After Lu Wan achieved a brilliant victory, he disappeared silently, and the war became dull. The court was waiting for more good news, but he waited for nothing.

In this way, rumors that Chen Xi must be put on the battlefield as soon as possible are also rampant, as if in the Ming Dynasty, Chen Xi must take action.

As March begins to warm up.

When the spring is warm and flowers are blooming, Chen Xi originally thought of spending a few days of comfortable days and going out for a walk and enjoying the flowers. However, Xie Qian couldn't bear it. Without the emperor taking the initiative to discuss peace, he arrived at the cabinet in Yingmao early this morning. Others did not understand the tricks, thinking that the emperor had made efforts in the middle, and the conflict with the chief minister eased, and the morale of the civil servant group was greatly boosted. As a result, Chen Xi continued to stay at home to rest and lose his reason.

When Xie Qian returned to the court, Zhu Houzhao did not make any special statement. It seemed that both sides had tacitly explained that they had exposed the previous holidays. After Xie Qian regained the cabinet, he did not think about making any three fuss. He was always acquaintances. Xie Qian just asked Liang Chu in Wenyuan Pavilion, Yang Tinghe and other cabinet ministers about the recent major events in the court. Before he could arrive, he returned to his courtyard on Chang'an Street.

Many people came to visit Xie Qian when they heard the news that day. Three ministers of the six ministries went there. Yang Yiqing, Li Jue and Fei Hong all went there, but the people from the Three Courts did not show up. Because Chen Xi was the two ministers of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Personnel did not show up, nor did he go.

Xie Qian stayed in the courtyard for not long, and after staying for more than an hour, he returned home. Although it was just a symbolic formality, it still caused trouble in the officialdom in the capital and talked a lot in the court.

Zhang Mao went to visit a little late, and Xie Qian had already left the courtyard. Zhang Mao did not force him. He had to see Cui Yuan that day, so he did not chase him to Xie's mansion.

When Chen Xi learned that Xie Qiang had returned to the court, he was in Huiniang's courtyard. He had been here for two days.

The court has not had any major issues recently, so Zhu Houzhao no longer bothers him if he has any questions about the court, so that he can hide from Hui Niang with peace of mind.

When Chen Xi heard that Xie Qian returned to the North Korea, he realized that he wanted to change his current negative life state, and the next step might be that Xie Qian would force him to return to the North Korea to work.

"... The master has been resting for too long. Are court affairs really not that important? I always feel that I have delayed the master's affairs."

Chen Xi sat by the window reading the book. The book was brought by Chen Xi himself, not a book related to knowledge, but a craftsman reading book with many tools and real objects drawn on it, and was done for decomposition and analysis, as well as manufacturing process. Most of the book was added by Chen Xi.

This book is the craftsman reference book that Chen Xi will be launching. He is planning to use it as a textbook for cultivating craftsmen. There are many people under him who are making a living. The matter of increasing the craftsmanship has already started to let Song Xiaocheng and Hui Niang do it, and it is widely recruited in Jiangnan, most of which is related to shipbuilding.

Chen Xi looked up at Hui Niang, "Even if Mr. Xie doesn't care about his past grudges and goes back to work as a job in the court, it doesn't mean I will go back and listen to his teachings immediately... After being idle at home for a long time, I can't keep getting energetic. It's better to take a few more days off."

Hui Niang said, "Do you have any other reasons to ask for leave?"

Chen Xi shook his head slightly: "I call him sick, saying it was because of Mr. Xie, but it's not entirely all. Your Majesty should know that some things are not allowed. I have been busy in the court for so many years, and I have been tense and finally relaxed... I can't let me do everything, right? It's like this time, I didn't plan to go to the battle... but they always want to drive the ducks on the shelves. Isn't this disgusting? For me, if you can do less, you will have less!"

Hui Niang sighed, not very much agreeing with Chen Xi's passive attitude of avoidance, but she did not have the qualifications to criticize Chen Xi, so she stopped talking.

Chen Xi asked, "Hui Niang, I told you before that you would build a ship in Fujian and Guangdong. How are you doing?"

Hui Niang said: "The master built a ship for the imperial court, so why did he recruit people by himself? Shouldn't he draw craftsmen and civilians from the north, especially in the capital, and must recruit people from the south?"

"Two things."

Chen Xi smiled and said, "Shipbuilding can be built in the north or in the south. It can be built for the court or for yourself."

Hui Niang asked in confusion: "My master wants to build a ship by himself? Is it for business to go to sea?"

Chen Xi waved his hand and asked Hui Niang to approach him. After Hui Niang sat on the chair beside him, Chen Xi smiled and said, "Look, I have recorded all the shipbuilding techniques. This is part of it. Next, I am going to let you take the books back to the south..."

