The expansion of the new city was put on the agenda, mainly building forts in coastal areas and forts at the estuary of the Yangtze River. These are all part of the Ming Dynasty's coastal defense.

Of course, the imperial court will not give out these silver and need to raise them on its own. Fortunately, the development of the new city has been on track, and there are more and more factories, which produce huge economic benefits, so it is easier to complete urban construction.

"Sir, Mr. Tang wrote from Jiangnan. He was unable to integrate the Nanjing officialdom and needed you to help." On the eighth day of the first lunar month, Yun Liu brought news about Tang Yin.

Chen Xi read Tang Yin's letter, and from the lines, he could clearly feel that Tang Yin was in a state of anxiety.

Tang Yin was just taking office as the Minister of War of Nanjing. With his status, he could not shake the deeply rooted powerful people. After several efforts, Tang Yin encountered a wall everywhere. He was discouraged and prepared to give up and wrote to Chen Xi for help.

Chen Xi immediately took up his pen and gave instructions on Tang Yin's request.

Yun Liu was watching, and when he saw Chen Xi writing about letting Tang Yin take responsibility, he immediately realized that Chen Xi would not help.

"He left at the emperor's order. As an imperial envoy, no matter how powerful the powerful are, what can he do? If he cannot control everything with his own ability, even if I take action now, I will only save some face. In the end, he will still run away in panic. I am only responsible for the path he has taken before. What will happen to the future path is his own business." Chen Xidao.

Yunliu asked in confusion: "But sir, if Mr. Tang cannot perform his duties in Jiangnan and he really returns in a bad mood, your face will be greatly lost."

Chen Xidao: "How much is face worth? Tang Yin will always be a follower in the eyes of others if he doesn't get out of his comfort zone. If he wants to give advice, I have already done it before he leaves. If he fails to fulfill his mission, it is his own problem. The opportunity is in front of him. Do you have to rely on me for everything?"

As he spoke, Chen Xi was very disappointed. When Yunliu thought, Chen Xi had high hopes for Tang Yin, but he did not expect that he would "admit his conscience" so quickly, and he felt a kind of "no eyes" loss.

Chen Xi said again: "Your Majesty has given an explanation that he will complete the preparations for the expedition to the country of Folangji and its overseas territories. This is the best opportunity for him to prove his own ability. If he succeeds, he can go further, no matter whether he is a Juren or a Jinshi. If he doesn't work, he can only fall from a high place."

Yun Liu bowed: "I will send someone to send the letter from the adults to Jiangnan."

"Um."

Chen Xi nodded, then remembered something again, waved his hand, "Transfer it into a password and send it out, and then translate it back when you arrive at the place. Don't let others know what you said to him!"

...

...

Chen Xi kept silent about Tang Yin, which seemed to him as a matter of course. The child was always weaned when he grew up, and Tang Yin was the child who was about to be weaned.

On the ninth day of the first lunar month, British Duke Zhang Mao came to see Chen Xi. After meeting and greetings, he complained about Chen Xi's failure to visit after the New Year.

Zhang Mao said: "Zhihou, what is our relationship? You can walk around frequently if you have something or nothing. Yaochen has always mentioned the past you experienced when you were in Jiangnan. He is young and needs more support."

Chen Xi thought to himself: "No matter how young your grandson is, he is older than me, and he speaks as if I am his teacher."

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but think of Xie Pi. Xie Pi was almost the same age as Zhang Lun, and was also entrusted by Xie Qian to take care of him. He would be promoted and reused when he had the opportunity.

However, Xie Pi is obviously "compassionate" than Zhang Lun. He has come to see Chen Xi twice after the New Year, once in the Shen family's study room, and once in the small courtyard of Shen Xi on Chang'an Street.

Xie Pi has no psychological burden for dating Chen Xi, and is not as unsatisfied as Zhang Lun.

Chen Xidao: "Brother Yaochen has outstanding abilities and is in the Governor's Office. He should have more contact with the generals in the army than under the ranks."

Zhang Mao smiled and said, "The martial artist is vulgar and can only dance with swords and guns. It is useless to interact with them. However, you have insights into articles and are very proficient in marching and fighting. It is better to let him come to you to get some literary and military strategies."

“Welcome.”

Chen Xi could only perfunctory Zhang Mao. He believed that the old fox Zhang Mao would not allow Zhang Lu to run to him every day, because the military people have always been very cautious about him.

The two of them were having a chat about family matters. After a long time, Zhang Mao asked with concern: "I heard that the case of Duke of Wei was found to be a result? Is there any news from Your Majesty?"

Chen Xi shook his head: "Your Majesty has not issued any order yet, and it may take until after the Yuan Dynasty to make a decision."

Zhang Mao nodded and asked with concern: "Then how are you going to deal with this case?"

Chen Xidao: "For the crimes committed by Duke of Wei, he should be sentenced to death, but considering that he was a descendant of a meritorious deed and a nobleman, he should be sentenced to suicide in prison."

Zhang Mao looked at Chen Xi with a monster-like look, "Why is it so serious? Even if he does something wrong, it can still be saved."

