Chapter 35: Divide and Conquer, Seeking Collection and Recommendation

  Fang Ming's jaw dropped, his hand waved, and a brilliant white light burst into Wang Liu's body.

  Only a brilliant white light was seen, and Wang Liu Lang wore a nine-rank official uniform. A cloud of white energy gathered on his head, forming a ball shape, with a red and white alternating vital energy in the center, harmonizing and stabilizing his aura. This transformation made Wang Liu Lang look like he had dissipated some of the killing intent on his face, adding a few points of dignified majesty. Seeing Fang Ming, he knelt down and paid homage, saying:

  "I, Hakuseki Muramasa, ninth-rank deity of the land and god of the six rōnin, pay my respects to your lordship!" From this point on, he could be called a vassal, having truly obtained an official position, distinct from ordinary citizens. He was also the first among Fang Ming's subordinates to have an official position.

  Fang Ming smiled and said: "This name Wang Liu Lang is a bit too common, isn't it?"

  "Please grant me a name, Your Honor!" Wang Liu Lang was indeed clever.

  "Why don't we just call him Wang Zhong then!" Fang Ming said without hesitation.

  "Wang Zhong..." Wang Liu Lang, no, Wang Zhong bowed down and said: "From now on, I will be called Wang Zhong! I will be loyal with all my heart and do my best to repay Master!"

  "Good! Very good!" Fang Ming clapped his hands and laughed loudly.

  The land god position granted by Fengming, of course, is not a genuine product, but the latest result made through continuous experimentation and enlightenment obtained through promotion. In essence, it is similar to the previous divine symbol.

  It just imprinted all four land-based divine abilities on it and added the method of digesting incense wishes that Fang Ming had come to understand.

  This was created by Fang Ming himself, so he can naturally recall it with a thought. It's similar to a projection, and the authority still lies in Fang Ming's hands, and he can also make it self-destruct. Even if someone has an even higher level of divine power, they won't be able to upgrade it, and can only advance through Fang Ming's permission. Of course, there won't be any major divine abilities either.

  Moreover, Fang Ming also imposed restrictions, this divine position can only absorb the incense and blessings within its own jurisdiction, cannot absorb external incense and blessings, and cannot leave Fang Ming's divine jurisdiction, nor can it be taken out of the body, otherwise it will self-destruct.

  At the same time, he also made up his mind and ordered the land god to collect incense and fire according to Fang Ming's system, make a wish for the believers, and make an account. Every month, he would pay homage, check and verify, and hand over half of the prepared gold, which was stored here in Fang Ming, imitating the practice of the central bank in his previous life.

  Half of the prepared funds are kept by Fang Ming, and the remaining half is enough for normal use. When needed, apply to call from Fang Ming's place.

  The pure income of the gods under him every month also has to contribute half, handed over to Fang Ming, in his opinion, this is just a franchise fee. Since you have joined my divine system, you naturally have to make contributions and offerings, these will not be returned, and they become Fang Ming's pure income.

  Although Fang Ming can directly collect divine power through the gods in his subordinates, doing so would be somewhat disrespectful to their privacy and may expose secrets. It's better to let them hand over the divine power in the form of a large sum of money when they pay homage every month, which also utilizes their labor force.

  In this way, half of the vassal's strength is placed in Fang Ming, and Fang Ming will not seal off all the land under his command. He must always keep half of the territory under his direct control, so that the lord can always have an absolute advantage in strength. Is he still afraid that the vassals will turn against him?

  Of course, if it's not necessary, Fang Ming won't reveal his control over the subordinate divine position either.

  At the same time, since you're not afraid of subordinates rebelling, you naturally want to give them some benefits. Hmm, let's make it so that all matters within their divine jurisdiction can be handled independently, and they can also appoint their own clerks and shadow troops. As long as they come to check the accounts on time every month and hand over the divine power, everything else can be delegated, letting them become a local emperor.

