At the beginning of Hour of the Dragon on the twenty-seventh day of the first lunar month, Chen Caozhi and Gu Kaizhi and a group of nearly three hundred people left Gu Clan Manor and arrived at Qu'a at dusk the next day. That night, Chen Caozhi left Minister of the Left for the People respectively. Lu Na and Third Brother Chen Shang wrote letters to Third Brother Chen Shang's letter mainly said that he did not bring his third sister-in-law and nephew this time because there was something going on at the third sister-in-law's mother's house, so he planned to come with Youwei's sister-in-law at the end of the year. At that time, Chen Clan was in the house next to the Qinhuai River Eastern Garden should also be completed and ready to move in. After all, it is not appropriate for a female family member to borrow Gu Residence when she comes to Beijing. The letter written to Lu Na, the father of Wei Rui, details it in Kuaiji Tuduan's conflict with Lu Shu, please Commissioner Lu's understanding, and please Commissioner Lu advise Minister Da Lu not to fight against Grand Marshal Huan for the family's sake. Recently, I heard that Lu Qin and Way of the Celestial Masters Lu Song has close contacts, Lu Song is the source of trouble, so you should be vigilant.
The letter from Chen Caozhi to Lu Na was written in the Spring and Autumn Annals style. It was written very tactfully and would not make Lu Na feel embarrassed about being taught a lesson by his descendants. Write down the posthumous name Lai De handed the letter to Banli, and Banli would find an opportunity to hand the letter to his sister Duan Chu and Lu Weiwei.
Get up early the next day, Chen Caozhi, Xie Xuan, and Xie Daoyun will go to Western Command of Gushu, Shen Jin's Son Shen Chiqian wants to follow Chen Caozhi. This time he only brings four servants with Chen Caozhi to Western Headquarters. Although Gu Kaizhi has been recruited to join Western Headquarters, there is no need to rush to go now. They will join Western Headquarters together after attending Xie Xuan's wedding.
Ran Sheng also wanted to go to Jiankang first. He still had eighty Soldiers left in Jiankang and wanted to take those Soldiers back to Western Headquarters. Chen Caozhi then ordered Lai De to take him to Third Brother. Chen Shang's letter goes to Jiankang to meet Third Brother Chen Shang, and then comes to Gushu with Ran Sheng,
When we parted on a fork in the west of Qu'a city, Chen Caozhi slowly rode past the Lu Clan convoy. Duan Chu lifted the car curtain, and Lu Weiwei looked at Chen Caozhi from the car window. They looked at each other, smiled and nodded, and Chen Caozhi turned the horse's head and headed south.
Xie Xuan because Elder Sister Xie Daoyun was depressed these past two days, and after leaving Qu'a County, he said to Xie Daoyun, "If Duke of Huan Commandery's recruitment was not urgent, otherwise we should go back to Wuyi Lane first to see paternal uncle and my aunt before going to Western Headquarters."
Xie Daoyun said, "After seeing Duke of Huan Commandery, if there is nothing important, it would be okay to go back to Jiankang earlier. A'e still wants to go to Yangzhou."
Xie Xuan and Riverside Yang Clan girl Bridal Welcome are on the eighth day of March, Yang Clan Commandery Prestige has three locations, namely Heshang, Mount Tai and Jingzhao. Now except for Mount Tai which is still under the control of Eastern Jin, the rest have fallen into the hands of Di Qin and Murong Yan. The so-called Riverside Yang Clan, now living in Yangzhou, Xie Xuan will take a boat off Yangzhou in early March to marry Yang Clan. It is said that Yang Clan has a skin as white as snow and is extremely beautiful, but Xie Xuan has not seen her yet.
Xie Xuan looked at Elder Sister Xie Daoyun and Chen Caozhi and said, "I will go to Jingzhou after I get married. From now on, I will not get together with Elder Brother and Zizhong too much."
Xie Daoyun remained silent.
In the afternoon of February the Sixth, Chen Caozhi and his party rushed to Gushu and met Western Headquarters Chief Clerk under Baizhu Mountain Wang Tanzhi, Chen Caozhi, Xie Xuan, and Xie Daoyun dismounted and saluted, and asked the king where Chief Clerk was going?
Wang Tanzhi frowned and said, "Empress Yu passed away at the Xianyang Hall yesterday at noon. Grand Marshal ordered me to go to Taicheng to cry in mourning." He cupped his hands and hurried away with his entourage.
