Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 82 A Real Man Should Be Like This
"Your humble servant, Ana Hualong, the envoy of the Ming Dynasty's Burmese Consolation Office, pays homage to Lord Sun, Ambassador Liu, and Marshal Liu."
On July 16, the Ming army and the Burmese army launched a large-scale fierce hand-to-hand combat. Thanks to the bravery of the commander and the superiority of the individual soldiers, the Ming army not only won the battle, but also pushed the battle line back from its own low wall into the Burmese army's position, destroying all five Burmese artillery pieces...
Although the number of Burmese soldiers killed in the battle on that day alone did not exceed 3,000, most of the elite forces that formed the backbone of the 300,000 Burmese army were lost.
We can't fight anymore. At that time, Myanmar was still a backward country, and slavery was still the mainstream in the country. Therefore, most of the 300,000 Burmese troops were actually serfs. Without the effective suppression of the elite backbone, these serfs who usually suffered might rise up in rebellion without the need for the Ming army to fight!
So after Anahualong failed in his attack despite concentrating the most elite forces of the entire army, he was very reckless and raised the white flag and came to the front of the Ming army to surrender.
"Hehe, um, what?"
"In reply to Lord Sun's words, this subordinate, Ana Hualong."
"Well, when did you become an official of the Ming Dynasty?"
"The Burmese Xuanwei Office was established by His Majesty Chengzu himself in the first year of Yongle. It has been a vassal of the Celestial Empire for generations, sir!"
"Since you are a vassal of the Ming Dynasty, why did you raise troops without authorization and invade other vassal states of the Ming Dynasty?"
"Sir Sun, please allow me to report! In the fifth year of Jiajing (1526), Mubang, led by the Xuanweisi of Mengyang and Mengmi, attacked Myanmar. They killed my ancestors, seized my people, and occupied my land. My great-grandfather Mang Duanti escaped because he was young... After that, he lived in poverty for more than 80 years, spanning four generations, and he always wanted to take revenge on the three states. Sir, speaking of this, I would like to ask, Myanmar has been respectful to the Celestial Empire since the first year of Yongle, and has been paying tribute to the Celestial Empire. Why did the Xuanweisi of Mubang and others not do anything when they attacked Myanmar in the past? But today, when Myanmar attacks Mubang, the Celestial Empire wants to interfere?"
This is the diversion of troubles to the south. The three Mubang divisions are all located in plateaus and mountains, with very little output. To survive, you must seize land suitable for farming... If you don't let them come to seize your territory, will you let them invade our Ming Dynasty?
Of course, this is not the way to say it in diplomatic situations.
"The Ming Dynasty has always treated the six major Xuanweisi in the southwest (Mubang, Mengyang, Mengmi, Myanmar, Babai Dadian, and Laos) equally, never interfered in your internal affairs, and always advocated that you live in harmony with each other... Of course, my Ming Dynasty is a law-abiding place. If we say we will not interfere in your internal affairs, we will not interfere in your internal affairs... However, five months ago, Han Gai, the Xuanweisi of Mubang, wrote to my emperor, asking for the entire department to submit to the Ming Dynasty and change from a Xuanweisi to a directly-administered state of my Ming Dynasty. My emperor was merciful and did not agree at first. But he could not resist the tearful plea of the Mubang envoy, and my emperor, grateful for the difficult livelihood of the Mubang soldiers and civilians, reluctantly approved this request... So, this time, you Burmese chieftains are not killing each other, but raising troops to invade the directly-administered states of my Ming Dynasty!"
Seeing Sun Chengzong's righteous lies, Liu Shimin and Liu Jing behind him had a hard time holding back. Even Ana Hualong, who was kneeling in front of Sun Chengzong, had a strange look on his face.
However, the situation was stronger than the person. As a qualified ruler, Anahualong had no choice but to bow his head and admit his guilt: "I am terrified. I didn't know Mubang could be so, uh, so adoring of the Celestial Empire. It is my fault. But sir, the mistake has been made. I hope you can forgive me for my ignorance."
"Hehe, ah... uh, ah Xuanwei Envoy, our Great Ming cares for our vassal states the most. Although the Xuanwei Envoy made a mistake, as long as he admits his mistake honestly and repents sincerely, our Great Ming will not refuse to give him a chance."
"Thank you for your understanding, sir. Please tell me how Myanmar should repent for its mistakes. As long as the Celestial Empire allows the Burmese Xuanwei Office to continue to be a vassal of the Celestial Empire, I will not hesitate to cut this vassal into pieces!"
"Haha, that's too much. Come on, envoy, please stand up. I'm here to talk to you."
…
The fourth day of September in 1606 was the 43rd birthday of Emperor Wanli Zhu Yijun. On this day, the whole city of Beijing was decorated with lanterns and colorful lights, and all civil and military officials, soldiers and civilians paid homage to and congratulated Emperor Wanli in various ways.
After a busy day of completing various birthday celebration ceremonies with officials, elders, and people's representatives at all levels, according to Zhu Youdong's proposal, Empress Dowager Li, Wanli, Queen Wang, Concubine Zheng, Concubine Wang, Crown Prince Zhu Changluo's family, Wanli's three sons who were not yet adults and several daughters who were not yet married, as well as the eunuchs of the palace and some high-ranking court officials, a total of seven or eight hundred people, in a certain order, ascended the Chengtian Gate one by one.
