On the first day of the Longevity Festival, there is a military parade in the grand arena, where meritorious service and rewards are given.
Before dawn, the Imperial Guards and the Beijing Camp had set up three layers of security circles inside and outside.
The innermost circle is the martial arts area. There are real guns, cannons, swords, guns, bows and arrows here, so no one can enter except the generals participating in the performance.
In the middle circle, only the east, west, and north sides have viewing areas. The north side is where the emperor, ministers, and envoys are. In addition to the palace, there is also a stage. The east side is reserved for scholars, local sages, and official family members.
To the west are the merchants who subscribed to the national debt.
The outermost cordon serves as a boundary for no one to enter.
As soon as it dawned, the area next to the Ten Princes' Mansion outside Dong'an Gate and the North Pavilion of the Huitong Pavilion was bustling with activity.
Buses and carriages have been prepared here, and those staying in the North Pavilion are mainly envoys from Korea, Jianzhou, Duoyan, Duogan, Uszang, Waidian and other departments.
They got the news from the Ming Dynasty earlier and set out earlier. They were basically land-based vassals, so they were all arranged here.
As for the Nanyang countries, Ryukyu, Luzon, etc., they live in Nanguan.
Now it's not just Jin Qi, Li, there are also people making preparations in a courtyard over the Tenth Prince's Mansion.
"Mr. An Le, there is no need to go to the palace to dance today, so please leave as soon as possible."
The one who lives here is Gunbilik.
It had been several months since he had been brought back to the capital from the north. He had obtained a false title and was not considered a real duke, but he still lived in the old "Ten Prince's Palaces".
When the news spread to the grasslands, it was natural that the Emperor of Heaven was very "gentle" to the surrendered captive chiefs and Mongolian people, and gave them courteous treatment.
But Gunbilik knew the truth.
Living here, I dare not go out. Mongolia and the Ming Dynasty have been feuding for many years. After they surrendered, the emperor did not immediately make him a prince of a foreign vassal as promised and allow him to go back to restrain the people. This has already conveyed his attitude.
At least Gunbilik knew very well that if he, the former nobles of Ordos, went to the streets and had conflicts with others, the Ming emperors and ministers would never show partiality.
Just as Yan Chunsheng said to him like a devil that day: Tang Shunzhi wanted to find excuses to kill more.
When I was first assigned to this courtyard, it had not been taken care of for a long time and was very dilapidated.
They need to pay for daily necessities, food and clothing.
For this reason, we had no other choice but to follow what the head of the Ministry of Rites and Communications said and send a message back to Hetao, with the pretext that he wanted to manage the Ming Dynasty to make the people feel better, and asked them to sell more cattle and sheep to collect some goods and send them in.
Beijing.
He must have personally ordered it and sent the message under this pretext.
The naked murderous intention of the Emperor of Heaven is always there.
Although Gunbilik thought carefully about why he still wanted to save his own life, it must have been out of necessity.
But he didn't dare to gamble, his life was his own.
Perhaps only complete obedience can bring about a turn of events.
Now when he heard the urging from the head of the Ministry of Etiquette, he immediately replied with a smile on his face: "It has been prepared for a long time. Please lead the way."
After that, he repeatedly warned the "big guys" of the Ordos Division who were detained with him in the capital: "Today is an important ceremony, so you must perform well!"
The head of the etiquette department had a meaningful smile on his face.
He knew that Gunbilik was reminding them to suppress their inner dissatisfaction, and that was right.
Surrendering and surrendering, these Mongolian nobles did not receive real courtesy, so what?
Today is a military parade and an occasion to show off martial arts. The Khan's court has been driven away. Does the Ming Dynasty really think that the only way to go is to still give them glory and wealth and hope that they will restrain the people?
If you dare to be dissatisfied and dare to cause chaos again, the generals of the Ming Dynasty will be worried that military success will become more and more difficult in the future.
The Gunbili people set out in a decent manner wearing the old robes that the Ming Dynasty had captured and given back to them.
In Prince Rui's Mansion not far next door, Zhu Zaiyan was also dressed.
He had to go to the palace first to meet up with the other feudal princes who were present, and then go with the great commander Lu Bu.
Xia had a period of indifference and unwillingness, but as time passed, she became more and more silent.
She could feel that the son who was adopted into her name gradually became able to speak tactfully for the emperor and was diligent in his studies.
Now she just helped her son tidy up his clothes, stood by the door and watched him walk away, then walked slowly and sat on the chair.
The morning sun gradually rose in the courtyard, and she sat alone in the quiet hall, her eyes full of confusion.
