At half noon, on a cloudy day with a cool breeze, Dragon Rush arrived at the camp in the north of the city. Tens of thousands of soldiers lined up in front of the camp and shouted long live the emperor, their voices reaching into the sky. Such momentum also made Emperor Chongzhen's blood boil. He got off his car and got on his horse to guard the flag bearer.
The retinue waved to greet the soldiers, and the queen, prince, and others also got off the car and followed closely on foot to point their interest at the general platform.
Not only was Emperor Chongzhen extremely excited about this scene, but tens of thousands of soldiers were also excited. They all shouted long live at the top of their lungs and stared in the direction of Emperor Chongzhen, trying to see what the emperor looked like and whether the queen and princess looked good.
After all, there are only a few opportunities like this in a lifetime.
Emperor Chongzhen liked this feeling very much. Thinking about the past years, he was a doormat in the palace. He could not command the soldiers outside, but he still had to be annoyed by hundreds of officials every day. But now, he is really proud!
This is the feeling of an emperor ruling over the world!
When he was proud, he couldn't help but look sideways at the little eunuch next to him. Everything in front of him depended on him.
The Dianjiang Platform was built at the review ground due east of the military camp. It was a large platform of ten meters long and five meters high. It was specially used for the emperor's military parade. At this time, three lines of defense had been set up around it by the Jinyi Guards. Anyone who came close would be killed without mercy!
Emperor Chongzhen's horse turned over and dismounted from the stage, and looked around. When Empress Zhou arrived, the two of them stepped onto the stage hand in hand. Wang Chenen supported him beside him, and the prince and princess followed closely behind with the support of other eunuchs and maids.
Zhu Cixiang was as excited as his father. He looked around and wished he had more eyes. When he was so excited, he wanted to talk to Chang Yu, but after looking for a long time, he couldn't find anyone. He was about to ask Linglong beside him.
, suddenly saw Chang Yu standing behind him next to Princess Kunxing, and whispered something in a low voice.
"Your Highness, are you angry?" With Chang Yu's thoughts, he noticed something was wrong with Zhu Yuya when he was outside the Anding Gate. He didn't find a chance to talk along the way, so he took the opportunity to offer his attentive support when he was on stage, but Princess Kunxing refused to let him help her.
Zhu Yasuo's eyes were a little red, she bit her lips and shook her head gently: "Go and serve others."
"The queen is taken care of by the emperor, and the prince jumps up and down like a monkey without needing anyone else. If I don't serve you, who will you serve?" Chang Yu teased in a low voice.
Zhu Ainao laughed when Chang Yu said he was a monkey, but she quickly put away her smile and said, "Serve whoever you want to serve, otherwise I will be said to be sentimental... huh."
Um... Chang Yu was startled for a moment, and then he realized something. He thought that this girl might have misunderstood something, but she had already boarded the platform and had no chance to explain. He hurriedly walked towards Emperor Chongzhen.
There are more than ten chairs placed in the center of the platform, with Chongzhen sitting in the middle, the queen, concubines, princes and princesses on both sides, and the eunuchs and maids waiting behind them.
There are two chairs on the stage reserved for the first assistant Li Banghua and the Minister of War Shi Kefa. They were the only two civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty who could share the stage with the emperor. This naturally made many people envious, among which the second assistant Wu Di was the most unhappy. However, the emperor said
The civil and military officials each took one, with Li Banghua at the head of the civil service, and Military Secretary at the Wu position, but there was nothing he could do.
The platform is five meters high. The breeze blowing on it is very cool and you can see all around. The view is excellent. Emperor Chongzhen couldn't sit still after sitting for a while. He got up and walked around the platform. In the distance, soldiers and horses waiting to be inspected were being inspected.
People entered the venue one after another, and officials, both civil and military, were looking for their positions on both sides of the platform.
This position arrangement is very interesting. In the Ming Dynasty, the left was the top. For example, some officials had the title of Zuo Dudu, and the left censor was the first-in-command, and the right was the second-in-command.
The civil servants have always been ranked higher than the military attachés, and when they lined up at court, they were always on the left and right of the military officers, but today's arrangement of the positions of the officials has given some people some clues.
The platform was built in the east, with the north on the left and the south on the right. According to the convention, the civilian officials should be in the north and the military attachés should be on the right. However, today we did the opposite. All the military officials were gathered in the north. Some civilian officials were puzzled and asked who should assist Wu.
Oh, but I saw that he had a dark face and said nothing.
On the other hand, the military department seemed very lively. Officials from the Ministry of War and the Fifth Army Governor's Office were chatting with Wu Sangui, Gao Jie, Liu Zeqing, Liu Liangzuo and other military generals. When they looked up and saw Emperor Chongzhen looking over from the high platform, everyone hurriedly bowed.
