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

Sure enough, upon hearing Zhang Shikang's explanation/(perfunctory), Emperor Chongzhen immediately gave up his idea which he thought was unreasonable.

Especially the sentence that as long as he was in the capital, Zhang Shikang would feel at ease when he was on the expedition, which made Emperor Chongzhen's mouth rise, and he couldn't suppress it.

Sure enough, even in military affairs, this guy can't do without me!

Sometimes it is like this, when someone you look down upon praises you, you feel that the other person is being sarcastic and that whatever the other person does is just a villain trying to harm you.

But if you care about someone very much, you will feel that whatever he does to you is for your own good, and it is definitely not like what he does to you like those slutty bitches.

Seeing that he had coaxed his brother into a good mood with just a few words, Zhang Shikang took the opportunity to decide to let Zhu Cilang join the army.

Emperor Chongzhen even took the initiative to suggest that the matter did not need to be reported to the court, as if he wanted Zhang Shikang to be taken away quietly to prevent the civil officials such as Hai Zhongqi from making any more noise in the court.

As soon as the matter was finalized, Zhu Cilang couldn't suppress his smile and even made a cheering gesture.

The thirteen-year-old Zhu Cilang was at the age of rebellion. He had previously studied Confucianism with civil officials in the court, and those teachers always told him what a gentleman should do.

Zhu Cilang was younger at that time than he is now, and he felt that what the teacher said must be right, even though he did not understand the meaning of those difficult principles.

He held himself to the great principles in the Confucian classics. Even though he was only eight or nine years old at the time, the civil officials praised him for having the bearing of a crown prince.

At that time, Zhu Cilang actually did not understand why the Ming Dynasty was full of starving people and faced internal and external troubles. Those gentlemen had repeatedly expressed implicitly that the reason for this was because the emperor was not wise or benevolent enough.

Until one day, little Zhu Cilang discovered that all this was fake. Those teachers taught him moral principles, saying that the people were suffering, the world was in poverty, and that the crown prince should do this and that.

But they themselves were doing despicable and corrupt things. He still remembered that a teacher taught him not to be greedy for women, even though he didn't know what women were at that time.

A teacher taught him that he should be frugal and sympathetic to the sufferings of the people.

Another teacher taught him that he should share the world with the literati, be more tolerant and close to civil officials, be wary of military generals in various places, and be alert to the lessons of the late Han and Tang dynasties.

However, Master Zhang investigated and punished many of his teachers. The old minister who told him not to be greedy for women took twelve concubines and had thirty children. He was already old with gray beard, and his youngest child was not even as old as Zhu Cilang.

The one who taught him to be frugal confiscated three times more silver than the national treasury at that time.

It's all fake.

This incident had a profound psychological impact on the young Zhu Cilang.

At that time, Master Zhang was not yet Master Zhang, but his enemy - Zhu Cilang once hated Zhang Shikang because Zhang Shikang forced his grandfather to death.

But later, Eunuch Fang from the Eastern Depot informed him of the various misdeeds of the Earl of Jiading, and he gradually let it go.

At that time, he still couldn't understand why the words of the sages were so divided in the court today.

He was troubled by this for a long time, until New Year's Eve two years ago, when Master Zhang told him the answer.

At first Zhu Cilang didn’t believe it. He spent half a year thinking about it before he gradually understood something.

Later, his father asked him to become his disciple, and he gladly accepted in order to find the real answer.

Over the past year, he had followed Master Zhang to many places, including various workshops of the Manufacturing Bureau, various types of military equipment in the Xishan Camp, and the Ming Navy Base in Tianjin alone, which he had visited several times.

He learned about the various types of weapons and firearms currently used by the Ming Dynasty, and also knew the functions of various types of Fu ships, bird ships, and eagle ships, including the differences between Ming warships and European galleons and even double-deck warships.

More importantly, after two years of Master Zhang’s words and deeds, the thirteen-year-old Zhu Cilang finally roughly understood the answer.

Of course, most of the words of saints are correct. It is the people and even this era that are wrong.

To establish a mind for heaven and earth, and to establish a destiny for the people, it is not enough to rely solely on the words of sages, there is still one thing missing.

That thing is called truth.

Master Zhang told him that the cannon is the truth.

The words of sages can only truly play their role when combined with cannons.

Zhu Cilang deeply agreed with this.

For this reason, he has been cramming the truth for the past year.

Until the Jianlu in the north began to make trouble again, Master Zhang told him that it was useless to talk about war on paper, and the truth could only be verified on the battlefield. He also suggested taking him to the frontier to fight.

For a rebellious child who had never left Shuntian Prefecture, leaving the border was definitely very exciting news. Zhu Cilang even remembered several frontier poems and was so excited that he couldn't sleep that night.

Now, having passed the most difficult hurdle, his father actually agreed to this matter.

He could finally see with his own eyes the power of truth.

Master Zhang is really amazing. He convinced the emperor with just a few words, thought Zhu Cilang, who had been hooked into becoming a black carp.

"Um... Your Majesty, I have something else to report to Your Majesty."

Zhang Shikang didn't know what was going on in his student's mind. After fooling Brother Chongzhen, he suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

"Report? Why go to such lengths? If Wuji has any request, just tell me directly." Emperor Chongzhen said calmly.

Emperor Chongzhen was well aware that going on an expedition was not only dangerous but also extremely arduous.

In the past few years, Zhang Shikang had been fighting for him everywhere, suppressing the Jianlu in the north, the bandits in the middle, and the rebellion of Duke Wei in the south. It can be said that he had fought wars in both the south and the north.

If it were any other minister, Emperor Chongzhen would certainly not be so tolerant, but he understood that Zhang Wuji was simply a lazy guy, and it was a blessing for him to be able to achieve this.

Therefore, whenever Zhang Shikang made a request, as long as it was not too excessive, Emperor Chongzhen would generally approve it directly.

"It's not a big deal, actually. My wife is the granddaughter of Marquis Zhongzheng and the daughter of Marquis Polu.

I promised her that if she married me, I would help her realize her long-cherished wish of galloping on the battlefield. " Zhang Shikang laughed.

As the commander-in-chief of the army, there is actually no need to tell the emperor about this matter, but Ma Lingqi is not an official after all, and female relatives are strictly prohibited from traveling in the army.

This matter is not a big deal. Even if the civil servants in the court knew about it, they would at most make a few minor complaints.

However, since Zhang Shikang took command of the troops, he has attached the greatest importance to military discipline. As the commander-in-chief, he naturally did not want to set a bad example for his subordinates.

"So, you want me to give her an official position?" Emperor Chongzhen rolled his eyes at Zhang Shikang and said with his beard raised.

Zhang Shikang grinned and nodded rapidly.

"Humph, boy, you are not going to use such a trick to deceive others into marrying you, are you?" Emperor Chongzhen said with some contempt.

……