Chapter 125 One Million Faith Points
County magistrate Lian Gehui tried hard to accept the fact that there were gods in this world. Listening to the village heads talking to each other, he more or less understood the whole story.
First, a father and son from Wangjia Village rescued a stranger, who turned out to be the Hundred-Change Star God who had come to the mortal world to endure trials and tribulations. The dry river in Wangjia Village was about to dry up, so they came up with the idea of finding a bride for the river god. However, the river god didn't show up. When the Dragon King learned that his friend was in Wangjia Village, he sent down divine rain.
Afterwards, he left behind his human sacrifice to take care of the Lord of Changes. With the Lord of Changes in Beiyang, he was willing to help the people of Beiyang overcome the drought. If they just wanted to seek the Dragon King's favor, they had to kneel down and pray sincerely. Only when the Dragon King sensed that there were people in the world who truly believed in him would he send down the divine rain.
This sounded unbelievable, but Lian Gehui tried her best to accept everything. She then arranged for several village heads to rest first, and then had the final discussion and decision with her confidant Gao Hui in her study.
"Frankly, if the Dragon King can truly send down a blessing, let alone divine rain, as long as it can improve the crops, I'm willing to accept it. I haven't informed anyone else in the county about the autumn tax yet. If the people knew about it, I'm afraid..."
Lian Gehui's face was filled with misery. It was clear that there was no rain this year and the grain harvest was about to fail, but the order from the King of Qi was to increase the grain tax by 10%. If the people could not pay it, their families would be destroyed.
"Sir, I know you care about the people of Anping County, so I've kept this a secret. However, I believe offering sacrifices to the gods is not a bad idea. If what the village chiefs say is true, then if the entire Beiyang region is blessed by the Dragon King, and grain production doesn't decrease, or even increases, then the issue of raising grain taxes can be resolved. Otherwise, not only the people, but both you and I will be killed."
Gao Hui was somewhat opposed to it before, but now that he has seen so many strange things, he has begun to support the worship of the gods.
"But I still can't help but worry. The name of this Lord Dragon King is unheard of, and I've never heard of asking for human sacrifices to a god. I'm afraid it's an evil sacrifice. If the court knew..."
Lian Gehui was conflicted. He was willing to pray for rain for the sake of the people, but since ancient times, those gods who required human sacrifices were not good people. So he was afraid that if this matter became known, he would be cursed by everyone, and if the court knew about it, it would also trigger a series of turmoil.
"But those human sacrifices didn't die, did they? They even became children with magical powers."
Gao Hui bowed, and then spoke with a sense of determination.
"Sir, my son is only twelve years old this year. If you agree to offer sacrifices to the Dragon King, I am willing to let my son be your human sacrifice. No matter what the consequences are, I will bear them wholeheartedly."
This was a bold statement, and also a bit greedy. After all, look at the village chiefs of Wujia Village and Wangjia Village, they both gave away their granddaughters and grandsons, who now have become boys staying with the gods. If he gave away his own son, as long as he didn't die, that would be good too.
If it really rains, it proves that there are gods in this world, and then my son still has a way out.
"..." Lian Gehui was helpless. He glared at his former friend and could only say.
"Go ahead and make the arrangements. Compile the 'Dragon King's Miraculous Book' and spread the news of the Dragon King sending down the divine rain to all the villages in Anping County. Then arrange for the county's wealthy families to come to the yamen for tea."
This means they agree. Since a sacrifice is to be arranged, the people must know what god they are sacrificing and worshipping. Generally, people will be arranged to pass on the story of the god layer by layer, and then let everyone start to believe in this god.
In addition, he called on the wealthy families in the city to donate money and materials for the construction of the altar. In addition, as for himself, Lian Gehui also had to take a bath, change clothes, and not eat or drink on the auspicious day calculated. Only when he was clean could he pray to the gods.
Soon, all the people who could be sent out from the county government office had left, and several village heads had been assigned tasks and left, leaving only Fang Huai, the son of the village head of Fangjia Village.
There are quite a few wealthy families in Anping County. After all, the entire county has a population of nearly 100,000, so the wealthy families in the city were quickly invited over.
Everyone was a little uneasy when they came over. After all, it hadn't rained for several days and everyone saw it. They thought the county magistrate had some ideas, whether to ask them to donate money or goods, and everyone was a little uneasy.
But I didn't expect to hear the county magistrate say that he wanted to offer sacrifices to the gods.
"As everyone knows, there has been no rain in Anping County since the beginning of March. I am concerned about the impact on people's livelihoods, so I plan to hold an altar to offer sacrifices to the gods."
??? It’s not about donating money, it’s about offering sacrifices to the gods???
Several businessmen wondered if the county magistrate was crazy.
But as long as the money is not donated to the people, they are willing to do so. Merchants can give things to gods, but giving it to ordinary people is a bottomless pit, and they are not willing to do so.
"Your Excellency, we are naturally willing to follow you in offering sacrifices to the gods and preparing the offerings. Please rest assured."
That’s right, these businessmen understood it so clearly, and there was no need for Lian Gehui to say anything more. As businessmen, who would dare to challenge the government officials?
