The first night Gu Yun left the capital, as he put on the liuli glass, the clip suddenly broke. Then, the glass rolled down the bridge of his nose, knocked on one side of the black iron shoulder armor, then cracked.

      For a general about to depart on an expedition, the damage of his belongings was an ominous sign. The guard was frightened, afraid that Gu Yun would not favor such things.

      Gu Yun rubbed his nose and said, "Gee, did I already mastered Golden-Bell Armor and Iron-Cloth Shirt without being taught?"

*two techniques from the 72 techniques of Shaolin, which both refers to making oneself invulnerable to attacks

      The guard said, "This is ‘many years of peace*’ Marshal. I'll bring you another one."

*The word break(碎) is pronounced the same as the word "year(岁)", when breaking something, people would use this and say "many years of peace" instead

      The guard took care of his daily routines, knowing that he must have a spare liuli glass in his luggage, in the process of searching, he accidentally saw a large envelope placed together with Gu Yun's stack of clothes and belongings. It was thick to the touch, sealed with wax, the words ‘To Marshal Gu’ was written on it.

      The Marquis of Order with his hands full daily certainly did not have the hobby of writing letters to himself. This thing mixed in his clothes had the aura of ‘skin-to-skin closeness’, which naturally brought an ambiguous feeling of intimacy.

      Who could be the one who packed Gu Yun's clothes?

      Apart from the white-bearded old servants of the Marquis' Manor, perhaps it could only be a significant other.

      The seal was still intact, Gu Yun himself probably hasn't found the envelope yet. The little guard had a bright idea. He gleefully took both the backup glass and the envelope to Gu Yun altogether, speaking in a sly tone, "Marshal, there's an important letter in your clothes, you should look at it quickly, it would not be good if you forget."

      Gu Yun put on the glass, looked at the familiar handwriting on the envelope with a subtle look. As he raised his head, he instantly caught the sly look on the guard's face, he laughed and scolded: "What are you looking at, get out."

      The guard laughed, no longer probing, he made a face and ran away.

      The envelope in hand was quite weighty, resembling a thick book when picked up. If it was a love letter, it would probably have to be written starting from the years when His Royal Highness still wore diapers. Gu Yun opened the envelope while guessing: "Housing deed? Land title? Feng Huo ticket? Silver? Or the secret of immortality?"

      However, when he opened the contents, he was almost shocked by what was inside.

      It was a thick stack of drawings, with all soft and durable sea grain paper. Sea grain papers do not get affected by fire and water, but some places were still yellowing and the edges were curved, it seemed to have been drawn throughout many days, the ink on the paper was different in depth, perhaps the original owner had commented on it many times and was not just finished in a flash.

      The top one was a large picture of the whole nation of Great Liang, which could cover the floor when spread out, three rivers and five lakes, from Manjing to Ouyue...it's all on the paper. On the top of the map, there were also countless small letters in Kai style to mark where he wanted to open mountains, where to set up factories, where there were plenty of fish and rice in green mountains and waters, which ports were suitable for expansion and facing the four seas, where could the Sea Dragons truly travel, where could a route specially made for Ziliujin could be opened.

Which official roads need to be repaired, where to use Giant Kites and the improved Large Eagle to connect with each other, there were railings painted on the paper resembling an artery running all over the country - this was the railing of the Western's steam train Chang Geng once talked about, long like dragons and snakes, could travel thousands of miles a day. +

      Under the map, there was another drawing of the design of the steam train, accompanied by the professional annotations of Master Feng Han, with the calculation of transportation capacity along with funding and rations written by Du Wan Quan beside it. +

      In addition, the thick sea grain paper also had the explanation of the reformed official system in Great Liang's future, ‘Grand Council’ and ‘Canal Office’ have been achieved, but it also included many positions Gu Yun had never heard of before, hierarchical, highly efficient. +

      There were plenty of examples as such — +

      If Gu Yun were to see these things five years ago, he might have thought it was the imagination of a common folk storyteller. Now, although many things have not yet been completed, it was all as vivid as real, whether it had been achieved or have yet to, it was no longer a fantasy. +

      Under these drawings that resembled a fantasy, there was also a painting, the strokes were not exquisite, it could be seen that the painter was not good at this subject, but the artistic conception was straightforward. With a few strokes, it outlined a child playing with firecrackers on the roadside, behind him there was a fruit tree, no one knew what had grown, but there was a large bunch of bright colors in the branches, there was no telling if they were flowers or fruit — and in the distance, mountains and rivers layered on the edge, it appeared both joyful and peaceful. +

      There was neither inscription nor poem on the painting, only the words ‘heaven and earth at peace’ were written, resembled a note. +

      Infinite rivers and mountains, all were gathered in a stroke of ink. +

      Gu Yun's heart was very hot, he unconsciously reached out his hand and lightly pressed his chest. Only then did he find that he had been holding his breath without himself knowing and could not help but laugh silently while pressing his forehead. Xiao Chang Geng, who would act spoiled, was pitiful and endearing, but Yan Wang who sketched and designed the nation, was the one that moved his heart.

2

      In the blink of an eye, Gu Yun and Shen Yi had arrived at the front line of the Northern Frontier. Meanwhile, they secretly transferred a part of the Black Iron Camp's three factions to join behind the North City Defense Army. The former commander of the North City Defense Army had died when the barbarians invaded. The crucial frontier area cannot lack a veteran general, hence General Cai had been temporarily taking over this position. +

      Cai Fen truly was old, and he was getting older year by year. The last time Gu Yun joined forces with him to suppress bandits, he felt that his back was not so bent and his hands were not trembling this much. +

      In fact, how could it not? How many years could a man have in his life? How much blood can be spilled at will and not become cold? When one was in their twenty or thirty years old, they ventured on the battlefields, full of merit and fame. When they grew old and tired, even though the spirit cast in iron was still there, one could only start to waste their effort, isn't it the same as a person's beauty that could not last? +

      The battlefield in the Northern Frontier had been in a deadlock, but unlike Jiangnan separated by Changjiang, although the barbarians dare not make any big movement, there were many daily frictions. There would be a medium to small-scale battle between the Central Plains and Barbarians every three to five days. The whole army would have to be on standby throughout the night to patrol and dared not relax. Fortunately, Cai Fen's youngest pair of twins would soon be 20 years old. Most of his children were grown adults. The Cai's family army had taken shape, for better or worse, they could share his burden and not let the old general exhaust himself to death. +