Hui Niang's face darkened slightly after hearing this. She probably thought of going back to the south, mountains and rivers. Chen Xi had said before that she would stay with her, but now she has arranged to go south, which is somewhat unexpected.

Seeing that Hui Niang's face had changed, Chen Xi couldn't help but say, "Why, don't you want to go back?"

Hui Niang said, "It's okay to go back, but I'm not mentally prepared. I just transferred a batch of goods from the south to the north. Is the business leaving before it has been fully opened?"

Chen Xi nodded: "Don't think I asked you to go south alone. I can't bear to leave. I'm going to go with you."

"ah?"

Hui Niang was shocked and said, "The master is going south too? Should he go... to suppress the rebellion? Or does the master have something more important to do?"

At this time, Hui Niang's eyes were filled with nostalgia with a strong and sincere affection. Chen Xi felt a little unbearable when she saw it and said, "I can't explain many things to you. Maybe I want to leave Beijing and go south to quell the rebellion. Your main task when you go back is to gather craftsmen for training and then build a ship. The location of shipbuilding in the south is located near Quanzhou. I will tell you the specific strategy at that time."

Hui Niang lowered her head and said, "Who is the master taking with him? That's... which wife is in the Shen family's inner hut?"

Chen Xidao: "If I were leading troops outside, how could I bring my family with me? They would naturally stay in the capital."

Hui Niang thought for a while, but couldn't figure out some facts, so she looked up at Chen Xi, trying to notice more things from Chen Xi's expression.

Chen Xi took the initiative to avoid Hui Niang's gaze and said, "I will allocate you two million taels of silver. These silvers were deducted from trading with Folang Jiren, and there were also silvers that we had obtained from trading before..."

Hui Niang shook her head: "I'm afraid I don't have the ability to operate such a large amount."

Chen Xi smiled and said, "I dare not say anything else. You have absolutely no problem. Even if you are unable to do anything in some aspects, Jin'er will help you. Besides, there are Song Xiaocheng and others behind this time, I will send some people back to the south..."

Hui Niang frowned: "The master wants me to show up so that those old brothers can know about my existence?"

When talking, Hui Niang seemed very worried because Chen Xi arranged for her to contact some elderly people such as Song Xiaocheng. Even if she deliberately avoided it, Song Xiaocheng and others would notice the clues. After all, the group of people who came out of Chen Xi were no longer pure merchants. They had an official background, and many of them became scouts and detailed works of the court, and were not laymen in investigating intelligence.

In this case, if Chen Xi lets her approach her brother, the possibility of exposing her identity is infinite.

Chen Xidao: "I don't want to hide it from you, I do have plans for this."

Hui Niang shook her head firmly this time: "My former concubine is dead, and the master promised not to let me contact the people I used to do. Is the master trying to be untrustful now?"

Chen Xi suddenly stretched out his hand, grabbed Hui Niang's hand, and held it tightly in his hand, "Hui Niang, you should believe me, I will not harm you. This time, I asked you to do something, not as needed to show up in public, this is not the purpose, I can't explain too much to you in some things now."

Hui Niang looked full of hesitation. She looked at Chen Xi, as if she was begging Chen Xi to give up and let her contact with her former brothers.

But Chen Xi shook his head and said again: "I have decided on this matter, and the objection is invalid. As long as you remember one thing, I will not harm you, and I will arrange the rest. I will take care of anything in the future. I will also take care of it with you. I don't want you to live in the shadows all your life!"

...

...

Hui Niang didn't understand what Chen Xi was going to do.

Chen Xi could no longer stay at Hui Niang's place that day, and he would leave before nightfall, but before that, he stayed to have supper with Hui Niang.

Not only Hui Niang and Li Jin, but also Dong Xi and Sui An, the other servants were not qualified to enter the house.

It was very quiet when eating. Chen Xi didn't say anything, and Hui Niang looked worried. Even though Li Jin didn't know what Chen Xi said to Hui Niang before, she probably understood that Hui Niang was having a quarrel with Chen Xi.

After spending time with Hui Niang for a long time, Li Jin knew Hui Niang's temperament very well. Hui Niang was the kind of person who could not hide his thoughts.

Chen Xi ate very quickly. After he put down the bowls and chopsticks, Li Jin still wanted to serve him rice. Chen Xi held Li Jin's hand.

"Jin'er, in about half a month, we will set off from the capital and go south. These days, we will quickly finish some of the transactions in the capital. If some things are not easy to deal with, just keep them at the Chamber of Commerce and sell them slowly. There is no need to make much money, which puts too much pressure on ourselves."

Li Jin looked at Hui Niang and then said, "Do you want to take your sister and slave away?"

Hui Niang continued to eat, as if she didn't hear the conversation between Chen Xi and Li Jin.

