The Jinmen 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, became the premier county under Jinmen 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 Jinmen. Now, two years have passed, and Jinmen 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 Jinmen to govern other places.
"My beloved minister is a capable leader of the times. Now that Jinmen is prospering, if you were to go elsewhere, you might create another Jinmen."
However, upon hearing this, Chen Guangrui shook his head and said, "Jinmen'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, Jinmen felt distinctly different from other places. He always sensed that there seemed to be an invisible force secretly influencing Jinmen.
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 Jinmen.
In this way, they could indirectly boost Jinmen's industrial development and enhance the reputation of the funeral industry.
No matter what, the distinct atmosphere of Jinmen 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.
...
Jinmen 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 Jinmen.
Previously, most of these interactions were carried out by funeral house employees from Linjiang County on his behalf. Most of them had never even met Xu Qing, but this did not prevent them from feeling genuine admiration for him.
A person who could manage the entire funeral industry of Jinmen, 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 become 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 Jinmen 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, costumes, 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 costumes 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 times the usual.
At that moment, Xu Qing was truly the most conscientious employer in Jinmen.
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 immense opportunity.
Therefore, after the staff meeting at Rongsheng Teahouse, a new advertisement quickly spread through the streets and alleys of Jinmen stating: "The Xu family funeral industry in Jinmen handles matters worth ten thousand taels for three hundred silver."
The Jinmen people love excitement and enjoy gossip.
In just a few days, word spread, and everyone knew that the Jinmen funeral industry managed to accomplish what the Ministry of Rites claimed to cost a hundred thousand taels with just a three-thousand-tael expenditure!
Jinmen had thus become famous, and the reputation of Jinmen'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, Jinmen was humorously remarked as "a funeral that greets you from horseback, saving the nation a hundred thousand taels."
While this may be mere 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 Government Office of the Ministry of Rites.
Li Weijian, known as the 'Great Minister', the Minister of Rites, was simmering with anger.