Chen Kan usurped 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 the overall situation was a little worse, and in the end he was replaced by Chen Qia before he completed the set goal set by Chen Kan.

However, his wisdom assisted Meng Ke Suhan to quickly gain a firm foothold in Liaodong, laying the foundation for Chen Qia to completely plan the peninsula and the Japanese state.

After Chen Qia arrived in Liaodong, he was able to stabilize the internal situation of the Jurchens so quickly, and drove the Jurchens to wipe out the peninsula and the Wa Kingdom in just one and a half years, Xu Su had at least half of the credit.

After Chen Qia took over his plan for the peninsula, he arranged for him to go to the grassland to fight across the grassland, and he also lived up to expectations, cooperating with the imperial court's strategy of killing three warriors with one peach, and successfully provoked the infighting of Duoyan Sanwei.

Seeing that the peninsula and the Wa Kingdom were about to be subdued by Zhu Gaoxu, and Liaodong had also become a mess, with only a little intervention from the imperial court, Liaodong and a large grassland could enter the Ming Dynasty.

At that time, Xu Su should also return to the capital to discuss meritorious deeds, Chen Kan even prepared the position for him, and as a result, he died.

Or an unexplained death.

It's very uncomfortable.

After a while, Chen Kan let out a long breath and said lightly: "Send a letter to the people in Liaodong to find out the cause of Xu Su's death, and send a letter to Beijing, so that Hua Shi'er can send someone to replace Xu Su. ”

"Yes, my subordinates will do it."

Xie Zhong also knew the seriousness of this matter, and after bowing slightly, he quickly retreated.

Seeing Xie Zhong walk away, Chen Kan frowned, and his heart suddenly became irritable.

Jumping out of the carriage, Chen Kan walked in front of Fang Xiaoru's carriage, and wanted to open his mouth to wake him up, but after thinking about it, he retreated again.

Fang Xiaoru is too tired these days, it is better not to alarm him.

Sitting down on the wheel, Chen Kan continued to ponder.

Xu Su's death has many doubts.

The first is that the cause of death is unknown, which is very strange.

What is an unknown cause?

Is it impossible to find out, or does someone not want him to know the cause of Xu Su's death?

Xu Su died and died, but whether he died of illness, was killed, or committed suicide, there is a big difference.

A few years ago, Xu Su also came to Beijing as an envoy of the Wuliangha Sanwei to ask for the land of Liaodong for the Wuliangha Sanwei.

It was at that time that Chen Kan launched his plan for the Daning grassland.

And since Xu Su can gain a firm foothold on the grassland, it is impossible for him to be easily killed by others.

What's more, he still has the invisible power left to him by Chen Qia in his hands, no matter how much the power of the Hou Mansion and the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division on the grassland can be mobilized, he can also mobilize a part, so he has the power to protect himself on the grassland.

So, will he kill himself?

It's also unlikely.

If a person 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 is death from illness, then the news from Liaodong should not be that the cause of death is unknown.

After pondering for a long time, Chen Kan couldn't help but sigh, and then beckoned to the guard group not far away.

"Master Hou!"

One of the guards trotted forward and bowed.

Chen Kan groaned: "Let's let Hua Shi'er check the manpower in the north again." ”

The guard was stunned for a moment, and asked cautiously, "What does Master Hou mean by the inventory?" ”

"Full inventory."

Chen Kan spoke again, and the killing intent inadvertently revealed in his tone suddenly made the guards subconsciously shudder.

"Go ahead and do it!"

Chen Kan waved his hand, and the guards hurriedly retreated.

Looking up at the sky, Chen Kan couldn't help but sigh secretly.

As a last resort, he was actually very reluctant to do something to some old people.

Especially some people who have been wandering in the dark to help Hou Mansion all the way since they started in the Hou Mansion.

But when Xu Su died, he never wanted to believe that it was suicide or death from illness.

Under the escort of so many forces, Xu Su died.

And the information they reported back was only four words, and the reason was unknown, which was really difficult for Chen Kan to accept.

There are some things that Chen Kan doesn't want to think about or think deeply.

Don't look at him seems to be notoriously ruthless in Daming over the years, but his character is still a little passable, as long as everyone is safe, he can endure some things.

But such things are beyond his limits.

He can tolerate betrayal, and he can tolerate opportunism in the ranks, but he must do what needs to be done.

The Hou Mansion allocates so much money and spends so many favors every year, not for the sake of waste.

If you can't even do your job, then it's time to prune the foliage.

