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Volume 1 | North Bird Does Not Return

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“Liao Ran, this bald donkey, it’s better he doesn’t fall into my hands.” Gu Yun said grimly …..

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In the midst of everything, perhaps an unknown god had reminded Marshal Gu, who was at the edge of the horizon, that his son would be tricked into running away from home by a bald donkey. In short, after the Black Iron Camp left for a month, when writing a reply to his report to the Emperor, Gu Yun actually remembered to write a home letter for Chang Geng.

The familiar handwriting that Chang Geng had copied many times before writing many pages. First, he admitted his mistake in earnest, then, using words that reached the boy’s heart, he explained naturally and eloquently the reason why he had left without saying goodbye. Finally, he expressed his longing for Chang Geng straightforwardly and promised that if the northwestern region was safe, he would return to the manor before the end of the year for New Year’s celebrations.

Chang Geng read it from beginning to end, then put it aside with a smile, because even if he used his toe to think, he would still know that this letter did not come from the hands of the Marquis of Order himself.

Sickening sweet words such as ‘separated by thousands of miles, bobbing and swirling all night long’, ‘eat more and wear warm clothes, don’t let me worry’, it is impossible to grow from the ground on Gu Yun’s head. He could tell from these long words and sentences that the letter was written by Shen Yi in place of Gu Yun.

At best, that bastard Yifu just copied it.

However, Chang Geng sadly realized that although he was fully aware of this, when he imagined that these words actually came out of the pen in Gu Yun’s hands, he could not resist the urge to carve every word into his eyes.

Unfortunately, Gu Yun did not keep his promise.

Gu Yun feels guilty. This time, he kicked out Shen Yi, who had made an appointment on his behalf, then personally took up arms, and wrote a very long letter to Chang Geng.

Chang Geng smiled in frustration after reading it, even though he felt that this house letter was quite sincere, but Gu Yun really had no talent in persuading others and had fully poured oil into the fire instead.

Marshal Gu first spoke of many trivial matters which he found interesting and entertaining. He wrote a thousand words, thousands of miles off topic. Until finally, he used the words ‘busy with military affairs’ to summarize the reasons why he could not return to the capital.

Chang Geng doesn’t care about how to properly burn a scorpion in the desert to taste delicious. He had traced the long words several times back and forth, but never found a single sentence that he cared about the most; if Gu Yun cannot return this year, then when will he be able to return?

However, there was no explanation whatsoever that followed after ‘busy with military affairs’, there was only a long list of gifts attached.

Maybe Gu Yun felt that apologizing with words alone was not enough, so he stated in action 一 he sent home all the good things he could collect this year to the manor, giving everything to Chang Geng, from jewelry, treasures to weapons, some with flaws and imperfections, so on and so on.

On the same day, 15-year-old Chang Geng locked himself in his room, and with the Lou Lan dagger Gu Yun gave him, suffered another attack from Bone of Impurity.

After that, he made a decision 一 he didn’t want to live the life of someone who was dumped. He did not want to follow the teachings of old teachers and instructors who were careful to only learn about literary arts and martial arts on paper. He wants to travel and see the outside world.

On the first day of the year, Chang Geng went to the Palace with Zhu’s Little Feet to congratulate the Emperor on the New Year, completing his work.

Then he stayed in the manor until the 16th of the first month, told the kitchen to cook a bowl of long-life noodles, took it to his room and ate it alone, then quietly announced his decision to blow up the whole household.

Chang Geng, “I intend to stay at Hu Guo Temple for a while.”

He saw the pale green face of the old butler and added, “Uncle Wang, rest assured, I don’t want to be a monk, I just want to follow Teacher Liao Ran for a while, and at the same time I can pray for Yifu too.”

The old butler, “……..”

What else can the old man say? He could only bear the pain in his chest and prepare incense money, then asked the guards to take Chang Geng, Ge Pangxiao, and Cao Niangzi to Hu Guo Temple.

