Chen Kan led a group of minions into Zhan Shi's Mansion, and immediately met many pairs of unkind eyes.
Three days ago, the Marquis Mansion had already sent a greeting card to the East Palace, stating that they would come to visit His Highness the Crown Prince today and inspect Zhan Shi's Mansion.
But now it seems that the people in Zhan Shifu don't seem to welcome them.
It's normal. Although the position of Zhan Shi in Zhan Shi Mansion does not have much power, it is an extremely privileged position.
Every Zhan Shifu of Zhan Shifu is basically on the same level as the prince's master. When the prince ascends the throne, he will be automatically upgraded to the emperor's master.
Throughout the ages, the emperor's master has been a symbol of great virtue. I don't know how many erudite scholars are eyeing this position, and a group of doctors and Shao Zhanshi in Zhanshi Mansion are struggling to qualify.
At first, everyone was just waiting, waiting for their qualifications to become famous as an imperial master, but Chen Kan suddenly showed up with a magic weapon descending from the sky. This is very funny.
The key point is that even if your magic weapon comes from the sky, you are still a general. This is the most difficult thing for everyone to accept.
Knowledge, reputation, moral character, and qualifications are all indispensable for a good person.
When a military general is appointed as Zhan Shifu in Zhan Shifu, it is not just that he is crowned a monkey, but he is definitely a dove occupying a magpie's nest.
Facing the unkind eyes, Wang Can subconsciously protected Chen Kan behind him, and then stared back with a wary expression.
Chen Kan's face twitched and he said helplessly: "We are here to pay a visit to His Highness the Crown Prince today, not to cause trouble. Keep your murderous intentions under control. Zhan Shi's mansion is full of university scholars who were born in the second rank of Jinshi. Don't It scares people.”
Hearing this, Wang Can couldn't help but smile, but still guarded Chen Kan, as if he was afraid that these so-called second-ranked Jinshi would assassinate Chen Kan.
Seeing this, Chen Kan couldn't say anything more. After all, he was a young man and it was understandable if he was a little irritable.
As for the so-called intellectuals in Zhan Shifu, Chen Kan didn't bother to argue with them.
As the saying goes, people with different principles cannot conspire against each other. Anyway, his position as Zhan Shi in Zhan Shi Mansion was forced upon him by Zhu Di.
He will not stay in this position forever. When Zhu Gaoxu's class teacher returns to the court and his platform is no longer needed in the East Palace, he will go to the Naval Academy to be his dean, and Zhan Shifu will do whatever he wants.
Of course, there is no escaping the fact that he still needs to teach the prince and grandson. After all, Zhu Zhanji and Zhu Zhanhe are also studying in the university hall. Even if they don't teach other people, these two disciples still have to learn something.
In general, as long as everyone is in peace, Chen Kan will not take the initiative to find trouble.
After passing through Zhan Shifu and the University Hall, Chen Kan arrived at the entrance of the East Palace.
A young chamberlain had been instructed by Zhu Gaochi and had been waiting for Chen Kan at the gate of the East Palace.
Seeing Chen Kan arriving, he hurriedly greeted him and said, "I've met Mr. Marquis."
Chen Kan nodded and returned the greeting: "Please inform the chamberlain that Jinghai Marquis Chen Kan has come to pay a visit to His Highness the Crown Prince."
"Master Marquis, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has given instructions that you do not need to report when you arrive, but you can directly enter the East Palace."
The young chamberlain responded to Chen Kan, then stepped aside with Fu Chen in his arms, and let Chen Kan through the door.
After smacking his lips, Chen Kan didn't bother to be polite and stepped into the threshold of the East Palace.
As for the gifts brought, naturally the stewards of the East Palace will handle them.
The personal guards could not enter the East Palace, but there were also chamberlains who introduced Wang Can and others into the side hall to serve tea and wait for Chen Kan.
Judging from his attitude towards Chen Kan, Zhu Gaochi truly regarded him as one of his own.
As soon as Chen Kan walked into the East Palace, a sense of decadence and dilapidation hit his face.
The East Palace in Nanjing of the Ming Dynasty should be the most dilapidated East Palace in the history of the feudal dynasty, because before Zhu Gaochi took over the East Palace, the palace had been deserted for ten years.
Since Zhu Biao, the first prince of the Ming Dynasty, died of illness in the 25th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Yunxi, Zhu Biao's two sons, were taken into the palace and raised by Zhu Yuanzhang himself.
All the maids and chamberlains in the East Palace were dismissed, and Zhu Biao's concubines were led by Lao Zhu to live in other courtyards.
It was not until Lao Zhu died and Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne that he brought back a group of former princesses headed by Lu to the palace. They honored the deceased Prince Yiwen as Emperor Xiaokang and his biological mother Lu as the Queen Mother.
Then, Zhu Di was unable to succeed, abolished Zhu Biao's posthumous name and temple name, and assigned a group of sisters-in-law to guard Zhu Biao's mausoleum. Only then did the East Palace welcome new residents.
That's right, it was Zhu Gaochi, the second prince of the Ming Dynasty.
But after Zhu Gaochi took charge of the East Palace, for some unknown reason, he only chose to repair a small part of the palace used to live in, and left the other palaces to be abandoned.
Therefore, even now that Zhu Gaochi has been in charge of the East Palace for five or six years, the East Palace is still in a dilapidated state.
Feeling the depression of the East Palace, Chen Kan couldn't help but secretly admired in his heart that my uncle is really not simple.
Zhu Gaochi is indeed not simple.
Throughout the entire Yongle Dynasty, Zhu Gaochi was almost always pretending to be a pig and eating the tiger.
Apart from anything else, Chen Kan has a very clear understanding of his uncle's financial resources.
