Nanming Engineer

Chapter 181

"I heard that Chen Zhizhou has been an official here for more than three years and has won the hearts of the people. He must know the plants, trees, customs and customs of Hezhou very well, right?" Wang Huan pointed to a chair on the right: "Chen Zhizhou is sitting Let's talk."

Chen Kun quickly thanked him, sat down on the edge of the chair, cleared his throat and replied cautiously: "Wang Zongbing has won the prize, and the official was sent by the Ministry of Officials in the 14th year of Chongzhen. An edict came to Hezhou to take office. I deeply feel the emperor's grace, and I dare not slack off in the past three years. If you want to talk about Hezhou's mountains, rivers, geography, household registration and population, I have always remembered it in my mind, and this is my duty."

Wang Huan took a sip of his tea, and asked casually, "Since that's the case, does Mr. Chen know how many prisoners are assigned to the border in this state?"

Chen Kun was stunned for a moment. He thought Wang Huan would ask some questions about Hezhou's population, household registration, property and cultivated land. These are also issues that warlords and generals should care about after occupying the territory. Population and cultivated land mean the source of soldiers and food. Dominating the roost and striving for hegemony in troubled times is inseparable from these two.Last year, Zeng Ying captured Huizhou from Zhang Xianzhong. Chen Kun returned here with the army from Huguang. The first thing he did was to check the head and household registration.

But this young commander-in-chief actually asked himself the prisoner first, which was too unexpected. The series of answers prepared in Chen Kun's mind were useless immediately. After thinking about it in astonishment, he replied: " This, please forgive me, Commander-in-Chief, the officials will have to order the officials below to investigate. However, Hezhou is not a land of nine borders, nor is it a wild and bitter place. It has never been a place for criminal officials to be assigned. Prisoners who have escaped from the place occupied by the rebels have nowhere to go, and they dare not return to their hometown by themselves, so they stay in this state, so the number will not be many."

Wang Huan smiled, and said: "Since this is the case, it would be even better. In fact, Master Chen doesn't need to search hard. The prisoner I'm looking for has a very famous name, so I can find it out just by asking."

Chen Kun's heart moved, he was secretly surprised, his face became stiff, and he said hesitantly: "This, this, um, I don't know who the commander-in-chief is looking for? If the officer finds out about his whereabouts, he will definitely report it to the lord."

Wang Huan kept smiling, and looked at Chen Kun gently with harmless eyes, but Chen Kun was startled, and he was hesitating, only to hear Wang Huan say: "The person I am going to find is Mr. Chen's family. Governor Ma of the Provincial Army almost killed Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and other 72nd anti-kings in Chexiang Gorge, Chen Qiyu, the famous Governor Chen Qiyu, I wonder if Master Chen Kun knows his whereabouts?"

Chen Kun's body was struck by lightning suddenly, his whole body became stiff and his legs trembled. Although the weather was not hot in autumn, he was sweating profusely as if he was in Fuxia. , like seeing a ghost.

The lobby fell silent.

Not to mention Chen Kun, even Meng Zhiyu who was sitting on the side was quite surprised. He glanced at Wang Huan and then at Chen Kun, confused and surprised: Chen Qiyu is in Hezhou?How did Wang Huan know?How could Chen Qiyu be in Hezhou?It wasn't because he insisted on negotiating with Li Zicheng and recruiting security during the Battle of Chexiangxia. As soon as the bandit got out of the chariot gorge, he picked up his weapon and rebelled again, provoking the fury of Chongzhen Emperor Longyan, and being impeached by all the officials. He was dejected from the high position of the governor of the five provinces, and was sent to Yunnan to guard the border?
Wang Huan still looked at Chen Kun with a smile and waited.

He already knew that Chen Kun was a junior in Chen Qiyu's family and had always respected Chen Qiyu. When Emperor Chongzhen slammed the teacup on the imperial case and ordered Chen Qiyu to be exiled, Chen Kun was still a juren. For one thing, too many people were offended, and they would definitely be killed when they arrived in Yunnan, so they dragged along the road, and when they arrived in Hezhou, they said they were sick and refused to leave, and lived in seclusion here. Jinshi, went to Hezhou and became a local official, which made it easier to live here for a long time.

This information is very secretive, but it is difficult to hide it from everyone's eyes and ears. As soon as Wang Huan's Kuizhou army occupied Hezhou, he offered this information to the public servants, so Wang Huan was able to ask Chen Kun directly. When he woke up, Chen Kun was stunned.

