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

The group of people immediately burst into laughter after hearing this.

After hearing this, many people remembered it. After all, Zhang Shikang was quite famous in the capital before.

However, they did not blame Zhang Shikang. The main reason was that although Zhang Shikang was a playboy, he basically did not bully ordinary people. The reason why he was called the leader of the four playboys was only because the other three had been beaten by him.

Although eating buns without paying is not a glorious thing, the man not only did not complain after saying it, but he even seemed a little proud.

The Admiral of the Beijing Camp was no ordinary person. During wartime, he was almost equivalent to half the Minister of Defense. The Minister of Defense ate his buns, which showed that he looked up to him.

But Jiang Chengliang, the commander of the West City Army, didn't think so. He stood not far from the group of people with flickering eyes, and it was unknown what bad thing he was thinking about.

Of course he also knew Zhang Shikang. In fact, for the sake of the Duke of England, he helped Zhang Shikang clean up his mess several times. After all, gang fights were within his jurisdiction.

However, he was still surprised that this dandy young man could become the commander-in-chief of the Beijing Camp. Jiang Chengliang felt that the British must have been partial to him.

But the situation is stronger than the person, who can blame him for having a good father?

Now the governor of the Beijing camp is his immediate superior, but Zhang Shikang not only ignores him, he even scolds him in front of the people. But he is not angry, and decides to take the initiative to repair the relationship and let the young governor know how hateful these unruly people are.

"Admiral." Jiang Chengliang walked behind Zhang Shikang and whispered.

"Huh?" Zhang Shikang was wondering how his musketeers would respond if the Jiannu really attacked the capital. He turned to look at Jiang Chengliang in confusion.

Of course he knew this guy. There was a previous fight between him and Zhu Zhengliang and it was this guy who took sides. Later he found out that this guy had accepted bribes from Zhu Zhengliang.

"That group of unruly people are saying bad things about the admiral. I think it damages the admiral's reputation, so I came to inform you. As long as the admiral gives the order, I will send people to teach them a lesson." Jiang Chengliang said with a friendly smile.

"So, you, an official, are here to report to this admiral? Or are you reporting to the people under your jurisdiction?"

Zhang Shikang had a cold face and was very disrespectful.

Of course, he also knew what it meant to be in harmony with the world. He could be in harmony with the soldiers and even tell dirty jokes to them. He could also be in harmony with the common people, but he just didn't like to collude with such a crappy official.

Jiang Chengliang was frustrated and left in disgrace.

Zhang Shikang thought about it and decided to walk up to the group of people with a few guards.

Of course, the people also saw that Jiang Chengliang seemed to have said something to the most dissolute playboy in the capital. He might have said something bad about them. For a moment, they were all silent. The guy who was selling buns at a stall in the capital even started to tremble in his legs.

"Which brother just now said that this admiral ate buns without paying?" Zhang Shikang asked gently.

He tried to make his expression look kinder, but the effect was surprisingly poor.

The man selling buns put a stone in his hand on the ground and knelt down in front of Zhang Shikang.

"I am talking nonsense, please spare my life, Admiral!"

"What nonsense are you talking about? I recognize you. I was young and ignorant before, so this is my compensation to you."

Having said that, Zhang Shikang personally helped him up, and took out a piece of silver weighing about three cents from his pocket and handed it to the other person.

That person didn't dare to answer, and waved his hand:

"I dare not, I dare not, please forgive me, sir."

"Of course you have to pay for food, take it." Zhang Shikang stuffed the silver into the man's hand and turned around to go back to the city wall.

After walking a few steps, Zhang Shikang turned back and said:

"Oh, the buns you made taste great. I'll go try them next time I have time.

Also, if any of those playboys dare to eat without paying again, you can tell this admiral and I will make sure they don’t dare to do it again.”

After saying this, he went to discuss the deployment of defenses with Sun Weifan without any hesitation.

The common people then dared to speak out. At this time, the common people were relatively simple and honest, and had a natural awe of officials. They were all pondering what Zhang Shikang had just said.

"Old Wu, the Admiral is protecting you. No one will dare to bully you anymore."

"Yes, the admiral not only gave me money, but also said that your buns are delicious. When the war is over, we will go and try them."

"Your business will definitely be prosperous in the future."

The man called Lao Wu held the silver given by Zhang Shikang in his hand and was speechless for a long time. After a while, he knelt down in the direction where Zhang Shikang left and murmured:

"The Admiral is a good man!"

……

In the next few days, Zhang Shikang almost lived and ate on the city wall. Apart from inquiring about the war situation every day, he had nothing to do.

No wonder. As the commander-in-chief of the Beijing Camp, he would basically not be used unless the capital was besieged. This made Zhang Shikang feel that he had trained the troops in vain for half a year.

Except for him, including Sun Weifan, all the soldiers were a little depressed. They all wanted to go to the battlefield.

It’s not that they are not afraid of death. Everyone’s life is precious. They just want to prove themselves to the admiral and be worthy of the three meals a day that Zhang Shikang gives them. After all, it is said that even the border troops do not have such treatment.

At the same time, because of Zhang Shikang's promise, rewards and punishments were clear, and no one would embezzle their credit.

The Ming Dynasty’s reward for military merit was not low. A Tartar head was worth fifteen taels of silver, which was fifteen months’ salary for an ordinary infantryman. It was a huge sum of money for an ordinary soldier.

If you are lucky enough to make a great contribution, perhaps you can completely turn things around.

Even if he died in battle, there was no need to worry. According to Ming Dynasty law, the court would continue to pay his family one year's military pay and exempt his family from land tax until the children in the family reached the age of sixteen and were able to survive.

These pensions were meaningless in most troops, but they believed in the admiral and Zhang Shikang's promise.

But now these soldiers not only can’t fight, they don’t even need to drill. They are almost bored standing on the city walls every day.

Zhang Shikang also wanted to go to the front line to take a look. After all, he had never seen the Jiannu Tartars. He only heard that if the Jianzhou Jurchens numbered less than 10,000, they would be invincible.

He was just a little unconvinced and wanted to see how powerful the Jianzhou Jurchens were.

Sun Weifan patrolled the city wall a little anxiously, occasionally returning to the city gate tower to drink some water and complain to Zhang Shikang. His implication was that he still hoped Zhang Shikang could find a reason to go out of the city to meet the enemy.

He knew that Zhang Shikang was trusted by the emperor, but he also knew that there were not many soldiers guarding the capital. If the Beijing camp was withdrawn again and only the original force was left, it would be a bit risky, so he said casually:

"I heard that the Tartars gave up the siege of Jizhou and headed southwest towards Baoding Prefecture.

Yang Ge's troops followed and are estimated to have met up with Xuanda Governor-General Lu Xiangsheng. I heard that these two had a feud.

The Tartars suddenly gave up attacking Jizhou and left themselves no way out. This is really too arrogant. "

After saying that, Sun Weifan picked up a steamed bun and stuffed it into his mouth.

However, the speaker was unintentional, but the listener was intentional. Zhang Shikang suddenly stood up from his chair, staring with eyes wide open, and said:

"What did Uncle Shi just say?"

"Ah? I thought the Tartars suddenly gave up..."

"last sentence."

Sun Weifan was a little confused. He didn't know why Zhang Shikang suddenly had this expression. He thought for a while and said:

"Yang Gebu and Governor Xuan Da met in Zhuozhou. Do they have any feud?"

Bang—Zhang Shikang slapped the table, causing the empty tea bowls on the table to jump up.

"Uncle, King Lu is in trouble, we must go to the battle!"

Zhang Shikang gritted his teeth and said very seriously.

……