During the entire nine years of Long'an, the smell of gunpowder was lingering in Daliang.

At the end of May, the court, represented by the King of Goose, met with the thirteen merchants who held up the first batch of beacon bills as representatives and announced the expiration of the first batch of beacon bills. At the same time, the "Long'an Silver Shop" approved by Li Feng was established, with the head shop located in the capital and branches in various places. Before the branches were built, the government would temporarily handle all matters, responsible for collecting the expired beacon bills and redeeming them. The next day, Long'an Silver Shop announced several optional redemption methods. You can redeem in cash, or open an account in Long'an Silver Shop to exchange the bills for deposits, and convert them into Long'an Silver Bills for use throughout the country. If you are willing to reach a certain standard, you can also exchange your shares from the official factories held by the Canal Office. All prices are listed, and they are written into a thick account book, which makes Fang Qin and others grit their teeth and feel that this is something that King Goose had thought of a long time ago.

Previously, there were various kinds of money houses in Daliang, some privately owned, some opened by imperial merchants, and some government-run for official foreign trade and exchange purposes. Longan Silver House was forced to withdraw its name and forcibly merged with most of the government-run silver houses. Prince Yan changed his previous gentle and elegant image, and since his return, he seemed to be possessed by something, and became more and more crazy day by day.

Although the imperial merchants have the word "imperial" in their names, most of them are powerful aristocratic families behind them. Whenever they want to bully others, they always remember that there is an "emperor" above them. When they want to enrich themselves, only "merchants" remain on their bodies. They are used to not distinguishing between public and private, and the account books are muddy and muddy. They cannot explain the conflicts of interest even if they talk for three days and three nights. They have long regarded the government's property as their own. Who could have imagined that the situation would change overnight and that their property would be "deprived of" so indiscriminately?

From May to August, there was chaos in the court every day.

The leader of an official village was the first to disobey orders and was immediately found out for corruption and sent to prison. His house was searched and investigated. His wife was pregnant and had to travel around for days because of this matter. She was already weak and ended up having a miscarriage, resulting in two deaths.

My mother-in-law is an old lady. On her 70th birthday, the late emperor personally called her "old birthday star". She was an old woman who had a daughter and was extremely spoiled. She couldn't stand this and threatened to hang herself despite the plaque inscribed by the late emperor.

The incident caused a great uproar, and all the dukes and princes in the capital wanted to drag King Yan out and skin him alive.

During Fang Qin's efforts, he cleverly let Prince Yan, who was of noble status, pass, and directed his attack directly at the Grand Council. He contacted various forces in the six ministries, and jointly wrote a letter to denounce the Grand Council's sixteen crimes, and excitedly demanded that the emperor abolish the Grand Council, this "temporary wartime agency."

The Grand Council is certainly not a lone commander, so of course they have to fight back. All of a sudden, all the dirty deeds that have been going on for years were exposed, and the whole court was full of open and covert attacks, fighting a life-and-death battle. Even if you were not involved, you would be hit by one or two stray arrows if you walked by.

As the Mid-Autumn Festival approached, the situation had reached a fever pitch. Even a cautious person like Jiang Chong was involved in a case and was suspended from his post pending investigation.

Everyone knows that although the emperor seems impartial, he is actually secretly protecting Prince Yan, otherwise he would not remain unmoved in such a storm.

The chaos lasted until the Mid-Autumn Festival night.

As usual, Li Feng was going to the harem for a family dinner. On the way, he met the Third Prince. Even the strictest people would be somewhat tolerant of the youngest son. Li Feng called him over with rare tenderness and led him in his hands. The Third Prince was as afraid of his father as his brothers, and dared not say a word. He tried hard to hold his hand and trot along with his footsteps. Soon, his face turned red from running.

The eunuch had no choice but to remind him, and Li Feng then looked down and saw his youngest son's frightened look. For some reason, he remembered the day when King Yan was sitting on the grass and weaving grass insects for the little thing.

