Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Zhenqing both returned to Beijing by boat urgently, and led their troops to offer prisoners on behalf of the frontline generals.
Following back, there were five thousand soldiers.
The remnants of the Tatars fled to Ningguta, and there was no need for so many troops in the Northeast. Therefore, the establishment of the Yang Zhenqing Independent Regiment was cancelled, and some were broken up and incorporated into brother troops, and some returned to Nanjing to serve as the Forbidden Army. Some other troops in the Northeast were also transferred.
They are all people who made meritorious service in the battle last year.
In this way, the number of regular troops in the entire city of Nanjing finally reached 10,000.
Lu Xiangsheng rode a tall horse, with a guard of honor and a band in front. Behind him were Yang Zhenqing, who was also riding a horse, and then there were the soldiers who came back from the northeast, and a long list of prisoners. There were Tatar prisoners of war, Dutch prisoners of war, and the Dutch who surrendered in Malacca.
Except for a few civil servants, all the others were escorted back to Nanjing.
The band played "March of Steel Torrent", and Datong soldiers marched forward. Yang Zhenqing turned to look at the prisoners behind him, with a proud smile on his face. It didn't matter if he was kicked out of the military, or if he was a feudal prince, it didn't matter. Only if he could destroy the Qing Dynasty
the most important.
Unfortunately, there are still some remaining Tatars who are hiding in Ninggu Pagoda and dare not come out, which makes Yang Zhenqing feel quite regretful.
"Pingta," Lu Xiangsheng said while pulling the reins, "I heard that Mr. Pang Ge wanted to be a matchmaker for you, but you refused directly without giving any face.
Yang Zhenqing smiled and said: "I am an Orion in the mountains. Even if I go to school after joining the army, I still know a thousand words. The in-laws that Mr. Pang Ge told me are from a scholarly family. How can I afford it? I can marry whatever I want.
A peasant girl can just inherit the incense from her ancestors."
Lu Xiangsheng sighed: "Well, that's fine, just don't contaminate it too much."
As soon as Lu Xiangsheng returned to Nanjing, he felt that there was something strange in the court. He would probably not be able to return to the front line. He would most likely take over as Minister of War and serve as the emperor's tool to balance the civil servant factions.
In the past few days, civil servants from Jiangxi came to visit him one after another, and they kept mentioning Song Yingxing openly or covertly.
Lu Xiangsheng knew what it meant. After Pang Chunlai and Li Banghua left, Song Yingxing would be promoted to the position of chief minister of the cabinet. Those Jiangxi officials wanted to bring Lu Xiangsheng in and suggested that he visit Song Yingxing at his home.
In response, Lu Xiangsheng pretended not to understand, as he did not want to cause trouble for the emperor.
Nowadays, it is no longer as simple as "the court is half Jiangxi". Although Zhao Han deliberately suppressed it, there were more and more Jiangxi officials in the court. Seventy percent of the officials in the capital above the fourth rank were from Jiangxi. It was impossible to suppress the Jiangxi officials.
Qualifications and achievements are there, even if nepotism is put aside, normal promotion will cause this situation.
“Wan Sheng, Wan Sheng!”
The team arrived at the shore of Xuanwu Lake. Along the way, people supported the old and young, shouting and cheering for them.
These soldiers who returned from the Northeast were all beaming with joy, with their heads held high and their spirits high.
The Tatar prisoners were so frightened that their faces turned pale. They were all prisoners who had been convicted of serious crimes. Their hands were all stained with blood. Even if they were not beheaded, they would be thrown into the mountains to dig mines.
The Dutch prisoners were better off. The company had been operating in Malacca for a short time and had not yet had time to fall out with the Han people. Killing Datong soldiers in battle was a normal act of war. The Chinese emperor did not intend to kill them. They could even immigrate to the north and settle in the north to divide their fields, but it was just a matter of dividing the land.
The land they received was half that of the Han people.
Zhao Han has already issued an order to overseas officials. Once a Dutch prisoner is caught, he will be beheaded directly for the most heinous crime. The rest will be moved to northern China to increase the population. The Netherlands only has so many people, and the overseas colonies have an even smaller population. If they do it a few more times, they will probably be recruited.
