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

When Zhang Shikang returned to the Duke of Yingguo's mansion, a banquet was being set up in the main hall of the mansion.

Zhang Zhiji sat in the main seat with a calm demeanor, Zhang family mistress Sun sat beside him, and Zhang Shize sat below him.

There was also a beautiful and graceful woman who was instructing the servants to set out the wine and food. She was Zhang Zhiji's second wife, Zhang Shikang's second mother.

The Duke of England donated the most in this fundraising, which was 420,000 taels. However, the Zhang family has many assets, and although this money has put a strain on the Duke's Mansion, it is only temporary.

This banquet was naturally to celebrate Zhang Shikang's promotion to the position of Admiral of the Beijing Camp. This was different from Zhang Zhiji's position of Governor-General. Although the title of Governor-General was great, he could actually do nothing now.

But the commander-in-chief of the Beijing Camp holds real power, and judging from His Majesty's intention, he will definitely pay more attention to the Beijing Camp in the future. It is definitely worth celebrating that his son is the head of the Beijing Camp.

"Dad, it's not a good thing. Is there any need to make such a grand ceremony?" Zhang Shikang said with a tired face when he just got home.

As parents, Zhang Zhiji and Sun knew their son's character. However, Zhang Shikang's second wife Xing said warmly:

"What are you talking about, Shi Kang? How can being promoted to admiral not be a good thing? We have another high-ranking official in the Duke's Mansion!

Your sister will come over later. The master gets up early on weekdays, and you, Shikang, are not home every day. We can take advantage of this happy event today to have a reunion dinner together."

Xing spoke gently and smiled brightly. As she spoke, she poured tea for Zhang Shikang, who quickly took the teapot.

There are many servants in the Duke's Mansion. Logically speaking, it is not Xing's turn to come in person. After all, Xing is the elder, and it would be beneath her status to do so.

Zhang Shikang roughly knew what was going on. Xing was a peasant girl with no background. After being taken as a second wife by his father, she only gave birth to a daughter.

A mother's status is determined by her son. In this era, the idea of favoring sons over daughters is particularly serious. Even though the whole family didn't say anything about it, Xing always felt that she had let the Zhang family down, and she was always a little humble in front of Sun's mother and son.

Zhang Shikang's sister is called Zhang Jingyi. She is only fourteen years old this year. Since he came here, he has never seen his sister. He only knows that his sister has been studying in a private school for girls in the home of Duke Dingguo.

Not long after, Zhang Jingyi came leisurely from the back hall. She was wearing a light pink tight dress, had a typical oval face, and looked like a pure, virtuous and obedient girl.

After paying respects to Zhang Zhiji, his wife Sun and Xing, Zhang Jingyi sat next to Zhang Shikang.

"Third brother, I heard from my mother that you have become a high-ranking official?" Zhang Jingyi looked at Zhang Shikang with great curiosity.

In her eyes, her third brother has always been unreliable. Not only does he not like studying, he also always hangs out with a group of playboys. He is rarely seen for ten days or half a month.

Zhang Jingyi was surprised for a long time that Zhang Shikang could become a high-ranking official.

"Why, can't Third Brother be a high-ranking official?" Zhang Shikang said helplessly.

Zhang Jingyi blinked her big, lively eyes, and then revealed a sad expression. Seeing this, Zhang Shikang thought his sister was distressed that he had become a wage earner again, so he said:

"Does my sister also feel sorry for my third brother being drafted by His Majesty?"

Zhang Jingyi was stunned for a moment and didn't understand what conscription meant, but whispered:

"Brother, is the Ming Dynasty going to perish?"

"Huh?" Zhang Shikang frowned.

"Then why else can Third Brother become a high-ranking official?"

Zhang Shikang: “…”

Although his sister acted like a good girl in front of her parents, Zhang Shikang knew that this little girl was very wild.

Seeing Zhang Shikang being defeated, Zhang Jingyi looked triumphant at first, but after a moment, she restrained herself, as if something was bothering her. She shook Zhang Shikang's arm pitifully and said:

"elder brother."

"If you have something to say, tell me something."

