Chapter Summaries

Chen Caozhi discussed politics and played weiqi with Xie An, then managed the Chen Clan’s trade and family affairs while awaiting Lu Clan Lady’s return. The Gengxu household review began producing reports, but Lu Shi resisted Xie Xuan’s proposal to reward Qiantang and the Wuxing Shen Clan.

• Chen Caozhi lost a weiqi game to Xie An, who questioned his eagerness to contend, while Xie Daoyun affirmed her confidence in his principles.
• Chen Caozhi distributed the Chen Clan’s goods among influential figures and arranged sales through the Gu Clan, while the iron implements went into trial use on several estates.
• Chen Chang complained about the Chen Clan’s expenses and questioned its spending on epidemic medicine; Chen Caozhi arranged funds for goods to be bought for Qiantang.
• Chen Caozhi remembered Lu Clan Lady beneath the autumn moon, and Xiao Chan hoped she would celebrate her next birthday with him.
• Feng Mengxiong reported that Qiantang had surrendered 113 hidden households, and Xie Xuan proposed rewards for Qiantang and the Wuxing Shen Clan.
• Lu Shi rejected the proposed rewards as premature, and Xie Xuan withdrew in discontent.

Chen Caozhi reported the Tuduan results to Huan Wen, who ordered a new investigation into concealed households in Yangzhou. Chen Caozhi and Zhu Yingtai were appointed to review Kuaiji Commandery, where He Zhu and Lu Qin plotted to have them dismissed.

• Xie Xuan and Chen Caozhi reported that the Tuduan had registered more than forty thousand emigrant households but uncovered only 19,720 hidden households, prompting Sima Yu to question its fairness and enforcement.
• Chen Caozhi told the court that commoner clans had surrendered more hidden households than the powerful gentry clans, and Sima Yu sent him to report the results to Huan Wen.
• Xi Chao gave Chen Caozhi confidential reports from twenty-six Yangzhou counties, and Chen Caozhi delivered them to Huan Wen, who ordered plans for twenty envoys to review the Tuduan.
• Huan Wen appointed Chen Caozhi and Zhu Yingtai as chief and deputy envoys to investigate Kuaiji Commandery, with Ran Sheng and a hundred soldiers accompanying them.
• Sima Yu approved the envoys' authority to arrest offenders, while He Zhu and Lu Qin plotted to get Chen Caozhi and Zhu Yingtai stripped of their posts.

Chen Caozhi prepared to review Tuduan in Kuaiji Commandery, receiving Xie An’s advice on winning over local leaders and navigating the clans’ resistance. After setting out with Xie Daoyun and their companions, he parted from Xie Xuan and continued toward Wu Commandery, where he planned to visit Lu Weiwei before facing the challenges in Kuaiji.

• Xie An advised Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun to seek the support of Xie Shen, Yu Yu, and Yu Xiaofu, and cautioned them about their dealings with the Kuaiji clans.
• Chen Caozhi arranged for Lai De to return to Qiantang later and promised Chen Shang that he would bring his family to the capital after the New Year.
• Chen Caozhi and Xiao Chan reminisced about his childhood, while he privately reflected on his attraction to her and the boundary he had not crossed.
• Chen Caozhi visited Zhi Daolin at Dong'an Temple, and Zhi Daolin gave him a letter of introduction to Wei Sien, head of the Kuaiji Wei Clan.
• The envoys departed the capital and split up at Jurong; Chen Caozhi chose the route through Wu Commandery, and Xie Xuan warned him that Lu Shu and He Zhu would make the Tuduan review difficult and asked him to protect Xie Daoyun.

Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun traveled through Wu Commandery on their way to review Tuduan registrations in Kuaiji, visiting old acquaintances and paying their respects to Fan Wang. The chapter left Chen Caozhi preparing to play Go with Fan Wang while quietly building a relationship with the former Beifu Army commander.

• Chen Caozhi chose twenty soldiers from Ran Sheng’s hundred to accompany the party to Kuaiji and left the others with Huan Mi.
• Chen Caozhi, Xie Daoyun, and Jia Bizhi reached Wu Commandery, visited Prefect Zhu Xian and Master Xu Zao, and learned that Daoist Li had died.
• Chen Caozhi reunited with his cousins Chen Mo and Chen Tan, who told him that Young Lady Lu had recently visited Master Xu and gone to Huating.
• Chen Caozhi, Xie Daoyun, and Ran Sheng crossed the pontoon bridge to Bamboo Grove Hamlet, where Fan Ning welcomed Chen Caozhi and treated Zhu Yingtai coldly.
• Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun met Fan Wang, who invited Chen Caozhi to play Go with him.

