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

When he returned to the Zheng family mansion, Zheng Sanjun was exhausted, and two pretty maids came forward to massage his shoulders and legs.

Zheng Sanjun's eldest son came over to greet him, but Zheng Sanjun closed his eyes and ignored him. He only asked his grandson Shaoguang whether he had neglected his studies today.

His eldest son is already 44 years old this year. He has no hope of passing the imperial examination and is merely a scholar. This matter has always bothered Zheng Sanjun.

On the contrary, his grandson Zheng Shaoguang, who is just 22 years old this year, has passed the imperial examination at such a young age. He only needs to wait for the spring examination next year, and the Zheng family may have a successor in the court.

Zheng Sanjun didn't want to retire and return home. One reason was that he felt that after he left, those few people would not be able to support such a big business. The other reason was because of his grandson Zheng Shaoguang.

As long as his grandson is admitted to high school next year, Zheng Sanjun can immediately use his connections to pave a successful path for his grandson.

Although those people may not necessarily refuse to help after he retires, it is still more appropriate for him to arrange it himself. As long as there are people in the court, the Sun family will remain standing.

In addition, his granddaughter-in-law gave birth to a son in December last year. Zheng Sanjun can be said to have four generations living under the same roof, which are the only two things he wishes for in his old age.

While he was thinking about something, a woman in her twenties walked in from outside. The woman was holding a baby in her arms. It was Zheng Sanjun's great-grandson.

The tired Zheng Sanjun suddenly opened his eyes and a smile appeared on his face.

"My dear grandson is here, hurry up and let me see him!"

The nanny quickly obeyed the order and carefully handed the baby to Zheng Sanjun.

Zheng Sanjun held his great-grandson in his arms with a look of joy on his face. He gently patted the brocade wrapped around the baby and asked casually and indifferently:

"Have you fed yet?"

The nanny quickly replied:

"Reply to the master, I have fed him."

After that, Zheng Sanjun no longer paid any attention to the wet nurse, but continued to smile and tease the baby in his arms.

At this time, the housekeeper brought over a large bowl of milky white soup and handed it to the wet nurse with an expressionless face.

The nanny looked at the soup in her hand and revealed a vague expression of pain.

The soup was slow-cooked with fat pork elbows. It was called soup, but it was actually full of thick fat, and there was not a single seasoning.

The only purpose of doing this is to increase milk production.

"Drink quickly." The butler said in a low but stern voice, afraid of disturbing Zheng Sanjun.

The nanny looked down at the thick milky white liquid in the bowl, then knelt on the ground and pleaded with Zheng Sanjun in pain:

"Master, please let me eat some salt. Please have mercy on me!"

The nurse's eyes were filled with tears; she had not eaten any salt for three months, simply because it had a slight effect on the baby.

But how could a person go without salt for a long time? She had no strength left in her body.

Zheng Sanjun was originally happily teasing his great-grandson, but upon hearing this, his face immediately turned cold. He glanced at the nanny kneeling on the ground and said coldly:

"You don't need salt, drink it."

The housekeeper was also scolding her severely. The nanny knew that she would be beaten again if she continued like this, so she picked up the large bowl in great pain.

……

The next day, before dawn, Zhang Shikang was sleeping soundly when he suddenly felt someone pushing him.

"Young Master, it's time to get up." Chen Zhu'er stood by and called softly, holding new clothes in her hands.

But she shouted for a long time and there was no movement from Zhang Shikang, so she could only shout and push him gently.

"Sir, the master is waiting for you. Please get up quickly. It's time for the morning court."

"Well, let me sleep for a while, just for a while."

Zhang Shikang never had the habit of getting up early, and he was not used to getting up so early all of a sudden.

"Young Master...if you don't get up, the master will punish Zhuer." Chen Zhuer pouted, her words sounding a little resentful.

"It's all your fault. You insisted on listening to stories and refused to go to sleep until the middle of the night. I am so sleepy!" Zhang Shikang muttered while holding the quilt.

There were not many entertainment activities at night, and Zhang Shikang was bored, so he started telling stories to his only bed partner, Chen Zhuer.

Most of them were Jin Yong's martial arts novels, interspersed with ghost stories from Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio. Chen Zhu'er had never heard of such magical stories before, so she naturally became addicted and kept begging Zhang Shikang to continue. In the end, she talked Zhang Shikang to sleep.

