Fang Xu, Zhou Shi, Cheng Feng, Chen An, Xu Yuan, and Shi Wen, these six people should be regarded as Chen Kan's true confidants.
Except for Zhou Shi and Cheng Feng, the other four people all met Chen Kan when they were young. Although Cheng Feng was given to him by Zheng He, he gradually rose to prominence in the army after following him.
As for Zhou Shi, grandma doesn't care about things that his uncle doesn't like, so he follows Chen Kancai to make fortunes.
Now, riding on the east wind of the Hou Mansion, the six of them can be regarded as rising above the clouds, shining brightly in their respective fields.
When the six people gathered in the Hou Mansion, the Hou Mansion suddenly became lively.
"Master Xu is here?"
"It turns out to be General Cheng. It's been a long time."
"General Zhou is here too?"
"Yes, if the Marquis calls you, how dare you not come?"
"What's going on today? Is the Marquis free to invite us to drink?"
A group of people greet each other politely. They are all core figures around Chen Kan. Their relationship with each other may not be very good, but they are all acquaintances.
Yuncheng smiled and greeted him, cupped his hands and said, "My lords, please come and sit in the auditorium for a while. The Marquis will be here shortly."
After leading a few people to the living room and arranging for the servants to serve tea, Yuncheng returned to the study.
"Master Marquis, several adults are here."
Chen Kan nodded, stood up, stretched, and asked, "Are all the gifts for His Highness the Crown Prince ready?"
Yuncheng bowed and said, "Everything is ready, and the invitation has been sent to the East Palace."
"good."
Chen Kan nodded again and walked slowly towards the auditorium with his hands behind his back.
Most of the time, Chen Kan rarely summoned his confidants to his home in private like this. He mostly did official business and arranged everything directly.
It's not that Chen Kan is upright and doesn't like forming cliques for personal gain, it's mainly because he doesn't want to be criticized.
The censors in the Metropolitan Procuratorate are not big officials, but their mouths are really bad.
Regardless of Chen Kan's various impeachments and slanders, he has always just returned home for so many years.
But Chen Kan was really scared from the bottom of his heart.
But it doesn't matter now.
Zhu Di kicked him into the mud. If he didn't cause something bad, he would be sorry for Zhu Di's hard work.
Listening to the chatter from the six people in the auditorium, Chen Kan stood outside the door and cleared his throat. After the voices in the auditorium fell silent, he stepped into the hall.
"Subordinate... I will finally meet the Marquis..."
Seeing Chen Kan coming, a group of people quickly stood up and saluted Chen Kan.
Chen Kan gave up indifferently, walked straight to the main seat and sat down, and said leisurely: "Okay, everyone, sit down, there are not so many rules in this house."
"Thank you, Lord Marquis."
After the six people sat down, they became quiet. Today, Chen Kan called all six of them over. It was definitely not as simple as asking them to come over for a meal, so they all pricked up their ears and were ready to listen to Chen Kan's teachings.
Seeing the serious expressions of these people, Chen Kan didn't say much. Instead, he reached out to call the maid who was waiting in the room, and said calmly: "Let's have a banquet."
"Yes~"
The maid Yingying stepped back, and Chen Kan sat on the main seat and stared blankly.
The six people below couldn't help but look at each other in shock when they saw this.
In their impression, Chen Kan has always been a resolute and resolute person, and he will never give up on anything he asks them to do.
It seems a little abnormal today?
But if Chen Kan didn't speak, they wouldn't be asking for trouble.
The atmosphere was silent for a moment, then two rows of maids brought various dishes into the ceremony hall, and then they lined up beside the six people and began to serve them wine and dishes.
Chen Kan came back to his senses, picked up the wine glass and said with a smile: "I called you here today. I have nothing else to do. I just feel that I and you have not seen each other for a long time, and I miss you very much.
You are all the pillars of our Ming Dynasty. You are busy on your own on weekdays, and you rarely have free time to gather together to eat, drink, and bond.
Chen is not talented, but he has organized such a game today. You can speak freely today, criticize the current ills, and even have a drink. "
As soon as these words came out, the doubts in the eyes of the six people became even worse.
Strange, so strange.
This is not like Mr. Hou's style at all. Mr. Hou is not usually a person who likes to party with friends, right?
But after a moment of doubt, several people did not say anything to offend the scenery.
Xu Yuan stood up, held the wine glass and smiled at Chen Kan: "Haha, Xiaguan and others are busy with official duties, so they can't spare time to visit the Marquis. Since we are here at the Marquis' Mansion today, it's a good time to borrow flowers to offer Buddha's greetings to the Marquis. Drink to your heart’s content.”
"It should be so, it should be so, hehehe."
Chen Kan held the wine glass and drank it all in one gulp very boldly, and Xu Yuan also drank the wine in one gulp.
They gestured to each other with their wine glasses, and the two immediately looked at each other and smiled.
After laughing for a while, Xu Yuan sat back behind the desk, with a shrewd look in his eyes from time to time.
Shi Wen, who was sitting aside, asked in a low voice: "Master Xu, what does the Marquis mean?"
Xu Yuan responded in a low voice with an expressionless face: "Don't worry about what you mean. Just do what the Marquis says. Bring out your drinking capacity and make the banquet as lively as possible."
