Zhu Yuanzhang, who commanded the wind and rain, lived a long and arduous life.

"What?! How is this possible?!"

This scene sent chills down the spines of all the guards, raising goosebumps all over their bodies.

The coffin floated in the air, the person was suspended in mid-air, their features were indistinct, and there was a protective barrier around them...

They were certain that they had never seen anything so bizarre in their entire lives.

Am I dreaming?

This was the thought that lingered in the minds of all the guards.

"You... no, you, who exactly are you?"

One of the guards couldn't help but ask.

The man in the black Taoist robe stopped in his tracks.

I stopped because of this sentence.

"Swish swish swish..."

His casual gesture caused all the guards to instinctively raise their spears.

They were scared, they were all scared!

These trusted confidants who had accompanied Zhu Yuanzhang through countless battles and witnessed his life and death were all afraid of him.

"He won't die."

The man in the black Taoist robe spoke slowly.

"Ah? You...you can save the Crown Prince?"

One of the guards exclaimed in delight.

The Crown Prince is dead; everyone is absolutely certain of it.

Bringing him back to life would be like snatching someone from the clutches of the King of Hell—how could that be possible?

But the person in front of them was too strange, too ethereal, and everyone subconsciously believed what he said.

The man in the black Taoist robe spoke again, his voice gentle and refined: "That's right, he won't die."

"Because I came."

Having said that, he casually waved his hand.

All the guards fell down.

Not only will she be unconscious, but even her memories of this event will be erased.

Having grown accustomed to the low-key cultivation required by the system's prerequisites, Zhu Changye disliked being high-profile in handling matters, and this had become his nature.

Moreover, there is an unwritten rule in the cultivation world that the mortal world has developed its own rules and concepts: one should not show off one's abilities in front of mortals unless absolutely necessary.

.

….….…….….….

Within Yingtian City, at Tianyun Temple.

This was one of the Taoist settlements of Longhu Mountain in Yingtian Prefecture, which Zhu Changye was unaware of, but his doorman Zhang Yishi knew it very well.

He even knew exactly where his own Longhu Mountain Taoist forces were located within Yingtian Prefecture.

This is also why Zhu Changye brought him out.

Having someone you know makes things easier.

The temple was very quiet at the moment, and then Zhu Changye appeared out of thin air, followed by the floating coffin.

"Master, you're back."

Zhang Yishi, who had been waiting for a long time, walked over, completely unfazed by all of this.

Zhu Changye nodded, and then carried the coffin into the room that Zhang Yishi had prepared.

The coffin was opened, and inside lay a corpse.

This is the situation as seen from the perspective of ordinary people.

But Zhu Changye saw much more.

Everywhere were wandering ghosts, some still lamenting to him: "Give me back my husband, give me back my husband..."

Zhu Changye was used to this. He took out a bottle from his pocket, opened it, and a ghost came out of the bottle.

This is the soul of Zhu Xiong Ying.

He dragged him up from the underworld.

Zhu Changye stuffed his soul back into Zhu Xiong Ying's corpse.

Soon.

Zhu Xiong Ying slowly woke up and weakly called out, "Water...water..."

Zhu Changye remained motionless, but the water that had been prepared beforehand floated up automatically and drifted to Zhu Xiong Ying's front, where it was then fed.

"Gulp, gulp..."

Zhu Xiong Ying wolfed down the drink.

After drinking a glass of water, he finally felt a sense of fullness.

"This... I'm alive?"

"Excuse me, sir, who are you?"

Zhu Xiong Ying looked at Zhu Chang Ye in front of her with great curiosity.

His perception of Zhu Changye was very clear: he was an old man.

Zhu Changye laughed and said, "Child, you must be Chongba's grandson."

Zhu Changye asked the question knowing the answer already, in order to keep the conversation going with the child.

Another reason is that he has been in seclusion for too long and has been so withdrawn that he has almost forgotten how to have a normal conversation with people.

Eight-year-old Zhu Xiong Ying nodded: "Grandpa, it's me! Did you...did you save me?"

Zhu Changye nodded: "I guess so. I figured you weren't meant to die, so I pulled you back from the brink of death."

As he spoke, Zhu Changye subconsciously touched Zhu Xiong Ying's face.

"It's been so many years since I last saw him. Chongba already has a grandson. He looks just like him when he was a child."

Zhu Xiong Ying was taken aback, then exclaimed with delight, "Old man, no, immortal! You know my grandfather?"

Zhu Changye thought for a moment and then smiled, "I suppose so."

"Child, I see you have extraordinary talent, a once-in-a-century genius. Do you have any thoughts about embarking on the journey of cultivation with me?"

"Ah?" Zhu Xiong Ying exclaimed in surprise, "Really...really! I can cultivate immortality?"

Zhu Changye nodded, which was taken as tacit agreement.

Zhu Xiong Ying was overjoyed, but then seemed to remember something, and her eyes fell into a melancholy look: "Immortal, I want to cultivate immortality, but... Grandpa said that the future Ming Dynasty wants me to come and see it, and I can't leave Grandpa behind."

In his view, cultivating immortality means abandoning family and all worldly emotions, which is what those scholars in folk literature wrote.

No one has ever seen an immortal; only scholars have written about them in books. Naturally, they believe that the immortals in books are the same immortals in reality.

Zhu Changye remained silent for a while.

Indeed, Zhu Xiong Ying is right about some things.

If one cultivates immortality, one's lifespan will be extended.

Add to that the emperor's status as a figure of great interest to countless people, and if he were to remain in power for more than a hundred or a thousand years, then... what would the world think?

Therefore, to become an immortal, one must relinquish some of one's earthly identity, fame, and fortune; this is also a matter of fairness for mortals.

"So, do you want to cultivate immortality?"

Zhu Changye asked.

"I want to! But I want to protect the Ming Dynasty!"

Zhu Xiong Ying answered without hesitation.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Changye chuckled and said, "If you want to cultivate immortality, then this matter will be much easier to handle."

"My child, how about Grandpa tells you a story?"

"A story?" Zhu Xiong Ying was taken aback, then her eyes filled with curiosity: "Okay, I'll listen to Grandpa!"

Zhu Changye laughed and said, "That's right. There was once a dynasty called the Ming Dynasty, um... let's call it the Ming Dynasty for now."

"The Great Yun Dynasty was founded in 1368. The first major event of the founding of the Yun Dynasty was to stabilize the finances, consolidate the workforce, and begin collecting taxes from the whole country."

"The main tax collected was agricultural tax. According to the fiscal data of the sixth year of Wanli's reign, the total national fiscal revenue that year was 2652.7 million taels, of which agricultural tax accounted for 2080.2 million taels, industrial and commercial tax accounted for 223.8 million taels, and miscellaneous income accounted for 348.7 million taels."

"Agricultural taxes are the most important to the country, accounting for nearly 80% of the country's total revenue."

"But if you engage in agriculture, life will be tough, it's risky and unprofitable. If you want to collect taxes, you need to revitalize industry and commerce."

“The key is to collect taxes from them, but in the sixth year of the Wanli reign, industrial and commercial taxes accounted for only about 10 percent of the national tax revenue.”

"In the early years of Chongzhen's reign, the proportion of agricultural tax rose to more than 80 percent, while industrial and commercial tax still accounted for only a little over 10 percent."