After leaving the restaurant, Chen Kan saw the real owner among the crowd at a glance.
He was a man in his early thirties with a sad look on his face. He looked like an old farmer, but Chen Kan saw in him the unique toughness of a soldier.
"interesting!"
Chen Kan muttered to himself, feeling greatly surprised.
He thought it was just an ordinary official struggle, and someone who was at a disadvantage came to him to take advantage of the situation, but he didn't expect that someone from the military would come.
It should be noted that Chen Kan himself is a veteran on the battlefield, and he is an experienced veteran who has been in the officialdom for many years without a single defeat. He cannot hide who comes from his eyes.
Chen Kan saw the man, and the man naturally saw Chen Kan. He hurried forward, knelt on one knee and gave Chen Kan a military salute.
"The last general, Liu Guang, the permanent commander of the Tanzhou Defense Department, has met the general."
Chen Kan couldn't help but raise his eyebrows when he saw the visitor greeting him with such an unabashed courtesy.
The garrison department is the local guard force, usually with a thousand people. The standing garrison department is the chief officer in charge of these thousand people, which is equivalent to a thousand households in the army.
The military system of the Ming Dynasty has been very perfect after several reforms during the Yongle period.
The military household system basically existed in name only, and was replaced by the military recruitment system.
After the reform, Ming's army was divided into three parts.
One type is the border army, which as the name suggests, is the army that guards the border.
The 100,000 troops under Xiping Hou Muying and the 100,000 troops under Jiangyin Hou Wu Gao to defend Beiyuan belonged to the border army.
Secondly, there is the Forbidden Army with the three major battalions of the capital as its core. The main responsibility of the Forbidden Army is to defend the northern and southern capitals.
The third type is the garrison. Local garrison departments and naval guards all belong to the garrison.
The functions of the garrison are relatively complex. In wartime, they are the main force that goes out to fight. In peacetime, they are an important force that guards the place.
Like this time, the army led by Zhu Gaoxu was the garrison.
The three naval guards who accompanied Chen Kan on his last expedition to Southeast Asia also belonged to the garrison.
Chen Kan was a little curious, what were the people from the Tanzhou Defense Department looking for him?
There was some doubt in his heart, but he did not show it on his face. He just nodded slightly and said in a calm tone: "General Liu, please rise."
But to Chen Kan's surprise, Liu Guang not only did not stand up, but instead changed from kneeling on one knee as a military salute to kneeling on both knees as a grand ceremony.
Liu Guang didn't care about the people coming and going on the street, he just paid homage to Chen Kan.
"General Rong Zhen, I came here to sue Tanzhou Commander-in-Chief Beiling Bo Changkun. Beiling Bo Changkun, together with the local officials, drank the blood of the soldiers, ate empty wages, and deceived the imperial court for a long time. Now Tanzhou has six states and 17 counties, a total of nine garrison divisions. The garrison strength is less than 3,000, and the shortage is more than 6,000. The shortage is so large that it is shocking. At the end of the day, the general heard that the general and the emperor's highness were on patrol incognito. , I risked my life in plain clothes to retaliate, and we asked the general to make the decision for us!"
Liu Guang said while kowtowing to Chen Kan.
Chen Kan was stunned on the spot for a moment, and his face became visibly gloomy.
He thought about many situations, but he never expected that Liu Guang would actually come to complain.
And what he said was so shocking.
There are only less than one-third of the nine thousand people in the nine major garrison divisions in one state?
Such a shocking thing has never been heard of since the founding of the Ming Dynasty.
Seeing that Chen Kan's face suddenly became extremely ugly, Liu Guang hurriedly struck while the iron was hot and kowtowed repeatedly: "General, this is not just shocking. The three thousand people in the Tanzhou Local Defense Department are all old, weak, sick and disabled." , just because Chang Kun feels that the cost of caring for the old, weak, sick and disabled is less than the money spent on raising young people. The food rations of one thousand young people are enough to feed three thousand old and weak people, so that the local defense of Tanzhou is like a useless thing. Please also ask The general is aware of this and wants to give Tanzhou a peaceful future!"
After hearing this, Chen Kan couldn't help but his eyes darkened, and a huge anger instantly emerged from his heart and went straight to Tianling Gai.
There are only three thousand of the nine thousand army, and three thousand are still old and weak.
Just because it costs more to care for the weak than to care for the young! ! !
Appalling, appalling! ! !
"Please let the general make the decision!"
Listening to Liu Guang's pleading, Chen Kan took a deep breath and it took him a long time to calm down the anger in his heart.
"You get up first and then follow me through the door."
After saying that, Chen Kan turned around and entered the restaurant, but his fists were tightly clenched, which was enough to show that he was not peaceful at the moment.
