Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 439 Passed away one after another
Huang Zhong died in 220 AD at the age of 75.

But now I have lived for nearly seven years longer, and I am already 82 years old, and I am still active on the battlefield.

Shen Chen thought that the old general might be able to live longer, because at least the old general seemed to be in good health, with a daily eclipse and a fight, the strength to open a three-stone bow, and the courage of innocence.

Unexpectedly, General Huang, who seemed to have no illness, died of no illness on an ordinary night in December 226 AD.

The world is unpredictable, and the fate of people is always so elusive.

When Shen Chen heard the news, he was deeply saddened, and hurried to Lantian to attend the funeral for the old general.

Huang Zhong is a native of Nanyang. Historically, Nanyang was occupied by Cao Wei. Naturally, after his death, his soul cannot return to his hometown, and the fallen leaves return to their roots.

But now that Nanyang is in the hands of the imperial court, he can be buried in his ancestral land and his soul can return home.

Shen Chen ordered Zhao Yun to be the chief general, and Pang De to be the deputy general to sit in Chang'an on his behalf. He personally carried the coffin and sent the old general's body back to Nanyang.

Besides Shen Chen, Huang Zhong's heir, Huang Cheng, and some of Huang Zhong's generals sent him back all the way.

Fortunately, Liu Bei selected Huang Cheng as his heir from the descendants of Huang Zhong's brothers, continuing Huang Zhong's bloodline. Otherwise, the old general might not even have a single descendant.

Liu Bei over there also soon learned of Huang Zhong's death, and was very sad.However, he himself was bedridden and unable to go, so he had to order Ma Liang to hold festivals, and sent the emperor's guard of honor to mourn the old general.

Although Old General Huang wasted his time in his early years, in his later years he fought in Jingzhou to attack Jiangdong, beheaded Lv Meng and punished Xiahou.

It's just unfortunate that it was wartime, and the main generals were fighting on the front lines.Therefore, in addition to the envoy sent by the emperor Ma Liang to the imperial court, it was Zhuge Liang who went to Nanyang to preside over the funeral.

At the end of December, Huang Zhong was buried in the ancestral land of Nanyang.According to his wishes during his lifetime and the thin burial style currently advocated by the court, he was buried in a simple manner. Apart from the red blood knife and precious carving bow he had used, only a pair of armor was buried with him.

More than a month later, time has gradually diluted the sadness of Huang Zhong's death.But I didn't expect that only one month later, in the seventh year of Zhangwu, that is, at the beginning of 227 AD, the old Taiwei Jia Xu finally died of illness.

In fact, since the year before last, Jia Xu has been in poor health and has some senile underlying diseases. He did not go to the front line to serve as Liu Bei's staff throughout last year, and has been recuperating in Xiangyang.

If it weren't for the famous doctors in the south, like Shen Chen who once bribed the jailer to get Hua Tuo's "Book of Green Bags", and Zhang Zhongjing, many veterans and officials could always take good care of their bodies and minds.I am afraid that an old courtier like Jia Xu will probably die early.

But now it's time to die.

In history, Jia Xu died in 223 A.D., and now he has lived 4 years longer than in history, and he has lived to 81 years old.

Jia Xu was not sent back to Liangzhou this time, Wuwei has been taken back by Shen Chen, but Liangzhou is too far away, Jia Xu's body may have rotted away when sent back.

Therefore, according to the wishes of Jia Xu's family, they were finally buried in Xiangyang, at the foot of Mount Xian, where Jia Xu often climbed, and accompanied by Qingshan.

In the same way, Liu Bei sent Ma Liang to hold the festival, and Zhuge Liang presided over the funeral to see the old Taiwei off.

The saddest thing about Jia Xu's death was Zhang Xiu.

In fact, he has always been respectful to Jia Xu, treating Jia Xu as his father.Moreover, the Liangzhou Group has a relatively small number of people in the Liu Bei Group. Only Jia Xu and Zhang Xiu, the two Wuwei fellows, support each other and work hard.

Now that Jia Xu died, he was deeply saddened and soon fell ill. After more than 20 days, Zhang Xiu, a veteran in his 60s, also died of illness, ending his life of repeated jumping and jumping.

Although Zhang Xiu is not the general of the first echelon of the Liu Bei Group, he is also a relatively high-ranking second echelon.

If it weren't for the slow promotion due to the problem of standing in the team in the early years, I am afraid that the ranking would be higher.

The main reason is that when he defected to Liu Bei later, he was not alone, but went with thousands of cavalry.

For the Liu Bei Group, which was extremely short of cavalry at that time, it undoubtedly solved the urgent need, and it also allowed Liu Bei to have cavalry to compete with Cao Cao.

So even if he repeatedly jumps up and down on the issue of standing in line, which is disliked by loyal people, if he joins the credit for leading troops, he is considered a capital investment, and his status belongs to the senior general of the Dahan Group who can lead the army alone.

Naturally, his death due to illness should also be taken seriously, so in terms of specifications, he was only slightly inferior to Huang Zhong and Jia Xu, and he was also buried in the south.

