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

March 20th, the eleventh year of Chongzhen.

Early in the morning, several horse-drawn carriages were parked outside the gate of the Duke of England's mansion. They were transferred from the palace to pay the unpaid wages to the soldiers in the Beijing camp.

The wage arrears situation of the Beijing camp was much more serious than that of the border troops. It had been owed for eight full months. If one wanted to boost the morale of the soldiers, there was no better way than to give them silver.

The last time they raised funds, the nobles and relatives promised that the payment would be made within ten days. The reason why Zhang Shikang was able to get the cash was thanks to the contribution of Zhou Kui, the Earl of Jiading. Yang Sichang even protested against this, but the protest was ineffective.

"The military is a matter of great importance to the country. My son should set an example in the barracks, clearly distinguish between rewards and punishments, and never tolerate or indulge in them." Duke of England Zhang Zhiji reminded again as he walked.

"I know, Dad. You've told me many times." Zhang Shikang said helplessly.

His mother Sun, his second mother Xing, as well as his brother and sister all came out to see him off, followed by seven or eight servants, each of whom had a bag on his back and large and small bags on his chest.

"The food in the military camp is not good. I brought you some food. If you can't get used to the food there, tell me. I will have someone bring it to you every day. If anyone dares to bully you..."

"Mom, your son is the commander of the Beijing Camp, the top leader. I am the only one who can bully others. How can anyone dare to bully me, your son?"

Zhang Shikang knew that his mother was confused because of her concern, so he could only comfort her helplessly.

Sun not only prepared more than a dozen sets of daily clothes for him, but also a large amount of food, filling up an entire carriage. If it were true that women were not allowed to be brought to the military camp, Sun would even want Chen Zhuer to go with him to take care of her son.

"Mother, you're just worried." Sun said as the tears she had been holding back for a long time finally fell.

His son has never done any work since he was a child. His eating, drinking, defecating and urinating have all been taken care of by others. This is his first time traveling far away, and to a place like a military camp. How can a mother feel at ease?

"Don't worry, mother. The Xishan Camp is not far from here. I will come back to see you as soon as I am free."

At this time, many people came over from not far away on the street. Some of them were riding horses, some were in carriages, and some were walking. They were all the sons of various noble families who were preparing to be placed in the Beijing camp.

Most of the members of the Second Sons Group, including Xu Wenyuan, have also arrived, even the youngest member, Liu Jiawei, has come.

"Brother, we've finally waited for this day. I was so excited that I couldn't sleep well last night." Xu Wenyuan said with a smile.

The wound on his arm had just healed, but his walking posture was a little awkward.

"Your butt must have suffered a lot, right?" Zhang Shikang teased.

"It's just a minor injury, not worth mentioning." Xu Wenyuan imitated Sun Dasheng's tone.

"Brother, you are all going to join the army, but I have to go to the palace to study. I'm afraid I will see you less in the future, so you must not forget me." Liu Jiawei said disappointedly.

Emperor Chongzhen asked him to be the prince's tutor, but he actually wanted to go to the military camp more.

"What Jiawei said is nonsense. We are all the same as brothers. We are just pursuing a better future. Everyone must be so envious of you for being able to be close to the prince." Xu Wenyuan teased.

"Wenyuan is right. We are good brothers for life in the Second Sons Group. We have a long way to go. You are smart and will become a great man in the future. If you join the army for the sake of loyalty, it will be a waste of time."

Zhang Shikang patted Liu Jiawei on the shoulder and said.

Not long after, a horse came galloping from a distance. On the horse was a strong man wearing armor, with a sword on his waist. He had a broad back and strong arms. It was Sun Weifan, Marquis of Huaining.

"It is true that clothes make the man, and saddles make the horse." Zhang Shikang sighed.

In the past, people only thought that Sun Weifan, Marquis of Huaining, was hairy, with hair all over his arms and legs, and a thick and dense beard. Zhang Shikang once suspected that Sun Weifan had hypertrichosis.

Now Sun Weifan is dressed in military uniform with a solemn expression, while Zhang Shikang can be described with only one word - a fierce general.

Sun Weifan pulled the reins beside the convoy, looked around at the nobles and their sons without paying any attention, and then said to Zhang Shikang:

"Admiral Zhang, are all the people gathered?"

He always looked down on that group of noble sons and did not even bother to hide his disdain. Fortunately, Zhang Shikang promised that those guys would be led by Zhang Shikang himself, otherwise Sun Weifan would have wanted to quit.

After all, how can we train soldiers with such a bunch of encumbrances?

"Uncle, this is not a military camp, there is no need to be polite." Zhang Shikang counted the number of people and replied:

"The only one missing is Sun Dasheng. Where is he? Why didn't he come with my uncle?"

"Your Majesty has entrusted an important task to you and me. Today marks the beginning of our march. There is no family relationship in the military camp, so we are naturally assigned military positions.

As for that rebellious son, don't pay any attention to him. If he really wants to make achievements, he will crawl to the military camp. "

Sun Weifan spoke seriously, but his heart was bleeding. Twenty thousand taels of silver, when would he be able to pay it back?