Li Feng: "Go and call King Yan into the palace for a family dinner."

The eunuch on the side hurriedly agreed, but after running around for a long time, he didn't bring the person back.

"Your Majesty, I didn't find His Royal Highness Prince Yan."

Li Feng frowned: "Isn't he in the Military Affairs Office?"

The eunuch said cautiously, "Hasn't there been some trouble with Lord Jiang recently? Someone is clamoring to abolish the Military Affairs Council. Your Highness said he was avoiding suspicion these past two days and stopped his daily affairs... Isn't the letter of apology still on your desk?"

Li Feng rubbed his brows and thought of this matter: "Didn't you go to the house to look for it? The palace? And the Anding Marquis's Mansion..."

"We have looked for him," the eunuch whispered, "the family said that the prince went out of the city to the Huguo Temple, and he has been in Master Liaoran's Zen temple for the past two days."

Li Feng: “…”

On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, thousands of families are reunited, but Prince Yan, who is second only to the emperor and above everyone else, is actually living alone and miserable under the guidance of a poor monk.

...There are also a group of people who are eyeing him and trying various ways to bring him down.

Li Feng suddenly felt a little uncomfortable.

Although he was touched by Chang Geng's firm "willing to follow Shang Jun" in the imperial garden that day, he was indeed troubled by the troubles caused by the King of Yan's excessive means during this period. This time, Jiang Chong was punished to remind him that it was enough and he should restrain himself appropriately. The unpleasant feeling at this time gradually changed in Li Feng's heart. After all, the King of Yan was a member of the Li family. Even if his actions during this period were hasty, they were also to plug the holes in the court. Moreover, the whole world belonged to the king. He, as the emperor, did not say anything, but these nobles and ministers were fighting for it. It was too much to take the royal family seriously.

Back then, Li Feng knew that there was something wrong with Wang Guo, but he still protected Wang Guojiu in the palace with his hair standing on end when Tan Hongfei came to Beidaying to question him aggressively. This was because Li Feng was born to be a person who would respond to soft words but not to hard ones. It was one thing that he was willing to take action to maintain the balance, but this time the major families joining forces to deal with King Yan was another matter.

"Some people go too far," Li Feng thought to himself.

However, before the seed in the emperor's heart could sprout, that night, a major event happened thousands of miles away -

The Western navy, which had retreated to the offshore port, was still hypocritically sending holiday greetings to the Jiangbei garrison the day before. The dew had not yet dried on the inappropriate flowers they sent, but the next day they turned hostile, and their turn was long-planned and with all their efforts.

They launched a massive attack on the Liangjiang garrisons in Daliang.

Ever since Gu Yun took charge of Liangjiang, the patrol requirements of the local garrison were basically the same as those of the Black Iron Camp. Although the court had been experiencing a fire in its backyard for some time, the Jiangbei Jiao, Eagle, and light and heavy armored forces were all in a state of preparation for war, with a relaxed exterior and a tight interior.

That night, the southeast watchtower, which had been closely watching the enemy's movements, was the first to discover the unusual movements of the Western navy and turned on the alarm lights immediately. The extremely bright white light shot through the dark water like a rainbow. Without waiting for the commander-in-chief's orders, the short dragons on the front line would assemble immediately and quickly erect iron fences for wartime defense on the water near the ground. At the same time, the sentry who reported the news flew directly from the watchtower to the commander's tent.

On the main ship of the Western Army, Mr. Ya rushed in breathlessly: "Your Majesty, they have been closely monitoring our army and have been discovered."

"That's normal," the Pope said without looking up. "The last time their commander had just passed away, the new and old leaders had not yet handed over, and we succeeded by chance. Now the Daliang Army is very regular, and Gu Yun is in charge. It's better not to expect unrealistic luck. Go, since the other party has noticed it, say hello to our old enemy."

As soon as he finished speaking, the messenger quickly went to convey the order.

