Chen Kan smashed the letter in his hand into a ball, and then closed his eyes.
Xu Su was the first person he selected to plan the peninsula. Although his overall outlook was a bit poor, he was replaced by Chen Qia before he could complete the goals set by Chen Kan.
However, he was very intelligent and helped Meng Gesuhan quickly gain a foothold in Liaodong, laying the foundation for Chen Qia to completely control the peninsula and the Japanese state.
Chen Qia was able to stabilize the internal situation of the Jurchens so quickly after arriving in Liaodong, and drove the Jurchens to annihilate the peninsula and the Japanese country in just one and a half years. Xu Su deserves at least half of the credit.
After Chen Qia succeeded him in planning the peninsula, he arranged for him to go to the grassland to control the situation. He lived up to expectations and cooperated with the court's strategy of killing three soldiers with one peach, successfully provoking an internal fight among the three guards of Duoyan.
Seeing that the peninsula and the Japanese kingdom were about to be conquered by Zhu Gaoxu, Liaodong had also become a mess. With just a little intervention from the court, Liaodong and the large grasslands could come under the rule of the Ming Dynasty.
At that time, Xu Su should return to the capital to discuss merit and reward him. Chen Kan even prepared a position for him, but in the end, he died.
Still died inexplicably.
This is very uncomfortable.
After a long while, Chen Kan let out a long breath and said calmly: "Send a letter to the people in Liaodong to find out the cause of Xu Su's death, and also send a letter to Beijing to ask Hua Shi'er to send someone to replace Xu Su. The court will make plans. The three guards of Wuliangha have been guarding for a long time, and they cannot let go at this time."
"Yes, my subordinate will do it now."
Xie Zhong also knew the seriousness of this matter. After bowing slightly, he quickly withdrew.
Watching Xie Zhong walk away, Chen Kan frowned, feeling suddenly irritated.
After jumping off the carriage, Chen Kan walked to Fang Xiaoru's carriage. He wanted to wake him up, but after thinking about it, he backed away.
Fang Xiaoru was too tired these days. It was better not to alarm him if he could.
After returning to the carriage and sitting down, Chen Kan continued to meditate.
There are many doubts about Xu Su's death.
First of all, the cause of death is unknown, which is very strange.
What is unknown cause?
Was it because he couldn't find out, or because someone didn't want him to know the cause of Xu Su's death?
When Xu Su died, he died, but there was a big difference in whether he died of illness, was killed, or committed suicide.
A few years ago, Xu Su came to Beijing as the envoy of the three guards of Wu Liangha to ask for land in Liaodong on behalf of the three guards of Wu Liangha.
It was at that time that Chen Kan launched his plan for Daning Grassland.
And since Xu Su can gain a foothold on the grassland, he cannot be easily killed by others.
What's more, he still has the invisible power left to him by Chen Qia. No matter how powerful the Marquis Mansion and the Wucheng Army are on the grassland, he can still mobilize part of it, so he has the ability to protect himself on the grassland. .
So, will he commit suicide?
It's not very likely either.
I would like to ask a person who has worked hard for half his life just to have a better future, and now he is about to succeed, what reason does he have to commit suicide?
Death from illness is also unreasonable. If it was death from illness, then the news coming from Liaodong should not be that the cause of death was unknown.
After thinking for a long time, Chen Kan couldn't help but sigh, and then waved to the bodyguards not far away.
"Master Hou!"
A guard trotted forward and bowed.
Chen Kan muttered: "Let Hua Shi'er check the manpower in the north."
The guard was stunned and asked cautiously: "What does the investigation mean by the Marquis?"
"Comprehensive inventory."
Chen Kan spoke again, and the killing intent inadvertently revealed in his tone immediately made the guard shudder subconsciously.
"Go do it!"
Chen Kan waved his hand, and the guard hurriedly retreated.
Looking up at the sky, Chen Kan couldn't help but sigh secretly.
Unless absolutely necessary, he was actually very reluctant to take action against some elderly people.
Especially some people who have been wandering in the darkness to help the Hou Mansion grow from the beginning.
But regarding Xu Su's death, he absolutely did not want to believe that it was suicide or death from illness.
Under the protection of so many forces, Xu Su died.
But the information they reported back only had four words, and the reason was unknown, which was really hard for Chen Kan to accept.
There are some things that Chen Kan doesn't want to think about or think deeply about.
Even though he seems to be famous for being cruel and ruthless in the Ming Dynasty over the years, his character is still a bit muddled. As long as everyone is in peace, he will tolerate some things as long as he can.
But such a thing has exceeded his limit.
He can tolerate betrayal and opportunists in the team, but what needs to be done must be done well.
The Hou Mansion allocates so much money and wastes so many human favors every year, not just for nothing.