In the palace, Zhu Houcong woke up from Kunning Palace this morning.
When he was ready, in the courtyard of Qianqing Palace, Prince Zhu Zai'an, King of Yue Zhu Zai'an, and the vassal kings were already waiting.
When I came out of the Meridian Gate, all the important civil and military officials were waiting here.
Behind the large chariot, there were two rows of ministers holding imperial edicts in their hands.
As everyone knows, that is the award that will be read out today.
The Ming Dynasty will have another Duke.
Wang Shouren, who lives in the capital, is sixty-two years old, and he also came here today.
"Bo'an, come and talk with me."
To everyone's surprise, at this moment, the emperor was in a good mood and asked Wang Shouren to accompany him on the carriage.
Wang Shouren thanked him without any hesitation, and with Huang Jin's help, he climbed onto the carriage and sat on the soft stool beside him.
Fortunately for Zhang Fujing, Xia Yan and Yan Song saw this scene in their eyes and lowered their heads thoughtfully.
"Get up - drive -"
After driving off to Lubu, Zhu Houcong looked at Wang Shouren and nodded reassuringly: "After returning to Beijing, my complexion is getting better and better."
"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty." Wang Shouren bowed and said, "Now that the court is in full swing and there are so many powerful generals, I only focus on my studies and have nothing to worry about. I seem to be able to live for a few more years."
This is exactly what happened. Having passed the dangerous threshold back then, Wang Shouren has now looked past it.
Even when he returned to the throne last year and took charge of the great Northern Expedition, he seemed extremely relaxed.
Zhu Houcong said with emotion: "Without Bo'an's strategizing in the past, encircling and killing Bodi in one fell swoop, the grassland situation has changed drastically since then, and it would be difficult for the Northern War to come to an end so quickly. Without the foundation of the past, there would be no achievements today."
"I don't dare to express my merits." Wang Shouren looked at him, and the appearance of the young emperor in the past appeared in his mind, with a joyful smile on his face, "Your Majesty is a wise king through the ages, and all the ministers have worked hard to achieve what he is today."
"It seems like so many years have passed..."
The Emperor's ceremonial procession marched through his loyal capital, while the monarchs and ministers chatted on the slow and steady chariots.
A thoughtful person looks over and sees the emperor's gratitude to his important ministers who laid the foundation.
Although the martial arts to be boasted about today and the people to be rewarded are not directly related to those of the past, they are linked to each other after all.
The new king has been on the throne for more than ten years. At this moment, the emperor conveyed some information with a casual favor.
Yu Yunzhong, a descendant of Yu Qian who served as a model officer for Governor Yan Song, has now been transferred to the Jinyi Guards. He does not have much talent, but he can still handle the small matter of managing the emperor's honor guard.
Yu Yunzhong couldn't help but sigh when he recalled his first encounter with Wang Shouren in a posthouse on the outskirts of Beijing when he was sent to Beijing in the 16th year of Zhengde's reign to attend Yu Qian's posthumous ceremony.
Among the people who came to Beijing under the imperial decree that year, Yang Yiqing later became an official of the General Staff. After his death, the prince supported his spirit and was granted access to the Imperial Ancestral Temple. Fei Hong became the first Prime Minister and Minister of State, and Wang Shouren was awarded the title of Marquis. At this moment, he ascended the throne to speak.
Next to the hill designated as the "Target Mountain" in the south of the competition venue, behind several general flags were several powerful soldiers full of murderous aura.
A flag was raised saying "Zhen Anyan", followed by two hundred people sitting on their horses with relaxed expressions.
One flag was called Fu Ning Zhu, followed by five hundred people, men and horses united as one, silent.
One general's flag is called Hanhai Yu, followed by three hundred men with bright armor and different weapons.
One general's flag was called Wu Dingguo, followed by a thousand men, each divided into regiments, including horses and chariots, with artillery as the main force.
One general's flag is called Xiangcheng Li, followed by eight hundred people, each holding a blunderbuss.
Although the participating soldiers are waiting quietly, their commander is chatting in front.
Tang Shunzhi and Yu Dayou both came.
Although there are many things in the border area, the two or three months of going back and forth are not enough.
Tang Shunzhi, who had been gone for several years, had to appear here.
His merits should be publicized. His ability coupled with his youth will be a great deterrent to foreign vassals.
"Although it's a fake move, Tang Dutai, you still have to command properly." Guo Xun's teasing laughter was mostly intended to make friends.
"Don't you dare? Didn't General Staff Xia make arrangements a long time ago? I'll just wait until the performance is finished."
