Chapter 15: Heaven and Earth Mourn Together, Gu Xiao Passes Away

When the news spread that Gu Chen had been expelled from the Gu family for violating the Gu family rules, the entire Hebei region was shaken.

Everyone was left dumbfounded; no one had expected Gu Xiao to make such a resolute decision.

Gu family rules?

Just how strict could they be to make Gu Xiao abandon even his own younger brother?

And wasn't the Gu family just a clan that had only recently started to rise?

How could they even have something like family rules?

No one could imagine why the Gu family would do this; after all, in their eyes, the current Gu family lacked sufficient foundation, and such an act was undoubtedly digging their own grave.

Yet, when the iron-clad facts were laid before them, everyone could only accept it helplessly.

What followed were the same old tactics of the great clans.

But with the examples of those previous officials, who would dare to accept bribes now?

With Gu Xiao now presiding over Hebei, his deterrent power was immense.

Who would dare to act presumptuously in front of the founding hero of the dynasty?

Moreover, Gu Xiao had even pushed out his own younger brother; if they were to be greedy and get caught, the consequences were enough to make these officials arriving in Hebei think deeply.

Some things, once done, require paying a price.

And these people had made a clear choice in the midst of this.

In an instant, the land measurement in the Hebei region became even stricter because of this.

It was unclear whether this was at the request of Liu Xiu.

The first to bear the brunt was the Prince of Zhending, Liu Yang.

This old prince still thought he could use his old tricks to weather this disaster, but as the most conspicuous target, no one was willing to risk helping him.

And unable to endure such devastation any longer, he passed away suddenly in his home.

Immediately following were the great clans of Hebei.

Those who yielded and cooperated by relinquishing their interests were fine, but any family that tried to use other means suffered absolute liquidation.

The entire Hebei region was in a massive tremor.

Cries of grief were heard everywhere.

Facing the backlash from these great clans, Liu Xiu's methods were also very direct.

Anyone who dared to rebel was to be executed without exception;

while those who did not rebel but thought to bribe officials were all relocated to other commanderies, severing their ties with their original regions.

Gu Yi had indeed guessed correctly; Liu Xiu's move was to strip a layer of skin off all the great clans of the world!

But all of this was destined to have nothing to do with the current Gu family.

Let the outside world be chaotic; the Gu family stood on the sidelines, overlooking everything.

From that day on, Gu Yi devoted himself entirely to the internal affairs of the family.

Aside from daily education issues, he began to research what the Gu family rules should entail.

Gu Yi did not want to make all Gu family descendants into saints.

After all, in the imperial court, the situation was treacherous and complex; overly pedantic "saints" were often easily manipulated by others.

He wanted to set a standard that was just right.

He wanted the Gu family descendants to have a certain flexibility in terms of morality, while also holding fast to an insurmountable bottom line.

—They must never harm the common people for personal gain.

This was the first iron rule of the Gu family regulations; whoever touched it, no matter who they were, would be immediately cleared from the family.

Similar to this was the prohibition against usurping power.

Gu Yi did not want a guy in the family who would want to rebel at every turn.

Not to mention whether it could succeed, even if it did, the entire direct line of the Gu family would likely be lost with the change of dynasties.

This was a price Gu Yi could not bear.

Beyond this, there were some requirements regarding virtues and the like.

Of course, these requirements were not as severely punished as acts of harming the people.

Furthermore, Gu Yi strengthened the core ideology of the entire family.

That was: do not compete for a single generation, but for ten thousand generations.

Gu Yi wanted all family descendants to strive for this goal, constantly emphasizing this point to Gu Kang and Gu Cheng.

Although Gu Yi did not know if doing this would actually have an effect.

But these were all things he had to prepare.

And as the formulation of the family rules was completed, Gu Yi gradually turned his attention to other aspects.

He still did not know how to earn achievement points, but based on his past gaming experience, he had some ideas.

Thus, he began to manipulate Gu Xiao to launch a series of attempts, while also taking precautions for the future of the family.

First—was the agricultural aspect.

Gu Yi told Gu Kang a great deal of experience regarding modern agriculture.

These experiences were considered common knowledge for modern people, but for the current Great Han Dynasty, they were precious.

He often intentionally took Gu Kang and Gu Cheng to the fields to watch the farmers work.

And he would speak to them about theoretical knowledge, as well as guiding words like how much better it would be if tools could be improved.

Gu Cheng had little interest in this; being far superior to ordinary people in martial prowess, he was clearly a year younger than Gu Kang, yet his physique had already surpassed Gu Kang's.

But Gu Kang listened very carefully.

Especially as he grew older, he could consider more and more things.

Facing the theories Gu Yi put forward, he would sometimes show a look of sudden realization, and sometimes fall into long periods of thought.

Of course, Gu Yi would naturally not give up on Gu Cheng.

