Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 189: The Heroes Must Not Be Forgotten
On April 10, the 40th year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty, at 2:15 a.m., the people in the northern suburbs of Beijing all ran out of their houses in panic.
"Is there an earthquake? Why does it feel like the ground is shaking?"
"It doesn't look like it. Even if it was an earthquake, how could it last so long? And it was shaking in a very rhythmic way."
"Dad, what do you see over there?"
Everyone looked in the direction where the young woman's finger pointed, and first saw a forest of gun tips, then white flags tied under the gun tips, and soon they saw many Ming soldiers wearing armor but covered with a layer of white mourning clothes.
These soldiers held guns in one hand and a spirit tablet in the other. They looked solemn, but their movements were in unison, and they came towards us at a steady pace. It was the orderly and heavy footsteps of thousands of people that caused the ground to vibrate slightly and rhythmically.
"Boss, it seems that the court sent someone to announce a few days ago that the Liao army will return to the capital to report its victory."
"Is this true? Where is the chief? Where is the head of the village?"
"Hey, don't look for them now, make way for them."
"Oh, that's as it should be. Look at all the white flags. Those walking in the front are all brave warriors who are loyal to their country."
According to Zhu Youdong's arrangement, when returning to Beijing to report the victory, the Beijing camp would first send a thousand soldiers, holding white flags, wearing mourning clothes, and carrying spirit tablets. Then came some wounded soldiers whose hands and feet were cut off on the battlefield but whose lives were saved after battlefield treatment. After that, there were more than ten 300-man square teams selected from various military towns.
Seeing the farmers and women on the roadside spontaneously bowing to the funeral procession in front of them, Gu Dali, the assistant governor of the Left Army, who was walking side by side with Zhu Youdong, and the lieutenant general leading the Beijing camp to the expedition, took a deep breath and said, "Your Highness, only now do you know that we warriors also have honor."
"Why? Didn't the Marquis of Zhenyuan feel honored before?"
"Ha~~" Gu Dali laughed awkwardly, "My ancestors were veteran generals who served in the Taizu, Huidi, and Chengzu dynasties. The establishment of Guizhou Province was also facilitated by my ancestors. I dare not forget these honors. But now?" Gu Dali spread his hands, "We warriors have been suppressed and despised for many years. How can we have any honor? I remember when I was a child, my father, as a marquis, sponsored scholars who came to Beijing to take the imperial examinations many times. But after these guys passed the imperial examination and became officials, which one of them did not boss my father around? We, as military generals with the title of lord, are like this. What about ordinary soldiers? Do you still need to ask?"
"Marquis Zhenyuan."
"I am here."
"I can't control what happened in the past, but I promise that as long as I am alive, the honor of the Ming Dynasty warriors must be protected!"
"I firmly believe that Your Highness will keep his word, and I swear to be loyal to Your Highness!"
"Well, I'll enter the city first. Today we're going to present our victory, and the Beijing Camp is the host, so I've chosen you to be the commander-in-chief. You must do your job well. Restoring the glory of the warriors should start from today."
"I swear I will not fail you!"
This action was said to be a tribute of victory, but in fact, after the guidance of the time traveler, its content was more like a military parade in later generations.
After receiving the exclamation mark in Wanli's reply, Zhu Youdong, with a calm mind, began to organize the military parade with great enthusiasm.
The Ming Dynasty has discriminated against military men who defended the country for too long. According to the human nature of seeking profit, if being a soldier is destined to be inferior to others, then a person would not join the army if he had any means. In this way, the outstanding talents of the entire society are isolated from the army. And using a group of people with the worst overall quality in society to defend the country? How can such an army be reliable?
Therefore, it is necessary to boost the confidence of the soldiers and restore the glory of the military. Zhu Youdong will not hesitate even if doing so will severely stimulate the civil officials again.
…
"Your Highness, your Highness, and your Highness, ...
"No need to be polite."
After the ceremony between the emperor and his subjects, the traditional ceremony of offering victory was held first. Seventy or eighty stubborn Jurchen nobles, led by Huang Taiji, and thousands of captives were pressed forward, and then Wanli shouted "Take them away", and his own executioners beheaded these people one by one.
After the traditional ceremony of paying tribute to the victory and beheading the prisoners was completed, Zhu Youdong said, "Grandpa Emperor, please move to Chengtian Gate to see the heroic figures of the soldiers of the Ming army."
"Hahaha, all right, everyone, follow me."
The imperial city of Beijing in the Ming Dynasty was much larger than the Forbidden City in the 21st century. The Forbidden City in the 21st century was only the palace city of Beijing in the Ming Dynasty, where the emperor, the crown prince, the empress dowager and the concubines lived. Outside the palace city was the larger imperial city, which was the office area of the 24 prisons of the inner palace and the six ministries of the cabinet, as well as the location of various royal warehouses and gardens.
The south gate of the imperial city is Daming Gate. Walking straight 800 meters from Daming Gate, you will find Chengtian Gate opposite, and Chang'an Left Gate and Right Gate on the left and right sides. According to Zhu Youdong's arrangement, Wanli led the crown prince, the underage princes, the emperor's grandchildren, and the eunuchs and ministers who were ranked high to climb Chengtian Gate, and on this tower, they reviewed the troops of the military towns and guards of the Daming.
"Grandpa Emperor, I request your permission to allow the people of the capital to approach the walls of the imperial city and take a look at the demeanor of our Ming Dynasty soldiers."
"Granted!"
"Thank you, Grandpa Emperor."
