The difficult path of cultivation for a grassroots female practitioner

Chapter 1098: Shui Wuhen's Hellish Start

Leaving aside Xiao Han's side, who tried every means to be a good emperor.

Shui Wuhen, who was also undertaking the task of becoming a mortal emperor, never expected that the dynasty he possessed would be a dynasty plagued by constant peasant uprisings due to natural disasters and man-made calamities, with Tartars invading the borders and the dynasty facing internal and external troubles, resembling an apocalyptic era.

In order to avoid becoming a ruler who would bring about the downfall of his kingdom, the current emperor of the Great Chu Dynasty, Emperor Yongding's father, used the excuse of failing health to hastily pass the throne to him and became the retired emperor.

Furthermore, because the Empress Dowager had no legitimate son, the Emperor Emeritus delayed in appointing a Crown Prince, resulting in the current Emperor Yongding being a successor chosen arbitrarily.

After reviewing Emperor Yongding's memories, Shui Wuhen could only conclude that if he hadn't come, this prince, who was brave but lacked strategy and had never been properly groomed as an heir to the throne, would likely have become a ruler who would bring about the downfall of his country within a few years.

Shui Wuhen wasn't too discouraged by the current situation.

After all, in the mortal realm of the Heavenly Prison Abyss, she, as a woman, had successfully become emperor amidst chaos. The current, legitimate situation is far better than that one.

However, in this way, it is estimated that the original owner, Emperor Yongding, was mostly just a tool.

However, just two days after ascending the throne, Shui Wuhen discovered that the current situation was even more difficult than when he, as a woman, had seized the throne.

Because it was a complete overhaul, he built his own team from scratch, bit by bit.

But in today's court, civil officials are only concerned with factional struggles and hold their positions without doing anything, while there isn't a single military officer who can fight.

Of the officials in the court, there were very few capable people.

The national treasury is so empty that rats can run around in it, and the imperial army has been in arrears with its pay for several months.

It can be said that, apart from the fact that the throne is legitimate, there is nothing in the way that is advantageous to him in the current situation.

After observing the situation from the sidelines for two days, Shui Wuhen had no choice but to take a drastic step and become a tyrant.

I learned from the old emperor that he still had evidence of corruption by the Vice Minister of War, but he had not dared to take action in order to maintain stability in the court.

Shui Wuhen immediately targeted this Vice Minister of War, arresting him, confiscating his property, and convicting him in one swift and decisive action.

This confiscation of property was significant, as it directly yielded an income of over 400,000 taels of silver.

Shui Wuhen didn't let the money go into the national treasury; instead, he kept it in his own hands. After all, if it went into the national treasury, it would probably be spent "openly" within a day.

The Minister of War and the Vice Minister of War were in cahoots. In order to protect their own people, they directly used the excuse of illness to avoid attending court.

Shui Wuhen was more than happy to do so, and took the opportunity to strip him of his official position, forcing him to retire and go back to recuperate.

This series of actions alarmed the ministers of the Ministry of War's faction, who went to the retired emperor to complain, claiming that Emperor Yongding was simply acting recklessly and was incapable of fulfilling his duties as an emperor, and pleaded with the retired emperor to resume his rule.

The old emperor was unwilling to bear the reputation of a ruler who had lost his country, yet he was also greedy for power.

He summoned Emperor Yongding and lectured him rudely.

This made Shui Wuhen involuntarily think of Xiao Han, the relative who gave him the greatest help when he first conquered the country.

At that time, Xiao Han, the nominal elder brother of Yaozu, wore a mask and fought for him in the north and south.

Now, his nominal father not only left him a mess and didn't help him, but even sabotaged him.

Shui Wuhen didn't care about anything else. He started with the Vice Minister of War, and by pulling out the radish, he brought out the mud, imprisoning all the related court officials and confiscating their property.

While the court was in turmoil, he first used the excuse of reducing expenditures to release a large number of palace maids and eunuchs out of the palace to reorganize it, so that he could have full control of the palace and stabilize the rear.

Then he started by reorganizing the Imperial Guards, using the silver obtained from confiscating property to gradually build an army that would completely obey his command.

The court officials' counterattack became even more frantic; they wanted to start with the retired emperor, depose him, and install a new ruler.

Unfortunately, Shui Wuhen knew that the retired emperor would only be a hindrance, so he simply prepared some medicine to make the retired emperor fall ill, and then placed him under house arrest, preventing the court officials from contacting him.

He was the rightful emperor. Without the interference of the retired emperor, it would be difficult for the court officials to establish a new emperor as long as he lived.

However, in order not to make the situation too bad, Shui Wuhen still promoted some ministers in the court who, although not very capable, were obedient, so as to reduce the obstacles for him.

If you want to support the army and the court officials, you can't do it without money.

Although the confiscation of property yielded some silver, it only temporarily alleviated the immediate crisis.

Xiao Han used the excuse of celebrating the emperor's birthday to collect gifts and make money, while Shui Wuhen simply set his sights on the antiques and paintings in the palace.

He ordered people to take the antique paintings and calligraphy treasured in the palace and sell them all over the country to raise money.

In any case, if these antiques and paintings were collected by private individuals, they might receive more secure care. But if his country falls, these antiques and paintings would be difficult to preserve during the war.

Shui Wuhen was, after all, more discerning than the original owner, Emperor Yongding, and the retired emperor.

After demoting or expelling some incompetent and disobedient court officials, he basically took control of the court.

The so-called centipede, though dead, does not fall down.

It's not so easy to overthrow a dynasty that has existed for two or three hundred years and completely extinguish it all at once.

After Shui Wuhen rectified the court and gained a respite, he also received some good news.

His stepmother, the Empress Dowager, seeing that this previously unremarkable prince was actually a man of great talent and ambition, in order to prevent the Emperor Emeritus from hindering her, she first poisoned the Emperor Emeritus to death, and then committed suicide by poisoning herself.

With no worries about the future, Shui Wuhen gradually regained military power, and then personally led troops to suppress the largest rebellion of displaced people.

Under his iron-fisted policies and a series of decrees to enrich the country and strengthen its military, the crumbling dynasty was finally given a much-needed boost.

Of course, strategies for governing the country and ensuring its stability, such as enhancing national strength and expelling the Manchus, must be implemented step by step.

While these cultivators vying for special divine office were racking their brains over managing the country, in the main hall of the divine palace in the third heaven of the divine realm, the Azure Sky God and the Azure Cloud God were leisurely drinking tea.

The Azure Sky God smiled and said to the Azure Cloud God, "The Creator God has begun to rewrite many rules, which has benefited the current batch of meritorious cultivators."

Cangyun God Venerable took a sip of tea before saying, "Having merit is only the most basic selection criterion. Only by passing all the tests can one say that their efforts have not been in vain."

No, that's not enough. As long as you pass the final test, you can directly advance to the level of a god, which truly saves you from the hardships of cultivation.

But on the other hand, becoming a deity also marks the beginning of being bound. Ultimately, one must still do good deeds to live a long life. So where does the path to immortality truly mean carefree ease? So-called carefree ease is nothing more than inner clarity.

The Celestial Lord of the Azure Heaven said, "Speaking of things, I just remembered that we should bring Ling Xiao back. I wonder if that kid has overcome his tribulation of love."