The old butler felt that maybe this family had been cursed by an ancient wizard. Once someone enters the door, whether it’s a child born into this family or a child adopted from outside 一 they must all be equally difficult to handle. The old butler still remembered the scary look on Gu Yun’s face when he was little. He resembled a wounded young wolf, hating everyone around him for no reason and without exception.

Although faced with many struggles and difficulties, that person can finally grow up and is now capable enough to bring a family.

Now there are others who are even more difficult to predict.

After Gu Yun left, Chang Geng started running to Hu Guo temple every day.

There are many others who can be invited to spend time with him, why should he like to spend time in the temple? His Highness the Fourth Prince Li Min rarely steps out the door, but when he does, it is for an extraordinary purpose.

The old butler was filled with countless worries, and every day he was worried that Chang Geng would shave his head.

But he knew that a fifteen-year-old boy was the least unwilling when faced with an elder’s persuasion, not to mention that Chang Geng was not his own son. The old butler did not dare to disturb his life too much, so he went to convince Ge Pangxiao and Cao Niangzi to be by his side.

When Cao Niangzi heard this, his eyes widened causing the eyeshadow on his eyelids to fall, he said angrily, “What? The bald donkey wants to deceive my brother Chang Geng into a monk?”

The man who had such a good appearance was as rare as phoenix feathers and dragon horns. Marshal Gu left immediately, even his shadow could no longer be seen now. He only had Chang Geng around him, and Chang Geng, even after this age, there were still no signs that he would be unsightly 一 This had been very difficult to find, but now there was also a danger threatening him to become bald head . Soon, Cao Niangzi became an ally of the old butler.

The next day, he deliberately wore men’s clothes and insisted on coming with Chang Geng to see the sacred scenes of Buddhism. When he left the door, he rolled up his sleeves and made a ‘determined to succeed’ gesture at the pair of dolls at the door.

The dolls were not human, they could only stare at their strange walking postures in a daze.

However, when he returned from Hu Guo Temple that night, Cao Niangzi never mentioned the problem of ‘forcing the enchanting monk to reveal his true form’, and since then, he has left his side to join the opposing team to go listen to the Buddha’s Teachings every day. The reason is none other than ‘the charming monk is too handsome’.

Although Marshal was also handsome, unfortunately, he was quite aggressive and could not sit still to be worshiped by others. But Teacher Liao Ran is different, Cao Niangzi thinks that he is a lotus who walks in this world, if placed in a pond, he can be enshrined for generations. Just by looking at the man can make him happy for days.

The old butler did not know what spell the monk gave to the two boys and had to find Ge Pangxiao.

Ge Pangxiao could not refuse the right reasons, he followed them.

A few days later, Ge Pangxiao also changed sides.

Because Teacher Liao Ran, besides reading Buddhist scriptures, was also very proficient and had extensive knowledge of various kinds of dolls and other Ziliujin-powered machines, Ge Pangxiao even met people from the Ling Shu Institute at his place.

The boy who really craved to ride the Giant Kite and fly to the sky even though only in his dreams immediately knelt at the feet of the Buddha without a second word.

Throughout this year, the old butler was actually used to Chang Geng who ran to Hu Guo’s temple after a few days, he didn’t really care at first.

Unexpectedly, His Majesty took over bad qualities instead of good ones. After arriving at Hu Guo Temple, he followed Gu Yun’s example and disappeared without saying goodbye.

The child first instructed the guards, explaining that he and Teacher Liao Ran would close the door to meditate in peace for a while, unrelated people should not disturb them. The guards, of course, did not dare to interfere and just stayed outside the door.

That same afternoon, Chang Geng brought along two traitors and followed Teacher Liao Ran to travel to Jiangnan.

After a few days, the guards noticed an abnormality and went to look for them, but only one letter could be found in the Zen room.

The old butler wants to cry. On one hand, he sent someone to notify the Emperor while sending a letter to Gu Yun at the same time.

The emperor was very generous after hearing the news. First of all, he didn’t really care about his little brother who had appeared out of nowhere. Second, because he believes in Buddhism, he also places blind faith in Master Liao Ran. When he heard that Chang Geng followed him to travel, he could feel nothing but admiration, resented the fact that he was bound by public life and could not follow the teacher to enjoy his knowledge.

