Fifty-nine, misfortune lies on which blessings depend
There was a heavy snowfall in the middle of the twelfth lunar month. The Chen Family Manor in Qiantang was covered with snow, the green hills were white, and the fields were vast. It was like a kingdom of ice and snow. As far as the eye could see, the sky and the earth were white. Only Mingsheng Lake had no trace of snowfall, and the sinking water of the lake contained all the cold and warmth.
, bustle and eternal silence.
During the autumn harvest and winter storage, the Chen clan and the farmers and tenants living around Chenjiawu had no farm work to do. The whole family sat around the fire, mending, repairing farm tools, and buying new year's goods.
Chenjiawu had distributed enough fish, meat, rice, millet, oil, salt, cloth, and silk. The Chen family had already paid the taxes on their behalf. There was no need to worry about treacherous officials coming to knock on the door. This was how they were sheltered under the aristocratic family.
The benefits are great, and Mrs. Chen is particularly generous and kind to her servants. Therefore, Mrs. Chen’s tenants, tenants, and employees all feel that their life is enjoyable and they have a sense of belonging here.
There are also busy things in the ice and snow, and that is the blacksmith shop of Chen's Manor. Purple smoke is lingering, the fire is blazing, and the crisp sound of "ding-ding-ding--" can be heard far away. In the spring of next year, Chen's Manor will need a lot of plows.
, rakes, hoes, sickles and other agricultural tools, Laide, the son of Lai Fu, the chief steward of Chenjiawu, invented a repeatedly push-pull bellows. Using this bellows to blow air is much more convenient than the leather gouge blowing equipment used by blacksmiths.
The wind is long-lasting and strong, and it saves labor. The forging fire is fierce, and the iron tools cast are more durable.
On the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, Liu Shangzhi came to visit Chen Caozhi in the snow. He said that Lu Na was sent by Lu Shangshu to invite him to Jiankang to serve as the assistant secretary of the Record Office.
If you support him, he will definitely have a bright future.
Chen Caozhi said with a smile: "Congratulations, Uncle Liu will be very happy."
Liu Shangzhi said: "Yes, I have been living in seclusion in Liujiabao for more than a year. I live in a poor family, have no clue, and am depressed. I just want to take Five Stone Powder to relieve my worries——"
Chen Cao said: "Well, you might as well take Wushi Powder, and you can walk here shirtless on this snowy day, chewing an ice pick in your hand -"
Liu Shangzhi laughed heartily and said, "Zizhong, we are good friends. I will tell you what I have to say. I think you will be Lu Shangshu's son-in-law."
There was nothing to hide in front of Liu Shangzhi, so Chen Caozhi raised his eyebrows and asked, "Why do you see this?"
Chen Cao said: "Think about it, it was you who introduced me to Lu Shangshu. If Lu Shangshu resented you, how could he remember that there was a person like me, Liu Shangzhui, in this small corner of Qiantang? He wanted to send an envoy specially.
Summon me to Beijing! This shows that Lu Shangshu still values you."
Chen Cao said: "This is because Brother Shangzhi's talents have been appreciated by Lu Shangshu. Moreover, you resigned because Chu Jian made things difficult for you. Lu Shangshu will naturally promote you."
Liu Shangzhi took out a letter from his pocket and handed it to Chen Caozhi: "Zizhong, please read this. This is a letter from Lu Shangshu, and it also mentions you."
Chen Caozhi opened the letter and read it. He did not look at what was written in the letter, but admired the unique hemp paper and bald pen calligraphy of the Lu family. This kind of jute paper can only be made by the papermaking workshop in Huating Manor. The paper is exquisite.
He met Lu Weirui in Huating in April last year, and Lu Weirui gave him five large rolls of jute paper, which he has not used up yet——
Lu Na used the cursive calligraphy style of "Pingfu Tie". His writing style was simple, old-fashioned, and full of real interest. His strokes were like coiled iron wire, with a dense and natural structure. In terms of writing power and charm, Chen Caozhi believed that Lu Na's
Zhangcao calligraphy has surpassed that of his great uncle Lu Ji, but Lu Ji was more famous.
Lu Na did mention Chen Caozhi at the end of the letter, saying that when he took office in Wu County, he originally planned to recruit Chen Caozhi as the county's literary director. However, now that things have changed, he left Wu County, and Chen's family has also been listed as a scholar. Chen Caozhi will
Have a better future——
Chen Caozhi nodded and said: "Lu Shangshu is really a virtuous gentleman, and I have really failed him."
