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

"Jiawei, weren't you punished by your father to kneel? Why did you run out?" Xu Wenyuan asked.

The person who came was Liu Jiawei, the third son of the Chengyi family.

In the eyes of everyone, Liu Kongzhao, the Marquis of Chengyi, was an old stubborn man who urged Liu Jiawei to go to the Imperial College to study every day.

Liu Jiawei was punished to kneel because he skipped class yesterday and went out with them to watch the cockfight.

Although the other people present were also studying at the Imperial College, their fathers no longer cared about them after they learned to read.

No matter how hard it is for nobles to take the imperial examination, they cannot become officials even if they pass.

"Ha, Wenyuan, you didn't even call me for such an important matter.

Fortunately, I sent my servants to your house to ask, and only then did I know that you were here."

Liu Jiawei is only fourteen years old this year, the youngest among everyone present. He is short and thin, and at first glance he looks like he is malnourished.

He spoke breathlessly, as if he had run over here.

"As for the kneeling punishment, I found a servant who is about the same size as me and asked him to wear my clothes. Well, hehe."

"Aren't you afraid that your father will find out?" Wang Jingduo frowned. They had seen how powerful Marquis Chengyi was and didn't want to see it again.

"That's nothing. His father won't beat him."

Sun Dasheng curled his lips and continued.

"But it's better to give him a beating. Your father... is too scary."

"Hey, big brother, what were you doing just now? I heard the cheers downstairs.

There must be something good going on. Big brother is so disloyal that he actually forgot about me, his younger brother."

Although Liu Jiawei is the youngest, he is the most polite among everyone. Of course, this is also due to his family education.

Xu Wenyuan told Liu Jiawei in a few words the big thing they were going to do.

Liu Jiawei thought for a moment, blinked his eyes and said:

“I must be counted as a younger brother in such an important matter. Although my father is stubborn, he knows the big picture.

I know how much extra money the family has, so I pledged 86,000 taels on behalf of my father."

There are both total and partial amounts, it seems that Liu Jiawei really has his father's family fortune.

Xu Wenyuan probably heard that Liu Jiawei wanted to discuss this directly with his father, so he quickly gave a warning:

"No, this matter needs to be kept secret. You must not tell your father about it."

Liu Jiawei smiled and said he knew.

Although Liu Jiawei was thin, he often had to go to the Imperial College to study and could not hang out with them every day.

But he was not excluded by others at all. He was smart and well-behaved, and always maintained good friendships with everyone in a timely manner.

The big thing has been decided, and the next step is drinking and chatting. Drinking is Sun Dasheng's favorite hobby. Everyone is very happy, except Sun Dasheng, who seems unhappy.

He didn't talk to anyone else. He just picked up the wine jug and walked slowly to Zhang Shikang.

"Brother, my family..."

The group of brothers just now pledged donations of 100,000 or 200,000 taels, and even Liu Jiawei pledged more than 80,000 taels.

Sun Dasheng didn't dare to speak. His face turned red with embarrassment, but he couldn't say anything because his family really had no money.

"I understand. Just do your best. As long as I'm here, His Majesty will certainly not blame you." Zhang Shikang patted Sun Dasheng on the shoulder to comfort him.

Among the many nobles in the capital, the family of Huaining Marquis Sun Weifan was the poorest. Even though he had the title of marquis, he was not as well off as the next-level earl.

Being poor, he was naturally looked down upon by other nobles. They said behind his back that Sun Weifan was arrogant and reckless, ignorant of the ways of the world, unproductive and only knew how to practice martial arts.

However, few people dared to show it in front of Sun Weifan, because he was really good at fighting.

With Zhang Shikang's comfort and guarantee, Sun Dasheng finally recovered a little and vowed that no matter what happened, he would do his best to plunder in order to help his elder brother accomplish great things.

After three rounds of drinks, the cockfighting arena on the first floor was opened, and the restaurant suddenly became very lively.

Wang Jingduo went out to drain the water, and when he came back he looked mysterious. He walked to Xu Wenyuan and whispered a few words.

