Inside the Longcheng garrison headquarters.
Tan Hengqiang specially held a reception dinner for Anze City, with more than 30 senior military officers present. To be honest, the reception standard was slightly higher.
In terms of rank, Tan Hengqiang is the commander-in-chief of the Longcheng garrison, managing an entire corps with the armed forces of three armies. He is an absolute local lord. An Zecheng previously worked mostly in civilian positions in political units. This time he was transferred to the position of military leader, managing only an army. Although his rank is also very high, it is still inferior to Tan Hengqiang.
It was obviously a bit excessive for a superior to host a banquet for his subordinates at this scale, but Tan Hengqiang did it anyway. Moreover, at the banquet, senior officers of the garrison headquarters were also very respectful to An Zecheng, constantly toasting him and chatting with him.
In fact, in his daily life, An Zecheng almost never drinks and has no bad habits. But today he changed his usual behavior and chatted with everyone in a very humble manner, and drank a lot while toasting each other.
The reception lasted until after ten o'clock in the evening. After most of the guests had left, Tan Hengqiang personally invited An Zecheng to sit in his back garden.
In fact, in Longcheng, Tan Hengqiang is really like a local emperor. He holds an astonishing amount of military expenditure every year, and any business related to crossing the line, as long as it passes through the garrison area outside the district, must burn incense to him. So he has both connections and money, and he does not have to manage the government affairs of Longcheng, and he is usually very idle.
There is a horse farm in the backyard of the garrison headquarters, with flowers, plants, wild animals and even African lions due to the location. It is like a small zoo.
"What a grand and impressive sight." An Zecheng sat under a parasol, looking at everything on the horse farm, his eyes filled with envy.
"This little garden has saved me countless times." Tan Hengqiang, who was wearing casual clothes and drinking red wine, said in a teasing tone.
"What do you mean?" An Zecheng turned his head and asked.
"Longcheng is a turbulent place. District One is on guard against us, the East wants to win us over, and we have to be both firm and soft when dealing with the Mexicans." Tan Hengqiang crossed his legs and said calmly, "In a place like this, what can you do as a military commander with 50,000 soldiers and absolute say?!"
Anze Cheng was silent.
"It's not easy! If you fart, some people will want to use computers to decode and translate you to see if you are collaborating with the enemy." Tan Hengqiang intervened and said, "If you don't have any hobbies, no weaknesses, are not greedy for money, and are not lustful, then who would dare to employ you?! What if you want to rebel?"
"What wisdom, Commander Tan, haha!" An Zecheng laughed.
"It's just a way to survive." Tan Hengqiang waved his hand, turned his head and looked at An Zecheng and asked, "Brother, you have come to Longcheng, what are you going to do?"
An Zecheng sighed: "I haven't found my own way of survival yet."
"What do you mean?" Tan Hengqiang asked with a smile on his face.
An Zecheng sighed, picked up the red wine glass and said, "To be honest with you, I didn't want to come."
"Is this true? How can a civilian officer be compared to a military commander? Now that you are here, you are a local lord!" Tan Hengqiang teased softly.
"What local lords?" An Zecheng frowned and replied, "The top leaders of the three main regiments of an army are all sent here. I can't command them, and I can't get rid of them. The deputy commander of the military and half of the staff team are here to supervise... What do you want me to do? To put it bluntly, I am in the political work unit of District 1. Although I am a civilian, I enjoy the treatment of a military-level leader. In two years, I will be promoted to lieutenant general. If I move a little, I will go to the financial unit. Tens of billions of military funds will pass through my hands every year. When you, Old Tan, see me, you have to say a few good words."
"Haha, that's true." Tan Hengqiang laughed.
"After coming to Longcheng, we have to secretly contact the rebels of Lao Mo and prevent gossip from spreading outside. If we do a good job, we can be promoted by half a level at most when we return, but if we don't do a good job, our heads may be moved." An Zecheng shook his head and sighed, "This position is not easy to sit in, it's harder than yours!"
"They're all the same!" Tan Hengqiang echoed.
An Zecheng suddenly looked at the other person very bluntly, shook his head slowly and said: "It's almost the same! I have to see your expression!"
When Tan Hengqiang heard this, he also looked towards Anzecheng.
The two looked at each other, An Zecheng drank the wine slowly, sighed and said: "My wife has a nephew named Yu Mingyuan, his father is Yu Jinrong from the former Environmental Sanitation Management Committee."
"I know." Tan Hengqiang nodded.
"This kid is disobedient." An Zecheng said helplessly, "Now that his father is gone, I originally wanted to bring him to Washington, D.C., and let him join the army or do some business, but he refused to do it and insisted on forming an association! Now, he even has a political color."
Tan Hengqiang remained silent and did not respond.
"She's close to Li Mingsheng, and she's going to marry Wen Zhanbo's daughter." An Zecheng frowned, "You won't listen to me."
"He and Lao Li are quite close." Tan Hengqiang agreed.
"I came here, and Li Mingsheng's people came to see me." An Zecheng replied calmly: "Logically, I should meet with Lao Li. After all, he is in charge of government affairs, so he should be able to get along with him on the surface. But because of this relationship with the little bastard, I dare not meet him even if I want to. Otherwise, you, Lao Tan, will report me later and label me as being in cahoots with Li Mingsheng. Then I will be finished, right?!"
"Haha, you underestimate me!" Tan Hengqiang waved his hand and replied, "It's not that serious."
"Old Tan, at my age, if I can be awarded the rank of general posthumously before I die, it would be a great honor for my ancestors." An Zecheng said softly, "I am getting old, so it is better to be safe than sorry."
"Lao An, I believe anyone who says they don't have drive, but I don't believe you." Tan Hengqiang said in a teasing tone: "I still remember that when we were in the general class, Teacher Liu had a very high evaluation of you! He said that you were a contemporary tiger with great ambitions!"
“Oh, come on.” An Zecheng waved his hands repeatedly: “When he evaluated me, how old was I? Less than 40 years old! How old am I now? Half of my hair is white!”
At this point, An Zecheng slowly stood up, put his hands on his hips and looked around, and suddenly asked with a smile: "Hey, Old Tan, seriously! Should I just move the military headquarters to your place?"
This sentence made Tan Hengqiang stunned for a second: "You moved the military headquarters to my place?"
"Oh, I'm too lazy to take care of the work, just leave it to the people below me." An Zecheng chuckled and said, "I'll stay here with you, tending the flowers and playing with the birds! No one can say anything! When the term is up, I'll lead the troops back, and that will be a perfect job!"
"Is this your way of survival?!"
"It's better to be safe than sorry. It's always right to be in the same boat with you, haha!" Colonel An Zecheng.