Chen Kan led the fleet quickly and slowly, and finally returned to Liujiagang on the day before New Year's Eve.
One warship after another entered the dock, and every soldier who stepped off the warship had a look of emotion on his face.
It is hard to imagine that their trip to Nanyang lasted for a whole year.
The army was encamped on the pier, and there was already a sea of people at the entrance of the pier.
They were the envoys sent by Zhu Di to welcome Chen Kan's triumphant return, and they were also the envoys sent by Zhu Di to reward the three armies.
The team was led by Song Xin, the governor of Dongchang, and Song Li, the Minister of Rites, personally drove the horse.
After setting up the fleet, Chen Kan slowly walked out of the shipyard with a group of senior military generals.
Looking at Chen Kan, who was wearing armor and carrying a knife, a group of people suddenly started whispering.
Song Qing turned around and glanced at the people in the envoy who were whispering. Those who were caught quickly lowered their heads.
Chen Kan led his personal guards and a group of senior generals in the army to stand in front of the envoys. He looked at Song Qing, who was already quite powerful, and Song Li, who was willing to take second place, with a hearty smile on his face.
"Governor Song, Lord Song, it's been a long time."
Chen Kan spoke first, and Song Xin and Song Li, who were greeted by Chen Kan, also smiled.
Song Xin took a step forward, cupped his hands and said, "The general is leading an expedition to the South Seas to promote the prestige of our Ming Dynasty outside the territory. Our family would like to congratulate the general."
Song Li also returned the gift with his hands raised and said with a smile: "The general has had a hard time on the expedition. Your Majesty has already placed a celebratory wine in the Fengtian Palace, waiting for the general to return in triumph."
The three of them exchanged polite words. Song Xin cleared his throat and suddenly shouted with his neck pulled: "Your Majesty has an order. The three guards are in charge. The commander of the Tongzhi Guards will stay behind in Beijing. Jinghai Marquis Chen Kan will receive the order."
Chen Kan was stunned and looked at Song Xin, who was standing in the distance and yelling at his neck, but did not come up with the imperial edict for a long time. He couldn't help but have some doubts on his face.
But Zhu Di has a decree, and Chen Kan still has to take it.
Of course, now that he is wearing armor, he only needs to kneel halfway.
Quickly giving a military salute to Song Xin, Chen Kan led a group of generals to kneel down on one knee and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, Chen Kan, accepts the order."
"The edict says: Chen Kan, Marquis of Jinghai, has made great achievements in the expedition of thousands of miles to defend the Ming Dynasty's sea territory. Now he has returned in triumph. He is specially given a horse to ride on the palace gate as a special honor. In addition, he is given thousands of pieces of silk, hundreds of gold, and a python. Wear a set of clothes, and then give them not to bow when you meet the king, and not to follow the emperor when you meet them, to show your honor and favor, I'm so impressed."
Chen Kan couldn't help but frown when he heard a long list of rewards coming out of Song Xin's mouth.
Obviously, this was Zhu Di's oral instruction, but theoretically speaking, these rewards should be reserved until he returned to Beijing to pay the order to the Fifth Army Governor's Office, and then went to worship at the Ancestral Temple to declare his merits.
Zhu Di has rewarded him now. What will he reward when he goes to the Ancestral Temple to praise his merits?
Not to mention that Chen Kan couldn't understand, even Song Li, the Minister of Rites standing aside, couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
Obviously, he couldn't understand what Zhu Di was trying to do with this messy and rude reward.
Such a situation usually only occurs at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
For example, when Taizu was in power, he would give his ministers whatever they thought of.
But now that the Ming Dynasty has been a country for more than 40 years, various etiquette systems have clear provisions. If Zhu Di does this again, it will be against etiquette.
All in all, everyone was quite confused after receiving such a specious reward.
Oh, except Song Xin.
After Song Xin finished reciting the oral instructions, he waved behind him and waited for a fan from Dongchang to bring out a war horse.
Then he looked at Chen Kan with a smile and said with a slight smile: "Jinghaihou, let us help you get on the horse. Don't make Long Live Lord wait in a hurry."
Chen Kan came back to his senses, cupped his hands towards Song Xinyi, and said calmly: "Your Majesty, thank you for your favor."
No matter what Zhu Di wanted to express, Chen Kan planned to remain unchanged in response to all changes. After all, he came back victorious. Although Zhu Di's reward was outrageous, it was not unacceptable.
It's good to see the emperor and not follow him. Chen Kan has already had enough of being a kowtowing bug.
Without hesitation, he got on his horse, and Song Qing also got on a war horse.
The generals under his command were all being entertained, so Chen Kan was too lazy to meddle in other matters.
Song Li took a carriage instead. After all, he was a civil servant, and riding a horse in the cold weather was not in line with his civil service style.
The sound of ritual music sounded and the team started to set off, neither fast nor slow.
After walking all morning, Chen Kan finally saw the city walls of the capital. After crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, looking at the mottled walls of the capital in front of him, and then looking at the people watching on both sides, Chen Kan couldn't help but feel thoughtful.
After entering the city gate, they headed all the way to the imperial city in the southeast direction. As soon as they reached Gongyuan, the team was stopped by a group of common people.
Chen Kan turned his head and looked at Song Xin, wanting him to give a reasonable explanation, but Song Xin just looked at the cheering people in front of him with a smile and had no intention of speaking.
A trembling old man walked out of the crowd, came to the front of Chen Kan's war horse, and said loudly: "The Marquis has traveled thousands of miles to spread the prestige of our Ming Dynasty outside the territory. When we first heard the news, we all celebrated with our crowns, and now the Marquis has returned triumphantly." When you come back, please accept the courtesy of me and other small people."