After everything was arranged, Zhu Youdong nodded to Yang Hao behind him. After Yang Hao apologized to Wanli, he picked up a flintlock and fired a flare into the sky.
Gu Dali, who had already led the troops to assemble outside the left gate of Chang'an, immediately gave orders after seeing the signal flare: "The emperor has issued an order, the parade begins, the funeral procession, set off!"
Therefore, the first thing that the Ming Dynasty emperors and ministers standing on the Chengtian Gate Tower saw was the solemn white robes and countless spirit tablets.
Faced with this situation, Wanli took the lead, and the princes, grandchildren, numerous eunuchs, and ministers, no matter what they thought in their hearts, all bowed deeply and saluted.
Zhu Youdong's voice sounded at this time: "Grandpa Emperor, Father, and all the nobles, in this expedition to Jianzhou, our Ming Dynasty has sent a total of 95,000 combat soldiers and 30,000 auxiliary soldiers. A total of 15,370 people died in the king's service, and 3,455 people were unable to join the army due to disability. Now, there are only 1,000 combat soldiers from the Beijing camp passing through Chengtian Gate, and they are holding only 1,000 spirit tablets."
"My soldiers of the Ming Dynasty are mighty and powerful."
After the funeral procession passed, the remaining troops came. Some of them were supported or carried by their comrades, while others were using crutches. Although the procession was not in order, they still passed through Chengtian Gate at a steady speed. Emperor Wanli and his ministers bowed their heads deeply again.
"Long live our emperor! Long live the Ming Dynasty!"
Listening to the remnant soldiers' loud shouts, Wanli's initially serious expression became a little better: "Dong'er, how are these remnant soldiers resettled?"
"My grandson has already made an agreement with the generals. In the future, the gatekeepers and night watchmen of officers at all levels will try their best to use the remaining soldiers. In addition, the remaining soldiers can be transferred from military status to civilian status and resettled nearby. If there is really no place to resettle them, according to the previous practice of our Ming Dynasty, they will be given food every month to support themselves."
"Yes." After nodding, Wanli turned around and asked, "My Lords, did you all hear it?"
"I understand. We will send someone to register with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and try to recruit as many remnant soldiers as possible to work in our courtyard."
"Very good. I will also take the lead in this matter. They cannot be allowed into the palace. As for the night watchmen in the imperial city, we should hire the remaining troops as much as possible."
As everyone was talking, the remnants of the army slowly passed through Chengtian Gate. Next came the Kuandian Guard, led by Xiong Tingbi himself, which consisted of 500 elite soldiers of similar height.
They were wearing the traditional long armor of the Ming Dynasty, with small red flags on their heads, and holding flintlock muzzle-loading rifles that had been improved to the highest level. They marched towards us in neat steps with high momentum.
"Grandpa Emperor, this is the strong army that Xiong Tingbi trained in Kuandian for five years. In the Battle of Sarhu, the Kuandian Guards captured no less than 2,000 Jiannu heads."
"Well, what a strong army!"
"Long live our emperor! Long live the Ming Dynasty!"
"Hahaha~~The soldiers are so mighty!"
"The Emperor's order! All the soldiers are mighty~~"
Next, the military parade entered the routine process: Shanhaiwei, Kaiyuanwei, Liaoyangwei, Shenyangwei, Jizhen, Xuanfu, Datong... The columns of each military town and guard post passed through Chengtian Gate in turn to be reviewed by Wanli. Zhu Youdong acted as the interpreter, explaining one by one how these troops performed, how they sacrificed, and how they gained in the battle of conquering Jianzhou. Wanli naturally praised them one by one, and then the big Han generals beside him passed these praises to every soldier who passed through Chengtian Gate. Then the emperor was responded with a tsunami-like shout of "Long live the emperor".
The last to come over were Zhu Youdong's personal troops, the Henghai Guards.
Their military uniforms were obviously different from the traditional armor of the Ming Dynasty. In fact, thanks to the success of the fabric research of Fangshan Laboratory, Zhu Youdong issued uniforms similar to the 07 style of the People's Liberation Army to the soldiers of Henghaiwei.
Such military uniforms, in this era, certainly gave all the viewers a great shock. Especially when the troops approached Chengtian Gate, the leader Ma Chengzhao shouted "March in step", and then all 500 soldiers changed their steps to marching in unison, and thrust forward their flintlock rifles with bayonets on their shoulders. The people on the tower, led by Wanli, couldn't help but applaud!
"How magnificent! Ancient military tactics say that a thousand men can be as powerful as one arm. After seeing it today, I know it is not an empty statement."
"Your Majesty, we congratulate you. With such a strong army at hand, our Ming Dynasty will surely remain strong forever!"
"Hahahaha~~ Well said! Pass the order down, I will reward the soldiers who are fighting against Liao generously!"
"On behalf of the soldiers who are going on this expedition, I, your Highness, would like to thank you, Grandfather."
"Not only that, today's military review has given me many emotions. I have made up my mind to allocate funds from the inner treasury to build a shrine for heroes and martyrs on Yuetai Slope in the Western Garden. From now on, the spirit tablets of the soldiers who died in the Ming Dynasty's foreign expeditions must be placed here to receive incense and be immortalized from generation to generation!"
"The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty will be deeply grateful for the Emperor's kindness, and will swear to serve the Ming Dynasty until their death in the future!"
On April 18, Jinling Daily published a special edition of four pages, introducing the battle and the grand parade at Chengtian Gate. The title of the newspaper commentary in this issue was: The heroes must not be forgotten!
