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

Zhang Shikang slept until the sun was high in the sky.

Earlier, his mother, Mrs. Sun, came over and saw that he was still sleeping. She knew that he had drunk alcohol yesterday, so she did not wake him up.

The food on the table had already been prepared and covered with a bamboo hat.

The maid Zhu'er was waiting there blankly. She was still wearing the lavender dress she wore yesterday. Her eyes were clear on her fair oval face and her lips were slightly pouting, and no one knew what she was thinking about.

"What time is it?" Zhang Shikang stretched his waist and asked subconsciously.

In ancient times, people usually asked about the time. Zhu Er was stunned for a moment before she realized what was going on. She said crisply:

"My lord, it is already past two quarters past the hour of Si."

As he spoke, he was about to help Zhang Shikang put on his clothes. It was two quarters past the si hour, which was just after half past nine.

He took the clothes from Zhu'er and put them on himself, then washed himself simply in the washbasin.

After wiping my hands, I lifted the bamboo hat on the table and the aroma of rice wafted into my nose.

"Come and have dinner with me." Zhang Shikang said as he picked up the chopsticks.

In ancient times, there were few entertainment activities at night, people went to bed early and got up early, and breakfast was usually between 6:30 and 7:00.

Zhang Shikang slept until half past nine. The maid got up early as well, so she must have been hungry.

A maidservant has a low status and can only eat after serving her master. Zhang Shikang certainly knew this, so he used an imperative tone.

Zhu Er was startled and didn't dare to really sit at the table. She quickly bowed and said:

"Zhu Er dare not. There is a hierarchy. Sir, please have your meal. Zhu Er can wait by the side."

Zhang Shikang frowned when he heard this, stared at her and pretended to be angry:

"Respect and inferiority are more important? Or is my order more important?"

Eating alone is really boring. As a playboy, of course I can do whatever I want.

If a dandy is still polite and pays attention to red tape, it is really a disgrace to the dandy's ethics.

Seeing Zhang Shikang staring at him, Zhu'er immediately became nervous, rubbing her handkerchief with both hands and stammering.

She was only sixteen years old, and she had no doubt that if she did not obey, her end would be miserable. She had no choice but to submit to Zhang Shikang's tyranny and sat timidly beside Zhang Shikang.

……

Starting from noon, people kept passing notes to the Duke of Yingguo's mansion, and the people who came just said they were for Zhang Shikang.

The old butler didn't know the truth and didn't dare to open the letter privately. With so many people coming, he couldn't help but feel confused. Zhang Zhiji hadn't returned from court yet, so the old butler informed Zhang Shize about the matter.

Zhang Shize opened a few of them and found that there were only numbers written on them: 200,000, 180,000, 125,000, and 64,000, and nothing else.

Puzzled, Zhang Shize went to look for his brother. At that time, Zhang Shikang was practicing calligraphy in the room. His handwriting was so crooked that he himself couldn't stand it.

"Shikang, this is a letter from your brothers.

What do these numbers do? "

"Oh, I gave them a question when we were drinking yesterday." Zhang Shikang made it up.

"I see. I thought it was nothing. It's rare that you still practice calligraphy.

But your set of four treasures of the study is not good enough, I will have someone send you a good set later."

Seeing that his younger brother was practicing calligraphy seriously, Zhang Shize encouraged him with a few words and left.

Zhang Shikang was also helpless. The ugly calligraphy had nothing to do with him. It was all because of the original owner.

After Zhang Shize left, Zhang Shikang practiced for a while and then threw his pen aside impatiently. It was ugly, so what? He was a playboy, so how could his handwriting be beautiful?

So Zhang Shikang started running around the inner wall of the mansion. His physical condition was average, even worse than that of his previous life when he was a delivery man, but he could at least climb to the 15th floor in one breath.

But after running for a while, Zhang Shikang stopped because the clothes he wore were really inconvenient.

So he ordered someone to find a tailor, and after some demonstrations, he asked the tailor to make trousers similar to the later shorts and a top similar to a T-shirt according to his requirements.

When the tailor understood Zhang Shikang's request, his eyes widened. He felt that it was really strange to wear clothes with arms and legs exposed. It was not only immoral, but also undermined the dignity of the Duke's Mansion.

But Zhang Shikang didn't care about that. A playboy should have the ethics of a playboy. If anyone dared to say anything, he would beat him up.