Chen Caozhi impressed Fan Wang with his Go and political insight, discussing Huan Wen’s ambitions and the need to rebuild the Beifu Army. After leaving Wu Commandery, Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun chose the road through Huating, where Lu Qin might still be waiting for him.

• Chen Caozhi played Fan Wang at Go, then explained that he was not afraid to associate with Fan Wang despite Huan Wen’s hostility toward the Fan Clan.
• Fan Wang questioned Chen Caozhi about Huan Wen’s ambitions, and Chen Caozhi argued that Huan Wen would struggle to usurp the throne and that northern threats made a strong Beifu Army necessary.
• Fan Wang offered to help if Chen Caozhi rebuilt the Beifu Army and recommended Liu Laozhi as a potential vanguard general.
• Fan Ning escorted Chen Caozhi and Ran Sheng back to the city, and Chen Caozhi later bid farewell to Zhu Xian, Jia Bizhi, and Xu Zao.
• At a fork beyond Wu Commandery, Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun took the road toward Huating after Xie Daoyun mentioned that Lu Qin might still be at the Lu Clan Estate.

Chen Caozhi traveled to Huating hoping to see Lu Weiwei, but Lu Qin tried to lure him into the Lu Clan Villa at night so his retainers could beat him and accuse him of trespassing. Chen Caozhi saw through the trap, and the chapter ended with Lu Weiwei hurrying to meet him at the Songjiang ferry landing.

• Chen Caozhi arrived in Huating and learned that Lu Weiwei wanted to meet him at the Lu Clan Villa.
• Mao Tao invited Chen Caozhi to enter the estate alone at night, but Xie Daoyun helped him recognize Lu Qin’s ambush.
• Chen Caozhi delayed his visit with a false promise to bring Lu Weiwei a painting, leaving Lu Qin and his retainers waiting until dawn.
• Chen Caozhi sent Lai Zhen to tell Banli that he was waiting at the Songjiang ferry landing.
• Lu Weiwei hurriedly dressed and rode with Banli and two servants toward the landing, where Chen Caozhi came to greet her.

After parting from Lu Weiwei at Huating, Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun reached Qiantang, where they learned that the Chu Clan had ties to local bandits. Chen ordered Ran Sheng to search the Chu Clan estate that night and bring in Chu Jian and his son if the hidden households could not be found.

• Xie Daoyun watched Chen Caozhi and Lu Weiwei part across the Songjiang and reflected on her friendship with him and her family’s short lives.
• Lu Weiwei said she would visit the ferry landing each morning and asked Chen Caozhi to return through Huating next year; he promised to ask Ding Youwei to visit her.
• Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun reached Qiantang, where Feng Lingbo told them Ding Youwei and her children would attend the Lower Prime Festival celebration.
• Ding Yi warned Feng Mengxiong and Chen Caozhi that Chu Clan hidden households had joined bandits near Wuchao Mountain.
• Chen Caozhi ordered Ran Sheng to search the Chu Clan estate that night and arrest Chu Jian and his son if the hidden households were not found.

Ran Sheng and the county officials raided the Chu Clan Manor, exposing the clan’s plot with the Wuchao Mountain bandits to attack Chen Family Cove. After the Chu men were arrested and confessed, Chen Caozhi arranged to lure the bandits into a trap and strengthened the cove’s defenses.

• Ran Sheng led soldiers and county clerks to the Chu Clan Manor, where Chu Wenqian revealed the clan’s collusion with the Wuchao Mountain bandits.
• Ran Sheng arrested thirty-seven Chu men and seventeen hidden-household members and escorted them to the County Office.
• Feng Mengxiong interrogated Chu Wenbin and the hidden-household members, whose confessions confirmed the Chu Clan’s plan to plunder Chen Family Cove.
• Chen Caozhi discussed eliminating the bandits with Feng Mengxiong, Xie Daoyun, Wu County Commandant, and Ran Sheng.
• Chen Caozhi sent a Chu hidden-household member to lure the bandits to the manor and sought a hundred private soldiers from the Quan and Ding clans to guard Chen Family Cove.

