After a night of silence, Chen Kan and his guards continued on the road to Yunnan early the next morning.
Every time you go to a post station, there must be a messenger sent by Yunnan or the Zhu brothers.
Chen Kan directed the whole process by remote control, but there was no big trouble.
After a month of traveling under the stars and nights, Chen Kan finally arrived in Guizhou.
After walking for another three days, they arrived at the heart of Guizhou and stopped. Only then did Chen Kan order everyone to rest on the spot.
Guizhou is full of mountains as far as the eye can see.
Even though it was not the first time for Chen Kan to come to Guizhou, he was used to seeing the Yangtze River Plain in Nanjing and the North China Plain in Beijing. When he arrived in Guizhou again, he was still a little overwhelmed.
"Master Marquis, not far ahead is where the Guishan Guards are stationed. His Royal Highness the Emperor's Grandson and His Highness the Crown Prince are guests at the Zhenyuan Marquis' Mansion at the moment. Are we going to meet up with the two Highnesses?"
"No rush, let's rest for a while first."
Chen Kan waved his hand, Xie Zhong nodded slightly, and said no more.
After finding a slightly higher place and sitting cross-legged, Chen Kan began to look at the distant Guishan Nanshan Mountain.
There should be a big city here.
Historically, the person who built the city here was Wang Yangming, a sage of spiritual studies in the middle Ming Dynasty.
Wang Yangming was demoted to Longchang Post, where he became enlightened and became a saint. Then he chose a site in the south of Guishan to build the city. Because the new city was built in the south of Guishan, and the Han people regarded the south as Yang, it was named Guiyang.
As soon as Guiyang City was built, it became an important channel for the central court to control the southwest.
Starting from Guiyang, it connects to Wumeng Tusi Mansion in Sichuan and Dongchuan Tusi Mansion in Yunnan. While directly controlling Yunnan and Sichuan, it can also overlook the Indochina Peninsula.
When the Central Plains Dynasty was on the defensive, Guiyang could become the second line of defense to protect the Central Court.
It has great strategic depth with Chengdu and Lin'an. The three cities are at each other's horns. Whether it is supporting the front line or returning to defend the center, they have extremely high maneuverability. Compared with the cities in the southwest, its strategic position can be said to be second only. In Chengdu, Sichuan and Lin'an, Yunnan.
Just from the construction of Guiyang City, we can see the superb strategic vision of Yangming, the sage of Xinxue.
It's a pity that there are still several decades before Wang Yangming's birth, so there is no way to talk about Guiyang City.
There is a small city to the north, where the Guishan Guards are stationed and where Gu Cheng, the commander-in-chief of Guizhou, has his residence.
But that city was too small and far away from the main road. It was not enough to assume the function of a provincial government, let alone become the rear area of Lin'an and Chengdu.
Chen Kan could make a suggestion to Zhu Di, asking him to move Guishan Guard's station about a hundred miles south, but if he was asked to build a city, forget it.
Too troublesome.
After sitting on the hillside and looking at it for a long time, Chen Kan came to his senses, took the dry food from the hands of his guards and started to nibble on it.
After gnawing on the dry food and drinking a gulp of ice water, a gust of cold wind hit me, and the chill hit my forehead.
After tightening his clothes, Chen Kan found a place with leeward wind and lay down, closing his eyes to meditate.
November is also called the winter month on the lunar calendar.
What is winter moon? It can be explained in one word - cold
Although it is not snowing heavily in Guiyang now, the white frost hanging on the pine trees still proves what season it is.
The so-called rime refers to pine trees covered with white frost.
After resting for a long time and regaining some energy, Chen Kan and his guards left the main road and headed north towards the Guishan Guards' station.
When he arrived in Guizhou, Chen Kan had to pay a visit to Gu Cheng.
Regardless of the deal they made many years ago, Wang Long and Li Hu are still working under Gu Cheng.
The two of them are now the commanders of the Guishan Guards. Without Gu Cheng's secret support, with Wang Long and Li Hu's reputation and achievements, it would only take a lifetime to reach this position.
What's more, Gu Cheng also married his youngest daughter Gu Tao to Wang Long, which can be said to have helped Chen Kan in the true sense.
Moreover, Chen Kan's layout in the southwest over the years was only possible because Gu Cheng was in charge of the southwest.
It doesn't matter if Chen Kan hasn't arrived in Guizhou. If he doesn't visit Guizhou after he arrives, he is really ignorant.
The neighing of war horses echoed through the tree-lined paths.
From the south of Guishan to the north of Guishan, the straight-line distance does not exceed a hundred miles.
But the eighteen bends on the southwest mountain road are no joke. Compared with the Wangshan Road on the grassland, it is only worse.
We set off in the afternoon, and when we saw the Guishan Guards Camp, it was already dawn the next day.
From Zhejiang to Guizhou, Chen Kan and a group of personal guards ran wildly for more than a month. Although the night was painful, everyone was in good mental condition, but their faces were very haggard.
