Gu Yun sat upright on the back of the horse and asked, "Are you still there?"
Shen Yi raised his Clairvoyance and looked back, "Yes."
On the day Gu Yun left the Capital, the scenery was bright and clear; it was a rare sunny day for ten li. Long 'an Emperor, along with civil and military officials, sent him off to the city gate. They watched the troops and horses galloping away before they dispersed. Only His Highness Yan Wang did not leave.
He climbed up the only remaining watchtower on the collapsed city gate and looked at the back of General Xuan Tie motionlessly. It seemed that he wanted to stand there until the end of time.
Gu Yun did not look back. He only said to Shen Yi, "How far have they gone? Even the Clairvoyance should not be able to see clearly. Don't talk nonsense. "
Shen Yi said angrily, "If you think I'm lame, then see for yourself. You order me around again and again. You make others think that there is something between me and Wangye."
Gu Yun had already prepared a mouth full of excuses, "Why don't you let someone nail you with steel plates and see if you can still turn back? You talk too much nonsense."
Shen Yi sneered. He was too lazy to expose him.
"Do I need to do that?" Gu Yun paused. He wanted to cover it up, so he answered his own question, "Don't judge me with your petty mother's heart. I can tolerate hundreds of dragons."
There was a saying that it takes a hundred days to recover from a serious injury. Gu Yun was dug out from the pile of corpses. Even if he died and came back to life, it was only half a month. Not to mention a person, even if the steel armor was damaged like that, it would not be easy to repair it. When Gu Yun requested to go to the northwest, Yan Wang was anxious in court and almost quarreled with him in front of all the civil and military officials.
Even Li Feng, the lousy Emperor who "doesn't give cows grass to eat and only makes cows work", felt a little apologetic.
But at this time, someone needed to reorganize the Black Iron Battalion.
The westerners failed to besiege the capital and occupied the south of the Yangtze River half-dead. They certainly did not have extra energy to take care of their poor and poor allies. The northwest front line was now a mess of the Western Alliance Army and Bei Man's 18 tribes. It could not be considered an iron plate. If they could reverse the situation in the northwest and solve the most urgent problem of the purple gold, then it would be a matter of time before the westerners were beaten back to their homeland...
..... It was easy to obtain a thousand soldiers, but difficult to find a general......
In the end, it was still Chen Qing Xu who came forward to solve this problem. She whimsically used a special kind of steel plate and had the Spiritual Pivot Institute rush to make it. It could be fastened to a person's body without any seams, fixing Gu Yun's bones that had not yet recovered. This way, she made him a set of man-made reinforced iron bones.
. but it................
Shen Yi sighed and said, "I say, Marshal, quickly put away your big heart. What do you plan to do?"
Gu Yun concentrated on driving the boat on his chest and pretended to be deaf and mute.
Shen Yi saw that this person was acting shamelessly and immediately took a deep breath. "Oh!" he raised his voice and roared, "I say, Commander, Yan … hey!"
Gu Yun turned around and gave him a whip. Shen Yi held the Wind-cutting Blade in front of him and stared with his eyes wide open. He kept patting his chest and said, "That was close, that was close. I almost disfigured you. Alas, marshal, you flew into a rage out of humiliation just because I said a few nice words. I think that Master Le Chi is a Dongying spy, but his sandalwood fart is not completely unreasonable. I think you have a tough life. Red Luan can't fly because of you. It's not easy for her to jump up, but all she bumps into are rotten peach blossoms."
Gu Yun, "…"
Shen Yi smacked his lips. He felt that Gu Yun's neck was indeed not generous enough to twist. Otherwise, he would have pounced on him and beaten him up.
Gu Yun kept his whip and was silent for a moment. He shook his head and said, "What else can we do? Let's live one day at a time. Who knows when we will be buried on the battlefield. What's the point of thinking so much?"
Shen Yi frowned. He understood Gu Yun. If Gu Yun really did not have that intention, he would have said it directly without any ambiguity. Now that he heard what he said, rather than saying that he was indecisive, it was better to say that he already had a bias in his heart. It was only because he had some concerns that he temporarily "held back".
Shen Yi, "Wait, Zi Xi, you can't be …"
Gu Yun, "Let's not talk about this."
Shen Yi, "That's your son!"
Gu Yun, "Do I need you to talk nonsense?!"
Shen Yi's face was full of horror. Gu Yun looked away in annoyance.
