Forty-three, I will see Cao Zhi again tonight and tomorrow
Jianhu Lake is also known as Mirror Lake. According to legend, Emperor Xuanyuan once cast a mirror here. Jianhu Lake is long and narrow in shape, starting from Shangyuhaokou in the east and ending at Shanyin Doumen in the west. It is more than a hundred miles long and collects water from the 36 sources of Kuaiji.
There are thousands of hectares of farmland, and the people enjoy its benefits. In the past twenty years, the weather in Kuaiji has been good, and no major drought or flood disasters have occurred. The function of Jianhu Lake has also been ignored, and the trend of building dikes and creating farmland along the lake has become more and more intense.
Since the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun had been waiting for the edict from the Chancellery. Together with the chief registrars of counties and counties, meritorious officials, as well as the heads or stewards of the Wei family, the Xie family, the Kong family and other wealthy families, they made three trips within seven days.
For more than a hundred miles, I circled around Jian Lake and observed the hydrology and topography. Some of the fields that were originally part of the lake area had to be returned to the lake. However, in some places, due to changes in water and soil, such as the Lanzhu Mountain area, it was no longer necessary to return the lake to the lake.
Chen Caozhi came to Kuaiji to review the land settlement, and he did not have the power to order the common people of Kuaiji to return their farmland to the lake. The state order only strictly prohibited the reclamation of land from the lake from now on. Chen Caozhi could not be too tough on returning the land to the lake. Kuaiji
The nobles felt quite sad that Chen Caozhi used severe methods to attack the He family. The Wei family, the Yu family, and even the Kong family and the Xie family supported Chen Cao's Tujuan family on the surface, but privately they all had negative feelings towards Chen Caozhi.
Be wary, because no matter what, due to the arrival of Chen Caozhi, the landowners of Kuaiji gentry were forced to surrender a large number of hermit households, and the family interests were already damaged. If Chen Caozhi strictly ordered them to withdraw from Hutian, he would offend all the gentry in Kuaiji.
, with Shan Ya and Ma Zhen’s lessons learned, Chen Caozhi could never act radically, so he just stated the pros and cons and suggested to Dai Neishi and the Kuaiji gentry to restore some of the fields that hindered irrigation into lake areas and dredge from Xiling to the county.
The Hegong Canal in the city made the original criss-crossing water network flow smoothly again.
News came from Yuyao that Yu Yu had ordered the tenants to take advantage of the shallow water in winter to build canals and divert water from the Yuyao and Yong rivers into the manor's fields to prepare for the possible drought.
Yu Yu was highly respected in Kuaiji and was proficient in Confucian classics, history and astronomy. The scholars in Kuaiji were quite superstitious about the astrological and calendrical science passed down by the Yu family. Knowing that the Yu family was preparing for drought relief, they believed Chen Caozhi's words about reclaiming lakes and cultivating fields.
The dangers of water conservancy are not exaggerated, so Chen Caozhi's suggestion of returning farmland to lakes and dredging waterways was adopted by them. Kuaiji's wealthy gentry donated a total of 20 million yuan to help the county build water conservancy projects.
What he did was previously restricted by the county prime minister Lu Chu and the He family, making it difficult to implement the decree. After Chen Caozhi came to Shanyin, everything changed greatly. Dai Shu naturally had to strongly support the construction of water conservancy projects.
Spending 15 million yuan, we also mobilized 20,000 able-bodied civilians from the hidden households detected in this soil excavation to build reservoirs and canals in ten counties of Kuaiji to enhance drought resistance.
Compared with the older generation of the Kuaiji gentry who were both in awe and wary of Chen Caozhi, most of the younger generations of the Kuaiji gentry highly respected Chen Caozhi. Everyone could become a sage because of Chen Caozhi’s inner sage and outer king.
He won their hearts. At the invitation of the students in Kuaiji, Chen Caozhi went to Wolong Mountain to give lectures for three more times. The academic style of Kuaiji changed. Ma integrated the Confucianism of Zheng Xuan, Wang Bi, and He Yan's Xuanfeng. At this point, new trends of thought came in.
, the scholarly style that was both stubborn and extravagant also showed vigorous and upward vitality.
