"It's okay. Anyway, you can't go back to Chongqing now. As for the future, there will always be a day to clear your name."

Chen Jue smiled and comforted Zhang Zhe, then took out a letter and handed it to Zhang Zhe, saying, "Send it to the Fuzhou government office and give it to Lin Zexu!"

"Yes, sir!" Zhang Zhe took the envelope, looked at it, and then strode away. Complaining was just a way of finding something to say. At the same time, he also had to let Chen Gu understand his grievances and that he still needed to be more proactive in doing things.

Zhang Zhe took Chen Gu's letter and went directly to the government office.

After Chen Gu arrived in Fuzhou, his official identity was a scholar who came from Hangzhou to live with his relatives, but his relatives had disappeared, so after registering at the Fuzhou government office, he began to make a living on his own.

Chen Gu chose to write letters for others, and his stall was not far from the entrance of Fuzhou government office.

Now Lin Zexu has been promoted to the general of Fuzhou, and the current general has much more power than the previous general.

After all, the Qing Dynasty had lost half of its territory, and the status of military officers had become important. The power of a general in a prefecture was even greater than that of a prefect.

It is no longer like before, when a second-rank general had to bow and nod when meeting a seventh-rank county magistrate.

Jiaqing was ecstatic that Lin Zexu was able to hold on to Fuzhou and force Cai Qian to retreat.

Although Cai Qian was only an ally of China, this was the only victory of the Qing court in Lin Zexu's army in the past few years.

At least it was stronger than other places. The Tiandihui was also an ally of China, but it defeated the Qing army in Guangdong and took over the entire Guangdong in less than a year.

So Jiaqing quickly promoted Lin Zexu, and he was promoted again and again in just a few months. After several consecutive imperial edicts, Lin Zexu became the general, commanding all the military and civilians inside and outside Fuzhou City.

This actually touched upon the authority of a provincial governor, and the original governor of Fujian had been escorted to Beijing for trial, leaving the position vacant for Lin Zexu.

At the same time, Jiaqing also used ships to send a lot of military equipment to Lin Zexu. At present, China had no navy. Because Cai Qian lost the naval battle, he had no way to stop the supply from Fujian on the sea. He could only watch Lin Zexu's strength grow day by day.

If Lin Zexu had not been concerned about the 1,000 Chinese soldiers stationed in Wenzhou, he would have sent troops south to deal with Cai Qian long ago.

Now that the news of Chen Ju's death had come, Lin Zexu could no longer bear it.

In other words, there was no unrest in Chongqing and the founding of the country was very smooth. Otherwise, not to mention Lin Zexu, I'm afraid the Qing court would have launched a large-scale military counterattack.

Unfortunately, although the news of Chen Gu's death spread far and wide, the various Chinese tribes remained as calm as a rock and did not give the Qing court any opportunity to take advantage, so the two sides can still maintain superficial stability.

But it's just the calm before the storm.

Everyone knows that the day of the decisive battle is not far away. Not only does the Qing court need to take this opportunity to recover the lost territory, but the young emperor Chen Xiaoao also needs military merit to secure his throne.

Neither of them could let the other go, otherwise they would be sorry for their ancestors. Jiaqing would be sorry for all the Qing emperors, and Chen Xiaoao would be sorry for the empire that Chen Gu had worked so hard to build.

Lin Zexu's side is likely to be the key point of offense and defense for both sides.

So if Chen Gu wanted to talk to Lin Zexu, he had to do it as soon as possible. Otherwise, once Lin Zexu sent troops, he would have no chance to talk to him again. He would have to wait until the war between the two sides was over.

However, Chen Jue had just arrived, and it was unclear whether Lin Zexu would meet him if he sent his visiting card so directly.

When Zhang Zhe arrived at the government office, he was told that Lin Zexu had gone out, so his trip was in vain. Instead, a young man in a helmet and armor came to Chen Ju's stall.

The young general, along with a few soldiers, were now looking at a piece of hard-pen calligraphy written by Chen Gu.

"Your calligraphy is average, so why is your hard-tip calligraphy so good?" asked the young general.

Chen Gu carefully looked at the other person. He had a square face, thick eyebrows and big eyes, and looked very upright. He couldn't help but clasped his fists and bowed, smiling, "My name is Chen Le. May I ask the general's name?"

"You don't need to know who I am, just answer my questions!"

"General, I don't know the reason. Maybe I have a talent for hard pen calligraphy. I feel that the goose feather is very easy to use, but it feels a little too small.

So I added a bamboo tube on the outside of the goose feather. Hey, it suddenly felt a lot more convenient. Plus when I was in Hangzhou, someone taught me how to use a hard pen to write, so I got some results.

General, would you like me to help write a letter?

Two cents per page for large characters written with a brush, five cents per page for small characters written with a hard pen!" Chen Gu smiled as he introduced his small business.

"Why are the prices of the two more than twice as much?" the young general asked, frowning.

"That's of course because on the same page of paper, there are many small characters written with a hard pen. Basically, one page of paper can meet everyone's needs. However, the hard pen characters are too small, which makes it difficult to read. Some people can't even read them clearly.

So people actually still like letters written with a brush. Rich people write a few pages, while poor people write fewer words, and try to write everything that needs to be explained on one page. "Chen Gu laughed.

"I see!" The young general nodded, finally showing a smile on his face, and said: "It seems that the so-called China is not all good!"

"Of course. Huaguo is just a makeshift team established by a group of bandits. How can it be compared with the court full of well-read people?" Chen Gu said with a smile.

"Well, you are not bad. Do you want to serve in our army? Don't worry, you are a scholar and will not be assigned to the front line. Your safety can be fully guaranteed." said the young general.

Chen Gu thought for a moment, clasped his fists and bowed again, then asked, "May I know your name, General?"

"My name is Lin Zexu, and I'm currently the commander-in-chief of Fuzhou City. How about I still protect you?" Lin Zexu said to Chen the Executor with a smile.

Chen Gu's eyes couldn't help but light up. It was really a case of searching for something in vain, but finally finding it without any effort. He actually met Lin Zexu here without any effort.

Chen Gu thought for a moment, then bowed again and said, "Chen Le greets General Lin. Since General Lin has invited me, then Chen is naturally willing. I hope General Lin will take good care of me in the future."

Lin Zexu couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and said, "Then you should report to the Fuzhou government office tomorrow!"

Lin Zexu left Chen's stall after he finished speaking. Zhang Zhe, who was hiding next door and eavesdropping, immediately ran over and asked in a low voice, "Leader, do you really want to serve as a clerk in the Qing army?"

"I'm afraid I can't not go, because Lin Zexu is already doubting my identity because of this hard-pen calligraphy."

(End of this chapter)