Not long after, Huang She, the general who conquered the South and the commander of the Jiangxia Navy, also died in Changsha. After the entire south was pacified, the navy was no longer useful. Because the Northern Expedition needed an army, the navy continued to develop south.

In the past few years, Huang She has been staying in the south, pacifying Jiaozhou, and even went to Zhuyazhou and Yizhou along the offshore sea. The big man has also been to Luzon, so they are sailing in the direction of Luzon.

However, Huang She was relatively old, so he stayed in Changsha himself, and only let the navy sit in various parts of Jiaozhou, expanding to the offshore, and even the fleet arrived in Jiaozhi, regaining Jiuzhen and Rinan County.

As a result, at this point in time, jaundice died.

In just three months, four old ministers left one after another, which dealt a heavy blow to Liu Bei, and his condition did not improve for a long time.

There is nothing he can do about it.

We can only treat the heirs of meritorious officials favorably, let Huang Zhong's stepson Huang Cheng, Jia Xu's eldest son Jia Mu, youngest son Jia Mo, Zhang Xiu's eldest son Zhang Quan, and Huang She's eldest son Huang Xu inherit their titles and give them generous rewards.

In May of the seventh year of Zhang Wu, Mi Zhu also died.

In history, because of Mi Fang's betrayal, Mi Zhu felt guilty and uneasy, but Liu Bei comforted him, which made Mi Zhu even more ashamed and indignant, and finally died of shame.

But now without Mi Fang's betrayal, Mi Zhu will naturally not be as sad and indignant as in history.

It's just that time will not pity anyone after all, and Mi Zhu is also very old, almost 70 years old. At this age, no matter how well maintained it is, it is inevitable that such a time has come.

In fact, since the last five years, after Cao Cao and Liu Bei finished the battle of Jingzhou and Guanzhong, the senior generals and courtiers of both sides have been dying one after another.

For example, Cao Cao himself died of illness, and historical celebrities such as Cao Hong, Zhao Yan, Xiahou Dun, Guo Jia, Xun You, Xing Yong, and Huan Jie died.

On Liu Bei's side, generals and ministers such as Tai Shici, Xu Jing, Huang Zhu, Wu Lan, and Ren Kui died of illness one after another.

Both sides suffered losses to varying degrees.

The main reason is that most of the old people who conquered the world were born between 140 and 170. Now in 227 AD, even Shen Chen, who was born in 187, is over [-] this year, not to mention Liu Bei's contemporaries Generals and counselors?
The youngest of them is 57 years old, and the oldest are in their 80s.At this historical point, between 220 AD and 230 AD, a large number of veteran officials will inevitably leave, which will deal a certain blow to both sides.

But in contrast, the second generation of Cao Wei has already supported the situation.The Liu Bei Group also has a large number of successors and heirs, which will not cause the middle layer to be disconnected.

Cao Xiu, Cao Zhen, and Xia Houshang of the second generation of Cao Wei are all good talents, and there are also a group of rising stars such as Guo Huai and Xia Houba.

The big man is even more star-studded.

Shen Chen, Zhuge Liang, Jiang Wei, Deng Ai, Zhou Buyi, Cai Du, Guan Ping, Guan Xing, Zhang Bao, etc., are all characters who can stand on their own.

Especially Shen Chen, he was already the leader of the Liu Bei Group in the veteran era, and after the veterans left one after another, he became an important minister of the country, and his status may be the same as Zhuge Liang, in charge of the power of the great man.

So even if the previous generation has reached the time to go, the next generation of successors of the two empires can continue, and it will be a time when the two sides meet head-to-head.

On May [-]th, Nanyang Wancheng.

In the emperor's temporary palace, the emperor lived in the back garden, where the flower and bird pond had a pleasant scenery.

Liu Bei was sitting by the pond, his hair was all white, last year it was only gray and white, but now it is gray, his skin is loose, and his complexion is full of wrinkles, as if he is dying.

At this age, even as an emperor, it is hard to escape the fate of aging.

What's more, Liu Bei's health has been deteriorating in the past two years, but he didn't work on military affairs all day long on the front line, and Zhuge Liang took care of state affairs. After relaxing his body and mind and only taking care of his body, his condition did not continue to deteriorate.

At this moment, he was sitting by the pond, looking at the carp swimming in the pond, feeling slightly lost in thought.

The prefect of Nanyang, Zhou Buji, has been promoted to the prefect of state herdsmen for his meritorious service in supervising the transportation of grain and grass, raising the corvees of the people, and making equipment in the past few years.

Now that Liu Bei has returned to Nanyang, Deng Hong and Zhou Buyi are both in Nanyang to handle the logistics of the rear, and they have to report to the emperor every day.

After Zhou Buyi reported the matter to Liu Bei today, he saw that Liu Bei seemed to be a little absent-minded, so he asked curiously: "Is your majesty still thinking about the military affairs at the front line?"

"No."