At the moment Gu Yun is far out of reach and cannot be counted. There was news that the Western Region was infected with countless desert bandits, every day Gu Yun chased after them who knows where. Even when the envoys arrived at the Xi Liang Gate, if they wanted to see Marshal Gu immediately, they could only rely on luck.

Although Liao Ran is a monk, she rarely discusses the scriptures and never talks about Dharma or Buddhist poetry that is difficult to understand. Often, he talks about some general knowledge. As a monk, he did not seem to practice his religion well, he seemed too immersed in the mortal world. He will even go as far as making comments about current politics, but will always burn all posts after they have finished speaking.

After half a month, at a small tea shop in Jiangnan, three teenagers sat with a monk, around a table.

The growing season in Jiangnan had begun, but when he saw it, there weren’t many people working in the fields. There were three old peasants in sun visors there, watching iron dolls who were working hard.

Compared to intimidating dolls used to guard manor and sword training dolls, these peaceful farm dolls don’t look like humans, they are more like small carts, running back and forth in the field while wearing buffalo heads carved out of wood, it looks very plain.

This is the first group of farm dolls sent by the Imperial Palace, after their first trial in Nanjing.

Back when Ge Pangxiao was still living in Yanhui City, he had harbored an extraordinary interest in the pile of broken copper and iron. Her eyes shone brightly as she watched the dolls.

Liao Ran tapped on the table to draw Chang Geng and the others’ attention back to him. After one year, Chang Geng was able to understand the sign language, the monk no longer had to write one word at a time.

“I have seen farm puppets in Western countries abroad, just one doll can easily take care of one hectare of land. Although it still needs to be run with a small amount of Ziliujin, after some improvement and improvement, coal alone is enough to support most of its mechanism of action. The cost can be reduced by a large amount, it is said that one doll is even more economical than Chang Ming’s lamp. “

Ge Pangxiao, “That’s a good thing, does that mean from now on farmers don’t need to wake up early and stay up late to work?

The puppets undergoing the trial were assigned to Nanjing by the Imperial Palace. The landowners can register their names and bring home one, they are also responsible for the subsequent maintenance of the doll. If the tenants want to continue to plant themselves, they are free to do so, if not, they can surrender the land they rent to the dolls. When the harvest season arrives in the coming year, rent will increase by 10% to compensate for the embers and the small amount of Ziliujin used by dolls.

In the first year, very few people did, because they had to pay increased rent. But when the second year came, this plan became even broader. People have realized that the work force of this object is far greater than the strength of humans. The rent costs increased, but the amount of food they could save themselves was still far more than before, in addition, they no longer had to work in the morning. Good things like this, who doesn’t want to join?

So this is the reason behind the empty fields in Jiangnian, with no peasant to be seen.

Liao Ran smiled and said nothing.

Chang Geng suddenly said, “I don’t think this is a good thing. If an iron doll can really replace people, then what can people use it for? Land rented by tenants also belongs to local officials. The first few years , these people might still agree to feed farmers who are unemployed for old age, but how many years can it last? “

Ge Pangxiao was obsessed with all kinds of machines, longing for him even in dreams, he immediately said, “They can stay and become Mechanics!”

Cao Niangzi, “This is what I know, even though you collect all the steel armor from all Yanhui city defense forces, only two Mechanics are enough to repair them, they only come to look for Gur 一 General Shen once when they are too busy, they are not need a lot of Mechanics. “

Ge Pangxiao, “They can look for something that can be done, like …”

Like what, he could not think of anything for a moment. Previously, the living conditions of the butcher’s family were not bad at all. In the eyes of Ge Pangxiao, there are countless other jobs that can be done besides farming.

Cao Niangzi tried to pull his gaze from Liao Ran’s face and asked, “So if people can’t find work, or a large number of people can’t find work, will they rebel?”

Liao Ran looked at him, Cao Niangzi’s face blushed red.

Liao Ran gestured, “They won’t rebel in the last few years.”

The three boys were silent for a few moments, Chang Geng asked, “Is it because of my Yifu?”