  Anyway, a village's divine power income is just that much. No matter how well it's managed, it can't increase the income by much. Without divine power income, it's naturally impossible to collect many clerks and dark troops, let alone expand its strength.

  It has to be said that Fang Ming has done an extremely good job in preventing his subordinates from rebelling and leaking secrets.

  It's clear and simple, Fang Ming made up his mind, from now on he would follow this method.

  "Wu Hongyu, you have made great contributions to the spread of the land faith, and now I appoint you as the Zhēng Jiǔ Pǐn Village Land God of Changhe, may you bless this region!"

  Wu Hongyu stepped forward and bowed: "Your humble servant thanks Your Excellency!"

  It's the divine power that envelops, and the official uniform is generated. Wu Hongyu has a pure red Benming, and it's also the ancestor of the big family, who can practice and serve as the land god of a village with ease. The white energy condenses, and it's very stable.

  Looking at Zhou Si and Wang Deng with eager eyes, Fang Ming smiled. The original followers who followed him had not all been promoted yet! Moreover, these two people both have their own strengths and talents, and Fang Ming's subordinates were also short-handed and couldn't be sent out.

  Fang Ming coughed lightly, and the hall immediately fell silent. He then said, "This deity wishes to reform the military system!"

  His face was pale and frightened, and he could only bow down and say: "Please instruct me, Your Excellency!"

  "Five people make a wu, ten people make a huo. This is the ancient system and does not need to be changed. However, it should be corrected to distinguish between superior and inferior ranks."

  "Five men make a squad, with a squad leader who holds the same rank as a junior officer; ten men make a fire team, with a fire team leader who holds the same rank as a senior officer."

  It's still the same as before, just clarifying the hierarchy, and everyone is listening.

  "In the future, one team will have five fires, with a team leader and deputy team leader each having one name. The team leader is called Renyong School Lieutenant, from the ninth rank. The deputy team leader has the same position as Dianshi. One team has 50 people."

  "Two teams make up a battalion, and the battalion is called the Yuwu School Lieutenant, ranking ninth. There are 100 soldiers in one battalion."

  "Five camps and one guard, the guard is called Zhenwei Xiaowei, eighth rank. There are 500 soldiers under his command." One guard has five hundred men, similar to a county commander.

  "Where is Xie Jin and Zheng Jinghe?"

  "Take down the list!" Xie Jin and Zheng Jing stepped forward.

  "Benjun appointed Xie Jin as Yingzheng, Yuwu Xiaowei, in charge of one camp. Zheng Jing was appointed as Dui Zheng, Renyong Xiaowei, in charge of one team."

  "Under the command of our lord, there are still seven fire and shadow troops. Xie Jin, you go recruit brave warriors to make up a full battalion!" Fang Ming's subordinates originally had Wang Liu Lang in charge of two fire and shadow troops, Xie Jin managed three fires, and newly arrived Zheng Jing also recruited two fires, with only seventy people; recruiting thirty more would allow them to form a battalion.

  "Take orders under the banner!" Xie Jin and Zheng Jing were overjoyed, this was also a sign that they had become officials, not just low-ranking soldiers or minor officials.

  "You must train the yin soldiers well. From now on, without my explicit orders, you can only mobilize your own subordinates. If you dare to privately mobilize the yin soldiers, I will make sure that your souls scatter and you will never be reborn!" Originally, the management of yin soldiers under Fang Ming was somewhat chaotic, but as soon as a system was established, military energy began to generate continuously, and with Fang Ming's appointment, it continuously gathered under Xie Jin and Zheng Jing.

  "We dare not!" Xie Jin and Zheng Jing accepted the order with a stern expression.

  Fang Ming is the god of land, naturally there's no killing or hacking divine power, he has also made up his mind, the leader of the dark troops, although having an official body, but not given a divine position, anyway they have military aura, not inferior to divine power.

