Chen Kan walked into the backyard.
The two maids brought a recliner and placed it next to Chang Ning.
"Husband, have everything been arranged?"
Chang Ning turned his head slightly and asked lazily.
Chen Kan came to lie down on the recliner, groaned comfortably, and then responded: "Madam, please don't disturb me, I am here to help you."
"Um!"
Chang Ning hummed softly and stopped asking any more questions.
She can't hide anything in the house. She is a princess of the royal family, so she is naturally aware of some overt and secret struggles.
But she also knew that as long as Chen Kan was around, she could be her little princess with peace of mind.
Because Chen Kan could always eliminate all dangers for him, this feeling made her extremely at ease.
The maid handed Chen Kan a silver pot. Chen Kan took a sip of rice wine, then tilted his head and looked at the lazy Chang Ning and said with a smile: "I will definitely let our child thrive in a prosperous age, and he does not need to stain his hands with blood. , He just needs to grow up healthily and then do what he wants to do."
Over the years, Chen Kan has never promised anything to Chang Ning.
It's not that he doesn't want to, it's just that he thinks doing it is more important than saying it.
But now, he's willing to commit.
Hearing this, Chang Ning chuckled and said, "Okay, I get it. My husband is the best. He will definitely be the best husband and father in the world!"
"By the way, I want to eat tofu pudding. Can my husband make it for me?"
Chang Ning blinked his big eyes and looked at Chen Kan narrowly.
Chen Kan shrugged helplessly: "Is there any room left for me not to do anything for my husband?"
"No, hehehe, go ahead and do it, the baby in my belly is still waiting to be eaten!"
Even after being married for so many years, it was still difficult for Chen Kan to refuse Chang Ning's coquettishness and cuteness.
The blue bar instantly filled up, and he patted his chest and promised: "Since it is our child who wants to eat, I will do it right now."
When Chen Kan came to the kitchen, the cook in the Hou Mansion immediately felt like he was facing a formidable enemy.
Because as soon as Chen Kan comes, they know that Chen Kan will definitely show off his skills again.
And every time Chen Kan showed off his skills, they would suffer for a long time.
There was no way around it. If the chef of the Hou Mansion couldn't completely recreate the dish that Chen Kan had cooked once, he would easily be scolded by Chen Kan.
Seeing the solemn looks on the faces of the investors, Chen Kan expressed his satisfaction.
After his training in the past few years, the chefs in the Hou Mansion have reached the absolute level of chefs.
However, there is still room for improvement.
Chen Kan came to stand in front of the stove and said calmly: "Madam wants to eat bean curd today, go and prepare the ingredients!"
The beancurd that Chang Ning wanted to eat was naturally not made from beans.
It is a chickpea pudding that is very suitable for pregnant women.
The chicken is made into the shape of tofu pudding, which not only takes into account the appearance, nutrition, but also the taste.
After Chen Kan accidentally cooked it once for Chang Ning to eat, Chang Ning fell deeply in love with this dish.
After Chen Kan gave the order, the cooks quickly got busy.
Soon, all the required materials were prepared for Chen Kan.
An old hen more than three years old, scallops, aged ham, sea cucumber, minced beef, minced pork, wolfberry, jujube, starch and the like.
Chen Kan picked up the kitchen knife and divided the old hen into three parts.
The chicken breast with the skin removed is the main raw material for making bean curd. Remove the bones from the chicken leg and mince it into foam, which is used to stir the soup.
The chicken skeleton is used together with precious ingredients such as scallops, ham, sea cucumber, and abalone to make the soup stock.
Chen Kan first put all the ingredients into the earthen pot and cooked it. The soup must be cooked in an earthen pot to be fragrant, but it will lose the taste if it is cooked in an iron pot.
It doesn’t require too much seasoning, just a handful of salt, onion, ginger, garlic, and mountain spring water and simmer for a few hours.
Chen Kan took out a kitchen knife again, pointed the backs of the two kitchen knives at the chicken breast at the same time, and beat it hard.
It is also necessary to remove all the fascia from the chicken between beatings, otherwise the bean curd will pill.
In later generations, this chickpea pudding would be a state banquet dish.
In this era, we are also scorning all the things that can be called gourmet in Ming Dynasty.
After beating for half an hour, the chicken breast was finally as fine as flour.
Add water starch to it and mix well, then filter it through fine gauze to filter out the rough muscles.
Chen Kan got a bowl of chicken breast that was as delicate as powder.
The meat was sealed and rested for half an hour. During this interval, Chen Kan made several more side dishes.
The soup stock is simmered over slow fire for two hours, and the aroma of all the ingredients is absorbed into the soup.
The next step is to sweep the soup.
Strain the soup once to remove the tasteless meat and bone residue.
Li Rang first swept it with beef, and the thick yellow chicken soup turned light yellow. Then he swept it with pork, and the soup was as clear as tea.
Finally, sweep it with chicken, and the soup stock will be as clear as spring water.
The aroma is tangy and intoxicating.
Take out the cooked chicken breasts, bring the stock to a boil, and then turn off the heat.
Then slowly pour the chicken breast into the soup stock, and use the temperature of the soup itself to ripen the meat.
Then, a strong fragrance quickly spread in the kitchen.
