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

After hearing Zhu Cilang's words, Emperor Chongzhen frowned.

"You are still young, and you know what truth is! Now that you are back, why don't you go and greet your mother?"

Emperor Chongzhen was always strict with the Crown Prince. In the past, Zhu Cilang would not dare to speak in front of the Emperor unless he asked a question.

This time, Zhu Cilang not only took the initiative to speak, but even stood on Zhang Shikang's side to refute him.

It's really a mess.

"Oh." Zhu Cilang was scolded by Emperor Chongzhen. He obediently bowed and turned to leave.

Judging from his expression, Zhu Cilang was obviously not convinced.

Cannon is the truth, even if the king comes, so is the truth.

"Father, Master Zhang was so impressive when he spoke to that red-haired barbarian! There must be a reason why Master Zhang bought something!" Princess Kunyi also whispered to her father.

"You should also go and pay your respects to your mother." Emperor Chongzhen said in a muffled voice.

It has only been a short time, and the little girl has already started to go against her will? This made Emperor Chongzhen very depressed.

Princess Kunyi didn't understand the situation at all and left with her royal brother in anger.

"I will tell the Ministry of Revenue. I know you are capable and knowledgeable, but the court has only just begun to build up its foundation. You should try your best to save money."

Emperor Chongzhen did not intend to reprimand Zhang Shikang, but he really did not want to see the situation of rats running out of the national treasury again.

"Yes, yes, I understand." Zhang Shikang said honestly.

"I heard from your father that you are planning to bring those singing girls you raised in Jiangnan to the capital?" Emperor Chongzhen looked at Zhang Shikang with a bad expression again.

"Why does Dad tell everything to others..." Zhang Shikang muttered speechlessly.

"Hmm?" Emperor Chongzhen frowned.

"Oh, yes, yes, yes. I am worried about leaving them in such a far place." Zhang Shikang said casually.

"I heard from your father that those singing girls are pregnant?"

"Your Majesty, this is what happened. Alas, I haven't even married yet, but I already have a child. Your Majesty, what do you think I should do?" Zhang Shikang said with some distress, and then he glanced at Emperor Chongzhen.

Although he already had a general idea in his mind, at least to give him a status, he still wanted to see what this brother thought.

"Humph! You've done such a good thing, aren't you afraid of losing your reputation?

The Duke of Zhenguo got pregnant before marriage, and with a group of singing girls!

It's really... Alas!" When Emperor Chongzhen thought about this, he felt as uncomfortable as if a fly was stuffed in his mouth, but in the end he didn't say anything too unpleasant.

"They are not qualified to be my wives. At most, I will allow you to take them as concubines. Moreover, you are not allowed to be so promiscuous in the future!"

"No... Your Majesty, I'm just asking for your advice. Do you want to interfere in my private affairs?" Zhang Shikang grinned.

He originally wanted to ask the old man as a friend whether he thought it would be appropriate to hold a wedding for the eight girls or something, after all, taking concubines also requires some procedures.

The problem is that four of them are pregnant, and it will probably be two months before everyone arrives. By then, Chen Yuanyuan and the other three will be seven months pregnant, and their pregnancies will definitely be very obvious.

So Zhang Shikang was a little conflicted about whether or not to do it.

He never thought that he treated his elder brother as a friend, but his elder brother actually treated him as a subject.

It doesn’t seem right to call him a subject. Anyway, there is a weird feeling, as if...his elder brother treats him as an ignorant...junior?

"I am the Son of Heaven. What can't I take care of in this world's affairs and people?" Emperor Chongzhen said sternly.

"Well, the world is big, and Your Majesty is the greatest. Everything Your Majesty said is right." Zhang Shikang said very disappointedly.

Emperor Chongzhen seemed to sense that Zhang Shikang was not sincere, but he was not angry. He picked up the hoe and loosened the soil for the potato seedlings while saying:

"You should focus on state affairs. Women are hard to keep. If you keep them close, they will become arrogant. If you keep them away, they will be disrespectful. If you keep them too close, it will harm your health. You should keep this in mind."

