Chapter 1 The Dragon City Garrison Headquarters

Inside the Dragon City Garrison Headquarters.

Tan Hengqiang hosted a special welcome dinner for An Zecheng, attended by over thirty high-ranking military officers. To be honest, the scale of this reception was slightly higher than usual.

In terms of rank, Tan Hengqiang was the commander-in-chief of the Dragon City garrison, managing an entire army corps with three armies under his command, making him an absolute regional power. An Zecheng, on the other hand, had mostly worked in civilian positions in the political work department before being transferred to the top military post, managing only one army. Although his rank was also high, it was still somewhat lower than Tan Hengqiang's.

For a superior to host a subordinate with such grandeur was clearly a bit excessive, but Tan Hengqiang did it anyway. Moreover, during the banquet, the high-ranking officers of the garrison headquarters showed great respect for An Zecheng, constantly toasting and chatting with him.

In his daily life, An Zecheng almost never drank alcohol and had few vices. However, today he changed his usual behavior, humbly chatting with everyone and drinking quite a bit as they exchanged toasts.

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 take a seat in his backyard garden.

In Dragon City, Tan Hengqiang was practically a local emperor. He controlled an astonishing amount of military spending each year, and any business even remotely related to crossing the line had to pay him tribute if it passed through the outer garrison area. He had both power and money, and he didn't even have to manage Dragon City's administrative affairs, making his life quite leisurely.

The backyard of the garrison headquarters had a riding ground, filled with flowers, plants, and fierce beasts. Due to the region, there were even African lions, making it like a small zoo.

"What splendor, what ambition," An Zecheng said, sitting under a sunshade and looking at everything in the riding ground, his eyes filled with unconcealed envy.

"This little garden has saved me countless times," Tan Hengqiang said, wearing casual clothes and drinking red wine, his tone full of banter.

"What do you mean by that?" An Zecheng turned his head and asked.

"Dragon City is a place of storms," Tan Hengqiang said casually, crossing his legs, "District One is guarding against us, the East wants to win us over, and we have to balance being tough and gentle with the Old Mo." He continued, "In a place like this, sitting on 50,000 soldiers and having absolute say as the top military officer, is it easy?"

An Zecheng was silent.

"It's not easy! If you fart, some people would love to use a computer to decode and translate it, to see if you're colluding with the enemy," Tan Hengqiang said, folding his hands. "If you don't have any hobbies, any weaknesses, if you're not greedy for money or women, then who would dare use you?! What if you rebel?"

"Wisdom, Commander Tan, haha!" An Zecheng laughed.

"Just a way to survive," Tan Hengqiang waved his hand, turning his head to look at An Zecheng and asking, "Brother, you've come to Dragon City, what are you planning to do?"

An Zecheng sighed, "I haven't found my own way to survive yet."

"How so?" Tan Hengqiang asked with a smile on his face.

An Zecheng sighed, picked up his glass of red wine, and said, "To tell you the truth, I didn't want to come."

"Really? Can a civilian position compare to the top military officer? Once you come, you're a regional power!" Tan Hengqiang teased softly.

"What regional power?" An Zecheng frowned and replied, "One army, the top two leaders of the three main regiments, are all placed here by the higher-ups. I can't command them, and I can't get rid of them. Half of the army's deputy commanders and staff team are also here to supervise me… How am I supposed to do anything? To put it bluntly, in the political work unit of District One, although I was doing civilian work, I enjoyed the treatment of a top army-level officer. If I had waited another two years, I would have been a lieutenant general. With a slight move, I could have gone to the finance department, with hundreds of billions of military spending passing through my hands every year. When Old Tan saw me, he would have to say a few nice words, right?"

"Haha, that's true," Tan Hengqiang laughed.

"Coming to Dragon City, I have to secretly contact the Old Mo's rebel army, and also prevent rumors from spreading outside. If I do well, I'll only get promoted half a rank at most, but if I don't do well, I might lose my head," An Zecheng shook his head and sighed. "This position is not easy to sit on, it's even harder than yours!"

"It's all about the same!" Tan Hengqiang echoed.

An Zecheng suddenly stared directly at the other party, slowly shaking his head and saying, "It's not about the same! I have to watch your face!"

Hearing this, Tan Hengqiang also looked at An Zecheng.

The two looked at each other, An Zecheng slowly took a sip of wine, sighed, and said, "My wife has a nephew named Yu Mingyuan, whose father is Yu Jinrong, the former director of the Environmental Sanitation Management Committee."

"I know," Tan Hengqiang nodded.

"That child is disobedient," An Zecheng said with a helpless expression. "His father is gone, and I originally wanted to take him to Hua Fu, let him join the army or do some business, but he just wouldn't do it. He had to start some kind of association! Now, he even has political overtones."

Tan Hengqiang remained silent, not interjecting.

"He's close to Li Mingsheng and is going to marry Wen Zhanbo's daughter," An Zecheng frowned. "I can't get through to him."

"He is quite close to Old Li," Tan Hengqiang agreed.

"As soon as I arrived, Li Mingsheng's people came to me," An Zecheng said blandly. "Logically speaking, I should meet with Old Li. After all, he's the top administrative officer, and I have to at least make it look good on the surface. But with this relationship with the little brat, I don't dare to meet him, otherwise, if you, Old Tan, write a small report about me, and really label me as being in cahoots with Li Mingsheng, then I'm finished!"

"Haha, you underestimate me!" Tan Hengqiang waved his hand and replied, "It's not that serious."

"Old Tan, at my age, if I can get posthumously awarded the rank of general before I die, that's like my ancestors' graves are smoking," An Zecheng said softly. "I'm old, it's better to be careful."

"Old An, I'd believe anyone who said they didn't have drive, but I don't believe you when you say you don't have drive," Tan Hengqiang said in a teasing tone. "I still remember when we were in the General's class, Teacher Liu had a very high evaluation of you! He said you were a contemporary Sima Yi, with great ambitions!"

"Oh, come on," An Zecheng waved his hand repeatedly. "How old was I when he evaluated me? Less than forty! How old am I now? Half my hair is white!"

Saying this, An Zecheng slowly stood up, put his hands on his hips, looked around, and suddenly asked with a smile, "Hey, Old Tan, seriously! Should I just move the military headquarters here to your place?"

This sentence made Tan Hengqiang stunned for a second, "You move the military headquarters here to my place?"

"Oh, I'm too lazy to manage the work, so I'll just leave it to the people below," An Zecheng said with a light smile. "I'll just stay here with you, raising flowers and teasing birds! No one can say anything! When the term is up, I'll take the troops back and that'll be a perfect handover!"

"That's your way to survive?!"

"Better to be careful, being in cahoots with you can't be wrong, haha!" An Zecheng laughed.