Chapter 22: New Dynasty
Chapter 22: New Dynasty
After living in the mountains for twenty years, when he came out again...
"Things have changed."
Gu Changsheng returned to this small southwestern city in the clothes he wore when he left.
The two strands of hair on his temples have turned slightly gray.
There are also a few wrinkles on his face, but his eyes are still as bright as they were back then.
Of course, these signs of aging are all fake.
Gu's old prescription, which he diligently studied for twenty years, is truly impressive!
He walked slowly through the slightly empty long street.
Along the way, he didn't encounter any familiar faces.
For many years, wars have plagued the world. While it can't be said that nine out of ten houses are empty, they have nonetheless caused the overall population of the former Chu State to drop by more than half.
Many places are even empty!
Ten miles, a hundred miles, devoid of any inhabitants.
Yuzhou City fell under the control of King Xuan relatively early.
So, in comparison, this is still relatively fortunate.
The Great Chu, which is already the previous dynasty, has existed a total of 477 years of history.
It started with Emperor Gaozu and ended with Emperor Anping.
Up to now, sixteen years have passed.
It has not been a year since Daxuan pacified the chaotic world, and the world is still in ruins.
Daxuan is the name of the new dynasty that replaced the Chu State.
The so-called Daxuan is King Xuan, and his predecessor was the Purple Scarf Army, which resolutely rebelled in the two states of Yuyunchen and sounded the death knell for the Chu State.
Punish the tyrannical Chu and punish the unjust!
No one expected that the world of the fourteen states of the Chu State would end up like this.
In the end, it would fall under the rule of King Xuan. Of course, he is now known as Emperor Xuan!
After his death in the future, he can be called Xuan Taizu, a founding emperor.
Gu Changsheng walked through the familiar long street and soon came to the end of the street.
"Is this my home?"
He looked at the broken walls in front of him, as if they had been violently demolished. There was nothing left, only a piece of foundation.
Where can you find the appearance of a bookstore in the past?
"This is not my home, my home is definitely not like this!"
Gu Changsheng's mouth twitched, leaving him speechless for a while.
He had only been away for a few years, how could it have turned out like this?
However, it seemed normal for it to become like this .
Gu Changsheng squatted down and reached out to pick up a brick from the foundation.
There were traces of smoke and fire on the stone.
Obviously, his house should have been burned by a fire.
Gu Changsheng quickly made up a lot of scenes in his mind.
I dare not say it is 100% accurate, but it should be able to restore it.
"Changsheng?"
But at this moment, an uncertain old voice sounded behind him.
Gu Changsheng stood up and looked back. It was a hunched old man with white hair in his sixties. His dark skin was very familiar.
"Uncle Wu?" Gu Changsheng replied carefully.
"It's you, Changsheng!"
When the old man heard Gu Changsheng's answer, his face full of vicissitudes immediately became a little excited, and his hand on the cane was shaking.
"Where have you been all these years, Changsheng?"
The Gu family and the Wu family have been neighbors for several generations.
When they were young, Wu Dalang and Gu Changsheng were very familiar with each other.
As the saying goes, a distant relative is not as good as a close neighbor.
But more than 20 years ago, before the chaos in Chu State erupted, Gu Changsheng had already packed up his belongings and fled.
For so many years, there was no news of him at all; no one saw him alive, and his whereabouts remained a mystery.
Wu Dalang had long thought that Gu Changsheng was dead.
But he didn't expect that after so many years...
he would actually see Gu Changsheng again.
This is quite... elusive, almost like a miracle!
He almost thought he was seeing a ghost!
Fortunately, he calmed down in the end and chose not to ask a question.
Wu Dalang talked to him about the past, with a sigh on his face.
Liu's tofu, Zhang's cloth shop...
and many other neighbors died one after another in the troubled times.
This has made the business of the old Liu's paper-making shop at the end of the street much better.
But this business is somewhat detrimental to the neighbors!
"Cough cough..."
Wu Dalang was talking, and the whole person suddenly started coughing violently.
Wu Dalang was speaking when suddenly he began coughing violently.
The Wu Dalang who, in his youth, could carry four full bamboo baskets and loudly sell sesame cakes all over the city, now coughed uncontrollably with just a few words.
"People cannot refuse to accept old age," he remarked, a hint of self-mockery on his face.
Gu Changsheng seemed to perceive the hardships of life, the suffering of troubled times, and the difficulty of living etched into that face full of traces of time.
...
After leaving Wu Dalang's house, Gu Changsheng first went to the government office in Yuzhou City.
The new house deed was handled smoothly without any difficulty.
Of course, it may also be because there are fewer people and more land now, and the land deed is not worth much at all.
The so-called change of dynasties is nothing more than a redistribution.
When the world gradually settles down, I am afraid that exploitation will remain the same as before in a few decades.
The general trend of the world is nothing more than separation and reunion, reunion and separation.
This is the truth.
It's just that the world is seeking stability now, and those who are still alive may not live to see that day.
But he will definitely see it.
This is not something that can be avoided by the emergence of a so-called wise leader.
Rather, it is the human heart!
The former Chu State may not be different from the current Xuan State.
And the current Xuan State will inevitably become the former Chu State!
Just like the young man who slays the dragon, he will eventually become a new evil dragon.
In this world, many things share a common essence.
The white-haired fisherman and woodcutter by the riverbank, they both find solace in the beauty of the autumn moon and the gentle spring breeze.
A pot of turbid wine, eagerly savored in companionship, brings happiness to those who share it.
How many things in ancient and modern times are all talked about in jokes.
This is the good thing about living a long life, you will always see many interesting things.
Give a pig tens of thousands of years, I am afraid it will become a divine being!
Gu Changsheng's steps gradually stopped, and he stood in front of the dilapidated door. Just as he did 26 years ago when he first came to the martial arts hall to learn martial arts, he looked up at the sign above the entrance.
Dragons and phoenixes danced, iron paintings and silver hooks adorned, with four prominent characters:
- Chuyun Martial Arts Hall!
The red-painted door appeared slightly faded, and the two stone lions not far from it seemed to have lost the majesty they once possessed when he first saw them.
Gu Changsheng didn't know whether he had changed or the martial arts hall was indeed dilapidated.
He walked forward and knocked on the door of the martial arts hall.
"What are you doing?" The side door of the martial arts hall was opened, leaving a gap as wide as half a body, and a young man stuck his head out to look at him.
Gu Changsheng: "..."
Yes, it's the same taste, exactly the same as before.
Was this sentence passed down by the gatekeeper of Chuyun Martial Arts Hall?
When he came to the martial arts hall to become a disciple, the first sentence that Senior Brother Lin Jun said to him was this.
Walking into the martial arts hall, it was visible to the naked eye that it was even more dilapidated than the outside.
The training ground that used to be so lively is now only sparsely populated, with less than a dozen people practicing.
Gu Changsheng's eyes flashed with doubt.