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

Everyone's eyes turned to Zhang Shikang.

This guy is leaning against the wall and taking a nap. You have to know that this is a court meeting, and misbehaving in a court meeting can be punishable.

Zheng Sanjun and the others looked at Zhang Shikang, and their expressions suddenly became particularly interesting.

This is it?

What has he accomplished at such a young age?

Can a dandy leader be considered promising at a young age these days?

You are smart and studious, but you have never been to school, so how can you be studious?

You even fell asleep during the last court session, and you call that calm and steady?

Your Majesty, you are lying with your eyes open!

Being stared at by so many people, Zhang Shikang suddenly felt as if a thorn in his back and opened his eyes. Being so thick-skinned, he immediately cupped his hands, grinned, and walked forward while greeting the officials around him.

"Your servant Zhang Shikang accepts your order."

"I have appointed you as the commander of the Beijing Camp. I hope you will be modest and prudent, live up to my trust, and train a strong army for me and the Ming Dynasty."

"Your servant Zhang Shikang obeys your order!"

The Cabinet Chief Liu Yuliang stood up, glanced at Zhang Shikang and said:

"Your Majesty, the Beijing Camp is related to the safety of the capital after all, and the responsibility is heavy. Zhang Shikang is not even twenty years old this year, please think twice!"

Although the Emperor could appoint whomever he wanted as the personal army of the Emperor, for the sake of the court's safety, as the Chief Minister of the Cabinet and a role model for civil officials, he still had to give advice when necessary.

In fact, when they met with Zheng Sanjun and others last night, they had already made up their minds about this matter.

Letting a fool be the commander of the Beijing camp was not a bad thing at all for them. They raised objections only out of responsibility. After all, if they did not step out to dissuade him, it would really make some people suspicious.

Emperor Chongzhen was not angry either, and said to Liu Yuliang with a smile:

“I remember that when Marquis Guanjun led his army to war for the first time, he was just 18 years old, but he fought against the Xiongnu for the sixth time for Emperor Wu of Han, and sealed off the Wolf’s Lair, so that the Xiongnu dared not go south and herded their horses.

How similar is the Ming Dynasty today to that time? The Jiannu have repeatedly invaded the south, making it impossible for the people in our border towns to rest in peace. Liu Qing, you know that ambition is not limited by age. Zhang Shikang is my champion marquis. "

Liu Yuliang's beard was almost crooked with anger, thinking that in 1,800 years, there has only been one champion marquis, who is Zhang Shikang? Your Majesty really thinks highly of himself, and dares to compare himself to Emperor Wu.

But it was enough to just do the duty, so Liu Yuliang bowed and returned to the train.

Afterwards, Emperor Chongzhen appointed Sun Weifan, Marquis of Huaining, as deputy commander-in-chief of the Beijing Camp in front of all the civil and military officials in the court, to assist in managing the military affairs of the Beijing Camp.

There is nothing much to say about this appointment. After all, Sun Weifan is known for his martial arts, and he can be considered a complement to Zhang Shikang, who is a mediocre guy.

"Except Zhang Shikang, all the nobles who have pledged a substantial amount of money can send their children to the Beijing camp. The specific appointment will be decided by Zhang Shikang."

This was already agreed upon before.

Zheng Sanjun shook his head slightly. Although the Beijing army was already corrupt, there were few capable descendants of the nobles and relatives. They were nothing more than Zhang Shikang's cronies.

Your Majesty, by doing this, it is tantamount to throwing stinky dog shit into the garbage dump. It would be strange if anything good could happen to the court.

However, in the end, no one spoke to persuade him, and the Minister of War Yang Sichang said nothing. The emperor's appointment of a fool to be in charge of the military camp would only highlight Yang Sichang's ability.

The affairs of the Beijing camp had little to do with him. For him, the most important thing now was to wipe out the bandits, which was the real achievement.

After discussing the affairs of the Beijing camp, Zhang Shikang returned from the palace quickly. For the next two days, Zhang Shikang stayed at home and did not go out, enjoying his last leisure time.

Strangely enough, none of his brothers came to look for him in the past two days. It was only later when he sent someone to ask them that he found out that his brothers had been badly beaten by their father this time.

The worst-hit was Sun Dasheng. It was said that his buttocks were beaten to pieces. Sun Weifan made a big fuss in the pawnshop, knocked down eight employees with a stick, and snatched back his family's ancestral sword from the pawnshop.