When he did not see this old nanny, he missed her very much. Whenever he saw her, he felt very annoyed. Gu Yun simply squeezed the horse's belly and galloped away from Shen Yi's side. He took out a small white jade flute from his bosom and started to play it.
Other than things that did not need to be played, no other musical instrument in Gu Yun's hands could produce a good sound. Gu Yun, who was clamped by the steel plates, was short of breath. His voice was a little shaky, and he pressed the reins freely. The tune ran around the entire Daliang. It was a little funny.
But at this moment, the sound of the flute was swept up in the wind and wrapped in the sigh of the Western Pass. Unexpectedly, by a stroke of luck, it carried an indescribable desolation, making people unable to laugh at all after listening to it.
Gu Yun's back was clamped by the steel plates of the Chen family. He was like a pillar that would never fall. On his back, he carried two broken wind blades … Neither of them belonged to him.
Chen Qingxu, who was following the army, heard the flute sound coming from afar. She suddenly felt something and whispered, "Based on Jun Mo's words, the conferment of a Marquis …"
"Based on Jun Mo's words," Gu Yun galloped past her and interrupted, "A piece of icy heart is in a jade pot, hahaha."
Chen Qingxu, "…"
After being interrupted like this, she actually couldn't remember what the second half of the sentence was!
Gu Yun marched like the wind. Anyway, he had the divine hand, Miss Chen, by his side, so he was not afraid of breaking the steel plates on his body. After leaving the capital, they went all the way north. As soon as they left the territory of Zhili, they encountered two waves of attacks from refugees. They were not a threat. They retreated after a strike and left after a touch. They were like a few wild dogs that stuck their heads out and looked around.
"They targeted us not long after we left the capital." Shen Yi said to Gu Yun, "I fought with them before. They are cunning and familiar with the territory. When they realized that they couldn't beat us, they immediately ran away. Not long after, they followed us again. They are very annoying. When I came here, I heard that the capital was besieged. I was really annoyed by them during the rapid march."
Gu Yun made a sound of "oh" and handed the clairvoyance in his hand to Shen Yi, "I'm afraid that the incompetent military advisor has studied for a few days."
Shen Yi, "What's wrong?"
Gu Yun said, "I've heard that when you pretend to retreat, you have to 'scatter the flags' to lure the enemy into chasing after you. Unfortunately, the soldiers didn't understand the essence of it. They chopped down the flagpoles themselves. I saw it."
Shen Yi, "…"
Gu Yun frowned and said, "Do you know what these people are after by rebelling? Can't they continue living? "
"Of course not," Shen Yi sneered, "You think too highly of the unruly people. Even if there is nothing to do in the fields, most of the good people will find some small business or learn a craft. It's not like they can't survive. This group of refugees who wander around the central plains of Sichuan are originally some idle gangsters. They were organized by someone with ulterior motives. Other than harassing General Cai, they specialize in robbing houses. When General Cai chases after them, they will run away. When things calm down, they will come back. I heard that in addition to robbing houses, they also have a rule. If there is an adult male in a family who rebels with them, the family will no longer be attacked by these bandits. Their wives, daughters, and sisters can also be saved. They don't have to worry about being taken away. "
"…" Gu Yun said, "Wait, I think this is familiar. Isn't this the same as the corvee system in Daliang? Military households don't pay taxes. "
Shen Yi couldn't bear it and said, "Marshal, whose side are you on?"
"Okay, okay, don't be impatient," Gu Yun said, "In this way, won't there be more and more bandits? Not only are they 'exempt from taxes', but they also have a team to follow and avoid the chaos of war. Who's the leader? "
"I heard that it's an old bandit who looks quite scary. He has been in this business for many years. He has scars all over his body and his face was burned by fire. He claims to be a 'fire dragon'." Shen Yi sighed, "Then what do you think we should do? Should we ride fast and work hard for two days to bypass this wave of mobs and go directly to Cai Bin's northwest reinforcement station?"
Gu Yun strolled in place for a while with his hands behind his back, "There are internal and external troubles. It's better to take care of them. There are tigers and wolves in front, so we can't have any worries behind. Write a memorial and report it to the Grand Council, saying that we will stay here for three to five days."
After the siege of the capital was lifted, Li Feng made a prompt decision to dismiss the Left and Right Prime Ministers. Later, in order to facilitate the dispatch, he imitated the previous dynasty's official system and set up the Grand Council to command the six departments. He used a group of civil officials who were able to see the truth in adversity.