Mr. Ya frowned: "Your Majesty, I'm wondering... Did we choose an inappropriate time? Why can't we wait a little longer? Daliang is also facing the same power transfer problem as the Holy Land. Maybe after a while, they will have an opportunity to take advantage of it..."

Before he could finish his words, a loud noise was heard from outside—the fast-moving vanguard battleship opened fire!

The firing was out of control, and explosions rang out one after another. Mr. Ya shuddered and realized that he had to focus on the battle situation. After all, he had suffered a great loss at the hands of Gu Yun.

The Pope briefly lowered his gaze from his clairvoyance and turned to Mr. Ya: "I have a feeling that this is the best time - full speed ahead!"

The shadowy sea monster pushed away the cold sea water like a tsunami. After lying dormant for a long time, it once again waved its ferocious claws and rushed towards the Daliang border.

However, this time, the weak Daliang navy is no longer what it used to be.

In the Liangjiang garrison, the sentry had just taken over the position of sentry from his dead old comrade. It was the first time for him to serve as the commander-in-chief's eyes and ears in such a critical moment. When he heard the sound of gunfire behind him, he thought that he was too slow and had delayed the military opportunity. He made a violent dive with the eagle armor on his back, and when he landed, he ran for dozens of steps and couldn't stop. He was supported by his comrades who were patrolling the camp around the commander's tent.

"Urgent military information, I want to see the Marshal..." The sentry was looking panicked, and the hand that was originally supporting him suddenly raised up and touched his head.

The sentry was startled, and when he looked up he realized that the person he thought was on duty and in charge of defense was actually Gu Yun himself.

"Don't be afraid, they are just defeated." Gu Yun patted the back of his neck, smiled at the young sentry and said, "Come on, follow me to meet them."

In the time it took to say these two sentences, all the land armored soldiers and light cavalry in the entire camp had been fully equipped. Countless eagle armors lit up with purple flames in the dark night. Gu Yun blew a long whistle, and the flying eagles soared into the sky with murderous intent.

"Long and short dragons, form into groups of three or five, leave the port!"

"The eagle made a white rainbow on the iron fence."

"What else?" Gu Yun put the Wind Cutting Blade behind him like a decoration and rubbed his chin. "Oh, by the way, I have to prepare the 'snacks' that Lingshuyuan sent last time. When I get tired of fighting later, I can give some snacks to my old friends who came from afar."

The Western army arrived suddenly, but the response of the Liangjiang garrison was not hasty.

On one side was the Pope who had regrouped and fought all the way across the ocean from the Holy Land, and on the other side was Gu Yun, the Marquis of Anding, who was described as a god in folk legends. The two finally faced off in a situation where they were evenly matched and there were no outsiders to cause trouble.

Gu Yun was not a young man like Chang Geng who was brave enough to go into battle out of sheer passion. He methodically stretched out the battle lines on the shore and water, testing the enemy's main battleship with both real and fake tactics.

Unfortunately, they met a worthy opponent. The commander of the battle this time was not Mr. Ya, the coward who took a stick seriously. Gu Yun teased them a few times, and a team of short-dragon regiments that attacked by surprise almost took away the enemy's right wing several times. However, the enemy's central main battleship reacted quickly and retreated immediately.

The Western sea monster looks bulky, but in fact, this behemoth is not only highly defensive, but also covered with thorns. When the ugly iron armor plates on the surface are lifted up, the muzzles are connected to each other, and the interior of the sea monster can hold unimaginable purple gold, ammunition, and even flying eagles and small dragons.

With such a thing, the Flying Eagle can drop supplies at will and suppress opponents in the air wherever it goes. At the same time, its control and cohesion over the surrounding sea dragons of all sizes are irreplaceable. Like a queen bee or queen ant, it can perfectly gather together a group of subordinates with dull brains and uneven levels.

