Chapter 1973 The 25th Son and the Prisoner Presentation Ceremony
Zhu Ping'an didn't take this rumor to heart before, but after what happened today, he had to take this rumor to heart.
If Magistrate Zhao surrendered to the Japanese pirates, then all his bizarre behaviors in recent days would be explained.
Led a mob of 3,000 men to attack a fortified city guarded by more than 10,000 Japanese pirates;
Within the range of the hard crossbow firearms on the city, they set up camp under the city as if no one else was around;
The puffy scholar took the lead and was the first to charge into battle;
The Japanese pirates took the lead, and he took back the empty city with the back foot. He grasped the time so accurately.
Etc., etc
If the Japanese pirates cooperate, none of this will be a problem.
As for other possibilities, they are impossible.
Don't say that the Japanese pirates were scared away by the 3,000 mobs of the prefect Zhao. At the time, the prefect Zhao had a strong city and elite soldiers, and the Japanese pirates only had 400 remnants of defeated troops, so they attacked the city. Don't say that they now have more than 10,000 Japanese pirates.
.
Not to mention a coincidence.
The Japanese pirates took the lead, and Magistrate Zhao took the lead in recovering the empty city. Zhu Pingan did not believe this coincidence.
It was normal for the Japanese pirates to clean up Magistrate Zhao's 3,000 rabble before leaving.
The camp of Magistrate Zhao was located within the range of crossbows and firearms on the city. There were no fences, no horses, sentry towers, or camp gates. It was just an undefended crotch that was leaking air everywhere, so it was effortless for the Japanese pirates to stab him.
Why didn't the Japanese pirates clean up Magistrate Zhao's three thousand mob before leaving? The answer is obvious.
However, these are all speculations and there is no evidence.
but
critical moments
This hidden young man deserves special attention from Zhu Pingan, and Zhu Pingan has an intuition that if he keeps an eye on him, there will be surprises in the future.
When Prefect Zhao "recovered" Jiaxing, thousands of miles away in the capital, the Meridian Gate Prisoner Presentation Ceremony also officially kicked off.
Groups of royal guards in gorgeous flying fish uniforms held embroidered spring knives in their hands and ran on the imperial road in front of the Meridian Gate until they ran to the Meridian Gate. They were divided into two rows and stood on the left and right sides of the royal road as a guard of honor.
After the Jinyiwei stood still, the Jiaofangsi began to enter.
In addition to managing folk goulan music and local musicians, the Jiaofang Division is also responsible for the rehearsal and performance of external courts, banquets, ceremonial music and dance, and opera. Today's prisoner presentation ceremony also requires their performance to set off the atmosphere.
Skilled musicians ran along the royal road like Jin Yiwei, holding various musical instruments. They ran to Jin Yiwei and were divided into two rows. They stood on the left and right sides of the imperial road, next to the Jin Yiwei team, and stood back.
Then, officials took their places one after another.
First of all, there are the officials of Honglu Temple and the Ministry of Rites in charge of the ceremony. There are two tall and burly officials who serve as the officials of praise. They stand in front of the Meridian Gate, facing each other from east to west.
Hundreds of the Six Ministries and the main officials in Beijing, as well as some envoys from foreign countries in the capital, were arranged in front of the Meridian Tower, south of the imperial road, and were divided into two rows according to the civil and military lines, with civil servants on the east side and military attachés on the west side, arranged like the previous court.
After the officials came the officers and soldiers responsible for presenting prisoners.
More than 5,000 Jinyiwei, factory guards and elite soldiers from the three major battalions of the capital were in charge of security, and they were on guard between the Meridian Gate and Donghua Gate.
Li Zheng, the squire and the old man who were invited to participate in the prisoner sacrifice were located further away, on Tung Wah Road, where they could only see the Wu Tower in the distance.
As for the onlookers, they were further away. They could not see the Meridian Tower or the Meridian Gate. They could only be on the West Market Street. Further ahead, there were factory guards. The soldiers of the three major battalions set up a guard against horses.