On the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month, the He family was forced to hand over 1,500 hermit houses. The He family surrendered a total of 1,900 hermit houses during this civil war. The hermit houses in the manor were basically looted. The head of the He family, He
In the Sui Dynasty, Xie still wanted to go to the capital to interrogate the court, which was extremely unlucky. He Zhu followed him, trying to save his uncle.
Lu Chu, the prime minister of Kuaiji County, knew that the He family would suffer and the Lu family would be implicated, so he asked Dai Shu for leave and went to the capital to discuss countermeasures with his father Lu Shi and his uncle Lu Na.
More than 50,000 of the 13,620 hidden households found in the Gengxu Tudu period since August have been re-registered in counties and counties and have become registered civilian households paying taxes to the government, said Wang Sima of Kuaiji. When Yu learned that Kuaiji had achieved remarkable results in soil eradication and that water conservancy was being built in Kuaiji, he, together with Zhongshu Sheng and Shangshu Tai, issued an edict to halve the taxes of the more than 10,000 newly naturalized households within two years. The resentment caused by the loss of land, because these original hermits still farmed and worked in various gentry manors, the taxes had to be borne by the gentry landowners.
On the fourteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, large-scale water conservancy construction in the ten counties of Kuaiji has been carried out, and the follow-up matters of the soil destruction have also been completed. Chen Caozhi is preparing to take Zongzhi and Runer back to Qiantang early tomorrow morning. Xie Daoyun and Xie Xuan will return to Dongshan.
In the evening of that day, Dai Shu hosted a banquet for Chen Caozhi, Xie Xuan, Xie Daoyun, and Ran Sheng. Originally, it was difficult for military officials like Ran Sheng to compete with civil servants. Because Ran Sheng was a younger brother of Chen Cao, he was treated accordingly. As a courtesy, in addition to high-ranking officials at the county and county levels, everyone from the Kuaiji family except the He family attended the night banquet. Father Yu Xiao, Wei Bo, Xie Chen, Kong Huai, and uncles and nephews Kong Wang all came. Wang just came back from Donghai Kingdom the day before yesterday. His wedding to Xie Shen's daughter is on the eighth day of the first lunar month next year, so he came back in advance to make preparations.
The guests and hosts chatted happily. At the end of the Xu period, when the banquet was over and the banquet was over, Chen Caozhi, Xie Daoyun, Xie Xuan, and Ran Sheng returned to the county post. Yu Xiaofu and Kong Wang also followed to have a long and detailed discussion with Chen Caozhi and Xie Xuan. I also rested at Junyi at night.
In the small hall of the county post, there is a Guan mat at the bottom and an exquisite Pu mat at the top. Chen Caozhi, Kong Wang, Yu Xiaofu, and Xie's sisters and brothers are sitting around the fire, drinking tea instead of wine, quoting scriptures, and discussing Confucianism and Mystery. They were all knowledgeable and talented people, and they were very good at eloquence. Unconsciously, it was already three o'clock in the night, and Kong Wang reluctantly said: "Zizhong, Yingtai, and Youdu will go back to their hometowns tomorrow, and it is rare to get together with good friends. "
Chen Cao said: "The eighth day of the first lunar month next spring will be Brother Deze's wedding day. I will come to ask for a wedding drink so that we can get together again."
Kong Wang smiled and said: "Brother Youdu is getting married in March next year, right? Will the wedding be held in Dongshan or Jiankang?"
Xie Xuan glanced at his sister Xie Daoyun and replied: "It's Jiankang."
Kong Wang and Yu Xiao's fathers both wanted to go to Wuyi Lane next year to get drunk and then have a rest. They both avoided talking about Chen Caozhi's marriage. They both thought that Chen Caozhi would be at odds with the Lu family, and that marrying the Lu family's daughter would lead to more trouble. It is even more difficult. As for Zhu Yingtai's intention to marry Xie Daoyun, Xie Daoyun has not married yet. Is it possible that she is waiting for Zhu Yingtai like the Lu family girl waiting for her son? Moreover, Yu Xiao's father and Kong Wangjing had a long talk all night. They all felt that this Zhu Yingtai was talented and admirable. In terms of talent and learning, she was worthy of a girl from the Xie family. Moreover, it seemed that Xie Xuan also respected this distant cousin.