After saluting, Emperor Chongzhen waved his hands happily, his mouth grinning like a big basin. This feeling was so satisfying.
There were three drums in front of the general stage. After the twelve drums sounded, more than 10,000 generals lined up in the parade field, shouting long live the Ming Dynasty and long live the emperor. Emperor Chongzhen couldn't restrain his excitement and stood up again and walked to the edge of the stage, looking into the distance.
The generals waved their hands.
Two cavalrymen came galloping to the point where they reined up their horses and clasped their fists, but it was Shanxi commander-in-chief Zhou Yuji and Huang Degong who said: "I and my ten thousand soldiers respectfully request your Majesty's approval."
"Let's begin!" Emperor Chongzhen laughed loudly. Zhou Yuji rode back to the team. Not long after, a group of hundreds of cavalry rode around the field. When the officials were confused, they saw these soldiers with their bows and arrows drawn, aiming at the enemy a hundred steps away.
Target shooting.
Swish, swish, the war horses galloped past, arrows rained down, and none of them missed, which attracted hundreds of officials in the audience to cheer loudly. Emperor Chongzhen put down his telescope and clenched his fist heavily: "What an arrow!" He turned to look at Chang Yu:
"I heard that you are also good at archery, why don't you show your skills?"
Chang Yu smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I am a humble minister, but I won't show off my humiliation in front of these elite soldiers." Emperor Chongzhen laughed and did not force him. He raised his telescope and continued to appreciate it.
The soldiers took turns to offer their plans, including the art of archery with hundreds of steps, uniform infantry formations, ever-changing formation drills, cavalry charges, and comprehensive melee confrontation drills between infantry and cavalry. Emperor Chongzhen and all the officials watched with excitement.
My heart was filled with turbulence, and the soldiers who had been separated for three days were treated with admiration. The Ming army was completely exhausted and was so energetic. No wonder the thieves who were able to fight ran away with their heads in their hands, and the Tatars fled in embarrassment.
Of course, everyone knows that although it cannot be said that all this is due to the little eunuch, it really would not be possible without him.
Chang Yu stood behind Emperor Chongzhen and looked at his family, young and old, full of passion and joy. He was very accomplished.
The drill on the school field is still going on, with the emperor and officials cheering endlessly. The soldiers on duty two hundred meters away are doing their duty to block the onlookers and prevent them from taking a step forward. Further away, there are soldiers mobilized from various ministries.
Horses were on duty, and even the third battalion under Dongchang was assigned tasks.
After all, the number of people who came out of the city to watch this time was at least 100,000. There were so many people and the rivers and lakes were so large that trouble could easily occur.
For half an hour, Zhou Yuji and Huang Degong commanded 15,000 soldiers and horses to conduct various drills. The emperor and officials were very excited to watch, and they were still full of excitement until the end.
What’s interesting is that the civil servants, who have always been restrained in martial arts, watched it with gusto, but the military generals looked disdainful. Perhaps they were used to seeing real and cruel battlefields and did not like this kind of drill at all, or maybe they were enemies and the ones being reviewed were
Mainly composed of Zhou Yuji, Huang Degong and a few soldiers from the Beijing camp, Tang Tong, Ma Ke and other troops were just the soy sauce, but Wu Sangui, Gao Jie and others were just spectators.
So no matter how the civil servants shouted "hello", they just responded with a few "hmm", but the officials from the Ministry of War and the Fifth Army Governor's Office were very considerate and shouted "hello" at the top of their lungs. The sound was even louder than the civil service team next door.
, maybe they are not only applauding, but also showing off.
The drill is over, it's almost noon, and the military parade has entered the most important stage!
Rewards based on merit!
The breathing of the generals who had participated in the war in the past few months suddenly became rapid. It could be seen that everyone was somewhat nervous and uneasy because they were looking forward to it too much.
Even Wu Sangui, Gao Jie and others, who had looked disdainful when watching the military exercise just now, also changed their expressions and stared intently at the generals on the stage.
Are you nervous? Nervous.
Are you looking forward to it? Looking forward to it.
The generals in the audience were nervous and looking forward to it. Chang Yu on the stage was also the same, even more so. He wanted to see how many of his recommendations were recognized. There was a change in what Emperor Chongzhen said when he left the palace.
, is it related to this?
Is it none of your business? No, even though I knew that this time I was conferring a reward to a military general, the civil servants also held their breath, because in the court, civil and military forces may be incompatible, but once you get down to the court, you will find that there are many intricate connections.
One interest after another.
There is even a civilian interest group behind every military general. The rewards based on merit are not decided by the emperor alone, but are obtained by fighting for or making deals.
For more than ten days, all parties have been fighting for it, and finally it's time to lift the lid.