Huang Zhong historically died in 220 AD at the age of 75.

But now he has lived for nearly seven more years, and he is 82 years old, and he is still active on the battlefield.

Shen Chen thought that the old general might be able to live longer, because at least it seemed that the old general was in good health, had a fight for a day, and could open a three-stone bow with his strength, and he had the courage of Lian Po.

Unexpectedly, General Huang, who seemed to be in no condition, died suddenly on an ordinary night in December 226 AD.

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

When Shen Chen got the news, he was grief-stricken, and hurriedly rushed to Lantian to mourn the old general.

Huang Zhong is a native of Nanyang, Nanyang was occupied by Cao Wei in history, and after death, he naturally could not return to his hometown and return to his roots.

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

Shen Chen then ordered Zhao Yun to be the main general and Pang De to be the deputy general, to sit in Chang'an on his behalf, personally carry the coffin, and send the old general's body to Nanyang.

In addition to Shen Chen, there was also Huang Zhong's heir Huang Cheng, as well as some of Huang Zhong's generals, who sent him back all the way.

Fortunately, Liu Bei chose Huang Cheng as his heir from among the descendants of his brothers for Huang Zhong, continuing Huang Zhong's bloodline, otherwise the old general may not even have a descendant.

Over there, Liu Bei also quickly learned of Huang Zhong's death and was saddened. However, he was already sick in bed and couldn't go, so he had to order Ma Liang to hold the festival and send the Son of Heaven honor guard to mourn the old general.

Although General Huang Lao wasted the years in his early years, he fought Jingzhou to attack Jiangdong in his later years, beheaded Lu Meng and punished Xiahou, and made outstanding achievements.

It's just that it is unfortunate that it is wartime, and the main generals are fighting on the front line. Therefore, on the court side, in addition to the envoy sent by the Son of Heaven to Ma Liang, Zhuge Liang 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 before his death, as well as the thin burial style advocated by the current imperial court, he was simply buried, except for the red blood knife and treasure carving bow that were once used, only a pair of battle armor was used to accompany the burial.

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

In fact, since the beginning of the previous year, Jia Xu has not been in good health, with some underlying diseases of old age, and he did not go to the front line to serve Liu Bei as a staff officer for the whole year 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 "Green Capsule Book", and Zhang Zhongjing, many veterans and ministers could always recuperate physically and mentally. I'm afraid that a very old courtier like Jia Xu will probably die early.

But now it's time to die.

In history, Jia Xu died in 223 AD, and now he has lived 4 years longer than in history, and his age has also lived to be 81 years old, which can be regarded as a happy funeral, but the old ministers left one after another, which still made Liu Bei exhausted and his condition became more and more serious.

This time Jia Xu was not sent back to Liangzhou, Wu Wei has now been taken back by Shen Chen, but Liangzhou is too far away, and I am afraid that Jia Xu's body will have rotted if he is sent back.

Therefore, according to the wishes of Jia Xu's family, he was finally buried in Xiangyang and placed at the foot of Da Xian Mountain, where Jia Xu often climbed, with the green mountains as his companion.

Similarly, Liu Bei sent Ma Liang to hold the festival, and Zhuge Liang presided over the funeral and saw off the old lady.

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

In fact, he has always been a child of Jia Xu and treats Jia Xu with respect as a father. And the Liangzhou Group is in a relatively small number of people in Liu Bei's group, so only Jia Xu and Zhang Xiu, two Wuwei fellows, support each other and continue to work hard.

Now that Jia Xu died, he was suddenly very sad, and soon fell ill, and after more than 20 days, the veteran Zhang Xiu, who was already in his sixties, also died of illness, ending his life of repeated horizontal jumps.

Although Zhang Xiu is not the first echelon general of Liu Bei Group, he is also the top of the second echelon.

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

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

This undoubtedly solved the urgent need for Liu Bei's group, which was extremely lacking in cavalry at that time, and also allowed Liu Bei to have cavalry to compete with Cao Cao.

Therefore, even if he repeatedly jumps sideways on the issue of standing in line, which is disliked by loyal and righteous people, but rushing to lead troops to join this merit, it can be regarded as a capital contribution, and his status belongs to the senior general who can lead the army alone in the Dahan Group.