At midnight on the 15th, Yu Xiaofu, Kong Wang, Kuaiji County, Shanyin County, nearly a hundred officials below the county magistrate came to see Chen Caozhi off, and dozens of students from Wolong Mountain also came to see Chen Caozhi off. , more than ten students expressed to Chen Caozhi that they wanted to become his teacher and accompany him around. Chen Caozhi quickly refused, saying that he would enter Xifu after the year, and now that his family and country were not in peace, he was not giving lectures. time.
Xie Xuan and Xie Daoyun are going back to Dongshan today. Dongshan is close but Qiantang is far away, so the two sisters also came to see Chen Cao's uncle and nephew off. The group walked out of the west gate of Shanyin City. Chen Caozhi was careful and saw that
Xie Xuan seemed to want to say something but stopped, so he came closer and held his hand and asked: "Youdu, what do you have to say?"
Xie Xuan shook his head again: "Nothing."
Xie Daoyun asked: "Zizhong, I will attend Kong Deze's wedding next year, will you go to Beijing together?"
Chen Caozhi smiled and said: "Of course." He then asked: "Will the two of you take the "Dongshan Fun Picture" that I collaborated with Mr. An Dao now?"
Xie Xuandao said: "When Zizhong comes to Beijing next year, please give it to my third uncle in person." He added: "Don't let my third uncle see this painting. The paintings of those female actors by Zizhong are really coquettish."
Xie Daoyun couldn't hold it back, smiled, hurriedly covered his face with his sleeves, coughed a few times, cupped his hands and said, "Zizhong, let's just say goodbye. The two of us have to go on our way."
Zongzhi and Runer both came to say goodbye to Xie Daoyun. The two brothers and sisters had been getting along with Zhu Langjun for a long time in the past few days. They felt that although Zhu Langjun was sometimes cold, the little brothers and sisters could feel that Zhu Langjun loved them.
Very good, sometimes when Uncle Chou is not around, the two of them ask Zhu Langjun for help when they have learning problems. Zhu Langjun always answers the questions very well, which makes the two little brothers and sisters admire them very much.
Run'er said: "Zhu Langjun, on your way to Beijing next year, you will also come to Chenjiawu to stay for a while. You can climb Jiuyao Mountain and visit Mingsheng Lake. Last time, Zhu Langjun was too busy."
Xie Daoyun liked Chen Caozhi's niece very much. He leaned over and said, "Okay, it's a deal."
Chen Caozhi said goodbye to everyone. He was in the same carriage with Zongzhi, Run'er, Xiaochan and Yuyan were in the same carriage. Ran Sheng led twenty sergeants to follow the ox cart. There was also an ox cart presented by the Kuaiji County Office.
There were 50,000 yuan in money and 50 pieces of silk in the car. This was the custom in the officialdom of the Jin Dynasty. When officials took office and left office, they were levied the "Welcome and Farewell Old Code" tax, which is commonly known as "Welcome and Farewell Money". Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun came.
After the Kuaiji review, it was considered as taking office and leaving the office. Originally, it was not just the money and silk, but Chen Caozhi asked for the "welcome and gift money" to be halved. This officialdom convention cannot be broken.
On the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, the temperature was below freezing. The water in Jian Lake along the way was frozen, and the breath was white. Chen Caozhi and Chen Zongzhi, their uncle and nephew, were sitting cross-legged in the carriage, telling stories about classics and history.
It's not that Zongzhi is not good at talking about trivial matters at home, he just doesn't want to say more in front of some people.
At noon, Chen Cao and his party had dinner in Qingdian, a small town in the western suburbs of Shanyin. Qingdian is the westernmost end of Jianhu Lake. After passing here, they left the boundary of Shanyin. After a short rest, they set off again. Xiaochan suddenly came over and said: "Little Langjun
,I forgot to tell you something!”
Chen Caozhi asked: "What's the matter?"
Xiao Chan said: "Last night when Xiao Langjun and Zhu Langjun were talking, Zhu Langjun's maid Liu Xu whispered to me that Zhu Langjun is the sixteenth birthday of this month, his twentieth birthday, Zhu Langjun is not
She was asked to speak out, but Liuxu said that Xiaolangjun Cao should know that I wanted to tell Xiaolangjun this morning that it would be okay to eat Zhulangjun's leek leaf water biscuits and then return to Chenjiawu one day later, but
I forgot about it when I got busy." Xiao Chan asked a little guiltily: "Xiao Langjun, what should I do?"
