In the 195th year of Dingxin, a flood struck Pingjiang. The Yan family widely spread benevolent acts, opening porridge sheds, repairing rivers, and building bridges. Yan Guang manifested his power for the first time, assisting the then Pingjiang County Agricultural Commissioner Supervisor Wang Ze in casting Agricultural Family spells to quell the flood disaster.】

【In the 198th year of Dingxin, Yan Guang manifested his power for the forty-ninth time. Incense offerings were flourishing, and he was promoted to the Lower Sixth Rank Yin Spirit.】

【In the early years of Jingxin, Yan Guang manifested his power for the 376th time...】

【In the tenth year of Jingxin...】

The second phase mission, although involving only fifty-two temples, had Yin Spirits of no low rank; the worst were Seventh Rank Yin Spirits, and the highest reached the Official Sixth Rank Upper.

Mainly, if a Yin Spirit's status is too low, they cannot manifest their power; in this period, the Seventh Rank is the minimum threshold for manifesting power to intervene in the mortal world.

Of course, none of these are officially enfeoffed deities; even if they manifest, their power is limited.

They belong to 'False Gods'.

They cannot reach the level of the Duke of East Lake or Cao Xi; those two have the ability to sever the soul clone of the Blood Spirit Venerable. The Blood Spirit Venerable is at least in the Third Rank Yuan Soul Realm, because only then can he 'split his soul to receive offerings and nourish the main soul'.

The intelligence information provided by the Military Realm was a hundred times more massive than before.

For an ordinary person to analyze any useful information from this data would be quite difficult; it is too vast and complex.

If one does not understand the Yin Spirit system, one would also be completely confused, not knowing what the imperial court is trying to achieve by issuing this mission.

"Analyze problems by looking at the essence." Zhao Xing began to think from the perspective of the Military Realm, or even from the perspective of the Jing Emperor.

"Anping Prefecture is a border prefecture, like Datong Prefecture; both are located south of Haizhou, where the Cang River and Lan River have numerous tributaries entering the territory."

"There are also multiple military strongholds within its territory."

"The Yin Spirit system opened too many loopholes during the Taizu period; spontaneous spirit-raising behavior by the common people had multiple precedents for regularization. This situation only gradually decreased and was suppressed during the Wen Emperor period; this was the Wen Emperor intentionally controlling public opinion to prevent great families from manipulating public sentiment to raise spirits."

"There are many examples of wild spirits being regularized. Coupled with the previous conquest of the Nine Heavens Yingyuan Prefecture, many people established merit, were granted titles and fiefs, and as legends spread, this phenomenon of spontaneous worship of wild spirits gradually sprang up in the border regions."

"However, it is hard to say there were no descendants of Yin Spirits pushing the waves. Taking Yan Guang as an example, the intelligence mentions the Yan family multiple times; I do not believe the Yan family played no role in pushing this, and the Military Realm would not believe it either."

"Although the nature of these wild spirits cannot be called as severe as evil gods or licentious sacrifices, with the Great Campaign against the Southern Barbarians imminent, everything must prioritize military affairs; how can such unstable factors be allowed to exist? Not to mention, there are those who worship strange beasts as gods, which is obviously influenced by the Southern Barbarian tribes."

Finally, Zhao Xing drew a conclusion: "These are evil gods and licentious sacrifices; they must be killed!"

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