From this sentence, Chen Xi felt that Zhang Mao was here to plead for Xu Qiu, or to plead for the Xu family.

Chen Xi sighed helplessly: "I have a certain friendship with Duke Wei. When I sent troops to Jiangnan, he provided a lot of help to me, but after he left office, he still made a move to communicate with the Japanese. Such a crime is not clear in just a few words. In addition, he has always been corrupt and abused the law and bullied good people. In the opinion of Mr. Zhang, how should I deal with it?"

"Well..."

When it was Zhang Mao's turn to give his advice, the old fox suddenly became "cowardly" and hesitated, "I don't understand these things, so I won't talk about this topic. Speaking of which, you have a lot of books here, I have to read them carefully..."

Zhang Mao intentionally avoided the topic, but Chen Xi knew that Zhang Mao could not avoid it completely because the nobles in the capital were afraid of being implicated by Xu Qi.

Chen Xi thought to himself: "This old fox came here, and seemed to be pleading for Old Man Xu, but in fact he wanted to get a word from me and wanted to know where the case might develop in the future. But he didn't know that I had already closed the case."

The two walked to the bookshelf and Zhang Mao took two books from the bookshelf to read, but the result was an ordinary collection of time-written works.

After searching for a long time, I found a few rare books.

Chen Xidao: "There are gifts from Mr. Wen Su to me before, and the manuscripts left by Mr. Xie before leaving. If you say that you have privately hidden me, you really can't take it."

Xie Duo was posthumously named "Wensu". Before and after his death, he gave many books to Chenxi.

This is also Xie Duo's spiritual wealth. Although Xie Duo has many disciples, the "disciple" that satisfyes Xie Duo the most is Chen Xi, even though Chen Xi has never worshipped his door wall.

Some of the lonely and famous works collected by Xie Duo were basically given to Chen Xi, but Chen Xi did not put them on the bookshelf, but kept them in a proper way.

Chen Xi knew very well that it was easy to get out of this era, and precious books needed to be preserved well, rather than being exhibited.

Zhang Mao was not very knowledgeable about this. He was not a scholar. He just smiled when he heard this: "It's already very good, much better than my family." After that, he put the book back on the bookshelf, walked back to the guest seat, sat down, picked up the tea and took a sip. The smile on his face solidified, and then stretched out again.

After Chen Xi sat down, Zhang Mao asked, "Have you ever written a letter to Yu Qiao recently?"

Chen Xi shook his head and said, "There has never been a letter."

"That's how it is."

Chen Xi's answer exceeded Zhang Mao's expectations. In his opinion, since Xie Qian created such a good court environment for Chen Xi, he should be very concerned about the court situation and even often "instructions" to Chen Xi.

But Zhang Mao did not know that these civil servants of the Hongzhi Dynasty all had high cultivation and moral character. Whether they retreated voluntarily or were ordered by the emperor to retire, they would live in their prime after returning home without caring for political affairs, which reflected their noble character.

Liu Jian, Li Dongyang and Xie Qian, three capable ministers who made special contributions to the Ming Dynasty, had very consistent attitudes on this matter.

Chen Xidao: "I heard that Mr. Zhang, you are very close to some people? For example... Duke of Wei?"

"ah?"

Zhang Mao did not expect Chen Xi to suddenly bring the topic to Xu Qi. He was surprised first, and then realized that this might be some hint from Chen Xi, and immediately said, "Zhihou, don't get me wrong. I and Duke Wei are in the north and the other are in the south. I have few opportunities to meet each other. How could I get closer to him? It must be someone talking nonsense...or some people are wishful thinking."

Chen Xi smiled: "It's just a rumor, it may not be taken seriously."

Chen Xi looked relaxed, but Zhang Mao could not calm down for a long time.

Zhang Mao thought to himself: "This kid is indeed extraordinary. He knows the purpose of my visit. This is to hint me not to mention this case again!"

Zhang Mao said: "It was originally involved in the matter of the Ming Navy. I want to ask you, but I think that you are resigning from the Ministry of War, so I might as well go to the Ministry of War to ask Wang Shangshu in some matters, so I gave up. The weather is getting better, and it is no longer the cold weather before the New Year, so I just walked around a lot..."

After chatting for a while, Zhang Mao stood up and said goodbye.

Chen Xi had to see each other off anyway. The two left the yard and snowflakes fell on the sky.

Zhang Mao laughed and said, "It's just that the weather is good, but who would have thought it would snow."

Chen Xi smiled and nodded, saying, "This year's spring may come later."

"Yeah?"

Zhang Mao was very curious, "Zhihou, do you still have any research on the astronomical phenomena? Then I will ask you for advice, but I know nothing about it."

The two walked to the door of the Shen family, and Zhu Hong came in here, holding a few prayer letters in his hands.

Zhang Mao smiled and said, "There are many people coming to you every day, but it is surprising. You should have crowded people here, so why don't you see anyone waiting outside?"

Chen Xidao: "The people who come will send their greetings first. If they see them, they will go and invite them."
Chapter completed!