Longevity: Never leave the mountain until you are invincible

In the spring of the 22nd year of Hongguang.

The position of the prime minister of Dayan, which had been vacant for several years, was finally settled. The former Minister of Works Xu Dongliu succeeded him. When the news came out, the court of Dayan was shocked.

Although Xu Dongliu was the Minister of Works, he had no presence in the court of Dayan.

The only thing worth mentioning was that he was the head of the Xu family, a noble family.

The Great Yan Kingdom lasted for 600 years, and many noble families were born in the court of Dayan.

In its heyday, the noble families could even control the entire court of Dayan and dominate the change of imperial power. However, the noble families have declined now.

After two consecutive purges by the Queen Mother and Emperor Hongguang, the power of the noble families fell to the bottom.

But this does not mean that the noble families have disappeared. The Xu family is one of them.

The Xu family had people who served as officials in the court for generations. They had a prime minister and several ministers of the Ministry of Personnel. They were once the top aristocratic family. However, by the time of Xu Dongliu, they had declined a bit, with only a few big cats and small cats left.

Except for Xu Dongliu, there were no officials above the third rank in the Xu family.

Xu Dongliu was quite low-key in his actions. He was a real good man. He did not offend anyone, did not seek connections, and only wanted to protect the Ministry of Works.

No one thought that Xu Dongliu could gain the trust of Emperor Hongguang and win the position of prime minister.

With the support of Emperor Hongguang, Xu Dongliu successfully ascended to the position of prime minister.

The Xu family became one of the top dignitaries in Dayan, and Xu Dongliu became even more popular, sought after by countless people, wanting to cling to him and be driven by him.

However.

After becoming the prime minister, Xu Dongliu did not change his previous style of doing things. He always maintained a kind attitude towards people, did not alienate people, and did not get too close to people.

In the court, Xu Dongliu was the yes-man of Emperor Hongguang. Whatever Emperor Hongguang said was what he meant, and he never sang against him.

Only then did the court officials of Dayan understand why Xu Dongliu could become the prime minister.

By supporting Xu Dongliu, Emperor Hongguang's control over the court of Dayan has reached a new level. Today, the court of Dayan can almost be said to be the one-man show of Emperor Hongguang.

Many of Emperor Hongguang's decrees did not encounter much resistance and were easily implemented in Dayan. Xu Dongliu contributed to this.

With the help of Xu Dongliu, Emperor Hongguang successfully implemented reforms in the imperial examinations, economy, and taxation, making the prefectures and counties under the jurisdiction of the court of Dayan flourish and become more prosperous.

This can be seen from the scene in the imperial capital.

The smiles on the faces of the people became brighter and brighter, and even the refugees who had fled to the imperial capital in the past had a much better life.

"If the Queen Mother hadn't been so troublesome for a few more years, and the mess she left behind was smaller, maybe Emperor Hongguang could really save the Great Yan Kingdom and continue the country's fortune for a few hundred years."

Chu Chen sometimes sighed.

It took Emperor Hongguang ten years to barely clean up the mess left by the Queen Mother.

As long as the three vassal kings were dealt with, the interior of the Great Yan Kingdom would be controlled by Emperor Hongguang.

But the three vassal kings were the biggest disaster that shook the foundation of the Great Yan Kingdom. Emperor Hongguang was powerless to deal with it. If Emperor Hongguang had directly taken charge of the Great Yan court after Emperor Jingzheng's death, perhaps with Emperor Hongguang's ability, he could still deal with the three vassal kings.

Unfortunately, there is no if.

During the Queen Mother's reign, the three vassal kings were given too many conveniences, allowing the three vassal kings to develop rapidly.

Take King Wei as an example. If Chu Chen hadn't taken action, King Wei could have completely replaced Emperor Hongguang and become the new emperor of the Great Yan Kingdom.

Of course.

In a sense, King Wei becoming the new emperor is actually a good thing for the Great Yan royal family.