"It's okay for you, but it will be difficult for me to act here." Yan Chunsheng shook his head, "Master Guo, we must let the brothers hit more accurately later. If it hurts us, it will be ugly."
Guo Xun grinned and said: "The special operations camp comes and goes without a trace, how can it not have this ability?"
Then they just chatted, and by the way, they talked about what would happen to the Beilu in the future, and what opportunities could be used to completely defeat them.
At this moment, most of the guests watching the ceremony have already taken their seats, but the chariot has not yet arrived.
In their sight, there were many wooden dummies erected on the north side of the hill in Yanwu, which looked strange.
And on top of that hillock, there were some fake camps and enemy cavalry. Gunbilik could clearly see that they were his captured banners.
There were two to three thousand people in the distance, and it was unclear how they would perform martial arts later.
After the sun rose into the sky, a loud voice from the Ministry of Rites finally began to sing: "The Emperor has arrived! Kneel down!"
Among the rustling sounds, the voices of those generals participating in the performance were the most uniform and loudest: "Welcome to His Majesty the Emperor, long live His Majesty! Long live! Long live!"
In the eyes of Jin Qi, Li and other vassal envoys, the Emperor of Heaven finally appeared in their sights.
Today, Zhu Houcong is not wearing a uniform, but armor.
Although today is a military parade, it makes sense.
But in front of so many foreign envoys, the emperor's distinctive armor was a frightening signal after all.
The emperor, who was greeted by kneeling people from all directions, climbed up to the palace hall and sat down in front of the throne. When the person presiding over the ceremony ordered everyone to sit down, he simply stood up again.
Lu Bing handed him the bow and arrow, and Zhu Houcong took a few steps forward to the edge of the railing in front of the palace, opened his bow and drew an arrow.
It's Mingdi.
Others didn't know how strong the bow was, but the emperor drew it full anyway. The arrow made a sharp whistle after being thrown high, and then fell to the open space in front of him.
"let's start."
Zhu Houcong said softly, and the martial arts performance began simply.
"All officers and men listen to the order, the martial arts performance begins!"
Tang Shunzhi had already taken his place and waved a small flag on a small platform in front of the palace, and the drummers on both sides began to beat the drums.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The elite soldiers who had just returned from the battlefields of Hetao and Xuanning immediately started to assemble.
The direction in which they gathered was the area where the arrow shot by the emperor was.
Needless to say what kind of symbol it is, there is no chaos in the process of turning from the east side of the mountain to there, only the sound of neat steps and the shaking of the armor on the body.
"Pass my military order! Hanhai Bo's Yuanyang formation is in front, Xiangcheng Miu Bird Gun Battalion is behind, Wuding Hou's artillery battalion is in formation, Funing Hou's cavalry is attacking from the flanks, and Zhen'anbot's battle camp is deep into the enemy's camp to disrupt its center!"
"Uncle Jingbian has an order..."
This voice conveyed their identities to the foreign envoys and guests attending the ceremony, and everyone on the three sides of the viewing platform became a little excited.
In his twenties, there is the Wen Zhuangyuan who supervises one side, Yan Chunsheng, who is the leader of the academic system, and has made extraordinary achievements many times, and Yu Dayou, the Wushuangyuan...
These are the names of people who have been discussed in the capital for who knows how long this year.
Now that they are all here, this martial arts performance can be said to be the strongest lineup of Ming Dynasty when facing the strongest enemy.
Grammer glanced at Gunbilik, but could see nothing on his face.
But I must feel uncomfortable in my heart.
Other foreign envoys who had not yet seen the Ming Dynasty's military power could only see flags waving over there and shouts kept coming.
"Yuanyang Camp, listen to the order! Form a formation and move forward two hundred steps!"
Circles of mandarin duck soldiers rolled forward, and Gunbilik was finally attacked by the painful memory, and the corners of his eyes trembled.
"The gun battalion obeys the order, disperse in formation, and reload!"
"Artillery battalion, set up guns, calibrate!"
What frightened the foreign envoys the most were the four divine cannons and the six sub-class cannons that were pulled by horses and only removed the bridles after reaching a specific position and began to assemble other items nervously.
.
Not just these four, but also the artillery battalion with the largest number of people. The wooden tubes or wooden boxes they were carrying when they came just now turned out to be full of cannons or projectiles.
During the busy period, the artillery battalion of thousands of people actually assembled hundreds of cannons of various sizes at the rear of the outermost area.
At this time, two cavalry groups, one more and one less, had already started.
The one with the larger number was slower at the beginning and had not yet entered the charging process of the last hundred or so steps.
The smaller one is watched by more people.