Almost every shop in the capital city has the shadow of a noble behind it, and the owner behind that pawnshop is Chen Yanzuo, Marquis of Taining.

Chen Yanzuo went to the Huaining Marquis' Mansion to ask for an explanation. After all, Sun Weifan was in the wrong, so he gritted his teeth and wrote an IOU to Chen Yanzuo.

Now, the deputy admiral has not even taken office yet, but he already owes others 20,000 taels.

It is said that in order to save money, Sun Weifan dismissed all the servants in the mansion - a cook and a doorman, leaving only Huaining Marquis and his son.

In his words, he and Sun Dasheng would soon go to the Xishan camp, where they would be provided with food and accommodation, so there was no need to support two idle people at home.

During these two days, Zhang Shikang lived a very comfortable life. He slept until he woke up naturally every day, then ran around the Duke's Mansion and exercised with his own homemade fitness equipment.

His parents knew that he was going to the military camp soon, so they asked the cook at home to prepare all kinds of delicious food and fulfill his every request.

At night, Zhang Shikang still chatted with Chen Zhuer to relieve his boredom, but mostly it was Zhang Shikang talking and Chen Zhuer listening.

Of course, there were conditions for listening to stories. Chen Zhu'er had to rub Zhang Shikang's shoulders and legs, but the girl enjoyed it. Zhang Shikang's hands were not idle either, often making Chen Zhu'er blush.

Zhang Shikang did not consider himself a gentleman, and he would not remain calm when a beautiful woman came to him. He also knew that the girl had actually made preparations for a long time, but he still did not break the window paper.

The reasons were complicated, but the most important one was that Chen Zhu'er was too young. In those days she was only sixteen years old, and Chen Zhu'er hadn't celebrated her birthday, so she should actually be considered fourteen. It was still too dangerous for her to do that kind of thing.

Neither of them had any good contraceptive measures at that time. Zhang Shikang also asked around and found out that there were condoms, including fish bladders, cow intestines, and sheep intestines. However, Zhang Shikang lost interest as soon as he heard about them.

Moreover, as a maidservant, there was an unwritten rule at that time, which was that she could not get pregnant. To put it bluntly, before the master and the principal wife gave birth to children, no matter whether she was a maidservant or a concubine, she could not give birth to the eldest son.

Even if the woman was pregnant, she had to abort the baby. At that time, there were no advanced medical methods like those of later generations, and an abortion could result in two deaths if not done carefully.

"In the end, Ning Caichen and Yan Chixia worked together to eliminate the Black Mountain Old Demon. Nie Xiaoqian was reincarnated under Ning Caichen's escort, and Yan Chixia eventually retired to Lanruo Temple."

Zhang Shikang held Chen Zhuer in his arms and finished telling the story of a Chinese Ghost Story.

"In the end... they were not together!"

Chen Zhuer's eyes were red from crying.

This was the first time she had heard such a tragic love story. When Zhang Shikang talked about the tree monster, Chen Zhuer gritted her teeth and wished she could use her little fists to help Xiaoqian kill the tree monster. After hearing the ending, she burst into tears for the fact that Ning and Nie were separated forever, and her tears flowed like they were free.

"Humans and ghosts have different paths. If the two of them were together, Ning Caichen would have to fuck ghosts every day, which would be scary, right?

Look at you, you're crying like a kitten, it's all fake."

Zhang Shikang wiped away Chen Zhuer's tears.

"Young Master is so vulgar, they are in love!" Chen Zhuer retorted.

"It is because we love each other that we know to consider each other!"

Chen Zhuer blinked her big eyes twice and suddenly said:

"Young Master said that Zhu'er is still young and might be in danger. So... is it because you love Zhu'er that you don't... don't want Zhu'er anymore?"

This question made Zhang Shikang stunned for a moment. The little girl was pretty, cute, well-behaved and obedient. Which man would not like her?

After all, the woman at that time matured too early, so she said:

"Love should be kept in the heart, it cannot be spoken out casually."

"Well, Zhu'er has remembered it. Is the young master feeling...uncomfortable again?"

Chen Zhu'er was lying in Zhang Shikang's arms. She felt something strange behind her and whispered.

"Yeah, a little bit."

Zhang Shikang said awkwardly that he was not Liu Xiahui, and it was inevitable that he would be distracted if he stayed with this little girl every night.

"What should we do? The young master is leaving tomorrow, and Zhu'er doesn't want him to feel sad."

"Maybe there are other solutions. Come, I will teach you."

……