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

"It still won't work. He is both the governor of the Beijing Camp and the commander of the Imperial Guard. This will definitely arouse suspicion among the court officials."

After thinking about it, Zhang Shikang decided to change his approach to resistance.

"That's a problem."

Emperor Chongzhen frowned.

But before Zhang Shikang could be happy, Emperor Chongzhen said:

"Then I'll keep it for you for now."

"No, Your Majesty, I am really a playboy. Why don't you believe me? If you don't believe me, you can ask my father or Zhu Zhengliang's father.

Or you can ask someone in the capital, I will kick every dog I see on the street, my bad reputation is known to everyone.

Such a bad reputation, taking on this task would be a disgrace to His Majesty."

Zhang Shikang argued cunningly.

Emperor Chongzhen was stunned. Most people would have declined his promotion, but that was just out of courtesy. He must have been very happy in his heart.

But Emperor Chongzhen found that this boy seemed to be really shirking his responsibility. He looked at Zhang Shikang seriously, which made him very puzzled.

"Zhang Shikang, do you have a grudge against power?"

"Your Majesty, I just don't have that ability."

"I think you are just lazy."

"I was exhausted in my previous life."

"Are you a liar?"

"What I say is true, please believe me, Your Majesty!"

……

Zhang Shikang chatted with Emperor Chongzhen for a long time, and when he left the palace, the moon had already risen high.

The moonlight is bright, shining on the palace walls, bringing an indescribable tranquility and gentleness.

But Zhang Shikang felt indescribably heavy and depressed.

Wang Chengen followed behind Zhang Shikang. Emperor Chongzhen ordered him to escort Zhang Shikang back to the palace. This was a small errand that could be handled by any eunuch, but asking him to make the trip only showed that the emperor really valued Zhang Shikang.

However, like Emperor Chongzhen, he was very puzzled by Zhang Shikang's behavior. Now the country is facing internal and external troubles and difficult affairs. His Majesty trusts you and entrusts you with an important task. How can you shirk it?

Wang Chengen recalled that when he accompanied Zhang Shikang into the palace, this kid's mouth was like a firecracker, crackling non-stop, but now he didn't say a word, so he teased:

"Captain Zhang, that's not right. We should call you Admiral Zhang. The Emperor trusts you so much, why do you seem so unhappy?"

"Hey, you're not a fish, how do you know how depressed a fish is?"

Zhang Shikang thought of Zhuangzi's famous saying. He didn't know how happy the fish was. He only knew that he would probably not be happy in the future.

"Master Zhang, I have a few more words to say. To be honest, I can't remember the last time the emperor laughed.

But when the young master and the emperor were having dinner, the emperor laughed several times.

If the emperor is happy, I am happy too."

You two are happy, but I am not, Zhang Shikang thought to himself, but he did not interrupt Wang Chengen's nagging. This old man is not a bad person.

"I will not hide the truth from you, sir. The Emperor has been unable to eat these days because of state affairs, and I often hear him sighing at night.

The huge court, with tens of thousands of civil and military officials, has placed all the heavy burdens on the emperor. I only regret that I do not have the talent of the young master and cannot share some of the burden for the emperor. "

Wang Chengen started wiping his tears as he spoke, which made Zhang Shikang very helpless. How could a boss like him cry so easily?

Of course he knew what the old man meant, so he said:

"Okay, I will do my best to help the Beijing Camp, but please tell me the truth, how many soldiers are there in the Beijing Camp now?"

Wang Chengen thought of the events in the Beijing camp and sighed:

"Alas, the affairs of the Beijing camp involve a lot of people, especially the nobles and relatives. Not counting those who were transferred to suppress the bandits, there should be 64,800 soldiers."

"What about the reality?"

Wang Chengen hesitated to speak, but finally said:

“The actual estimate is less than half.”

This is just the number of soldiers. As for how many old and weak people are among them, Wang Chengen did not say, and Zhang Shikang did not continue to ask. In short, the situation is not optimistic.

"The most important thing right now is fundraising. Without money, I can't do anything."

The carriage was driving on Chang'an Avenue. Although the road of Chang'an Avenue was not bad, it was still very bumpy.

This made Zhang Shikang, who had been sitting on a small wooden stool for most of the day, very uncomfortable. At that time, the carriages all had wooden wheels and no shock absorbers, so it would be strange if there were no bumps.

When I have free time in the future, I will definitely find some craftsmen to improve it. It would be great if I could get some rubber trees, Zhang Shikang thought boredly.

When the carriage arrived at the Duke of England's Palace, it was already very late, and the lights in the lobby were still on.

"It's already this hour, and there's still no news. Could it be that His Majesty has…"

It's none of my business, but if it does, it will only cause trouble. Sun sat restlessly in the hall. The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. He choked up as he spoke.

If it was Zhang Shize who was summoned, Sun would not act like this, after all, Zhang Shize was very mature in his conduct.

No one knew her youngest son's character better than her as his mother. It was okay for her son to behave as he pleased at home, but that was the imperial palace and he was meeting the emperor of the dynasty. Even a wrong word could lead to a big mistake.

"Oh, Madam, please stop nagging me. It's all because of you."

Originally, Zhang Zhiji was waiting calmly, but Sun became talkative when she was nervous, and she almost broke Zhang Zhiji's mentality as she talked.

"No matter how you yell, it's all because of me. Didn't the master spoil you just as well? How can the master be unreasonable? My son!"

Zhang Shize used a handkerchief to wipe his mother's tears. He was also very anxious and asked people to inquire about the situation in the palace, but he got no news.

"Don't cry! Eunuch Wang said that this summons was for official business. Shi Kang told me something about it before, and he seemed confident in his words. There should be nothing wrong."

Zhang Zhiji comforted him, but as soon as he said this, Sun became even more agitated. His son knew nothing about official business.

"It's all your fault. What progress have you made? You have enough food and drink at home..."

As Sun was speaking, Zhang Shikang came in from outside:

"Dad, Mom, Brother, why aren't you asleep yet?"

"My son, you are back. If you hadn't come back tonight, how would I have slept?"

Zhang Zhiji and Sun stood up almost at the same time. Sun's face immediately turned from cloudy to bright. She walked over excitedly and pinched Zhang Shikang up and down, as if to see if Zhang Shikang was missing any flesh.

Zhang Zhiji heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that his son was fine. He immediately sat back down, and a calm and unconcerned look soon appeared on his face.

Zhang Shize said with a complaining tone:

"Shikang, you don't know how anxious your parents are. Did you make His Majesty angry?"

Zhang Shikang smiled and took two sips of tea.

"How could that be? His Majesty must be so happy to see me!"

When these words were spoken, no one present believed them except Zhang Shikang, but Zhang Shikang didn't care.

"Father, mother, and brother, it happens that you are all here. I have something to discuss with you."

Zhang Shikang sat below Zhang Shize, his expression unusually serious.

Zhang Shize sat up straight, while Zhang Zhiji picked up the tea bowl and blew the tea leaves leisurely. Seeing her son so serious, Sun felt a little uneasy.

"Kang'er, tell me the truth, what exactly is..."

"Mother, His Majesty is going to promote me to be the commander of the Beijing Camp and let me reorganize the military equipment of the Beijing Camp."

Zhang Shikang spoke the truth, his expression still serious.

But no matter how serious Zhang Shikang was, it sounded like nonsense to Zhang Shize and his mother.

What is the position of the Governor of the Capital Camp? It is the last barrier of the capital city and has always been headed by the eunuch of the Imperial Household Department.

Unless His Majesty's head was caught in the door, why would he entrust such an important task to his silly brother who only knows how to eat, drink and have fun?