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

The Beijing army, the border army, and the army that suppressed bandits were all in arrears of wages, and the officials were not paid. The officials could only complain, after all, these people did not live on salaries.

If we don't pay the army, there will be big trouble.

Not to mention the distant past, among the three Shun kings appointed by the Qing Dynasty, two rebelled due to lack of pay. As for mutinies in smaller armies, there were even more.

"Another point is that the person responsible for distributing military pay must be carefully selected. Your Majesty, this money is not easy to come by, and we can only fleece the nobles this once."

Zhang Shikang didn't say more, thinking that Emperor Chongzhen could understand.

Corruption is always particularly serious in the last years of a dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty was no exception.

The north suffered a disaster, and the imperial court had actually been trying to provide relief. However, the relief grain had been exploited at various levels, and only one tenth of it could actually be distributed to the people.

The people in the army were no less angry than the common people. Seeing Emperor Chongzhen's expression again, Zhang Shikang quickly continued:

"For this matter, I recommend the Imperial Horse Supervisor Fang Zhenghua, the Imperial Ceremony Supervisor Li Fengxiang and other eunuchs to work with the Ministry of Revenue officials to distribute the pay."

If he didn't find a scapegoat, Zhang Shikang had reason to worry that this task would most likely fall on him. Would he be able to survive?

The two people recommended by Zhang Shikang were both eunuchs. Although eunuchs are always played as villains in most TV dramas, there are actually many loyal and good eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty.

After Li Zicheng entered the imperial city, the imperial guards who were responsible for guarding it fled everywhere, and not a single civil or military official was seen in the court. Only the eunuchs resisted to the death.

Especially the eunuch Fang Zhenghua, the commander of the Imperial Stables. He was also a tough guy. After the city was broken, the rebel army rushed in like sardines, but he dared to block their way with only dozens of followers.

The thief asked, "Who are you?"

Fang Zhenghua replied: "I am the general manager Fang Zhenghua."

Then he rushed into the chaotic army with a knife, killed dozens of people, and finally died of exhaustion.

In addition to Fang Zhenghua, other eunuchs who dared to resist at that time included Li Fengxiang, Chu Xianzhang, Zhang Guoyuan and others. It can be said that they were absolutely worthy of the Zhu family.

"That's exactly what I want. Let's do it this way. Don't forget to bring your father with you to the court tomorrow morning." Emperor Chongzhen thought about it and agreed.

Although the Beijing Camp was the emperor's personal army and the appointment of commanders did not require the approval of the Ministry of War, it was a relatively large transfer after all, so he had to issue an order in front of the court officials, and Zhang Shikang had to be present.

But Zhang Shikang’s thought process was different from that of ordinary people. He was stunned for a moment, and suddenly thought of a very serious problem.

"Your Majesty, does the governor of the Beijing camp not have to attend court every day?"

He knew about the morning court in the Ming Dynasty. It always started when the sun just rose. His father had to get up before dawn every day and didn't even have a good sleep. It was too miserable.

Emperor Chongzhen frowned. How could he not understand by now that this kid was nothing but lazy.

This really gave him a headache.

"No need. If it's not an urgent matter, I can summon you alone."

Although Emperor Chongzhen was very dissatisfied with this, what else could he do?

Of course he had to let him do it, otherwise this guy would quit and Chongzhen would not know where to cry.

This is also quite strange. After all, in his previous concept, there is no one who does not talk about power.

But now Emperor Chongzhen just wants to say, it really exists!

It was almost evening when Zhang Shikang left the Qianqing Palace. The nobles and relatives in the Huangji Hall had long disappeared, and even the brothers from the Second Sons' Group were nowhere to be seen.

His brothers should all be able to eat fried pork with bamboo shoots now, Zhang Shikang thought with some malice.

After working for most of the day, he could finally go home. He stretched and got on the carriage.

……

Dingguo Gongfu.

On the way back from the palace, Xu Yunzhen did not speak to his son Xu Wenyuan. Today's banquet cost the Xu family more than 300,000 taels of silver, and Xu Yunzhen was heartbroken.

As soon as they arrived home, Xu Wenyuan's mother came up to them warmly and asked about his well-being, but Xu Yunzhen just took Xu Wenyuan straight to the Xu family ancestral hall with a cold face.

