139: Chapter 139 The Assessment is Coming!

"Am I coming at a bad time?"

The two walked side by side on the bluestone path.

Not a hint of fluctuation could be heard in Pei Lingshu's tone.

Shen Yi's expression remained unchanged as he said softly,

"No… you have come at the perfect time."

Pei Lingshu cast an annoyed glance at Shen Yi.

"How come… you want to take a concubine so soon?"

"But that's normal, isn't it? Don't all men have three wives and four concubines?"

"You are merely a minor eighth-rank official of the Immortal Dynasty, yet you think this way… If you reach the fourth or even third rank in the future,"

"would you not want to imitate the Emperor and have three palaces, six courts, and seventy-two concubines?"

Shen Yi scratched his head and shook it, saying,

"That would be so tiring."

"Just let them do the work, wouldn't that suffice?"

The corner of Shen Yi's mouth twitched violently.

"Miss Pei… can such words really come out of your mouth?"

Pei Lingshu remained noncommittal.

Only then did Shen Yi explain,

"Using a damaged Immortal Foundation as a means to win people's hearts is only natural."

"Furthermore, this Immortal Foundation is extremely compatible with the Cultivators of the Hundred Flowers Sect."

"Although Sect Leader's combat ability is average, her logistical management is quite good and well-organized."

"In the path of the Spirit Farmer, the Hundred Flowers Sect, having mastered the Peach Blossom Demon Seed, is no worse than Xu Erniang… even a cut above!"

"Without any special Opportunity, Xu Erniang will find it difficult to reach the Dao Foundation Realm in this lifetime, but for Sect Leader, it is a certainty."

"So, how could she not value it?"

"In any case, selling this damaged Immortal Foundation would only provide enough funds to support several thousand soldiers for a few years."

"It is better to leave it for her to win people's hearts and gain a future Dao Foundation Master."

'Why not?'

Pei Lingshu said indifferently,

"That is true… furthermore, Sect Leader is quite beautiful."

"Isn't there a saying in the mortal world?"

"Like a vase standing at the door, it looks good even if it cannot work."

Shen Yi did not respond… and soon, the two arrived at the residence.

Two Officials of the Ministry of Personnel were already waiting inside.

Unlike Cultivators of the other six ministries, the Officials of the Ministry of Personnel had direct access to the Emperor.

Naturally, they possessed an arrogant and condescending Aura.

However, the primary duty of an Official of the Ministry of Personnel was justice… plus, they were tasked with conferring rewards upon officials and maintaining good relations with them.

They also knew who could be offended and who could not.

Thus, their attitude was quite good.

They were chatting and laughing.

They had come here for the assessment tasks.

For ordinary towns, there were ordinary town tasks.

For Lingxu Command towns, there were Lingxu Command assessment tasks.

The Lingxu Command represented towns that controlled more resources, such as Spiritual Veins, spiritual plants, Spirit Beasts, and Cultivators… The tax revenue from these people naturally could not be as low as that of towns with ordinary mortal inhabitants.

Just like the saying goes, the greater the power, the greater the responsibility!

Before setting off, they had considered the scale of Qinghe Town.

The official who conferred the title here had added at the right moment… saying that there was an expert stationed here.

They were initially somewhat dismissive… if there truly were an expert,

they would first be sent to the prefecture-level imperial court for training and to gild their resume.

This step was naturally to build connections.

Only then would they be assigned to a county town or allowed to establish their own faction.

With connections at the prefecture level, their path would naturally be smooth and unobstructed.

Clearly, Shen Yi was not among them.

Although Shen Yi held the title of Tanhua… in truth,

a Tanhua without background support was just a meaningless empty title.

Therefore, they had not paid much attention.

But upon arriving here, their slight contempt was completely overturned.

Although Qinghe Town was built on the foundation of a town, it already had the scale comparable to a minor county town.

This scale did not refer to the number of mortal inhabitants, the number of Cultivators, or its copper coin reserves.

It referred to the potential for development…

Two mountain ranges, one in the south and one in the north… each had treasures on them.