"I would like to thank you all for your kindness on behalf of the people. However, the deity I am offering sacrifices to this time is Canglang, the Dragon King of the West Sea. Within three days, I will arrange for people to inform the people of the Dragon King's arrival in Beiyang, and to arrange for the sacrifice to the Dragon King, the construction of the altar, and the offerings. I would like to trouble you all to take care of this."
These businessmen have more people and money than Lian Gehui. Lian Gehui's people have already started going to the countryside and villages to spread the news about Lord Dragon King. He has almost no one under his command now.
"Please rest assured, sir. We will do our best."
Several merchants looked at each other and naturally did not resist. In fact, Beiyang had suffered a severe drought more than 20 years ago, but although they offered sacrifices to the gods at that time, it was of no use. In the end, the imperial court sent relief grain.
But now it is obviously impossible. Not to mention disaster relief food, it has not rained in Beiyang for three months. Even the King of Qi, the master of Beiyang, remains silent. How could the court interfere?
Generally speaking, after the enfeoffment, all government affairs of Beiyang were managed by the King of Qi. The King of Qi did not care about the drought, and no one dared to intervene.
Lian Gehui thought about it and decided to reveal some of the information to the people in front of him.
"Someone under the King of Qi came a few days ago and said this year's autumn tax will be increased by 10%, and the commercial tax will be increased by 20%..."
Therefore, the rain is closely related to merchants. If the people of Beiyang are living in poverty, how can merchants make money?
Lian Gehui's words made all the merchants look grim, but what could they do? Beiyang was now the fiefdom of the King of Qi. He could do whatever he wanted, and the court didn't care. So, they kept stripping away layer upon layer of their annual income. Everyone was furious, but what could they do?
Now everyone was even more concerned about praying to God. For the first time, they hoped that there really were gods in this world. Before leaving, they heard the county magistrate tell the story of Canglang, the Dragon King of the West Sea, and they didn't quite believe it at first.
But when the merchants saw with their own eyes that Fang Huai was really extremely strong and could lift a stone lion weighing over a thousand pounds at the gate of the yamen by himself, they had to believe it.
The merchants quickly got busy building the altar and offering sacrifices. Naturally, they had to prepare the best for the gods.
Slaughtering pigs and sheep, and making various dishes all need to be prepared, not to mention the good wine, fine incense, live animals, fine yellow money, gold, candles, etc. that are needed for offering sacrifices to the gods. These all need to be carefully prepared.
At the same time, the news about the Dragon King of the West Sea spread at the fastest speed in Anping County.
There are many smart people in this world, and they can spread news quickly. The story of the Dragon King of the West Sea sending down the divine rain was made into a ballad and sung in Anping County, which made people think of the dry weather.
If the Dragon King of the West Sea is truly traveling around, would he be willing to send down divine rain for Anping County? He doesn't ask for all diseases to be cured, but only for the crops to thrive.
Within a day, not only the county itself, but all the villages around Anping County, which were managed by County Magistrate Lian Gehui, began to sing songs about the Dragon King of the West Sea. In the songs, the friend of the Dragon King of the West Sea came down to earth to experience hardships, and the Dragon King repaid his friend by sending down divine rain to the village and curing all diseases for the people. It was simply a dream story.
The more difficult it is for human beings to do something, the more praying to gods and Buddhas seems to be the last resort. There used to be a temple in Anping County, which is still very popular. Now, after hearing that the Dragon King of the West Sea is so powerful and is a huge black dragon that covers the sky and the sun, the people at home couldn't help but start to look forward to it.
If only the Dragon King of the West Sea were really that powerful, he would come to Anping County and make it rain. Please, Lord Dragon King!
Qin Lang's faith value increased wildly in waves, making the system very happy.
[Ding Dong! Congratulations to the host for successfully breaking through one million faith points. Please continue to work hard to become a god!]
That’s right, it was just a spread in one county, but it easily gained a million faith points. Qin Lang couldn’t help but open the mall of the dressing system and checked several god-level suits worth millions, but he finally endured it.
It's not enough, this is not enough. He wants the name of the Dragon King to resound throughout Beiyang, so that everyone who mentions Beiyang in the future will mention the Dragon King Canglang. To become a god through incense is not just talk.
One day later in Anping County, Lian Gehui, the county magistrate, issued a decree stating that after careful calculation of an auspicious day, Lian Gehui, the county magistrate, would personally go on stage the next day to pray to the Dragon King of the West Sea to bring rain. He also hoped that the people would also pray in their hearts that the Dragon King of the West Sea would come to Anping County to bring down divine rain.
Many of the people were illiterate and ignorant. In addition, it had not rained for more than three months, and the crops in the fields were almost dead. When they saw the county magistrate was going to pray to the Dragon King for rain, they naturally supported him and no one opposed it.
The next day, Qin Lang's faith value soared again, because people had greater expectations. People expected the county magistrate to succeed in praying for rain, and people expected the legendary black dragon King of the West Sea to descend to Beiyang and bring down the divine rain.
It was not until the day when the county magistrate actually offered sacrifices to the gods that Qin Lang received a notification from the system.
[Ding Dong! Host, please send down a rain of blessings upon the people of Anping County. Receive offerings and temples from the people of Anping County. The countdown begins...]
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