  "Hmm!" Fang Ming nodded, waved his hand, and in the flash of red light, Xie Jin and Zheng Jing had already changed into iron armor, cold and stern. No longer wearing leather armor to protect themselves. From now on, military officers would naturally wear red divine power iron armor for protection, while yin soldiers only had white divine power leather armor.

  When there are many Yin soldiers, a military arsenal will naturally be established, specializing in the manufacture of military equipment.

  Fang Ming opened his golden mouth: "Zhou Si, Wang Deng!"

  The two stepped forward, bowed respectfully again, "At your service!"

  "You two also have merit, I now grant you 10 taels of white silver!" One tael of white silver is equivalent to 100 big coins, 100 strands of white divine power, which was condensed by Fang Ming using 10 strands of red divine power.

  When subduing the four ancestral spirits, Fang Ming gained a large amount of divine power, adding up to over 100,000 white divine powers, and naturally became wealthy and arrogant.

  "Thank you, sir!" Zhou Si and Wang Deng, though somewhat discontent in their hearts, still thanked him and retreated.

  Fang Ming smiled with satisfaction. This time, among the four major families under his original jurisdiction and the new ones, two people from each family had obtained official positions, forming a balanced situation that was easy to control and manipulate.

  Zhou Si and Wang Deng also saw it, but this is a common courtesy. So, although there was some reluctance, there would be opportunities in the future, and ten taels of silver were not a small sum, so he retreated with respect.

  "Guo Sheng, I promote you one rank, as Recorder and Historian!"

  "Zheng Kuan, I reward you with two taels of silver!"

  "Li Ming, Li Kong, you two have been serving as yin for a long time, diligent and dedicated. I appoint Li Ming as the official in charge of sending sons, and Li Kong as the official in charge of fertile lands!"

  Guo Sheng is in charge of accounts, and the officials are somewhat insufficient, so they can be promoted. Li Ming and Li Kong have been serving as yongding for a long time and also have reasons to be promoted, which can make up for Wang Zhong's vacancy, but cannot be promoted two levels at once, so first serve as lingyuan. Zheng Kuan has no reason to be promoted, nor is there a vacant position, so he will be rewarded with silver for the time being.

  All four of them came out and bowed down to pay their respects.

  As for He Dong, although he had been with Fang Ming for a long time, if he hadn't committed an offense, this time he could have been promoted to an official position. However, since he offended Fang Ming, he can only be considered unlucky and has to wait behind Li Kong and Li Ming, so it's not his turn to be promoted this time either.

  Fang Ming watched as his subordinates all accepted their orders, the civil and military systems were all established, from now on it was just a matter of continuous supplementation. His own small system was also formally established, and he couldn't help but feel a great sense of joy, bursting into loud laughter.

  Only to see that with the appointment, the aura in the golden seal greatly increased and rose again, occupying about 80% of the golden seal. Among them, the red aura occupied 70%, shining brightly, almost all over Fang Ming's body was crimson. This is a clear rule, each doing their own thing, releasing excess energy.

  Moreover, the white air surging in from the sky appears even more pure, vaguely forming a web-like pattern with Fang Ming's golden seal on his forehead as the center, spreading outwards in all directions and continuously extending outwards, as if wanting to envelop the entire region under Fang Ming's jurisdiction.

  This is just a prototype of the law, and it will only be effective when a strict system is established and implemented.

  Fang Ming looked back and saw that the white gas was extremely thick, and there were also threads of red gas forming above. He knew that this was the overall gas operation of his body, which originally had seven red and three white gases, but the gas operation of his body was almost pure white with only a few points of red gas.

  This is because the law has just been established and cannot penetrate deep into people's hearts. To say that governance is stable, at least half of the red energy must be present, which is barely passable.

  But this, it's not something that can be achieved in a day or two. It requires long-term effort to let the faith in the land penetrate deep into the people's daily lives. If you want to take it further, you need to make the land god relevant to the people's birth, aging, illness and death. Only then, even the government and imperial court won't be able to eradicate the faith in the land. Only then can Fang Ming say that he has truly stood firm on this land.