Chen Caozhi returned to Maple Forest Ferry and reunited with Chen Xian, Ding Youwei, and the children while revealing his assignment to review the Kuaiji Tuduan and warning them of a bandit threat. After arranging defenses and reaching Ding Clan Manor, he shared a quiet reunion with Ding Youwei and promised to test the children’s studies.

• Chen Xian’s party traveled toward Maple Forest Ferry, where Chen Caozhi unexpectedly arrived by boat with Xiao Chan and Ran Sheng.
• Chen Caozhi told Chen Xian, Ding Youwei, Ran Sheng, and Jing Nu about his Kuaiji Tuduan assignment and the previous night’s events, including the bandit danger.
• Chen Caozhi sent Jing Nu back to Chen Family Cove with a hundred Quan and Ding Clan private soldiers while the rest of the party crossed the river as planned.
• Xie Daoyun welcomed the party and rode with Run’er, discussing Confucianism and Daoism as they traveled to Ding Clan Manor.
• At Ding Clan Manor, Chen Caozhi visited Ding Youwei’s courtyard, where they spoke of their reunion and he said he would test Zongzhi and Run’er’s studies.

Chen Caozhi praised Zongzhi and Run'er’s calligraphy and discussed his plans to marry Lu Weiwei, while Ding Youwei learned that Xiao Chan had not become his concubine. The next morning, the clans traveled to celebrate the Water Official Emperor’s birthday, where Ding Youwei questioned Xiao Chan about her place in Chen Caozhi’s life.

• Chen Caozhi reviewed Zongzhi and Run’er’s writing, praised their strengths, and advised them on what to study next.
• Ding Youwei agreed to visit Lu Weiwei after Chen Caozhi said he intended to marry her formally.
• Rain Swallow told Ding Youwei that Xiao Chan and Chen Caozhi had not slept together, leaving Ding Youwei puzzled about why he had not taken Xiao Chan as a concubine.
• Ding Youwei’s account of Wang Dao’s hidden concubines highlighted how common concubinage was among aristocratic men.
• The Chen and Ding clans set out for Du Zigong’s Taoist Ritual Site to celebrate the Water Official Emperor’s birthday.
• Ding Youwei asked Xiao Chan about her life in Jiankang, and Xiao Chan said she would serve Chen Caozhi for the rest of her life.

Chen Caozhi helped Wang Shao and Feng Mengxiong crush the Chu Clan’s alliance with the Wuchao Mountain bandits, then discussed strengthening the Chen Clan’s defenses and avoiding abuses of protected-household rules. He left Qiantang for Chen Family Cove and planned to continue to Shanyin, while his clan weighed security against the risks to his official career.

• At the Water Official Emperor’s celebration, Wang Shao mocked Xie Daoyun’s wish to marry Zhu Yingtai, and Chen Caozhi urged her not to make a needless enemy.
• Chen Caozhi persuaded Wang Shao to remain in Qiantang until the Wuchao Mountain bandits were caught, and Ran Sheng’s forces captured the bandits at the Chu Clan estate.
• Wang Shao and Feng Mengxiong arranged to try the Chu Clan case, while Chen Caozhi proposed sending the bandits to reclaim wasteland rather than placing them in military households.
• Chen Caozhi saw Ding Youwei and Run’er off to Huating, then advised Chen Xian to expand the Chen Clan’s private soldiers with a reserve force that could farm in peacetime.
• Chen Caozhi warned Chen Xian that claiming ninety protected households could damage his official career, and Chen Xian agreed to reject Sixth Uncle’s attempt to register his relatives by marriage.

Chen Caozhi returned to Chen Family Cove after defeating the bandits and followed Xie Daoyun’s advice to mend relations with his Sixth Uncle. He left the clan elders and Chen Man understanding the threat to the clan and the importance of supporting its younger generations.

• Xie Daoyun advised Chen Caozhi to let go of old grievances with Chen Man, and Chen Caozhi resolved to treat his Sixth Uncle more openly.
• Chen Caozhi and his party returned to Chen Family Cove, where the clanspeople welcomed them after learning the bandits had been defeated and Su Kuan killed.
• At the Hall of Order, Chen Caozhi reported that the Chu Clan had colluded with the bandits, and the elders agreed to add forty private soldiers to the clan’s force.
• Chen Caozhi explained to Chen Man and Chen Chang why the clan could not expand its protected households yet and described how tenant households and fair contracts could help the estate prosper.
• Chen Caozhi persuaded Chen Man and Chen Chang that investment in a Jiankang residence and the education of younger relatives would create opportunities for future generations of the Chen Clan.

Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun paid their respects at his mother's grave, then discussed the obstacles facing the household registration inspection in Kuaiji. They planned to reassure the hidden households and counter the great clans’ obstruction as they prepared to leave for Shanyin.

• Lai Fu rewarded the private soldiers, while Liu Xu and Yinfeng discussed Xie Daoyun’s marriage prospects and her feelings for Chen Caozhi.
• Chen Caozhi, Ran Sheng, Chen Zongzhi, and Xie Daoyun visited Chen Mother Lady Li’s grave and paid their respects.
• Liu Clan Chief warned Chen Caozhi that rumors and unrest among hidden households threatened the Tuduan inspection in Kuaiji.
• Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun assessed Lu Shu’s influence and the great clans’ likely resistance to enforcing Tuduan.
• Chen Caozhi proposed issuing a clear proclamation in Shanyin to explain the edict and reassure the hidden households.

Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun arrived in Shanyin to review the Tuduan and discussed restoring Jian Lake before drought and famine struck. When Commandery Assistant Lu Shu refused to meet them, Chen Caozhi took control of Lu’s clerks and warned them to obey the review.

• Chen Caozhi’s party traveled to Shanyin, where he and Xie Daoyun discussed Jian Lake’s shrinking shoreline and the danger of drought, famine, and pestilence.
• Chen Caozhi proposed restoring Jian Lake’s original boundaries and using households uncovered in the Tuduan for waterworks, while Xie Daoyun offered her help.
• Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun agreed to visit Xie Xingsi and Wei Sien separately the next day.
• Dai Shu welcomed the envoys, but Lu Shu refused to discuss official business that night and did not attend the banquet.
• Chen Caozhi summoned Lu Shu’s fifteen clerks and ordered them to take instructions from him and Deputy Envoy Zhu during the Tuduan review.
• Chen Caozhi warned the clerks against obstructing the review and told them that persuading the great clans to surrender hidden households was his and Deputy Envoy Zhu’s responsibility.

Lu Shu and He Zhu plotted to obstruct Chen Caozhi’s Tuduan review while avoiding open resistance, and Chen Caozhi began visiting Kuaiji’s great clans to persuade them to surrender hidden households. On the road to meet Wei Sien, Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun discussed an old poem and the nature of chance and dependent origination.

• He Zhu urged Lu Shu to humiliate Chen Caozhi, and Lu Shu agreed to undermine the review discreetly rather than openly defy it.
• After Zhang Lun reported that Chen Caozhi had requisitioned the Commandery Assistant’s clerks, Lu Shu ordered them not to attend, but Zhang Lun persuaded him to wait and see how Chen handled the clans.
• He Zhu advised Lu Shu to let unrest in Shangyu, Yuyao, and Yuji grow so Chen Caozhi could be blamed, and Lu Shu warned that an uprising could make him responsible.
• Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun supervised the copying of a proclamation explaining that uncovered hidden households would remain in their own counties, then sent clerks to publicize the Tuduan edict.
• Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun traveled together to visit Wei Sien, and they discussed Chen’s poem about a goose’s tracks and whether its path was truly a matter of chance.

Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun visited Wei Sien to seek the Wei Clan’s support for the Gengxu Tuduan, using Buddhist teachings and political arguments to persuade him. Wei Sien agreed to consult his clansmen and indicated that the Wei Clan would comply if the Yu Clan surrendered its hidden households first.

• Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun arrived at the Wei estate, where Zhi Mindu urged Wei Sien to receive them after learning Chen carried a letter from Zhi Daolin.
• Chen Caozhi presented Wei Sien with a handwritten copy of the “Diamond Prajna Perfection Sutra,” and Zhi Mindu and Wei Sien praised its scripture and calligraphy.
• Chen Caozhi discussed the sutra and then asked Wei Sien to support the Tuduan, arguing that serving the state could also be a form of Buddhist cultivation.
• Xie Daoyun reminded Wei Sien of the danger the Wei Clan had faced under Sun Quan, and Wei Sien agreed to consult his clansmen before deciding.
• Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun visited the Orchid Pavilion, where Xie Daoyun predicted that Wei Sien would condition the Wei Clan’s support on the Yu Clan surrendering its hidden households.
• Wei Sien gave Chen Caozhi the answer Xie Daoyun had predicted: the Wei Clan would comply if the Yu Clan did so first.

Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun visited Kuaiji’s powerful clans while pressing ahead with the Gengxu Tuduan, gaining support from Xie Shen and Kong Huai as He Zhu and Lu Shu plotted resistance. The chapter ended as nearly a thousand people gathered outside the Commandery Office, demanding that Chen Caozhi and Zhu Yingtai leave Kuaiji.

• Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun visited Xie Shen, who promised that the Kuaiji Xie Clan would surrender another three hundred hidden households.
• He Zhu tried to rally Wei Bo against Tuduan, then learned Xie Shen supported the review and returned to Lu Shu, who urged him to obstruct Chen Caozhi’s visit.
• Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun asked Dai Shu to prohibit lake enclosure and sent letters requesting that uncovered households be assigned to waterworks construction.
• Kong Huai praised Chen Caozhi’s efforts and warned that the Yu and He Clans would be crucial tests of Tuduan’s success.
• Chen Caozhi urged Dai Shu to prepare for unrest, summoned local officials to plan a response, and placed commandery and county officers on alert.
• Nearly a thousand hidden households, farmhands, tenant farmers, and displaced people gathered outside the Commandery Office and demanded that Chen Caozhi and Zhu Yingtai leave Kuaiji.

Chen Caozhi suppressed a disturbance against the tuduan edict, explained the new rules, and arrested Zhang Lun and the leading agitators. Lu Shu and He Zhu then plotted to undermine Chen Caozhi by investigating the Chen Clan’s land acquisitions in Qiantang.

• Ran Sheng and his soldiers broke up the crowd outside the Kuaiji Commandery Office and seized more than twenty ringleaders.
• Dai Shu explained that registered households could remain in their native places, while Chen Caozhi promised regulated taxes and corvée.
• Chen Caozhi ordered Zhang Lun arrested for neglecting his duties and had the prisoners held for questioning.
• Lu Shu and He Zhu discussed how to impeach Chen Caozhi, deciding to send trusted men to Qiantang to look for evidence against the Chen Clan.
• He Zhu accused Chen Caozhi of targeting the Three Wu gentry clans, and Lu Shu urged him to send men to Qiantang quickly.

After discussing the unrest and Tuduan with Xie Daoyun, Chen Caozhi planned to rally Kuaiji Academy’s students to support the reforms. The chapter ended as Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun prepared to debate the proud young scholar Yu Xiaofu.

• Chen Caozhi told Xie Daoyun that he was waiting for Xi Jiabin’s word before interrogating the rioters, and explained that a severe punishment of a high-ranking offender could help enforce Tuduan.
• Xie Daoyun warned Chen Caozhi that Lu Shu and He Zhu might plot against him, then suggested winning support through Kuaiji’s commandery school and its students.
• Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun shared a tender, awkward moment before parting for the night; afterward, Chen Caozhi heard a qin performance and carefully copied Lu Weiwei’s letter.
• The next morning, Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun visited Kuaiji Academy and met its Erudite, Yu Yue, who directed his nephew to debate them.
• Chen Caozhi recognized Yu Xiaofu as one of the young scholars Xie An had urged him to meet and prepared to debate him before the assembled students.

Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun won over the Kuaiji Commandery School with a debate and lecture on ritual, self-cultivation, and innate knowledge. As Xie Daoyun prepared to visit her parents’ graves and Chen Caozhi planned to persuade Yu Yu in Yuyao, an urgent dispatch arrived from Jiankang.

• Yu Xiaofu came to the Commandery School intending to defeat Chen Caozhi in debate and hinder the Tuduan.
• Xie Daoyun defended Xuanxue, and Chen Caozhi linked the decline of ritual to the hardships of the people and the Tuduan debate.
• Chen Caozhi lectured on self-cultivation and Wang Yangming’s Four Teachings, impressing Yu Xiaofu and winning over most of the school’s students.
• Yu Xiaofu praised Chen Caozhi as a rare talent and said he planned to see how Yu Yu judged him.
• Xie Daoyun decided to return to Dongshan to pay respects at her parents’ graves, while Chen Caozhi planned to visit Yu Yu in Yuyao.
• An urgent dispatch from Jiankang arrived in Kuaiji just as Chen Caozhi was preparing to leave for Yuyao.