Immortality: Starting with a grave, I'm invincible when burying corpses.

January of the 106th year of the Five Kingdoms calendar.

Before the snow in the north had even melted, the emperor of the Great Ling Empire arrived at the front lines impatiently.

Winter had not yet receded, the roads were full of ice and mud, and as far as the eye could see, there was only pure white snow.

Perhaps due to bad luck, the Apocalypse Domain is exceptionally cold this year, with the entire central region experiencing freezing temperatures.

The harsh environment slowed the progress of the war; the frigid weather of minus twenty degrees Celsius caused the warring parties to cease their fighting without prior agreement.

Continuing to fight in such harsh conditions would easily lead to major mistakes and would be irresponsible towards one's soldiers.

Having lived in relatively warm regions for a long time, the soldiers of the Great Spirit Empire were generally not adapted to the cold environment. They could only choose relatively warm places to set up camp, deploy formations, and keep warm by fire all day long.

Upon arriving at the front lines and learning about the current situation, Mu Yong abandoned the idea of ​​launching a decisive battle immediately and instead, in his capacity as the emperor of the empire, offered his condolences to the soldiers on the front lines.

……

"Why has Your Majesty suddenly come to the front lines? According to established custom, aren't terrestrial immortals supposed to refrain from participating in mortal warfare?"

"Who knows what His Majesty was thinking, actually running to the front lines at this time! Everyone here knows the true state of our army; we can't let His Majesty discover the army's actual condition!"

"Could it be that His Majesty was enraged by the Five Spirits Legion's defeat, which is why he personally came to the battlefield?"

"Damn it! I told you long ago, you can take anything else as you please, but the Five Spirits Legion is off-limits! And you all, not one of you took it seriously!"

"Old man Wei, stop with your hindsight advice. You didn't get shortchanged on the money we received!"

"Alright! Stop arguing! The problem now is how to keep it from His Majesty, we can't let him find out that only 40% of the military pay reached the soldiers!"

Marshal Wang Qing slammed his hand on the table, interrupting the argument in the tent.

The tent fell silent for a moment, and everyone's eyes were focused on the young marshal. After about ten seconds of silence, the strategist, known as Old Man Wei, sneered.

"Forty percent? Marshal Wang, do you really think the soldiers can get forty percent of their pay? Don't be ridiculous. We take sixty percent, and the lower-ranking soldiers take a little more. It's a miracle if the soldiers get even twenty percent!"

"What? Less than 20%? How many people did you actually share the spoils with?"

"Marshal, your family is very wealthy and powerful. Your ancestors were founding heroes, and both of your ancestors were posthumously granted the title of Duke. Your elder sister is the current Empress. Naturally, you don't know the hardships of life at the bottom... If you want your subordinates to do things, you always have to give them some benefits."

"Damn it! I don't care how much you took, you'd all have to give it back now! His Majesty mustn't discover anything amiss!"

……

Some people are happy that someone is worried.

Mu Yong's arrival boosted the morale of the soldiers on the front lines, but it also made many officers uneasy, and they often gathered together to hold private meetings.

It wasn't because they wanted to rebel, but because in the past, they had overreached and become too greedy, fearing that their own emperor would discover their wrongdoing and they would end up with their bodies separated from their heads.

The top generals gathered together to discuss the various problems that might arise and reached a consensus.

Not only that, they also urgently used their slush funds in an attempt to make the situation appear better on the surface as quickly as possible.

Regardless of the internal workings, the appearances must be presented properly first!

With Mu Yong's arrival, the officers at the front were all on edge and no longer as unrestrained as before.

The military pay, which should have been subject to strict deductions at every level, was inexplicably paid in full, and even inexplicably exceeded the amount paid.

Those most greedy bureaucrats lived in constant fear, using their own money to fill the hole, striving to do the best in terms of appearances.

In the months following Mu Yong's arrival at the front lines, the living standards of the soldiers on the Great Ling Empire's front lines rose sharply.

From barely being able to eat enough to being able to eat meat and fish at every meal, and even having fresh fruit and warm milk after meals.

Even their winter clothes have become much thicker, going from a thin cotton-padded coat to two complete sets of cold-weather gear, leaving them fully armed from head to toe.

If you're lucky, you might occasionally get to drink a bowl of warm yellow wine.

The generals' subtle actions did not escape Mu Yong's notice. As a terrestrial immortal and the emperor of the Great Spirit Empire, Mu Yong could easily learn about what was happening in the Great Spirit Empire.

The same applies to corruption.

Long ago, when Mu Yong had just ascended to the position of a terrestrial immortal, he already knew just how serious the corruption in the Great Spirit Empire was.

From top to bottom, everyone is exploited, from high-ranking officials and princes to lowly clerks and jailers who keep company with prisoners. They all live in a giant web called "corruption".

Mu Yong understood all of this clearly.

He knew perfectly well that corrupt officials would never completely disappear.

They are like wild grass on the grassland, reeds by the river, and bamboo in the mountains, possessing a tenacious and terrifying vitality.

Even if it is burned to ashes in winter, it will flourish again as soon as the spring breeze blows.

Their seeds and roots are either hidden underground or submerged underwater, making them difficult to detect.

Over the past century, the Great Spirit Empire has launched three campaigns to crack down on corrupt officials, but none of them have been very effective.

Even though the imperial court arrested wave after wave of corrupt officials and beheaded one after another, it ushered in a brief period of clean governance.

After a while, everything will return to normal.

As old corrupt officials die, new corrupt officials are born.

Over the long years, even the most incorruptible officials eventually could not escape this terrifying web, and instead became an important part of it.

After three consecutive attempts ended in the same way, Mu Yong lost all interest in continuing to reform the bureaucracy.

I simply closed my eyes and pretended not to see it.

Their Great Spirit Empire possesses advanced talisman technology, sophisticated productivity, and an entire Yin Yin Domain that provides them with a continuous stream of resources.

It's no exaggeration to say that the Great Spirit Empire's current productivity can crush any other country.

In Mu Yong's opinion, with such vast resources at their disposal, even if these people managed to gain some, it wouldn't have much of an impact.

Out of sight, out of mind. As long as his subordinates don't overstep their bounds or make too much money, Mu Yong is too lazy to interfere.

This time, however, Mu Yong had to admit that he had underestimated these people's audacity and overestimated their bottom line.

At a time when the war is raging with the Eastern Qi and the Datong Empire, these fearless bastards still dare to reach for military pay and are so greedy and unscrupulous.

The talismans were counterfeit, the armor shattered with a single strike, the cannonballs were filled with sand, and the amount of elemental stones used to power the warships was less than half of the required amount…