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

Although Cao Bianjiao was a rough man, his mood at this time was no different from that of Emperor Chongzhen, because he was also afraid that Zhang Shikang would die if he left the city.

From the perspective of Emperor Chongzhen, Yang Sichang was fighting outside, so he naturally didn't want Zhang Shikang to get into any trouble. It would be best for him to stay in the capital and give him some advice.

Zhang Shikang's expression became strange when he heard this. He had never expected this. After thinking about it carefully, he found that there was some truth to it.

But he still felt a little touched.

The officialdom of the Ming Dynasty was pitch black. When he came to this world, he had not thought about changing anything. However, whether it was his family, his brother Chongzhen, or the brothers in the Beijing Camp, they all cared about him, believed in him, and even placed their hopes on him.

Thinking of this, Zhang Shikang even felt a little guilty.

With so many people betting on him, he shouldn't just sit back and do nothing.

"Brother Cao, if I take the Beijing Camp away, can you defend the capital city?" Zhang Shikang looked at Cao Bianjiao seriously.

Cao Bianjiao stood up upon hearing this, and bowed his hands in a very serious manner, saying:

"Although we don't have enough manpower, we will have no problem defending the inner city. Given the current situation, the Jiannu will have no time to capture the capital, and their goal is not to do this."

After all, Cao Bianjiao had commanded troops for many years and had a natural intuition about war. The Jiannu army that entered the pass this time had no more than 50,000 troops, and some of them were the Eight Banners of Han.

In the capital area, Yang Sichang alone has an army of 60,000 to 70,000 troops under his command. It is said that Sun Chuanting's 30,000 Qin soldiers will arrive in Fangshan in the near future.

Ningyuan Deputy General Zu Kuan could also reach the capital within three days. Besides, the capital city was already well-fortified with high walls and deep moats, and was defended by hundreds of huge cannons. Unless the Jian Nu were desperate, they would not dare to have any illusions about the capital.

"Okay, then the capital city is left to you." After saying that, Zhang Shikang stood up and was about to go down the city wall.

"My Lord, fighting is not fun. It is dangerous."

Cao Bianjiao was hesitant to speak. He really didn't want Zhang Shikang to leave the city. He had just gotten close to him.

Zhang Shikang smiled without saying anything, bowed to Cao Bianjiao, and then ran towards the imperial city without hesitation.

He had things to do, for himself and for those who placed their hopes on him.

When they arrived at the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Chongzhen was discussing matters with the cabinet members. He did not shy away from discussing it and let Zhang Shikang listen in.

"Your Majesty, Minister Yang submitted a memorial requesting 680,000 taels of military pay and 800,000 dan of grain and fodder. Now the national treasury is empty and the Ministry of Revenue can no longer sustain. I hope Your Majesty will make the decision." said the chief minister of the cabinet, Liu Yuliang.

After all, it was wartime, and Liu Yuliang, as a member of the Donglin Party, was one of the few people who spoke for the Minister of Revenue Cai Guoyong, but he still threw the question to Emperor Chongzhen.

Although a amount of grain was received as summer tax, most of it was divided up by the border troops. The court thought that the bandits had been wiped out and could finally breathe a sigh of relief, but the Jiannu suddenly invaded the country, resulting in a surge in food and fodder expenses.

Emperor Chongzhen was also very worried. Before he could say anything, the Minister of Personnel Zheng Sanjun said:

"Since the Wuyin Rebellion, the Jiannu have been plundering everywhere, destroying more than ten cities, and hundreds of thousands of civilians have died at the hands of the Jiannu cavalry. Yang Ge's army has been defending against the Jiannu, which will more or less encourage their arrogance. I hope Your Majesty will be aware of this."

Zheng Sanjun certainly knew Yang Sichang's idea. After all, as long as they just kept defending, they would not make any big mistakes. As long as they did not make any big mistakes, they would not be able to do anything to Yang Sichang.