It was 2:45 pm (8:00 p.m.), and although the entire city of Beijing was already ablaze with lights from Chengtian Gate, there was no neon light shining like in later times, and although the night sky was dotted with stars, it was generally as dark as ink.
Zhu Youdong nodded to Wei Zhongxian, who stood out from the crowd excitedly and said, "Your Majesty, today is your birthday, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has prepared a fireworks display to celebrate. Please give your order to allow the display to begin."
Nodding slightly, Wanli said, "Okay, let's get started."
"As you wish!"
Old Wei stood up, apologized to Wanli again, then went to the Chengtian Gate Tower and lit a firework.
In an instant, there was a loud bang, and a huge burst of scarlet fireworks suddenly exploded in the sky above Chengtian Gate, causing people on the city wall to look up.
With the loud noise and the huge fireworks in the sky, all other fireworks display sites in Beijing received a collective order and began to set off fireworks in a uniform and orderly manner.
In an instant, countless fireworks rose into the sky in front of Chengtian Gate, making a loud noise and exploding quickly. Then, they appeared in the night sky in various forms such as red peonies, yellow chrysanthemums, and green weeping willows. In an instant, the entire night sky was filled with colorful lights.
After a quarter of an hour of continuous intensive fireworks, various rocket fireworks began to rise into the sky. Against the backdrop of the fireworks, although the sparks emitted by the rocket fireworks were relatively small, they pulled out long light patterns during the rise, adding many golden threads to the sparks blooming in the night sky.
Not to mention that the palace people and civil and military officials at Chengtian Gate were all in shock. Even the millions of soldiers and civilians in the entire Beijing city walked out of their houses at this moment, and raised their heads as much as possible to watch the unprecedented grand fireworks display!
"Dong'er, this is the benefit of the gunpowder improvement that you told Grandpa Emperor about, right?"
"Yes, Grandfather Emperor. The fireworks show is just one of them. After the gunpowder is improved, not only can the fireworks rise higher, but also the firearms of my Ming army can shoot farther."
"Well, this is a powerful weapon for the country."
"Grandpa Emperor, I have copied down the complete recipe and will give it to you later. Please keep it in your personal care."
"Okay, when you get to Nanjing, just do it boldly. Grandpa has nothing to worry about you."
The grandfather and grandson were actually shouting at each other, but so what? Not to mention that the people on the tower were completely attracted by the scene in the sky, even if someone wanted to listen to the conversation between the grandfather and grandson, they would not be able to hear it clearly under the huge background noise unless they put their ears close to it.
The conversation between the grandparents and grandchildren continued, but the fireworks never stopped. In addition to fireworks and rocket fireworks, pearl fireworks, spray flowers, combination fireworks and rack fireworks appeared one after another. Everyone, everyone , was amazed. The older women in the palace were better, but the young girls like Wanli's princess and Zhu Youdong's sister all clapped their hands until they were red.
"Your Highness, this is a good thing. I can also have a similar event on my birthday next year."
"Great-grandma, please forgive me. This fireworks display was only recently completed, so I was unable to make it to your birthday this year. Next year, I will definitely organize a bigger fireworks display for you."
"Brother, you have to get me one on my birthday too."
"Huijuan, how can you talk like that? That's just nonsense."
"Hey." Gently waving his hand towards Zhu Changluo, Wanli leaned over and said, "Juan'er, this is not difficult. Grandpa Emperor has approved it."
As the grandfather and grandson were talking, nine huge thunderbolts exploded in the sky. In the higher night sky, nine large characters appeared: "Long live our emperor!"
As these nine characters appeared, millions of Beijing soldiers and civilians, as well as the civil and military officials on the Chengtian Gate Tower, the eunuchs and concubines, all bowed their heads towards the position where Wanli was standing and kowtowed: "Long live the emperor!"
"Hahahahaha~~~" After laughing heartily, Wanli waved his sleeves and asked everyone to stand up. Then he pulled Zhu Youdong to the front of the tower and pointed his finger straight ahead: "Dong'er, there may be better things tonight."
Following Wanli's finger, Zhu Youdong saw a knight with three red flags on his back galloping from the imperial road outside Chengtian Gate.
"Great victory! Great victory! On July 16th, our army fought a fierce battle with the Burmese bandits who invaded our Ming Dynasty in Mubang and defeated them! We beheaded more than 17,000 of them. The Burmese bandit chieftain tied himself up and asked for surrender!"
After a brief silence , even louder cheers rose to the sky: "Long live the Ming Dynasty! Long live our emperor!"
Looking at the faces full of glory and pride around him and downstairs, Zhu Youdong couldn't help but feel a great sense of accomplishment: this little butterfly of his finally began to reverse the trend of history! The southwest has calmed down temporarily, and next, he will go to the southeast to reverse the decline of the Ming Dynasty from the economic level.
In order to achieve today's results, I have worked so hard and endured so much criticism. Moreover, although I have achieved some results today, looking up at the road ahead, it is destined to be more difficult and bumpy. But looking at the glory tonight, everything is so worth it. How lucky I am to be able to come to this era, stand in this position, and show my ambitions! A real man should be like this!
