Chapter 15 The Story of Gods and Immortals

The youth named Wu Ruzhong had to submit to his father's imposing manner when he directly called out his full name. He himself felt a sense of guilt that was hard to explain. Since childhood, he had been considered somewhat talented, but he had failed the imperial examinations several times in a row.

It would be a lie to say that he didn't feel a little depressed.

After the old merchant left in a huff, Wu Ruzhong was left alone, awkwardly drinking tea. He glanced around, but no one paid much attention to him, except for a man in gray clothes by the window who was looking at him.

Wu Ruzhong silently withdrew his gaze.

But then he heard footsteps, and the young man actually walked towards him.

"This...brother."

The young man's voice was gentle. "May I sit here?"

"Uh, please do."

Seeing that he couldn't avoid it, Wu Ruzhong acted generously. Back in Longxi Academy, he had been a well-known talent, famous for his poetry and prose. Of course, his ability to be considered a ne'er-do-well was perhaps even more impressive.

He looked up and sized up the young man in front of him.

He saw that he was dressed in gray, with a fair complexion, his hair tied up with a piece of jasper, and a smile on his lips. He had a refined temperament. Although he looked approachable, Wu Ruzhong, who had always been bold, felt a faint sense of unease in his heart.

After the young man sat down, he suddenly said:

"Have we...met before?"

Wu Ruzhong hesitated, shook his head, and said, "I don't have any impression."

"Is that so..."

The gray-robed youth muttered to himself. Vague images flashed before his eyes, but he couldn't see them clearly.

He just felt that he and this young man had met before.

After a moment of silence, he dropped the subject and chatted casually with the young man in front of him. Although it was their first meeting, they found each other quite congenial. The gray-robed youth suddenly asked, "I heard earlier that Brother Wu is quite fond of stories about gods and monsters and is planning to write one. I wonder what kind of story you're going to write?"

Wu Ruzhong's eyebrows danced with excitement. He became very enthusiastic when he talked about these stories.

"Yes, I'm planning to write this story."

He told the young man all the material he had prepared, feeling satisfied.

The youth, who only remembered that his name had the character "Yuan" in it, asked, "What kind of story is it?"

Wu Ruzhong said, "It's a story about the gods of my Daoist school."

He also had some obscure little thoughts. The current emperor was very fond of Daoism and magic arts, and was said to often take elixirs. Wu Ruzhong didn't know this, nor was he sure, but the young man didn't care. Which emperor throughout history hadn't wanted to live forever?

But there were quite a few people who had risen to power by writing Qing Ci (Daoist prayers).

As a result, Daoism was becoming increasingly prosperous during the Jiajing era.

He had written some of it and showed it to the Yuan-sir in front of him, including the lines, 'Hun Yuan's body is perfect with the innate, myriad kalpas and thousands of trials are only natural. Misty and inactive, Hun Taiyi, unmoving, named Chu Xuan. Forging in the furnace for a long time is not lead or mercury, longevity outside the body is the original immortal. Changes are endless, the three refuges and five precepts are not to be mentioned.'

Mr. Yuan was silent for a long time, the scene of endless yellow sand appearing before his eyes. Finally, he sighed and smiled, "Such verses, to make Qing Ci."

"What a pity."

Wu Ruzhong didn't think so. "The Daoist gods are naturally worthy of it."

The gray-robed youth smiled and whispered. After they parted ways that day, he sighed and left.

But Wu Ruzhong's fantasy was soon shattered.

The very next year, Yang Zui, a famous minister who had once been a colleague of Wu Ruzhong's teacher, Ge Mu, memorialized the court. Yang Zui had been demoted for offending powerful figures while trying to control the floods in the Jianghuai area. Later, he put down rebellions by Yi tribes and quelled the chaos in Liaodong.

The reason was that the Jiajing Emperor wanted to make elixirs and planned to neglect state affairs for two years.

He said, "I will take a year or two off, and then I will resume governing as before."

I will just make elixirs for a year or two, and then I will come back to handle state affairs.

This matter was simply unprecedentedly absurd.

Yang Zui, an old minister who had followed Emperor Wuzong on his southern expeditions, put down rebellions by Yi tribes in Liaodong, and controlled the floods in the Jianghuai area, submitted a memorial to stop this matter. He was flogged in court. The old minister, who was already in his sixties, couldn't withstand it even though he had once been a military general. The famous minister who had once routed foreign rebellions was beaten to death by the emperor.

After that, the Jiajing Emperor continued to make elixirs and cultivate immortality.

He even directly called himself a god and added the title 'Lingshuo Supreme Purity, Unified Thunder, Yuan Yang, Wonderful One, Flying Mysterious True Lord' to himself.

When Wu Ruzhong learned of this, he was struck by lightning. He murmured the divine title of 'Lingshuo Supreme Purity, Unified Thunder, Yuan Yang, Wonderful One, Flying Mysterious True Lord'. For some reason, the respect he had for the so-called Daoist gods suddenly developed cracks.