"stop!"
"The front is where the military camp is, and ordinary people are not allowed to enter."
When they were still more than ten miles away from the Guishan camp, Chen Kan and others were blocked by the Guishan guard's outpost.
Two young soldiers wearing leather armor and holding firecrackers looked at Chen Kan and others with wary expressions, and the safety catch of the firecrackers in their hands had been opened.
Chen Kan turned over and dismounted from a distance, spread his hands to show that he had no ill intentions, and said: "I am Chen Kan, Marquis of Jinghai. Please tell the Marquis of Zhenyuan that Chen Kan comes to pay homage!"
When Chen Kan announced his home address, the two soldiers did not relax their guard at all.
Although their equipment and size were inferior to those of the personal guards behind Chen Kan, they still blocked the road and refused to relax.
The next second, two heavily armed soldiers emerged from the woods on the side again.
One of them said: "May I ask what proof the Marquis has?"
Chen Kan was stunned, but he didn't expect that the other party would be so wary even after he announced his family status.
After thinking about it, Chen Kan took out his small seal from his arms and threw it towards the soldier who spoke.
"You can go and report it with this little seal, and the two highnesses, the Emperor's Grandson and the Crown Prince of Han, can distinguish the authenticity."
The soldier reached out and took the seal, leaving two people on guard to read the seal.
After seeing clearly what the seal was engraved on, the four of them were shocked at the same time. They all knelt down on one knee and saluted, saying: "We are blind and do not recognize Mount Tai. Please forgive us, General. We will go and report to the Marquis now." Please wait a moment, General."
Chen Kan nodded and frowned slightly.
It was understandable that the officers and soldiers of the Guishan Guards would not let him enter the military camp, but it was obviously still ten miles away from the main camp. When they went to inform Gu Cheng, they still wanted him to wait here. This was obviously abnormal.
When Chen Kan was confused, one of the four Guishan Guards soldiers also pulled out a war horse from somewhere, turned around and galloped towards the camp.
Another soldier dragged out a dry tree stump from the outpost in the forest and placed it one foot away in front of Chen Kan.
"General, please take a seat."
The soldier greeted Chen Kan, still with a certain look of caution in his eyes.
Chen Kan was confused, but judging from the state of these soldiers, he probably wouldn't tell him what happened if he asked them, so he could only wait patiently.
Fortunately, Gu Cheng didn't let him wait long. About two-quarters of an hour later, a team of fast horses came from the direction of the military camp.
"Teacher~"
"Master Hou~"
There were bursts of slightly excited shouts from the cavalry. Chen Kan looked at the leader of the cavalry and couldn't help but smile.
The cavalry roared in, and the people on horseback dismounted from a distance and ran towards Chen Kan.
"Teacher, you are finally here!"
Zhu Zhanji ran up to Chen Kan and was about to give him a bear hug. Chen Kan nimbly avoided it, but his eyes moved to the two dull-looking men behind Zhu Zhanhe.
"Master Marquis, I finally see you again."
Wang Long and Li Hu had tears in their eyes, and they both stepped forward quickly to kneel down in front of Chen Kan.
Chen Kan grabbed them one by one and said with a smile: "You have become a general, why are you so pretentious? You want to worship me at my grave when I die."
Listening to Chen Kan's laughter and scolding, the excitement in their eyes became even stronger.
Wang Long hurriedly said: "What nonsense are you talking about, Lord Marquis? My subordinates are much older than you. If you want to die, your subordinates will die first. You must live a long life."
Li Hu grabbed Chen Kan's arm and choked with sobs: "Master Hou, I thought you had forgotten us two brothers. You haven't even replied to a letter for so many years."
Chen Kan patted the two of them on the shoulders and scolded them with a smile: "Reply, you guys are damn illiterate. What kind of letter can I give you? Besides, didn't I write to Gu Cheng and ask him to read it to you? , why are you so pretentious?"
When old friends meet, they naturally have endless things to talk about. When the Zhu brothers were ignored, they had to stand aside and try to smile.
After Chen Kan exchanged some polite words with the two of them, he asked doubtfully: "Has something happened to the Guishan Guards recently? I see that the guards at the Guishan Guards seem to be much tighter these days."
Hearing Chen Kan's question, the four soldiers blocking the road quickly knelt down to apologize.
Chen Kan signaled to Xie Zhong to help them up, and said comfortingly: "I have no intention of blaming you. It is your duty to perform your duties faithfully. What crime are you guilty of?"
After Chen Kan comforted the four soldiers, he looked at Wang Long and Li Hu with doubts.
But before the two of them could speak, Zhu Zhanji on the side stepped forward with a stinky face and whispered: "Teacher, this matter has something to do with the students."
"Um?"
Chen Kan was stunned for a moment, with a thoughtful look on his face.
Zhu Zhanji continued: "Teacher, there are many people here, so why not settle down in the house of Mr. Gu, and my disciple will tell you the details?"
Chen Kan nodded slightly: "Okay, then let's go."
