Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1011 Shi Family Father and Son
Shi Xian did not return home the night before yesterday, and came back excitedly after noon today. As soon as he stepped into the mansion, the old servant of the family quietly pulled him aside and whispered a few words in his ear.

"The old man is angry again? Well, it's normal for him to get angry at his age. You just have to follow him on weekdays." Shi Xian said with a nonchalant smile.

"Second Master, this time is different." The old servant said to Shi Xian sternly, "Today, the master went out for a while and came back with a gloomy face. When Zhuzi served tea, the master was absent-minded and drank it. He burned his mouth and kicked Zhuzi hard, causing Zhuzi to spit blood on the spot. If it weren't for the few of us begging for mercy and speaking well of Zhuzi, Zhuzi would have executed the master by military law today. By the way, the master asked about you, Second Master, and we didn't dare to say that you went out to drink wine. We only said that you went out to visit friends. If the master asks about it later, Second Master, you must be careful in your answer!"

"The old man went out early this morning? Where did he go?" Shi Xian asked.

"Where else can I go? The boss called me over early in the morning. I was fine when I went there, but I looked unhappy when I came back..." the old servant replied.

The boss the old servant was referring to was none other than Zheng Zhilong, the General of the Imperial Guards of the Ming Dynasty, Commander-in-Chief of the Fujian Navy, and the Third Class Earl.

Shi Xian's father, Shi Daxuan, was an old brother of Zheng Zhilong when he was a pirate. He was one of the earliest members of the Eighteen Zhis and could be considered a core figure in the Zheng Family Group. When Zheng Zhilong was recruited, Shi Daxuan followed the Zheng brothers to join the Ming Dynasty. However, Shi Daxuan did not have the luck of Zheng Zhilong. Although he had a high status and seniority in the Zheng Family Group, he ended up not being very happy. Zheng Zhilong suddenly changed from a pirate leader to a general of the Ming Navy. He was first awarded the title of Five Tiger Guerrilla General and then the General of the Fujian Navy.

After the Yongming Dynasty, the imperial court adjusted the military positions and systems. Because Zheng Zhilong controlled the Fujian Navy and had many soldiers and ships, he was directly awarded the title of Jinwu General, and was promoted to the admiral of the Fujian Navy and given the title of third-class earl, becoming a senior general in the Ming army.

It stands to reason that rising tides lift all boats. Shi Daxuan has been with Zheng Zhilong for so many years. Not only has he made many contributions, he is also responsible for the training and operations of the Zheng Group's navy and is one of Zheng Zhilong's generals. With his qualifications and contributions, even if he can't get a cavalry general or a general who stabilizes the country, it's barely reasonable to get a general who guards the country.

Unexpectedly, in the subsequent positions, not to mention Zheng Zhilong's brother Zheng Zhibao, even Chen Ba, Hong Xu, Gan Hui, Chen Bao and others were awarded the rank of Dingguo and Zhenguo generals, but Shi Daxuan was only Anyuan school and was granted a garrison post. Such a gap made Shi Daxuan very dissatisfied, but he couldn't get angry in front of Zheng Zhilong.

Because of this, Shi Daxuan's temper became worse and worse in the past six months. He would have outbursts from time to time in the mansion, and would even whip the servants to death when he was not pleased. As a result, everyone in the Shi mansion was cautious when seeing Shi Daxuan, for fear that they would say something wrong and displease him and get into trouble.

As a son, Shi Xian was naturally clear about his father's situation, but there was nothing he could do. The military rank and position were given by the court. If Shi Daxuan couldn't do anything about it, what could Shi Xian do? Moreover, the key to this matter was Zheng Zhilong. It stands to reason that when Zheng Zhilong sought his opinion in the court, he should have reported Shi Daxuan's evaluation. But for some reason, everyone else was fine, but Shi Daxuan was left behind, which led to the current result.

"Where is my eldest brother?" Shi Xian asked.

"The master went to the military camp outside the city early in the morning..." the old servant replied. Before he could finish his words, Shi Daxuan's voice came from the yard.

"Who's mumbling outside?"

Shi Xian smiled and nodded to the old servant, then shouted at the top of his voice: "Dad! It's my child!"

As he spoke, Shi Xian stepped into the yard and saw his father standing at the other end of the corridor, staring at him with a cold face and eyes.

"Do you still remember to go home?"

"Dad, what are you talking about? This is my home. How can I not remember to go back?"

"You didn't come back all night. Where did you go?"

"Hey, my son is out visiting friends."

"Where did you go? What friend did you visit?"

"In the town outside the city, several of my former schoolmates gathered together. Brother Xie passed the imperial examination last year and is planning to go to Nanjing to study and prepare for the imperial examination. We pooled money to see him off. He drank too much last night and stayed outside the city..." Shi Xian lied without thinking, but what he said about Scholar Xie was true, but the time didn't match, because Scholar Xie had already left for Nanjing a few days ago. He said this to prevent Shi Daxuan from finding out that he had been drinking all night and causing trouble for himself.

How could Shi Daxuan not know that his son was fooling him? He could smell the scent of powder on Shi Xian from a distance. What kind of student gathering? He was clearly going to drink wine. But Shi Daxuan didn't care about these. It was understandable that men would seek pleasure. Besides, his son was not young anymore and even had grandchildren. It was normal for him to have a little fun sometimes. Although Shi Daxuan's official position was not high, the Shi family was rich and had a lot of money, so they didn't lack such expenses.

However, Shi Daxuan always felt sorry for his second son. Compared with his eldest son Shi Lang, his second son Shi Xian was much worse. This kid was already thirty years old, but he still had no future. If the Shi family relied on him for the future, there was basically no hope. Fortunately, the eldest son Shi Lang was not bad. He was considered a talented person in the old Shi family. Although he failed in his studies and changed to martial arts, he was quite talented in military affairs. It can be said that he was better than his father, and he was no worse than Shi Daxuan back then.