However, this tactic brought suffering to the people in various places. Yang Sichang's behavior showed that he did not care about the lives of the people at all. This was naturally the reason for them to attack Yang Sichang.

Zhang Shikang sneered on the side. He didn't believe that Zheng Sanjun really cared about the people. He just wanted to bring down Yang Sichang and promote Hong Chengchou to the top.

Although Yang Sichang's method was a bit stupid, it was not without advantages. With tens of thousands of troops guarding nearby, at least the Jiannu would not dare to divide their forces easily, let alone attack big cities.

After all, the Jiannu were good at cavalry, and field battles were their forte. The Jiannu might have been eager to have a field battle with the imperial court.

Sure enough, after Zheng Sanjun impeached Yang Sichang, someone stood up to speak well of Hong Chengchou. However, Emperor Chongzhen had no intention of changing his commander in the middle of the battle, and in the end, neither matter was concluded.

"Alas!" After the cabinet ministers left, Emperor Chongzhen sighed deeply, without avoiding Zhang Shikang who was hiding nearby.

He was really worried. He thought that after wiping out the bandits, the imperial court could finally breathe a sigh of relief. However, the sudden invasion of the Jiannu made his nerves tense again.

Not only him, the whole court was somewhat panicked. The bandits were no better than the Jiannu, and most people held a more or less contemptuous attitude towards them. After all, they would be able to win if they were outnumbered.

However, the Jiannu were extremely powerful. Since they entered the pass, the imperial army had recorded over 10,000 casualties on their side, but the reported number of enemies killed was only over 2,000. It was not known how much of the information was inflated.

Now Yang Sichang wanted both food and money. Emperor Chongzhen had high hopes for Yang Sichang and of course wanted to give them to him, but his pockets were empty. He also knew that the war was urgent, but there was nothing he could do.

"Didn't Your Majesty just give Yang Sichang more than 300,000 shi of military rations? Why does he want it again?" Zhang Shikang asked with some confusion.

As for Yang Sichang, Zhang Shikang felt that he was petty and extravagant. He would always ask for tens or even hundreds of millions of taels of silver. He knew that a large army would consume a lot of money on an expedition, but it would not be that high.

He knew little about military affairs before, but now that he has been in charge of the Beijing Camp for more than half a year, he probably knows the consumption of soldiers. It has only been a month, so there is no need for so many.

"It's not urgent. Maybe it's preparation for next month's consumption." Emperor Chongzhen replied.

"Are we really going to fight a protracted war?" Zhang Shikang frowned.

The Jianlu came to steal food, and they just wanted to move on after firing a few shots. The Jiannu didn't even think about fighting a protracted war, but Yang Sichang took the initiative to retreat and defend. This is really... Has the court been so afraid of the Jiannu?

"Your Majesty, although the Jiannu are brave, they still have weaknesses. As long as we choose the right time and hurt them once, they may retreat."

Zhang Shikang thought for a while and said.

He was not completely opposed to Yang Sichang's tactics, but he did not agree with hiding all the time, as that would be too passive.

Emperor Chongzhen remained silent. How could the Jiannu be so easy to deal with? It would be fine if they won the field battle, but if they lost, it would be a crushing defeat. Who could afford such a price?

He believed that Zhang Shikang's strengths lay in domestic affairs. After all, he was young and not as experienced as Yang Sichang in military affairs. So he changed the subject and said:

"What is Shi Kang doing in the palace?"

Zhang Shikang was not angry when he heard this, he just cupped his hands and said:

"I ask to fight against the Jiannu."

Emperor Chongzhen did not answer directly, but raised his right hand and rubbed his forehead.

Although the situation was at a stalemate and even very unfavorable to the court, he never thought of letting Zhang Shikang take risks, even though he always had expectations for Zhang Shikang.

But he really didn't want Zhang Shikang to take risks. He couldn't bear the consequences. If something happened to Zhang Shikang, he wouldn't even be able to explain to his ancestors.