Because the flag of the Anyan general in front was flying there. It was the most mysterious and powerful special operations battalion in the Ming Dynasty under the command of General Yan Chunsheng.
They were at full speed from the beginning, and now everyone is showing their riding skills.
Looking from one side of the view, it seems that there are only two hundred horses galloping, and no one can be seen sitting on the horses.
The people from Ordos and Duoyan looked solemn.
After a while, I saw the leading horse approaching the hill, and a sharper sound was heard from its side. Where the whistle was going, it was not clear from a distance. But after a while, the big horse on the hill slowly sounded.
Fall slowly.
The sound of the thunder continued, and more flags were shot down from the hills. Apparently Yan Chunsheng was not the only one who fired the arrows.
"good!"
It was obviously not a real fierce battle, and there was actually no one on the hill, but everyone just applauded for seeing Yan Chunsheng's archery skills.
Not just him, I'm afraid everyone in the special operations battalion is a marksman.
Then, the horses of the special operations battalion made a slight turn in their line of sight and slowed down the horses, and many of the two hundred figures jumped to the ground before the horses came to a complete stop.
A few people left with the horses, and the figures who dismounted were all like apes, and there was no hesitation even when running uphill.
At this time, the Yuanyang Formation on the north side of the mountain was already advancing.
The distance they advanced was not very far, and they were just demonstrating an idea.
But first, when the cavalry on the flanks rushed over, they all fired arrows, some of which were rockets.
Then came the rotation of the Mandarin Duck Formation, with Mo Dao, long spears, and short muskets unleashing their power. Those with a discerning eye can see the power of the Mandarin Duck Formation from their skillful cooperation.
Finally, according to the order, they formed a group of mandarin duck formations and opened the distance rhythmically. Whenever they showed a gap, they were fired one after another by the bird cannon battalion.
After the intensive firing of the bird cannon camp, they reloaded their ammunition. At this time, the mandarin duck formation became dense again to protect them.
The artillery battalion remained motionless until the flags that had been shot down on the hill were tied up again at some point.
The so-called "chaotic center" of the special operations battalion is expressed in this way.
In short, time did not pass long, and although the hillock was not big, in such a short time, the special operations battalion had already touched it and moved every flag.
At this moment, the cavalry finally started a second charge after a turn, this time punching through the array of wooden dummies.
This was fine, but the moment they broke through, the mandarin duck formation once again revealed a gap for the cannon battalion behind them. And this time, not only the cannons, but also the small cannons in the artillery battalion began to roar.
There were a total of ninety guns, and the sound of the cannons really turned the faces of foreign envoys into pale faces, and the Ming Dynasty subjects were very excited.
Seriously!
Not far from the city wall of the Ming Dynasty, there was such a dense sound of cannons. The smoke and the dust scattered in the wooden dummy array proved that they were real cannonballs.
"Put it back!"
The Tiger Crouching Cannon has a mother-and-child barrel design, so the interval between two shellings can be very short.
At this time, someone who was interested saw the figure on the hill quickly retreating down the mountain.
About ten breaths after the second cannon shot, "Boom!" Several earth-shaking loud noises shocked the Ming Dynasty subjects.
The mighty cannon roared, and the smoke and dust blasted off the mountain made people stunned.
"Have Zhen Amber and the others come down?"
"They are all good players, they should...come down..."
To the north, Li, who likes hippogriffs, can see the charm.
It was only after the flag on the mountain was raised again that the cavalry began to drill through it.
After the cavalry dug through, they first fired two rounds of small cannons at the bottom of the mountain.
There is time to leave, but this time... is not long.
Although the mountain bag is not big, to rush up so quickly, finish something and then leave in such a short time, their skills, the accuracy of the Ming Dynasty cannon, and the cooperation between them are all necessary.
He couldn't help but look at the calm Da Mingzi over there.
Aren’t you afraid that these vassals will learn how to match the different types of military formations?
Do you think that if the vassal country learns the advantages of weapons and new tactics, it will be fine, but it will be useless if they learn them?
What answered the question in his mind was the cathartic artillery fire from the artillery battalion.
Amidst the endless roar, Gombrick lowered his head deeply.
After Ming Jin withdrew his troops, the smoke and dust gradually dispersed. Almost two or three feet were missing from the hilltop, and rocks and soil were scattered in all directions.
As for the special operations battalion that had returned to the formation, there were still so many people, and their expressions were still relaxed.
Guo Xun and Li Quanli said they were lucky. Fortunately, all the cannons used this time had been carefully inspected and maintained in advance, and there was no scandalous explosion on the spot.
