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

The eleventh year of Chongzhen, October 2, the capital.

Zhang Shikang has been very depressed recently. The soldiers from the Beijing camp have been stationed in the capital for a month. Every day, apart from strolling on the city wall, he either stares into the eyes of Sun Weifan and others.

Half a month ago, he requested permission to go to the battlefield, but was rejected by his brother Chongzhen on the grounds that the capital was an important place that must be defended. He also said that he would only consider the matter unless the troops from Huguang arrived in the capital.

However, Cao Bianjiao arrived in the capital three days ago, and Zhang Shikang went to ask for war again. Emperor Chongzhen thought about it carefully, but the result of his consideration was that he still disagreed.

This made Zhang Shikang very angry. Isn't this a breach of promise?

You are the emperor, how can you go back on your words?

But since Brother Chongzhen didn't say anything, there was nothing he could do. He was even a little annoyed. The reason why he was trapped here was because of his low official position and the only title of Governor of the Beijing Camp.

Look at Yang Sichang, he is the Grand Secretary of the Dongge, the Minister of War, the Left Pillar of the State, the Grand Tutor, the Prince's Grand Guardian, the Governor-General, and the Commander-in-Chief, all his buffs are maxed out.

With so many BUFFs on him, no one dares to look down on him wherever he goes. Donglin Party members are everywhere in the government and the country, but no one dares to fight Fatty Yang openly.

Zhang Shikang felt that he had made a misunderstanding. He didn't want to take on any responsibilities before because he was afraid that the workload would be too heavy and he would have no time to be lazy.

Now I think about how stupid I was, it was absolutely ridiculous!

Who says you can’t be lazy just because you have too many responsibilities?

As long as you have capable people under you, why would you need to work all the time yourself?

For example, he hardly understood the turtledove-foot gun and even the instantaneous fire gun, and never participated in it. However, the war maniac Mao Yuanyi worked overtime to develop them in order to go to the battlefield.

If he really succeeds in making it, and wins a battle with the new musket, who would dare to say that he has no contribution? Who would dare to say that he is incompetent?

Even when it comes to fighting, Zhang Shikang feels that he is a half-baked person, but so what? He can't fight, but his subordinates can. As long as they win, won't the credit still be his?

So, Zhang Shikang felt that he had taken the wrong path. Without any BUFF on him, even Han Xin didn’t dare to leave the bushes!

But he still couldn't understand why his brother Chongzhen didn't agree to let him leave the city, and even agreed to let Sun Weifan lead the troops, but still didn't agree to let him go.

He felt that Brother Chongzhen still did not trust his military ability, but Zhang Shikang really had no way to do anything about it, as he himself felt that he had no military ability.

Zhang Shikang glanced at Cao Bianjiao who was drinking next to him.

"Brother Cao, what do you think of my soldiers?"

The troops of Cao Bianjiao, the general of Lintao, have entered the outer city of Beijing to assist in the defense and are under the command of Zhang Shikang.

This man is of medium build and looks shabby. Although he is only thirty years old this year, it is said that he has been in the battlefield for sixteen years.

Cao Bianjiao had followed his uncle Cao Wenzhao in battles since he was fourteen years old and had considerable combat experience.

His uncle Cao Wenzhao was also a member of the Ming Dynasty's fierce generals. He often led thousands of people to chase Li Zicheng with tens of thousands of people. However, in the end, he got too much out of hand and was killed by Li Zicheng in a war of attrition.

In the past three days, Zhang Shikang had been chatting with Cao Bianjiao frequently, just wanting to hear what this old man thought of the soldiers in the Beijing camp.

"Your Excellency wants to hear..."

"Of course it's the truth."

Cao Bianjiao smiled, picked up the wine bowl and took a sip, saying:

"The military discipline is acceptable and the morale is high. From what I have seen, these soldiers respect the Admiral very much. They can be considered a strong army."

"Can it be considered? How do you say that?"

Zhang Shikang didn't show it on his face, but he felt a little unconvinced in his heart, because he could hear that Cao Bianjiao was speaking reluctantly, perhaps just because of his status.

