On the second day of the second month of the ninth year of Long'an, the day when the dragon raised its head, an urgent letter from the Jiangbei camp was sent to the Military Affairs Office. General Zhong Chan suddenly fell off his horse while patrolling the camp and fell into a coma.

All the military doctors from the entire Jiangbei camp gathered in his tent, and the patient was probably in serious condition.

After the Military Affairs Office urgently confirmed the situation, it immediately decided to issue a red-label urgent letter to Gu Yun. Before the letter was sent, the second urgent letter from the Jiangbei camp arrived.

General Zhong Chan is gone.

He died on the front line, but not on the battlefield. Instead, he died like many ordinary old people in the world, without any pain or illness.

This kind of death makes people feel empty, because there are no enemies to hate, no hatred to vent, and it is not a long-term illness.

Suddenly, a person is gone, which makes people feel very unreal.

Gu Yun held the red-labeled urgent document and read it for a whole incense stick of time. He slowly exhaled a breath from his disordered heart, and then he came to his senses - he was not dreaming.

There was silence in the general's tent for a moment, and then, someone started to say "My condolences" in unison.

Shen Yi whispered, "Marshal, the old general is seventy-six years old, which is considered a happy death. Don't take it too seriously."

"I know," Gu Yun sat silently for a while, then waved his hand, "I know, it's okay, but the situation in Jiangbei is delicate. The commander-in-chief is in trouble at this time, and Chongze has just taken over as the governor-general of Liangjiang. It is difficult to take care of both. I'm afraid something may happen. Hmm... let me think..."

However, although he said "let me think about it", his mind was blank for a moment, as if all his thoughts were cut off and he had no clue.

Shen Yi looked at his indifferent expression and whispered, "Marshal, the Jiangbei navy was brought together and trained by General Zhong and Lord Yao. I'm afraid others can't suppress the navy."

After he started this, Gu Yun finally reacted and continued his words calmly: "Yao Chongze and Zhong Lao's deputy generals can still handle it for the time being, but Lord Yao's temporary position as the Governor-General of Liangjiang may have come to an end. Yang Ronggui's incident happened less than half a year ago, and it's not easy to stabilize it..."

Gu Yun was not in a position to say the following words in front of all the generals - the situation in Jiangbei had finally stabilized, the refugees, merchants and local officials had just returned to their respective positions, factories in many places had just been built, and people had not yet warmed up their houses...

King Yan just resigned not long ago. Who will take over the Jiangbei Canal?

Will there be another bloody struggle for power, or will all previous efforts be destroyed in one day?

Some people are born at the wrong time, and some people die at the wrong time. General Zhong died at the wrong time.

Gu Yun paused: "I have to go over and take a look, this side..."

Cai Yin hurriedly said, "General He and General Shen are here, don't worry, there will be no trouble in the northern border."

Gu Yun nodded, told his personal soldiers to pack up, and quickly spread out paper and pen to write a memorial to the court.

First, someone had to be sent to deliver the letter, and military affairs had to be handed over. After a lot of trouble, until the lights were turned on, Gu Yun was still pulling Shen Yi to explain: "Jialai Yinghuo is a hero most of the time, and a mad dog a small part of the time. This time, the 18 tribes are in turmoil. If things go wrong, what will be the consequences? Do you know?"

Shen Yi nodded: "The barbarians will fall from grace."

From the time Pangu created the world to the present day, countless clan bloodlines have been lost in the vast passage of time, either due to natural disasters, wars, or assimilation in long intermarriages... Some are like the collapse of Mount Tai, some are like sand blown by the wind, turning the world upside down, and then leaving a subtle influence.

Shen Yi finally understood how he felt when he heard the singing of Chikuyou in the Sky Prison that day. The barbarians were heading towards their end - even though they were struggling to death, they seemed to be pushed by an invisible hand.

Today they are the barbarians, but if the capital city had been captured back then, Daliang might have been the one to face its doom.

"Just be aware of this," Gu Yun said. "Galai Yinghuo and Hugel are crazy people who can turn their own children into lunatics. No one knows what they can do at the last moment. Don't take it lightly. Mr. Cai is old, and He Ronghui has a bad temper. Ji Ping, this may depend mainly on you."

Gu Yun was also a chatterbox in his spare time, but he was not the type to be long-winded when it came to serious matters. This level of admonition seemed a bit too much to him - but he had no choice, he was too worried.

Shen Yi: "Leave it to me. If anything happens in Northern Xinjiang, I will go to see you with my head held high."

"What do I need your head for?" Gu Yun shook his head and smiled, "I never eat pig heads."