Allow them to move forward.
When the first ray of dawn appeared in the sky, the prisoner presentation ceremony officially began.
Liu Mu and other Zhejiang army officers escorted more than 400 Japanese pirate prisoners to Donghua Gate, where they were handed over to officers of the third battalion for further escort.
The curtain of the prisoner dedication ceremony opened.
The soldiers of the three battalions escorted more than 400 Japanese pirate captives out of Donghua Gate, one Japanese pirate shackled, for hundreds of meters.
The people watching the excitement on both sides of the street were crowded on three floors inside and three floors outside, and they were countless.
Seeing the soldiers of the three battalions escorting the Japanese prisoners out, the onlookers immediately became excited.
The Japanese pirate prisoners wore red prison uniforms and red hats. To be precise, they were ocher clothes, not the white ones commonly seen in movies and TV dramas.
The reason why ocher clothes are used as prison uniforms is actually very simple, because prisoners are not worthy of white prison uniforms.
After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the hierarchical system assigned to clothing colors was highly strengthened. Whatever your status is, you should wear clothes of the same color. You can't wear them randomly. If you wear them randomly, you may be transgressing. This is illegal and will be punished. For example, the fifth-rank official
You can wear purple robes, officials of the sixth rank and below wear red and green robes, while officials can only wear cyan, and common people can only wear white, so there is the term Baiding.
The status of prisoners is much lower than that of ordinary people. They are only allowed to wear clothes that are lower than white, that is, prison uniforms.
Prison uniforms are the lowest-quality clothes, dyed with terracotta in an ocher color. They are easy to dye and stain-resistant, and can be worn by successive prisoners.
On both sides of the street were factory guards and soldiers from the three battalions who maintained order and were responsible for security. While maintaining order, they shouted seriously:
"Prisoners have to go to the Meridian Gate to offer their prisoners, and they are not allowed to throw rotten leaves, rotten eggs or other filthy objects! Violators will be severely punished!"
"After participating in the Meridian Gate Prisoner Offering and being escorted out, I will make you feel embarrassed!"
Long before the prisoner sacrifice began, the factory guards and soldiers had repeatedly explained these rules to the onlookers.
The common people also knew the importance and kept the rotten vegetable leaves and rotten eggs in their hands until the Japanese pirates had participated in the prisoner presentation ceremony and were escorted out of the Meridian Gate before throwing them away.
However, you are not allowed to throw away rotten vegetable leaves, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be scolded.
The onlookers cursed the Japanese pirates one by one. The national football team was so addicted that they scolded the Japanese pirates like crazy.
"Those Japanese slaves and devils are nothing more than those who kill a thousand swords. You are originally the common people of our Ming Dynasty. If you do anything wrong, you can become Japanese pirates. You have lost your conscience, betrayed your ancestors, and harmed the people. I am really ashamed of your eight generations of ancestors!"
"Japanese pirates, as dogs call them, have harassed your eighteen generations of ancestors and sent them to the eighteenth level of hell. They won't even leave you with their whole bodies, and you will never be reincarnated!"
"Death, death, death"
So many common people, so many soldiers, and such harsh insults made the Japanese pirates, who had been devastated for days, terrified.
The biting cold wind did not stop the common people from insulting the Japanese pirates with enthusiasm. The continuous insults were thunderous, making the Japanese pirates wearing single prison uniforms and bare feet tremble even more.
In order to torture the Japanese pirates, they were given only a single prison uniform and no shoes, leaving them barefoot.
The cold wind, insults, and pushing along the way made these Japanese pirates suffer physical and mental torture.
By the time the Japanese pirates were taken to the Meridian Gate, their bodies and minds were already on the verge of collapse.
"kneel!"
The salute officer gave a loud shout.
The general who escorted the Japanese pirates mercilessly put his foot in the crook of the Japanese pirate's leg and pushed the Japanese pirate to his knees on the ground.