In addition to having Gu Xiao teach him martial arts, Gu Yi was also instilling in him knowledge about training troops from the modern era.

Gu Yi would naturally not force growth by pulling on the seedlings.

That would only be counterproductive.

The second generation of the Gu family was the focus of the entire family's development and could not tolerate any carelessness.

These experiences were all things Gu Xiao had practiced when he was training troops in Shecheng.

Improving obedience was crucial in this era, which was still dominated by cold weapon warfare.

And during this period, Gu Yi was also leaving books for the family, all of which were technologies that could be realized in the current era.

For example—woodblock printing.

Gu Yi intended to test whether, besides guiding family members to explore, he would earn achievement points if he explicitly left technology for the family and let future generations comprehend and complete it.

A two-pronged approach could also be considered a guarantee for Gu Yi to be able to manipulate things again in the future.

As for spoilers about the future, Gu Yi left absolutely none.

The sudden emergence of the Gu family had already made changes to the current history.

What would the future be like?

Who could be entirely certain?

Rather than leaving behind so-called future events to mislead family members, it was better to strengthen the quality of the entire Gu family's personnel and develop steadily.

Of course, Gu Yi would naturally not only develop internally.

Gu Xiao had to send letters to Liu Xiu every month, and Liu Xiu would also send letters to Gu Xiao from time to time.

It was precisely because of this that the title of Gu Xiao as the number one favorite official not only did not fade with the passage of time, but became even more prominent.

At the same time, Gu Yi was also doing things in the entire fiefdom in the name of the Gu family.

He repaired water conservancy to help the people and, in coordination with the imperial court's tax policy, reduced the taxes of the farmers in the fiefdom at the first opportunity.

Besides this, Gu Yi also opened private schools; unlike other great clans that only served their own, the Gu family's private schools were open to outsiders.

These things were not considered major events at the moment.

But for the future...

Gu Yi felt that this would definitely be one of the Gu family's trump cards.

And the days quietly slipped away amidst these major events.

The good news was that Gu Xiao had another pair of children, but unfortunately, compared to Gu Kang and Gu Cheng, their attributes were quite average.

There were no eye-catching attributes; they belonged to the category of normal people.

But Gu Yi did not reduce his cultivation of them in the slightest.

After a series of suppressions, the implementation of the Land Measurement Decree had become an unstoppable fact.

The effectiveness of Liu Xiu's methods was exceptionally significant.

After experiencing a brief period of turmoil, the entire Great Han Dynasty seemed to have been reborn, presenting a brand-new atmosphere.

"Cattle and horses graze, and the city gates are not closed!"

The appearance of such a scene vividly demonstrated the extraordinary effects of Liu Xiu's series of policies.

Especially after a period of praise from the students of the Imperial Academy, the current Great Han actually had some signs of a prosperous age.

And when the situation was completely stabilized, the subsequent development was just as it was in history.

The 20th year of Jianwu, July;

—The Crown Prince Liu Qiang voluntarily resigned from the position of Crown Prince and was enfeoffed by Liu Xiu as the Prince of Donghai, and Liu Zhuang was named the new Crown Prince.

Logically speaking, changing the Crown Prince would cause a massive tremor in the court and the public in any dynasty.

Yet in the current Great Han, this matter did not stir up any waves.

After all, from the moment Guo Shengtong was deposed, unless Liu Xiu suddenly died, the fate of Liu Qiang was already sealed.

Having experienced so many years, there was no one left to support Liu Qiang by his side.

A Crown Prince without a foundation, how much of a storm could he possibly stir up?

And Liu Xiu had not forgotten his promise.

In the very next year, the marriage between Princess Yuyang, Liu Li, and Gu Kang, the eldest son of Champion Marquis Gu Xiao, was finalized.

Once this news spread, the whole world was shocked!

Facing the rising star Gu Xiao, everyone thought that at most, Gu Xiao could only be considered a minister of one generation; after all, how could his descendants possibly be as favored as he was?

But now, his offspring had actually become betrothed to the Crown Prince's own sister.

Who could not be shocked?

For a time, Gu Xiao's title of "First Favored Minister" could be said to have reached its peak.

And this grand wedding was destined to be incredibly magnificent.

From the high officials in the imperial court down to the great clans in every region.

Especially those great clans of Hebei who had gradually distanced themselves from the Gu family due to the land measurement, almost all of them prepared heavy gifts, wanting to re-establish ties with the Gu family.

Facing these treasures, Gu Yi directly picked out the most valuable ones and placed them into the Gu family's treasury.

This was something Gu Xiao had created when he first arrived in Hebei.

Today, the treasury could be said to hold countless precious items.

Of course, Gu Yi was evaluating them with a modern perspective, and most of them were things with special significance.

If these things were placed in the Great Han, although they were extraordinary, they could not bring about much profit.

But for the modern era, it was different!

