Xiesi's letter of surrender to Murong Chui was written in Xianbei script, and the messenger of the tip was the Duan family slave of Shancongchun, this Duan Qi also had a younger brother named Duan Hang, Duan Chun volunteered to risk death to deliver the letter to Yecheng, and his younger brother Duan Ji was promoted to the governor of the Thousand People's Tribe, and was rewarded with 200,000 yuan and 500 silks, and Duan Si also introduced himself. The concubine was rewarded to Duan Fu as his wife

On October 28th, when the two brothers hugged their heads and cried, Duan Fu asked to go to Handcheng on behalf of his brother, Duan prayed: "My brother is over fifty years old, and there are not many days to come, so I can contribute to the head of the family, although I have no regrets in death, Ah Ji, you are not yet forty this year, so you can live and have children."

Duan Ji fell to his knees and cried.

Duan Chun looked at the heavens and said, "At the end of this year, Ahang can burn all the utensils I use on weekdays

Xianbei funeral customs, the dead are buried, there is no grave place, as for the burial, all set up a coffin hub, a mound chair, when he was born, the carriage and horses, and the utensils were burned to send the deceased, Duan Chun explained to his brother that it was estimated that he could rush to Handcheng in a month and a half, and the day the letter was delivered was also the time when he died.

The day before, in order to celebrate Huan Wende's son, the subordinates of the Western Mansion prepared congratulatory gifts to the General's Mansion, and set up a banquet to entertain Wen, and after the banquet was dispersed, Huan Wen left Zhu Xu, Xie Xuan, Chen Caozhi and others to discuss the Northern Expedition again

Xi Yan said: "The Northern Expedition is far away, the water is shallow, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to get through, so the Ming Duke can first order Yuan Zhen, the assassin of Yuzhou, to study, Liang, and open the stone gate to transport by water, so that there is no worry about grain and grass."

Huan Wen nodded and said: "When the plan is completed, Yan is in turmoil, I will immediately order Yuan Zhen to attack the trick, Liang, and pass through the stone gate." Crazy Shixiu said: "Xianbei people are accustomed to horse warfare, there is no naval army, and our Jin army has both land and water, and we should overcome the enemy's shortcomings with our own strengths."

That's right, Crazy Wen praised: "Tell me more details."

Huan Shixiu had discussed the route of the Northern Expedition with Chen Caozhi earlier, and then Kan said: "The Xifu Navy can first enter Huai from the river, Tun Xuzhou, and then enter Juyeze through Jinxiang, lead the Han water into Qingshui, control and lead the Cao Yun, and then the boat division enters the Yellow River from Qingshui, after crossing the river, it goes straight to Handcheng, Xianbei people are afraid of the prestige of their uncle, and they will be defeated by the wind, even if the battle is unfavorable, our water army controls the river, and can advance and retreat freely, and orders Yuzhou Assassin Yuan Zhen, Huainan Taishou Huan Ziye, and Luoyang Shen Shijian together to send troops to take the Huaibei and Henan lands, this battle, even if you can't take Hebei, And the land of Henan should be owned by my Dajin. ”

Crazy Wen knew that the Northern Expedition strategy mentioned by Zu Shixiu was indispensable to Chen Caozhi's plan, nodded and said good, seeing that Xie Xuan and Zhu Xu were all offering suggestions, Du Huan Xi did not belong, and looked absent-minded, Huan Wen was very displeased, coughed, and asked: "Xi, what suggestions do you have for the Northern Expedition?"

As if he had just woken up from a dream, he said: "Everyone is right, as long as you work together, the Northern Expedition should be successful."

Everyone else has something to say, but Huan Xi can only talk emptyly, Huan Wen frowned, and was about to scold, thinking that he couldn't cut Huan Xi's face in front of Chen Caozhi and others, and he was just "Hmph." expressed dissatisfaction, but heard Huan Xi say: "Daddy, my son is a little unwell, and I want to go down and rest for a while." ”

Crazy Wen calmed his face and waved his hand: "Go ahead." ”

Huan Xi walked out of the council hall, walked quickly to the inner courtyard, went to the small courtyard where Li Jingmei lived, and said to the servant woman in front of the door: "I'll come to see Xiao Xuan without waiting for the report, so I will walk into Li Jingmei's room."