The Grand Council was brightly lit in the middle of the night all year round. When Jiang Chong pushed the door and entered, it was already the middle of the night. The gas lamps were as bright as day. Prince Yan was already lying on the table, asleep, with a pen in his hand.
Jiang Chong didn't want to disturb him. He personally took the memorial from the chamberlain's arms and dismissed the servants. He quietly walked in. However, he was a civil official after all and didn't know how to hide his presence. Changgeng was still alarmed. The moment the usually smooth and slick Prince Yan opened his eyes, there was a flash of red in his eyes. It was as if a murderous aura suddenly surged towards the person in front of him.
Jiang Chong didn't have time to react. The cold sweat on his back dripped down. He was like a rabbit locked in by a fierce beast's murderous aura. He couldn't help but take a step back. His long sleeves scraped down Changgeng's pen holder, and the pen holder immediately collapsed.
Only then did Changgeng wake up. He instantly withdrew his murderous aura like a whirlwind sweeping away clouds. He stood up and said, "It's fine. I'll clean it up."
Jiang Chong's heart trembled as he looked at him. He wondered if he had seen wrongly because he was too tired. He carefully asked, "Was your highness in a nightmare?"
"It's nothing." Changgeng said as if nothing had happened. "Because I was pressing down on my chest … my face didn't look good. I must have scared you. I'm a bit grumpy when I wake up. Just now, I was in a daze and almost didn't know where I was."
Since he said so, Jiang Chong didn't ask any more questions. He always felt that His Royal Highness Yan Wang's grumpiness when he woke up was a bit too big.
Changgeng tidied up the pen holder that had been knocked over. He then asked, "What is it? Brother Han Shi, is something the matter?"
Jiang Chong came back to his senses and sat down across from him. "Because of what Wangye said at the court yesterday about issuing 'fire beacon tickets' to the people, there has been a lot of noise in court. First, the court is borrowing money from the people. This is unprecedented. Isn't this telling the world that our national treasury is empty? Where is the face of the court? "
Changgeng didn't seem to be fully awake. Sitting in the chair, he kept pinching the space between his eyebrows. Hearing this, he smiled and said, "Half of the country is gone. Is there a lot of face?"
Jiang Chong said, "There are also people who are asking what to do if the court can't pay back the money? Wangye also knows about the state of the national treasury. "
"If the deadline for paying back the money is pushed back, a second and third batch can be sent out in the future. It's fine as long as it's split. There's enough turnover," Changgeng said. "The first batch of people who buy the fire beacon tickets can be given some benefits. Titles of nobility, empty positions in court, special orders … everything is fine. The most ideal is that if this is implemented, the people can use the fire beacon tickets as money."
"If that's the case," Jiang Chong said hesitantly, "wouldn't those tickets be flying everywhere? At that time, they won't be worth a single coin. "
Changgeng said, "When the court recovers, they can buy them back. Once they recover, whether to pay back the money or continue, whether to set up an amnesty agency or a special law, these are all things to be discussed later."
Jiang Chong continued, "There are also people who ask, if in the future, there are people among the people who use fake tickets and come to the court to ask for money, what to do?"
Changgeng was so angry that he laughed. "Ask the Lingshu Temple about this. Do we have to bring this kind of detail to the Grand Council? Tomorrow, should we talk about how to regulate the size of the toilet? "
Jiang Chong smiled bitterly. "That's true. His Highness also knows … other than arguing, he doesn't have any proper business. I heard that he's been writing memorials to accuse you of running amok."
Changgeng sighed and said, "There are a thousand reasons, but right now, it's just to solve the urgent situation during wartime. What else can we do? Do we take a heavy tax from the refugees in the city, or tear down the Emperor's temporary residence and sell it for money? If there are problems, they can be raised at the court. If I can answer, I'll say it in court. If I can't think of a solution, I'll go back and think about it. These people … "
The court was like this. There were a small group of people in charge of doing things, and the rest of the people were in charge of finding fault. In the future, if things were successful, it could be said that they had thought it through thoroughly. If things didn't work out, then it would be "why didn't you listen to me in the past?"
That wasn't all. There were also people who had their own schemes and interests to stir up trouble. It was harder to get something done than to ascend to the heavens. No wonder everyone knew the principle of "listening to both sides is wise." In history, the most common people were emperors who dictated the laws of the court and ministers who had power over the court.
"It's not directed at you. Brother Han Shi, don't take offense." Changgeng waved his hand. "I've been talking too much recently, and I'm a bit impatient."