After the old man finished speaking, he tremblingly bowed to Chen Kan, and the people behind him also leaned down to salute Chen Kan.
"The general has returned triumphantly. Please accept our respects from the humble people like us."
The deafening sound rang out, catching Chen Kan off guard.
Song Qing, Tan Cong, Dou Xing and other generals who followed Chen Kan also looked at each other in confusion.
Although they had expected that the Ming fleet's attack on the two capitals of Nanyang would definitely cause an uproar in the Ming Dynasty, the fact that the people blocked the road to praise their virtues still made them a little stunned.
Has the general's prestige among the people reached this level?
Chen Kan frowned, and after taking a deep breath, he still chose to dismount and help the old man kneeling on the ground.
No matter who arranged today's drama, Chen Kan couldn't bear to have an old man over eighty kneeling on the cold stone slab in the middle of winter.
"Old man, please wake up. Mr. Chen only has a small amount of merit and does not deserve such a big gift from the old man."
The old man stood up tremblingly and said with a smile: "If you deserve it, you can deserve it as a general. It is a blessing for the country to have such a famous general as the general in our Ming Dynasty."
Song Xin also responded with a smile: "The general first went to champion Hou Jiushi to capture the barbarian leader alive across the grassland, and then he went to general Fubo to march south, sailing thousands of miles to promote the prestige of our country, the Ming Dynasty, and the people lined up to welcome him. It is reasonable and reasonable."
After hearing Song Qing's nonsense, Chen Kan's mind was spinning and he couldn't help but frown slightly.
This posture reminded him of two words - praise and kill.
Could it be Zhu Di?
It's unlikely that with Zhu Di's methods, he wanted to get rid of himself.
Moreover, Zhu Di had no reason to get rid of him. He was his son-in-law, and his status would only be more stable if he was here.
Even if his ability makes him jealous, he can just find any reason to banish him.
No need to go to such great lengths at all.
At this moment, a path separated from the crowd, and another group of angels came into view.
"Jinghai Marquis Chen Kan accepted the order~"
The old eunuch at the head shouted loudly, and Chen Kan was stunned again.
But now in full public view, he could only choose to accept the order.
"My lord, Chen Kan accepts the order."
"The edict says: Chen Kan, Marquis of Jinghai, conquered foreign lands, and his achievements were greater than those of other generals. He destroyed two countries in a row. His achievements are extremely great. He is specially admitted to the Wuying Hall as a great scholar. I am very proud of him."
Another oral edict to reward Chen Kan.
But the words "Grand Bachelor of Wuyingdian Palace" made Chen Kan frown even deeper.
If the previous rewards were all false, then this Grand Bachelor of Wuyingdian could be said to have directly pushed Chen Kan to the forefront.
Unlike the previous dynasties, the Ming Dynasty had a large number of bachelors in this palace and that palace. Instead, there were only four bachelors in the Zhongji (Huagai), Jianji (Prudence), Wenhua, and Wuying palaces.
As for the so-called bachelor of Wenyuan Pavilion and Dong Pavilion, that happened after the cabinet developed.
Therefore, this Grand Bachelor of Wuyingdian suddenly raised Chen Kan's position to a terrifying position among the generals of the Ming Dynasty.
You must know that Qiu Fu, the only remaining veteran of the Ming Dynasty, has not even earned the title of a bachelor until now.
Of course, this is not the most important thing. The main thing is that Chen Kan is a military commander.
The military commander was awarded the title of Grand Bachelor, which makes people a little confused.
"My lord, Chen Kan accepts the order."
After Chen Kan accepted the order, Song Xin immediately sent people to clear the way.
After passing through the people blocking the road, the road became smooth.
In the evening, Hongwumen was finally in sight.
What Chen Kan couldn't understand was that another old eunuch stood in front of Hongwu Gate.
Now there was no need for the old eunuch to speak, Chen Kan got off his horse and prepared to receive the order.
"Jinghai Marquis Chen Kan accepted the order~"
As expected, when Chen Kan dismounted, the old eunuch spoke immediately.
"Chen Kan, Marquis of Jinghai, has done meritorious deeds in teaching the emperor's grandson. He specially went to Zhan Shifu to Zhan Shifu. It's so impressive."
"Your Majesty, take the order."
Another civil official award, Zhan Shifu, Zhan Shifu, is an institution for tutoring the prince. It is one of the six ministers of the Ming Dynasty and has the same level as the minister of Taichang Temple, the minister of Taipu Temple, and the minister of Guanglu Temple.
However, Chen Kan found some meaning in this decree.
A general was granted two civil posts in a row. I'm afraid he was involved in some unreasonable disaster.
But what the specific situation is, we have to meet Zhu Di to know.
Chen Kan was a little dumbfounded. He thought he might have a disaster-prone constitution. As soon as he returned to Ming Dynasty, such disasters came one after another.
The matters between Taoism and Buddhism over there have not yet been sorted out, and the court here has been involved in the whirlpool again.
Of course, in other words, it is also possible that the Feng Shui of the capital can defeat him.
Seeing Chen Kan standing still after receiving the order, the old eunuch smiled and said: "Master Marquis, His Majesty is waiting for you at Fengtian Palace."
Chen Kan came to his senses, nodded slightly to the old eunuch and thanked him, then led the generals into Hongwu Gate.
Along the way, little eunuchs kept coming forward to tidy up the appearance of the generals, taking off their armor and putting on winter clothes.
When they arrived at the entrance of Fengtian Hall, a group of people had changed from murderous generals to gentle scribes.
Armor, sabers, muskets, and even boots were taken away and replaced with clogs.
