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

When Zhou Dasheng saw the intimate behavior between Zhang Shikang and the guerrilla general and heard what Zhang Shikang said, he suddenly felt a little scared.

"Zhang Shikang, what do you mean?"

The guerrilla general was also a little confused. He had asked just now that the admiral was also the son of a noble family and the son of the current British duke. Judging from the appearance of these sons of noble families, they seemed to be very familiar with the admiral.

The guerrilla general didn't quite understand what Zhang Shikang was going to do, but he knew that there were indeed many rich young men who were interested in Longyang, but...

"Sir, I don't like that."

"What are you thinking? This admiral is teaching you to enforce military law and spank him!"

Zhang Shikang was speechless when he heard this. Although the feudal ethics at that time were very strict, people were infinitely tolerant of men. Whether a man was gay or raised rabbits, it was considered a refined and enjoyable thing.

"Zhang Shikang, how dare you! My grandfather is..."

Zhou Dasheng was startled, but was interrupted by Zhang Shikang before he could finish his words.

"I know your grandfather is Zhou Kui, but this is a military camp! Even if your grandfather came in person, it wouldn't work!"

Zhou Dasheng is the best example of what it means to be ignorant of the immensity of the world. His brain has become rusty due to being spoiled by his family, and he cannot distinguish between fantasy and reality.

Do you really think that everyone in the world will pamper you and give in to you?

The only two times when Zhou Dasheng mentioned his grandfather and it didn't work was because of Zhang Shikang. He was very angry, but he found that if mentioning his grandfather didn't work, he really didn't know what to do.

"Zhou Dasheng, and you too!" Zhang Shikang looked around at all the noble children with a cold face.

Except for Sun Dasheng and other members of the Second Sons' Group who still held their heads high, most of the others lowered their heads in fear.

"I know what you are thinking. Do you think that if I dismiss those lieutenants and lieutenant generals, I will give them to you?

This admiral can tell you now, stop dreaming?

Here, you are just a soldier, no different from them, and you'd better give up your fantasy now.

Also, if you dare to address this admiral by his name again, you will be subject to military law.

This is the last time."

Zhang Shikang stared at the timid Zhou Dasheng.

Zhou Dasheng was frightened, but someone behind him whispered:

"Your Majesty promised us that you would use us."

Zhang Shikang was delighted when he heard it.

"Reuse? His Majesty really wants to use you, but do you have the ability? You have never even killed a chicken, so you will be scared to the point of peeing your pants on the battlefield, right?

You want me to hand over their lives and property to you? Ask yourself, are you worthy?

This admiral can tell you right now, unless one day you prove yourselves, prove that you are stronger than them and make them convinced, this admiral will naturally appoint you as general.

But before that, you are just a soldier. Don't always show off your fathers. It's useless in front of me.

If you can't stand it, you can take your luggage and leave now. This admiral will not stop you."

After saying that, Zhang Shikang didn't even look at Zhou Dasheng and was about to leave on his own.

"Zhang... do you dare to disobey my order?" Zhou Dasheng felt that he could not be suppressed like this, but when he wanted to call him by his name, he held back.

Zhang Shikang took out the Emperor's Sword from his waist and shook it.

"Holding this sword, it is as if the emperor himself is here. How can this be considered disobeying an order?"

"I...I...I'm going to the capital to sue you! His Majesty promised to use us, and you are using public power to take revenge!"

As he spoke, he walked towards the gate of the military camp. Zhu Zhengliang didn't want to stay here for a moment, so he limped after him.

Zhu Zhengliang and Zhou Dasheng were their leaders. When they left, they took a large group of people with them. Except for a dozen people from the Second Son Group, there were only two people left.

Zhang Shikang glanced at the two of them and said:

"Why don't you two leave?"

Zhang Shikang knew both of these people. One was Chen Tao, the second son of the Taining Marquis family, and the other was Song Liangzu, the third son of the Xining Marquis family.

The two hesitated for a long time, and Song Liangzu said with a bitter face:

"I can't go back! If I go back I'll get beaten."

Hundreds of thousands of taels of silver emptied out the wealth that Xining Hou had accumulated over the years. The more Song Yude thought about it, the angrier he became. As soon as he thought about it, he went to find Chen Tao with a stick, and he was beaten seven or eight times in three or four days.

He also accused Song Liangzu of being delusional in wanting to be favored by the emperor, and mocked him for not returning home until he made a name for himself.