Shen Yi: “…”

Gu Yun ran to a safe distance before he had an attack, and casually pulled out a wind-cutting blade and slung it across his waist: "I'm leaving."

"Wait, Zixi!" Shen Yi suddenly called him, "Take Miss Chen with you."

After the news of General Zhong's death came, Gu Yun handed over military affairs in an orderly manner, and gave instructions to his subordinates one by one, and even made a few jokes as if nothing had happened. To outsiders, his reaction was calm and almost cold, but Shen Yi was worried - when he got the clue of the Black Iron Camp Incident from Calais Yinghuo, he also looked nonchalant at the beginning.

"Why would I take her with me?" Gu Yun asked without even turning his head. "Do you really think the Chen family sells elixirs? Can a buried person be revived?"

Before he could finish his words, his figure disappeared as if he had been reincarnated.

At the same time, there is no wall that is impenetrable. Although the Daliang side has tried its best not to make it public, it is impossible to completely conceal the fact that the other side's commander is in trouble when the two armies are facing each other. Just when Gu Yun received the news and rushed to the Jiangbei garrison overnight, the Jiangnan Xiyang Army was also brightly lit and stayed awake all night.

Mr. Ya took the potion from the waiter and said, "I'll bring it to His Majesty. You go and tell them not to bother you."

The waiter bowed respectfully and ran away quickly.

Before he even got close to the door, Mr. Ya heard the quarrel inside.

"No, that's too greedy," the Pope said in a hoarse voice with occasional coughs. "I don't recommend doing this. You can't swallow something bigger than your appetite. If you are so greedy, something bad will happen sooner or later!"

The other man replied in a slick, reptilian voice: "Excuse me, Your Majesty, this is not greed, but the benefits that are within reach - if I dreamed of eating a star in one bite, then I would be greedy, but on the contrary, I just want one more cookie, and it happens to be right next to me..."

Mr. Ya frowned and knocked on the door rudely: "Excuse me, your Majesty's medicine is here."

The man confronting the Pope suddenly shut up, stroked his beard, and shrugged rudely.

This envoy sent by the Holy Land has stayed in Daliang for more than half a year for various reasons and has no intention of leaving. Everyone knows that he was sent by the king and nobles of the Holy Land to keep accounts.

The king of the Holy Land was eager to seize the land and royal power and was eager for the Pope to fall. At the beginning, the holy envoy was very malicious and tried every means to prove that this war was a complete mistake. However, gradually, as they transported more and more looted financial resources and minerals back to the country, all the discordant voices in the country subsided.

The greed of the Holy Land was completely ignited by the richness of the mysterious Eastern land. The nobles who originally wanted to see the Pope return in disgrace began to change their attitudes and promoted the interests of the Western Army in Daliang more actively than anyone before. They wished they could open their small mouths and swallow this behemoth in one gulp!

This time, it was the Holy Envoy who facilitated the plan of shifting Daliang's strategic focus to the north and taking advantage of the situation when the people in the Central Plains had no time to spare.

The Pope was originally strongly opposed to it, because there was a vast area of ​​northern Central Plains between the two battlefields. Since the transportation and communication lines in the west were disconnected, the efficiency of the two sides' communication was very low. When the Pope integrated the four ambitious people to besiege the four borders of Daliang, he took advantage of the time difference of information blockage, knowing that military opportunities were fleeting. Moreover, in his opinion, the Calais Mars in the north had a radical and crazy side in his bones, was not calm enough, and was not suitable for long-term cooperation.

Unfortunately, although the Pope has the command of this army, the ownership ultimately belongs to the king and nobles of the Holy Land. Supplies can be plundered from the local area, but the same cannot be said for the Purple Gold - there is not even a drop in Jiangnan, and he has to rely on domestic transportation. Invisibly, he has lost a lot of bargaining chips.

Now, Gu Yun had indeed used his trick to cause civil strife among the barbarians, which invisibly even aggravated the destruction of the barbarians.

Although the Pope does not want to cooperate with Calais Yinghuo, he also does not want the Black Iron Camp in the northwest to move south. Once Daliang obtains a large amount of purple gold deposits from the eighteen tribes, the Jiangnan battlefield will fall into a very passive situation.

At this dilemma, they received news that the commander of the Jiangbei camp had died and the Holy Envoy had caused trouble again.

Mr. Ya put the potion on the table and said respectfully: "If you have noticed, although the people of the Central Plains have been sending more troops to Jiangbei, they may not really want to fight. They also want to take the opportunity to breathe. In this case, peace talks between the two sides are feasible. Why do we have to take risks and risk the lives of our warriors?"

