Chapter 779 - 41: Gu Jun’s Death—One General’s Success Lies on Ten Thousand Corpses

Such is human nature.

In fact, Gu Rui exploited various desires within human hearts in this instance.

Trust, ambition.....

The various relations between Liao and Western Xia created this opportunity for him, offering countless possibilities to undertake these actions.

News swiftly spread across the land.

In response to the various situations displayed by Western Xia, Liao naturally made further reactions.

The offensives against Great Song by both sides gradually came to a halt without notice.

Even though the rulers of these two countries still harbored countless doubts, they had no choice in the face of such great circumstances.

This is actually a very simple reason.

To Liao and Western Xia,

they both understood well that in front of the great mountain that is Great Song, cooperation would benefit both, but they couldn’t achieve absolute trust.

This is human nature.

Neither side had the courage to gamble.

In the current situation, if they placed their elite forces against Great Song, any opportunity taken by the other side would lead them into an abyss.

Both were nations with deep-seated enmity, and who dared to take that gamble?

....

——The situation reversed in an instant.

As the offensives from both nations gradually lessened, the pressure upon Great Song greatly eased.

This also welcomed the most precious opportunity for Great Song.

——To deal with the canal transportation!

Great Song’s canal transportation was crucial to many industries, affecting countless citizens.

Even though dawn had appeared, they couldn’t afford to be complacent until everything was settled.

The opportunity could not be wasted.

Time continued to pass swiftly.

The developments across various sides also did not surprise Gu Rui.

Firstly was Li Liangzuo’s turmoil against Meicang Epan’s usurpation.

No, it shouldn’t be called a usurpation.

Rather, it was rectification of chaos.

As the Emperor, Li Liangzuo naturally sought to seize every opportunity to reclaim the power belonging to the Emperor.

This required a response from Meicang Epan as well.

Even if he harbored no rebellion,

he had to respond in every possible way to safeguard his life and family amidst the overwhelming circumstances.

The entire Western Xia instantly plunged into an unprecedented storm.

Meicang Epan was indeed a capable individual.

Having controlled the court for many years,

his foundation in Western Xia was deep-rooted; theoretically, Li Liangzuo should have had no chance!

But unfortunately, Li Liangzuo held the momentum now!

And he was the Emperor!

This is an identity that no one can refuse, and certainly, there were many within Western Xia who could not tolerate Meicang Epan.

These people acted perhaps for their own interests, or to rectify the chaos.

But clearly, the chaotic situation in Western Xia had become uncontrollable!

And it also included Liao!

Noteworthy was that Liao’s commerce was now utterly disrupted.

Not just because Great Song severed its trade with them.

There was also the issue of Gu Hong’s raid on Western Capital Road.

Even though this action could easily be detected, and couldn’t directly trigger a war between Western Xia and Liao, their commercial route still suffered greatly.

Li Liangzuo had no choice.

He needed to continuously magnify the impact of this incident to incite local discontent against Meicang Epan.

After all, Meicang Epan was the main person in charge of this conflict.

Only then could he find an opportunity to topple Meicang Epan.....

....

Time passed quickly.

Regarding the events happening between Western Xia and Liao, Great Song wasn’t overly concerned.

No, perhaps it could be said that Gu Jun was not concerned.

Facing this sudden change, naturally, many generals and young scholars suggested mobilizing troops to seize the opportunity to directly annihilate one state between Western Xia and Liao, establishing the basis for Great Song to unify the world.

Even Gu Rui shared this idea.

But Gu Jun suppressed the matter completely.

Not out of fear, but because he was very sure it wasn’t the best time for Great Song.

The canal transportation issue had not been entirely solved.

The alliance between Western Xia and Liao, although showing signs of fracture now, he could also confirm, that if Great Song made a move, amid "lip dies, teeth feel the cold," the other side would surely calm down immediately.

At that point, no matter how it might play out, Great Song would be in a thankless position.

How could he make such a decision?

Actually, by this alone, it could be seen that Gu Rui was still slightly inexperienced.

Even though his understanding of human nature was profound and he had sharp wits, his ability was still far from reaching the level of past generations.

But this was enough.

After all, with Gu Yi around, and now Gu Jun had completely recognized his son, starting to attempt to alter Gu Rui’s slightly impulsive nature bit by bit.

And responsibility, undoubtedly, was among the most crucial elements.

He began having Gu Rui undertake some tasks.

From small to large.

And at the same time, he shared his various thoughts with Gu Rui.

According to Gu Jun’s words,

"A general’s success lies over countless bones, their talents are limited to this, so they cannot act impulsively."

"Each generation has its own tasks to undertake."

"Grandfather Lord Jin laid the foundation for Great Song—"

"And he himself and his father, were the ones to stabilize the legacy created by Gu Jin."

"...."

Each time he spoke these words, his expression was exceedingly serious.