There are no more soldiers.
As for the lower-class soldiers from the Netherlands, they will be assimilated in a few years when they go to northern China to join the people. It's just that these guys have red hair and green eyes, and there are more men than women in the north. Whether they can marry a wife and start a family, no one will go there.
No matter what, it is estimated that many of them will be bachelors for the rest of their lives, and their only role is to cultivate land and provide food for the government.
After passing Xuanwu Lake, the team finally entered the city. They circled around the Forbidden City and were guided to enter through the main gate.
There were too many victorious soldiers to enter, so they only selected three hundred as representatives. They escorted the prisoners and walked forward for a while.
They were arranged to wait there first.
In front of the Meridian Gate, all civil and military officials were already in place, and envoys from foreign countries also arrived one after another.
In addition to envoys from Southeast Asian countries, Korea, Toungoo and other countries also sent envoys. It was not a coincidence, but to celebrate the birthday of Emperor Datong and to conduct official tribute trade.
The king of Korea was the most filial, and sent envoys here every year, arriving in March every year, waiting to congratulate the emperor on his birthday in April.
"The emperor ascends the stairs!"
"play music!
Amidst the majestic and solemn music, the umbrella guard of honor appeared first. Then came Zhao Han, who was wearing a formal dress, Queen Fei Ruhe, and Prince Zhao Kuanghuan. The concubines and princes and princesses of the harem were also allowed to show up to watch the ceremony today as an exception.
Zhao Han walked to the center of the Meridian Gate Tower, and the master of ceremonies immediately shouted: "Lebi, all officials come forward!"
All the civil and military officials lined up in two rows, holding wat tablets in hand, and came to stand at the foot of the Meridian Gate Tower.
Under the instructions of the master of ceremonies, the ministers put away the wat tablets to pay their respects, and then shouted long live and wished the emperor a long life, except that they did not sing a happy birthday song to the emperor.
"The envoys of the foreign countries come forward!"
A bunch of envoys came forward, with similar etiquette. After wishing the emperor a happy birthday, they stood in line behind the civil and military officials.
Zhao Han sat on the Meridian Gate Tower, scanning the officials and envoys below the city, feeling a sense of heroism in his heart. No wonder monarchs of all dynasties liked to hold such ceremonies, and they felt so satisfied.
Today, China's territory extends as far north as the Mongolian grasslands, with only Hetao not yet recovered.
As far west as Jiayuguan, Qinghai, Tibet, and Xinjiang were not recovered, but they all nominally expressed their surrender.
In the northeast, Liaoning and Jilin are all under the imperial court. However, Jilin has not yet been established as a province, while Liaoning is preparing to officially establish a province (Jilin is temporarily under the jurisdiction of Liaoning). To the south of the Yalu River, which is later known as Sinuiju in North Korea, the area is about 200 square meters
Kilometers are under actual control of the Datong Army.
The south is bigger, including the entire Ryukyu Islands, half of Vietnam, Luzon Island, Champa, Palembang, and Malacca.
"Present prisoners!"
The person who shouted this was Yang Zhong, the left minister of the Ministry of War.
This guy was a scholar from Jishui County. Zhao Han took refuge with him when he captured Jishui County. He first worked for Zhao Han as military secretary for three years, and then he was directly sent to the county magistrate. When the territory expanded, he quickly became the magistrate, and then he was transferred back to work as a doctor in the Ministry of War.
An inconspicuous Jishui scholar, just because he worked for Zhao Han early and had certain abilities, was able to rise through the ranks and become the left minister of the Ministry of War.
There are so many Jiangxi officials like this!
In fact, it was the Minister of War who should have presided over the presentation of the prisoners, but Fang Shengchang, the Minister of War, fell ill.
Fang Shengchang was also from Jiangxi. The two brothers raised their own troops and brought territory from two and a half counties to join them. This time, when Pang Chun came and Li Banghua left, Zhao Han would let Fang Shengchang join the cabinet and free up the position of Minister of War to be given to Lu Xiangsheng.
