Yun Cheng was startled, then smiled and said: "Yes, yes, after all, the Hou Mansion is going to get rich. The reward your Majesty gave you has arrived at Zhuozhou Wharf, as well as His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and His Highness the King of Han."
As soon as he finished speaking, a sharp voice came from outside the door: "The imperial edict has arrived~"
Chen Kan raised his eyebrows, a little curious as to what kind of wishes Zhu Di could have for him now that he was hiding in Beijing.
Yuncheng had no time to say anything more, so he hurriedly called a few servants to prepare the incense table.
The young eunuch who came from Nanjing to deliver the edict was Chen Kan's old acquaintance, Song Xin from Xiaohuangmen.
As soon as he saw Chen Kan and Song Xin's face, a flattering smile appeared on his face. He was one of the few eunuchs in the palace who was not afraid of Chen Kan.
This time when he came to Beijing to deliver the message, he also took the initiative to invite Zhu Di.
Just as Chen Kan was about to kneel down to receive the edict, Song Xin handed the edict to Chen Kan and said with a smile: "Long Live Lord has ordered that our family just hand the edict directly to the Marquis without having to read it in public."
Chen Kan looked at Song Xin with a half-smile but not a smile: "So, your Majesty gave you a secret order this time?"
Song Xin shook his head: "We don't know."
Chen Kan didn't bother with him and asked Yuncheng to invite Song Xin into the guest room for tea, and then opened the imperial edict and read it.
As soon as he opened it, Chen Kan quickly closed the edict as if he had seen a ghost.
This turned out to be a blank imperial edict stamped with the emperor's seal.
Chen Kan's expression was a little uncertain. What did Zhu Di mean by giving him a blank edict?
Did he expect that he would ask him for orders soon?
Holding the imperial edict in his arms, Chen Kan quickly walked into the guest room.
Song Xin was sipping tea with a contented look on his face. He just raised his head and glanced at Chen Kan who came in a hurry, as if he had known that Chen Kan would come to him.
Chen Kan didn't show off. He sat opposite Song Xin and asked, "Song's servant, we are old friends. Please tell me whether your majesty still has any oral instructions to convey?"
Hearing this, Song Xin immediately looked at Chen Kan with admiration, and then nodded: "Master Hou really has an exquisite heart with seven orifices."
Chen Kan perked up and asked, "Please ask the chamberlain to clear up the confusion."
Song Xin looked around at the maids waiting in the room. Chen Kan immediately understood and waved away the maids.
Then he looked at Song Xin with burning eyes.
Seeing that there was no one around, Song Xin lowered his voice and whispered in Chen Kan's ear: "Master Hou, when our family came here, I told you, if you ask, I will tell you. If you don't ask, there is no need to say more." .”
"What did His Majesty say?"
Chen Kan felt like he was acting like a thief now. He was clearly in his own home, but he could only cooperate.
Song Xin lowered his voice a little again and said: "Long live the Lord said that there are some things that it is not convenient for the Ming Dynasty to openly face. If it comes to a critical moment, I allow you to do it easily."
"Easy thing to do?"
Chen Kan was stunned for a moment, then he suppressed the excitement in his heart and asked: "So, General Zheng He's voyage to the West has been decided?"
Song Xin reached out and took out a letter from his arms and stuffed it into Chen Kan's sleeve. His face returned to a normal expression: "This is a personal letter from General Zheng He. The general has told you to burn it after reading it."
Chen Kan nodded in agreement, with a smile on his face: "Thank you for informing me, Chamberlain. I also ask Chamberlain Song to stay in the house for a few more days, so that I can fulfill my duties as a landlord."
Song Xin said with a smile: "This is nature, this is nature."
"In this case, I would like to ask the servant to take a rest for a while. I will excuse myself for a while."
"Master Hou, go away!"
Song Xin waved his hand in understanding, and Chen Kan confessed again and hurried towards the study.
After walking into the study and closing the door tightly, Chen Kan couldn't wait to take out Zheng He's letters and read them.
A few minutes later, a heavy look appeared on Chen Kan's face. He then placed Zheng He's letter on a candlestick, lit it, burned it to fly ash, stirred it with water, and then poured it out through the gap in the window.
Now, Chen Kan knew why Zhu Di gave him a blank edict.
The imperial edict was used by Zhu Di to save his life.
Chen Kan's plan has received Zhu Di's consent, and Zheng He is determined to cooperate with him.
But this is a matter of seeking the country, and it is not just one country, but many small countries around the Ming Dynasty.
Not to mention that most of them are countries that Taizu personally decided not to conquer.
Once the matter is leaked out, these countries will inevitably attack the Ming Dynasty.
As the chief culprit in planning these things, Chen Kan will definitely be torn into pieces by those angry small countries and the civil and military ministers in the palace who claim to be powerful.
When that time came, Zhu Di couldn't save him in a hurry.
So give him a blank edict in advance. Once something unspeakable happens, this blank edict will be his final protection.
After thinking about all this, Chen Kan couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
Although Chen Kan didn't think that the things he planned would be noticed, since Zhu Di had left him a way out, he wouldn't be so arrogant as to look down upon him.
Putting the imperial edict in his arms in a sealed box and placing it in a place where no one but him could find it, Chen Kan suddenly regained his appearance as a young marquis.