Gu Yun said to Yao Zhen beside him: "Did you see that? It's quite neat. The autonomy of the left and right wings has been replaced by the big guy in the middle - it seems that the Pope has finally packed up the troublemaker among them and sunk him into the sea."

Yao Chongze looked worried: "Marshal, they were the ones who had been shamelessly asking for peace talks. Why are they suddenly turning hostile now?"

Gu Yun licked his lips and said, "I guess the situation in their country has changed, and someone gave them a shot of chicken blood. I know a little bit about that old guy's style. At the beginning, he likes to bombard and blast his way through, which is also a test. Once it fails, he will immediately adjust. But you see, he is not like that today. If it weren't for the abundant supplies, he wouldn't dare to be so confident. The supplies should be sent from the Japanese via the open sea, and we are not strong enough over there."

Yao Zhen was very clear-headed and said immediately, "Marshal, if that's the case, we can't just resist. The rails haven't been repaired yet. Even if we go to adjust them now, it may not be in time. What should we do?"

The Western army's artillery fire was so fierce that it covered the rivers and seas, and for a moment the water surface was burned like the legendary Avici Hell. The free purple gold turned into ashes in the hearts of all the iron monsters and turned into thin white steam, which rose into the sky with tiny impurities and gunpowder smoke from the artillery, and soon covered the moonlit night sky with a layer of haze. Water accumulated into clouds, and the stalemate lasted until the second half of the night, when it actually started to rain.

At this time, a messenger came running over: "Marshal, the sea squid is ready!"

"Gather the dragons on the water, launch the main ship, and get the eagles on board." Gu Yun strode to the deck of the main ship and said to Yao Zhen who was following closely beside him, "Brother Chongze, you should stay on the shore and don't follow us."

Yao Zhen laughed out loud and said, "Although I have always been afraid of death, what do I have to be afraid of when I follow the Marshal?"

However, Lord Yao regretted his boasting soon after. Unfortunately, he got seasick next to Gu Yun. The power system of the main ship had been modified by Lingshu Academy according to Gu Yun's ideas. It was like a white shark in the waves, no less powerful than a short dragon that was as fast as the wind. Generally, main ships would not be so "unstable". Unfortunately, the person who gave the order was Gu Yun. Even if it flew, the millions of long and short dragons around were all under his control.

The Western Army did not dare to delay and immediately began a large-scale pursuit and interception.

As a result, the Western army's impenetrable solid formation immediately became a hindrance. Gu Yun had a strong sense of rhythm, sometimes loose and sometimes tight. Once the artillery fire was concentrated, the fleet would immediately break up into small pieces, and after a moment, it would re-condense into a murderous fleet, as if a sharp knife was always across the neck, forcing people to follow his rhythm.

Gradually, the word "keep steady" was added after every order in the Western sea monsters.

However, the scene was not so stable.

Gu Yun quickly found out the weakest point of the Western Sea Dragon Group. The Daliang navy immediately gathered like a sharp knife and stabbed forward. The Western sea monster, which was too big to be eliminated, had no time to react. The Pope immediately became ruthless: "Open the main ship Bayeux, load the heavy artillery, and get out of the way -"

At this time, Gu Yun smiled at Yao Zhen and said, "The Westerners' idea of ​​this sea monster is actually very worthy of reference, but the reason why we haven't finalized it with Lingshu Academy is that although their ideas are correct, their technology is not up to standard - maybe after waiting for ten or twenty years, we can build a better one..."

Before he could finish his words, he saw the Western sea dragon that had been tightly clinging to the sea monster in front of him suddenly scattered in a mess.

Gu Yun: "The breach has come out, 'Squid', don't just stand there!"

Yao Zhen: "Don't worry about the breach, Marshal! Be careful!"

The Western sea monster brazenly lifted up its black back cover, revealing a row of heavy gun muzzles underneath.

Gu Yun: "Go full speed southwest, bomb, these small boats can't stop us!"