Chen Caozhi and Xie Xuan looked at each other. This Sima Imperial Clan is really young. In June last year, Emperor Ai Sima Pi and Empress Jing Wang Clan passed away on the same day. Only half a year later, the newly established Empress Yu clan passed away again. Empress Yu was born from the Yingchuan Yu Clan, the daughter of the late Grand Minister over the Masses Yu Bing and General of the Household of the North. The sister of Yu Xi and Guang Provincial Governor Yu Yun was only twenty-one years old this year and died young.
Xie Xuan whispered, "Grand Marshal Huan is quite dissatisfied with the emperor's appointment of Consort Yu as the queen. He did not expect Empress Yu to die so early. Let's see if the emperor will still disagree with Grand Marshal Huan on the matter of establishing the queen!"
Chen Caozhi and the three returned to Gushu City's apartment. Chen Caozhi ordered his subordinate Zuo Lang to find a nearby house for Shen Chiqian Master lives with his servant, Xiao Chan knows that Mr. Caozhi is very clean, so he orders his wife to prepare water for bathing. Just after washing up, Zuo Lang comes to report, General's Residence Chief Clerk Wei Chang passed on Grand Marshal Huan's order to invite Chen Military Adviser to General’s Residence's night banquet. Thanks Sima and Clerk Zhu will also go with them.
Xie Xuan is already the Marching Army Sima of Huan Huo and also leads Nan Commandery. Seventh Rank, Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun are promoted to Eighth Rank Military Adviser, no longer Ninth Rank.
At the end of Shen Hour, Chen Caozhi, Xie Xuan, Xie Daoyun came to General's Residence, Huan Wen came to the bottom of the steps, his eyes like purple stone ridges glanced at the faces of the three people, and said with a smile, "Thank you Sima, Chen Military Adviser, Clerk Zhu, we have been apart for half a year, and we have worked hard for the country."
Chen Caozhi and the other three people quickly saluted Huan Wen and sat down in the hall. The banquet was already prepared and there was no one else but the maid. It seemed that Huan Wen had specially invited Chen Caozhi and three other people today.
During the dinner, Huan Wen did not mention that Empress Yu had passed away and had a funeral. Drinking Wine was eating meat freely. Xie Xuan and Chen Caozhi naturally pretended not to know. They reported Wuxing Commandery to Huan Wen respectively. Tuduan and Kuaiji County Tuduan are already aware of these matters. Huan Wen raised a glass and listened to the report from Xie Xuan and Chen Caozhi.
Huan Wen saw that Xie Daoyun was not very Drinking Wine and didn't have much to say, so he said, "This time Kuaiji Tuduan, Chen Military Adviser is certainly the first to contribute, but without the assistance of Clerk Zhu, he could have achieved such great results. I heard that Clerk Zhu once went to Qiantang to help Chen Military Adviser solve his problems. Is this possible?"
Xie Daoyun then briefly talked about the case of the He Clan instigating people to falsely accuse Qiantang Chen Clan of occupying land. Huan Wen praised, "Clerk Zhu is very meticulous in doing things, which makes me happy." There is no gap for young people to take advantage of. Chen Military Adviser deserves a toast to Clerk Zhu. Without Clerk Zhu, how can Chen Military Adviser concentrate on Reverification Tuduan!"
Chen Caozhi smiled and raised his glass to Xie Daoyun. Xie Daoyun smiled, covered it with his big sleeves, and drank it all in one gulp.
Huan Wen was very interested. Iron Ruyi Scepter knocked on the table, and the sound of silk and bamboo orchestras overflowed from the two walls like water, and dancers danced. This is Shao music. It is said to have been made by Emperor Shun. It has been passed down for three thousand years and used in temples and banquets. It has always been the Royal Family music.
After three rounds of drinking, the dancers retired and the music in the wall stopped. Huan Wen Iron Ruyi Scepter struck. Two armored warriors came up with a long sword and presented it to Huan Wen respectfully.
This is a large sword with a ring head. The blade is more than three feet long and the handle is also three feet long. Huan Wen stood up and held the sword in his hand. The candlelight illuminated the blade and the blade was like snow. Huan Wen, who was holding the sword in his hand, had the heroic spirit of Chibi Cao Cao writing poetry horizontally. He said loudly, "This sword is Jingzhou." Mufu Mountain is made of newly quarried iron stone, forged in a new type of bellows blast furnace, folded and refined over time, and extremely sharp. I will use this knife to destroy Di Qin and eliminate Murong. I will make great achievements and be famous for centuries."