Chen Caozhi thought: "Brother Yingtai's birthday is tomorrow. You should tell me. It doesn't matter if you return to Qiantang a day late. Well, Xie Youdu also wanted to tell me this morning, but he hesitated.
"Think about the leek leaf water cake that Xie Daoyun prepared for him that day. How can you not cherish such a sincere emotion? He said: "Xiaochan, Yuyan is accompanying Zongzhi, and Runer is resting in this small town of Qingdian for a night, and Xiaosheng is also staying.
Next, I will take two sergeants to rush over to celebrate Mr. Zhu’s birthday, and we will be back before noon tomorrow.”
Ran Sheng said: "Brother, let me accompany you. The sergeant has no horse and it will not go quickly."
Run'er said: "Uncle Chou, give Run'er and brother my best wishes to you."
Chen Caozhi told Jing Nu, Lai Zhen and others to take good care of Zongzhi and Run'er, and rode back to Shanyin City with Ran Sheng. The north wind was strong on the road, much colder than the time when they rushed from Dongguan Town to Xie's Manor.
Ran Sheng didn't say anything, but thought to himself: "Brother is always rushing to celebrate someone's birthday. Last time it was Miss Lu, and this time it's Mrs. Xie. Brother won't let Miss Lu down, right? But this thank you
My wife treats my brother very well. If it weren't for her this time, my brother would be in a difficult position to deal with Futang and Kuaiji. Well, Xie Yongxu and Daoyun, such talented, learned and capable women are really rare. If my brother
It would be great to marry both the nymphomaniac Lu and Yong Xuxie."
The two of them hurried back to Shanyin City in the early afternoon. When Dai Neishi saw Chen Cao leaving and returning, he was surprised and asked what was going on? Chen Caozhi said that he had forgotten to tell Deputy Envoy Zhu about something important.
Dai Neishi said: "Xie Youdu and Vice Envoy Zhu will arrive at Haokou to rest for the night."
Chen Caozhi resigned from Dai Neishi, and he and Ran Sheng rode out of the city and galloped along the south bank of Jianhu Lake. Haokou was more than forty miles away from Shanyin. When the two arrived at Haokou, it was completely dark, and the sparse lights of Haokou town were still there.
It makes people feel extra warm on cold nights.
There are two inns in the town, on both sides of the small street. Chen Caozhi asked and found out that the Xie sisters and their party were staying at the Kaiyuan Inn. He and Ran Sheng entered the Hanyin Inn opposite and went to the guest room to wait for the emergency room.
I prepared some wine and paper and pen, and when I was grinding the ink I realized that my hands were almost frozen. After grinding the ink with an inkstone, my hands warmed up. I picked up the pen and wrote a small letter. I gave the shop assistant 20 Wen and asked him to deliver it.
Mr. Zhu Yingtai of the inn opposite has it in his hands.
The waiter of Hanyin Inn came to Kaiyuan Inn with a letter and a letter, and called out: "Mr. Zhu, who is Mr. Zhu? I have a letter to give to Mr. Zhu."
Xie Daoyun was chatting with his younger brother Xie Xuan in the guest house. Xie Xuan asked: "Sister, what if I let Zizhong know that your birthday is tomorrow?"
Xie Daoyun said: "If Zizhong plans to return to Qiantang on the 16th, then I will tell him to eat my leek leaf water cake before leaving. Now, I don't want him to delay a day specifically for my birthday."
Xie Xuan really had nothing to do with his sister's temper. My sister was always unwilling to be inferior to others, and she was aloof and arrogant. She only shrank in front of Chen Caozhi and said: "If Zizhong knew that he left before my sister's twentieth birthday, how could I do it with my son?"
If he is a serious person, he will feel apologetic. Does my sister just want Zi Zhong to apologize?"
Xie Daoyun snorted and said angrily: "Ah, you are so verbose." He stretched his waist and limbs as if he were sleepy and said: "I'm tired and want to sleep, you go back to the room."
