If you want to be a good person that everyone likes, you are destined to be a mediocre person in this life. In fact, people in this life are not fighting against others, but against their own inner heart that is content with the status quo.
~~
There was wind in the early morning, blowing away the clouds to reveal a clear sky.
The golden glazed roof of the Forbidden City shines with thousands of lights when the clouds surge, creating a majestic atmosphere.
The long street outside the imperial city was crowded with people. There were Yingtianfu Yamen, Jin Yiwei, and soldiers from the Army and Horse Department. More than 10,000 elite soldiers who had been mobilized from the Beijing camp were lined up along the way. People across the street were looking forward to it.
Countless people, with their families in tow, craned their necks to look at the solemn Meridian Gate of the Forbidden City of the Ming Dynasty, their eyes full of enthusiasm.
Today is the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month. As the saying goes, guilt-related illnesses can be washed away on the twenty-seventh day.
This custom symbolizes washing away the diseases in the body and welcoming the new year in good health. Today was the day when the Ming Dynasty chose to offer prisoners at the Meridian Gate.
The capital city almost became an empty city. Everyone gathered outside the Meridian Gate, waiting to witness the first sacrifice of prisoners at the Meridian Gate since the founding of the Ming Dynasty.
"Grandpa, what is the Meridian Gate Offering of Prisoners?" In the crowd, a boy riding on the old man's neck asked, biting his finger.
"We just want to capture those who dare to resist our Ming Dynasty and ask the emperor to punish them!" The old man looked at the head of the Meridian Gate and said, "The power of God is inviolable. We will deal with anyone who stabs us!"
Wazi didn't seem to understand, but he knew that this scene was very lively, and continued to bite his finger, "Then...why didn't it happen before?"
"In the past?" the old man murmured, "In the past... the glory of our Han family has faded for hundreds of years." As he said that, his eyes suddenly brightened, "Now we are in the Ming Dynasty, and we will have it every year in the future.
Let those barbarians know what the inviolable power of Huang Huang is!"
Suddenly, a cheer came from the dark crowd.
A huge yellow-covered umbrella appeared at the top of the Meridian Gate, which was a sign of the emperor's appearance.
"Long live, long live!"
~~
In the wave of cheers, Zhu Yunxi, dressed in military uniform, appeared on the Meridian Gate Tower with all the civil and military officials.
In his eyes were the endless crowd of people, and in his ears were endless cheers.
All the civil and military ministers around him seemed to be intoxicated by this grand occasion. But only his eyes were always somewhat clear.
"For three generations, I am the only one who has mastered martial arts!"
Li Jinglong, Duke of Cao State, chuckled in Zhu Yunxi's ear, "I congratulate you on the Ming Dynasty, and congratulate my emperor on the unification of the sun, moon, heaven and earth for ten thousand years under the Ming Dynasty!"
"I congratulate my emperor!" The surrounding ministers immediately bowed their heads in praise.
Zhu Yunxi didn't say anything, he just waved his hands lightly, and amid the cheers of Uncle Wu's people under the Meridian Gate, he whispered, "Start!"
"According to the order!"
Li Jinglong responded.
Then Duke Cao Li Jinglong, Zheng Guogong Chang Sheng, and Prince Consort Mei Yin and Li Jian. The four military ministers in python uniforms slowly walked to the wall and shouted to the military attache standing solemnly below, "The emperor has spoken, and the ceremony begins!
"
Then, the cheers like a tsunami were suddenly suppressed by the roars of the soldiers.
"Your Majesty, the ceremony begins!"
Suddenly, the long street became silent again.
Click, click, click, the galloping horses' iron hooves were like a storm. Dozens of cavalry rushed out from the side of the Meridian Gate. The knights on the horses were all wearing shiny silver helmets. On the spear points of the helmets, bright feathers floated in the wind.
Flying.
Duke Xu Huizu of Wei rode on a white horse and shouted at the Meridian Gate, "Send prisoners!"
~
Boom, boom, the war drums on the Meridian Gate roared, resounding throughout the world.
Countless people on both sides of the long street also turned their eyes elsewhere.
At the other end, a majestic and majestic man in Jin Yiwei in Feiyu uniform will perform the surgery in front of him, followed by a long list of...prisoners.
Yunnan rebel chieftain Dao Mengqian and his family members, the backbone of the rebels, as well as nearly a thousand people including Burmese leaders, were tied up with a rope and pulled forward like animals.