His death naturally needs to be taken seriously, so he is only slightly inferior to Huang Zhong and Jia Xu in terms of specifications, and he is also buried in the south.

And not long after, Huang Jie, the general of Zhengnan and the commander of the Jiangxia Naval Division, also died in Changsha, and after pacifying the entire south, the naval division was of little use, because the Northern Expedition needed an army, so the naval division continued to develop to the south.

In the past few years, Huang Jie has been staying in the south, pacifying Jiaozhou, and even going to sea along the offshore sea all the way to Zhuyazhou and Yizhou, and the Han have also been to Luzon, so they are sailing in the direction of Luzon.

However, Huang Zhu was older, so he stayed in Changsha, only letting the sailors sit in various parts of Jiaozhou, expanding to the sea, and even the fleet arrived in Jiaozhi and recovered Jiuzhen and Rinan County.

As a result, at this point in time, yellow japerche died.

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

He couldn't do anything about it.

can only treat the heirs of meritorious heroes well, let Huang Zhong's stepson Huang Cheng, Jia Xu's eldest son Jia Mu, young son Jia Mo, Zhang Xiu's eldest son Zhang Quan, and Huang Xu's eldest son Huang Xu inherit their titles and give them rich rewards.

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

In history, because of Mi Fang's rebellion, Mi Zhu felt guilty, but Liu Bei also comforted him, but Mi Zhu was even more ashamed and angry, and finally died of shame.

But now that there is no Mi Fang's betrayal, Mi Zhu will naturally not be as sad and angry as in history.

It's just that the years will not pity anyone after all, Mi Zhu is also very old, almost seventy years old, at this age, even if he is well maintained, it will inevitably come to such a time.

In fact, since the last five years, after Cao Cao and Liu Bei fought the Battle of Jingzhou and the Battle of Guanzhong, the high-ranking 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, Xiahoudun, Guo Jia, Xun You, Xing Hao, and Huan Jie, died.

Liu Bei also had Tai Shici, Xu Jing, Huang Zhu, Wu Lan, Ren Kui and other generals and ministers who died of illness one after another.

Both sides have varying degrees of loss.

Most of these old people who fight the world are often born between 140 and 170 years, and now in 227 AD, even Shen Chen, who was born in 187, is forty years old this year, not to mention Liu Bei's group of generals and strategists of the same period?

The youngest of them is 57 years old, and the oldest are in their 80s. At this historical juncture, between 220 and 230 A.D., a large number of old ministers will inevitably leave, dealing a certain blow to both sides.

However, on the other hand, the second generation of Cao Wei has now supported the situation. Liu Bei's group also has a large number of successors and heirs, which will not cause the middle layer to be disconnected.

Like Cao Xiu, Cao Zhen, and Xiahou Shang of the second generation of Cao Wei, they are all good talents, as well as a group of rising stars such as Guo Huai and Xiahou Ba.

The stars are even brighter on the Han side.

Shen Chen, Zhuge Liang, Jiang Wei, Deng Ai, Zhou Budo, Cai Du, Guan Ping, Guan Xing, Zhang Bao, etc., are all characters who can be independent.

Especially Shen Chen, he was already the leader of Liu Bei's group when he was a veteran, and after the veterans left, he was an important minister of the country, and his status was probably the same as Zhuge Liang's, and he was in charge of the power of the Han Dynasty.

So even if the previous generation has reached the time to leave, the next generation of successors from the two empires can be continued, and it will be a time for the two sides to face each other.

May 6, Wancheng, Nanyang.

In the emperor's temporary palace, the Son of Heaven lives in the back garden, where the flowers and birds pond are pleasant.

Liu Bei sat 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 about to die.

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

What's more, Liu Bei's health has been deteriorating in the past two years, but he has not worked the front line all day long, and state affairs are also handled by Zhuge Liang.

At this moment, he was sitting on the edge of the pond, looking at the carp swimming in the pond, slightly distracted.

Nanyang Taishou Zhou has no doubt that in recent years, he has been promoted to the state pastor because of his meritorious work in supervising the transportation of grain and grass in the rear, raising people's servitude, and building equipment, and Deng Hong has also served as the pastor of Jingzhou.