Everyone in the restaurant couldn't help but be a little surprised when they saw Chen Kan leaving and returning so quickly. After all, officialdom was the most troublesome.
Until he saw the man following Chen Kan, there was an unconcealable look of doubt in his eyes.
But Chen Kan had no intention of answering their questions at all, and just led the man towards the elegant room.
When passing by the seats of the Zhu brothers, Chen Kan said expressionlessly: "Come with me."
Liu Guang saw the faces of Zhu Zhanji and Zhu Zhanhe clearly, and was about to greet them, but Chen Kan was already walking forward.
After thinking about it, he decided to follow Chen Kan first.
After all, the person with real power is Chen Kan, not the two highnesses.
When the Zhu brothers heard the tone of Chen Kan's words, their expressions couldn't help but change.
Just as Chen Kan, the teacher, knew them, they, the disciples, also knew their teacher.
Chen Kan smiles most of the time. Even if he encounters some difficulties, he is still very optimistic.
And when Chen Kan's tone becomes as calm as water, without a trace of fluctuation, it means that Chen Kan is angry.
And very angry.
The two brothers looked at each other, confusion evident on each other's faces.
The teacher only went out for a few breaths, and when he came back he looked like this. What happened?
But doubts were doubts, Chen Kan was summoned, so they had to follow Chen Kan into the private room first.
The two brothers got up and followed Liu Guang, and the four of them entered the room.
The Zhu brothers closed the door and were about to ask questions when Chen Kan took the lead and said, "General Liu, please repeat what you just said to your two highnesses."
"General?"
Hearing Chen Kan's name to the strange man, the two of them became even more confused.
When they come here, even the local government doesn't want to get involved, and the military will not take the initiative to get involved.
What happened?
Following Chen Kan's instructions, Liu Guang did not hesitate. He first saluted the two of them and then repeated what he had just said to Chen Kan.
As the Zhu brothers listened, their expressions became ugly.
"boom!"
After Liu Guang explained the whole story, Zhu Zhanji immediately slapped his palm on the wooden table and shouted angrily: "Chang Kun, you are so brave!"
Zhu Zhanhe didn't have such a big reaction, but his small face was also covered with frost.
Eating empty pay and drinking the blood of soldiers is not a rare thing in the past dynasties.
Including the current Ming Dynasty, this situation will occur in basically every army.
But those situations are basically within the controllable range. For an army of nine thousand people, it is not a big deal if there are hundreds or even one or two thousand people missing.
As long as the combat effectiveness of the local garrison can be guaranteed, the court usually chooses to turn a blind eye.
But in Tanzhou, there are less than 3,000 people out of 9,000, and there is a shortage of more than 6,000 people. The key is that the 3,000 people are all old, weak, sick and disabled, and there are only quotas and rations for 1,000 people.
Such a thing never happened even in the Song Dynasty, which valued culture and suppressed military power.
But it happened to appear in the Ming Dynasty, which boasted of its prosperous age.
Appalling, really appalling.
After Liu Guang finished speaking, he stood aside with an uneasy expression. He could feel the anger of the three big men in front of him.
After all, such a thing is really scary.
The atmosphere was silent for a long time. Chen Kan leaned on his chair, looked at the Zhu brothers, and asked, "What do you think about this matter?"
Zhu Zhanji gritted his teeth and said viciously: "Such a shocking thing has never been heard of throughout the history of the dynasties. This is the shame of our Ming Dynasty. If it spreads, this will be the biggest scandal of our Ming Dynasty. Chang Kun, this Killing or not killing is not enough to make the people angry, and the local government of Tanzhou should deserve to die."
Zhu Zhanji's eyes were red, and the killing intent in his words was even more difficult to suppress.
Zhu Zhanhe pondered for a moment and then said: "Teacher, I'm afraid there are many people involved in this matter. I think we should stay put and report it to Grandpa Huang for handling."
"Grandpa Huang should not have abolished the tortures prescribed by the emperor. If people like Chang Kun are not skinned and stuffed into grass, it will not be enough to warn the world!"
Zhu Zhanji gritted his teeth and added, he was too angry.
He could understand drinking soldiers' blood and empty wages, but what Chang Kun did was completely beyond the limit of what he could tolerate. This was completely digging into the foundation of Ming Dynasty and asking him how to not be angry.
Chen Kan couldn't help but frown slightly after listening to the opinions of the two disciples quietly.
He was also very angry when something like this happened, but the Zhu family brothers behaved a little less calmly.
After thinking about it, Chen Kan turned to look at Liu Guang and asked, "Is there any evidence for what you just said?"
Chen Kan asked, and Liu Guang hurriedly stepped forward and replied: "To the general, there is no need for evidence on this matter. The general only needs to walk around the military camp and he will know everything."
