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

“At the very bottom of this world is violence. Violence can destroy things in the hands of evil people, and it can maintain things in the hands of good people. But there was a great Yun emperor who, in a moment of anger, caused the Tumu Crisis.”

"He annihilated the entire military clique at Tumu Fortress. The Five Military Commissions became a mere shell of their former self. The Ministry of War took control of the army, and the emperor went from having sole control of the highest military authority to sharing military power with civil officials."

"From now on, major affairs of the country will have to be discussed with the civil service group. The civil service group is still a community of interests. From Yongle to Chongzhen, among the 164 people who held different positions, 50% were from the same place."

"It's easy for the emperor to deal with one official, but it's troublesome to deal with the entire civil service group. You can't just dismiss them all. If you get rid of one, their people will come up in, because they have also monopolized the talent selection process."

“Even after Emperor Wanli banished Jiang Yinglin, who had been away from the court for twenty years, there were still people in the court who spoke up for him, hoping that Jiang Yinglin could return to the capital.”

“When the Wanli Emperor scolded one person away, a memorial would come up; when he scolded another person away, another memorial would come up.”

“The civil servants are a community of shared interests and have no fear at all. No matter what trouble they cause, someone will take care of the aftermath.”

"Therefore, after that, the Wanli Emperor did not attend court for nearly thirty years."

"As the imperial power weakened and the civil service group grew stronger, a strange phenomenon emerged in the Great Yun Dynasty: taxes were collected less and less, and the national finances became increasingly strained."

"In the middle and late period of the Dayun Dynasty, industry and commerce gradually developed. At this time, the country's focus should have shifted from collecting agricultural taxes to collecting industrial and commercial taxes. As long as industrial and commercial taxes are collected, there will be money to train soldiers and reform the backward military household system."

“Once the troops are well trained, the foreign enemies in the southwest and northeast will not be a problem. When the country suffers from famine, there will be enough money for disaster relief, and there will be no Li Zicheng, who came from a public institution, to run away and rebel.”

"Internal and external troubles, it's all a financial problem, it's all because we can't collect industrial and commercial taxes, and the reason we can't collect these taxes is because someone is deliberately obstructing us."

"The people who are obstructing us are the Wen Guan Group, who are crying out about ancestral rules and the idea of ​​wealth being distributed among the people. When capital and the civil service group are closely linked, that is when the finances of the Great Yun Dynasty will dry up, and when the world will be in chaos and the cards will be reshuffled."

"The Great Yun Dynasty was powerless to change this situation, so in the end, it... was gone."

Zhu Changye spoke slowly and deliberately.

After telling the whole story, Zhu Xiong Ying sighed.

Although he was still young, Zhu Yuanzhang placed high hopes on him and taught Zhu Xiong Ying a lot from a young age, so Zhu Xiong Ying could hear the rise and fall of the empire.

For some reason, after listening to it, he couldn't help but feel regretful.

"So, old man, is it the ancestral system that harmed the Great Yun Dynasty?"

Zhu Xiong Ying couldn't help but ask.

Zhu Changye sighed: "No, it's human nature."

"Human nature doesn't change. It's sometimes easy to guess and sometimes hard to guess. As long as there is human nature, even if the Great Yun Dynasty wasn't destroyed by ancestral rules, there would be other ways to destroy it."

"Humans are very, very complicated."

"Just like the late Emperor of Dayun, he worked hard all his life to lay a good foundation for the future of Dayun, but much of his effort only benefited others."

"Even emperors are like this, so others are even less likely to avoid it. This is a common phenomenon in the mortal world. In the mortal world, your efforts may ultimately be for someone else's benefit."

"The money you earn may be used to make others earn even more money because of your actions."

“But cultivating immortality is different. Every drop of sweat brings a reward. What you gain is always yours, both in terms of strength and effort.”

"Unlike the mortal world, where a hundred years pass and in the end one is nothing more than a handful of dust."

Zhu Xiong Ying's small eyes sparkled, as if she had been persuaded, but then she said sadly, "But I promised Grandpa that I would help him take good care of the Ming Dynasty, and I can't break my promise."

Zhu Changye laughed and said, "It's alright, I have a compromise."

"You will live for a hundred years in the mortal realm. After that, you will retire and no longer concern yourself with worldly affairs. During this hundred years, I can teach you how to cultivate immortality, but you must not use it in the mortal realm unless absolutely necessary. What do you say?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Xiong Ying's forlorn eyes instantly brightened: "Old man, that's no problem! I'm willing to cultivate immortality!"

.

….….….….….…

The next day.

royal palace.

Wang Jinghong, the chief eunuch of the inner court, hurriedly arrived at Kunning Palace.

Pale.

"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened!"

He was terrified, and his voice became much sharper.

Zhu Yuanzhang, distracted, casually said, "What is it? Speak."

Now that two major events have occurred—the death of the crown prince and the empress's precarious situation—Zhu Yuanzhang did not believe that anything greater could happen.

However, there really is.

Wang Jinghong cried out in a panic, "Your Majesty, the body of the Imperial Grandson... the Imperial Grandson is missing from the mourning hall!!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was startled and his eyes widened: "What!"

He paused for a moment, then took a deep breath: "What exactly happened? Where is our grandson?"

Wang Jinghong trembled and prostrated himself on the ground: "Your Majesty, I...I don't know."

"I asked the guards and palace maids on duty, but none of them knew what had happened."

“At the time, a palace maid brought food to the guards at the mourning hall. When she saw them all lying on the ground, she realized that something terrible had happened. None of the guards who woke up knew what had happened.”

"Oh, right, there is one! Someone said something, but... but I don't know if it's true or not."

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes widened, and he roared, "Speak!"

“Yes, yes…” Wang Jinghong continued, “After he got up, he kept muttering that he had met an immortal.”

Fairy?

Zhu Yuanzhang was taken aback.

What kind of immortal is this? What utter nonsense!

If there were immortals in this land, it wouldn't have been ruled by the Yuan Dynasty for so many years, and the Han people wouldn't have suffered so much.

"Let's go and have a look!"

However, although he believed there was no immortal, at least this guard could say something, unlike those guards who knew nothing. So Zhu Yuanzhang hurriedly led people to see him.

This person, in a sense, is also quite lucky, which is why he was able to block some of Zhu Changye's memory erasure.

soon.

They arrived outside the mourning hall.

at this time.

Crown Prince Zhu Biao, his concubine Lü, and her son Zhu Yunwen all arrived.

Dozens of palace maids and eunuchs, along with more than a hundred trusted guards, knelt in the square outside the mourning hall, their faces filled with terror and even despair.

Because the body of the crown prince had disappeared, given how much Zhu Yuanzhang valued his grandson, they feared that their future would be beheaded.

"Father, you've arrived."

Zhu Biao and the others from the Eastern Palace bowed to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang's mind was elsewhere; his gaze was murderous as he surveyed everyone present: "Speak! What exactly happened? Where is our grandson? Who stole him?"