One was Wanren Cliff; through the files, they knew the inside story and understood it was an Immortal Cave left behind by a Purple Mansion Sword Cultivator.

There were demon entities nurtured upon it… it was a place of continuous resource production.

The other was Hanshan Temple.

The Officials of the Ministry of Personnel did not have any particular views on monks or temples.

Their focus was entirely on the wonder.

The second-grade wonder, Hanshan Temple… could also be considered extraordinary.

Buddhism had extremely profound knowledge regarding salvation, and in the Sanchuan Sand Sea, a place where evil paths ran rampant,

it had an effect that could not be underestimated!

Then there were the two acres of spiritual fields… the vast water.

And that Moon Essence Rice.

As well as the city walls and defenses.

Of course, these were all within their expectations.

They also conformed to the establishment of Qinghe Town.

But the interior… although they knew some things, it greatly exceeded their expectations.

The distant beacon tower, yanbing platform, rakshasa statue, ancestral hall, and Five Grains Temple.

This set of infrastructure was already at the level of a county town.

There truly was an expert behind Shen Yi… this set of infrastructure operated smoothly; in no more than seven years, this place would evolve into a county town!

And a county town with infinite development potential at that!

Therefore, the person's attitude was gentle.

Seeing Shen Yi arrive, he chuckled.

"Lord Shen is truly a young talent."

"The entire Qinghe Town is full of talent."

Shen Yi cupped his hands to acknowledge… then served hot tea.

It served to build some rapport.

Although it was only a nodding acquaintance, wasn't the art of conducting oneself in society reflected right here?

After about half a stick of incense, the Official of the Ministry of Personnel said slowly,

"Coming here today, it is because of an order from above."

"The demon-slaying order and the pioneering order from the Pingyang Prefecture government have been issued… to properly suppress the arrogant Aura of those lawless individuals."

"It also allowed many noble families and towns to properly bolster their strength."

"So… taking this Opportunity, the Pingyang Prefecture government simply issued all the assessment tasks for the next three years."

"Before the end of the year, all towns in the Sanchuan Sand Sea region outside Pingyang Prefecture must be notified."

Shen Yi nodded; the Official of the Ministry of Personnel spoke nicely, seemingly achieving the best of both worlds.

But in this world, where is there a deal where no one gets hurt?

The ones most severely hurt in this were naturally Pingyang Prefecture and the Jing Dynasty.

The noble families gained territory and Opportunity, and suppressed the Devil Heads.

In essence, it was an exchange of interests.

And the imperial court gained strength… but what they lost was territory that originally belonged to them!

It's just that no one would say it openly.

From this, it could be seen that this immensely powerful Jing Kingdom did not seem to be powerful because of themselves.

They actually had to rely on interests to drive the noble families to fight.

The Official of the Ministry of Personnel said with a smile,

"According to the establishment and the current scale of Qinghe Town… the Ministry of Personnel has given you, Lord, three standard assessment tasks."

"These assessment tasks are related to your future performance evaluation, Lord Shen!"

[Lower Grade, rated as Average; official position remains unchanged, accumulate meager merit!]

[Submit 3,000 Spirit Stones, 100,000 copper coins, 30,000 catties of first-grade spiritual plant, Five Grains.]

[Middle Grade, rated as Good to Excellent; promotion of official position based on circumstances, military merit remains unchanged.]

[6,000 Spirit Stones, 200,000 copper coins or equivalent silver dollars, 80,000 catties of first-grade spiritual plant, Five Grains, or 3,000 catties of second-grade.]

[Upper Grade, rated as Excellent; remove 'Deputy' and promote to 'Principal'.]

[6,000 Spirit Stones, 200,000 copper coins or equivalent silver dollars, 80,000 catties of first-grade spiritual plant, Five Grains, or 3,000 catties of second-grade; accumulate eight Major Merits or thirty Minor Merits of the Ministry of War.]

"However… we think you, Lord, would be interested in another assessment."

After speaking… the Official of the Ministry of Personnel took out a scroll woven with gold threads from his hand.