Walking back to the guest room with long strides, Song Xin was still sipping the tea alone.
"I am rude, please don't blame me, Song Dynasty."
Seeing Chen Kan regaining his confidence and calmness so quickly, Song Li hurriedly returned the greeting and said, "What did the Marquis say?"
Chen Kan sat down and waved to the door: "Come, let's have a banquet!"
After hosting a banquet in honor of Song Xin and chatting with him about the recent affairs in the capital, Chen Kan handed over the reception to Yuncheng.
Chen Kan walked out of the room and saw the servants of the Hou Mansion moving cart after cart of gifts into the warehouse.
Chen Kan took a cursory glance at the gift list and found that there was also a house on Xizhimen Street. He immediately sighed in his heart: "My father-in-law is generous."
If you give your wife, money, and house at the same time, how can you not be generous?
Xizhimen Street is the closest street to the Imperial City in the entire city of Beijing. It will be very convenient for going to court and returning home after the capital is moved in the future.
The most important thing is that Xizhimen is located in the northwest corner of the imperial city, where the Jinshui River flows into the city.
After putting away the gift list and making a rough estimate of how much the reward given to him by the Zhu family and his son was worth, Chen Kan couldn't help but grinned so happily that he couldn't help but smile.
Zhu Di cried about poverty every day, but when it came time to reward him, he was extremely generous.
Since marrying Zhu Yuelan home, Zhu Di has rewarded Chen Kan with rare treasures, silk cloths and houses, which must have exceeded 500,000 yuan.
This is not marrying a wife, this is clearly marrying the God of Wealth.
Zhu Yuelan, who happened to be visiting, also returned to the door of the Hou Mansion at this time. Before she could get off the carriage, Chen Kan rushed up and hugged her face and started to chew on it.
"Ah~"
"So many people are watching."
"You're going to die!"
Zhu Yuelan pushed Chen Kan's face aside with a shy look. Even though they had been married for several years, she could not help but feel a little hot when they were so intimate in public.
Three little kids jumped out of the carriage. When they saw this scene, they immediately covered their eyes with their palms.
It’s just that the gap between the fingers is surprisingly large.
Zhu Yuelan reached out angrily and tapped the three little kids on their foreheads with her emerald green fingers. Then she looked at the servants of the Hou Mansion who kept moving boxes home with some surprise and asked, "What are they moving?"
Chen Kan grinned: "Of course it's a reward from your wronged father and wronged brother."
"so much?"
Zhu Yuelan couldn't help but exclaimed, seeing the carriages transporting property stretching for several miles, and the boxes were so heavy that they were worth a lot of money at a glance.
"yes."
Chen Kan nodded: "They are quite nice people. They know that we have no money when we come to Beijing."
"What nonsense are you talking about? Tell me, what did you do to make my father happy?"
Zhu Yuelan crossed the threshold and instructed the servants to get the gift list.
After taking a look at the gift list, he couldn't help but look at Chen Kan suspiciously: "Did you empty out my father's treasury?"
Chen Kan shrugged: "Who knows?"
Now that Zhu Yuelan, the housekeeper, had taken over, Chen Kan turned around and walked towards the backyard.
Seeing that the three little guys were still staring at the long line of convoys transporting rewards, they couldn't help but kick each of them in the butt.
"Chuxi, after your master's wife has sorted it out, just go and pick out what you want from the treasure house."
The three little guys suddenly turned from resentment to joy.
In fact, the three little guys have the keys to the Hou Mansion. As Chen Kan's direct disciples, the three people's authority in the Hou Mansion is on the same level as Zhu Yuelan.
The reason why I am still interested in these things is purely due to the mentality of a child.
Chen Kan was like a big duck leading the way, leading three little ducks into the study.
"The New Year has passed and the snow has stopped. It's time for you to start working."
Chen Kan's words immediately made the faces of the three little guys fall.
But Chen Kan was informing them, not discussing with them.
So he didn't care about the reaction of the three little guys, he just said to himself: "We still need to build a few more cement kilns. It won't be long before the cement in our Marquis Mansion will be sold out, so prepare more inventory." It’s very necessary.”
After saying that, Chen Kan looked at Hua Shi: "When I was young, you already had experience in building cement kilns. I'll leave it to you to expand the scale. I'll discuss the manpower with Yuncheng."
Hua Shi nodded with a grimace: "I understand, teacher."
After waiting for the flower to be ready, Chen Kan looked at Zhu Zhanji and said angrily: "My teacher has already negotiated with Shuntian Prefecture to provide free cement for the construction of Beijing City, the imperial mausoleum and the Army Academy. You can do this." Let’s do it. Anyway, you have almost tested the cement formula. Once the snow melts a little, burn a few more furnaces and test it. If there is no problem, you can start production.”
As soon as he heard that he was asked to be in charge of the city of Beijing, the imperial mausoleum, and the Army Academy, a flattering smile suddenly appeared on Zhu Zhanji's fat face, and he was as happy as he wanted.
Because these things will all belong to him in the future, and he will be unhappy if he is unhappy.
It was Zhu Zhanhe's turn. Looking at Zhu Zhanhe, who was obviously half a head shorter than Zhu Zhanji and Hua Shi, Chen Kan hesitated and said, "Your task is to eat two more bowls of rice every day from now on."