"Come in!" Shi Daxuan cursed and turned to go into the side room.

Shi Xian gave a bitter smile and followed Shi Daxuan into the wing room with his head down. After entering the room, Shi Daxuan winked at him. Shi Xian turned around and closed the door first, then walked obediently to Shi Daxuan and knelt down with a plop. Then he saw his father grabbing the ruler beside him and standing up. Shi Xian hurriedly shouted, "Dad! Don't hit me in the face. Go easy on me!"

"Don't slap me in the face? Show mercy? See you off my classmates? Go back to the town outside the city? Do you think your father is blind or deaf? Don't you know that you drank all night in Yihongyuan last night? I... I will beat you to death, you unfilial son!" Shi Daxuan laughed angrily, picked up the ruler and hit him on the face. Shi Xian didn't dare to dodge, and he took several hits and cried out in pain.

After all, he is his own son, no matter how unpromising he is, he cannot beat him to death! After beating him a few times and letting out a sigh of relief, Shi Daxuan stopped when he saw Shi Xiansheng approaching, threw the ruler in his hand to the side, sat down, panted, and glared at his son.

After being beaten so many times, Shi Xian naturally knew that he would not be able to escape this beating today. Moreover, he knew his father too well. Shi Daxuan was a straightforward and hot-tempered person. It would be fine if he just took a few beatings to vent his anger. If he tried to avoid it, he would be beaten even harder. This was also the reason why Shi Xian endured the beating. After all, he was his own son. Even a tiger would not eat its own cubs. Although Shi Daxuan beat him terribly, he actually held back his strength. Otherwise, with his ferocity on the battlefield, a ruler could make his head explode. Was it necessary to beat him several times in a row?
After being beaten, Shi Xian endured the pain and got up from the ground. He went to the side and poured a cup of tea for his father. Then he walked to Shi Daxuan respectfully with both hands holding the tea: "Dad, I was wrong. I won't do it again. Please bear with me. Drink the tea. Be careful of the burn..."

As soon as these words came out, the last bit of anger in Shi Daxuan disappeared. He took the tea and took a sip, then nodded slightly and said to Shi Xian: "You, learn more from your elder brother in the future, and don't always be so out of tune."

"I, your father, will be sixty next year. How many more years can a person live after he is sixty? Your father is incompetent. He has worked hard all his life but he is not even a general. In the future, our Shi family can only rely on you two brothers. Your eldest brother has made great progress in recent years, but what about you? If you continue to be so unreliable, how will you establish your own family in the future? You can't rely on your father for the rest of your life, right?"

"Yes, yes, Dad, you are right. My son will work hard and learn from my elder brother. You can rest assured." Shi Xian nodded repeatedly and even stretched out his hand to help his father massage his shoulders. It's no wonder that Shi Daxuan fell for this guy's trick. While receiving the massage from his son, Shi Daxuan had long lost his anger, and his words were full of teachings and reminders to him.

"By the way, Dad, I heard that you went to the boss's place today? The boss asked you to go...?" Shi Xian asked only after seeing that Shi Daxuan's anger had completely disappeared.

Who would have thought that as soon as this question was asked, Shi Daxuan's expression changed a little, his brows were furrowed and he looked ugly.

"What's wrong? Does the boss want you to do something difficult?" Shi Xian couldn't help but ask when he saw his expression.

Shi Daxuan sighed, nodded slightly and said: "The boss asked me to come over and explain something, which is a bit tricky..."

"Dad, what's the matter?"

"Fabricate military records!" Shi Daxuan squeezed out two words from between his teeth.

"Military register?" Shi Xian was stunned, and asked hurriedly: "Why do they suddenly need a military register? What is the boss's plan? Is this military register going to...?" As he spoke, Shi Xian stretched out his hand and pointed upwards, and then pointed downwards.

Shi Daxuan looked embarrassed and shook his head, saying, "The boss's intention is to reorganize the military roster, with 30,000 naval troops and 20,000 land troops, based on this number..."

"What!" Before Shi Daxuan could finish his words, Shi Xian could not help but speak: "Reorganize the military register based on 50,000 people? This... this is the job that the boss wants you to do? Dad! This is a hot potato! Don't take it. Whoever takes it will be in big trouble!"

"Nonsense! Your father is not stupid, how could he not know?" Shi Daxuan rolled his eyes at his son, then shook his head helplessly and said, "But this is what the boss told your father directly. Do you think your father can refuse in front of the boss?"

"This..." Shi Xian was speechless. Yes! Shi Daxuan had no way to refuse Zheng Zhilong's request. Although Shi Daxuan's official position in the Zheng Group was not high, the things he was responsible for were extremely important. Let's not talk about fighting for the time being. Shi Daxuan was an old man of the Eighteen Zhis and was recognized as one of the fierce generals in the Zheng Group. Moreover, Shi Daxuan was really good at training soldiers. Most of Zheng Zhilong's navy and army were trained by Shi Daxuan. Therefore, Shi Daxuan was the most suitable person for the military book.

In addition, the number of troops in Zheng Zhilong's group has always been a mystery to the outside world. When Zheng Zhilong was first recruited, his troops were less than 40,000. In fact, the number of troops Zheng Zhilong possessed at that time had reached nearly 100,000, and this number continued to increase after Zheng Zhilong became an official of the Ming Dynasty. As a member of the Zheng Group and the son of Shi Daxuan, Shi Xian knew clearly that the real strength of the Zheng Group had now exceeded 150,000, of which the navy was about 80,000 and the rest were the land army. The number of troops and the strength of their combat effectiveness were among the best in the entire Ming Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)