Chen Qiyu was a fierce man in the late Ming Dynasty. When he was the governor of Shaanxi, he was able to kill countless peasant army leaders with his remaining soldiers, which made many capable people in the Ming Dynasty change their minds after hearing about it. Not one hundred but also ninety bandit leaders died under his sword. The whole of Shaanxi was in peace, and Li Zicheng and other heroes fled to Huguang, Henan to avoid him. This shows that this man is very capable and is not inferior to famous generals such as Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting.

But this person has outstanding abilities, and his shortcomings are also outstanding. The biggest problem is that his ears are soft and hesitant. After repeated persuasion by a group of men who have accepted bribes from Li Zicheng, he hastily decided to recruit in spite of the capricious nature of the thief. , Let his fame be ruined in one lifetime, if he could persist in iron and blood, and wash the chariot canyon, maybe the direction of history will change.

Wang Huan respects fierce men very much. In this era, it is difficult to achieve anything by just relying on yourself and a group of Shizhu natives. There are three gangs for a good man. The reason why emperors in the past dynasties can achieve hegemony is not only relying on themselves, but also a group of fierce men. Men are indispensable. The famous generals and ministers in the late Ming Dynasty in my memory have either defected to the Qing Dynasty, such as Hong Chengchou and Zu Dashou, or are still in the camp of the peasant army, such as Li Dingguo and Li Guo, or in the small court of the Southern Ming Dynasty, such as Zheng Chenggong and Du Yinxi could be persuaded by this little commander-in-chief of Kuizhou, except for criminal ministers like Chen Qiyu, there was no one else to be found.

Therefore, Wang Huan was very sincere in convincing Chen Qiyu to leave the mountain.

But Chen Kun didn't know what Wang Huan was thinking. At the moment, he was sweating profusely and in a panic. There were criminals staying in the territory without reporting or driving them away. Instead, they were suspected of harboring. But if they were found guilty of serious crimes, they would also be exiled. This is the secondary reason. The real reason why Chen Kun's heart is broken is because he is worried about Chen Qiyu's safety.

At that time, Chen Qiyu made many small moves in order to achieve the purpose of recruiting him to peace. He dismissed many people's officials and convicted many people. Some officials even died in prison. There were so many people who wanted to kill him. Who knew what would happen? Chen Kun didn't know whether the Kuizhou commander-in-chief's lineage would be detrimental to Chen Qiyu.

So he muttered like a fool, and said dumbly: "I don't know."

Wang Huan seemed to have known that Chen Kun would say that for a long time, got up with a sigh, walked towards the backyard of the state government, and said to himself: "I heard that the backyard of the Hezhou government is very exquisite, with many strange stone gardens, There is also an elegant courtyard, if you come today, you can see it.”

Chen Kun jumped up like an electric shock, and flew to Wang Huan. Chen Xiang and Ma Wannian's expressions changed, and they jumped between Wang Huan and Chen Kun, looking at him fiercely.

Wang Huan still kept smiling, and said leisurely: "What? Master Chen doesn't welcome you?"

Chen Kun's complexion darkened. Seeing Wang Huan's words and deeds, he probably already knew that Chen Qiyu lived in another courtyard behind his yamen. Facing the wolf-like generals of Kuizhou, he couldn't stop him. Yingdu has been cleaned up, so what about a Zhizhou who has no power to feed chickens?

But the admiration and love for Chen Qiyu caused this fair-skinned civil servant in his thirties to bulge with blue veins on his forehead. He blocked the moon gate from the front office to the backyard with his neck, and shouted in a rough voice: "Mr. Wang, Mr. Chen The governor has already been dismissed by the emperor, demoted his official position, ransacked his home and expelled him. Now he is just a commoner. He has nothing to ask for, he has nothing to do with the world, and he has suffered all the crimes that deserve him. Please be merciful, sir, don't embarrass him. If Mr. Chief Soldier seeks revenge on behalf of others, Chen Kun is willing to take it on his behalf, this is such a good skin, let him dispose of it!"

As he spoke, Chen Kun took off his official hat, untied his clothes, knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

Wang Huan should be stupid now, Chen Xiang and Ma Wannian also looked at each other in blank dismay, Chen Kun made such an embarrassing scene.

Wang Huan couldn't laugh or cry, shook his head with a wry smile, and was about to signal Chen Xiang to help Chen Kun, but he heard a sigh from behind Chen Kun's body, and a calm and majestic voice came softly: " Chen Kun, get up, a good man has gold under his knees, but he kneels down to his father, how can he be so cheap?"

Accompanied by the sound of talking, a black and thin old man in a blue gown and a square scarf appeared beside the Moon Gate, and gently pulled up Chen Kun who had a swollen forehead.

Wang Huan's eyes lit up, the Lord has arrived!

(End of this chapter)