The Holy Envoy sneered and turned to the Pope. "Your Majesty, your right-hand man is very talented, but in my opinion, he is still too young. The two parties sat down at a negotiation table to sign a contract. It seems that they are both fulfilling their respective signing procedures, but the contents are very different. The difference in treatment between the advantaged and disadvantaged parties is as far as the Holy Land and the Central Plains. Do I have to emphasize this common sense again and again? The commander of the Jiangbei Navy is dead. Isn't this an opportunity given to us by God? If we really miss it because of our cowardice, I have a hunch that we will regret it in the future."

Mr. Ya remained calm: "You are right, the commander of the Jiangbei navy is dead, but Gu Yun is still alive, he will definitely come."

The Holy Envoy gave him a grim look. "Then we can just launch an attack when their military power is transferred and turn him into a dead man. Didn't your majesty say that Gu Yun used us to make the Northern Heavenly Wolf tribe believe that the alliance has broken down? Then why don't we prove it to the Heavenly Wolf tribe with actual actions? How do you know that our old allies won't give us a surprise?"

Mr. Ya thought to himself: "This is ridiculous."

But I couldn't refute it at the moment and was stunned for a moment.

The Pope swallowed the potion like taking poison, tremblingly picked up a piece of silk cloth to wipe the corners of his mouth, and then sighed: "Holy Envoy, a war of this scale cannot be fundamentally changed because of the death of one or two people. In the past year or so, the Jiangbei Navy has established a relatively complete system. Have you ever thought about what would happen if our attack does not achieve the expected effect?"

The Saint Envoy's smile turned cold: "You are right. In a war of this scale, one or two people are insignificant. If that is the case, why are you still so afraid of Gu Yun?"

Then, without waiting for anyone to refute, the Holy Envoy suddenly stood up and said, "I admit that the possibility you mentioned does exist, but even if the worst happens, we have at least shown a tough attitude, which is a stimulus to the northern battlefield. We can still gain more benefits. Your Majesty, I must say that you are too cautious. We have an absolute advantage in naval battles along the river. Even if the Central Plains navy has been established, what can it do? One year? Two years? It's still in its infancy. If I were you, I would never let the battlefield between the two rivers remain silent for so long. I would not allow the Central Plains Jiangbei Army to be established in time!"

The corner of Mr. Ya's eyes twitched. For the first time in his life, he had such an intuitive understanding of "arrogance" and "greed".

The Pope stood up and said solemnly: "Mr. Holy Envoy, it is very irresponsible for you to say that."

The Holy Envoy clasped his hands together and raised his chin: "Your Majesty, I have the Purple Gold Deployment Order of our army in my hand. The mission given to me by the Holy Land allows me to execute orders on your behalf at the most critical moment!"

Mr. Ya took a step forward angrily and put his hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist: "You!"

The Holy Envoy cast a sinister gaze upon him, and the Pope grabbed Mr. Ya by the sleeve.

The three of them were in a stalemate for a moment. The Holy Envoy turned his eyes slightly, raised a smile, and said hypocritically: "I have never doubted your Majesty's wisdom. Please consider my advice carefully. Goodbye."

After saying this, he picked up his top hat, put it on his head arrogantly, and turned away.

Mr. Ya: "Your Majesty, why did you hold me back? If I kill him..."

"If we kill him, the troops belonging to the king and the nobles will immediately mutiniate." The Pope glared at him fiercely, "Do you really think that the soldiers under your command are as loyal to their commander as the Black Iron Battalion?"

Mr. Ya was stunned: "Then what should we do? Compromise?"

The Pope was silent for a while: "Then we can only pray for God's blessing--"

Pray that the Jiangbei navy is still in its infancy as the Holy Envoy said, and pray that the Mars in Calais on the northern battlefield is crazy enough to hold the Daliang people firmly in check, then perhaps they can seek a good result in this dangerous situation.

When the Jiangnan Western Army was scheming against each other and brewing a new conspiracy, Gu Yun rushed to Jiangbei. The first thing he did after landing was to reinforce the defense line. The watchtower took turns every two hours, and everyone was on high alert. Then he calmed the emotions of the army, reorganized the troops, and let the generals return to their positions. Lord Yao was a civilian after all. Although he could keep the situation under control, he could not have the authority of Gu Yun to enforce orders, nor was he as efficient as him in attacking wherever he directed.

After working from noon to dusk, Gu Yun finally had time to drink a sip of water. His throat was about to smoke and he could almost taste a bit of blood. He didn't care about tea or water, he just grabbed a bowl of cold water and drank it. This year, the spring in Jiangbei was particularly late. It had just rained a few days ago, and there was a biting coldness everywhere. This bowl of cold water made Gu Yun cold from the inside out. He shuddered and thought blankly, "What else is going on?"

