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

"By the way, brother, can you swim?" Zhang Shikang asked curiously.

Emperor Chongzhen was still pondering the weight of Zhang Shikang's words just now. He didn't know why he suddenly asked such a question, and said speechlessly:

"No, this move would damage the royal dignity and be immoral."

As expected, emperors all have their face baggage to save, Zhang Shikang muttered.

But Zhang Shikang was indeed very curious. Even if he couldn't swim, how could he disappear after falling into the water and drinking a few sips of water?

Not only Emperor Tianqi, but also that kid Zhengde. One of them is full of martial virtues, and the other is good at carpentry work. Their physical fitness should be good.

The most important thing is that both of them are very young.

Historical records show that after Zhengde fell into the water, he took medicine from the Imperial Hospital, but his health got worse. Later, Zhengde asked to change the imperial physician, but the court officials disagreed.

This is fucking outrageous.

“Brother, believe me, there is another way to display royal majesty.

When the people live and work in peace and contentment, when you have a million strong army and can crush all the subjects at your command, who dares to say that you are not majestic?"

At this point, Zhang Shikang teased again:

"It's okay. I know how to swim. I'll teach you when I have the chance."

It was getting late, and Zhang Shikang was still injured, so the two chatted for quarter of an hour and then returned to their respective tents.

Before leaving, Emperor Chongzhen was still a little worried. Not only did he order Zhang Shikang's personal guards to be on high alert, he also transferred some of his own guards over, which made Zhang Shikang grateful.

The next morning, after breakfast, Zhang Shikang went to the prisoner-of-war camp.

In the Battle of Jingshui, a total of more than 5,700 prisoners were captured, including Jurchens, Mongols, and Han people.

Lu Xiangsheng had asked him yesterday how to deal with the situation. After all, six thousand people could not be kept in vain.

The Ming Dynasty was originally poor, and under the premise that Zhang Shikang did not explain, Lu Xiangsheng wisely chose to save money.

For two whole days, these prisoners had not eaten anything except water. When Zhang Shikang saw them, they all looked listless.

Even the most brutal Jurchens and Tartars looked limp and half-dead.

"The Grand Marshal has arrived, all of you kneel down! Anyone who dares to disobey orders will be executed immediately!" Sun Dasheng shouted loudly behind Zhang Shikang.

At this time, he had not yet gotten over the anger of his eldest brother being almost killed, so he naturally did not look happy when he saw this group of captives.

However, the group of captives had long lost their former pride. Under the eaves, they all lowered their heads and knelt on the ground following orders.

"Time is running out, so I'll make it short. Now, pull out those with rat braids and tie them up first." Zhang Shikang said after looking around.

As soon as the military order was given, soldiers came forward and took the Jiannu Tartars out individually.

The Jiannu Tartars and the Mongolian Tartars are easy to identify. The Jurchens have bald heads, with only a rat-like braid the size of a copper coin on the back of their heads.

Under Zhang Shikang's order, more than 300 Jiannu Tatars were tied up in front of the Mongolian Tatars and Han people.

He did not even glance at the Jiannu Tartars, and said to the Mongolian Tartars and the Han people:

"I will give you three choices. It is up to you to decide your own fate."

Since there were Mongolian prisoners present, Lu Xiangsheng specially pulled over a Mongolian subordinate with a loud voice to act as an interpreter. After Zhang Shikang finished speaking, the Mongolian soldier started chattering away.

More than a thousand Mongolian Tartars thought they were doomed, but they immediately perked up after hearing the news.

Zhang Shikang was not vague and continued:

“First, write to your tribal leaders and ask them to redeem you.

One person in exchange for ten adult war horses."

It is impossible to ask these nomadic tribes for money or food, because they only have war horses besides cattle and sheep.

According to the current market price, a good Mongolian horse is worth about fifteen to twenty taels.

As soon as the Mongolian man finished translating, the Mongolian Tartar captives went into a frenzy, babbling something that Zhang Shikang could not understand.

"My lord, they said it's too expensive. Their leader won't exchange it for ten horses. They asked for other options." The translator said to Zhang Shikang.

This was actually within Zhang Shikang's expectations. There had been precedents in history of exchanging or redeeming prisoners, but generally the amount was only a few dozen taels per person or even less.

After all, human life in these days is far less precious than it is in later generations.

Ten Mongolian horses are worth nearly two hundred taels. Even if all Mongolians raise horses, it is still not a small sum of money.

"Second, join our Ming Dynasty and fight for our Ming Dynasty. Of course, this requires you to prove your loyalty and determination." Zhang Shikang said again.

"My Lord, they asked how to prove it."

"Very good, have you seen those Jurchens? Just kill one." Zhang Shikang said with a smile.

Of course, killing a Jiannu to show determination is only the first level of judgment. There will be other ways to screen in the future, but he didn't say it.

After hearing the translation, the Mongolian Tartars were a little hesitant. After a while of discussion, they said:

"What's the third option?"

Sure enough, Zhang Shikang knew that this group of people were weighing the pros and cons, so he spoke directly without hesitation.

"The third option is simpler, just one word."

"die."

All the Mongolian Tatars were silent.

The choice had been made. After these Tartars calmed down, they realized that if they did not choose, they would die, so one person immediately stood up.

Lu Xiangsheng ordered his men to untie one of the Mongolian's arms and threw him a sword. The man did not hesitate and went over with the sword and stabbed a Jurchen man through.

“!@!*@……(!@)”

The group of Jurchen Tartars did not understand what Zhang Shikang said at all. They only saw a friendly soldier holding a knife and killing their people, and immediately cursed loudly in Manchu.

But no one cared at all, except Zhang Shikang.

Zhang Shikang ordered his men to pull out the three Jurchens who cursed the loudest individually, and untied some of their leg restraints so that they could stand up.

That way, they could see their own people being killed more clearly.

After the Mongol, who had proven his determination, killed the Jurchen, he was immediately freed from his bonds and stood aside with a smug look on his face.

Many Mongolian tribes surrendered to the Manchus only in the past ten years or even in recent years. Most of them were forced to surrender due to the oppression of the Manchus and their loyalty to the Jurchens was not high.

Once one person took the lead, there would be another. The Mongolians were somewhat rude, and after one person took the lead, everyone stood up after a while.

The whole process was seen by more than 4,000 former Han Eight Banners captives. Most of these people were originally Ming soldiers, who were coerced by Han army generals such as Kong Youde to surrender to the Jiannu.

Now seeing a chance to survive, they all stood up. As the saying goes, a friend's death is better than my own. As long as they can survive and rebel once, why can't they rebel a second time?

Besides this, there was another important reason that forced them to react so quickly.

Those are the Jurchen Tartars, there are only more than 300 of them.

If they were killed by those damn Mongols, they would have proved their determination, but what would we do?

As a result, both the Mongolian and Han captives became somewhat anxious. They did not dare to act on their own, but were also afraid of losing the opportunity to prove their loyalty.

The eyes looking at Zhang Shikang were full of urgency and expectation.

Yes, how could more than 300 Tartars be enough to kill more than 5,000 people?