At this time, he met the gray-robed youth again.

The latter seemed to be in deep thought. When he saw him, the youth smiled and asked:

"Do you remember me?"

By this time, Wu Ruzhong's father had passed away, and he was quite down on his luck in Yingtian Prefecture. He勉强勉强勉强勉强replied,

"Of course, aren't you Mr. Yuan?"

Mr. Yuan was silent for a moment, then smiled and changed the subject:

"Is that story of yours finished yet?"

Wu Ruzhong forced a self-deprecating smile and said, "I'm too lazy, and I've forgotten about it. I haven't written a word."

The gray-robed youth asked, "Are you still planning to write about gods?"

Wu Ruzhong was silent for a moment, then replied, "...I will write about gods and Buddhas."

"Gods and Buddhas."

Mr. Yuan muttered to himself, not speaking. He looked at the misty Yingtian Prefecture. Just this year, an extremely absurd thing had happened in the court. The Jiajing Emperor often wanted girls of thirteen or fourteen years old to enter the palace in order to make elixirs.

In May of the nineteenth year of Jiajing, a hundred beautiful women were selected to enter the palace.

In addition to some unspeakable reasons, he also wanted those virgins to collect morning dew for him every day, for the sake of so-called purity. He even controlled these women's diets, only allowing them to eat mulberry leaves and drink a little dew.

Eventually, a palace maid tried to strangle the Jiajing Emperor, but failed.

After that, the emperor became even more immersed in so-called Daoist rituals and ceremonies.

He had not appeared in court for a long time.

Yuan had lost too many memories, but he vaguely felt that something was wrong.

This era should not have returned to this trajectory. In his faint memories, there was a strange book that recorded future events. He vaguely remembered that he had made many efforts to change certain things, and that this country had had a strong start. But why, after more than two hundred years, had it returned to this trajectory?

It was as if there was another hand, steering the fate of Shenzhou.

Letting the emperor sink into cultivation.

Otherwise, how could a mere dozen palace maids have almost strangled the emperor under the protection of so many experts? This was almost impossible. The only explanation was that the matter itself was a deliberately created situation, in order to guide the emperor to become even more devoted to Daoist cultivators.

It was as if someone had worked hard to guide a good change.

But the human world, which had been improving, was being guided back to a worsening situation by another force. For some reason, Yuan felt that this was a very dangerous signal. His heart began to ache more and more, causing him to cough uncontrollably.

But, but what else was written in the book, Yuan himself did not remember.

He and Wu Ruzhong separated again, walking aimlessly on the earth of the human world, hoping to remember something. But as he watched the changes in the human world, he became more and more confused, because everything now seemed to be indicating that Shenzhou was heading straight towards the future that should have been changed.

The emperor was obsessed with cultivation and did not appear for a long time, secretly controlling the government from behind the scenes.

It was hard to say whether this emperor was clever or foolish, or perhaps too clever.

He did not intend to fulfill his so-called responsibilities as an emperor.

Instead, he used the entire world and Shenzhou as his private property, squeezing the entire human world to satisfy his cultivation. And the purpose of cultivation was to achieve longevity, to be able to be emperor for a few more years. In order to build the fasting palaces and secret halls needed for Daoist rituals, twenty or thirty places had to start construction every year.

The silver consumed amounted to two or three million taels.

And at that time, the annual income of Shenzhou Daming was only two million taels.

If the funds were insufficient, he would ask his subjects to contribute; if contributions were not enough, he would open new taxes, wasting money and harming the people. It was directly supporting one person with the entire country. When the entire country was operating for one person, in Yuan's eyes, the silver that should have been used to strengthen the border defenses had become expensive blue paper burned in the rituals, and the money and grain used to improve people's livelihoods had turned into elixirs, precious jade, and magical artifacts for the emperor's harem.

The entire Shenzhou seemed to be held back.

And in the twenty-ninth year of Jiajing, the Gengxu Incident occurred. The Anda tribe drove straight into the mainland, entered Gubeikou, and massacred countless officials and people in Huairou and Shunyi. They freely plundered and burned almost outside the capital, forcing Jiajing Emperor to agree to trade.

And at this moment, only in August did the Jiajing Emperor meet with his ministers.

Then he returned to his cultivation once again, the so-called refining elixirs and flying to immortality.

And four years later.

He once again found three hundred virgins with pure Yin bodies to enter the palace.

In this year, Wu Ruzhong finally obtained a position as a tribute student.

And the following year, he went to Xinye County to be a magistrate.

…………

In Yiwu, Zhejiang, a youth carrying a long saber scratched his head.

Around him were actually regular Ming Dynasty soldiers, but they were all lying on the ground, looking disheveled, gnashing their teeth. The onlookers were even more stunned, seemingly unable to recover from the saber strike just now, with a cold saber light remaining in their eyes.