The cannon battalion is okay, and the artillery battalion's fire intensity is not low. This probably shows that the War Bureau's test data on the firing rate and barrel strength of the current batch of cannons are reliable.
There is no room for mistakes in Your Majesty’s military parade!
Zhu Houcong nodded with satisfaction: "Move to the competition venue, and the soldiers of the Northern Expedition will be reviewed in separate rows, and their merits will be summed up and rewarded!"
Off the field is combat power, on the field is military content.
After the sound of artillery ceased, more elite soldiers from the Beijing Camp and the border army who had returned to the capital with Guo Xun and Li Quanli began to appear in the south.
The foreign envoys looked back before entering through the south gate of the grand arena. They saw flags flying and an army of tens of thousands of people approaching as far as the eye could see, shouting and approaching.
Being so close, the Northern Expeditionary Army will usher in the day when the reward policy for them will be announced today, and the shouts will reach the southeast corner of Beijing.
And what they shouted, "The Ming Dynasty will be victorious", was echoed by the people in the capital and continued to spread to the west and north.
"The Ming Dynasty will be victorious!"
"The Ming Dynasty will be victorious!"
"Your Majesty, Holy Ming!"
In the grand arena, the emperors, ministers, and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were paraded for review, which they had seen before, but foreign envoys had never seen.
"Thank you for your hard work, soldiers!"
"Fight for the Ming Dynasty!"
With the flags and the soldiers behind them, they passed in front of the Emperor of Ming Dynasty as neatly as possible, and the Emperor of Ming Dynasty, who was wearing armor, would shout out a greeting.
All this is just to convey one point: This is the loyal and brave army of the Emperor of Heaven. Wherever he sounds the thunder, these armies can charge forward.
Today is just for Xuanwei.
This power should let the vassal state know how to be respectful, and also let the wealthy and wealthy businessmen know that the ten-year Ming Dynasty national debt can be bought. Whether it is a stable internal affairs, or the vassal state that is about to be established through the border market and city shipping system.
Both at home and abroad, it can be guaranteed that the Ming Dynasty will create a prosperous age that will be recorded in history.
After the inspection in separate columns, the imperial edict for the restoration of Taoism, the recovery of Xuanning, and the expulsion of the Khan's court was issued to the world.
The first thing was that Gunpilik once again expressed his surrender, was granted the title of Duke Anle, and was given the title of Duke of Anle, who was granted residence in the Prince's Palace of the Foreign Domain, which was modified from the ten palaces of Beijing.
Seeing the former right-wing lord of the Khan's court prostrate himself before the Emperor of Heaven to thank him, what the foreign envoys thought was their business.
The rewards given to heroes made them even more frightened.
"Zhen'anbo has repeatedly performed extraordinary feats, and was granted the title of Duke of Xingguo, and was appointed as the crown prince and Taibao..."
"The Marquis of Funing bravely took the lead in the battle, was granted the title of Duke of Bao, and was given the title of Prince Shaobao..."
"Hanhaibo fell into battle and regained his territory, trained his troops well, and was granted the title of Marquis of Hanhai..."
"Wuding Hou Zhongyong served his life, drove away from the Khan's court, was granted the title of Duke of Yi, and was made the crown prince and young master..."
"The Marquis of Xiangcheng supervised the training of the capital camp, fought bravely and was thirsty for merit. He was granted the title of Duke of Xiang, and was given the title of Crown Prince and Young Master..."
"Uncle Jingbian strategized, plotted to regain Hetao, granted the title of Marquis of Jingbian, led the Ministry of War with the title of Shangshu, added the crown prince's young division, and governor of the Hetao border area..."
The decrees for rewards were read out one after another, and each person received the decree to express gratitude.
Uninformed people would never imagine that after this battle, the Ming Dynasty granted four new princes, two marquises, as well as other earls, county princes, and rural princes...
This is also Xuanwei: If there are still people inside and outside the Ming Dynasty who dare to have any thoughts, do they know how jealous military achievements are?
Guo Xun, Zhu Qi, and Li Quanli all had tears in their eyes.
Tang Shunzhi was a civil servant, and Yu Dayou and he were both still very young. Only the equally young Yan Chunsheng was too dazzling this time.
They knew they were done, but enough was enough.
Loyalty to the emperor, regaining the courage to reach the real battlefield again and again, and finally getting it back after risking one's life.
Even if their merits are not worthy of their credit, among the old ministers, they are the same as Gu Shilong before them, while Zhang Wei and others who lost their heads are counterexamples.
Those who have merit must be rewarded, and those who have committed crimes must be punished.