On the morning of the 14th, Chen Caozhi had an early lunch and crossed the Qiantang River back to Chenjiawu with his sister-in-law Ding Youwei, Zongzhi, Runer, Chen Mo, Chen Tan and Ran Sheng.

The flow of the Qiantang River has increased recently. Although it has not returned to its former might, it is no longer like a small stream. Looking at the Fenglin Ferry on the other side, the Chenjiawu tribesmen who learned the news yesterday are already waiting.

From the clan leader Chen Xian on down, dozens of people from the whole clan, men, women, old and young, came out twenty miles away to wait for Chen Caozhi's return by the river. There were also hundreds of tenants of the Chen family, all of whom were beaming with joy.

The noble family is even more happy to be married to the Lu family and the Chen Xie family in Wujun, and they can marry two of them at once. What a magical happy event this is!

The snow had stopped yesterday, and the snow on the ground was about half a foot thick. On the road from Fenglin Ferry to Chenjiawu, the snow had been trampled into slush by wheels and footprints, and the oxcarts rattled as they passed -

Chen Caozhi got on the ox cart of his fourth uncle Chen Xian. Following the gentle jolt of the ox cart, he reported to his fourth uncle about his mission to the North and the marriage granted by the Empress Dowager Chongde——

When the news came back that Chen Caozhi had been kidnapped by the Xianbei people, the old patriarch Chen Xian was worried. Regardless of his old age, he wanted to go to Beijing to try to rescue Cao's nephew. However, Xie Daoyun advised him not to go to Beijing for the time being, saying that his son would return safely.

, Sure enough, within a month, the news of the sixteenth nephew's return from the mission came back, and then Ding Youwei's elder brother Ding Licheng came to Chenjiawu to pay a visit, and said that the sixteenth nephew's strength would be transferred from Western Shu to Wuning County as the county magistrate.

News that surprised the Chenjiawu tribe continued to come. Chen Shang was promoted to the rank of seventh-rank palace supervisor, Chen Yu was promoted to the seventh-rank cavalry captain, and Chen Caozhi was promoted to the sixth rank of Sizhou Sima. Three days ago, Feng Mengxiong sent someone to

The news is that Empress Dowager Chongde has granted marriage to Chen Caozhi and Lu Weirui, a girl from the Lu family in Wu County, and Xie Daoyun, a girl from the Xie family in Chen County. The gray-haired old patriarch Chen Xian seems to be in a dream and often talks to himself while walking

, He laughed alone, but was afraid that he was dreaming. Today, he finally looked forward to Chen Caozhi's return. After listening to Chen Caozhi's own words about those things, he was convinced that the Qiantang Chen family has prospered since then. Chen Caozhi, who was fifteen years old at the time,

Cao Zhi contradicted his sixth uncle Chen Man in the ancestral hall and said loudly: "My father is the eighth-rank county magistrate, and my brother is the eighth-rank county magistrate. Why can't I overcome Shao Jiqiu and become a high-rank official with the privilege of being exempted from taxes and servitude?"

?" More than five years later, Chen Caozhi did it. He led the Chen family step by step on the road to revitalization——

The old patriarch Chen Xian smiled from ear to ear and calculated: "So we will set off on the tenth day of the first lunar month. On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, we will rush to Huating to meet up with the people from the Lu family. We will arrive in Jiankang at the end of the first lunar month, and then we will meet the Lu and Xie families.

To perform the ceremony of asking for your name, Najib’s betrothal gift must also be prepared, in duplicate, and there must be no partiality——”

Chen Cao said: "This is going to be a lot of trouble for Fourth Uncle."

The old patriarch Chen Xian smiled and said: "This is a happy thing, no matter how busy or tired it is, it is worth it." Suddenly he raised his eyes and sighed: "Oh, if the seventh brother's wife is still alive, how wonderful it would be to know about today's happy event!"

Chen Caozhi sighed, no matter how well he did, no matter how outstanding he was, it was a pity that his mother couldn't see him anymore. This was a shortcoming that could never be made up for!

When Chen Caozhi returned to Chenjiawu, he first went to visit the elders of each house. Before having a meal, he went with his sister-in-law Ding Youwei, Zongzhi and Runer to the Chen family cemetery in Yuhuang Mountain to pay homage to Chen's mother, Li, Ran Sheng and Jing Nu.

Huang Xiaotong, Xiaochan, and Chen's mother Li's dowry old maid Yinggu also went with them——

The snow-capped mountain mausoleum is covered with silver, and the mountains are full of pines and cypresses weighed down by ice and snow. The road up the mountain has been paved with winding stairs. It is no longer slippery and difficult to walk in rain and snow like before. Chen Caozhi stood in front of his mother's tomb.

, the hundreds of pines and cypresses he planted four years ago when he was guarding his mother's grave have now grown into a forest. How can people be embarrassed if the trees are like this?