No one could have imagined that among the disciples passed down from the martial arts masters who roamed the Jianghu.

There would actually be such a fierce and domineering figure.

Even his teacher was dumbfounded.

Only one heroic general stared at this young man with glowing eyes.

"Hahaha, good, good, good!"

"Who says that Yiwu cannot produce good soldiers and generals? I, Qi Jiguang, do not believe it. Isn't one here now?"

"Are you willing to follow me to kill the Japanese pirates, leaving not a single piece of armor behind?"

Inside the palace.

The refined and handsome emperor laughed loudly. Several noble Daoists bowed and said, "Your Majesty, this is the Three-Essence Great Elixir passed down by Ancestor Lü. It can ascend to immortality and become a sage. By taking this elixir, you will achieve supernatural powers." The emperor laughed and waved his hand, saying, "It is nothing more than a blessing from heaven."/

After taking the elixir, a youth wearing a Daoist robe of the Longhu Mountain Heavenly Master's specifications, carrying the male and female Dragon-Tiger Swords, suddenly stepped forward and smiled, "Your Majesty, I have another item for you."

"Oh? What is it, Shaoqing?"

It was hard to imagine that the Daoist robe and the male and female Dragon-Tiger Swords of the Heavenly Master of the Daoist Zhengyi Sect would actually be in his possession. Shao Yuanjie smiled and took out an item, saying, "This is what I obtained when I went out. It is the divinity cast by the First Emperor, the Imperial Jade Seal. With this item, Your Majesty can bestow titles upon all things, with Your Majesty as the Heavenly Emperor."

The Jiajing Emperor was overjoyed.

He immediately went to a newly built fasting palace.

He issued Daoist crowns and clothing to his ministers, had the officials participate in the rituals, and even sent imperial censors to investigate those who were not devout.

Then, step by step, he used the Imperial Jade Seal cast by the First Emperor, the jade seal once held by the First Emperor, to press down on the imperial edict.

"Edict!"

"Let my father be the Supreme Jade Hall of the Three Heavens, the Head of All Immortals, the Profound Origin, Moral, Wise and Holy Venerable, the Great Emperor of True Kindness and Transformation, and my mother be the Supreme Jade Hall of the Three Heavens, the Head of All Immortals, the Profound Origin, Moral, Wise and Holy Mother, the Heavenly Empress, the Mysterious Transformation of Immortal Magic Yuanjun."

"And I..."

"Shall be the Nine Heavens Promoting Teachings, Universally Saving Living Beings, Managing Yin and Yang, Merit and Demerit, the Great Dao, Thinking of Kindness, the Purple Pole Immortal Weng."

"—Yang True Man, Yuan Xu Xuan Ying, Opening Up and Subduing Demons, the Loyal and Filial Emperor."

Many Daoists saluted.

And the officials, after Master Yang Zui was beaten to death in that year, did not have the slightest intention of resisting.

They all bowed and saluted.

"Greetings, Your Majesty, the Nine Heavens Universally Saving Loyal and Filial Emperor."

And on this day, this so-called Enlightened Demon-Subduing Loyal and Filial Emperor, led his ministers and officials, held a ritual in the fasting palace exchanged for the people's food and the soldiers' rations and weapons. In the name of the emperor, the emperor dressed as a Daoist, like the First Emperor of a thousand years ago, said calmly:

"In my name, command the gods to resist the Japanese pirates and defend against the barbarians, so that the world will be at peace."

"By imperial decree."

Then he threw out the white jade.

In the rising incense, there was the crisp sound of Qing Ci being recited, making people feel ethereal and drunk, as if the immortals and gods had really appeared.

At this time, somewhere, a Daoist from the Tiangong Temple saw a gray-robed man enter.

Then he saw the shovel in the gray-robed man's hand and was stunned.

"Wait, you are..."

The gray-robed youth apologized and waved his sleeve.

The Daoist immediately fainted. The gray-robed youth apologized and placed him in a safe place.

Yuan looked at the Tiangong Temple. His memories had recovered slightly in this not-too-long memory. He vaguely remembered that Li Chunfeng and Yuan Tiangang had said that he had to find the original Tuibei Tu. So, he rolled up his sleeves, raised his shovel, and aimed the shovel at Yuan Tiangang's tomb on the left. After thinking about it, he seemed to have punched Yuan Tiangang once before. It wouldn't be good to do it again. So, he aimed at Li Chunfeng's tomb.

He apologized.

Then, without hesitation, he struck directly with the shovel.

No matter what happens in the future.

He would dig it out first.

ps: Today's first update... Yuan of the Ming Dynasty lost his memory due to the conflict between Xuanzang's ancient and true spirit recovery. I wrote about it before...

These things are indeed what Jiajing did in history. Ming Dynasty died under Jiajing, which is an old saying. To be honest, the biggest problem with many emperors is that they lived too long... Jiajing was not bad in his early years.