Old Daoist Chuhe was not merely speaking offhand; he displayed series after series of projected images. Some had been recorded by his adoptive fathers, but even more had been captured by his adoptive elder brothers and sisters.
The old daoist still had only three adoptive fathers, but his sworn brothers and sisters had grown considerably in number, making the recorded images exceptionally varied and abundant. Those mortals would never have imagined that a bird perched on a branch in the field or a cat prowling along the ridges was actually someone walking the immortal path.
After watching these images, even though Wei Yuan was only using an avatar, his face was equally livid.
Out among the acres of farmland, many people stood in the fields, listlessly hacking at the soil with halfhearted strokes, looking entirely devoid of vigor. When walking in and out of the fields, some paid no heed whatsoever to where they stepped, trampling down numerous crop seedlings along the way.
Many not only barely lifted a finger themselves, but also mocked and jeered at those working diligently, sneering that no matter how much work they did, they would not get an extra jin of grain rations, so they might as well take it easy and rest.
After all, the land belonged to the Domain Lord, and the grain belonged to the Domain Lord; working themselves to death would not earn them a single extra bite of food, so why risk their lives for the Domain Lord? Even if they slacked off now, the rations due to them would not be reduced by a sliver. Only when the overseers came on inspection rounds would these people rein themselves in slightly, putting on a show of hard work. But the only time their hoes moved all day was during the brief interval between the overseer's arrival and departure.
In some places, those who worked diligently were even intimidated or outright beaten. In such areas, the overseers were either lazy themselves—conducting superficial inspections as mere formalities—or were related by blood or marriage to the troublemakers.
Wherever this occurred, the seedlings in the fields grew sparse and withered, and spiritual qi dissipated into the heavens and earth in vain. As long as the overseers turned a blind eye, no one else came to supervise them; even if the crops in the fields were on the verge of dying off completely, not a soul said a word.
Ranked above these overseers was, in truth, Old Daoist Chuhe himself. Eighty percent of Chuhe's mind was devoted to spirit beasts, and the remaining twenty percent went to the Medicine Garden and spiritual fields. He could not be bothered to oversee mortal farmland at all, caring only about land reclamation. Furthermore, eight million mu of land in Qingming was indeed too vast; Chuhe alone could never manage it all.
Moreover, this trend was continually spreading. Not only mortal fields, but even spiritual fields were no longer tended as well as before. The yield of spirit rice was already ten percent lower than it should have been, with only the Medicine Garden remaining relatively normal.
Across all parts of Qingming, a new profession had begun cropping up: local thugs and scoundrels.
When he saw several idle ruffians drag two diligent workers into a copse of trees, beat them black and blue, and threaten them into giving up their households' slots for cultivating a Dao Foundation, murder finally flared in Wei Yuan's eyes.
As the Domain Lord, he possessed natural oversight of the domain's heaven and earth, and with his numerous avatars positioned throughout, Wei Yuan uncovered the full story in the blink of an eye.
These ruffians were not merely common scoundrels; they were actually hired thugs kept by the local inspecting overseer, tasked specifically with carrying out his dirty work. This time, they had come solely for the Dao Foundation cultivation slots.
The overseer's household already had one slot for Dao Foundation cultivation, but his son was an incompetent disappointment with pretensions beyond his abilities. During the last Dao Foundation Grand Ceremony, he had refused to heed advice and insisted on choosing his own Dao Foundation, resulting—wholly predictably—in failure.
The overseer wanted to secure another chance for his son, but lacked sufficient merit points, so he set his sights on these two honest, hardworking laborers, intending to force them to give up their slots.
Cultivation slots for a Dao Foundation were non-transferable by rule, but these people had their ways. The overseer planned to have his son assume their identities. Given the immense crowds at the Dao Foundation Grand Ceremony and the loose verification process, there was a strong chance he could pull off the deception. The overseer was banking on this very substitution scheme.
Seeing this, Wei Yuan understood why the influx of karmic luck had dropped drastically of late. Refugees arrived in an endless stream, yet both the azure qi from newcomers and the continuous contributions of azure qi from long-term Qingming residents were visibly diminishing. Now, Wei Yuan finally knew why.
In any village, so long as there was even one such inspecting overseer, Wei Yuan could forget about obtaining even a single wisp of karmic luck from that entire village!
Wei Yuan immediately deployed his avatars and organized personnel to thoroughly investigate all of Qingming and see how many similar incidents were taking place. Meanwhile, he set out in person, rushing back to Qingming from the Northern Mountain Gate at top speed.
In a single day's time, Wei Yuan flew back to Qingming. When he arrived at his residence, he found Zhang Sheng sitting in his room, tranquil and composed, quietly reading a book.
Wei Yuan paused in surprise and asked, "Why have you come out of seclusion again?"
Zhang Sheng tilted her head slightly. Faint light danced on her eyelashes, and the line of her jaw appeared exceptionally sleek and defined in the glow of the setting sun. She said, "I felt uneasy recently and sensed killing intent rising in you, so I came out of seclusion to see what happened."