"What do you want me to do to get up? Otherwise, you can punish Zhu'er."

Chen Zhu'er also knew that it was her fault, but this was Zhang Shikang's first time to attend court, and she must not be late. She was too fascinated last night because those stories were so interesting.

"If you call me good husband, I will get up." Zhang Shikang teased.

"This..." Chen Zhuer's face suddenly turned red. After all, she was only sixteen years old.

But when she remembered that the master was still waiting outside, Chen Zhuer hesitated for a long time before saying softly:

"Good...good...good husband, please get up quickly."

Zhang Shikang got up from the bed only after he succeeded. He put on his clothes with sleepy eyes, washed up, and went out.

Duke Yingguo Zhang Zhiji had been sitting in the carriage outside the mansion gate waiting for a long time. He was about to go and call for him in person when he saw Zhang Shikang walking towards him in a daze.

"My son, cheer up, today is a great day for you!" Zhang Zhiji was not angry. While asking the driver to hurry up, he said to Zhang Shikang.

Zhang Shikang leaned against the inner wall of the carriage. He felt that he could take a nap for a while longer, so he replied casually:

"I haven't planned to get married yet, so how can there be a good day?"

Zhang Zhiji was speechless. The carriage stopped outside Chengtian Gate. The father and son walked along the palace wall for half an hour. When they arrived at Wumen, almost all the civil and military officials in the court had arrived.

Most of the civil officials spoke in low voices. On normal days, the voices of the nobles and relatives would be louder, but today they were all silent. From time to time, sighs could be heard, which attracted the attention of some middle and low-level officials who did not know the truth.

Soon, with the ringing of the Yangyang Bell, led by the officials of the Honglu Temple, civil and military officials filed in from both sides of the Meridian Gate.

Today's morning court belongs to the regular court. According to the convention, it should be held at the Huangji Gate outside the Huangji Hall. In fact, the morning court is only held in the hall on the first and fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and some important festivals.

This made Zhang Shikang speechless. There was obviously a main hall, but he chose to enjoy the cool breeze outside the hall. In ancient costume dramas, court sessions were all held in the main hall.

With his father's reminder, Zhang Shikang found his own shift. The location was very easy to find, just the opposite of his father's.

Zhang Zhiji is located in the front row of military officials on the left, and Zhang Shikang is located in the last row of military officials on the right, exactly diagonally opposite each other.

After all, the position of the governor of the Beijing camp had not yet been announced. In theory, Zhang Shikang's official position was still a small captain of the Rear Army Governor's Office. It was already a special case for him to be at the bottom in terms of rank.

However, Zhang Shikang didn't care and even greeted the old man next to him.

There happened to be a big pillar next to him, and Zhang Shikang was bored, so he leaned against the pillar and took a nap.

Soon, Emperor Chongzhen came over wearing a dragon robe, and all the civil and military officials bowed to him.

As usual, it was the stage for all the ministers to report on their affairs. The six ministries and nine ministers began to report on their affairs in turn. Most of the things they reported were old news, asking for money, food, or both.

A full half hour was wasted. When the morning sun shone on the faces of the ministers, the reporting stage was finally over. Zhang Shikang was so bored that he picked his feet.

"Now that you have finished speaking, it is time for me to tell you the good news." Emperor Chongzhen looked confident and in a good mood.

Wang Chengen came back from the Jiading Earl's Mansion last night. According to the oral order of Emperor Chongzhen, the Jiading Earl's family no longer has a silver vault.

There were several carriages that followed Wang Chengen back to the palace, carrying a total of 480,000 taels of silver. Including donations from other nobles and relatives, a family banquet raised 5 million taels of silver.

This was something that Emperor Chongzhen would never dare to dream of.

Most of the civil officials in the court looked puzzled when they heard this, only a few people like Zheng Sanjun looked calm. The nobles and relatives all had sullen faces, because they certainly knew what good news the emperor was talking about.

Emperor Chongzhen's news might not be good news for them. No matter what, the nobles and relatives had complaints against Emperor Chongzhen.

But this did not seem to affect Emperor Chongzhen's mood. He continued with a pleasant expression:

"Yesterday I held a family banquet, and the guests were all the descendants of the nobles who shared the same fate with the country. The nobles understood the difficulties of state affairs and took the initiative to raise 5 million taels of silver for me.

Gentlemen, tell me, is this good news?"

……