Zhang Shikang's mouth twitched when he heard this. He of course knew why Sun Weifan was so angry, so he could only comfort him with gentle words. A group of people were waiting at the door of the Duke's Mansion.

About a quarter of an hour later, I finally saw Sun Dasheng in the distance on the street.

This guy was leaning on a crutch, sweating profusely, and panting as he hurried along. When he saw Zhang Shikang and the others, he waved his left hand to greet them, as if the injuries on his body did not affect his mood at all.

Zhang Shikang thought to himself that these father and son were really like family, and each was more careless than the other.

After inviting all the wounded to board the carriage, Zhang Jingyi quietly lifted the curtain of the carriage where Zhang Shikang was, tilted her cute little head and said:

"When we get to the military camp, don't forget to look for martial arts secrets for Jingyi. I heard there are many hidden dragons and crouching tigers there!

Oh, by the way, Uncle Sun found a great female teacher for Jingyi! But you still have to wait at least ten days."

"I got it. Listen to your parents at home. Brother is leaving." Zhang Shikang rubbed Zhang Jingyi's head and waved to his parents.

Chen Zhu'er was also standing not far away, staring at Zhang Shikang with eyes almost drawn out. Zhang Shikang looked at Chen Zhu'er, stretched out his hand and waved it up and down in a half-clenched fist. Chen Zhu'er's face immediately turned red.

When Sun Weifan saw that everyone had boarded the carriage, he jumped on the horse and said:

"Leave!"

……

The Xishan camp is not far from the capital. If you ride a fast horse, it will take less than half an hour. However, the caravan is made up of horse-drawn carriages, so the speed is slow.

Half an hour later, the convoy finally left the capital and reached the wilderness.

Zhang Shikang opened the carriage curtain and looked outside. It was early summer, and the flowers, plants and trees had already grown lush and green. Everywhere was lush and green. The air quality was much better than in later generations.

Sun Weifan rode a tall horse and walked in the front. His majestic appearance made Zhang Shikang very envious. He got off the carriage and begged Sun Weifan to let him ride the horse.

The horse was a major asset of the Huaining Marquisate and was Sun Weifan's treasure. However, due to Zhang Shikang's official authority, Sun Weifan still dismounted.

"Admiral, my horse is very fierce, please be careful." Sun Weifan kindly reminded Zhang Shikang when he saw that he had to mount the horse several times.

"I know. I've ridden it before."

Zhang Shikang didn't care at all. He had ridden a horse once in modern times, but it was just a tourist horse and he didn't think it was dangerous.

However, that horse was much worse than Sun Weifan's horse. Sun Weifan's horse was as sturdy and tall as he was, with shiny black hair all over its body.

After finally getting on the warhorse, in order to show his experience, Zhang Shikang squeezed the horse's belly with his legs. The warhorse under his crotch neighed and immediately started to accelerate.

Gledon~~Gledon~~~

The war horses galloped, raising dust, and the only sound heard was the sound of horse hooves hammering the ground.

"Fuck! Ugh--" Zhang Shikang felt that the trees around him were rapidly retreating. He was so scared that he quickly imitated what was shown in later TV dramas and tried to stop his horse, but the horse seemed not to have heard him and continued to gallop.

"Pull the reins! Pull the reins!"

Sun Weifan reminded loudly that he could not run fast in heavy armor, but Zhang Shikang heard it and immediately pulled back by the reins.

Unexpectedly, the warhorse suddenly stopped, which made Zhang Shikang terrified. The strong inertia threw him forward from the warhorse.

Zhang Shikang was thrown to the ground, and if one of his feet had not been in the stirrup, he would have fallen even harder.

The warhorse snorted, as if mocking Zhang Shikang's rookie status, and Sun Weifan finally caught up.

"Nephew, are you okay? I told you my warhorse is special. It was carefully selected from thousands of warhorses."

Sun Weifan walked forward while asking, put his left hand on the warhorse's neck, and stroked the horse up and down with his right hand to comfort it.

"I'm fine, bah - bah -" Zhang Shikang said as he spit out the dust in his mouth.

The sons of nobles in the carriage behind him were all leaning on the carriage windows, looking out, grinning and almost laughing.

"This warhorse is really good, can you please discuss something with me, uncle?

Your family's debt is mine, how about giving me this horse? When we get to the military camp, you can pick another one."

Zhang Shikang said with a grin that there were no cars or motorcycles at that time, and horses were the only fast means of land transportation. Having a good horse on the battlefield could greatly increase the chance of survival.

But who would have thought that Sun Weifan would immediately turn hostile when he heard this.

"Impossible! Sir Admiral, don't even think about it. I won't trade him even if I sell Sun Dasheng!"

"If you don't want to change it, then don't change it. You seem so stingy." Zhang Shikang didn't care. He just asked casually. He didn't expect that in Sun Weifan's eyes, his son was not as good as a war horse.

Zhang Shikang's fall was just a small episode. The group continued to move forward for about an hour and finally arrived at the gate of the Xishan camp.

After showing his seal, the soldier guarding the gate quickly opened the gate.

After entering the camp, Zhang Shikang looked around and was stunned.

"Zhao! Am I in the slums?"