Xu Wenyuan stood up suddenly.

"Brother, Zhu Zhengliang is gambling on chicken downstairs right now."

As he said this, he took off the gauze hanging on his arm and threw it aside.

Sun Dasheng had even picked up a chair, and everyone looked at Zhang Shikang.

"What are you waiting for? Go get him!"

The atmosphere was so tense that Zhang Shikang started giving orders directly.

He was no longer interested in fighting, but his brothers were.

As they spoke, about twenty young men swarmed out of the private room, shouting and yelling. Some carried stools, some kicked the table legs and broke them, and some even directly snatched the rolling pin from the waiter.

With such a big scene, the other customers in the store were stunned. The shopkeeper was fiddling with an abacus, and when he saw the person running out of the private room, he was scared out of his wits.

The playboys in the capital also have factions. People like Xu Wenyuan have similar interests. Although they don't do anything good, they at least have a sense of propriety in their hearts.

The other faction headed by Zhu Zhengliang was even more extreme. They bullied men and women, forced women of good character into prostitution, and even accidentally killed an old charcoal seller.

However, these matters were suppressed by his father, Duke Chengguo Zhu Chunchen.

The two factions had been fighting each other almost since they were young because of their different ideologies. They were also frequent customers of several restaurants in the capital, so they would fight almost every time they met.

Last time, Xu Wenyuan and his two companions suffered a great loss because they were outnumbered, but this time the situation was the opposite.

As the saying goes, enemies become more jealous of each other when they meet. Everyone was drinking, and Xu Wenyuan and Sun Dasheng were running in the front, their eyes were red.

Of course Zhu Zhengliang also noticed the movement upstairs. When he saw it was Xu Wenyuan, he ran away without any hesitation.

The few younger brothers who followed him were slow to react and were the first to be overwhelmed by the crowd. The first floor of the restaurant was suddenly in chaos, with wailing sounds deafening.

Zhu Zhengliang also failed to run away because he was fat and ran slowly, and was soon knocked down on the street outside the store by Wang Jingduo, who ran the fastest.

"It hurts, it hurts, brother Zhang, please show mercy, please spare my life, please spare my life!"

He was hit on the back with a bench and his butt was kicked countless times. Zhu Zhengliang was smart enough to know that he should ask the king for help before asking for help. While wailing, he begged for mercy from Zhang Shikang who was standing in the distance watching the fight.

Zhang Shikang took a look at the situation. His ancestors were indeed military generals, and they fought much more fiercely than the gangsters of later generations. He was worried about something happening, so he was about to ask his brothers to stop.

Sun Dasheng beat the bench leg in his hand until only one was left, so he threw it aside and ran out of the store screaming.

He jumped up suddenly and fell on Zhu Zhengliang's fat body with a bang.

Zhu Zhengliang's eyes widened, and he was in so much pain that he didn't even cry out.

Sun Dasheng didn't care what the guy did. He picked up a potato as big as his fist and hit Zhu Zhengliang in the face.

"That's enough, Dasheng, stop."

Zhang Shikang ran over quickly. He was numb. It wasn't revenge for his father's murder. This Sun Dasheng was just like his father. He didn't care about the consequences when fighting.

When the eldest brother shouted "stop", Sun Dasheng stopped immediately and even spat on Zhu Zhengliang after he finished.

"You'll have to avoid us when you see us next time, understand?"

Zhu Zhengliang's face was swollen, but he didn't care about his face. He just hugged his right leg with both hands, sweating coldly, and finally burst into tears after a long while.

Zhang Shikang thought that this guy’s legs must not be broken, so he glared at Sun Dasheng. Sun Dasheng grinned and scratched his head.

If it is broken, it is broken. It can be reconnected. As a playboy leader, Zhang Shikang did not take it seriously.

His father is a duke, his father is also a duke, who is afraid of who.

Thinking of this, Zhang Shikang squatted in front of Zhu Zhengliang and said with a smile:

"Sixth Brother, go back and tell your father that if he dares to talk behind the back of Marquis Huaining again, I will beat him up too next time."

……