"Speaking of the Lingshu Temple, Duke Han submitted two memorials yesterday. This official made the decision to withhold them. Wang Ye, can you see if they can be sent up?"
Changgeng poured himself a cup of herbal tea from last night. "Oh, what did they say?"
"One was for the Emperor to revoke the decree and lift the ban on long-armed masters. The other was for the Emperor to lift the ban on the trade of violet gold among the people. He said that the wealthy merchants must have their own ways. In the face of a national crisis, it was better to make use of these people, and let our Daliang have more sources of violet gold."
Changgeng paused and shook his head. "Duke Han … ah, this Duke Han."
When the old man had been besieged in Jing City, his heroic spirit had left a deep impression on Li Feng. Even though the old man's temper was bad, stubborn, and stubborn, his loyalty was unquestionable. As a result, Li Feng tolerated his nonsense.
"Everyone, take a look at the memorials on revoking the decree. There's nothing wrong with them that can be submitted," Changgeng said. "Let's forget about the matter of the violet gold. Is it so comfortable to go against the Emperor's dragon scale? Tactfully, write a summary for him and send the original memorials back. "
Jiang Chong helplessly agreed. He was about to stand and leave when he suddenly thought of something. He turned his head and said, "Right, there's also the Marquis of Stability …"
Changgeng abruptly raised his head.
Li Feng had returned the Xuan Tie tiger tally to Gu Yun and gave him the authority to deploy troops and prepare for war. Logically, there was no need to report everything, no matter how big or small, along the way. However, Gu Yun did not accept this favor and obediently submitted memorials regularly. Where they were, the situation of the battle, what they planned to do, what reasons they had, everything was clearly stated.
Jiang Chong said, "The Marquis of Stability has just arrived in the Central Plains. There's nothing urgent. He only said that he encountered a mob of bandits and that he planned to clean them up in three to five days."
Changgeng made an "oh" sound and said, "Let me take a look."
Jiang Chong sighed with emotion. "Everything, big or small, is here with Wang Ye. Everyone else only listened to the briefings. Only Marshal Gu's memorials were carefully read from beginning to end. Wang Ye and the Marshal's relationship is truly deep."
As he spoke, he was about to bid farewell and leave. Just as he reached the door, Changgeng suddenly called out to him. "Brother Han Shi."
Jiang Chong did not understand and turned his head. "Does Wang Ye have any other orders?"
Changgeng placed one hand on Gu Yun's memorials and unconsciously gently stroked them. After a moment of silence, he said with a calm expression, "I'll have to trouble you to help me gather the objections to the fire beacon tickets in the imperial court. Who said it, when they said it, and what they said. I'll revise the proposal according to my discretion."
Jiang Chong was startled — — What "who said it" and "when they said it" were needed to revise the proposal? He couldn't help but glance at Yan Wang under the illumination of the gas lamp that had been lit all night. Yan Wang's face was young, but his eyes were not immature at all. At first glance, he felt that Yan Wang was a refined and elegant noble young master. But when he looked at him again, his eyes were not like the spring wind and rain. Instead, they revealed traces of coldness.
When he heard that the late Emperor had entrusted His Highness the Fourth Prince to Gu Yun before his death and that Yan Wang grew up in the Marquis of Stability's fu, Jiang Chong suddenly realized that His Highness and Marquis did not resemble each other at all.
Jiang Chong: "… Yes."
Chang Geng nodded slightly. They were all smart people, so there was no need for further explanation.
After Jiang Chong left in bewilderment, Chang Geng let out a sigh of relief. He did not sleep well to begin with, and it was not easy for him to drowsily take a nap. With this disturbance, he was afraid that he would not be able to sleep for the rest of the night. He stood up, changed the incense in the room, and lit up Miss Chen's Anshensan.
Chang Geng stood silently in front of the Anshensan for a while. Just now, he had a nightmare that he could not remember the contents of, and it caused him to feel as if his heart was being pierced by needles. There was an outsider who forced himself not to reveal it — — This feeling was very similar to the few times when Wu 'er Gu had a relapse.
Because of Gu Yun's injury, Miss Chen left with the army. Before she left, she specially called him to the side and asked him to increase the dosage of the Anshensan. She wanted him to recuperate as much as possible.
The torment of great joy and great sorrow had completely destroyed the foundation that he had cultivated for the past few years. It would be even more difficult to suppress it in the future. Wu 'er Gu was most afraid of thinking — — Thinking was very harmful to the mind.
But what could he do? Could it be that he was going to leave and watch Gu Yun be trapped in this tattered country to death?
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