"Sir, how can you call yourself a strong army if you have never fought with the Tartars?" Cao Bianjiao explained.

"You are honest. It is the admiral who is at a disadvantage, not Yang... Heh, you are right."

Zhang Shikang wanted to say that he was lucky that he was not the petty-minded Yang Sichang, otherwise he would have been framed. But after thinking about it, he felt that it was inappropriate and changed the subject.

"You are talking about Commander Yang, right? There is nothing I dare not say. I heard from people in the court that you have a grudge against him." Cao Bianjiao said nonchalantly.

"They are all trivial matters. How come you know him too?" Zhang Shikang was a little surprised.

"All the generals who have served under him, how could they not know? Oh, there are some who don't know, but they are all gone."

Cao Bianjiao took another sip of wine and said with gritted teeth that he and Zu Kuan were demoted three levels because of Yang Sichang.

"Sir, there are two ways to train and employ soldiers. One is to discipline the soldiers with strict discipline, rewarding them for their merits and punishing them for their crimes, without any distinction based on closeness or distance.

This method is the way most armies are built, for example, Qi Shaobao. Although the 7,000 men under my command cannot be called a strong army, they are probably built on this method.

The other type is based mainly on friendship and supplemented by military discipline. For example, the Qin soldiers trained by Sun Chuanting fought very well.

It is said that when he recruited soldiers, he liked to recruit blood relatives, such as uncles and nephews, cousins, and even fathers and sons. During wars, his soldiers often became more courageous because of the deaths of their relatives.

I have observed the Beijing camp and found that although the soldiers are not blood relatives, they are very united, a bit like Governor Sun's approach.

But it's not all, I can only say that you are gifted and a genius." After Cao Bianjiao finished speaking, he did not forget to glance at Zhang Shikang, seeming a little uncomfortable.

"Are you trying to flatter me?" Zhang Shikang laughed. The flattery was very stiff and he was a little uncomfortable with it.

"Hehe, it's all true." Cao Bianjiao also felt embarrassed. He scratched his head and said stiffly.

Zhang Shikang thought about what happened to this fellow and roughly understood why Cao Bianjiao was like this, so he said:

"Is it difficult to be a military officer in the Ming Dynasty?"

This question was asked without reason, but Cao Bianjiao seemed to understand it. He nodded, then shook his head slightly, frowned and lowered his voice:

"It's OK if there are people in the court, but it's hard if there is no one in the court."

Cao Bianjiao was also very hesitant when he said this. He was a rough man and it was actually his first time doing this, so it was inevitable that he was a little awkward.

But the truth is there. Over the past decade, he has fought in hundreds of battles, big and small, and finally was promoted to the rank of general, and this was all because of the influence of his uncle.

But Yang Sichang was demoted three levels from the general company with just one impeachment letter. Although he was reinstated and conferred the title of Annan Earl for his meritorious service in suppressing bandits a while ago, Cao Bianjiao knew very well that it was only because the emperor was pleased.

In fact, he had been in the capital for three days, but His Majesty did not summon him, but only ordered him to obey Zhang Shikang's orders.

If you don't have the emperor's trust, you might offend someone in the court one day and suffer punishment through impeachment. This is very common in the Ming Dynasty.

To put it bluntly, you have no one in the court, and no one will speak for you when something happens.

Isn't Qi Jiguang a powerful person? But if he didn't have the support of Zhang Juzheng, the chief minister at that time, where would he get the money, food and military equipment?

As long as the people in the court want to deal with you, there are plenty of ways to prevent you from winning the battle.

In his letters to Zhang Juzheng, Qi Shaobao called himself a lackey of Zhang Juzheng, and even sent many beautiful women to Zhang Juzheng's house, so he became Qi Shaobao.

Cao Bianjiao felt that he had realized something. After being demoted last time, he understood that if he wanted to fight well and win military merit, he needed someone in the court.

He glanced at Zhang Shikang quietly, and seeing Zhang Shikang's doubt, he had to lower his voice again:

"My position is quite difficult, mainly because there is no one in the court, sir!"

……