Liu Shangzhi smiled and said: "It's okay to betray my father-in-law, just don't betray Lu Lu." He also said: "I will leave for Jiankang on the eighteenth day of the first lunar month next year. I will write to you after I settle down. You will also be there at the end of next year."
It’s time to get to Jiankang, then we can get together again.”
Chen Cao said: "Ding Chunqiu will go to Yangzhou next year to serve as an official and casual official for Wang Shao Wang's internal history."
…
Time flies, and it's New Year's Eve in a blink of an eye. Ding Youwei still takes Zongzhi, Runer, Yinggu, Xiaochan and others to the Yuhuang Mountain Thatched House to stay with Chen Caozhi to welcome the Xinyou New Year - five years after Emperor Mu of the Jin Dynasty was promoted to peace.
In that year, Chen Caozhi was eighteen years old, Ding Youwei was twenty-nine, Zongzhi was eleven, Run'er was nine, and Ran Sheng, who was nearly eight feet tall, was fifteen.
On the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, Liu Shangzhi and Ding Chunqiu came to bid farewell to Chen Caozhi. They went to Jiankang, and then Ding Chunqiu took a boat to Yangzhou.
On the fifth day of February, Gu Kaizhi and Xu Miao came to visit from afar. They had been separated for more than a year. It goes without saying that they were happy to meet each other. Xu Miao had passed the appraisal of the Dazhongzheng, an overseas Chinese in Xuzhou, and received the exemption from being a sixth-rank official. Because he did not leave Jingzhou
Gu Yuezhi recommended that the eighteen-year-old Xu Miao was appointed as a literary scholar by the prefect of Wuling County because of his excellent Confucianism. After coming here to meet Chen Caozhi, he immediately went to Wuling County, Jingzhou to take up a post.
Chen Caozhi asked with a smile: "Have the immortals paid their respects to Lord Feng?"
Xu Miao blushed, and Gu Kaizhi rushed to answer: "Why don't you go see me? The immortals are really hiding it. I never knew about it. It's strange that Qian Tang only mentioned it to me this time when my colleague came.
Also, Xianmin has become Zizhong’s sister-in-law!"
Xu Miao's face turned red and he couldn't say a word.
Chen Caozhi asked: "My sworn sister Lingbo and Xianmin are a perfect match. Have you chosen a wedding date?"
Xu Miao calmed down a little and said: "I have asked for a divination date, and it will be November 19th this year."
Chen Caozhi nodded and chose the winter month of this year. Naturally, he took into account his filial piety, and Feng Lingbo was also his mother's adopted daughter, so the wedding date was chosen after he took off his filial piety and removed his clothes, so that his adopted brother could also attend the wedding.
.
Gu Kaizhi said: "No matter how far away the wedding of the immortal people is, I will come. By the way, Zizhong, Chenjiawu has changed a lot in the past year. It is an exaggeration to say that it has changed a lot, but along the way, except for the beautiful mountains and rivers, the rest of the road,
The buildings have changed drastically. I used to see few people walking across the river, but now there is an endless stream of people."
Chen Caozhi smiled and said: "When the immortals come to marry my sworn sister, come here again and see how different things will be."
Gu Kaizhi said: "I don't care about this. Zi Zhong takes your recent paintings and shows them to me. I will be happy only if the paintings improve."
Chen Caozhi took his paintings of "Ran Sheng's Angry Eyes", "Run'er Fishing", and "Mountain Living Four Seasons" and looked at them with Gu Kaizhi. Gu Kaizhi unfolded a picture of "Ran Sheng's Angry Eyes" and looked at it. He opened his eyes in horror and mouthed
Suddenly there was no sound. After looking at it for a while, he looked at "Run'er Fishing Pictures" and "Mountain Living Four Seasons Pictures" again. He began to inhale "hissingly" in his mouth and sighed: "Zizhong, after four hundred days apart, your paintings
I am very afraid of the great advancement in technology."
Xu Miao smiled and said: "Changkang, why are you so afraid that your son will take away your reputation as the number one painter of Sanwu paintings?"