For example, the original portrait of Liu Xiu's ascension, which still bore Liu Xiu's imperial seal, and even the seal of the Heirloom Seal of the Realm; this was something Gu Xiao had specifically sought out Liu Xiu to stamp later on.

Besides this, Gu Yi even placed every letter Liu Xiu had sent over the years inside.

Gu Yi also did not know how many of these things would remain as time passed.

But how could he care about so much?

If even one of these items could be preserved, it would likely be of national treasure level.

During this period, Liu Xiu also wrote to Gu Xiao more than once, wanting him to return to Luoyang.

But alas, Gu Xiao was truly old.

With his constantly increasing age, he was like most military generals of this era, with hidden ailments within his body erupting one by one.

In just a few short months.

Gu Xiao went from a sturdy middle-aged and elderly man to being bedridden.

When Liu Xiu learned of this news, he immediately sent dozens of imperial physicians over.

But alas, Gu Xiao seemed to have truly reached his end.

Julu.

Looking at Gu Xiao on the bed, the eye sockets of his four offspring could not help but turn red at this moment.

Parting in life and death had always been a very painful matter.

"Father, your health..."

Gu Kang, as the eldest son, knelt at the very front, his voice trembling slightly, unable to bear telling Gu Xiao the diagnosis of the imperial physicians.

But Gu Xiao seemed to have known the outcome long ago, and he calmly took up the conversation, "I am not going to make it?"

"Father..."

Several of them immediately shed tears, especially the girl Gu Ling, who cried out loud.

"What are you crying for!"

Gu Xiao scolded weakly, his face devoid of any fear of facing death, "In this life of mine, I have no regrets."

"But regarding matters after my passing, I still need to give instructions."

Perhaps due to a final burst of clarity, Gu Xiao's tone gradually gained some strength.

"I, Gu Xiao, was born a hero; I do not care about matters after death."

"Therefore, after I die, keep the funeral simple."

"You all need not be overly sorrowful."

"Life and death are both fated; if my Gu family can truly be passed down for ten thousand generations, I will be at peace even in the netherworld."

"Tell His Majesty not to be sad because of my death, so as not to harm his imperial health."

"..."

He just quietly gave instructions for everything.

Gu Yi had been watching all of this, his mood equally complex, and he did not make any interference.

Although all of this was like watching a controllable movie to him, they were, after all, his own ancestor.

The final time to give instructions to his offspring.

He had to leave it to himself.

As time gradually slipped away, Gu Xiao's tone once again gradually grew weak.

Gu Kang, Gu Cheng, and the others had already realized something and could no longer control their tears.

And at the very moment Gu Xiao was about to close his eyes.

Gu Yi only felt the scene before his eyes becoming increasingly blurry, and that feeling of being able to control everything at any time gradually faded away.

The moment Gu Xiao closed his eyes.

Everything in the scene finally became clear.

Except, unlike before—he had lost the first-person perspective of Gu Xiao.

That feeling of being able to control things with a single thought had also completely dissipated.

He seemed to have truly become a spectator.

He could only silently watch the development of everything and could no longer make any changes.

【The character you were merged with has died.】

【Because the character was operated by you, no achievement points can be obtained.】

The game prompt popped up instantly.

"Is it over..."

Gu Yi looked at the prompt before him and sighed deeply, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

However, before he could react, the scene before him suddenly changed.

The sky changed abruptly!

Everything before him was gradually turning dark; Gu Yi only had to move his mind to immediately see the situation outside.

He saw that the originally clear sky was rapidly darkening at this moment.

The dazzling sun was actually being swallowed bit by bit by darkness at this moment.

It was actually a solar eclipse!

——The 25th year of Jianwu... March.

Champion Marquis Gu Xiao passed away from illness; heaven and earth mourned together, and the sun was not seen in broad daylight.

—————————

"Compared to the traveler Wang Mang that most people believe in, in the author's opinion, if there truly is such a thing as a traveler, Champion Marquis Gu Xiao is the only one.

Whether it was being the first to follow Liu Xiu during the Battle of Kunyang, or later hiding in Hebei and launching a surprise attack on Handan...

Even the point that is most criticized by everyone now—his disregard for family affection—can be seen as his wisdom at the time through the current development of the Gu family.

His life's experience can be called legendary, from a commoner to the Champion Marquis of the Eastern Han, laying the foundation for the Gu family.

He was often able to make the most beneficial choices that fit the era.

Throughout his life, he seems to have never made a major mistake."

——Reflections after reading "Gu Family Clan History: Biography of Lord Xiao".

During the seedling period of the new book, I beg for brothers' support!

It concerns recommendations, please do not hoard the book!!! I will definitely release massive updates after it goes live!

And I beg for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets!

Send them over, brothers... it can increase the new book ranking's exposure!

I beg you!

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(End of this chapter)