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

Zhang Shikang absolutely didn't believe that this was Zu Dashou's own idea. This guy must have sent someone to investigate his whereabouts.

Seeing that he had ordered two furs, he asked someone to deliver them. After all, it would take at least two or three days from ordering to receiving the goods.

Logically speaking, he would feel comfortable with this kind of gesture of goodwill, but in Zhang Shikang's mind, one thing is one thing.

If he could be promoted and have everything be all right by licking him and making him happy, then he would be no different from the opportunists in the court before.

He accepted Zu Dashou's gift and tried it on. No wonder tigers are not afraid of the cold, their skin is really warm.

There is not much nightlife in Beijing at night, and there is even less nightlife outside the Great Wall at night.

Zhang Shikang was bored, so he chatted with Sun Dasheng for a while. He wanted to soak his feet and go to bed early, but he didn't expect Zu Dashou to come again.

And also brought gifts.

"General Zu, does this count as a bribe to me?" Zhang Shikang greeted him with a smile.

"No, no, they are just some local specialties from outside the Great Wall, a token of my appreciation to you." Zu Dashou said as he placed some boxes on the table.

It was a century-old ginseng as thick as a thumb with well-developed roots, as well as several pieces of jewelry and jade and some precious Northeast specialties.

"If you have any other needs, please just tell me," Zu Dashou said modestly.

"Oh, okay." Zhang Shikang replied casually.

I originally thought that Zu Dashou would leave, but he seemed to have something to hide as he stood in front of the table.

"General Zu, is there anything else?" Zhang Shikang asked again when he saw this.

In fact, he was also waiting for Zu Dashou to show his true sincerity, but he must not be the first to speak up, otherwise what he saw might be an illusion.

"General, everything I said today is true. I have never thought of becoming an enemy of the imperial court, nor will I have anything to do with the Jianlu. I hope you can believe me."

Zu Dashou was a little embarrassed but still spoke seriously.

"Oh, about this matter, it doesn't matter whether I believe it or not. The key is whether Your Majesty believes it or not." Zhang Shikang still said ambiguously.

"Sit down and talk." Zhang Shikang was sitting on the bed soaking his feet, and he pointed to the chair next to the table.

"Then how can we make Your Majesty believe it?" Zu Dashou asked cautiously.

"You should know that." Zhang Shikang replied casually.

Zu Dashou was stunned by the question. Of course he had thought about going to the capital to apologize to the emperor, but doing so would definitely cause trouble for Guan Ningjin.

What on earth should he do? He really didn't know what he was supposed to know.

"Marshal, I really don't know. Please tell me clearly." Zu Dashou could only put on a more humble attitude and asked proactively.

"Oh, you really are." Zhang Shikang pointed at Zu Dashou and shook his head.

Although there is no expression on his face, he actually has a definition in his heart.

Confucius once said, "If you are not angry, you will not be enlightened; if you are not frustrated, you will not speak out."

"If you really want me to help you solve your doubts, then answer my questions truthfully."

"Please speak, Marshal. I will tell you everything I know." Zu Dashou said honestly.

"Let me ask you, what exactly do you want?" Zhang Shikang looked at Zu Dashou and said.

This question made Zu Dashou a little confused. He thought Zhang Shikang wanted to ask him about the actual deployment of the Guanningjin Defense Line, or other military secrets.

I didn't expect this to be the problem.

"Master, I am stupid...I don't quite understand."

"Not very smart indeed." Zhang Shikang muttered to himself.

"People always pursue something, right? Look at those Donglin gentry I killed. What they pursued was either money, power, or fame.

What do you want? Have you ever thought about it?

You'd better answer truthfully about what you are worried about."

Zhang Shikang was not in a hurry. Long before coming to Shanhaiguan, he had actually asked people to find out the general situation of Zu Dashou's property.

It might be about 200,000 or 300,000 taels, which seems like a lot, but in fact it is the savings of four generations of my family over a hundred years outside the Great Wall.

My family was once a retainer of Li Chengliang. If we count from that time, the family property today is not that much. If Qin Liangyu had not used her own money to help with the military expenses, she would have had about this much property.

From this we can see that Zu Dashou may have a problem of taking bribes, but it may not be serious.

After all, the Liao soldiers are still very capable in fighting. If they go too far, their combat effectiveness will be gone.

Most people are no exception, even Zhang Shikang is no exception. The worst thing is that they don't know what they want.

That would be a lifetime of confusion.

Zu Dashou finally understood what Zhang Shikang wanted to ask, but he suddenly found that this question was difficult to answer.

Yeah, what does he want?

When he was young, he wanted more power and didn't want to die. Of course, he also hoped to have more property and higher reputation.

But that was when he was young.

He is old now, his power has come to an end, and he no longer has the ambition to climb up the ladder. It is good enough that the court does not kill him.

Reputation...What reputation does he have in the court?

As for profit, in such a cold and bitter place like outside the Great Wall, he did not have much desire for silver, or even if he had a lot of silver, it would have no use for it.

All in all, it all comes down to one thing: he is old.

He thought for a long time, and finally said:

"General, I am already old. If you ask me what I want, I just want to have a place to stay and enjoy my old age."

Before this, he had been suffering from the irreconcilable conflicts with the court, and perhaps he was a little stubborn.

But he never thought more deeply about it. For example, he refused to respond to the imperial edict simply because he did not want to risk his own death.

To put it bluntly, at his age, what he wants most is to spend his old age in peace, and everything he is doing now is just to achieve this result, but he himself does not realize it.

"That's right! I like to hear the truth the most.

If you had said without thinking that you wanted to be loyal to the court or some other nonsense, I would have kicked you out.

You are old and want to enjoy your retirement. There is nothing wrong with that.

Then let me ask you again, do you know what His Majesty wants?" Zhang Shikang asked again.

"Oh, don't think too much. The questions here are about you." Zhang Shikang reminded.

He finally realized that Zu Dashou was not only stubborn, but also a bit fierce.

He was afraid that if he didn't remind him, this guy would say some nonsense like "Your Majesty must want peace in the world, a prosperous country and a strong people, and a revival of the Ming Dynasty."

Of course Brother Chongzhen wanted it. This is as stupid as asking people in later generations whether they want more money.

Zhang Shikang's reminder has a bit of earnest advice.

So Zu Dashou guessed:

"Your Majesty wants to shut up Ningjin."

"No, Guan Ningjin originally belongs to your Majesty. Guess again." Zhang Shikang shook his head.

Zu Dashou's expression became stern, and he continued:

"Then... Your Majesty wants my life."

After saying this, Zu Dashou's expression became somewhat sad.

……

PS: I don’t know how fast they can write. I wrote nearly 2000 words today, and the fastest I can write is only words per hour. I really envy those authors who can write to words per hour. But if I have to consider the logic and the interesting plot, I can only reach this speed without flooding the page with nonsense. It’s really frustrating. My butt hurts after sitting all day. I have no drafts saved. I write and post them right away. Regarding the plot of Zu Dashou, I want to dissect the inner world of this character and restore the original appearance of the character that I analyzed from historical materials. This is very subjective, but I still think Zu Dashou is different from Hong Chengchou.