At this time, Yao Zhen came over and said to him, "General, when I sent an urgent letter to the Military Affairs Office, the court immediately replied that someone would be sent soon. It should be here in a day or two. I just got the news that Prince Yan is coming here on behalf of the emperor."

Although Prince Yan has resigned, his status is still there, and he has a master-disciple relationship with General Zhong. It is reasonable to let him represent the royal family as a token of honor.

"Well, he should come and see." Gu Yun finally remembered what he had forgotten, "Well... Chongze, where is the mourning hall? Take me to see it."

Yao Zhen took him to the mourning hall.

The mourning hall was even colder than other places. Zhong Chan's coffin was placed in the middle, with smoke curling around.

Gu Yun's footsteps suddenly stopped at the door of the mourning hall - he had been too busy these past few days, running back and forth between the north and the south, worrying about everything big and small, and naturally isolated himself from a fact. Until this moment, a thought suddenly hit his chest.

He thought: "My teacher is gone."

Yao Zhen turned around curiously: "Marshal, what's wrong?"

Gu Yun took a deep breath, shook his head, and went in to light a stick of incense for Zhong Chan: "Go and do your thing. I'll stay here with him for a while. Call me anytime if you need anything."

Yao Zhen whispered, "Birth, aging, sickness and death are common to all. Marshal, please accept my condolences. The tent has been tidied up. After you have paid your respects, go to bed early. I have someone guarding the door. Marshal, please give me instructions."

Gu Yun nodded, not knowing whether he had heard it or not.

When the mourning hall was empty, his eyes slowly fell on Zhong Chan's face. Because he died of natural causes, General Zhong's expression was not ferocious, but it was not peaceful either - the dead's face was covered with a layer of ash, and the skin seemed to be made of wax, which was different from when they were alive. The soul was gone, and the body was just a body, empty.

Gu Yun sat down beside him, resting his elbows on the side of the coffin, and quietly thought of Zhong Chan, who was his teacher when he was young.

At that time, the General of Cavalry had not yet been shrunk by age, and was not so thin. He was still majestic and strong, and it seemed as if there were two knives in his eyes, and when he stared at someone steadily, the blades would be revealed.

"Young Lord, memorizing military books does not prove that you can fight. Haven't you heard of the ancient dandies who talked about war on paper? If you are complacent like this, I'm afraid you won't even be able to win a fight with street urchins."

"Young Marquis, Kung Fu is two different things. One is 'effort', the other is 'pain'. Now that the old Marquis and the princess are gone, you are of noble status. No one dares to hurt your body except the emperor. If you want to be comfortable and pamper yourself, no one can force you to move forward. You have to think clearly about what you want to do in the future."

"Wealth and honor are not what a military general wants in his life. Since the emperor is determined to hide his bow and arrows, and the world is peaceful now, let him hide. I won't be able to stay by his side all the time, so you have to take care of yourself, young marquis."

"Mountains and rivers will meet each other someday, we will meet again!"

The waves behind push the waves ahead, and the glory of a hundred generations will eventually grow old.

Gu Yun's ears gradually became blurry, and his eyes became a little unclear. He couldn't help but squint under the candlelight, but he was fully aware of it, as if he was still immersed in the old events of the past years. It was a great blessing for a general to live to the age of seventy and die without any illness. I don't know how many people envied him. It was indeed a happy funeral. Gu Yun felt that he could not say whether he was sad or not, but he felt a little stuffy in his chest.

Chang Geng also rushed all the way here. It was already dark when he arrived at the Jiangbei camp. He had no time to settle down after arriving. When he heard that Gu Yun was in the mourning hall, he dismissed his attendants and went straight over.

The personal soldier guarding the door of the mourning hall recognized Chang Geng. When he saw him from afar, he immediately rushed in to report the news. Chang Geng didn't even have time to call him.

The guard called out, "General, His Royal Highness Prince Yan is here."

Gu Yun didn't react. Chang Geng guessed that he was so busy that he forgot to take his medicine, so he lifted the corner of his robe and stepped in: "It's okay."

The guard carefully reached out and patted Gu Yun on the shoulder: "Marshal?"

Gu Yun was suddenly startled. He was half blind and couldn't see who was coming. His heart tightened at first, thinking that something had happened. He stood up from the chair abruptly, and suddenly there was a sharp pain in his chest, which had been blocked by something.

A mouthful of blood spurted out without warning.