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

When Zhang Shikang finished the prisoner presentation ceremony and got on the carriage to go home, it was almost dark.

Compared with the cumbersome etiquette, Zhang Shikang felt that although military training was tiring, at least it was exhausting and he felt happy.

The British Duke Zhang Zhiji naturally also participated in the entire ceremony, but Zhang Zhiji was accustomed to such things and did not take it seriously at all.

He sat in the carriage and looked at his son. In fact, Zhang Shikang had not been home for two months and had only come back twice in half a year.

"Son, you've gotten tanned. Life in the military camp must be hard, right?" Zhang Zhiji said to Zhang Shikang with satisfaction.

When Zhang Shikang was first promoted by the Emperor to be the commander-in-chief of the Beijing Camp, Zhang Zhiji was really nervous for several days at first.

As a father, Zhang Zhiji knew what kind of person his son was. Although everything was taken care of by his father, the Duke, he had always done so.

But military affairs are a matter of great importance to a country, and the position of the governor of the Beijing camp is of great importance. His son was so naughty, and for the first time, Zhang Zhiji felt helpless.

Now half a year has passed, and Zhang Zhiji is extremely surprised at his son's performance. Many times he even doubted whether this was still his unlearned son.

In half a year, the Beijing Army went from being in disrepair and having low morale to now having high morale and every soldier is vigorous and energetic. Zhang Zhiji has seen this change.

Zhang Zhiji knew that his son must have worked hard on the military training, but he was a father after all, and seeing his son getting tanned like this, Zhang Zhiji felt a little distressed.

"Yes, Dad, life in the military camp is really hard. We are poor. I have to eat coarse food every day. How about giving me some more money?"

Zhang Shikang, who had just been lying in the carriage to rest out of exhaustion, suddenly had his eyes light up. He sat up and started crying poor and pitiful.

The court had not had any major income since that fundraising event. In just over a month, most of the money had been spent, to the point that it could not even supply Yang Sichang with food and fodder.

Although there were only more than 24,000 soldiers in the Beijing camp, Zhang Shikang provided them with three meals a day, and four to five thousand livestock were fed with soybeans every day.

Most of the 100,000 taels of grain and more than 400,000 taels of silver given by Emperor Chongzhen have now been spent.

Zhang Zhiji felt a headache after hearing this.

"Shikang, can't you find someone else to fleece? You've almost fleeced all the people in our Duke's Mansion!"

In the past six months, in addition to the 420,000 taels of silver pledged by the Duke of Yingguo's Mansion, Zhang Zhiji was afraid of problems, so a month later he took the initiative to transfer 30,000 taels of silver from various shops in the Duke of Yingguo's Mansion and gave it to Zhang Shikang.

Knowing that his family owned various shops, Zhang Shikang would ask his subordinates to take his handwritten letters to ask for something when he needed it.

At first, Zhang Zhiji didn't care, after all, he was helping his son, but after a long time, the Duke's Mansion couldn't bear it anymore.

"Hehe, just a joke." Zhang Shikang was about to go home and suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

After six months of hustle and bustle, he had almost exhausted all the wealth of the Duke's Mansion. For this reason, his elder brother, who loved business the most, had protested to him several times.

Zhang Shikang actually didn't think about his various wasteful behaviors. He even had many creative ideas, such as making objects that did not exist in this era, such as soap, glass, and MSG. These were all things that would definitely sell well, and were not too difficult to make given the current industrial level.

But the problem is that Zhang Shikang simply doesn't have the time.

He came here to enjoy himself, but looking at the present, Zhang Shikang discovered sadly that it is not so easy to lie down, whether here or in modern times.

"Your mother talks about you every day, so have a good chat with her when you get home.

And there is that girl Jingyi. Marquis Huaining found a female coach for her from somewhere. This girl doesn't learn any of the arts, such as playing chess, calligraphy or painting, but only knows how to wield swords and sticks. It's really disgraceful.

In another year or two, she would be almost old enough to get married. If her reputation got out, who would dare to marry her?

This girl listens to you, go back and help persuade her." Zhang Zhiji said helplessly.

In the eyes of ordinary people in this era, women should be well-educated and well-mannered. In addition to learning some needlework, knowing some music, chess, calligraphy and painting is also a plus. Women practicing martial arts is always considered to be contrary to common sense and inconsistent with the teachings of saints, and Zhang Zhiji is naturally no exception.

"If you can't get married, then don't get married. It's not like our Duke's Mansion can't support people." Zhang Shikang said with a smile.

"How can you say that? You're making others laugh at you." Zhang Zhiji shook his head.

"Before, he was considered unlearned and unskillful by everyone, but now he has become the commander-in-chief of the Beijing Camp.

Dad, I think as long as you don’t do anything harmful to others, you can do whatever you want.

Life is only a few short decades long, so we always have to care about what others think and hope that everything we do will meet other people's expectations.

What's the point then? Are we living our lives for those people?

If Jingyi is interested, let her try it. When one day she gets tired of it or doesn't want to practice martial arts anymore, she will naturally stop. But she must have other interests. If people can pursue what they like throughout their lives, don't you think that this will make their lives worthwhile?"

This was Zhang Shikang's true thought. If the Ming Dynasty was not about to perish, he would never have come out to act as a firefighter.

Whether in ancient times or modern times, not working is considered laziness, and this awareness has been deeply engraved in the public consciousness.

Is this really the case?

Maybe for ordinary people, work can indeed solve the problem of food and clothing.

But whether it is Zhang Shikang or his sister, they can enjoy delicacies such as abalone and bird's nest every day without having to work, so why do they still need to work?

It is undeniable that there are always some people in this world whose starting point is already an unattainable destination for most people.

Since God has made you the chosen one, why bother believing in the capitalists? As long as you want to suffer, you will suffer endlessly. Why bother?

As for his sister, Zhang Shikang didn't think there was anything wrong with practicing martial arts. At least it could help her exercise her body. Nowadays, it was not encouraged for women to go out casually, so she should at least have some entertainment activities.

However, Zhang Shikang was still interested in the martial arts of that time. He had long heard that ancient martial arts were all killing skills, which were not comparable to the fancy moves of later generations, but seeing is believing.

He didn't meet the female coach last time he went home, so he must go and see it with his own eyes this time.

Zhang Shikang also learned a lot of moves from the lieutenant generals and deputy generals in the military camp. He knew that ordinary people would never be his match, so he decided to see how powerful this female coach that Sun Weifan had found was.

Tsk tsk, female coach.

Zhang Shikang's words may seem ordinary to modern people, but here they seem a bit arrogant and rebellious.

Zhang Zhiji frowned after hearing this. He did not agree with Zhang Shikang's statement.

According to the teachings of the saints, a son should be filial, a husband should manage the household, a father should raise his children, and a minister should serve the country. How can one live only for oneself? Isn't that something only selfish people would do?

Zhang Zhiji suddenly couldn't understand his son. After a long while, he said:

"You are not young anymore. You should think about your marriage when you go back this time."

Zhang Shikang was shocked when he heard this. He stood up from the carriage and hit his head on the roof.

……