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

Zhu Zhengliang looked at Zhang Shikang coming towards him and immediately glared at him, but one of his legs was broken and he couldn't move, so his anger was mixed with a hint of cowardice.

"Brother Zhu, you also heard that His Majesty has appointed me as the commander-in-chief of the Beijing Camp.

In the future, I may not have time to play with you guys, my dear brother. I have to do great things.

You see, I will definitely have to stay in the military camp in the future and fight in wars. His Majesty values me, and if I make military achievements in the wars, maybe I will be conferred a title in the future. I will be very busy!

In the future, you will continue to eat, drink, gamble, and wait for death. Alas, you don’t know how much I envy Brother Zhu.

But I cannot disobey the king's order. I guess in the future I can only command the army to fight and get a title or something. It certainly can't be compared with Brother Zhu's life. We don't interfere with each other. After all, our ancestors have been friends for more than 200 years.

Oh, Brother Zhu, don't misunderstand me, I have no other intentions, I just came here to make peace with you."

Zhu Chunchen and Zhou Kui were sitting nearby. Zhang Shikang spoke in a low voice, but his expression was smiling and gentle. Zhu Chunchen glanced at him and didn't take it seriously.

Zhang Shikang's words were indeed very gentle, but they sounded so harsh to Zhu Zhengliang's ears, like a knife.

Listen, is this human language?

How can someone call himself a good brother? Do you have any shame?

Why can you go to the military camp and get a title, but I can only eat and wait to die?

This kid is still saying he's envious? He's clearly showing off and mocking!

Zhu Zhengliang was originally just envious of those sons of noble families, but the more he endured it, the more he felt he was at a disadvantage, and the more he stepped back, the angrier he became.

Now, when Zhu Zhengliang thought that he would be suppressed by Zhang Shikang in the future, he felt unwilling to accept it, and his envy turned into jealousy towards those children of nobles who were favored by the emperor.

"This is all my father's fault. He insisted on donating money. Otherwise, I could have lived a life of idleness and waiting for death like Brother Zhu. How enviable! Now I can only work hard to gain military merits. Alas! My father has misled me!"

Zhang Shikang continued to exaggerate, and his words "my father misled me" completely broke Zhu Zhengliang's defense.

He no longer paid attention to Zhang Shikang who was showing off in front of him, and turned to look at his father Zhu Chunchen and said:

"father……"

That look was full of anticipation and longing, he was just short of asking Zhu Chunchen to donate money.

"Just shut up and lie there quietly. We have no money!"

Zhu Chunchen scolded his son impatiently. He suddenly regretted bringing Zhu Zhengliang to the banquet.

"Brother Zhu, why bother? It's good enough to just eat and wait for death. That's the lifestyle I've always dreamed of!"

Zhang Shikang continued to attack, Zhu Zhengliang's face was gloomy, and his eyes turned resentful when he looked at Zhu Chunchen.

"Dad, our family obviously has money, but you just won't help me because I'm not as important as that money!"

After saying this, Zhu Zhengliang no longer paid attention to Zhu Chunchen and struggled to get up.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, my family is rich! I also want to donate!" Zhu Zhengliang shouted while trying to crawl towards Emperor Chongzhen.

Zhu Chunchen's face looked ugly, but he did not lose his composure like other nobles. He knew his son best. He knew nothing about the family business except for eating, drinking, gambling and whoring every day.

No matter what nonsense Zhu Zhengliang said, as long as Zhu Chunchen denied it, the emperor could investigate however he wanted.

Zhu Zhengliang was dragging a leg with a splint, and sweat soon broke out on his head as he climbed. He looked as miserable as he could be.

Even Emperor Chongzhen felt a little distressed. He glanced at Zhu Chunchen and found that he was sitting calmly and steadily like a mountain. He couldn't help but get angry secretly.

Emperor Chongzhen was really angry. When the country was in trouble, it would have been fine for him as a duke not to take the lead in helping, but he had the heart to watch his son like that. The court had come to such a state, and those who only cared about money were definitely responsible.

But every wrong has its perpetrator and every debt has its creditor. Emperor Chongzhen would not vent his anger on the younger generation, but walked up to Zhu Zhengliang with a friendly expression.

"Your Majesty, I pledge... I pledge... Three hundred thousand taels. Your Majesty, I also want to get a job and make achievements."