Looking at the bowl of chickpea pudding in front of him that looked like a work of art, Chen Kan nodded with satisfaction, good, it didn't overturn this time.
Several cooks helped bring the side dishes prepared by Chen Kan to the dining hall, and then Chen Kan asked Chang Ning to come in for dinner.
In Chen Kan's expectant eyes, Chang Ning scooped up a spoonful of bean curd and put it into his mouth, closed his eyes and tasted it for a moment, and couldn't help but smile: "It's delicious!"
Delicious food is the greatest compliment to a cook.
Chen Kan immediately smiled and said: "Since it tastes delicious, then eat more!"
"good!"
Chang Ning nodded, took another bite, and then said: "Husband, since I lost the title of royal family, the income from cement has been reduced a lot these days. Please make an idea."
Chen Kan was stunned for a moment, and then said with a mysterious smile: "It doesn't matter, it's just a temporary reduction. It won't take long for us to make a lot of money."
Chen Kan didn't want to talk about these things at the dinner table, so he didn't say much.
When Chang Ning heard what Chen Kan said, he didn't ask why. Since her husband said that he could make a lot of money, he would definitely make a lot of money.
The two of them had a meal that lasted half an hour.
By the time we finished eating, it was getting dark.
After sending Chang Ning back to the backyard, Chen Kan went to the study and started planning what to do next.
Chen Kan's statement that it won't be long before the Hou Mansion can make a fortune is not without purpose.
But it is based on facts.
Now that the main body of Beijing City has been built, theoretically speaking, it is almost time for Zhu Di to inspect Beijing.
And this time, Beijing City was able to be built so quickly, and it was indispensable without the free cement provided by Chen Kan.
By then, all the officials and even businessmen from Jiangnan who came to Beijing with Zhu Di will notice the difference in Beijing, and cement's reputation in the south will be able to take advantage of the situation.
The other is Liaodong.
Since the Jurchens were going to the peninsula and the Japanese country to establish a country belonging to the Jurchens, it was reasonable for the Ming Dynasty to take advantage of the situation and send troops to regain their homeland.
That is hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of black earth plains. Such a large place must be cultivated, and immigration will be inevitable.
If the imperial court wants to immigrate, it must give them houses, land, grain, cattle and other things.
Otherwise, who would want to go to the bitter cold land of Liaodong?
That's when Chen Kan's cement will show its power.
Chen Kan didn't believe that Zhu Di had the nerve to ask him to provide free cement to build houses for the immigrant people.
By then, even if Chen Kan sells the cement to the court at three levels below the market price, it will make the Hou family's mouth full of food.
However, Liaodong is different from Yunnan after all. The weather in Yunnan is good, and the grain can even be cooked twice or three times.
Therefore, the people in Jiangnan have no resistance to immigrating to Yunnan.
But Liaodong is a land of bitter cold after all. Everyone knows that the weather in Liaodong is cold, and people in Jiangnan are afraid of the cold.
It would be difficult for the imperial court to move hundreds of thousands of people at once like they did to Yunnan.
Therefore, Chen Kan had to make some preparations in advance.
We have to let the people know how fertile the black soil in Liaodong is and how rich the products are in the Greater Khingan Mountains, so that they can become curious about Liaodong first.
People are most afraid of curiosity.
Once you have curiosity, you can't help but explore.
As long as we go exploring, are we still afraid that the black land in the Northeast will not be able to retain people?
How can we make the people of Ming Dynasty become curious about Liaodong, and even have the idea of settling in Liaodong?
This matter may be a difficult thing for the center, but for Chen Kan, it is not necessarily that difficult.
What Ming Dynasty lacks most now is not food, war, or territory, but a lack of entertainment.
After pondering for a long time, Chen Kan picked up his pen, took out a piece of rice paper and wrote down the six characters of Daming Entertainment Daily.
There were newspapers in the Ming Dynasty, but that kind of newspaper was called Dibao, which was used by the central government to issue government orders. It was usually posted on the notice monument at the entrance of the county government office.
It records in detail what happened in the court recently and what decrees were revised.
But the official Di newspaper actually has nothing to do with the common people. Most people just go and watch the fun.
Therefore, Chen Kan felt that he had to contribute to Datang's entertainment industry.
I would like to ask, which literate person would not like a newspaper that can collect entertainment news, official political news, and even various palace secrets.
Over the years, Chen Kan has not used the power of public opinion, and has never thought of creating something like a newspaper. He is mainly worried that public opinion will become a tool used by others to fight for power.
After all, the political situation above the court in the past few years has never been stable.
But now the court has stabilized, and the beginning of the Age of Discovery has become a foregone conclusion.
Chen Kan felt it was time to ask the newspaper for an interview.
Now that he decided to create Daming Entertainment Daily, Chen Kan simply started writing hard.
What is the most important thing at the moment? Of course, the much-anticipated Royal Army Academy has started recruiting students. Secondly, there are all kinds of scandals about big figures and gossip in big families.
Of course, articles on current affairs and politics are also indispensable.
In addition, the poetry, culture and entertainment section is also very important, but this is not Chen Kan’s strong point. He will find some down-and-out scholars to write it tomorrow.
Once he started writing, Chen Kan couldn't stop. It wasn't until midnight that he realized it was getting late.
