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

"This...this Tartar is not going to surrender, right?" Sun Daniu scratched his head.

All along, the Ming Dynasty had suffered more defeats than victories in its battles with the Jiannu, and the Jurchens were particularly stubborn, rarely surrendering even at the risk of death.

The Battle of Jiazhuang is an example. So many people died in that battle, but very few prisoners were taken.

Although he had been in the Beijing Camp for ten years, this was the first time he had encountered such a situation.

"Maybe. What should we do? Should we kill him?"

Sun Datou hesitated for a moment and glanced at the Mongolian. The Mongolian was already frightened and he didn't quite understand the conversation between the two. He just kowtowed repeatedly.

"No, Master only said that traitors can be killed. This is a Mongolian Tartar." Sun Datou said.

Before they set out from the capital, Zhang Shikang had ordered that if they encountered both Tartars and traitors at the same time, they should kill the traitors first and not accept their surrender.

All the officers and soldiers in the Beijing camp agreed with this. Although the national consciousness at that time could not be compared with that of later generations, they all knew that those who were not of our race must have different hearts.

It is also because of this that they hate traitors even more. These guys, as Han people, helped foreigners massacre their own people. They are really hateful.

"But we still have to keep chasing the enemy, so how can we have time to watch over them?"

"Why not just tie him up? The people behind us will take care of it."

……

After Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou led their troops to the battlefield, Zhang Shikang gathered the cavalry of the three armies, appointed Wei Shuangyong, the lieutenant general of the Beijing Camp Cavalry, as the chief general, and ordered him to lead 12,000 cavalry to pursue the fleeing Dorgon.

Zhang Shikang did not expect Wei Shuangyong to keep Dorgon, so he only asked him to follow him, not giving Dorgon the opportunity to vent his anger by attacking Ming villages and towns along the way.

Zhang Shikang himself, with sufficient military advantage, joined the pursuit of Tong Gui's troops with a group of personal guards and Chongzhen's brother.

The pursuit lasted from noon to dusk, and by this time, only about 3,000 of the nearly 20,000 enemy troops were left.

The rest were either killed or simply knelt down in surrender.

Zhang Shikang was quite impressed by the remaining 3,000 men. If the soldiers of the Beijing camp had not specially trained in long-distance running, it would have been impossible for them to catch up with this group of people.

However, it was obvious at this time that this group of people were already at the end of their strength, and the soldiers from the Beijing camp had surrounded them from three sides.

But somehow, this group of people suddenly stopped running, and vaguely they could see a fight going on in the enemy camp.

As the saying goes, strike while the sick is at it. Zhang Shikang was already preparing to order the annihilation of this group of people, when suddenly an enemy appeared.

The man was holding a human head in his hand. The head's eyes were wide open and blood was dripping from the neck. It looked particularly terrifying.

Zhang Shikang's eyes narrowed immediately. He roughly knew that the commotion in the enemy army just now should be an internal conflict, and he also knew the man holding the head.

This person was none other than Kong Youde, who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and was named King Gongshun.

But Kong Youde was in a very miserable state at this time. He was not wearing armor or carrying any weapons. His clothes were soaked with sweat and his hair was a mess.

A guard stepped forward and wanted to kill Kong Youde, but Zhang Shikang stopped him by waving his hand. He wanted to see what Kong Youde was up to.

Emperor Chongzhen did not recognize Kong Youde, but he had some impression of him when someone around him mentioned him. Then he looked at Kong Youde with an unfriendly look.

He hated such traitors the most.

"Shikang, this man betrayed our Ming Dynasty. Why not just kill him on the battlefield?" Emperor Chongzhen whispered to Zhang Shikang.

Emperor Chongzhen watched the entire battle and kept his promise. He just watched and did not interfere with military orders in the slightest.

Maybe he really hated Kong Youde in his heart, so he expressed his opinion to Zhang Shikang.

However, Zhang Shikang smiled. He did not turn his head, but continued to stare at Kong Youde with narrowed eyes and said:

"It's not worth it to kill him directly, brother. I recently learned a trick from the Donglin Party and I agree with it."

"Oh? What can you learn from them? The Donglin Party members are all sinister villains. Shikang, you must not be infected by their bad habits." Emperor Chongzhen asked and reminded.

He has basically gotten used to Zhang Shikang's way of speaking, even though it's a bit off-key and even unpleasant to the ear most of the time.

But he knew in his heart that the truth was always like this, and it was many times better than those Donglin Party members who only said nice things.

In the heart of Emperor Chongzhen, he had long regarded Zhang Shikang as a special minister with whom he could speak his mind. He did not want Zhang Shikang to be influenced by the Donglin Party, especially to be infected with their bad habits.

"Hmph, my family is not short of money, so how can I be assimilated so easily?" Zhang Shikang turned his head and retorted.

The reason why those people form cliques is simply for personal gain, and this personal gain is generally inseparable from money and power.

As the son of a duke, Zhang Shikang never lacked money, so he had little interest in money. As for power, that was even more unnecessary.

This thing is just a hitching post. Once you touch it, you are just an employee. No matter how powerful you are, you have to work for this guy.

"You bastard, not only do those people have a headache, but even I have a headache.

So, what evil idea do you have now?" Emperor Chongzhen said helplessly.

Since ancient times, the emperor has tried to win over his subjects by either giving them money or power. The emperor didn't like either of them. The Donglin Party was at a loss, and Emperor Chongzhen was also worried.

Of course, he hoped that Zhang Shikang could be more diligent. Although the court currently had no money, he could still give him power. It was just a matter of whether this guy dared to accept it.

But of course he couldn't say it clearly, and could only sigh occasionally.

"Those Donglin Party members have always been very good at plotting against others. They insist on killing not only the person, but also the heart.

If these tactics were used on loyal ministers, it would naturally make people hate them to the core.

However, if it is used on those who have committed the most heinous crimes, it should be very satisfying to say the least.

What do you think, brother?

Of course Zhang Shikang had no idea what this old man was worried about, he just spoke to himself with a sinister smile on his face.

"How come you have learned to keep people in suspense? You even said that you are not influenced by those people. If you have something to say, just say it directly." Emperor Chongzhen said dissatisfiedly.

"Brother, let's act out a scene. You are familiar with this. Before, we teamed up to trick those nobles. Brother, you acted it out really well!"

As he spoke, Zhang Shikang whispered his plan to Chongzhen.

Chongzhen frowned when he heard this.

"This is a battlefield, and I am the Son of Heaven. If I act like this, I will be laughed at by the world."

Although Emperor Chongzhen listened to Zhang Shikang most of the time, he was clearly reluctant at this time.

The previous fundraising was for the sake of the country and the people. Besides, as for the affairs of the nobles and relatives, how can it be said to be a scam?

They all did it voluntarily. Their ancestors had agreed to share weal and woe, and there was nothing wrong with helping the court when it was in trouble.

But he felt that Zhang Shikang's words just now were inappropriate. He was surrounded by soldiers. Wouldn't this make things difficult for him?

But Zhang Shikang completely eliminated the slight reluctance in Emperor Chongzhen's heart with just one sentence.

"Brother, think carefully. If you play this scene well, you may be able to avoid a fight.

Our soldiers will also suffer fewer casualties."

……