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

"It turns out that all of you brothers have stories!" Zhang Shikang said after being stunned for a moment.

He had long seen that this group of people had extraordinary aura, but he did not expect that they were all former generals of border towns and held high positions.

"My fellows, I would like to ask you a question. The general and deputy general are already high-ranking positions. Why have they fallen to this point?" Zhang Shikang asked curiously.

Although this tavern was not bad, it was definitely not luxurious either. In his impression, those who had served as such high-ranking officials should not be short of money and would not come to such an ordinary tavern.

Of course, what he meant was not this, but why these veterans were dismissed.

"You are so presumptuous. You should at least be polite." Hou Shiwei said with some dissatisfaction.

Now that people knew they had all been generals or deputy generals, most people would have been scared. You know, although a general has no rank or quota, it is still higher than a deputy general of the second rank.

But this boy not only did not show any fear, he also asked them why they had fallen to this point.

You know it's very presumptuous to ask this question, so why do you ask it? When they are in a good mood?

"Hey, courtesy is always welcome. A saint once said that a true warrior is one who dares to face the bleakness of life and the blood.

Come on, brothers, please say something!" Zhang Shikang picked up the wine jar again and poured wine for everyone.

In the end, Wang Yongzuo sighed and told Zhang Shikang the truth.

"That's not what the saints said. It's all nonsense. You must have made it up to deceive us.

As for your question, what can I say? It's nothing more than that he was dismissed from his post by the court after his defeat." After Wang Yongzuo finished speaking, he picked up the wine bowl and drank it all.

"We have come to this point in our lives. We can no longer face the reality. We can only live in the memory."

"Old Wang, why are you telling him this? He's just a young boy who has never seen a battlefield. He won't understand even if you tell him. It will just make people laugh at him." You Shiwei took over the conversation.

"It's just that we should be grateful for what we have received. After all, we have eaten a bowl of meat from them, but they can't even satisfy this small problem. If others tell others about it, they will think we are bullying the weak." Wang Yongzuo said with a wry smile.

"No, I don't mean anything else, I just mean that you guys have been high-ranking officials, so you should all have a good family background.

Why do you come here to drink and not even order meat?" Zhang Shikang asked again.

"Hahaha! You kid, you don't know how expensive firewood, rice, oil and salt are until you run the household. Do you know how much wine he drinks in a day?" Wang Yongzuo pointed at Yang Mingdao.

Zhang Shikang's head shook like a rattle.

"You drink two jars a day. Do you really think we soldiers are rich? Do you understand that you will end up with nothing?" Wang Yongzuo said helplessly.

After being dismissed from his official position, he naturally had some savings, but as a military man he had no means of making a living, and he had a long life ahead of him. If he didn't save some money, not to mention drinking, even eating would become a problem.

The wine jar on the table weighs at least five or six kilograms. Wow, there are two jars a day, which means ten kilograms.

Although the alcohol content of the wine at that time was only 20 to 30 degrees, it was all brewed from pure grains. Now that food is scarce, the wine is naturally more expensive.

Each person has two jars, and with so many people drinking to drown their sorrows every day, the expenses are naturally not small.

"I see, that's something I didn't expect, but why did you all come to Yulin?

I remember that even if the court dismissed an official, they would usually return to their hometown, right?" Zhang Shikang asked again.

"Our ancestral home is Yulin. If not here, where else can we go back to?" Wang Yongzuo said, and then said:

"You have so many questions. If you keep asking, that pot of meat won't be enough!"

"Okay, okay, shopkeeper, give me another ten kilograms!" Zhang Shikang waved at the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper didn't know whether he was frightened by the people brought by Zhang Shikang or what, but he went to get the meat himself with a look of fear on his face.

When another pot of meat was served, Wang Yongzuo and others looked better, and Zhang Shikang began to eat and chat again.

After questioning, we learned that these people were dismissed in the eighth or ninth year of Chongzhen because of war failures or because they had disagreements with the civil officials in the court at that time and were framed.

You Shiwei and Zhang Shikang knew that they were descendants of generals, and the other brothers also had a lot of experience in battle.

Zhang Shikang tried them covertly several times and found that they all had rich experience in defending cities and had participated in previous battles to suppress bandits.

He now suddenly understood why Hou Shiwei complained that Zhang Shikang came to power too late. The implication should be that if he had come to power earlier, perhaps they would not have ended up in their current miserable situation.

If we talk about the military generals, generals' families, or warlords in the late Ming Dynasty, the imperial court and even Chongzhen are all responsible for the formation of these problems. We cannot attribute all the problems to the military generals.

This was a combination of various problems including the financial shortage of the imperial court, the nominal existence of the Wei Suo system, and the covetous eyes of the Jianlu. The military generals had the responsibility to defend the land, but the imperial court did not provide them with pay, and the Wei Suo soldiers could not fight. What should they do?

But even so, except for Guan Ningjin's uncle and nephew Zu Dashou, the descendants of other military families such as the You family and the Ma family all died fighting for their country.

They were a family of generals and could be considered half-warlords, but they had never done anything wrong to the imperial court.

I can only sigh for the doctor, it’s the time and the fate.

“Boy, you haven’t told me yet, what does your brother do?” Yang Ming said very unhappily.

He hated people who only spoke halfway. He just wanted to see what this guy's brother did at home and scare them. Humph.

At this time, Yang Ming, You Shiwei and others had already drunk a lot of wine and were all a little drunk. Even Zhang Shikang's speech was a little dazed.

"My brother is a formidable person. If I tell you about him, I'm afraid he will really scare you." Zhang Shikang said with a smirk again.

"Come on, even if you are the king, you can't scare me, Old Yang!" Yang Ming felt that Zhang Shikang was bragging and said with disdain.

The "house servant" beside Zhang Shikang couldn't help but curl his lips, seeming to be disdainful of this man named Yang Ming.

"Who the hell am I? Even if you hear my brother's name, you have to stand aside." Zhang Shikang was not angry.

What was rare was the pretentious atmosphere, and what was rare was the supporting actor. Zhang Shikang hooked his finger at Yang Ming and asked him to come closer.

After all, Yang Ming was a high-ranking officer at the level of a general before. Although he is now in a desperate situation, it is still disrespectful to his elders for Zhang Shikang to ask him to come closer.

But at this moment he just wanted to know the answer. If Zhang Shikang just mentioned an unknown little person to fool him, he would definitely make this kid pay the price.

So Yang Ming really stood up and walked in front of Zhang Shikang, lowered his body and whispered in his ear.

Zhang Shikang chuckled and said only a few short words.

But Yang Ming's eyes opened wide and his body trembled.

……