Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

"Nothing, I'm not that good at riding either, who are we, a dandy duo!

We will beat anyone who dares to laugh!"

As Zhang Shikang spoke, he ordered his men to bring over two idle horses, and he himself climbed onto Ergou.

The guards around didn't know who was sitting in the carriage. They only knew that it was the dandy friend of the Lord in the capital. When they saw someone getting off the carriage, they all looked over.

Emperor Chongzhen felt even more embarrassed. He tried to climb onto his horse but failed. Several of his personal guards couldn't help laughing out loud.

Although Zhang Shikang was strict during the training, everyone knew that the uncle was actually very approachable and never got really angry over trivial matters.

"What are you laughing at? Go and investigate!" Zhang Shikang shouted, and everyone curled their lips and went about their duties.

Although they were all riding horses, there were only more than 300 of them. It would still be very dangerous if they encountered Tartar cavalry, not to mention that Brother Chongzhen was now in the team.

To be on the safe side, Zhang Shikang sent out thirty or forty riders, two in a group, to scout for the enemy in all directions.

Everyone mounted their war horses, and Zhang Shikang walked side by side with Emperor Chongzhen. After Emperor Chongzhen adjusted himself for a while, his emotions gradually relaxed.

He rode on his warhorse and looked into the distance, but saw that the flowers and leaves around him were turning yellow and the land was desolate.

"Brother, this is the territory of our Ming Dynasty!" Zhang Shikang said with emotion.

As the Son of Heaven, even if he doesn't have to measure the mountains and rivers with the warhorse under his crotch, he should at least go out for a walk more often.

Look at this world and look at its people.

As the Son of Heaven, if you only stay in the palace all your life, listening to the court officials praising the peace and prosperity of the country, how can you know the sufferings of the people?

"Well, I...I saw it." Emperor Chongzhen could not hide his excitement.

He took a look at Zhang Shikang's warhorse and found it was much taller than the horse he was riding, with shiny black fur, a broad back and a round waist. He couldn't help but praise it:

"Your horse is really good. It is completely black, except for the four hooves which are white. It looks like it is walking on the snow."

"Yes, so I named it Ergou." Zhang Shikang said proudly.

Emperor Chongzhen: "..."

Ever since Emperor Chongzhen and his servant started riding horses, the team's speed has indeed increased a lot.

I thought we could reach Dingzhou before dark, but after running for less than an hour, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't bear it anymore.

After all, a war horse is not as stable as a carriage, and its ride is very up and down. In addition, Emperor Chongzhen was not good at horse riding and seldom exercised, so he felt that his buttocks were being shaken to the point of losing consciousness.

Zhang Shikang looked at the sun and had to order a rest for two quarters of an hour.

The small troop walked and stopped like this until the evening, when it finally arrived near Baoding City.

In order to avoid being exposed, Zhang Shikang did not enter the city, but chose to camp in the wild a few miles away from Baoding City.

Everyone lit a bonfire, and heated up the rice cakes they brought with them by either roasting or soaking them, and ate them deliciously with cold water.

Emperor Chongzhen had eaten simple enough food in the palace and thought he could fully adapt to the hard life in the military camp. But on the first day, he found that he had overestimated his stomach.

The rice cakes in the military camp are not standard equipment for marching and fighting, but special military rations provided to the Beijing camp during rapid marches.

The production process of this rice cake is complicated. First, the rice is cooked with salt, then cooled, the rice is pressed into a fixed mold, and then air-dried over low heat.

There is a round hole in the middle of the rice cake. Because it is pressed firmly enough, it can be strung together with a rope during a forced march, and can be hung on the back of a horse or around the waist.

When you need to eat it, soak the rice cakes in water. The air-dried rice cakes will expand quickly when they come into contact with water. Of course, if you have good teeth, you can also eat them directly.

But no matter which way you eat it, the taste is not that good.

"Brother, don't force yourself. Eat this." Seeing Emperor Chongzhen swallowing with difficulty, Zhang Shikang took out a piece of snack from his pocket.

That was the mung bean cake his mother made specifically for him before she left. He loved eating it the most.

He originally wanted to let Emperor Chongzhen experience the life of an ordinary grassroots soldier from top to bottom, but seeing how uncomfortable his brother was, he gave up.

After the meal, the military tents of about 300 people had been set up. Under the arrangement of the captain of the personal guard, Hong Xiucheng, the tent of the dandy duo was placed in the middle.

Zhang Shikang specifically ordered that the number of guards and scouts on duty at night be doubled. Just in case, Zhang Xiuqing and others were singled out by him to guard around the two's tent.

During the afternoon break, Zhang Shikang felt itchy and specifically challenged Zhang Xiuqing to a few moves. As a result, even though Zhang Xiuqing deliberately let Zhang Shikang win, he was still outshone by the opponent.

Later I learned that these forty or so Taoists were almost all martial artists with special skills.

What about Longhua Fist, Tianshi Fist, and Xingyi Fist? Not only are their boxing techniques awesome, but their swordsmanship is top-notch too. The ringing of the sword and the sound of breaking through the air, any one of them can be easily produced.

Zhang Shikang was very envious of this, and he decided to learn it well after the war.

"Brother, go back to sleep as soon as you finish eating. I'm sleepy, so I'll go back first."

Zhang Shikang yawned and ran towards his military tent.

He was a little regretful about bringing this brother out, as it greatly slowed down the marching speed of the troops. He knew that Brother Chongzhen had already tried his best, so he didn't feel comfortable complaining.

After lying down in the tent, Zhang Shikang was too lazy to wash up and just fell asleep.

But when he was about to fall asleep, Emperor Chongzhen lifted the door curtain and stuck half of his head out.

"Shikang, are you asleep?"

"Brother, if you hadn't shouted, I would have fallen asleep immediately. What happened?" Zhang Shikang asked as he sat up in a daze.

"I... I can't sleep, so I came to talk to you." Emperor Chongzhen said as he walked in.

After all, it was his first time to travel far away, his first time to camp in the wild, and it was such an exciting thing to lead the army in person. Even though his butt was sore from being shaken by the war horse, he did not feel sleepy at all when he lay in the tent.

Zhang Shikang rolled his eyes helplessly, thinking to himself, you've been traveling all day, but you're so energetic. Don't you know that others are very sleepy?

But you can't say that.

"Brother, what do you want to talk about? There's no bench here, so just sit here."

Zhang Shikang patted the ground and paved the way.

Emperor Chongzhen was not polite and really sat on Zhang Shikang's mat.

"Alas, today, when I saw those displaced people along the way, I felt mixed emotions."

Emperor Chongzhen sighed. He only knew about the sufferings of the people before, but he didn't know what kind of suffering they were.

The Jiannu had been harassing the capital for nearly two months, and many people had become refugees.

The tattered bags these people carried were their entire belongings. They were all pale and skinny, and they trembled as they walked.

When he saw the soldiers, he immediately knelt down and didn't dare to say a word. He buried his head on the ground and trembled, not like a human being at all.

"Just because of this? There's nothing to be sad about.

If you had gone to Shaanxi ten years ago, Shanxi six years ago, or Henan and Shandong today.

Wouldn't he be so ashamed that he would hang himself on a tree in the southeast?" Zhang Shikang said speechlessly.

……