The ancestors finally sent down a talent to assist him, and then he ruined him?

"Your Majesty, I have a warhorse named Ergou, which was carefully selected from thousands of Mongolian warhorses. It runs very fast! Even if I cannot defeat the Jiannu, it will be easy for me to escape."

At this time, Zhang Shikang probably knew what his brother was thinking, and he did not shy away from talking about his way to save his life, and had already forced Emperor Chongzhen to agree.

"I don't know why you insist on leaving the city, but I really don't want you to take risks. You have never fought in a war, so how can you know the dangers of a battle? If something happens to you, I really don't know who I can count on in the future."

Seeing that his worries were seen through by Zhang Shikang, Emperor Chongzhen simply stopped pretending and spoke out his thoughts very seriously.

"Your Majesty, rest assured. I have been training the troops for so long just to see the results. I will never fight the Jiannu head-on. If I can't win, I will run away. As for running away, I am still confident."

Zhang Shikang felt that his words were strange. He was the commander-in-chief of an army, but he only thought about saving his life on the battlefield. However, in order to reassure his brother Chongzhen, he spoke solemnly.

He thought what he said was outrageous enough, but he didn't expect that what Emperor Chongzhen said next was even more outrageous.

"If you promise me three things, I will do it."

"Your Majesty's words are the imperial decree. How dare I disobey you? Your Majesty, just do as you say."

"First, do not fight the Jiannu head-on. If you cannot defeat them, retreat quickly and do not put yourself in danger."

"Your Majesty, this first point has already been said by this loyal minister."

Emperor Chongzhen ignored him and continued:

"Second, if we really want to fight, there must be other armies around to cooperate."

"No problem, Your Majesty."

As long as I can get out, you can say anything, Zhang Shikang thought to himself.

"Third, if the battle goes badly, you can leave your generals behind to cover the rear, and you just need to flee, and don't fight to the end."

Zhang Shikang's mouth twitched, and he thought to himself, "Brother, are you serious? If all the generals of the Ming Dynasty play this way, do you believe that, let alone six years, maybe this year the capital will change hands?"

However, Zhang Shikang knew that the old man was worried that he would die, and he felt somewhat warm in his heart.

"I agree."

Zhang Shikang bowed, but in fact he was thinking in his heart that even if that time really came, he would never give up on Sun Dasheng and the others. If all the brothers in the Second Sons Group were gone and he ran back, not only would he not be able to forgive himself, even his brothers' fathers would not forgive him.

"This time, the Jiannu entered the pass with more than 10,000 Han Eight Banners troops. These Han troops are no less powerful than the Jurchens, so they should be your best choice for training.

Remember, don't do anything reckless! "

Emperor Chongzhen was still worried. He really didn't want Zhang Shikang to go out, but he had rejected Zhang Shikang three times in the past month. Based on his understanding of Zhang Shikang, if he still didn't agree this time, this guy would probably disobey his order.

This kid has an eccentric personality and does things unconventionally. This is not the first time he has disobeyed an order, and it may not be the last time. Instead of that, it would be better to obey him and give him more explanations.

"I know, just hit the weakest one." Zhang Shikang agreed readily, and after thinking for a while, he said:

"Can I still kill people at will with the Emperor's Sword?"

Although he went on this expedition with the intention of testing his skills, his main purpose was to save Lu Xiangsheng. He didn't know what happened to this guy.

"Seeing this sword is like seeing me in person, but I don't allow you to use it on Mr. Yang." Emperor Chongzhen frowned.

Zhang Shikang grinned when he heard this, and promised to wait until he could leave the city first.

"You can go to Zhuozhou. I will give an order to Mr. Yang to take care of you."

"I understand. I will go back and prepare now, and try to leave the city this afternoon."

After saying this, Zhang Shikang bowed to Emperor Chongzhen and was about to leave the hall happily.

When he reached the door, Emperor Chongzhen stood up and said with a worried look on his face:

"Promise me that you will come back alive."

……