The role model and goal that many temporary residents aspire to, Gerdes is already lying in bed in the Gerdes Manor on the outskirts of Guangzhou, waiting for the call of death.
Already elderly, his health has declined sharply since last year, and he spent most of the last year lying in bed.
Now, even if he is lying on the bed, his wrinkled face and deeply sunken eyes all tell that he is old.
The trees outside the glass window are still green, but this still cannot stop the arrival of cold winter.
He knew that his time was running out.
He closed his eyes slightly and thought about his life over and over again in his mind.
The girl with beautiful red hair who had made him sleepy in his hometown back then had probably turned into spring mud by this time.
But what does that girl look like except for her red hair?
Gerdes thought about it many times, but still couldn't remember it. He forgot!
Not only her, but also the appearance of his hometown was no longer something he could remember.
I am afraid that few of the brothers who went out to sea together back then are still alive. Many of them were buried in the sea when they were very young. The few who survived may not be able to live to this age like themselves.
Perhaps, among the brothers who traveled across the Caribbean together, I am the only one left.
Being able to live for such a long time and become a decent and prominent noble of the Tang Dynasty is all thanks to my accurate vision and my early bet on the Tang Dynasty that had just moved south to Guangdong and Guangxi.
Then he searched for craftsmen who forged guns and guns for the Tang Dynasty, and then obtained the nationality of the Tang Dynasty and became a glorious Tang Dynasty person.
Later, he opened up overseas trade routes for Datang, led the Datang Western Trading Company to open the Bandan route, the Indian route and the African route, and even personally led the Datang Western Trading Company's expedition ships to Europe.
The early overseas trade of the Tang Dynasty, especially the most important route exploration, could not have been possible without the help of Gerdes, an old captain who traveled around the world.
This contribution earned him the title of Viscount.
Later, Gerdes no longer went to sea, but concentrated on establishing his own trading company, and began to get involved in the textile industry, shipbuilding industry and other industries.
After working in the Tang Dynasty for nearly thirty years, he earned a rich fortune for himself and his family.
Including a title, a fiefdom in Australia, and a Geshi trading company named after his Chinese surname "Ge".
This trading company owns a textile factory, a domestic trading company, a small shipyard, and more importantly, it also owns 16% of the shares of an ocean trading company.
The total assets of Geshi Trading Company are worth at least more than two million yuan.
Such a huge asset is enough to make Gerdes a rich man, and his net worth will not be much worse than that of the old official and gentry families.
Moreover, in order to improve his family's social status, he spent a huge amount of money as gifts to marry a concubine from a declining scholarly family in Guangzhou.
Although she is not the legitimate daughter, she is not even the concubine of the eldest brother, she is just a concubine of a side branch.
However, with the help of the personal connections of this declining family and the help of money, his social status was still greatly improved, making Viscount Gerdes a veritable nobleman and truly able to join the upper class of the empire.
Becoming a nobleman of the Tang Dynasty, a true upper class person, and a decent gentry was what Gerdes was most proud of in his life.
In comparison, mere industry is nothing.
What makes him even more gratified is that the eldest son he and his wife gave birth to has inherited his wife's black hair and black eyes in appearance, instead of his own red hair and blue eyes.
This made him quite gratified.
Because of his appearance, Gerdes was often despised by the upper class. Later, he simply shaved off his red hair on the pretext of illness and kept his head bald for more than twenty years.
He didn't want his son to be despised like himself.
With his black hair and eyes, Cai Neng's son truly belongs to the upper class of the empire.
In this life, he feels that he is successful and has not wasted anything!
And now, this family is about to be inherited by his eldest son.
Beside the bed, Ge Hong'an looked at his father. The twenty-three-year-old man now looked at his father with eyes that no longer had the hostility in the past.
But full of reluctance.
The doctor had told him that his father had only a few days left, and even the prefect of Guangzhou came to visit him.
After all, Gerdes is the Viscount of the Empire, and his Gerdes Trading Company is also a large company in the local area. Moreover, the Holy Emperor has personally praised him. When he is about to leave Hexi, the local officials will naturally
Come and visit us once or twice.
When he thought of this, Ge Hongan's face was filled with regret. When he was young, his classmates often teased him for being a barbarian, so he was never very popular in school, and this resentment was also transferred to him when he was young.
On my father.
Because his father is a barbarian with red hair and blue eyes!
However, as he grew older, this mentality gradually changed, but the relationship between father and son was difficult to repair, and the two could not speak a few words throughout the year.
Even if he realizes his mistakes when he was young, he cannot erase the scholarly arrogance in his bones as he has received traditional education since childhood.
Even if he knows he is wrong, he is unwilling to show it.
But now, he regrets it a little!
But now Gerdes has no intention to pay attention to his son.
While he was recalling his life, there were so many dangers and passions.
When certain things are discussed in the meeting, a smile will appear on his lips.
This life is worth it!