Wei Yuan asked in amazement, "You can even sense that?"
Before Zhang Sheng, a small, five-colored sword materialized. Wei Yuan felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity, as if he could see himself within that tiny blade.
The miniature sword vanished an instant later. Zhang Sheng tapped her chest and said softly, "Within my Lucid Sword Heart, there is an open space. When I place someone in it, I can roughly perceive their joys and sorrows, their fortunes, and their safety."
Wei Yuan let out an "ah" and asked, "Then how many such spaces are there?"
Zhang Sheng rolled her eyes at him and said, "Just one is already a drag on my cultivation!"
Moved to the core, Wei Yuan sat down beside Zhang Sheng. The corners of her lips curved up faintly, and light rippled in the eyes gazing at him—a light that held only one person.
Yet before the tenderness could last three seconds, Wei Yuan's hand began creeping over Zhang Sheng's body. Zhang Sheng flicked out a wisp of sword qi that struck Wei Yuan's lower back, instantly numbing his entire body and rendering him immobile. She then said, "Business first! You returned filled with sudden killing intent—what happened?"
Wei Yuan sighed, recounted the recent events, and then showed the projected images to Zhang Sheng.
Zhang Sheng unfolded nearly a thousand recordings all at once and viewed them in a single sweep, her efficiency roughly three times that of Wei Yuan.
After finishing, Zhang Sheng closed her eyes and pondered for a moment before turning to Wei Yuan: "What do you plan to do?"
A flash of murderous intent crossed Wei Yuan's face. He said in a deep voice, "Dao Foundation training is of paramount importance; it is also the cornerstone that binds the various aristocratic clans to us. On average, aristocratic scions must spend a thousand taels of immortal silver to establish a single Dao Foundation. These overseers scheming to usurp training slots is equivalent to embezzling a thousand taels of immortal silver. Their crime warrants execution! Under the laws of Jin or Tang, embezzling a hundred taels of immortal silver would see the entire family exiled, and a thousand taels is enough for clan extermination! These people must be killed!"
Upon investigating, Wei Yuan had discovered that more than one overseer was plotting to usurp Dao Foundation slots—there were over a dozen of them. These overseers were even colluding and sharing information, with many preparing to band together to monopolize the Dao Foundation slots in their respective districts.
Among them, only two or three actually needed slots for their own families; the rest were doing it entirely for profit. They planned to resell these slots to rogue cultivators from outside the domain or to scions of other aristocratic clans, charging only half of Qingming's official price.
This scheme had begun only a few months ago, yet in that short span it had spread to over a dozen overseers, with more than sixty others actively engaged in secret discussions. In all of Qingming, there were fewer than two hundred district overseers; in the blink of an eye, nearly half of them were on the verge of falling into corruption.
Thus, the moment Wei Yuan discovered it, killing intent had surged within him, and he had returned immediately to deal with the crisis.
After hearing him out, Zhang Sheng said slowly, "Cutting through the knot with a swift blade is the right approach. As for the lost popular sentiment, the moment the executioner's blade falls and a few corrupt officials are put to death, you can win back the greater part of it on the spot. However, this is not an isolated incident or two; there are dozens, even hundreds of cases spread far and wide. If you only kill people at a time like this, you will merely treat the symptoms rather than the root cause. You must find the underlying source and apply the right remedy to settle it once and for all. Otherwise, you execute a batch today, have to execute another tomorrow, and yet another a few days later, on and on without end. No matter how many you kill, lost popular sentiment will never truly return."
Wei Yuan sighed. "That is precisely what worries me. I don't know what these people are thinking either. They've barely had full bellies for more than a few days, so how have they turned out like this? Back when they were refugees, if they could get a single square meal in months or half a year, they would have burned incense in gratitude to heaven. Overseers being greedy for wealth happens everywhere; killing them is straightforward enough. But for so many thugs and scoundrels to crop up as well truly took me by surprise. As for how to resolve it, I haven't figured that out yet."
Zhang Sheng said, "I actually just thought of a way that can resolve the immediate crisis."
Wei Yuan was overjoyed. "What way?"
Zhang Sheng pouted her lips slightly and said, "A reward first."
At this, Wei Yuan was both surprised and delighted. He hastily leaned in, gingerly pressing a gentle kiss onto those lips that resembled cherries freshly drawn from well water, and then found himself reluctant to pull away.
Zhang Sheng brought down a streak of sword qi that pinned Wei Yuan in place. She then slipped out of his embrace, sat up primly, and said calmly, "Back to business."
Wei Yuan's heart leaped and plummeted, yet he could do nothing with her.
Zhang Sheng said, "I believe the solution lies in a single saying: 'Worry not about scarcity, but about inequality.'"
Wei Yuan's mind cleared instantly like snow under bright sunlight. Leaping to his feet, he exclaimed, "That's it! What we need is inequality!"
Chapter 742