Chapter Eighteen: Rewards

  After arranging everything one by one, Fang Ming finally had some free time.

  At this time, he returned to his residence, sat on a chair, closed his eyes and meditated, tapping his fingers on the table one by one, thinking about several things.

  This time, the matter in Qingxi Township is definitely a warning from our ancestor Zhang Qingyun's spirit, which has alerted the mortal world. However, matters of the mortal world should be handled by its own people. This time, Li Dazhuang did a great job and will be rewarded later.

  Whenever I think of Li Dazhuang, I associate him with the divine art of possession. Every time he performs the ritual, he needs to recite the names of the gods, such as "Please invite so-and-so god to possess me". Fang Ming thought for a moment and Li Dazhuang, a rough and unrefined man, shouted out loud: "Please invite the Earth God to possess me"... and suddenly got goosebumps all over his body. This scene is too beautiful, he didn't dare look! If it were a young and charming female temple priestess instead, it might be more believable...

  Then he modified the incantation to "Please invite the power of the land god", which can also be used, after all, it's just an incantation, and the key is whether Fang Ming responds or not.

  This picture of Qingyun communicating yin and yang must have greatly damaged its spiritual power, it's definitely not going to be easy to get through, whether or not one should take advantage of the situation is also a question.

  Moreover, one's own subordinates are only given food to eat and allowed to exist, without pay, they work for oneself unconditionally. It's just like in the previous life, a company that doesn't pay wages but only provides room and board, expecting employees to work day and night for them. This comparison makes oneself seem even more ruthless than many capitalists!

  It seems a bit bad, although we have control over their fate, but also need to have an incentive system to make them more diligent and efficient. Although I am already doing it, such as promotion and so on, but that also requires luck and divine power, can't be abused.

  Moreover, his current subordinates are still at the level of small officials. If they go up further, they will have to have a rank, and with a rank comes a divine position. This problem has not been solved by Fang Ming yet.

  Thinking about it again, perhaps directly converting divine power into currency and giving it out as a reward is also a viable method.

  However, this way, the divine power is somewhat insufficient, and this time it's necessary to reward and promote again, which is another expense.

  It all boils down to a matter of faith. With only four villages under his control, Fang Ming is struggling to support so many people and needs to expand his influence and increase his followers in order to thrive.

  At this time, a voice came from outside: "Master, He Dong requests an audience!"

  "Come in!" Fang Ming was somewhat surprised. He usually worked in the front hall, and when He Dong had something to report, he would do so there. It was rare for him to come to his living quarters.

  He Dong walked in, with a small figure following closely behind him, tiptoeing and being very careful.

  As soon as she came in, she knelt down and kowtowed: "Greetings to the master!" The voice was crisp and pleasant, and it turned out to be a woman.

  Upon closer inspection, this young girl is quite lovely, around 15 or 16 years old, with a maid's attire, only her figure has not fully developed, her face still has some baby fat, her cherry-like lips slightly curved into a smile, making one feel delighted to see her.

  However, Fang Ming's face sank, and he asked: "He Dong, what do you mean by this?"

  He Dong hastily knelt down and said: "I have already sent the old, weak and wandering souls to Qing Shan Village's jurisdiction for settlement. Each person has a separate room, and I have also selected a clerk to handle matters... However, seeing that Your Excellency is still alone, with no one to take care of you, I, He Dong, dare to select a maid to attend to your daily needs!"

  Fang Ming smiled wryly, this He Dong was indeed a master of flattery. In this world, the young masters of wealthy families all had several maidservants attending to them. Fang Ming had also seen female ghosts in the past, and Wang Liu Lang had told him that some wanted to join his side and seek protection as a maid or something. However, his divine power was too precious to be used for such things, so he naturally didn't agree. This time, He Dong had finally found an opportunity.