Zhu Zhengliang didn't know how much silver his family had, nor did he know how many shops he had, but he thought that Britain had agreed to donate 420,000 taels and Dingguo had agreed to donate 310,000 taels.

My family is also a duke, so I thought it wouldn't be bad. So I roughly estimated a number.

Three hundred thousand taels was already a lot. Emperor Chongzhen wanted to step forward to encourage him, but Zhang Shikang jumped out and said loudly:

"Brother Zhu, three hundred thousand taels is nothing!"

The whole audience was in an uproar when these words came out. Emperor Chongzhen didn't understand what was going on. Zhu Zhengliang was also a little confused, but he thought Zhang Shikang was deliberately looking for trouble and didn't want him to be reused. He immediately said angrily:

"Zhang Shikang! What did you say?"

"Ha, Brother Zhu, don't be angry. What I just said was not said by me, but by your father. You underestimated the financial resources of the Chengguo Mansion!

The country is in trouble, and we have contributed money and manpower, but others have given their entirety. If you only give a part, wouldn’t that be deceiving Your Majesty?

Ha, of course, Brother Zhu, this is not your fault. Ignorance is not a crime, but I don’t want Brother Zhu to be charged with the crime of deceiving the emperor for no reason, so I must stand up. "

Zhang Shikang's words were so righteous that Zhu Zhengliang was still a little confused. However, Zhu Chunchen could no longer sit still. His beard was sticking up with anger and he slapped the table.

"Zhang family boy, how dare you talk nonsense here? When did I ever say this?"

Zhang Shikang was not angry. He immediately told everyone with a smile about the quarrel between his father and Zhu Chunchen at the gate of the Duke of England's mansion.

"There were quite a few people at the door at the time who could testify! In addition to my family's servants, there were also two Jinyiwei officers. If Your Majesty doesn't believe me, just have someone check the death records of those two people and you'll know."

The Jinyiwei had strict requirements when monitoring all officials. The person in charge of supervision had to write down all important words and deeds of the supervised person. In order to prevent omissions, these words and deeds were recorded in an impermanence book.

Zhang Shikang's words were well-founded. Everyone looked at Zhu Chunchen after hearing them. Emperor Chongzhen also waited for Zhu Chunchen's explanation with a serious face.

Zhu Chunchen had no idea that his casual words could become a handle. He was confident before, but now he was dumbfounded.

"Duke Chengguo, did you actually say this?" Seeing Zhu Chunchen standing there in a daze, Emperor Chongzhen said dissatisfiedly.

Duke Chengguo now wished he could break Zhu Zhengliang's other leg. No, he even wished he could curse at the wall and say that he should not have given birth to such a rebellious son!

But it's too late to say anything now. Zhu Chunchen certainly knew that the Jinyiwei was monitoring the nobles and relatives, and he did say this that day.

Zhu Chunchen knew that if he didn't answer and waited for the emperor to send someone to verify, it would be too late, so he had to stand up and admit defeat.

"I am guilty, and I am willing to donate... I will donate 400,000 taels."

To express his regret, Zhu Chunchen knelt on the ground.

Emperor Chongzhen snorted in his heart, realizing that Duke Cheng had only admitted his mistake out of necessity. He was extremely disappointed with Zhu Chunchen and at the same time glanced at Zhang Shikang.

I still like this kid. With just a few words, he asked for an extra 100,000 taels. One hundred thousand taels is already more than the silver in the national treasury today.

Although there were many twists and turns today, it was generally smooth. Except for a few individual nobles, everyone else donated, and the amounts were not small. Emperor Chongzhen was overjoyed after just a rough estimate.

As for those nobles who remained silent, Emperor Chongzhen took note of them and decided to punish them in the future. Such short-sighted people really brought shame to their heroic ancestors.

Of course, among these few people who remained silent was the emperor’s father-in-law, the Earl of Jiading, Zhou Kui. Zhou Kui’s performance was actually within the expectations of Emperor Chongzhen.

Although he was very dissatisfied, Emperor Chongzhen had no choice. Zhou Kui had no shame, but his queen still had some dignity, so Emperor Chongzhen could only turn a blind eye.

But Zhang Shikang didn't care. Seeing Zhou Dasheng looking eagerly at the group of jubilant nobles, Zhang Shikang quietly walked over and said with a smile:

"Brother Zhou, now you know why I said there would be no chance for revenge tomorrow, right?"

……