Emperor Chongzhen basically lived in the Qianqing Palace in recent years, and he would only see his concubines once every few days.

In the past, I was too busy with state affairs to be in the mood, but now I have such a large area of seedlings to take care of that I don’t have the energy.

He didn't have many concubines in his harem. If you count all the concubines including Empress Zhou, there were only eight or nine. Zhang Shikang came up with eight at once, which scared Emperor Chongzhen.

"Your Majesty, I suspect you are using CPU to attack me.

Aren't you also not doing your job properly?" Zhang Shikang pointed at the hoe in Emperor Chongzhen's hand unconvinced.

Ever since he developed a hobby of farming, this old man would excitedly start digging the ground once he had finished dealing with state affairs.

That obsessed look was exactly the same as his father's mood when he went fishing recently.

Humph, I was asked to focus on state affairs, but you were the first to do something else. How can this make sense?

Besides, how can work be as comfortable as a hobby? Brother, you like farming, and I like doing trade. No one should blame anyone!

Emperor Chongzhen frowned when he heard this. He didn't understand the first half of the sentence. He was used to Zhang Shikang always saying strange things, but he had heard the second half of the sentence several times.

If it were any other courtier, he would have been beaten with a stick long ago, so he retorted dissatisfiedly:

"I have already dealt with all the affairs of the court. Can't I take a break?"

"I haven't delayed any matters! I'm even helping Your Majesty take care of the children!" Zhang Shikang curled his lips.

"I am doing this for your own good. Being close to women is harmful to your health. Do you understand?

Besides, the prince and Kunyi are not children anymore, how can you still treat them as children?

Forget it, let’s not talk about this. Are you sure we’re going to suppress the bandits in June?”

Zhang Shikang was eloquent and Emperor Chongzhen knew he could not defend himself, so he had to change the subject in annoyance.

"Yes, I plan to select candidates for the expedition in the next few days, and the Ministry of Revenue will also have to transport food and fodder in advance.

There is no need to transport too much. The rice in Jiangnan will be ripe in two months, so we can just buy food for the people there." Zhang Shikang thought for a moment and said.

"Finally, we are getting down to business. How many soldiers do you plan to take with you?" Emperor Chongzhen said, half-supporting his body while pressing his hands on the end of the hoe.

"Fifty thousand or so. Combined with General Qin's 40,000 troops, it should be enough." Zhang Shikang said after a moment of hesitation.

"But Zhang Xianzhong has hundreds of thousands of troops, and Li Zicheng has at least 50,000 or 60,000. Don't be too arrogant!" Emperor Chongzhen frowned.

He was not worried about losing the battle, but he was worried that something might happen to this kid.

Given the current financial situation of the Ming Dynasty, a defeat is not a big deal, but if this guy is gone, there will be many more defeats in the future.

"Times have changed, Your Majesty. Just wait and see how the bandits perform this time. I will definitely defeat them!" Zhang Shikang said, patting his chest.

Today's Guards not only have high morale, but their weapons and equipment have also been upgraded.

The Rumi gun was replaced with a musket, and the old French iron cannon was replaced with a new 24-pound bronze cannon.

There were not many copper cannons. There were only twenty in stock delivered in advance by Guoguoya. One was retained by the Guangzhou Cannon Foundry, and there were nineteen in the Xishan Camp.

Tang Ruowang promised that within two months, he would do his best to build new bronze cannons and try to have thirty of them by the time of the expedition.

In addition, the Guards also have a full 10,000 cavalry and 900 heavy armored soldiers. This is because the manufacturing tools are still under construction and the efficiency of the Ministry of Industry is not high, resulting in more than half a year to produce 900 sets of heavy armor.

But in terms of current armaments, it is much better than two years ago. Two years ago, he dared to fight against the Jiannu.

Are you still afraid of a few bandits?

"I have seen Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng, but they are just selling out Seoul!"

……