  He wasn't a self-torturing person, having taken in that group of elderly and weak individuals, he naturally thought about finding something for them to do. After all, even if they spent their days within the law domain, they would still need to consume a thread of divine energy every day. Now with this maid, since she looked quite pleasant, taking her in wouldn't be a problem. However, he couldn't open up this topic, or his subordinates might think he was an evil spirit who indulged in lust, and then go around searching for beautiful women to offer to him, which would truly be laughable and pitiful.

  His face sank: "He Dong, do you think I am a person of what kind? Not doing the right thing, but seeking this kind of evil way, it's simply a dereliction of duty!" He is a god, with great power in himself. When he got angry, the temperature around him seemed to drop a lot.

  He Dong broke out in a cold sweat, repeatedly kowtowing: "I dare not, I know my fault..." The maid beside him also had a tearful expression, biting her teeth and prostrating herself to beg for forgiveness.

  "Fang Ming coldly snorted: 'Considering it's your first offense, I won't pursue the matter for now. Get out!'"

  He Dong bowed again, wanting to take the maid away. Fang Ming said, "Wait, since we've already called her over, it's not good to just send her back like this. Others might talk. Although I'm not afraid, I don't think it's good for the maid either. Let's have her stay and be in charge of sweeping the hall!"

  He Dong nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes... Master is kind!" But in his heart, he was overjoyed and a little regretful. It seemed that he had been a bit too hasty. However, what the master said also made sense. Among ghosts, it's similar to the human world. If a maid from a wealthy family was driven out for no reason, the rumors would almost be enough to drive her to death.

  Fang Ming waved his hand, and He Dong led the maid to bow down and thank him, backing out as they left.

  After a while, Zheng Kuan came to report that the vanguard had been settled and their merits recorded. He came to report back to Fang Ming, who nodded and ordered the three of them to wait in the main hall.

  After a while, Fang Ming arrived at the main hall. Wang Liu Lang, Xie Jin and Zheng Kuan bowed respectfully: "We have seen our master!"

  Fang Ming raised his hand, "No need for formalities!" He picked up the documents on the table, took a look, and then said: "Zheng Kuan, tell me about the situation!"

  "Yes!" Zheng Kuan led the order, saying: "This time we eliminated the bandits, our army lost eight people in battle, and killed the bandit leader Peng Chun and 103 of his subordinates, it can be called a great victory. In calculating the merits, Xie Jin was the one who killed Peng Chun, he is the first to achieve merit, other hidden soldiers also got several heads each, Wang Liu Lang shot and killed the most, with eight, the rest of the captured and beheaded are also recorded..."

  After finishing, he handed over the name list and saw Fang Ming nodding. He continued to say: "In addition, Master has accepted eleven wandering souls as yin soldiers. Currently, my department has a total of thirty-three yin soldiers, plus two fire dragons, making a total of thirty-five people."

  Fang Ming nodded and said, "Yes, Xie Jin has merit. As a reward, I'll let you build another fire and manage two fires. The new recruits of the dark troops will first replenish the consumed ones. There are still three left. You go recruit seven more and form one fire."

  Jin thanked and bowed his head in gratitude. Fang Ming thought for a moment, then added: "The eight who died in battle, if they have any ghostly relatives or friends, please also come to Qing Shan Village to be taken care of."

  His subordinates knelt down together, cheering: "Master is kind!" Fang Ming saw this situation and knew that he had indeed neglected this aspect before. Even if there were no relatives among his subordinates now, he had to consider the future. By doing so, he would win people's hearts, although it was another expense.

  He continued: "Zheng Kuan, this matter was handled well, I promote you as a commanding officer." Zheng Kuan bowed to thank him.

  At this time, he looked at everyone and said: "Everyone come with me to outside the village, I will give out the rewards!"

  Outside the village.

  Thirty-three Yin soldiers lined up in a row, He Dong shouted: "Behead one person and step forward!"

  Twenty-two originally hidden soldiers all stepped forward one step. Fang Ming nodded and said "Reward five hundred taels!"