Xie Xuan shook his head and thought: "This sister obviously likes Zizhong, but she insists on pretending that it is friendship. Now that Zizhong and the Lu family are at odds, it is even more impossible to marry the Lu family's daughter. My sister is more suitable for Zizhong than the Lu family's daughter."
.”
At this time, Liu Xu, the maid, came with a letter and said: "The boy at the inn opposite sent it to Mr. Zhu Langjun."
Xie Xuan took it and unfolded it. He raised his eyebrows, his eyes were shining, and a smile spread quickly from his lips.
Xie Daoyun looked at his younger brother Xie Xuan and asked, "Ah, what are you laughing at? Whose calligraphy is it?"
Xie Xuan suppressed his smile, handed the calligraphy to his sister, and said, "There is no signature. Sister, please read it yourself. I'm going back to my room."
Seeing his younger brother Xie Xuan leaving in a hurry, Xie Daoyun took the calligraphy and looked at it suspiciously. What he saw were two lines of familiar and unique cursive script, which were sharp and steep, free and easy. Only one person in the world could write this kind of calligraphy.
"Green ants' newly fermented wine, small red clay stove, it's snowing in the evening, can you have a drink?"
Xie Daoyun's slender fingers trembled slightly: "Zichong! Where did Zichong write this post?"
Xie Daoyun asked Liu Xu where the boy who delivered the stickers was. Liu Xu went to call the inn clerk to ask questions. The clerk replied that it was a young man named Chen from Hanyin Inn who ordered him to send it.
Xie Daoyun suppressed the joy in his heart and asked when Mr. Chen arrived?
The waiter replied: "We just arrived, two people, one is extremely handsome, the other is terrifyingly burly, they came on horseback, their hands and feet are almost frozen."
Thanks to Daoyun's order, the man was rewarded with fifty coins, and the man returned home happily.
Xie Daoyun glanced at Liuxu and asked, "Liuxu, have you told Xiaochan about my birthday?"
Liu Xu knew that nothing could be hidden from Mrs. A Yuan, so she responded: "I told Xiao Chan when we were chatting last night."
Xie Daoyun understood that it must have been when Zizhong remembered telling this to Zizhong on the way to Xiaochan that Zizhong rushed over despite the cold. Her heart was boiling, but she remained calm on the surface. She asked Liuxu to tie her hair and crown her, and then came to the inn.
In the courtyard, I felt a little shy when I thought about going to the appointment alone. It seemed that I was reunited with Chen Caozhi after a long separation, and my scarf and jacket could not hide my daughter's heart.
Xie Daoyun walked a few steps in the courtyard and asked Liuxu to invite Langjun Chen, saying that Langjun Chen had something important to discuss with him.
Chen Cao of the Hanyin Inn across the street ordered the shopkeeper to fetch a jug of fine wine. The charcoal fire in the room was black and red. The wine in the jug was steaming hot and exuding an intoxicating aroma. Ran Sheng drank three cups in a row to warm his stomach and body before he arrived in front of the shop.
Welcoming Xie Daoyun, we saw Xie Daoyun's sister and brother coming hand in hand under the big lantern of Kaiyuan Inn opposite.
Chen Caozhi was writing at his desk when he saw Xie Daoyun. Xie Xuan came in, raised his eyes and smiled and said: "Brother Yingtai, Youdu, please sit down for a moment." His tone was calm, as if he was still in the post in Kuaiji County.
Xie Daoyun and Xie Xuan sat down across the table. Seeing that no one was serving wine, Xie Xuan poured himself a drink and wanted to give it to his sister. Xie Daoyun indicated that one drink was enough, but Xie Xuan knew how much his sister could drink.
Affected by this, I drink a lot. Since I entered Xifu, I rarely saw my sister drinking, but I might as well get drunk tonight.
Xie Daoyun didn't know what Chen Caozhi was writing. It should be related to her. Should he write an ice and snow article for her? He also thought: Today and tomorrow, now that I have seen Cao Zhi, I am so happy about it, what more can I ask for!
The cold wind whistled across the roof, the stove in the guest room was warm, and the wine was fragrant. There was a beautiful and warm atmosphere that penetrated into the bone marrow, making people feel that this moment was precious.
