Chen Kan's purpose of leaving the city today was to see a suitable place outside the city for building a naval academy.
That’s right, it’s the Huishui Bay of the Yangtze River.
There are still bright red blood stains on the amphibious platform, and there is still a strong smell of corpses lingering on the ground outside the platform.
Chen Kan jumped off the bullock cart and looked around at the open space.
There is a lot of open space outside the capital city, but Chen Kan always feels that this land is a geomantic treasure.
When he was faking his death, he heard that Qin Tianjian chose his cemetery here. Chen Kan really had the urge to be buried here after his death.
This Huishui Bay is indeed a good place to gather wind and store energy.
The Yangtze River made a big turn here and took away the groundwater on the peninsula. This resulted in the entire peninsula being dug down to a depth of more than one meter and still being dry soil.
If it is for farming, this place is naturally not suitable, but if it is used for a cemetery or building a school, this place is very suitable.
Another reason why Chen Kan had to choose this place is because the river here is wider than other places.
The purpose of the Naval Academy's existence is to fight on the water. The river here is wide and suitable for berthing various warships. It is also close to the outlet of the Yangtze River. You can go to sea in one day by following the river. In addition, Zheng He's shipbuilding dock is also there. On the Yangtze River estuary.
It can be regarded as a perfect place to build a naval academy.
Not far from Huishui Bay, there was a gently sloping hill. Chen Kan climbed to the highest point of the hill and quietly memorized the terrain here.
"Go over there and have a look."
Chen Kan pointed to a village not far away.
Then a group of people walked towards the village.
But the strange thing is that until Chen Kan walked into the village, except for the sound of dogs barking, he didn't meet a single living person.
Walking deeper into the village, it was still deserted.
"What's going on, where are the people in the village?"
Chen Kan frowned slightly. Today is the second day of the Lunar New Year. Even if he goes out to visit relatives, the whole village will not disappear.
Moreover, Chen Kan observed that many houses in the village had their doors open, and the rooms were not decorated as if they were traveling far away.
"Go and ask Jiangning County Magistrate, what's going on?"
When all the people in a village disappear, it's hard not to doubt that nothing happened here.
And this place falls under the jurisdiction of Jiangning County. People in a village disappeared inexplicably. Is there any reason for the Jiangning County Magistrate not to know?
After sending someone to ask for the magistrate of Jiangning County, Chen Kan turned around and rushed to another village.
Another village a little further away is the village where Chen Kan lived in seclusion for three months.
But... the situation here is the same as in the previous village.
It can be said that it is a coincidence that there is no one in one village, but it cannot be a coincidence that there is no one in the second village.
Chen Kan looked gloomy: "Where are the officials sent here by the Ministry of Industry to handle the relocation?"
"The Marquis has also disappeared, and there are no people in the six nearby villages."
The man who went to inquire about the news came back, but the news he brought back made everyone feel cold.
Six villages, with thousands of people in total, just disappeared out of thin air, which is a bit weird no matter how you think about it.
Fang Xu said in a deep voice: "Sir, could he be from the White Lotus Sect or the Jianwen Yu Party?"
Chen Kan shook his head: "If you ask me, I will ask who to go to."
Although this possibility was not ruled out, Chen Kan still didn't want to believe it.
The White Lotus Sect lost 20,000 elites here just twenty days ago. There is no reason why they could muster so many people to kidnap the villagers here in such a short period of time.
And there was no trace of resistance in the village.
If they were taken away by force, there would be no reason for the people not to resist.
Then the only explanation is that the people left on their own.
The magistrate of Jiangning County arrived faster than everyone expected. After all, Chen Kan now has a notorious reputation, and there are definitely not a few people who dare not buy his account.
"Master Hou, I will lower my official position to Yuan Jia, and Tian will be the magistrate of Jiangning County."
Magistrate Yuan made a salute to Chen Kan. The dense beads of sweat on his forehead showed how seriously he took this matter.
In addition, the county magistrate also arrived with the Jiangning County magistrate.
Chen Kan asked expressionlessly: "All the people in the six nearby villages have disappeared. I sent my subordinates to search the area within a radius of twenty miles, but no living people were found. Even the officials who came to preside over the relocation of the nearby people were not found." Missing, Magistrate Yuan, aren’t you going to explain it to me?”
"this......"
Magistrate Yuan was speechless for a moment, then shook his head and said: "Back to Lord Marquis, my subordinates don't know much about this matter. In the past few days of Yuanzheng, the county government has not received any reports from anyone, nor has it opened a way out."
Road guides are something that Lao Zhu created to fix the whereabouts of the people in order to prevent them from moving frequently.
That is, if a farmer wants to go from one county to another, he needs a road guide certificate issued by the county government, otherwise he will become a refugee or runaway.
Chen Kan's frown deepened. Since Jiangning County Magistrate didn't know about it, it was a bit strange.
After a while, Magistrate Yuan asked with some anxiety: "Master Marquis, do you think all the people have gone into the city?"
"Going into town?"
Chen Kan squinted his eyes and looked coldly at Magistrate Yuan in front of him.