All of them have white ropes wrapped around their necks. This is the most humiliating way for Chinese people to insult their enemies, by treating people as animal sacrifices.
As early as the day before, these captives had been dragged to the Ancestral Temple and the Temple of Heaven to be sacrificed.
Now their steps were sluggish, their bodies were trembling, and their eyes were full of fear. They all lowered their heads and did not dare to look. They did not dare to look at the magnificent capital of the Ming Dynasty, let alone the countless cannibalistic glances around them.
"The chieftain of Yunnan, Dao Meng Qian, did not know God's grace and used his weapons against the Celestial Empire, which caused the people in the border areas to be displaced and war broke out!"
The Jin Yiwei who led the way loudly read out the charges of the prisoners, "Kill my people, destroy my fields, and plunder my livestock. You can still live if you commit evil by God. You cannot live by yourself if you commit evil. The emperor has decreed that this thief should be eradicated as a sign of great grace from tomorrow!"
"Okay!" The crowd suddenly burst into cheers louder than the cheers of Long Live.
Immediately afterwards, someone yelled, "You are the one who suffered from mother-in-law!"
Then he pulled off the cloth shoes from his feet and threw them into the prisoners.
In an instant, cloth shoes and other objects covered the sky and the sun. Not to mention the prisoners, even the Jinyi guards and others who escorted the prisoners suffered a lot of blows on their heads and faces.
"Stop!" The officers and soldiers maintaining order drew their swords and said coldly, "No fighting!"
"Hey, if you don't fight, you will be treated like a master?" The men in the capital have bad tempers and are trying to stand up to the officers and soldiers.
"Everyone, everyone!" The slippery government servant cupped his hands and said with a smile, "It's not worth it, it's not worth it. You can't kill it with your shoes. You guys will have to buy new shoes soon, right?"
~~
Zhu Yunxi looked at the Meridian Gate in the distance, and the string of prisoners on the long street gradually came closer.
"Your Majesty, you are going to see me later..." someone among the officials said.
"What do I do when I see them?" Zhu Yunxi sneered, "How can I have that free time?"
At this time, the prisoners had been detained under the Meridian Gate.
Xu Huizu shouted on his horse, "Kneel down!"
The originally fierce barbarian chieftain now bowed to the ground respectfully.
Perhaps, they had already planned this in their hearts. This has been the case since ancient times. As long as the chieftains on the border are respectful to China, even if they commit serious crimes, they can still find a way to survive.
Sacrifice of prisoners is a demonstration of the emperor's martial arts.
Forgiveness is an expression of kindness from the empire.
However, they were wrong.
Bang bang bang, after three cannon shots.
Several Han generals read loudly at the city gate the names of the prisoners of war and their charges.
"Salute! Kowtow!"
After the names were read out, the officials of the Ministry of Rites led the prisoners of war to kowtow in the direction of the emperor.
On the Meridian Gate Tower, the faces of civil and military officials became more and more glorious, but Zhu Yunxi remained as indifferent as before.
The Duke of Wei, Xu Huizu, stood up and dismounted from his horse, and continued shouting at the foot of the city, "Your Majesty, I have ordered you to quell the rebellion of the chieftains in Yunnan. I would like to present the traitor chiefs you have captured to me, and I will ask for your orders!"
Suddenly, the world fell silent again.
The wind was silent, and the breathing was tense and suppressed. Everyone was waiting, waiting for the emperor's Chrysostom, waiting for the emperor to decide the fate of these prisoners of war.
~
"Your Majesty!" Xie Jin carefully unfolded the declaration he had written and wanted to place it in front of Zhu Yunxi, but was suddenly stopped by Zhu Yunxi.
Zhu Yunxi didn't even look at the gorgeously worded and grand declaration prepared by the Hanlin Academy, and then took a few steps forward under the surprised eyes of all the officials.
"Those barbarians and despicable people, we, the Ming Dynasty, support them with the people of China, but they collude with foreign enemies to trample the country and kill our border people."
It’s over! As soon as Zhu Yunxi opened his mouth, all the officials in Qingliu of the Hanlin Academy were stunned.
According to the etiquette system, these prisoners must be pardoned as a sign of heaven's kindness, but the emperor is... planning to kill someone?
It is ominous to kill prisoners, and the New Year is approaching.
Even if he is not pardoned and handed over to the Ministry of Punishment, why should he kill someone in front of all the people?
If a king acts based on his likes and dislikes, it is not a blessing to the country!