Mi Zhu was in Linzi for five days, and then followed Liu Cun and his sister Mihuan back to Zhushan, stayed at Zhushan's home for another three days, and after meeting with the hurried Qingzhou Beijiaguoyuan and Zhizhong Zhao Rong, they took a boat from Zhushan Port to Xuzhou to start their first official visit to Xuzhou, and by the way, sent his wife Mihuan back to Xiapi to live with his father and mother for a while.

On the afternoon of 20 May, Liu Cun and his entourage, accompanied by Mi Zhu, arrived three miles outside the east gate of Xiapi (now Gupi Town, Suining County, Jiangsu), Xuzhou Zhizhi Office, and were warmly received by Xuzhou Assassin Shi Taoqian, Beijia Zhao Yu, Zhizhong Wang Lang, Xu Fang, Bing Cao and Xuzhou Army Chief General Cao Bao, Diannong Captain Chen Deng, and other major officials and more than 100 officials.

Liu Cun and the others were very moved when they saw Tao Qian and the officials welcoming Sanli, quickly tidied up their clothes, walked in small steps humbly, and bowed before the fifty-nine-year-old Tao Qian, and respectfully greeted him.

Tao Qian had always heard of Liu Cun's virtue of magnanimity and benevolence, and at this time, seeing that Liu Cun, Guoyuan, Zhao Rong and others respected him so much, he immediately sighed loudly, and led the civil and military officials behind him to bend down and salute in return.

Mi Zhu completed the introduction and hid behind Tao Qian, and Tao Qian introduced the following martial arts to the guests.

Xu Fang went to Langya Academy for more than a month the year before last, and he was very familiar with Guoyuan, Zhao Yu and Liu Cun and Guoyuan have admired each other for a long time, and they are very happy to see each other today.

Cao Bao once cooperated with Liu Zheng in the rebellion in Fei County, although they did not meet, they also fought side by side, and they were naturally affectionate when they met.

The family of Chen Deng, the captain of Diannong, has been cooperating with the Langya Chamber of Commerce for several years, so everyone laughs like old friends and feels very cordial.

Tao Qian saw the happy scene, and his good impression of Liu Cun, who always had a humble smile beside him, increased.

The majestic city of Xiapi is the largest fortified city in the north of the river. It is backed by Geyi Mountain and bordered by the Surabaya River in the south. The west is based on Yishui, and the east is bathed in water. Mountains and rivers are connected, the terrain is open, the number of people in the city and outside the city is as high as more than 600,000, Liu Cun looks at the two-storey building above the east gate with majestic and solemn carved beams and paintings, and can't help but let out a voice of admiration.

Tao Qian laughed when he heard this, approached Liu Cun and asked in a low voice: "It is rumored that Lord Zijian is building a Qilu First Xiongcheng with a length of eight miles from east to west and a width of six miles from north to south in the west of Jinan Guoli City, Lixiabo (now Daming Lake) and Wulongtan, and its name is Jinan City. I don't know if it's yes or no? ”

Liu Cun replied truthfully: "Indeed, Licheng, which has a history of hundreds of years, is too small, the population has increased more than ten times over the past few hundred years, Licheng is still a small city with a radius of four miles, due to disrepair, many places collapse and tilt, and no drainage system has been built inside and outside, resulting in pollution inside and outside the city, and it is very prone to major disasters such as waterlogging, fire, and epidemic. ”

"Considering that Licheng is the only big city located in the westernmost part of Qingzhou. Known as the west gate of Qingzhou, the population has reached 550,000, and the iron and textile industry is quite prosperous, so it was voted by the Qingzhou Government Council. A new city was built to the west of Licheng. The relevant recital was presented to the imperial court in the winter of last year, and a map of the whole city was attached for the record. ”

After listening to this, Tao Qian admired Liu Cun's frankness very much, and warmly invited Liu Cun to take a ride in the same car.

Liu Cun readily agreed. Say hello to the surrounding officials, and follow Tao Qian to board the car and sit.

The entire convoy was led by the front and rear iron cavalry and the guards of the armor on both sides. Mightily entered the east gate and headed for the Assassin's Mansion.

The comfortable and wide four-wheeled carriage passed through the deep and dark city gate, and the warm sunlight once again shone down. Tao Qian stroked the three long strands of beard that were still black and shiny, and asked kindly:

"Zijian, I heard that you are coming, the old man has been tossing and turning for several days and can't sleep, and he can be said to look forward to it day and night with joy, but because of violating the ban of the imperial court, isn't Zijian worried about being criticized?"

Liu Cun said with a smile: "My lord, don't worry, Sun Jian killed two Taishou for his own selfishness, and Liu Dai killed Lord Qiaomao for the sake of military salaries, grain and grass, and the court turned a blind eye to the evil deeds of destroying the nine clans. ”

Tao Qian laughed, laughed very heartily, and held Liu Cun's hand with emotion:

"Zijian, the old man knows very well in his heart that you are doing this trip to help the old man, and you are deliberately doing it for the people of the world and the princes who have ill intentions, and the old man and his subordinate Wu are extremely grateful!"

As the saying goes, distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors, as Zijian said in his letter, the two states of Qingxu depend on each other, and share weal and woe! Zijian, do you know what the first feeling in your heart was when you saw you today? ”

"Please make it clear."

Liu Cun smiled with interest.

Tao Qian spit out three words clearly and slowly: "Don't worry!" ”

Liu Cun hurriedly saluted: "Thank you for your trust, you can be neighbors with adults, and you can listen to your teachings from time to time while helping each other, isn't it the luck of Liu Cun and the more than 5 million people in Qingzhou!" ”

"Zijian Gaoyi!"

Tao Qian was very moved: "It's better to meet than to hear!" Think about it, how many people can be in the world who can make a generation of great Confucian Zheng Xuan and Bing Yuan praise the two gentlemen? ”

The two feudal officials who are thirty years apart in age, all the way to the car, all the way to talk, there seems to be endless words, the carriage entered the gate of the state capital, until it stopped under the high platform in front of the lobby, Tao Qian was still full of interest to tell the unforgettable process of he followed the Huangfu general, Taiwei Zhang Wen in Liangzhou to quell the rebellion, the whole person was in high spirits, his eyes were bright, as if he was ten years younger.

The reception dinner was very grand.

Liu Cun in the moon was held by the stars, and responded enthusiastically to each toaster, especially with the Cao Bao brothers and Chen Deng's father and son, and finally poured nine glasses of wine with his own hands.

Without waiting for the embarrassed Tao Qian to refuse, and without waiting for everyone to worry about Tao Qian's body, Liu Cun had already sent six glasses of wine to the two sons behind Tao Qian one by one, and then poured his three glasses of wine into a bowl, raised his hands and said, "I will be my brother in the future", and drank with the excited and grateful pottery merchant and Tao Ying brothers, and won the applause of the house again.

Tao Qian was even more overjoyed, if it weren't for Mi Zhu muttering in his ear, I'm afraid he wouldn't have let Liu Cun go back to see his mother-in-law.

The next day, the sky was slightly bright, Liu Cun, who was accustomed to getting up early, opened the tent curtain and sat on the couch, and the four beautiful maids who had been waiting for a long time immediately served hot water and fragrant tea, took a towel and tooth powder, and greeted him.

Mi Huan suddenly lay on Liu Cun and laughed, and when he was almost out of strength, he told the maids to leave something, and then hugged Liu Cun's thick neck and kissed him fiercely:

"You drank like that last night, and you pushed away the service of two beautiful maids, it's rare! But my mother also said that there is no man in this world who does not steal! I want to see how big my mother's eyes will be in a while, hehe, hahaha! ”

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