Chen Kan nodded and continued to ask: "Is it possible that your coming to see me today could be hidden from the eyes and ears of Chang Kun and Tanzhou Prefecture?"
Liu Guang shook his head and said with a wry smile: "General Rong, the Tanzhou government and Chang Kun have been colluding with each other for a long time. Although the general came to see you in casual clothes today, it will be difficult to hide it from them."
Chen Kan frowned and said, "Then how should your wife, children, and children deal with themselves?"
Hearing Chen Kan's words to the core, Liu Guang's face became ugly, but he still said in a deep voice: "General, the last general is a general of the Ming Dynasty. Before he came here, he had already ignored life and death. As for the last general's My wife, children, and children, now that things have come to this, I can only shamelessly ask the general to protect me, and ask the general to take pity on my patriotic heart!"
After Liu Guang finished speaking, he knelt down to Chen Kan again and knocked his head loudly.
Chen Kan nodded, waved to Zhu Zhanhe, and whispered a few words in his ear. Zhu Zhanhe's expression instantly became serious, and then he trotted out of the room.
"You should get up first. I can take care of your wife, children, and children. As for you, you will stay with me for the time being."
Hearing this, Liu Guangda was so happy that he kept kowtowing to Chen Kan and said excitedly: "Thank you so much, General, thank you so much, General."
Chen Kan hummed, waved to him and said, "You go out first. I have asked the Prince of Han to settle your family. If Chang Kun's people haven't taken action yet, you will be reunited soon."
"Thank you so much, General. Thank you so much, General. I will die. I will die in this life to repay the emperor's kindness."
Liu Guang slowly withdrew while saying words of gratitude.
Wang Can, who had already been informed by Zhu Zhanhe that he was waiting outside the door, immediately took a few personal guards to protect Liu Guang.
"General Liu, our brothers will be responsible for your safety these days. General Liu, please be at ease. As long as we are here, no one can do anything to you."
"Thank you, General. I wonder what you call the general?"
"Wang Can of a certain family is appointed as the general's bodyguard."
"..."
Wang Can took Liu Guangyuan there, and the guards guarding the door immediately closed the door.
In the private room, only Chen Kan and Zhu Zhanji were left. Chen Kan tapped his fingers on the table with a thoughtful look on his face.
Before the anger in Zhu Zhanji's heart could be suppressed, seeing that Chen Kan was still thinking deeply, he couldn't help but ask: "Teacher, Chang Kun committed such a heinous crime, don't we take action immediately?"
Chen Kan ignored him and just thought to himself.
Seeing that the teacher ignored him, Zhu Zhanji became even more angry.
"Teacher, please say something!"
Chen Kan raised his head, glared at him dissatisfied, and said angrily: "I know His Majesty has arranged a guard for you, but there are too many mysteries in this matter. You'd better not act rashly until you understand the truth of the matter."
Zhu Zhanji was stunned, and his face that was originally full of anger suddenly turned a little shy.
"I really can't hide anything from you. In fact, Grandpa Huang didn't give too many disciples, it's just enough."
Chen Kan rolled his eyes and was too lazy to pay attention to Zhu Zhanji's Versailles.
After Zhu Zhanjiwu defended himself, a look of understanding suddenly appeared on his face, and he frowned and asked: "Teacher, do you mean that there is another secret behind this matter?"
Chen Kan knocked on the table unconsciously, shook his head and said, "What Liu Guang said must be true. Chang Kun's case of cooperating with the local government to embezzle the Mexican army's salary and eat their money is probably even more serious than what he said."
"Teacher, what are you waiting for? Just take down Chang Kun first, and the local government officials too. Under three trees, what can you ask for?"
As soon as Zhu Zhanji finished speaking, Chen Kan smashed the wine bottle on the table towards him.
"madness!"
Chen Kan first scolded him angrily, and then said angrily: "Think about it with your pig brain. You took Chang Kun and an official from Tanzhou. What will happen to Tanzhou? Are you going to be the prefect? What are you doing?" Yes, there is something wrong with Liu Guang, why didn't you notice?"
After being scolded by Chen Kan, Zhu Zhanji also reacted and hurriedly put the wine bottle he had just received back on the table.
He cautiously approached Chen Kan and asked, "Teacher, Liu Guang also has a problem?"
Chen Kan rolled his eyes at him again and asked: "Have you ever seen someone who doesn't even care about his wife, children, and children, but also takes the risk of exposing others, or do you think there is such a thing as staying out of trouble?"
Zhu Zhanji was startled, and his rationality returned instantly.
"So, Liu Guang really has a big problem."
Chen Kan nodded again and said: "Even if Liu Guang is really a saint who cares about the country and the people, I'm afraid this matter is not as simple as he said."
