Chapter 2271: The Secret to Governance Winning People's Hearts

Never mind, I won't dwell on this. Since Qixia Sect is emerging from reclusion and re-entering the world, he must secure resources for the sect. Cangyan has already claimed this land and its population. For Qixia Sect to thrive, it must carve out a share from Cangyan.

Madam Zhu entered the Imperial Study, and the guards on both sides bowed to her.

“You've worked hard, Madam,” He Lingchuan said, personally bringing out a jar of fine wine. “This is Osmanthus Nectar, brewed from the delicate flowers of the old osmanthus tree in the Golden Hall, combined with Qiong Rice. Qiong Rice, by the way, is a new variety of spirit rice that was successfully test-planted just five months ago.”

“Oh?” Madam Zhu took the jar, unceremoniously broke the clay seal, and took a few shallow sips. The Spider Queen sisters both loved to drink.

“To be honest, it's not as good as the fruit wine from last time,” the Madam said, as she always spoke her mind and never bothered with social niceties.

“Second Madam prefers peach blossom wine more,” He Lingchuan chuckled. “Alright, I'll send some more fruit wine to your residence. Remember, don't hang the palace attendant who delivers the wine upside down this time.”

Last time, when a palace attendant delivered wine to Madam Zhu, they took a wrong turn while leaving the cave and ended up being tied up by the small spiders guarding it.

“Don't worry, it won't happen again,” Madam Zhu said readily. “The Heavenly Centipede that robbed the Profound Crystal warehouse has been captured and brought to justice, but it hasn't fully confessed.”

“Not fully?” He Lingchuan understood. “It only admits to part of the crime?”

“That's right. It insists it only robbed five Profound Crystal warehouses, stealing less than 1,500 jin of Profound Crystals. It claims it has nothing to do with the remaining stolen goods.”

“Is that credible?”

Madam Zhu moved a front claw. “There aren't many demons who can lie under my claw,” she stated.

The Soul-Seizing Mirror exclaimed in surprise, “If that's true, where did the two stolen warehouses and two thousand jin of Profound Crystals go?”

“If it wasn't other thieves, then someone embezzled the Profound Crystal inventory while guarding it and framed the Heavenly Centipede,” He Lingchuan said, tapping his fingers lightly on the table twice. “After so many years, it's inevitable for corruption to creep into the warehouses. I will send people to investigate thoroughly.”

The moment he said that, it meant someone's head would roll. Cangyan had been established for several years, and though the Dragon God's oversight was strict, corruption occasionally surfaced. It was never easy to use clear laws and strict regulations to combat human nature.

He turned to look at the sand table. To others, it was a complete map of Cangyan's territory, with mountains, rivers, lakes, seas, and cities all rendered in great detail. But in He Lingchuan's eyes, the sand table was covered with starlike points, most of which sparkled brightly, while a few appeared slightly dim.

“Out of the seven reported missing Profound Crystal warehouses, only five were robbed by the Heavenly Centipede,” he said, pointing to two of the dim points. “Alright, let's start the investigation with these two locations!”

Madam Zhu asked curiously, “Why these two?”

He Lingchuan yawned. “The residents in these two places have some complaints; I've wanted to investigate them for a long time.”

These starlike points on the sand table represented the power of devotion, visible only to the wearer of the Clanging Dragon Armor. Dim points indicated a decline in the local populace's faith in the Dragon God. Through years of observation, He Lingchuan had discovered that this was largely related to the quality of local governance: whether officials were corrupt, colluding with merchants, the common people were struggling, or local officials were simply incompetent. In short, whenever there were grievances or complaints, the power of devotion transmitted to the Dragon God naturally diminished.

Since the devotion points in these two places were dim and happened to overlap with the locations of the stolen Profound Crystal warehouses, He Lingchuan naturally prioritized investigating these two areas first to see if local officials were behind it.

For any empire, the difficulty of 'reaching the Emperor's ear' was considerable; the larger and older the nation, the more outrageous this difficulty became. Emperors, residing high in their courts, found it difficult to grasp the lives of common people far beyond the capital. When these top-down misalignments accumulated, they became chronic ailments over time. While the common people suffered greatly, rulers might still believe that the realm was peaceful and its citizens content. By the time blades and spears shattered the court's idyllic dream, it was too late for them to see the truth.

With this star map of devotion, He Lingchuan could intuitively perceive the public's evaluation of the governmental system and local livelihoods across the nation. He would order investigations where needed, execute those who deserved it, transfer others, and promptly arrange personnel appointments and dismissals to ensure the well-being of the people and quell public grievances. Couldn't find it the first time? Investigate a second time! Every time Cangyan's Royal Court issued an order, they hit their mark precisely. The Golden-Flashed people naturally cheered and applauded, praising the Emperor's divine might and wisdom. However, the official system was filled with alert individuals who felt as though the Royal Court's eyes and ears were everywhere, and a sharp sword hung perpetually above their heads, ready to strike at any moment.

After all, Cangyan had been established for a much shorter time than Beijia and Mou, so its system was still relatively clean. Furthermore, He Lingchuan would crack down hard on every transgression he discovered, serving as a warning to others. Thus, Cangyan's bureaucracy was generally clean, and its primal energy levels were thriving.

Madam Zhu, of course, was unaware of the star map of devotion, nor did she know of any connection between devotion and primal energy. Even if she knew, she wouldn't have cared; she only cared about the matters at hand:

“It also confessed to being the mountain-guarding spirit beast of Qixia Sect. This immortal sect had been in reclusion for over a hundred years, and its Profound Crystal reserves were dwindling, so it was sent out to plunder some as replenishment.”

“Qixia Sect?” He Lingchuan frowned slightly. “I seem to have heard of it somewhere?”

“Liu Qingdao said it's an ancient immortal sect, and it seems to have some special abilities. He's looking up information on it,” Madam Zhu said, displeased. “These newly emerged sects and great demons always act as if their brains are addled, unaware that the outside world has been turned upside down, and think they can do whatever they please the moment they leave seclusion.”

“Even if they knew, they wouldn't care. For the past few millennia, they didn't need to concern themselves with mortals. As the saying goes, 'immortals and mortals are different.' How much difference is there between how immortals and great demons view mortals compared to ants? The laws of primal energy have also changed drastically only in recent years. Previously, they didn't need to avoid human kingdoms on the Blazing Gold Plain at all. That's why they say, 'rigid adherence to old ways can be fatal.'”

He then asked, “Has Qixia Sect opened its gates yet?” Opening its gates means formally establishing itself as a sect and registering with Cangyan.

“Not yet.”

“What about their location of reclusion?”

“The Heavenly Centipede said it's in Guye Mountain, west of Wei'an City. It's not far; I'll take it there myself in the next few days to guide me!” Madam Zhu added, “And this Heavenly Centipede, how do you want to deal with it? It's very pragmatic and willing to submit to Cangyan.”

“Alright, then Madam will supervise it for now. There's no need to send it to Dong Rui.” Such forcibly submitted great demons always had a period of probation; those who failed would not have a pleasant outcome.

Madam Zhu chuckled, “If Dong Rui finds out, he'll probably be furious again. He's been eyeing this Heavenly Centipede for a long time.”

Dong Rui had been constantly dissatisfied lately, grumbling about having no suitable test subjects.

He Lingchuan retorted grumpily, “I'm the one who should be furious. The Flower Ants just reported that the black spot disease of the man-eating flowers has worsened again.”