After a moment of sighing, when he saw the Fang brothers walking out of the village with the filial sons and grandsons of the Zheng family, Chen Kan woke up Fang Xiaoru.

Fang Xiaoru lifted the carriage curtain and asked, "Yuansheng, what time is it now, has your master been buried?" ”

Chen Kan bowed slightly, and responded: "Teacher, now at about two o'clock in Moshen, the eldest brother and eldest brother-in-law have already come out, and the grave of the master should have been erected." ”

"Since it's okay, let's go back."

Fang Xiaoru's hoarse voice came out, and he didn't seem to have the intention of getting off the carriage.

Chen Kan thought for a moment, but still asked, "Teacher, don't you really plan to go into the village to meet the villagers?" ”

Fang Xiaoru said: "It's gone, it only adds sadness." ”

While the master and apprentice were talking, the funeral procession also left the village and came to the entrance of the village.

"Father, mother is already buried!"

Fang Zhongxian walked to the front of Fang Xiaoru's carriage and shouted respectfully.

"It's buried, let's go back to Beijing!"

Fang Xiaoru's voice was full of exhaustion, Fang Zhongxian nodded, and began to beckon the funeral procession to turn around.

After a while, Fang Xiaoru's voice sounded again: "Yuansheng, since your master has been buried, you should leave first." ”

Chen Kan was stunned.

Fang Xiaoru continued: "Now that you have resigned from your military position, you still have a holy order, a holy order is a holy order, your master died, and it is understandable that you disobeyed the holy order to return to Beijing to mourn, but now that the funeral is over, if you continue to stay, it will be time for someone to gossip." ”

Chen Kan nodded and didn't say anything.

He is not a person who can't distinguish between the important and the important, and he also knows what Fang Xiaoru means.

Compared to escorting Fang Xiaoru back to Beijing, he should indeed catch up with the Zhu brothers now and do what he needs to do well.

"Then, teacher, the disciple will take his leave first."

"Go, it's time for the old man to go back to Beijing."

The two of them are not hypocritical people, and they are also used to parting, greeting each other, Chen Kan turned over and rode away with his personal guards.

When Chen Kan walked away, the Fang brothers also greeted the funeral procession.

A group of people returned to the vicinity of Fang Xiaoru's carriage, and when they saw that there was no Chen Kan, they couldn't help but be a little puzzled.

"Yuansheng has left beforehand, if you have nothing to do, let's go."

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, and Zheng Sheng had to arrange some manpower to deal with the aftermath.

When it was dark, the funeral team also embarked on the road back.

The villagers of Fangjia Village never stepped forward to talk to the funeral procession, and at this moment, seeing Fang Xiaoru's carriage going away, they ran out of the village and kept waving at Fang Xiaoru's carriage.

It's a pity that their figures are isolated by the funeral procession, and Fang Xiaoru is destined to be invisible.

......

It was late at night, but Chen Kan was still galloping on horseback, and he had no intention of stopping and resting.

"Driving~"

War horses gallop, and the night is like water.

In the middle of September, in Jiangnan, the night was already a little cool, and Chen Kan couldn't help but shrink his neck when he rode on his horse.

A group of people ran wildly along the official road from Zhejiang to Yunnan, until the third watch, a post station with a faint fire came into everyone's eyes, and Chen Kancai ordered to slow down the pace of progress.

Xie Zhong, who was half a position behind Chen Kan, hit the horse and Chen Kan side by side, and asked loudly: "Master Hou, there is a post station ahead, should we rest at the post station?" ”

"Give the order to go down and requisition the station."

Chen Kan's order was given, and a few horses drove out of the personal guard regiment behind him, and quickly rode towards the post station surrounded by firelight.

Not long after, Chen Kan led the other guards to the post station.

Several guards who rushed to the post station first had already woken up the post man and the post guard, and a group of people lined up on both sides to greet Chen Kan.

"I've seen Master Hou!"

Seeing Chen Kan coming, Yi Cheng was about to kneel down with a few post guards, but Xie Zhong and his guards grabbed them.

Chen Kan threw the horsewhip in his hand to the guards, and ordered lightly: "Prepare a few rooms, and prepare some dry food for Benhou, and Benhou will take it on the road tomorrow to eat." ”

"This, Master Hou, do you want to prepare a banquet now?"

"Not necessarily!"

Chen Kan quickly ordered to go down, but Yi Cheng didn't dare to ask more, so he could only take people down to prepare.

At the moment when Chen Kan ordered the post officer, Xie Zhong also led someone to insert the festival of the Hou Mansion into the most conspicuous place of the post station.