Seeing Chen Kan agree, everyone no longer delayed, mounted their horses and roared towards the small town behind Guishan Camp.
…
…
After many years, Gu Cheng, the Marquis of Zhenyuan, has become extremely old.
Historically, Gu Chengnai died in the twelfth year of Yongle at the age of eighty-five.
This year is the seventh year of Yongle, which means that Gu Cheng is now eighty years old.
To live to this age as a military general is to have a long life that is first-class in the entire Chinese feudal history.
At eighty years old, it is naturally impossible for him to still have the energy to lead the army. In fact, he is almost in a state of semi-retirement now. In name, he still bears the title of Guizhou Commander-in-Chief. In fact, he is responsible for the major and minor affairs of Guishan Guards. Wang Lung is in charge.
As for why it's not Li Hu, there's nothing we can do about it. Wang Long is now Gu Cheng's son-in-law and counts as one of his own.
Of course, Gu Cheng did not treat Li Hu badly. With Gu Cheng's support, Li Hu still firmly occupied the position of the third-in-command in Guizhou's military circles.
Today, Gu Cheng, who had not been seen in front of others for many days, came out of the gate for a rare moment and waited at the gate for a long time.
The people passing by began to guess which big shot he was waiting for.
Some said it was His Majesty, some said it was the Crown Prince, and some said it was a certain prince.
After all, it is no secret in this small town that His Royal Highness the Emperor Taisun is a guest at the Zhenyuan Marquis' residence.
The scene of the emperor's grandson and the prince of Han Dynasty hurried out of the city was also seen by many people.
Just as the people were talking about it, Chen Kan, surrounded by people, entered Guishan City with his guards.
The moment he saw Chen Kan, Gu Cheng couldn't help but hold his beard and laugh.
The next second, he broke away from the support of a young woman and walked towards Chen Kan's team.
"Hahahaha, it turns out that I haven't welcomed your distinguished guest from afar, so please don't be offended."
"Hahahaha, what did the old general say? This is a bad guest coming to the door. Old general, please don't drive the family out."
Chen Kan got off his horse and walked quickly towards Gu Cheng.
The two looked at each other and laughed.
When the people onlookers saw that it was such a young man that the old Marquis greeted in person, they began to speculate about Chen Kan's identity.
Anyone who guesses His Majesty is obviously not good enough for his age. Anyone who guesses the Prince, since everyone knows that His Royal Highness is a fat man, is not good enough. As for the King of Han, it is even more nonsense.
Although Guizhou is remote, the people also know that the King of Han has led his troops on an expedition as early as the beginning of the year.
For a time, Chen Kan's identity became a mystery.
Of course, the people's discussions will not affect Chen Kan and Gu Cheng.
After the two of them held their arms and laughed, Gu Cheng was about to welcome Chen Kan in when a female voice came: "I have met Mr. Hou."
Chen Kan followed the call and saw a young woman saluting him.
"Are you, Gu Tao?"
Looking at the dignified and generous woman in front of him, with a slightly bulging belly but a dignified manner, Chen Kan could not connect her with the arrogant and domineering little girl on the boat who insisted on buying the fish from his hands.
Seeing the surprise in Chen Kan's eyes, Gu Tao blushed and replied: "Master Hou, I am my concubine."
Chen Kan nodded, smiled and said: "It's true, women have changed at the age of 18. The ancients are honest and can't be deceived."
Hearing Chen Kan's joke, Gu Tao's face turned redder.
"Haha, Mr. Marquis, please stop teasing me. My daughter was ignorant when she was young, but now she is going to be a mother. It's not good for others to scold her for being rude."
Gu Cheng chuckled, said a few nice words for his daughter, turned to look at Wang Long and scolded: "Why don't you come forward and help your wife."
Hearing this, Wang Long hurriedly ran to Gu Tao and held her hand.
Chen Kan couldn't help laughing when he saw this.
I remember back then, Gu Cheng was so shameless that he wanted to give Gu Tao as his concubine. He never imagined that the arrogant and domineering little girl from back then would become a mother after not seeing him for many years.
Chen Kan patted Wang Long on the shoulder and said with a smile: "I'm taking advantage of you, you bastard. Remember to treat others well in the future."
"Hehe, that's for sure. This subordinate is not a fast-paced person."
Wang Long replied to Chen Kan with a silly smile, his ugly face full of happiness.
Chen Kan asked: "How many months has it been?"
Wang Long said: "It's been six months."
Chen Kan nodded, pulled off the jade pendant from his waist and stuffed it into Wang Long's hand, and said: "This is a gift for the little guy. Remember to write to me when the baby is born. I will definitely prepare a generous gift for the little guy. "
Wang Long still wanted to refuse, but Gu Cheng scolded him angrily: "Hurry up and take it away. If you give birth to a son, take the jade pendant to the Marquis's house to propose marriage to the princess. Do you understand?"
Gu Cheng's words caused everyone to laugh again.