Li Jingmei leaned on the couch and watched the nurse breastfeed Zu Xuan, Li Jingmei had no milk. This nurse was a sturdy woman who was breastfeeding from the city a few days earlier

Huan Xi came in, smiled at Li Jingmei, and looked carefully at Huan Xuan in the nurse's arms, and said to himself: Xiao Xuan and I looked alike when I was young

The corners of Li Jingmei's mouth hooked, her beautiful eyes squinted, and said: "The left and right are all people from your Huan family, and it is not uncommon for some to be similar."

Quan Xi didn't dare to ask, but he really felt that it was not so coincidental, the spring breeze was just for a while, and he was not sure if it was Li Jingmei that night?

Huan Xi looked at the young brother of the third day, Crazy Xuan, with a small nose and small eyes, and his face was red and red, and the newborn child was really not very good-looking

Crazy and unrestrained for a long time, unable to retreat.

Li Jingmei sneered, her eyes were crazy, her eyebrows frowned slightly, and gradually her expression softened, with a sense of love and pity, but in a blink of an eye, she was replaced by a perverse color

On the first day of the winter month, Xie Xuan and Zhu Xu returned to Jingzhou, Huan Xi, Huan Shixiu, and Chen Cao went to Jingkou, and Xi returned to Jiankang two days earlier

The three thousand pairs of heavy armored cavalry equipment built by the Xifu Ordnance Division have been delivered, Duan Si praised the batch of armored equipment forged by Jiangdong craftsmen, and thought that compared to the armor and cavalry of the Yan Kingdom, this batch of armor of the Great Jin Dynasty is lighter, and the good news is that although it is light, its defensive ability is not weaker than the armor and cavalry of the Xianbei heavy cavalry that Duan Si saw in the Yan Kingdom, which shows that the Jiangdong forging technology is above the Yan Kingdom, because the armor is relatively light. Therefore, although Jiangdong's war horses are not as strong as Xianbei war horses, they are also competent.

Crazy Wen handed over the heavy cavalry of 3,000 people to Huan and the two heavy cavalry Jiping spent more than half of the military resources of Xifu for a year, 2,000 Jiaoxing Jigan 6,000 war horses, riding horses that were not wearing armor when marching, and changing to armored horses when charging to ensure that the horses had enough physical strength, this heavy cavalry included all the horses in Xifu, and the sergeant was also the most elite sergeant in Xifu who was careful about budgeting. Riding Governor Duan Si got Huan Wen's secret order, to be unconditionally loyal to Huan Xi, Duan Si fled to Jiangdong, everything was given by Huan Wen, and he obeyed his orders.

Duan Si and Ran Sheng led this heavy cavalry to cross the river on the first day of the winter month, along the north bank of the Yangtze River south to Guangling, not only to merge into the Beifu army, but also to practice the heavy cavalry march and charge, arrived at Guangling when it was already the ninth day of the winter month, the north wind was howling, the weather was suddenly cold, the 60,000 soldiers of Beifu set up a formation on both sides of the river, and practiced every day, including surprise attacks, ambushes, water attacks, fire attacks, siege cities, mountain operations, and river operations, all of which were involved, so that the soldiers could cope with all kinds of difficult situations, and the infantry's moon formation was also skilled. This kind of moon array can be combined into a large array of thousands of people, or it can be dispersed into a small array of twenty people, complicated but not busy, attacking from afar and defending closely, each performing its own responsibility, Chen Caozhi works tirelessly every day, inspecting the military camps, strict military orders, clear rewards and punishments, everyone is in awe, Crazy Shixiu sometimes comes with Chen Caozhi, Huan Xi rarely enters the military camp, and only summons the main generals in the Jingkou Anbei General's Mansion to discuss matters