Gu Kaizhi looked at the three scrolls left and right, and said: "I'm afraid they have been taken away. Zizhong's progress was too fast." He quickly ordered his attendants to take his newly painted "Xia Yu Flood Control" and "Spring Dragon Emerges". Picture", put together with three paintings by Chen Caozhi——
Chen Caozhi obviously felt that Gu Kaizhi was relieved, and couldn't help but smile. His paintings were indeed refreshing when viewed individually. He was quite proficient in using colors and inks, and he also had exquisite descriptions, interesting tastes, and unique features. , but when compared with Gu Kaizhi's two paintings, "Xia Yu Flood Control" and "Spring Dragon Emerging from Hibernation", it shows the shortcomings of his brushwork and color. What Gu Kaizhi meant when he breathed a sigh of relief is that : "It's okay, okay, I haven't caught up with the quilt yet."
Chen Caozhi smiled and said: "It's really incomparable. It pales in comparison with Changkang's masterpieces."
Gu Kaizhi compared the two and said: "I'm still very scared. I'm afraid that within two years, Zi Zhong will surprise me. No, I often played with the children of the Jingxiang gentry last year and was not diligent enough. I will never be so lazy in the future. Now, you can’t let Zi Zhong surpass me.”
Chen Cao said: "Okay, let's compete again in the future. We will be friends and rivals for life."
Gu Kaizhi laughed and said repeatedly: "Okay, lifelong friends and lifelong rivals."
Because Xu Miao was rushing to Wuling County to take up his post, Gu Kaizhi and Xu Miao only stayed in Chenjiawu for three days before leaving and heading west. Chen Caozhi learned from Xu Miao that Xi Chao's uncle, Xu, was in Yan Erzhou Xi Tan, the governor of the first month of the lunar month, died of illness. The imperial court immediately appointed Fan Wang, the governor of Dongyang, to oversee the military affairs of the five prefectures of Xu, Yan, Qing, Ji, and You. He also served as the governor of Xu and Yan prefectures. Fan Wang belonged to the Xi clan in Jingkou and served as Xi Chao. Grandfather Xi Jian's servant, Fan Wang was appointed by the imperial court to have a heavy responsibility, also in order to contain Huan Wen——
What surprised Chen Caozhi was that except for Xi Chao, all of the Xi family in Gaoping were at odds with Huan Wen.
…
Xi Chao represented Grand Sima as a member of the army in the Western Prefecture. Huan Wen, the Duke of Nanjun, attended the New Year's Day meeting at Taiji Hall in Jiankang. On the third day of the first lunar month, the genealogy commander Shi Jia Bizhi went to Qingxi Lane to visit Xi Chao and talked about the meeting with Chen Caozhi in April last year. The letter signed "Yingtai" I saw there also expressed my doubts——
Xi Chao was greatly surprised. He narrowed his eyes slightly, smiled at the corner of his mouth, gently twirled his beautiful beard under his chin, pondered for a long time, and said: "Brother Bi's guess is correct. This Yingtai is Xie Daoyun. Everyone knows that Xie Anshi is good at silk and bamboo music, but I didn’t know that his niece Xie Daoyun was even more obsessed with music. Xie Xuan once told me that he went to Wu County under the pseudonym Zhu Yingting to study in Wu County just to appreciate Chen Caozhi’s recorder. Now it seems that it is not Xie Xuan but his sister who is obsessed with Chen Cao’s recorder music. Xie Daoyun, then Xie Daoyun and Chen Caozhi's classmate, Jiangzuo Weijie, are not in vain. It is not surprising that Xie Daoyun is deeply in love with her. No wonder she frustrated Wang Ningzhi with her speech and refuses to talk about marriage to this day. So that's it !I see!"
Xi Chao said "I see" several times in succession, smiling brightly, and said to Jia Bizhi: "Lu Na's daughter is openly in love with Chen Caozhi, and Xie's daughter is secretly in love with Chen Caozhi. This is really the most romantic affair in this dynasty." ,So funny!"
Jia Bizhi said: "Brother Guest, this matter is not a trivial matter. If word spreads, it will cause an uproar. I am afraid it will cause a big dispute between the northern and southern gentry. Chen Caozhi will become the common enemy of the northern and southern gentry. How can he still be an official in the future!"
Xi Chao narrowed his eyes and said: "Misfortune depends on blessings. If this matter is planned well, danger can be turned into safety before it starts. It may also be of great benefit to eliminate the gap between the northern and southern nobles. But don't reveal it for now. I want to report it to the Grand Sima.
We’ll decide later.”
Jia Bizhi was dumbfounded. Huan Wen was about to be alarmed by this incident. He couldn't help but secretly regretted talking too much, fearing that he might get angry in the future.