In addition, Zhang Shikang ordered his servants to rearrange the bedroom according to his own habits, trying to make it look a bit modern.

I worked as a slave for half my life in my previous life. Now I finally came to a wealthy family. Naturally, I want to live comfortably, otherwise it would be a waste of my trip.

But Zhang Shikang still felt dissatisfied.

It is March now and the temperature is suitable, but the weather will start to get hot in a month. There is no electricity, no air conditioning, and even no electric fans.

What to do in the summer? Zhang Shikang was worried about this.

What you wear should be comfortable, where you live should be comfortable, and what you eat should be delicious.

At noon, Zhang Shikang suddenly wanted to eat steak. In those days, oxen were a strategic resource, and the Ming Dynasty law had strict regulations prohibiting the buying and selling of healthy oxen.

But that can only limit the common people. In the Duke's Mansion, you can always get "sick and dead" cows.

Despite the cook's objections, Zhang Shikang went into the kitchen and made a fried steak for himself, his mother and his brother, sprinkling it with pepper, Sichuan pepper and other spices.

It tasted pretty similar to the original, except for the lack of chili pepper, which Zhang Shikang found a bit disappointing.

Not only are there no peppers, but there are also no high-yield crops such as potatoes, corn and sweet potatoes.

Logically, these crops were introduced to China in the late Ming Dynasty, but Zhang Shikang had never seen any of them.

He felt it necessary to ask someone to look for them. Potatoes and corn were not rare, but peppers were really good and he liked them.

In short, from now on, he will live his life in his own way and no longer have to work for others.

Zhang Shikang was still very satisfied with such days.

By mid-afternoon, all his brothers had reported their family assets to him.

Sun Dasheng even came over in person and handed him a stack of banknotes mysteriously. In order to help his father get ahead in life, this idiot secretly pawned the only valuable item in the family - the ancestral sword.

I hope Marquis Huaining won’t go crazy when he finds out.

At around four or five in the afternoon, his father finally returned home. Zhang Zhiji's left cheek was swollen from a punch by Zhu Chunchen, and his beard was messy, but he seemed very happy, as if he had won a battle.

"Son, just as you expected, His Majesty almost agreed to levy three additional taxes today. Fortunately, I was smart and helped you stop the fool Zhu Laosan who made the first move. However, those civil officials will not let it go.

Alas, Your Majesty, there is nothing you can do."

Zhang Shikang knew that his father did all this for him, and felt a little ashamed. He swore that he would never involve his family in a fight again.

"Don't worry, Zhu Laosan is even more miserable than his father. He can't even open his eyes. Haha." Zhang Zhiji felt relieved and happy when he saw that his son actually felt sorry for him.

The Duke of Yingguo and the Duke of Chengguo were eventually beaten with fifty lashes by Emperor Chongzhen, and each of them was fined half a year's salary. Zhang Zhiji was also ordered to pay money to treat Zhu Chunchen's son's legs.

The nobles do not live on salaries, so Zhang Zhiji doesn't care about that little bit of money.

Zhang Zhiji took the tea bowl from Zhang Shikang and said:

"I have already presented your letter to His Majesty, and I have said a lot of good things about you. I think His Majesty will summon you when he is free in a few days.

What exactly did you write in that letter? You even hid it from me, your father."

Zhang Shikang walked behind his father, put his hands on Zhang Zhiji's shoulders and massaged him. It was the first time that Zhang Zhiji enjoyed such treatment from his son.

"Nothing much, just writing something down."

"Oh, nothing to worry about. Dad is here. Just go ahead and make progress!"

As the father and son were talking, the old housekeeper's son ran over in a hurry.

"Master, someone is coming from the palace."

Zhang Zhiji stood up immediately and Zhang Shikang followed him. The man who came was an old eunuch in his fifties, and Zhang Zhiji seemed to know him.

"Eunuch Wang, why did you come here in person? What happened?"

Normally, if it wasn't an important matter, the palace would just send a random eunuch to deliver the message, but this time the one who came was Wang Chengen, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department.

This shows that the matter is very important, but I just came back from the palace and I haven’t even sat down yet!

Could it be because of the letter presented to His Majesty before leaving? Zhang Zhiji was puzzled.

Wang Chengen did not answer Zhang Zhiji's question, but stood up straight and said:

"Your Majesty has ordered that Zhang Shikang, the son of Duke Ying, be summoned to the palace to see you."

……