Chen Xi smiled and said, "You can't stay in the capital forever. Don't think that this time I'm going to lead troops to quell the rebellion. Even if it's just a side-by-side... I'm going to work in Nanzhili and take a walk to Nanjing."

Li Jin frowned slightly, obviously hesitating, but she couldn't say something.

Chen Xi was about to stand up and say goodbye to leave. Hui Niang suddenly said, "Don't Yi'er want to marry into the palace? Don't you wait for her to get married?"

Chen Xidao: "It is the right time to get married in spring. The reason why I set off in half a month is because the wedding date set by the palace is almost the same. As long as the wedding date ends, I will leave the capital. The two things do not conflict."

"Master, you don't want to avoid..." Li Jin wanted to ask, but when he found Hui Niang staring at her, he stopped.

Chen Xi smiled and said, "Don't think too much, pack your luggage and just wait for me to send someone to inform you. I won't spend much time with you in the next few days, but on the road... we can almost meet each other day, just think it's going out to relax."

...

...

Around a rebellion, different voices began to appear in the court, mainly involving the matter of mobilizing troops and leading troops, and Chen Xi became the target of public criticism.

However, at this time, Chen Xi still said he was ill and there was criticism in the court. After all, Xie Qian had returned to the court, and this doubt and criticism became stronger and stronger.

On the morning of the fourth day of the March, Zhang Mao and Xia Ru entered the palace together.

The two received the emperor's oral order and entered the palace to speak. They were not sure whether they had the chance to meet the saint. On the way, they met Yang Yiqing, the Minister of Revenue who also entered the palace under the imperial edict.

"... Yingning, you are in the court. I wonder if Your Majesty summoned us to discuss military information this time?" Zhang Mao seemed very cautious and wanted to find out from Yang Yiqing.

Yang Yiqing said: "The specific situation is not known yet, but I heard that in the six ministries, except for the Ministry of War and Ministry of Revenue, the other ministers were summoned together, or if there were any important situations in the south, it was necessary to discuss the important officials in the court."

Zhang Mao showed a sudden look, as if he had understood something. He stopped talking about specific matters with Yang Yiqing. He just talked a few words and continued to go to the Ganqing Palace.

Before the man passed the Meridian Gate, there were eunuchs in the palace waiting there, but it was the eunuch Li Xing, the eunuch who was on the pen of the Sili Supervisor.

When Li Xing saw the three of them, he hurried over and said, "Mr. Zhang, father-in-law, Lord Yang, Your Majesty has an order to ask the three to go to the cabinet to discuss important matters."

Zhang Mao asked in surprise: "Why didn't you go to the Qing Palace?"

Li Xing smiled and said, "This time we are convening to discuss the issue of war dispatch. Your Majesty did not say that he would attend, but just let all the adults discuss it themselves and submit the results."

"this……"

Zhang Mao was very embarrassed. He thought he had the opportunity to meet the saint, but he learned that he was just going to the cabinet to discuss with the six ministers of the ministers, which meant that the ministers made their own decisions first and then approved by the emperor.

Zhang Mao originally wanted Yang Yiqing to say a few words, but turned his head, but saw Yang Yiqing's face full of avoidance, and seemed not to want to make a sound. He hesitated and said, "Since that's the case, please give Eunuch Li to lead the way."

Li Xing said: "Our family will not go with you, and there are still errands to do, but I will send someone to see you off... Please ask for it."

After saying that, Li Xing called his servant to make arrangements and returned to the door and stood there again.

Seeing this, Zhang Mao shook his head helplessly and followed the eunuch who led the way to Wenyuan Pavilion.

After walking away, Xia Ru asked, "What is your Majesty's intention? Why do you let your ministers discuss it yourself?"

Zhang Mao said: "I don't understand very well. Is there anything to discuss? But Yu Qiao is probably here today. If he has his words, can we say something?"

Zhang Mao did not avoid Yang Yiqing when he said this, probably because he wanted Yang Yiqing to understand his attitude. Unexpectedly, when he looked at Yang Yiqing, he found that Yang Yiqing's head turned to one side, as if he was looking at the scenery, and he heard nothing, and his steps did not stop at all.

Xia Ru was confused and said: "If the Ministry of War is here, it would be better to say something... But logically speaking, the eunuch of the Sili Prison should also attend. Should Eunuch Zhang come or not?"

Zhang Mao smiled: "Now I only talk about military intelligence and don't know anything else. I'd better ask when I see someone. It's too early to talk about anything now."

Xia Ru nodded and looked at Yang Yiqing along Zhang Mao's gaze. She saw Yang Yiqing's expression was cold, her brows were slightly frowning, and she looked worried, and she couldn't help but sigh in secret.

...
To be continued...