After all, the King of Wei was a member of the royal family of Dayan. When he ascended the throne, the royal family of Dayan still controlled the world.

Unlike the King of Kang and the King of Jin, who were kings of the opposite sex and not members of the royal family of Dayan, once the King of Kang and the King of Jin controlled Dayan, it would be a real change of dynasty.

Unfortunately, the King of Wei offended Chu Chen and was killed by Chu Chen, which shattered the hope of Dayan to continue its national destiny for hundreds of years.

Not only that, the death of the King of Wei also left a trouble for Emperor Hongguang. The second son of the King of Wei's mansion colluded with the barbarians and posed a huge threat to the northern border of Dayan.

This problem alone was enough to give Emperor Hongguang a headache for a long time, and it would take at least 10 to 20 years to solve it.

However.

Emperor Hongguang's body might not last for another ten years.

Since Emperor Hongguang took power, he has been personally involved in everything, busy with various government affairs every day, often reviewing memorials until late at night, exhausting his mind and body, and his body is getting weaker and weaker.

Emperor Hongguang is only 31 years old, but it is said that he has a head full of white hair.

Even the imperial doctors in the Imperial Hospital were helpless and could not help Emperor Hongguang recover.

According to the imperial doctors, this was a loss of energy. Unless Emperor Hongguang stopped reviewing memorials until late at night, even if they had great medical skills, it would be useless.

Did Emperor Hongguang listen to the imperial doctors' advice?

No.

Not only did Emperor Hongguang not stop his self-destructive behavior, but he even worsened it, even staying up late to review memorials, and then dragging his tired body to the morning court.

If this continues, how long Emperor Hongguang can live is probably a question mark.

"Without the fruit of immortality, you dare to toss like this, isn't this just looking for death?"

Chu Chen had only one comment on this.

Although he had the fruit of immortality, he never committed suicide like Emperor Hongguang. Instead, he rested on time every day, went to bed early and got up early, and maintained a good work and rest routine.

This is the way to immortality.

Chu Chen was very sure that even without the fruit of immortality, he would live longer than Emperor Hongguang.

However, Chu Chen has not been able to maintain his usual life these days, because he left the imperial capital again.

This time he did not go to Yunwu Mountain Range, but to Yantai Prefecture.

In the past, Chu Chen obtained the "Basic Talisman Making Method" from Lv Qinghou, and learned the method of drawing talismans such as flying sword talismans. Lv Qinghou obtained the "Basic Talisman Making Method" from a mountain Taoist temple called Jinhua Taoist Temple in Heishi County, Yantai Prefecture.

The purpose of Chu Chen's trip is Jinhua Taoist Temple, and he wants to explore the secrets of Jinhua Taoist Temple.

Lv Qinghou was able to obtain the "Basic Talisman Making Method" from Jinhua Taoist Temple. There may be other inheritances related to the immortal way in Jinhua Taoist Temple, such as the magic weapons and immortal cultivation techniques of immortal cultivators.

Chu Chen planned to try his luck. He took the little white mouse, many talismans, bought a tall horse, and set off on the road to Jinhua Taoist Temple.

In fact, this was the first time that Chu Chen left the capital and really entered the Great Yan Kingdom.

Chu Chen used to stay in the imperial capital, and at most went to the Yunwu Mountains near the imperial capital, and never left the capital.

He walked and stopped along the way, experiencing the customs and customs of various places in Great Yan and enriching his own experience.

After leaving the imperial capital and riding for ten days, Chu Chen finally arrived at Heishi County, Yantai Prefecture.

Heishi County is an ordinary small county under the jurisdiction of Yantai Prefecture. It is named Heishi County because it is rich in a special black stone that is extremely hard.

After resting in the county seat of Heishi County, Chu Chen immediately went to Jinhua Mountain.

Jinhua Mountain is very ordinary, not as good as the Yunwu Mountains that span hundreds of miles, let alone the Hengduan Mountains that span thousands of miles, but it is not ordinary.

At least for Chu Chen, it is not ordinary.