Chen Caozhi is quite happy. Sharp and durable weapons have finally begun to be forged. Eastern Jin's military strength will be greatly enhanced. Although it may not be possible to Northern Expedition only relying on spears and strong shields, it will at least increase the chances of unifying Central Plains.
Huan Wen ordered the samurai to go down with a ring-headed sword and said to Xie Xuan, "I value Youdu's talents. It is my arrangement for you to join Jingzhou as my brother Huan Huo Marching Army Sima. Governor of Liangzhou Sima Xun has been rebelling for a long time. You are the prime minister of Nan Commandery and Zhu Xu is the prime minister of Jiangxia. Once Sima Xun rebels, you will be with Huan Huo raised an army together to conquer. I once said that Clerk Xie would support the Zhanzhan Festival at the age of 40, but if he did not achieve military merit, how could he be here?" He asked again, "Can Youdu take office in the middle of next month?"
Xie Xuan said, "Yes."
Huan Wen smiled and said, "Youdu is going to travel far after getting married. Don't blame Huan for being unkind." His purple eyes flashed and he looked at Chen Caozhi and said, "Clerk Chen is famous and famous in the North. I have an important mission today. I wonder if Clerk Chen can go with me?"
Chen Caozhi said, "Commandery Duke has an order, but you dare not obey it."
Huan Wen did not say what he was sending Chen Caozhi for, saying, "I want to Northern Expedition, but Western Shu is troubled, and there are also constraints in the court. We must eliminate these troubles before we can march north., This is Huan's third Northern Expedition. Although the first two attacks on Di Qin were successful, they did not achieve great success. This third Northern Expedition must achieve great success. Please Caozhi try to plan for me."
Chen Caozhi knew that Huan Wen was eager to usurp the throne and wanted Northern Expedition's meritorious master to return to the court and replace Sima Clan as emperor, but now Seeing that this was not a good opportunity for Northern Expedition, he said, "This matter is of great importance. Let Caozhi go back and think about it carefully, and I will make suggestions to Commandery Duke another day."
Huan Wen said, "Okay, let's not talk about the important mission that I want Chen Military Adviser to take on for now. We will discuss it later after Chen Military Adviser presents his Northern Expedition plan."
At the end of Xu hour, Chen Caozhi resigned from General’s Residence, and the money Huan Wen rewarded the three of them was also sent to their residence in Phoenix Mountain. Each of them had two hundred thousand coins and three hundred pieces of silk.
Xie Xuan did not return to his apartment immediately. He went to Elder Sister Xie Daoyun's residence to talk and asked, "What mission does Elder Sister think Duke Huan will send Zizhong to do?"
Xie Daoyun frowned and said, "It's hard to guess! Duke Huan wants Northern Expedition. Could it be that he wants Zizhong to use the strategy of combining vertical and horizontal lines?"
Xie Xuan thought, "Elder Sister has a lot of things to tell. Duke Huan is very likely to ask Zizhong to send Former Qin or Murong Yan. If Suchness does this, the future risks are unpredictable."
Xie Daoyun said, "Zizhong is willing to take risks and go through all kinds of hardships for the sake of his family and his plan to marry Lu Clan woman."
Xie Mysterious Mind said, "Zizhong Even if you become Black-Headed Duke, you may not be able to marry Lu Clan woman. Since ancient times, there have been who have never married. Three Excellencies?" Then he thought, "If Zizhong wants to marry me Elder Sister, I wonder if Third Uncle and Fourth Paternal Uncle will agree? I'm afraid it will be difficult."
Xie Clan sister and brother were chatting by the stove when they heard the faint voice of their neighbor Recorder. Xie Daoyun's face lit up and he said, "Zizhong Keting Flute stayed with Gushu and didn't play music for half a year. He must be extremely skilled. We both have good ears." Then he walked to the backyard with Xie Xuan and listened to the wonderful flute sound in the cold night of Mid-Spring. As expected, it was one song after another. Xie Daoyun was deeply intoxicated, and his feet were as cold as ice without even noticing...
At the beginning of Si Hour the next morning, Huan Wen sent someone to summon Chen Caozhi to join General’s Residence. In Huan Wen's view, although Xie Xuan had talents, he could only use them and not become his confidant. Chen Caozhi was different, he was born in Cold Door's Chen Caozhi will become his confidant. The success of Gengxu Tuduan makes Huan Wen value Chen Caozhi even more. He Huan Wen will be the Emperor of Han Liu Bang, and Chen Caozhi will be his Zhang Zifang.