Liao Ran smiled and looked at him.

“I remember that on New Year’s Eve that year, the tiger brought by the stranger was lost, the people on the streets were in chaos. Only after they saw my Yifu did they finally become calm.”

Chang Geng stopped and said, “I then heard someone say, there was a sea of countless people near the Qi Yuan tower. If it wasn’t for Yifu who had stabilized them, there would be more people who would lose their lives just by pushing and pushing one another. “

Liao Ran, “For taking His Majesty out to travel like this, I have committed a great crime against the Marquis of Order. If this problem is revealed in the future, I pray that under the Marquis’ blades, His Majesty will protect the little monk’s life. . “

Ge Pangxiao and Cao Niangzi both laughed, because they thought that he was just kidding. However, in their impression, Gu Yun was always cheerful and pleasant.

Liao Ran smiled bitterly, skipping this topic, she sighed, “People used to tell legends that the previous Marquis along with an army of thirty people had succeeded in making the North Wolf bow their heads. It was said that the soldiers of the Black Iron Camp were gods with the ability amazingly, nothing can hurt them. With the Black Iron Camp functioning as a strong and powerful beam, even though there are groups of rebellions made up of civilian masses, it is difficult for them to grow to a larger scale. “

Chang Geng sat upright, “But I hear people say that if someone wants to destroy a house, the first thing to do is break the beam.”

Liao Ran looked at the young man in front of her, if Gu Yun returned, maybe he would not recognize Chang Geng again. In just one year, he had shot a few inches, and the childish marks on his face had disappeared.

The boy who was worried just because he went out on New Year’s Eve was now sitting in a small teahouse in the Jiangnan countryside, chatting with a monk about people’s lives.

Liao Ran, “Your Majesty does not need to worry, the Marquis has fully realized this.”

Chang Geng recalled the call “Life is inevitable” in Gu Yun’s room and was shocked by a wave of longing and longing that suddenly emerged from his heart. He sat quietly for a moment, letting all his longing freely emerge. He smiled sadly, then took a cup of tea and finished it all at once.

Gu Yun, who was missed by Chang Geng, was still in the wilderness of the Western Region. He has been faced with the largest desert bandit group in the local area for more than a month.

Xi Liang Gate no longer looked as quiet as before. Since Great Liang and the Pope signed the agreement, the entire Xi Liang gate has become a treasure. Traders and tourists quickly gathered together, residents of nearby cities have skyrocketed, Westerners, people from the Central Plains, and people from other small neighboring countries from the Western Region are living together.

Lou Lan, which is located at the entrance of the Silk Road, has become a trading place. They quickly moved from a small country that had never been heard of to a land of gold.

The Lou Lan people feel very happy and happy, they live and work calmly, never causing problems. In the past, the Western Rebellion had nothing to do with them. Their relationship with Great Liang has always been very profitable. Therefore, the Emperor specifically placed the entrance of the Silk Road here.

“Marshal, Xiao Jia’s party has taken the den of thieves, shall we act now?”

Gu Yun, “What are you waiting for? Catch their leader, tonight we will go and get free food at prince Lou Lan’s place!”

When he said this, he gently pressed his eyelids.

Shen Yi, “Did something happen to your eyes again …”

“No,” Gu Yun complained, “My eyelids keep twitching, maybe …”

He wasn’t finished talking when a guard suddenly stepped forward and issued a letter, “Marshal!”

Gu Yun, “Oh, where is that from?”

The guard, “A letter from the manor’s house sent to the Xi Liang gate. The family servant could not find you so he handed it to the people of Lou Lan to be sent here.”

Maybe it was Chang Geng’s reply.

Gu Yun thought when his hand opened the letter, he was looking forward to it.

Then Shen Yi saw Gu Yun’s expression slowly change.

Shen Yi, “What’s wrong?”

“Liao Ran, this bald donkey, it’s better he doesn’t fall into my hands.” Gu Yun said grimly, walking back and forth in his tent with his hands behind his back, then kicking the table upside down, “Arrange some Black Eagle for me, Ji Ping, for a while you will take care of things here for me.”

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