Now that Liu Bei is back in Nanyang, Deng Hong and Zhou Budo are both dealing with the heavy affairs in the rear in Nanyang, and they have to report to the emperor every day.

After Zhou Budo reported his affairs 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 on the front line?" ”

"It's not."

Liu Bei shook his head.

Zhou Budo asked, "Then Your Majesty is?" ”

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

Zhou Budo comforted: "When people have the end of life, senior brother often says that no one has died in life since ancient times, but he must keep Dan and take care of Han Qing." Life is not about length, but about being able to do something meaningful. This is also the reason why Taishi Gong said that death is heavier than Mount Tai and lighter than Hongmao. ”

"Are you trying to tell me that instead of sighing about life and death, I should pay more attention to the great cause of the Northern Expedition?"

Liu Bei said.

Zhou Budo said with a smile: "Yes, Your Majesty inherits the ambition of Gaozu Guangwu, and naturally wants to gather the popularity of people in the sea, dominate the world, and restore the Han Dynasty." ”

Liu Bei liked what Zhou Budo said very much, because his words could always reach his heart.

It's just that after a while, Liu Bei still said with some sadness: "People are not plants and trees, and they can't be ruthless after all." What's more, even if I am reluctant to give up thinking about them, I myself will be dying of old age, and I will be dying. ”

Zhou Budo said in a deep voice: "Although people have the end of their lives, their ambitions and great wishes cannot be erased by time and life. His Majesty's ambition to dominate the world, the heart of the people, and the two righteous brothers, senior brothers, and prime ministers, their kindness like a fish in water, is always in our hearts, the prince has His Majesty's generosity, as long as this love is inherited, and the long-cherished wish will be passed on from generation to generation, and the long-cherished wish will finally be fulfilled one day. ”

"Yes."

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

A slight cough made the attendant next to him hurriedly and nervously hand over the handkerchief.

There was no coughing up blood on the handkerchief, but Liu Bei felt uncomfortable all over his body, he had no energy, and there was pain all over his body.

After a while, the Imperial Physician Ling came over with a plate of decoction and medicine in the distance, and said to Liu Bei: "Your Majesty, I have taken the medicine." ”

Zhou Budo helped Liu Bei bring the medicine over, and said to him: "Your Majesty, relax your body and mind, take the decoction when you should take the decoction, and the condition will be cured, and now when the Northern Expedition comes, Your Majesty will be able to see the day when the Han Dynasty will be unified." ”

"Huh."

Liu Bei smiled, took the bowl and said, "I won't be like Cao Mengde, who is shy about illness and avoiding medical treatment, because Hua Tuo wants to open his head and kill Hua Tuo, even if he is unwilling to open his head, why kill the doctor?" ”

He picked up the bowl and was about to drink.

Outside, Ma Liang hurriedly came in, his face was solemn, he came to Liu Bei, and saw that he was drinking medicine, so he didn't speak.

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

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

"Wow!"

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

I don't know if the bowl in my hand fell to the ground.

Although Mi Zhu is not a resourceful person, he has always supported Liu Bei since Xuzhou, and married his 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 if Mi Zhu had no talent and his desire for power was not high, he still gave him a very high status, and even let him manage the country's finances and give full play to his business ability.

Now that he heard that Mi Zhu had passed away suddenly, Liu Bei was in a trance for a while.

"Your Majesty."

Ma Liang comforted: "Please also mourn." ”

"Alas"

Liu Bei sighed, his mood became even lower, and said, "Go back to Xiangyang, I'll go see Zizhong." ”

He can not look at others, but Mi Zhu is a minister of the dragon and must go back.

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

Liu Bei shook his head: "Zizhong has followed 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 also resent me for being ruthless. ”

"Your Majesty."

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

Liu Bei raised his head and looked into the north.

His gaze was full of sorrow and sorrow.

He spent most of his life, although he established a foundation in the south.

But the earliest group of old ministers followed him all the way from the north, far away from home and here.

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

Liu Bei's heart was full of guilt.

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

(End of chapter)