The five million cash, eight thousand bolts of silk, and sixty thousand hu of wheat presented to the court under the escort of Lu You, Vice Governor of Ji Province, reached Jiankang on the nineteenth day of the fifth month. Emperor Sima Yu was delighted. Nearly two years had passed since the Central Plains had been pacified, and this was the first tangible benefit the Jin court had seen from the Northern Expedition. The emptiness of Jiankang's treasury left Sima Yu constantly struggling to make ends meet. The palaces in Taicheng had fallen into disrepair over the years, and he could scarcely raise the funds even to rebuild Taiji Hall. His professed purity of heart and frugality were really the helplessness of straitened circumstances. Meanwhile, drawing on its achievements in the Northern Expedition, the Longkang Huan clan had lavishly rewarded its relatives and old associates. Huan Mi, Huan Xi, Huan Ji, Huan Shiqian, and Huan Shixiu each served as a Regional Defender, while old subordinates from Jingxiang, such as Zhu Xu and Zhu Yao, had all become governors of major commanderies. Huan Wen now enjoyed the honor of the Nine Bestowments and was hinting that the court should grant him a princely title-
Learning that Chen Caozhi would soon reach the capital, Emperor Sima Yu ordered Wang Tanzhi and Chen Shang to join Lu You, Vice Governor of Ji Province, in welcoming him at the White Egret Islet wharf. After completing his mourning for his father, Wang Tanzhi had returned from the Western Headquarters to serve at court and had now been promoted to Palace Attendant. Chen Shang, too, had risen from seventh-rank Director of the Palace to sixth-rank Attendant Censor-
At the White Egret Islet wharf in the fifth month, the blazing sun shone overhead, and the atmosphere was