Why did Yun Niang completely surrender to the Hou Mansion?
It's because the business methods that Grandfather Taizu gave to the Hua family have completely fallen into the hands of the Sun family.
How could Sun Yu, a small bookkeeper of Yongcheng County, have the ability to take over an entire commercial road leading to the grassland for the salt and iron industry?
Isn't that nonsense?
But if combined with the fact that the current Crown Princess Zhang is Yongcheng, it seems very reasonable that Sun Yu, a small chief clerk, can completely take over the Sun family.
Just relying on this business path, the East Palace will not only make money every day, but there will be no problem if it makes money every day.
Not to mention building one East Palace, there is no problem in building ten.
And such a hidden clue was already buried before Zhu Gaochi became the prince.
Now that he has been the prince for so many years, even dogs would not believe it if he said that he has been fishing all these years.
Being able to cultivate, but not cultivating, this is the brilliance of Zhu Gaochi. A dilapidated East Palace can not only cover up many of his secret tricks, but also show the enemy's weakness.
With this hand alone, Zhu Gaoxu was not even qualified to carry his shoes.
Chen Kan guessed that even Zhu Di didn't know these things, otherwise Zhu Di wouldn't have promoted him as a card in the East Palace.
After sighing for a long time, Chen Kan didn't waste any more time and walked straight towards a palace in the East Palace that was still intact but not large in scale.
The palace where Zhu Gaochi lived was only second among the East Palaces, and the largest one was the palace of Zhu Zhanji, the grandson of the emperor.
This was the second clever thing about Zhu Gaochi. He introduced his own son to attract everyone's attention, while he secretly poked and acted like the sixth child.
At the entrance of the main hall, Zhu Gaochi walked out early with the support of two chamberlains.
After seeing Chen Kan, he hurriedly broke away from the support of the chamberlain, smiled and said with a smile: "Hehehe, brother-in-law is here, I have been waiting for a long time, please, please hurry up."
Facing this fat face again, Chen Kan didn't dare to underestimate it, and immediately said step by step, "I, Chen Kan, have met His Highness the Crown Prince."
As soon as he said this, Zhu Gaochi immediately cast an angry look at Chen Kan: "We are all members of our own family, so what are we going to do outside? This is the East Palace, not a court. Just call me brother."
Zhu Gaochi's intimate tone immediately gave Chen Kan goosebumps all over his body.
How should I put it? It's very strange and unnatural that someone has to launch a disgusting emotional attack on you when everyone is clearly doing business.
Chen Kan trembled, and said calmly: "It is the fault of the minister to allow His Highness the Crown Prince to stay for a long time."
"It doesn't matter, let's go, let's go through the door first."
Feeling the alienation in Chen Kan's words, Zhu Gaochi did not continue to say any more disgusting words. He stretched out his fat hand and pulled Chen Kan towards the main hall.
Chen Kan pulled out his hand without leaving a trace and followed Zhu Gaochi into the hall.
Then, I met a group of graceful girls.
Chen Kan couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
Zhu Gaochi explained with a smile: "No, you are late in coming, and I have nothing to do, so I just watch some singing and dancing to pass the time. Well, sit down and be casual. I don't have many rules in the East Palace."
Chen Kan sat down at the second seat expressionlessly, nodded and said, "Well, His Royal Highness is very elegant."
"Haha~"
Zhu Gaochi laughed, waved his hand to reject the group of kabuki actors, and told the waiter: "The guests are here, let's have a banquet."
"Pass the meal~"
The chamberlain spoke in a long voice, and not long after, rows of palace people filed into the hall.
A group of kabuki actors bowed to Chen Kan and Zhu Gaochi and then exited the hall.
Zhu Gaochi sat on the main seat and said slowly: "I have never had any hobbies except food. Brother-in-law, why don't you try the food from my East Palace? Can it still taste good?"
Chen Kan nodded in greeting, and the young woman serving the dishes next to him put a chopstick of meat of unknown material onto Chen Kan's plate.
Chen Kan has never been picky about what he eats, as long as he can fill his stomach.
So he tasted it and couldn't taste any ingredients. He just thought it tasted pretty good and a bit delicious.
But Zhu Gaochi asked enthusiastically: "Brother-in-law, how are you?"
"I beg your pardon for my limited knowledge and my inability to taste what kind of meat this is, but it tastes really good."
After hearing Chen Kan's answer, Zhu Gaochi suddenly showed a true expression on his face and said with a smile: "This meat is venison."
"venison?"
When he heard it was venison, Chen Kan became interested. It was not like he had never eaten venison before, but the venison he had eaten was relatively poor, but this meat melted in the mouth, which was a bit interesting.
Seeing the obvious look of interest on Chen Kan's face, Zhu Gaochi continued: "Yes, this is half-year-old deer meat, which was presented to the Marquis of Xiping when he came to Beijing last year. It is a mountain deer unique to Yunnan. The meat is tight and not woody. It is smoked and dried over charcoal fire and only needs to be slightly stewed before eating, and it becomes a delicious delicacy.”
"I see."
Chen Kan responded and put a chopstick into his mouth again. This time, he tasted a little bit of venison.
"Brother-in-law likes to eat, so he might as well eat more. When he goes back later, I'll have someone prepare some. You can take it back to the Marquis Mansion and give it to my little sister and them to try too."
Chen Kan nodded slightly and said with a smile, "Thank you, Your Highness, for the generous gift."
"When you see outsiders, they are all members of your own family."
Zhu Gaochi always had a good temper. While persuading Chen Kan to eat, he slowly ate the dishes in front of him.
It wasn't until after three rounds of wine and five delicious dishes that he asked with a smile: "Brother-in-law, have you ever been to Zhan Shifu and the University Hall?"
