I Only Want to Lie Flat But Am Forced to Cultivate Immortality Chapter 729 - 361: Xu Qing’s Connections, Inescapable Net

The Jinn originally governed six counties and one island, the island being the small Cangzhou.

Later, Wanshou Village and Linshui Ward were promoted to county status, thus becoming eight counties and one island. Among them, Linjiang County, under the governance of the talented Chen Guangrui, beca the premier county under Jinn in just ten years.

In the first year of the Yong’an era, two days after the Emperor of Dayan ascended the throne, he promoted Chen Guangrui to Prefect of Jinn. Now, two years have passed, and Jinn Prefecture is already prospering in harmony, with the trend of advancing towards becoming the foremost prefecture in the land.

After the sacrificial ceremony ended, Zhu Huai’an hinted at the idea of having Chen Guangrui leave Jinn to govern other places.

"My beloved minister is a capable leader of the tis. Now that Jinn is prospering, if you were to go elsewhere, you might create another Jinn."

However, upon hearing this, Chen Guangrui shook his head and said, "Jinn’s current prospering is not solely due to my efforts, but the result of the people’s diligent work. The people’s spirit here is like fire, and various industries are just beginning to rise. I’ve been here for over ten years and I understand its intricacies well. If I were to go elsewhere, such results might not be achievable."

Chen Guangrui was secretly puzzled by the fact that over the past two decades, Jinn felt distinctly different from other places. He always sensed that there seed to be an invisible force secretly influencing Jinn.

Otherwise, how could a single prefecture enjoy such favorable weather for twenty consecutive years, with even banditry and unrest declining year by year? Just after the sacrificial ceremony, the shopkeepers of the funeral houses he knows were all expressing to him that business was getting harder because fewer people were executed in recent years. They hoped that he could bring in more death row inmates from other regions to be executed in Jinn.

In this way, they could indirectly boost Jinn’s industrial developnt and enhance the reputation of the funeral industry.

No matter what, the distinct atmosphere of Jinn compared to other places was clearly felt by Chen Guangrui.

The emperor’s expectations of him were certainly a good thing, but he also needed to temper those expectations and seek steady progress.

...

Jinn Prefecture, Rongsheng Teahouse.

Today, Xu Qing, the head of the funeral house, rented the entire teahouse just to take advantage of the sacrificial ceremony to hold a funeral industry exchange conference with the stewards of funeral houses from various counties in Jinn.

Previously, most of these interactions were carried out by funeral house employees from Linjiang County on his behalf. Most of them had never even t Xu Qing, but this did not prevent them from feeling genuine admiration for him.

A person who could manage the entire funeral industry of Jinn, and who could bypass the Ministry of Rites and the Honglu Temple to fully administer a state ceremonial, is unparalleled not only across the nation but throughout history.

Xu Qing had beco the unanimously recognized leader in the eyes of all present. With the honor of hosting an ’imperial funeral’, as long as the Dayan Court exists, everyone in Jinn relying on the funeral industry must thank Shopkeeper Xu!

Like today, for the ceremonial expenses of three thousand taels, each of the eight funeral houses present shared no less than two hundred taels in remuneration.

No one present knew how Shopkeeper Xu managed to compress the highest specification ceremonial costs from the royal family to under fifteen hundred taels.

The ritual vessels, costus, and various divine apparatuses used for the ceremony, even if not worth ten thousand taels, should not be achievable with just over a thousand taels of silver.

Only Xu Qing knew in his heart that those so-called costus and props were souvenirs he collected from his journeys to the Imperial Mausoleum, Ghost King Mausoleum, and Yin Corpse Sect, among other famous attractions.

These items usually weren’t utilized in the funeral industry but were just right for a royal sacrifice.

By reducing these unnecessary major expenses, what remained was the least valuable labor cost.

Even so, Xu Qing still paid all those who helped manage the ceremonies at a rate ten tis the usual.

At that mont, Xu Qing was truly the most conscientious employer in Jinn.

After the ceremony ended, Liu Su’e, who was in charge of the funeral finances, calculated with her abacus and found out they had even made a surplus of one thousand taels.

Xu Qing, although he had foreseen this, did not expect the ceremonial costs to be reduced to such an extent.

Bear in mind, even including the costs of the ritual vessels and sacrificial items, it should not exceed ten thousand taels of silver at most.

Yet, before Zhu Huai’an approached him, the expenses audited by the Ministry of Rites and the Celestial Master’s Mansion were at least one hundred thousand taels of silver!

Where those ninety thousand taels went was perplexing.

Xu Qing was uninterested in the affairs of the court; it didn’t matter if it was a hundred thousand taels or even one million taels—it had little to do with him.

Nonetheless, since he had coincidentally undertaken this royal ceremony, he naturally had to seize this imnse opportunity.

Therefore, after the staff eting at Rongsheng Teahouse, a new advertisent quickly spread through the streets and alleys of Jinn stating: "The Xu family funeral industry in Jinn handles matters worth ten thousand taels for three hundred silver."

The Jinn people love excitent and enjoy gossip.

In just a few days, word spread, and everyone knew that the Jinn funeral industry managed to accomplish what the Ministry of Rites claid to cost a hundred thousand taels with just a three-thousand-tael expenditure!

Jinn had thus beco famous, and the reputation of Jinn’s funeral industry spread far and wide.

How the rumor started was unclear, but five dynasties ago there was an anecdote saying "the fragrance greets you a mile away" from the imperial signboard given by Emperor Longping’s father when he visited Jiangnan.

Now, Jinn was humorously remarked as "a funeral that greets you from horseback, saving the nation a hundred thousand taels."

While this may be re jokes to the common people, to certain others, it was as irritating as a thorn in the throat, utterly unamusing.

...

Inside the Desheng Gate of the Capital City, at the Governnt Office of the Ministry of Rites.

Li Weijian, known as the ’Great Minister’, the Minister of Rites, was simring with anger.