Soon, a postman prepared the room.

After Chen Kan entered the room, he began to wait for a long time.

waited until the fifth watch, and suddenly there was a sound of rustling 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 imperial grandson, how is the matter handled, Her Royal Highness the princess, can they enter the territory of Yunnan?"

The visitor was interrupted by Chen Kan as soon as he wanted to salute, and after listening to Chen Kan's three questions, the visitor hurriedly replied respectfully: "Back to the Hou Ye, when the subordinates came down, the imperial grandson and His Royal Highness the Prince had already dealt with the affairs of Tanzhou and were heading towards Yongdingwei, as for Her Royal Highness the Princess, their subordinates did not know. ”

Chen Kan nodded and didn't ask any more.

The person who came took out two letters from his bosom and handed them to Chen Kan, and said in a low voice: "Lord Hou, one of these two letters is written by the commander of the king, and the other is written by His Royal Highness the Imperial Grandson. ”

Chen Kan stretched out his hand to take the letter, and the purpose of the visitor was achieved, and he didn't stay longer, and after going out of the window, he disappeared into the night.

Chen Kan took out a Buddhist scripture from the mezzanine of his clothes, opened Wang Can's letter and proofread it first.

Wang Can's letter did not explain too much useful information, and after reading it, Chen Kan casually threw it aside.

Continuing to open Zhu Zhanji's letter, the contents of the letter were written in a crooked tadpole-like text.

This is the Chinese pinyin that only Chen Kan's master and apprentice can understand in the entire Ming Dynasty, so there is no need to encrypt it and there is no need to translate it.

After carefully reading the contents of the letter, Chen Kan couldn't help but sigh slightly.

The content of the letter is very simple, that is, to simply inform Chen Kan of the results of his and Zhu Zhan's handling of Tanzhou, and who the mysterious person standing on his back in Tanzhou officialdom is.

Things were not unexpected.

In addition to stabilizing the Tanzhou officialdom according to the method left by Chen Kan, 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 guessed that the matter in Tanzhou may have involved some big people.

This speculation is not unfounded.

Although Tanzhou is located inland, it is a big state after all, and it is also one of the richer states in the Ming Dynasty.

The reason for Chen Kan's sigh is simpler, the backer of the military and political circles in Tanzhou is his old acquaintance.

- Zhu Gaosui

After seeing this name, Chen Kan's mood was very complicated, because this name seemed to be unexpected by him, and it seemed to be reasonable.

said that it was unexpected because Chen Kan's initial guess was not Zhu Gaosui, but the second Zhu Gaoxu.

After all, Zhu Gaoxu's desire to compete for the reserve has almost been put on the bright side.

Donggong has been secretly making a lot of money, and there is no reason why he would not act.

With his prestige in the Ming army, it is not strange to eat some empty salaries and make some funds.

It is reasonable to say that it is because of Chen Kan's foresight.

What kind of person Zhu Gaosui is in history, Chen Kan understands it very thoroughly, and later generations have thoroughly analyzed this person's personality, temperament and style of doing things.

To put it simply, Zhu Gaosui is very similar to Li Yuanji in history, except that Li Yuanji provokes the boss, and Zhu Gaosui provokes the second.

But without exception, they are all planning to compete with each other for the benefit of the fisherman.

Of course, Zhu Gaosui must be much smarter than Li Yuanji, after all, Zhu Gaosui can die a good death after the failure of the rebellion, which is a kind of wisdom in itself.

Therefore, the mysterious boss standing behind Tanzhou is Zhu Gaosui, although Chen Kan is a little surprised, he will not make a fuss.

After pondering for a moment, Chen Kan tore up the letter and threw it into the candlestick to burn it to ashes, and then lay down with his clothes and prepared to sleep.

The matter of Tanzhou, since it involves the struggle for the reserve, it is not his responsibility, it is better to leave it to Zhu Di for a headache.

On the matter of competing for the crown, Chen Kan's attitude has always been obvious, he does not take the initiative to please anyone, nor does he take the initiative to offend anyone.

Probably you don't mess with me, I don't mess with you, if you have to be tough with me, then I'm not afraid of you.

Anyway, who of the three brothers of the Zhu family wins and who loses, history has already given the answer.

Accepting two emperors and grandsons as apprentices, he is already invincible.

As for whether Zhu Di will liquidate him after a hundred years, it is not something that can be expected now.

He is ready to retreat, and he has the strength to fight back no matter what the situation encounters.

At this point, he is satisfied.