The situation is similar at Chen Tao's family. In fact, when the group of noble sons and daughters set out today, none of their family members came to see them off for this reason.

"If you disobey orders in the military camp, you will be beaten. Have you two thought it through?"

"Admiral, please think carefully. We both want to stay." Chen Tao was not used to calling Zhang Shikang admiral, but his attitude was still sincere.

Zhang Shikang pointed at Sun Dasheng and said:

"Just follow them from now on. I still say the same thing, but if you are really capable, this admiral will never prevent you from being promoted because of personal grudges. Go get your meal."

After saying this, Zhang Shikang left Huotouying without hesitation.

Although the words just now seemed to be spoken to Zhou Dasheng and others, in fact, Zhang Shikang was also speaking to the brothers of the Second Sons Group.

Friendship is friendship. If Sun Dasheng and Zhang San have the same ability, then the position of military general can be given to Sun Dasheng, but that's all.

He didn't want the people from the Second Sons Group to take advantage of their friendship with him to make excessive demands.

Again, the army cannot be exposed to too much of this stuff, or there will be big problems.

As for how Zhou Dasheng and his group would complain when they returned, Zhang Shikang didn't care at all. That was all business for Brother Chongzhen.

After the meal, Zhang Shikang first wrote a letter to Emperor Chongzhen, describing the general situation of the Beijing camp, including the treatment of those soldiers.

In fact, even if Zhang Shikang didn't say these things, they would soon spread to the capital. The most important parts of the letter were the last few lines, asking Emperor Chongzhen to quickly send Wang Chengen to search the house to prevent Qian Rulong's family from transferring the assets.

He ordered a guerrilla general to ride on horseback to the capital to deliver the message, and then he and Sun Weifan went to the warehouse of the Beijing camp.

The warehouse occupied a large area of the Beijing Camp and was responsible not only for storing food and fodder, but also military supplies such as weapons and uniforms.

Zhang Shikang had noticed that the soldiers were wearing tattered clothes. Even though the weather was hot, some soldiers were still wearing winter clothes with the cotton showing. They looked really shabby, so he wanted to see how many military uniforms were left in the warehouse.

The two of them first came to the accounting office, where the accounts of all military supplies were kept. Zhang Shikang did not trust the quartermaster, so he looked through them himself.

The accounts showed that there were more than 16,400 sets of summer military uniforms and more than 8,500 swords in stock in the warehouse, with a large number of miscellaneous military equipment listed behind them.

To be honest, Zhang Shikang was barely satisfied.

"Sir Admiral, I have seen the number of soldiers on the parade ground today. I am afraid that the vacancies are more serious than we expected."

Sun Weifan said with some worry.

After all, Sun Weifan had experience and could roughly tell the size and number of people. Zhang Shikang didn't have that ability. He just thought there were a lot of people, so he asked the quartermaster:

"How many soldiers are there in the barracks now? If you dare to lie, I will stab you with my sword!"

If it were someone else, even if they were favored and got the Emperor's Sword, they would just keep it as a sacrifice and not show it to others easily. After all, if someone damaged the Emperor's Sword, it would be considered a serious crime.

But Zhang Shikang did something different. He hung the emperor's sword on his waist and carried it around wherever he went, using it to scare people. Zhang Shikang actually treated the sword as his own weapon.

Sun Weifan had already gotten used to Zhang Shikang's style at this time, he just felt a little sorry for the emperor's sword.

The quartermaster also saw Zhang Shikang's prestige today, so he dared not act rashly and quickly replied:

"In reply to your Excellency, the actual amount is... twenty-nine thousand six hundred and eighty."

Zhang Shikang frowned when he heard this.

You have to know that when the Beijing Camp was first established, there were as many as 280,000 people. After two hundred years, not even a fraction of it is left.

Zhang Shikang flipped through the document, which stated that the current number of soldiers in the Beijing Camp was 68,000. He originally thought that no matter how bad the situation was, it should be at least half of that, but he still overestimated it.

Seeing that Zhang Shikang didn't get angry, the quartermaster hesitated for a moment and then said:

"Sir, those uniforms..."

Zhang Shikang was shocked when he heard this. He didn't bother to listen to the quartermaster's words and strode directly to the warehouse where the military uniforms were stored.

Sun Weifan pushed open the old door of the warehouse.

When Zhang Shikang walked in and took a look, he was stunned.

……