On the thirtieth day of the winter month, the staff of the West Mansion led the staff of the West Mansion to Guangling by boat, and inspected the military appearance of the North Mansion, during the military exercise, it snowed heavily, and the soldiers of the North Mansion were cleaned up, and they were not moved by the wind and snow at all. Strict drums and two passes, cavalry on horseback, infantry formation; Three links, with the military flag pointed, the front is the front, the rear is the back, the left is the left, the right is the right, the foot and the cavalry turn around, take turns to drill, the troops are tun wu, their respective security troops Chen soldiers, and they dare not make a noise in battle

Huan Wen is an old soldier who uses soldiers, seeing less than half a year, a plate of scattered Beifu soldiers integrated so murderous, can't help but be amazed, after the drill summoned Crazy Xi, Huan Shixiu secretly talked, Huan Shixiu had a very good impression of Chen Caozhi, quite Chen Cao's beautiful words, Huan Wen had hidden worries, Chen Cao's prestige and talent were first-class in the world, and his son Huan Xi was quite mediocre, how could Chen Caozhi be willing to live under Huan Xi?

The Northern Expedition is imminent, and Huan Wen can't think much about this, and after the Northern Expedition is successful, he will take away Chen Cao's military power and let him return to the dynasty to take office

At the end of the military exercise, Chen Caozhi took several abused people from the frost and snow back to the residence in Guangling City, but saw a male servant from Gui, Chestnut and Xie Daoroller came forward to visit, they came from Qian Tang to send Chen Caozhi Lu, Xie two wives, and Xiaochan hand-sewn winter clothes and birthday gifts, tomorrow is the first day of the lunar month, is Chen Caozhi's birthday, this time Ding Youwei did not prepare winter clothes for Xiaolang, Xiaolang has married a wife and concubine, and has his own wife and concubine to cherish. There is no need for her sister-in-law to care too much

Lu Weirui and Xie Daoyun each have letters, the two girls have very different writing styles, each has its own taste, Chen Caozhi smiled, and Chestnut stepped forward and asked in a low voice: "Chen Langjun, did Mrs. Wei Rui write in the letter?" ”

Chen Caozhi asked, "What was written?" ”

When Chestnut saw Chen Caozhi like this, he knew that he didn't know yet, so he said: "Congratulations to Chen Langjun, Mrs. Wei Rui is pregnant." ”

"Ahh Chen Caozhi's eyes widened in vain, and he hurried back and forth indoors, overjoyed, Wei Rui was pregnant with his child, what happiness could compare with this good news!

Chestnut said: "I and Laigui and Xie Qi set off from Qian Tang on the seventh day of the first month of last month, and before leaving, my sister-in-law short hoe told me the news, saying that Mrs. Wei Rui went to the Taoist courtyard at the beginning of the Jewel Mountain the day before, and the Taoist Li Shouyi took the pulse of Mrs. Wei Rui, saying that Mrs. Wei Rui was happy Why didn't Mrs. Wei Rui tell Chen Langjun about this big happy event? ”

Chen Caozhi smiled "hehe" and said: "Wei Rui only asked me if I could go back to Qian Tang for the New Year, hey, Wei Rui is thin-skinned" I was thinking about which night Wei Rui had a pearl fetus? On the way back to Qiantang, on the night of Lu Mansion in Wu County, when she was happy, Wei Rui was very emotional, that day was August 24, if it was really that day, then she would have been three months pregnant by now

Chestnut asked: "Then can Chen Langjun go to the New Year?" It's only been a month. ”

Chen Caozhi originally did not plan to return to Qian Tang for the New Year, it will take more than a month to go back and forth, anyway, next year Wei Rui and Dao Tao they are going to come to Jiankang, it is much more convenient to go to Jiankang from Jingkou, but now that he heard that Wei Rui was pregnant, he suddenly returned to his hometown to visit relatives, thought about it, and said: "A few of you will leave to go back tomorrow, I am not sure whether I can return to my hometown now, and if I want to return, I will be able to arrive by riding a horse after the fifteenth day of the lunar month, if I have no time to return, I will send someone back a few days earlier to report the letter, and there is no one to return three days before the Chinese New Year's Eve, that is, I will return." ”

That night, Chen Caozhi wrote letters to Wei Rui and Dao Che respectively, and the letter to Wei Rui was of course longer

Outside the window, the snow fell silently. Xiao Chen is going to upgrade, wahaha, a bumper harvest.