Liu Bei shook his head.

Zhou Buyi asked, "Who is His Majesty?"

Liu Bei sighed, "In just a few months, four of my old ministers died of illness."

Zhou Buyi comforted: "When a person's life is over, the senior brother often said that no one will die in life since ancient times, but we must keep our loyal heart and take care of Han Qing. Life is not about the length, but about whether you can do meaningful things. This is also true. Tai Shigong said that death is more important than Mount Tai and lighter than a feather."

"Are you trying to tell me that I shouldn't be lamenting life and death, but should pay more attention to the great cause of the Northern Expedition?"

Liu Bei said.

Zhou Buyi smiled and said: "Yes, Your Majesty inherits Gaozu Guangwu's ambition, so naturally he wants to gather the popularity of people all over the world, unify the world, and restore the Han Dynasty."

Liu Bei likes what Zhou Buyu said very much, because his words can always speak to his heart.

After a while, Liu Bei still said sadly: "People are not grass and trees, and they cannot be ruthless after all. Besides, even if I can give up thinking about them, I am also very old and dying."

Zhou Buyi said in a deep voice: "Although a person has a time to die, his ambitions and great wishes cannot be extinguished by time and life. His Majesty's ambition to rule the world and his heart to love all people, together with the two sworn brothers, senior brothers, and the prime minister The kindness like a fish in water is always in our hearts, the prince has the magnanimity of His Majesty, as long as we inherit this kindness and pass it on from generation to generation, our long-cherished wish will come true one day."

"Yes."

Liu Bei looked at the distant sky and murmured to himself: "Even if I die, there are still Gongsi, Xiaoqing, and Kong Ming who can take on the great cause. I have no regrets. Cough cough cough cough."

A slight cough caused the attendant next to him to hand over the handkerchief nervously.

He didn't cough up blood on the handkerchief, but Liu Bei felt uncomfortable all over his body, he had no energy, and he felt pain all over his body. At this age, if he couldn't feel at ease, his life span would be shortened.

After a while, the Imperial Physician Order from afar came over with a plate of decoction and said to Liu Bei, "Your Majesty, you have taken the medicine."

Zhou Buyi helped Liu Bei bring the medicine, and said to him: "Your Majesty, relax your body and mind. Take the decoction when you should take the decoction, and your illness will be cured. Now, during the Northern Expedition, Your Majesty will see the day when the great Han is unified."

"Ha ha."

Liu Bei smiled, took the bowl and said: "I will not hide my illness like Cao Mengde, and kill Hua Tuo because Hua Tuo wants to open his head to take the wind from his head. Even if he doesn't want to open his head, why kill the doctor? Woolen cloth?"

He picked up the bowl and was about to drink.

Ma Liang hurried in from outside with a solemn face, and when he came to Liu Bei, he saw that he was drinking medicine, so he didn't speak.

Liu Bei drank half of it, and seeing that Ma Liang's face was not very good-looking, he put down the bowl in his hand and said, "Ji Chang, what happened? Is there something wrong with the front line?"

Ma Liang said in a deep voice, "It's Zi Zhonggong. He died of illness the day before yesterday."

"Alas!"

Liu Bei was stunned for a moment, and said, "Zizhong is dead?"

I don't know if the bowl in my hand falls on the ground.

Although Mi Zhu is not a resourceful person, he has been supporting Liu Bei since Xuzhou, and even married his younger sister to him.

Their relationship is very deep, and they belong to the earliest ministers of the dragon after Guan Zhang.

After Liu Bei established the country, even though Mi Zhu had no talent and low desire for power, he still gave him a very high status, and even let him manage the country's finances and give full play to his commercial ability.

Now hearing that Mi Zhu passed away suddenly, Liu Bei was in a daze for a moment.

"His Majesty."

Ma Liang comforted him, "Please give me condolences."

"Ugh"

Liu Bei let out a long sigh, feeling even more depressed, and said, "Go back to Xiangyang, let me go and see Zizhong."

He could not go to see others, but Mi Zhu was a minister of the dragon, so he had to go back.

It's just that his health is very bad, Ma Liang persuaded: "Your Majesty, it's better to rest and recuperate now, and I will take the festival to see Zi Zhonggong off."

Liu Bei shook his head: "Zizhong has been with me for more than thirty years. If I don't go to see him, how can I sleep? What's more, Zizhong has a spirit in the sky, and he will resent me for being ruthless."

"His Majesty."

"I've made up my mind, let's go back to Xiangyang tomorrow. It's my fault that I can't send him back to Donghai, Xuzhou, and return to his hometown for burial."

Liu Bei looked up to the north.

His eyes were full of sorrow and mourning.

I wasted most of my life, although I established a foundation in the south.

But the first group of veterans followed him all the way from the north and wandered away from their hometowns to come here.

You can't take them back when you're alive, and you can't take them back after death.

Liu Bei's heart was full of guilt.

Since we can't let them return to their roots, we should go and see them, and see them for the last time, that's the only way to go.

(End of this chapter)