"Mom, let's go get a doctor." Xu Wenyuan whispered to his mother. His mother had no idea what was going on and looked confused.

When they arrived at the Xu family ancestral hall, Xu Yunzhen picked up a foot-long bamboo stick from the altar. In order to increase friction, one end of the bamboo stick was wrapped with a cloth strip, and the other end was split into six pieces with a sharp blade.

It is called a bamboo stick, but it is more appropriate to call it a bamboo whip.

"Kneel down!" Xu Yunzhen said with a cold face.

Xu Wenyuan knelt on the mat as if he had accepted his fate.

Suddenly, the sound of bamboo whips being whipped and Xu Wenyuan's wailing were heard in the ancestral hall.

"Apologize to your ancestors!"

"That's right!"

"oops!"

……

Xincheng Marquis Mansion.

Xincheng Marquis Wang Guoxing and his son Wang Jingduo both knelt in front of the Wang family's ancestral tablet. Wang Jingduo had a bitter face, and Wang Guoxing also had a bitter face.

"If the top beam is crooked, the bottom beam will be crooked. Jingduo's behavior today is all caused by you only knowing how to fish and not disciplining your son!"

Wang Guoxing's wife Zhang was so furious. The father was uneducated and the son was a spendthrift. Could he still stay in this family?

Wang Guoxing grinned when he heard this.

"Madam, this is none of my business. My husband fishes all day, and you are the one who takes care of the children."

Wang Jingduo on the side took over the conversation.

"Dad, if a son is not well-educated, it is the fault of the father. How can you blame my mother?"

"Shut up! Oh my God! Are you...are you worthy of the ancestors of the Wang family?"

……

Huaining Marquis Mansion.

As soon as Sun Weifan got home, he shouted to the only cook in the family to buy meat. He wanted to drink with his son tonight to celebrate the fact that their Sun family was once again favored by the emperor.

Sun Dasheng was very happy but also very nervous. However, he couldn't bear to spoil his father's fun, so he could only pretend to be calm and sit next to his father.

"Today, your father will not stop drinking with you. Hahaha, after so many years, our Sun family can finally put on armor and go into battle again!"

Sun Weifan put his arm around his son's shoulders and patted him. The more he looked at his son, the more he liked him.

"My son can also be armed and capable and make great achievements!" Sun Dasheng laughed.

"That's right. We are father and son fighting together in battle. This will surely become a good story in the future!"

"Dad, good stories usually happen between men and women, what we have should be called a legend."

"It's all the same! To be honest, Dad was able to become the deputy commander of the Beijing Camp thanks to the Zhang family kid.

This kid from the Zhang family is extraordinary. My son should spend more time with him in the future." Sun Weifan thought of what happened in the Palace of Heavenly Purity today. With the trust that Emperor Chongzhen had in that kid, he was sure to achieve great things in the future.

Sun Weifan only hated that he didn't have a daughter, otherwise he would definitely marry his daughter to that boy.

When Sun Dasheng heard his father talking about his elder brother, he immediately became excited.

“My eldest brother is naturally capable. Dad may not know that today’s event was arranged by my eldest brother several days ago. Everyone in our Second Son Group is talented!

In fact, it was my son who came up with this idea!"

It was indeed Sun Dasheng who proposed the method to help his father make progress. Although he did not think about it that much at the time, Sun Weifan did not believe that his son had that brains.

However, this did not affect Sun Weifan's mood at all.

"We're about to enter the military camp, and Dad's armor and sword will finally come in handy." Sun Weifan became more and more excited the more he thought about it.

Sun Dasheng's mouth trembled.

"My son may not know yet, but our family has a precious sword handed down from our ancestors, which is placed behind the tablet of our ancestors in our ancestral hall.

This precious sword has not rusted for more than two hundred years, and it is still as sharp as a blade that can cut hair or iron.

Dad is happy today, so I'll show it to you to broaden your horizons."

As he spoke, Sun Weifan ran towards the Sun Family Ancestral Hall.

A moment later, miserable howls were heard from the Sun Family Ancestral Hall.

"Where's my knife?"

"Where is my Sun family's heirloom sword?"

……