Unexpectedly, Fang Shengchang suddenly became seriously ill. He was not yet fifty years old, so he didn't know whether he could survive it.
Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Zhenqing led the army to escort the prisoners of war.
They were allowed to ride horses to the foot of the Meridian Gate, where they immediately dismounted to pay homage and presented a victory document to the Ministry of War.
The paperwork for reporting victory has been submitted a long time ago, today is just a matter of going through the process.
After Yang Zhong announced the merits of each unit, he also publicly announced the rewards for the meritorious officers. Including Hong Xu, who led the troops to capture Malacca, the titles of the generals were promoted. Only Wang Tingchen and Wang Yaochen who violated military regulations only received Honorary title.
As for Yang Zhenqing, his contribution was so great that he could not suppress him even if he violated military regulations. This time he was named "Jianzhou Hou".
"Prisoners come forward!"
"bye!"
More than a hundred prisoners were taken to kowtow to the emperor.
Zhao Han smiled and said, "Take it."
Yuju Lian, the royal horse supervisor’s pawprint, shouted: “Take it!”
Zhu Youdong, the commander of the guards next to him, shouted louder: "Take it!"
The guards at the bottom of the city shouted: "Take it!"
Yang Zhong, the left minister of the Ministry of War, shouted again: "Take it!"
Lu Xiangsheng waved the order, and the Datong soldiers escorted the prisoners of war to retreat and handed them over to the officials of the Ministry of Punishments for execution. It was time to behead and behead, it was time to dig and mine, and it was time to immigrate. Anyway, it would not be a bloody mess today.
"Play music and dance!"
Whether they were civil or military officials or envoys from foreign countries, they all fastened their wat tablets to their belts and began to dance amidst the sounds of ritual music.
This is a continuation of the ancient ceremony of presenting prisoners. After the prisoners were taken away, everyone had to dance together to celebrate. Even Pang Chunlai and Li Banghua,
They are all dragging their old bones to dance.
No one felt embarrassed, and everyone was smiling.
Although the North Korean envoys were not familiar with it, they knew that there was such a dance ceremony from their country's history books. But the envoys from Nanyang found it very new. They had rehearsed it before and now they followed the Han officials to do it.
In Zhao Han's eyes, the group of people below the city were just doing radio gymnastics.
At the end of the dance, all the ministers stood up, took out the wat tablets and bowed again, shouting "Long Live the Mountain" and the ceremony was completed.
“The ministers gave me a banquet!”
On the third day after the ceremony, Pang Chunlai, Li Banghua officially retired, and Song Yingxing took over as chief assistant.
Fang Shengchang, the Minister of War, Fei Chun, the Minister of Finance, Liu Ziren, the Minister of Officials, and Yuan Yunlong, the Minister of Industry, all four Jiangxi natives became prime ministers.
Lu Xiangsheng, a native of Jiangsu, took over as Minister of War.
Wu Yingji, a native of Anhui, took over as Minister of Finance.
Zhang Bingwen, a native of Anhui, took over as Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.
Li Rixuan, a native of Jiangxi, took over as Minister of the Ministry of Industry.
Zhao Hanming planned to weaken the influence of Jiangxi officials and hand all military affairs, finance, and personnel to non-Jiangxi officials.
Even so, it can only be slightly relieved. After all, there are too many people from Jiangxi in the court. Moreover, after this adjustment, all the cabinet members are from Jiangxi.
There was nothing Zhao Han could do about forming a Jiangxi cabinet.
They are all heroes, and they have not made any big mistakes, how can they be suppressed by force? If they really want to change the situation in the court, they have to raise the butcher's knife against the heroes, and they have to make a few big cases.
Zhao Han finally understood Zhu Yuanzhang's mood and also understood why Comrade Zhu killed the heroes.
The heroes under Zhao Han were relatively disciplined, but they still made him very uncomfortable. However, the heroes under Zhu Yuanzhang were all domineering and had to be killed in batches.