Obviously, Xu Yuan had understood Chen Kan's intention, so he said these words.
At the same time, Xu Yuan had just finished toasting Chen Kan with a glass of wine, and Fang Xu stood up right after him and laughed boldly: "Master Hou, I cannot be where I am today without the help of Master Hou. I am stupid and can't speak. Mr. Xu, in those scenes, I will give you this cup at the end."
Chen Kan smiled slightly and said: "That's wrong. You and I are all working for the Ming Dynasty, so there is no kindness. However, this wine must be drunk. General Fang, please!"
"The general has done it. Lord Marquis, you can do whatever you want."
Fang Xu's words were very explicit and sounded like a simple expression of loyalty, but except for Xu Yuan, the other four people were thoughtful.
Xu Yuan spoke again and whispered: "Master Shi, do you understand? General Fang is the real smart man."
Shi Wen nodded, a wise yet foolish light flashing in his eyes.
Then he suddenly stood up, screamed, and crawled to the center of the hall.
"Master Marquis, Master Marquis, I will receive great kindness from you in the end. Even if I die, I will never be able to repay you."
Shi Wen's sudden voice stunned everyone, including Chen Kan. Xu Yuan rolled his eyes helplessly and couldn't help but turn his head and put his hand on his forehead.
Fang Xu, Cheng Feng and Zhou Shi opened their eyes wide, as if they had seen a ghost. Only Chen An, who was a civil servant who was more particular about his manners, could barely hold on.
Shi Wen was still expressing his sincerity in front of Chen Kan, and the next second, Fang Xu nodded to Cheng Feng.
After receiving the signal, Cheng Feng instantly stood up and let out a roar. He rushed to Shi Wen and started yelling: "Master Hou, I will waste half my life. It was not until I met Mr. Hou that I had room to display my skills. I will I am also grateful to the Marquis from the bottom of my heart, but the general is more stupid and cannot say anything nice..."
Cheng Feng and Shi Wen stood in front of Chen Kan with exaggerated expressions, their voices getting louder and their words more revealing.
Chen Kan smacked his lips, looked at the four people below who were suppressing laughter, and couldn't help but sigh.
How should I put it, although he invited six people to come to the banquet today, he just wanted to show it to others and secretly arrange some things.
But the performances of these two people were too exaggerated to watch.
Chen Kan twitched the corner of his mouth and hurriedly stretched out his hand to make a fist.
"receive!"
"Okay, it would be disrespectful to continue."
Shi Wen and Cheng Feng's expressions froze, and they stopped talking with some unfinished thoughts.
"Papa~"
Watching the two of them return to their seats, Chen Kan patted the air twice, and in an instant, a row of young girls filed in.
The sound of silk and bamboo sounded from behind the screen, and a group of women began to sing and dance in the main hall.
"Eat vegetables, eat vegetables."
After three rounds of drinking, Chen Kan enjoyed the singing and dancing while entertaining several people to eat.
A banquet was not completely over until midnight.
The six people summoned by Chen Kan naturally came and returned in joy.
That night, Chen Kan hosted a banquet for his subordinates at home. The subordinates took advantage of the drunkenness and swore that they would only be loyal to Chen Kan for the rest of their lives, and the gossip spread quietly.
As for Chen Kan, not surprisingly, he was impeached by the censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate in the morning of the next day.
The crime is very simple, only eight words: relying on favor and being arrogant, forming a clique for personal gain.
It's just that Zhu Di chose not to publish all the accusations made by the censors to impeach Chen Kan.
All the officials couldn't figure out Zhu Di's attitude, and the impeachment of Chen Kan was a bit loud and heavy.
Of course, Chen Kan did not go to court, and Fang Xiaoru had people pass this news back.
After learning the news, Chen Kan didn't make any comment and just laughed it off.
Because he has more important things to do today. He is going to visit His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in the East Palace as Zhan Shi of Zhan Shifu.
At noon, Yuncheng rushed the prepared gifts to the gate of the Hou Mansion. Chang Ning put Chen Kan on the carriage and said worriedly: "Husband, after all, you are going to visit His Highness the Crown Prince this time, so it is best not to cause trouble."
"Don't worry, if others don't mess with me, I will definitely not cause trouble."
Chen Kan nodded in agreement, and then drove the carriage with Wang Can, the newly appointed leader of the bodyguard, out of the palace gate and headed towards the palace along the Qinhuai River.
Chen Kan's new personal guard is a young man in his early twenties, not much older than Chen Kan.
But although Wang Can is young, he has a rich resume. He not only followed Chen Kan across the grasslands, but also fought with Chen Kan in Southeast Asia.
Chen Kan naturally had his own considerations when choosing a young man to be the leader of the personal guards.
To put it bluntly, most of his confidants in the Ming Dynasty started as his personal guards and then slowly climbed up.
Most of the people released in front of Chen Kan were in their thirties or forties.
Before Chen Kan's background was established, it was necessary to use some mature and prudent people. But now that Chen Kan has become a trend, these mature and prudent people have shown obvious lack of stamina. Therefore, it is necessary to cultivate the backbone of the younger generation. It's very necessary.
Promoting Wang Can to be a personal guard is a small attempt by Chen Kan. As long as Wang Can can grow up smoothly, Chen Kan will have many more choices for his future layout.