Two loud bangs sounded almost simultaneously, one after the other. The short cannons fired by the Daliang fleet blew up a group of Western short-range dragons that had just fled in all directions, and then broke into the enemy's position as if no one was around. Then the long cannons on the Western main ship arrived and almost brushed past them. The main ship shook violently, and Yao Zhen climbed up a pillar with all four legs. Gu Yun lost his balance and crashed heavily into the side of the hull.

Yao Zhen was frightened by the noise and shuddered: "Marshal!"

Gu Yun shook his head and climbed up nonchalantly, his eyes sparkling and scary: "Snacks are here."

The water surface that had been bombarded by large and small artillery fire was violently heaving, and no one saw the several strange-looking "dragons" hidden underwater. Those were a batch of "sea squids" recently sent by Lingshuyuan. They were the death squad among the sea dragons and could sneak underwater. After the driver locked the direction, he could abandon the ship and jump into the water directly. There would be ropes on the warship that pushed the sea squids to pull them back, and the unmanned sea squid could maintain its original speed and continue to move forward until it hit something on the seabed, and the force of the impact could detonate the pirates.

This is specially tailor-made for the giant squid that eats very deep water.

The Westerners' solid front line was broken on one side by Gu Yun's charge and explosion. Then, a splash of water several dozen feet high suddenly exploded on the sea for no reason. There was even a bright fire flickering on the water surface before it was extinguished by the surging sea water. Before the Westerners could figure out what it was, they saw the sea monster-like main ship twitched violently and was hit hard by a sea squid without warning.

It turned out that the iron-clad shell was not invulnerable to swords and guns. The entire sea monster's main ship tilted violently to one side. The Western soldiers who were originally lighting the lights and delivering orders fell directly from the sea monster without a word. Another wave of explosions occurred, and it was unknown whether they were dead or alive.

The enemy's well-organized formation was immediately thrown into chaos. Gu Yun did not give them any time to breathe. The eagle that had originally boarded the boat immediately pursued the fleeing long and short dragons with absolutely overwhelming speed.

This thrilling naval battle lasted from dusk till dawn in the east. The Westerners' abundant supplies had not yet been used up, but their formation had already been broken into pieces. The Pope had a good experience of Gu Yun's cunning and ever-changing tactics in battle. He had to retreat temporarily and wait for another opportunity.

Gu Yun suddenly breathed a sigh of relief and said in a hoarse voice: "Pretend to chase, don't fight to the end."

If the Westerners don't withdraw, a large number of short dragons will soon lose power and won't have time to return to the shore for supplies. By then, even Gu Yun will be in a very passive situation. Mr. Ya's thinking is correct. The Daliang navy still lacks the ability to fight in the open sea.

"The enemy commander is old and cautious. He is not easy to fool, but he is also cautious. If the one facing me today is He Ronghui from our Black Iron Camp, even if the main ship is completely blown up, he will still grab a small boat to fight me. That would be really difficult to deal with." Gu Yun whispered, rubbing his eyes subconsciously - his vision was blurred, and he didn't notice it because he was too nervous just now. Now he realized that he should take medicine. He smiled at Yao Zhen who was just recovering from the shock and ordered, "Return to the ship!"

After returning to the commander's tent, Gu Yun did not dare to rest. He had to submit an urgent war report to the court and arrange war preparations to avoid such a stretched situation again. Therefore, he had to ask someone to boil a bowl of medicine for him first. While waiting for the medicine to take effect, he was grinding it and thinking about how to control the Western army in the future. Suddenly, a sharp pain jumped up from his back and the back of his head, which were bruised by the collision on the boat just now. Gu Yun's hand trembled, and the grindstone slipped out of his hand and fell out.

He gritted his teeth, stretched out his hand to support the table, and waited for the pain to pass.

But this time the pain was particularly severe, and it tormented him for half an hour. Gu Yun's back was covered in cold sweat, and the numbness gradually subsided.

At this time, Gu Yun discovered a serious problem.

His vision and hearing, which should have been clear again, did not return.