If you can't even do your job and keep everyone in their place, then it's time to prune the branches and leaves.
After sighing for a moment, Chen Kan woke up Fang Xiaoru when he saw the Fang brothers walking out of the village with Zheng's filial sons and grandsons.
Fang Xiaoru opened the curtain of the carriage and asked, "Yuansheng, what time is it now? Has your wife been buried yet?"
Chen Kan nodded slightly and responded: "Teacher, it's about two o'clock in the morning. The eldest brother and the eldest brother-in-law have come out. The tomb of the master's wife should have been erected."
"Now that you're fine, let's go back."
Fang Xiaoru's hoarse voice came out, and he seemed to have no intention of getting off the carriage.
Chen Kan thought for a moment and then asked: "Teacher, are you really not going to go to the village to meet the villagers?"
Fang Xiaoru said: "It only makes me sad if I disappear."
While the master and apprentice were talking, the funeral procession also left the village and came to the entrance of the village.
"Father, mother has been buried!"
Fang Zhongxian walked up to Fang Xiaoru's carriage and shouted respectfully.
"Buried, let's go back to the capital!"
Fang Xiaoru's voice was full of exhaustion. Fang Zhongxian nodded and began to signal the funeral procession to turn around.
After a moment, Fang Xiaoru's voice sounded again: "Yuan Sheng, since your master's wife has been buried, please leave first."
Chen Kan was startled.
Fang Xiaoru continued: "Although you have resigned from the military position, you still have the sacred mandate. The sacred mandate is the sacred mandate. When your master's wife passed away, it is understandable that you disobeyed the sacred mandate and returned to Beijing for the funeral. But now that the funeral is over, you If you continue to linger, someone will start gossiping."
Chen Kan nodded and said nothing more.
He is not someone who can't tell the difference between importance and importance, and he also knows what Fang Xiaoru means.
Instead of escorting Fang Xiaoru back to the capital, he should really catch up with the Zhu brothers and do what needs to be done.
"Then, teacher, I will take my leave first."
"Go, it's time for me to return to the capital."
Neither of them are pretentious people, and they are both used to saying goodbye. After greeting each other, Chen Kan got on his horse and drove away with his bodyguard.
After Chen Kan left, the Fang brothers also greeted the funeral procession.
A group of people returned to Fang Xiaoru's carriage and couldn't help but feel a little confused when they saw that Chen Kan was not there.
"Yuan Sheng has left first. If you have nothing to do, just leave."
Fang Xiaoru's voice came from the carriage, and a group of people couldn't help but look at each other.
But Fang Xiaoru insisted on leaving, so Zheng Sheng had to arrange some people to deal with the aftermath.
When the sky darkened, the funeral procession also embarked on its return journey.
The villagers of Fangjia Village never came forward to talk to the funeral procession. At this moment, seeing Fang Xiaoru's carriage go away, they ran out of the village and kept waving to Fang Xiaoru's carriage.
Unfortunately, their figures were isolated by the funeral procession, and Fang Xiaoru was destined to be invisible.
...
It was late at night, but Chen Kan was still galloping, with no intention of stopping to rest.
"Drive~"
The horses are galloping, and the night is like water.
In mid-September in Jiangnan, the night was already a little cool. Chen Kan couldn't help but shrink his neck while riding on his horse.
A group of people ran wildly along the official road from Zhejiang to Yunnan until the third watch. A faintly lit post station came into view, and Chen Kancai ordered to slow down their progress.
Xie Zhong, who was half a body behind Chen Kan, was tied with Chen Kan and asked loudly: "Master Marquis, there is a post station ahead, should we rest at the post station?"
"Send the order to commandeer the inn."
After Chen Kan's order was given, a few horses drove out from the bodyguard group behind him and rode quickly towards the inn that was surrounded by firelight.
Not long after, Chen Kan led other personal guards to the inn.
The few guards who arrived at the post station first had already woken up the post chief and post soldiers, and a group of people lined up on both sides to greet Chen Kan.
"I've met the Marquis!"
Seeing Chen Kan's arrival, Yi Cheng and several post soldiers were about to kneel down, but Xie Zhong and his personal guards stopped them.
Chen Kan threw the riding whip in his hand to the bodyguard, and said calmly to Yi Cheng: "Prepare a few rooms, and prepare some dry food for me. I will take it with me on the road tomorrow."
"Here, Lord Marquis, do you want to prepare a banquet now?"
"No need!"
Chen Kan quickly ordered to go down. Yi Cheng didn't dare to ask any more questions, so he could only take people down to prepare.
Just when Chen Kan was giving instructions to the postmaster, Xie Zhong also led people to insert the banner of the Hou Mansion into the most conspicuous place of the posthouse.