Zhang Shikang didn't buy it. As far as he could remember, this sister had played a lot of tricks on the original owner before.

Seeing that Zhang Shikang was not fooled, Zhang Jingyi had no choice but to let go and pouted:

"Brother, Dad loves you the most. Can you tell Dad that Jingyi doesn't want to go to that school anymore?"

"Oh? Why?"

In that era, ordinary girls rarely had the opportunity to go to school. Although Zhang Shikang himself did not go to school, he did not want his sister to not go to school either. She was only fourteen years old.

"I don't like the classes taught by the teacher there, they always teach the Three Obediences and Four Virtues. Today the teacher made things difficult for me again, and I said that a woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent, so he made me stand for the whole afternoon.

The women there are not good either. They read stories about heroic women at a very young age every day.

"Brother, why am I not a man?" Zhang Jingyi complained.

Zhang Shikang then faced the problem. His sister was not stupid. She knew it was useless to ask her father for help. In this era, women were expected to follow the three obediences and four virtues. After all, everyone was like that.

But Zhang Shikang disagreed. It's not that he was cynical, or that he was supposing the later generations' idea of gender equality. The world has never been equal, and there has never been true equality even in later generations.

According to Zhang Shikang's personality, life is only a few decades long, so as long as he doesn't hurt others, he will try his best to live the way he wants. This is what he thinks is the meaning of life.

Apart from this, secular concepts, traditions, ancestral rules, and even other people's opinions are secondary. Why should you live the way others want you to be?

How pitiful!

"Okay, leave this matter to me." Zhang Shikang said after a moment of hesitation.

If it were in the past, Zhang Shikang would have been a bit arrogant to say this, but now he is a powerful figure in the court, and his father would not care about such a big thing, so Zhang Shikang agreed.

Zhang Jingyi didn't expect that her third brother agreed so readily. For a moment she couldn't help herself and almost exposed her ladylike appearance.

"However, you don't have to go to the girls' school. But you are still young, so you still have to learn what you should learn."

Although there are many dross in the classics, history, and literature, there are still many things we can learn from them, at least we can distinguish right from wrong.

"Don't pout. I'll ask Dad to hire a teacher for you. You don't have to study every day. He can just give you half a lesson every other day. That should be enough for you, right?"

Zhang Jingyi was happy at this moment, picked up the tea and handed it to Zhang Shikang, saying:

"Hehe, Third Brother is still the best. Can you help Jingyi find another master?"

Now it was Zhang Shikang's turn to be puzzled. Zhang Jingyi was actually a bit like Zhang Shikang in nature. She naturally didn't like being disciplined.

"Oh? That's rare. What else do you want to learn?"

"I want to learn... I want to learn martial arts." For a woman to learn martial arts is unorthodox. Even though Zhang Jingyi knows that her third brother is more open-minded, she is still a little nervous.

Poof—Zhang Shikang just took a sip of tea and it sprayed all over the floor.

He never expected that his sister with skinny arms and legs actually had a dream of kung fu.

Well, it is quite interesting. Zhang Shikang is actually quite curious about the martial arts at that time. He heard that the Kung Fu in ancient times was much more powerful than the fancy moves of modern times.

But Zhang Shikang simply didn't have the energy for that now, as he had to attend court the next morning, and he would probably have to go to the military camp to take up his post in a few days. So he agreed to write a letter to his sister and ask her to go find Marquis Huaining.

Although Marquis Huaining did not like scheming and socializing, he was a martial arts fanatic. He should know some people in the martial arts world. After all, he was Sun Weifan's immediate superior, so he would probably help him.

"Shikang, what are you two siblings whispering about? Come over and eat."

Just as he was thinking about it, Xing greeted him with a smile.

Zhang Shikang and his sister quickly stood up with a smile, and the family was very happy.

……

At the same time, in a private room of an inconspicuous restaurant, several elderly people dressed in brocade were also having dinner.

But compared to the warmth of the British Mansion, this place seems a bit deserted.

However, if Zhang Shikang were here, he would definitely be shocked, because sitting here are the prime minister of the cabinet and senior officials from the six ministries.

They are all Donglin bosses.