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

Zhang Shikang's words were undoubtedly somewhat rebellious. After all, it seemed that he was speaking for the bandits.

But in fact, Zhang Shikang wanted Emperor Chongzhen to understand that he should not act as if the other person deserved death. If he really put himself in his shoes, he would still dig up the other person's ancestral graves. Not only that, he would probably even dance on top of them.

You can be double-standard on small things. After all, it's human nature and it's harmless.

But if people in the world still use double standards and say things like why not eat meat, it will be a tragedy for people in the world.

Because you didn't govern the country well, the people couldn't survive and rebelled. What else can I say?

Who doesn't have a lot of reasons? But that's the truth.

How can you put all the blame on others?

People surrendered, no matter if they were guilty or not, or how serious their sins were, they went to atone their sins.

As the Son of Heaven, no matter what, brother, you should take this as a warning and try to prevent such things from happening again in the world. This is what an Emperor should do.

After Zhang Shikang finished speaking, he stopped talking, leaving Emperor Chongzhen frowning alone.

In fact, Zhang Shikang had said these words before, but Emperor Chongzhen at that time would grit his teeth in hatred when talking about the bandits and would not carefully consider the internal logic.

The root cause of the bandits' rebellion actually lies in the imperial court, with him.

Now that the bandits have been pacified and the country is stable, Emperor Chongzhen can calmly think about Zhang Shikang's words.

He pondered for a long time, and his expression finally softened.

"You should go to the Censorate."

Emperor Chongzhen said calmly that this boy's debating ability was really amazing. At least in many debates between him and this boy, he always ended up losing.

"I am just discussing the matter at hand. I will not go to the Censorate. Those trolls are too annoying!" Zhang Shikang said with a smile.

"Wuji, come on, I'll take you to see some good things!" After letting go of his worries, Emperor Chongzhen suddenly remembered something and said with interest.

Zhang Shikang didn't know the truth, so he had to follow Brother Chongzhen.

After turning left and right, he walked to a small house, which was a cellar with several guards guarding outside.

Zhang Shikang didn't know what treasure his brother had hidden, and why he had asked someone to guard it, so he followed his brother Chongzhen down to the cellar.

Zhang Shikang's eyes lit up as soon as he took a look. Wow, there was a huge pile of sweet potatoes and potatoes hidden in the cellar.

Moreover, the size of the sweet potatoes was obviously larger than the ones grown by the farmer when he passed by Zhuxian Town.

This shows that the cultivation level of these sweet potatoes is better than those grown by the farmer in that farm.

Of course, the size of potatoes was not as big as those in later generations. They were about the size of tangerines in later generations.

"Your Majesty, did you grow all these?" Zhang Shikang grabbed a few potatoes and asked in surprise.

"Of course. From farming to harvesting, I didn't ask anyone to help." Talking about this, Emperor Chongzhen's face was full of pride.

"This... this... is this the legendary gifted talent?" Zhang Shikang praised in surprise.

But he knew that Brother Chongzhen definitely didn't know how to farm before, and it was no exaggeration to say that he was a novice.

But Zhang Shikang knew that when his brother first discovered this hobby, in addition to handling government affairs, he almost every day read a book on agronomy that he had asked from Song Yingxing.

But no matter what, sweet potatoes and potatoes are new crops. It is not easy to grow them successfully, let alone to harvest a lot.

"Mr. Song said that the yield from the little land I planted is almost the same as that from his experimental field." Emperor Chongzhen said happily.

But after saying this, his face became sad.

"However, I just followed the notes he sent me. I loosened the soil when it was time to loosen the soil, watered when it was time to water, and fertilized when it was time to fertilize.

When I encounter problems with weeding and pest control that I can't solve, I either go to Mr. Song or look for answers in those agronomy books.

As a result, my nursery had a good harvest.

But Wuji, this is also the first time I’ve been the emperor.

But being an emperor is not as easy as farming. No one will tell you what to do and when to do it. If you encounter a problem that cannot be solved, you don’t know who to ask to solve it. No one will tell you the correct answer.

One person says it should be done this way, and another person says it should be done that way. Even if what they say is not right, they will start arguing about it, endlessly.

Corrupt officials will not say that they are corrupt officials. All the civil and military officials in the court always want me to know how loyal and capable they are.

They want to be promoted, they want more power, maybe they really want to do something for the people of the world, who knows?"

Emperor Chongzhen spoke in a low voice, as if he was talking to himself, or as if he was confiding something.

After all, the court was full of corrupt officials, so who could he, as the emperor, dare to tell his true feelings to? He might be cheated to the point of being left with nothing.

Zhang Shikang understood, and subconsciously said:

"Being the emperor is indeed hard enough!"

Emperor Chongzhen looked at Zhang Shikang in surprise, and Zhang Shikang immediately changed his words:

"That's not what I meant. Your Majesty, as the Son of Heaven, the burden on your shoulders is naturally not light."

However, this remedy seemed particularly powerless. Emperor Chongzhen certainly knew that unintentional words were the most truthful.

But he was not angry, this kid has always been like this.

"So Wuji, I feel relieved to have you to help me. Although you often say offensive things, I believe you are telling the truth.

I know that honest advice hurts.

But this burden is too heavy, I cannot carry it alone, but you have gone against those court officials. Why do you always want to resign?

Do you know that saying this makes me feel uncomfortable?

Sometimes I think, how nice it would be if you were a descendant of my Zhu family..."

"Your Majesty, you are too serious. How can you say such things? It's too annoying. Living with the emperor is like living with a tiger. Let's take a look at these potatoes first.

Hey, why are there so many wine jars over there?"

Seeing that Brother Chongzhen was talking more and more outrageously, Zhang Shikang finally couldn't help but interrupt him. He then made a few half-joking excuses and pointed to a pile of jars in the corner of the cellar and asked.

"That is the wine I asked the Imperial Kitchen to brew with sweet potatoes. It has been more than two months." said Emperor Chongzhen.

"Sweet potato stew! I have to try it." Zhang Shikang said with interest.

There is also a small wooden table and a small stool in the cellar. It was the place where Emperor Chongzhen would rest when he occasionally came to the cellar to check on the seeds he had left for the next year.

Emperor Chongzhen gave orders to the guards outside the cellar, and they quickly brought over utensils for scooping wine and two small wine bowls.

Zhang Shikang opened a jar and immediately smelled the strong aroma of wine with a hint of sweet potato.

He scooped a bowl for himself and also scooped a bowl for his brother Chongzhen, and brought them both to the small square table.

Zhang Shikang sat opposite Emperor Chongzhen and raised his wine bowl to clink it with the bowl in Emperor Chongzhen's hand.

He took a sip and then immediately grinned.

This wine must be at least thirty degrees.

Emperor Chongzhen smiled and took a sip himself, as if savoring the taste.

"Sweet Potato Shao, this name is indeed good. This wine will be called this name from now on." Emperor Chongzhen said with a smile.

Zhang Shikang took another sip, still grinning.

After a while, he answered the question that Brother Chongzhen was worried about:

"Your Majesty, why bother yourself with something that has not happened? You are still young, and so am I. We both have a long way to go, and I have never said that I will not care about anything!

Also, Your Majesty, how can you always say that I am lazy? I haven't even had a good New Year in the past two years. I have been running around every day. How can I be lazy?

The landlord's donkey is not as hardworking as me!

Hehe, considering my hard work, Your Majesty, can you grant me a marriage?"