Three days later, the Guangdong edition of the Tang Dynasty Daily reported that Imperial Viscount Gerdes, the leader of the empire's early overseas trade and the founder of Format Trading Company, passed away at home.
Gerdes's death also means the end of an era to some extent.
Because in recent years, not only Gerdes, but also more early heroes of the empire have passed away one after another.
Many of the founding heroes who joined the Tang Dynasty when it was first established are actually in their seventies.
Even those people who were only about 20 years old back then are now in their 50s.
And given the medical standards of this era, it is not easy for even aristocrats to live into their fifties.
So far, many founding heroes have passed away one after another, and many nobles in the empire have inherited it for one or even two or three generations.
There is no way, the average life span is relatively short, and people die early.
The founding heroes of the country are basically no longer active on the front line. Even the slightly younger military generals such as Hao Bainian and Li Chunjing have actually been promoted to the front line one after another.
This does not mean that they are not in good health, but that they have been in high positions for a long time, and Li Xuan is worried that they themselves are not worried.
Therefore, after these big guys go to the imperial study room and have a good time, they usually take the initiative to apply for official positions.
In the past few years, the duty ministers in the imperial study room of the army and navy have basically maintained a rhythm of changing one every year.
And this year, Hao Bainian took the initiative to apply to be transferred to the reserve force.
Army General Hao Bainian knew that his status was too special. Even though he was no longer serving as the minister on duty in the imperial study room, countless people still regarded him as an army veteran.
As time passed, he also knew that changes were needed.
Even if you don't think about yourself, you should think about the next generation.
Hao Bainian took the lead in applying for transfer to the reserve force, and the most important thing was that although Sheng Tianzi rejected it, Hao Bainian continued to submit the application. After Li Xuan rejected it for the second time, Hao Bainian applied for a third time, but this time, Sheng Tianzi did not directly
I refuted it, but chose to leave it unpublished.
This move instantly caused waves among the top brass of the army and navy!
Immediately, many people took the initiative to apply to be transferred to the reserve force, whether they were willing or unwilling.
Li Xuan's goal in doing this was not to liquidate the heroes, but that the top military generals at that time were young and young. After occupying high positions early on, they have always held high positions for a long time.
Despite Li Xuan's suppression, for so many years, not a single marshal has been awarded the rank of marshal. They are all generals. As a result, the army now has more than 30 active generals and more than 20 retired ones.
So many generals are naturally abnormal.
But Li Xuan would rather create a large number of generals than create a few marshals or generals, because this would cause changes in the military.
There are dozens of generals. Although some of them have senior qualifications and high prestige, they have the same military rank and have held similar positions. The actual difference is not too big.
However, if there are several active-duty marshals or generals with military ranks, it will immediately create several big problems within the army, affecting the stability of the military and the stability of the empire.
But now, Li Xuan plans to let go of this gap.
Some time ago, he hinted to Hao Bainian, saying that the rank of marshal has been established for more than 20 years, but it has never been awarded. He plans to confer several people with field marshals.
This refers to the award of field marshal.
But everyone knows that in the past twenty years, although the empire has had the two military ranks of field marshal and navy marshal, no one has actually obtained it. In the early years, Li Xuan proclaimed himself the rank of marshal. It was an imperial marshal, not an army marshal or a navy marshal.
Marshal, the two are not of the same nature.
Many smart people also know why it was not awarded in the past twenty years.
Currently, there are only a few people in the empire who are worthy of the rank of field marshal, except for a few people such as Hao Bainian and Li Chunjing. Once these people are awarded the rank of field marshal, they themselves may not be able to sleep.
.
And what kind of person can make His Majesty feel comfortable granting him the rank of Marshal!
Naturally, he is the field marshal who has completely withdrawn from the center of power!
Hao Bainian had followed Li Xuan for decades, so he naturally knew about the Shengtianzi's plan. A few years ago, the Shengtianzi didn't tell him, so he pretended not to know. But now that the Shengtianzi has mentioned it.
Although he was not explicitly awarded the rank of field marshal, the implication is already very clear.
No matter how ignorant you are, I'm afraid you will be charged with treason.
So Hao Bainian didn't hesitate at all and directly applied for retirement from active service.
As a result, the monarch and his ministers put on a good show, which shocked the entire empire!
On the twenty-sixth day of the twelfth lunar month of the thirty-third year of Xuanping, when the year was coming to an end, the Holy Emperor convened the ministers and formally awarded Hao Bainian the rank of field marshal in the meeting hall!
The next day, the Holy Emperor Li Xuan officially approved Field Marshal Hao Bainian's application for retirement!
The official retirement of Field Marshal Hao Bainian announced the end of an era!
It also heralds the arrival of a new era!
Because on the next day, Li Xuan was promoted to the leader among the new generation of generals in the Army. Ying Yikang, who was only 35 years old, was promoted to Lieutenant General of the Army, serving as Deputy Minister of Staff of the Army Privy Council and Director of the Operations Department.