  Then Guo Sheng and Zheng Kuan stepped forward, handed out rewards, and the soldiers took a look. They were five large white coins, with the same style as those in Yangjian, but without any words on them, instead shining with a white light, somewhat mysterious. The Yin soldiers didn't need to use money, although they were somewhat skeptical, but since it was given by their lord, they still respectfully accepted it.

  He Dong drank again: "Beheaded two people, step forward!" From these twenty-two people, eighteen more came out, and this time five more white coins were awarded.

  Then beheaded three people, there were only ten left in front, and again five big coins.

  Asking four people again, three came out, still five big coins each.

  Finally, there were five people, and this time it was ten big coins.

  He Dong nodded and bowed to Fang Ming, saying: "I report to your lordship, the rewards have all been issued!"

  Fang Ming's head was clear, and he knew that there were still some evil spirits around. Either they had been trampled to death by the crowd or hacked to pieces by swords, it was really hard to count them accurately, so he could only give up.

  Fang Ming waved his hand, and the crowd immediately fell silent. Only the master's voice was clear and distinct, saying: "These big coins are transformed by my divine power, can support ordinary wandering souls for a day of survival, and can repair soul body damage. You all have food to supplement every day to maintain consumption, but you can also absorb this money to increase your spiritual power and strengthen your physique."

  As soon as this was said, there was a big commotion below. The yin soldiers who heard these words immediately lost their previous indifference. After all, they had to consider the future of their loved ones. Even if one person ate well and the whole family didn't go hungry, they could use this money to strengthen themselves, which was naturally very important. Those holding the money couldn't help but clench their fists tightly. The new yin soldiers were even more envious, with eyes that were slightly red.

  Fang Ming watched the scene, smiled slightly, and these big coins were naturally transformed by his white divine power. In the Great Dryness, a small coin is one cent, ten small coins are one dollar, one hundred dollars are one guan, also worth one or two silver, which is the monthly salary of a ninth-grade official, of course, officials do not rely on their salaries for living, and there are various forms of tribute.

  He originally wanted to make a single coin, but then thought that if a soldier beheads someone, he would get five coins as a reward. It sounds like "you kill one person for me and I'll give you five miscellaneous grain cakes". Still, it's better to make big coins! As for making silver coins, it seems not bad, but it might be troublesome later on. He recalled the inflation in the underworld of his previous life, where a single coin could buy several hundred million incense sticks that could be burned down, and encountered unscrupulous people who had billion-yuan notes. Fang Ming was just a poor man, although the two things were not the same, but it's also worth being vigilant, otherwise what would he use to reward his subordinates in the future?

  "What is the name of the one who beheaded five people?"

  One of the guards stepped forward, tall and imposing, knelt down and said: "I am Xiao Ren Xie Chun, I have seen my lord!"

  "You can kill five men and be considered a good fellow, I promote you to Wu Chang!" "Thank you, sir!"

  Fang Ming ordered: "Where is Wang Liu Lang?"

  Wang Liu Lang came out and paid his respects: "Your subordinate is here!"

  "You led the vanguard in battle and personally shot and killed eight men. You have merit, I reward you with half a guan of money!" That was fifty big coins strung together on a string.

  Wang Liu Lang bowed and thanked: "Thank you, sir, for the reward!"

  Fang Ming looked at the very envious civil official and comforted him: "You are a civil servant, in the future you will be rewarded for your loyalty and diligence!"

  He Dong led the way in thanking them.

  Looking at the dark soldiers under his command, he waved his hand and a white light flashed by, this time unifying and repairing their armor.

  After everything was done, he ordered: "Xie Jin, after you have replenished the two fires, go to Yuanhe Village and station yourself in the land of Fa Yu, intensify your training during peacetime, and drive out evil spirits. Wang Liu Lang, dispatch a team of five people to Qing Shan Village to station yourselves there, protect the old and weak, do not disturb them. This time we have won a great victory, I reward you with three days of wine and meat, go back and enjoy it!"

  The literary and martial officials all bowed down: "Your subordinate obeys!"