The snow in front of the tomb door was cleared, five plates were placed on the left, six-ear cups were placed on the right, round plates of delicacies, and libations were laid on the table. Ding Youwei, Chen Caozhi, Chen Zongzhi, and Chen Runer paid homage in turn——

Chen Caozhi looked at the place where his mother was buried, thinking of her mother's love, and couldn't help but shed tears. He only heard the old maid Yinggu muttering to the side: "Madam, A Ying came to see you again. A Ying is so happy today.

Mr. Liu Chou is back. Mr. Liu Chou is about to get married. He wants to marry two wives. One is a girl from the Lu family in Wu County. She came to visit the lady that year. The lady liked her very much, right? After the lady passed away, Lu

The young lady also sent a maid to bury her on her behalf. Little Madam Lu was already from Chenjiawu; the other lady of the Xie family had also met her, that is Zhu Langjun. It turned out that she was not Zhu Langjun, she

It’s the Xie girl who pretends to be a man for Mr. Liu Chou. They are all good girls, right? When Mr. Liu Chou officially gets married next year, let Mr. Liu Chou take care of the two young ladies Lu and Xie.

Let’s come together to visit you, madam…”

The old maid Yinggu was talking nonchalantly, as if Chen's mother Li was still sitting on the bed chatting with her. Chen Caozhi, Ding Youwei and others had already burst into tears——

…

From this day on, everyone in Chenjiawu was busy. One was to prepare for the New Year, and the other was to prepare for the elders of the Chen family to enter Jiankang next year. Chen Xian, Chen Man, and Ding Youwei were all going to Jiankang. If Chen

Man used to have some grudge against Chen Caozhi, but now he has completely put it aside. The honor of the family is everything. The sixteen nephews have brought glory to the Chen family. What else can Chen Man be dissatisfied with? Moreover, the Chen family has grown in recent years.

The rapid expansion is something Chen Man never dared to dream about before. Chen's two-year rice crop has been a great success. The yield per mu has almost doubled. The land of Chen's manor has expanded to more than 300 hectares, which is more than what it was at the end of last year.

The two hundred hectares have increased by more than half; Chen's blacksmith shop has expanded again and again, and now has nearly a hundred blacksmiths. Blacksmiths from several nearby counties have all come to Chenjiawu. This year, tens of thousands of farm tools have been made, all of which are made by Gu.

Chen's tea garden has expanded to 4,000 acres, with an annual output of more than 500,000 kilograms of Gexian tea. The supply is still in short supply, because Xie Anshi of Dongshan likes to drink Gexian tea, so it became popular in Jiangzuo.

The livestock breeding in Chen's Manor and the fishery in Mingsheng Lake are growing year by year, and the momentum is gratifying; Chen's papermaking and textiles do not spare a lot of money to hire skilled craftsmen with specialized skills. If there is innovation, they will be rewarded heavily, and Chen's private army also

The number of people has increased from the original 80 to 160. Among them, 80 people are not engaged in farming and are dedicated to patrolling. The other 80 people train during the slack period and work on the farm in peacetime. If there is an emergency, they can immediately form combat capabilities.

These are all trained by Jing Nu. The family has a big business. Without strong armed forces, it is difficult to prevent the refugees and bandits from plundering. The current Chen family's private soldiers are second to none in several counties near Qiantang. This is all due to Chen Cao's

The family development plan originally set——

But all this, without the strong backing of the clan members who are officials in the imperial court, the family's land, money and silk cannot be saved no matter how much they accumulate. Just like last year when the Chu family colluded with the He family to frame the Chen family, without Chen Caozhi, the family industry would also fall apart.

In the blink of an eye, Chen Man is now fully aware of this, so in order to prepare for the engagement ceremony between Chen Caozhi and Lu and Xie's two daughters, he spared no effort and spent huge sums of money, because Chen Caozhi's marriage is not just about Xilou Chen

The matter of the Chen family in Qiantang is the top priority of the Chen family in Qiantang. Marriage with the two great clans of Lu and Xie will greatly increase the Chen family's family prestige——

On the third day of the first lunar month, Chen Caozhi also rode to Shanyin to visit the heads of the Kong, Wei, and Xie families, and had a long talk with Dai Shu, the internal historian of Kuaiji. Due to time constraints, Yuyao could not go, so Chen Caozhi specially wrote

He sent someone to send the letter to Yu Yu, all in order to consolidate the friendship with the Kuaiji gentry——

On the eighth day of the first lunar month, Chen Caozhi returned to Qiantang after a long journey.

In the afternoon of the ninth day of the lunar month, Chen Jiawu's motorcade crossed the Qiantang River in a mighty manner, headed by the two elders Chen Xian and Chen Man, and others including Ding Youwei, Chen Shang's wife, Chen Cao's uncles, nephews, and maidservants, as well as Ran Sheng.
Chapter completed!