Being stared at by Chen Kan with a look that seemed to be murderous, Magistrate Yuan almost knelt down as his knees weakened.
After a moment, Chen Kan said calmly: "Even if we are going into the city, there is no reason why people from all the nearby villages should go into the city, right?"
Facing the aggressive Chen Kan, Magistrate Yuan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said with a sad face: "Master Marquis, this... the lower officials really don't know."
Seeing that Magistrate Yuan was sweating profusely with anxiety, Chen Kan no longer wanted to continue to embarrass him, and said calmly: "That's it, report it to the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Punishment, and let them come and take a look."
With so many people running away from home, the hidden story behind it must not be simple, but it is really not easy for Chen Kan to overstep his way into investigating cases.
The Wucheng Soldiers and Horses Division does have the authority to investigate cases, but for the capital city in charge of the Wucheng Soldiers and Horses Division, unless the Ministry of Punishment takes the initiative to invite the Wucheng Soldiers and Horses Division to help.
As for why it needs to be reported to the Ministry of Household Affairs, it is because the Ministry of Household Affairs is also in charge of the household registration of people all over the world.
With so many people disappearing, the Ministry of Household Affairs is also to blame.
"Go back to the capital first."
Chen Kan got on the bullock cart, left Yuan Jia behind and left.
As for Yuan Jia, as the magistrate of Jiangning County, if something like this happened, he would not be able to return to the capital before the matter was cleared up.
The bullock cart was swaying on the bluestone road. Chen Kan was sitting cross-legged on the bullock cart, his mind running at high speed.
He was thinking about what could make so many people evaporate collectively.
Chen Kan was not very worried about the personal safety of the people who disappeared. One person and two people were missing. They might have been killed.
But when thousands of people are missing and there are no clues, the possibility of being killed is the smallest.
As the sun set, Chen Kan returned to the Hou Mansion.
After eating something to pad his stomach, Chen Kan got into the study.
The disappearance of the people had nothing to do with him. What had to do with him was the design of the military academy.
Now that the location has been determined, the next step is to start construction.
But before starting work, it is necessary to prepare a drawing.
In Chen Kan's study, there are many small tools that others have no use for, such as compasses and rulers.
These things were all made by Chen Kan in his spare time, and they are just in use now when he is drawing the military academy plan.
After a busy night in the study, forgetting sleep and food, when Chen Kan came to his senses again, he discovered that the morning star was already hanging on the horizon.
There was still food on the table nearby that Zhu Yuelan had sent personally, but it was too cold to eat now.
After drinking all the rice wine on the table, Chen Kan curled up on the small bed in the study and began to take a nap.
Do things from the beginning to the end. Once interrupted, it is easy to give up halfway.
So when Chen Kan stepped out of the study again, it was already noon on the third day.
For three days, except for going to the toilet, Chen Kan ate and slept in the study.
And the results of these three days of labor are also very gratifying.
On Chen Kan's desk, there is a city planning diagram that is completely different from the ordinary cities of the Ming Dynasty.
After asking Yuncheng to prepare the meal and asking his servants to keep an eye on the study and not allow anyone to enter, Chen Kan planned to eat and drink enough and go back to his room to sleep in darkness.
"Master Marquis, the magistrate of Jiangning County wants to see you."
While Chen Kan was still feasting, he heard the housekeeper report that Jiangning County Magistrate was visiting.
"Let him in."
Yuncheng responded and walked out of the room. When he came back, there was another person behind him.
It was Yuan Jia, the magistrate of Jiangning County who had been scolded by Chen Kan three days ago.
Magistrate Yuan County greeted him and said, "I have met the Marquis."
"Hiccup~"
Chen Kan burped and put down the chicken wings in his hand: "Why do you want to see me?"
Yuan Jia carefully glanced at Chen Kan's expression and then said, "Go back to the Marquis, is there any news about the disappeared people?"
"oh?"
Chen Kan raised his head and said, "You should tell the Ministry of Punishment about this matter. Why are you here at my residence?"
Magistrate Yuan's expression changed and he said respectfully: "I'm just here to inform the Marquis."
"Um!"
Chen Kanyan was very concise and concise. Now he didn't want to talk to anyone at all, let alone use his brain. He just wanted to have a good sleep, and then go into the palace and hand the completed drawings to Zhu Di.
But Yuan Jia seemed to be completely unable to see the impatience on Chen Kan's face, and still said to himself: "Xiaoguan has found out that the reason why the villagers in the six villages in Donghe Town disappeared collectively was because of the water and land law platform. Too many people died, and the villagers felt it was unlucky.
So they coerced officials from the Ministry of Industry to go to Laoya Temple, a hundred miles west of Donghe Town, to pray for blessings. By the way, they invited a few Taoist priests to do rituals in Donghe Town, so as to resolve the overwhelming resentment in Donghe Town. "
"oh."
Chen Kan responded and waved his hand: "I know, what is the result of your investigation? Just report it truthfully."
Although Chen Kan always felt that things were not that simple, he had no intention of reminding the confused county magistrate in front of him.
Because Chen Kan only cares about those villagers. Since the villagers are fine now, there is no need for him to meddle in their own business.