Soon, a postman prepared the room.
After Chen Kan entered the room, he began a long wait.
Waiting until five o'clock in the morning, a rustling sound suddenly came from outside the room where Chen Kan was.
Chen Kan opened the window, and a figure came in through the window.
"Master Hou!"
"Where is the emperor's grandson? How is the matter handled? Can Your Highness the Princess and the others enter Yunnan?"
The visitor was about to salute when he was interrupted by Chen Kan. After listening to Chen Kan's three questions, the visitor hurriedly and respectfully replied: "Go back to the Marquis. When I came down, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the Crown Prince had already finished dealing with Tanzhou." The matter is heading towards Yongding Guard, and as for Her Royal Highness the Princess and the others, my subordinates don’t know.”
Chen Kan nodded and asked no more questions.
The visitor took out two letters from his arms and handed them to Chen Kan, and said in a low voice: "Master Marquis, one of these two letters is in the handwriting of Commander Wang, and the other is written by His Royal Highness the Emperor Taisun."
Chen Kan stretched out his hand to take the letter. The purpose of the visitor was achieved, so he didn't stay any longer. After exiting the window, he jumped up and disappeared into the night.
Chen Kan took out a Buddhist scripture from the middle of his clothes, opened Wang Can's letter and proofread it.
Wang Can's letter didn't contain much useful information, so Chen Kan threw it aside after reading it.
Continue to open Zhu Zhanji's letter. The content of the letter is written in a crooked tadpole-like writing.
This is the Chinese pinyin that only the four masters and disciples Chen Kan in the entire Ming Dynasty can understand, so there is no need to encrypt it or translate it.
After carefully reading the contents of the letter, Chen Kan couldn't help but sigh slightly.
The content of the letter was very simple. It simply informed Chen Kan of the results of his and Zhu Zhanhe's handling of Tanzhou, and who the mysterious person standing with his back was in Tanzhou's officialdom.
Things were not beyond Chen Kan's expectation.
In addition to following the methods left by Chen Kan to stabilize Tanzhou's officialdom, the Zhu brothers also successfully found out who was behind the military and political circles in Tanzhou.
As early as when Chen Kan was still in Tanzhou, he speculated that the incident in Tanzhou might involve some big shots.
This speculation is not without purpose.
Although Tanzhou is located inland, it is a big state after all, and it is also one of the relatively wealthy states in the Ming Dynasty. On the surface, those people cannot eat such a big piece of fat, and they are not so courageous.
The reason for Chen Kan's sigh was simpler. The backers in Tanzhou's military and political circles were his old acquaintances.
——Zhu Gaosui
After seeing this name, Chen Kan felt very complicated, because this name seemed to be beyond his expectation, and yet it seemed to be reasonable.
It was unexpected because Chen Kan's initial guess was that the candidate was not Zhu Gaosui, but the second-in-command Zhu Gaoxu.
After all, it is almost obvious that Zhu Gaoxu will fight for the reserve.
Dong Gong has been secretly amassing money, and there is no reason why he should not take action.
With his prestige in the Ming Dynasty's army, it is not surprising that he can earn some free money and raise some funds.
It makes sense because of Chen Kan's foresight.
Chen Kan knew very well what kind of person Zhu Gaosui was in history, and later generations have thoroughly analyzed his character, temperament, and work style.
To put it simply, Zhu Gaosui is very similar to Li Yuanji in history, except that Li Yuanji provoked the boss, while Zhu Gaosui provoked the second child.
But without exception, they are all planning to compete with each other for profit.
Of course, Zhu Gaosui must be much smarter than Li Yuanji. After all, Zhu Gaosui was able to die well after his rebellion failed, which is a kind of wisdom in itself.
Therefore, although Chen Kan was a little surprised that the mysterious boss standing behind Tanzhou was Zhu Gaosui, he was not too surprised.
After pondering for a moment, Chen Kan tore up the letter and threw it into a candlestick to burn it to ashes, then lay down undressed and prepared to sleep.
Since the Tanzhou matter involves the struggle for the reserve, it is not his responsibility. It is better to leave it to Zhu Di.
When it comes to competing for the throne, Chen Kan's attitude has always been very clear. He neither takes the initiative to please anyone nor offends anyone.
Basically, if you don't mess with me, I won't mess with you. If you insist on being tough with me, then I won't be afraid of you.
Anyway, history has already given the answer to who will win among the three brothers of the Zhu family.
By accepting two of the emperor's grandsons as his disciples, he was already in an invincible position.
As for whether Zhu Di will be liquidated by the new emperor a hundred years later, that is not something that can be predicted now.
He has always prepared a way out, and no matter what situation he encounters, he has the strength to fight back.
Having achieved this, he was satisfied.
