The Prosperous Era of Longwan

On September 19, the third year of Longqing's reign, the Forbidden City held the Fengxian Hall.

"Tap tap tap"

The sound of neat footsteps broke the silence here. Groups of Imperial Guards in bright uniforms, holding various flags and guards of honor, entered the square in front of the palace with neat steps.

One of the Imperial Guards in the Ming Dynasty, there were left and right guards of Yulin, together with Jinwu's front guard, Huben's left and right guards, and Fujun's left and right front guards, they were collectively called the Ten Guards. They were called pro-army and were on duty in turns to guard the imperial city.

The Yulin Guards of the Ming Dynasty was a special force during the Ming Dynasty. It was one of the guards closest to the emperor. Its members were all tall and energetic palace honor guards, and their origins were all selected from official families from various places. , had a distinguished status and was regarded as a confidant of the emperor.

Before inheriting the title or being appointed to other official positions, the eldest son of the noble family of the Ming Dynasty mostly served in these personal guards and assisted the emperor.

The later Qing Dynasty also inherited this point and accepted the sons of aristocratic families as imperial guards and rewarded them with yellow mandarin jackets.

As the closest guard to the emperor, the Yulin Guards had their own unique marching pace in order to show the might of the emperor. This is the Yulin Step of the Ming Dynasty.

The pace of the Yulin Step of the Ming Dynasty is called the Wild Goose Step. It steps diagonally to the left or right. It has strong regularity and a small stride. It can quickly change the formation while maintaining the marching speed and maintain uniformity.

After the Yulin Guards set up a guard of honor in the square in front of the palace, a chariot appeared here surrounded by many eunuchs. As the chariot was put down, Emperor Longqing appeared in the square wearing a leather bean uniform.

Standing in front of the main hall, Emperor Longqing raised his head and glanced at the majestic Fengxian Hall, and was in a daze for a moment.

"Your Majesty, the auspicious time has come."

Teng Xiang, the eunuch beside him, saw the emperor standing blankly on the spot, so he reminded him in a low voice.

Today is the day to announce the announcement of the speech in the front hall according to the Etiquette Notes of the Grand Reading. Since it is not the most important day, I did not choose to come here in royal robes, but appeared here in ordinary clothes.

According to the Ming system, the mianfu was only worn when the emperor offered sacrifices to heaven and earth, ancestral temples, Zhengdan, winter solstice, and holy festivals.

Therefore, it can be seen from the use that the emperor could not actually wear it a few times a year.

Relatively speaking, leather bean suits were worn by Ming emperors most of the time when attending major ceremonies.

The Pi Bian suit was formulated in the Hongwu period, updated in the third year of Yongle, and was used until the end of the Ming Dynasty.

Its function is that the emperor wears leather bean clothes when he visits the court on the lunar day, sends edicts, sends incense, enters the palace, pays tribute to vassal countries, and makes pilgrimages. During the Jiajing period, it was also stipulated that leather bean clothes should also be used when offering sacrifices to Tai Sui and the gods of mountains and rivers.

After being reminded by Teng Xiang, Emperor Longqing also came to his senses.

At this time, he had a solemn expression and walked towards the main hall step by step with steady steps.

When he climbed the steps and walked to the door of the main hall, the two young eunuchs on duty in front of the hall raised their hands and gently pushed open the closed door, and Emperor Longqing walked into the hall.

After entering the hall, the first thing you see is the densely packed tablets. These are the tablets of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty. The one in the middle is naturally Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, and the left and right are Zhu Di, Renzong, Zhu Gaochi, etc., arranged in order.

Emperor Longqing knew that a hundred years later, his tablet would be placed here for future generations to worship.

According to the rules set by his ancestors, after saluting the tablet, he silently recited the premonition in his heart that he had already prepared. In fact, it said that he would parade the officers and soldiers in the northern suburbs tomorrow.

The notice was drafted by the Hanlin Academy and submitted to the cabinet after revision.

Perhaps in the eyes of future generations, this is an insignificant thing, but in this era of strict etiquette and law, the words used to pay homage to ancestors need to be carefully selected and considered repeatedly.

After reading the prophecy, Emperor Longqing stood for a moment and saluted again. After the ceremony, he slowly retreated to the front door of the palace, then turned around and left the hall.

When he walked out of the main hall, the little eunuch on duty in front of the hall raised his hand and grabbed the handrail and gently closed the door of Fengxian Hall.

When he reached the steps in front of the palace, Emperor Longqing stood still and said to the eunuch standing below: "Pass an edict, order Gu'an Bo Chen Jingxing to guard the Chengtian Gate, Qingdu Bodu Jizong, and the right minister and scholar of the Ministry of Civil Affairs Lu Tiaoyang to guard the capital. Nine gates and five gates of the imperial city.

He ordered the governor-general, Gu Huan, the governor of Zhenyuan, and the assistant minister, Wang Zhigao, to predefine the teaching ground.

He ordered the obedient Marquis Wu Jijue, the Marquis of Anxiang Zhang Jian, Wang Bengu, the left minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and Liu Ziqiang, the left minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, to inspect the military skills of the generals below a thousand guns and the martial arts of the sergeants. The censors Xiang Cheng, Liu Yaoqing, Wang Qi, and Su Shirun were ordered to supervise the shooting.

The British Duke Zhang Rong was ordered to worship the god of flags and banners. "

"According to the order."

Teng Xiang, Meng Chong, Feng Bao, Zhang Cheng and other accompanying eunuchs immediately bowed at the foot of the steps and answered.

On September 20, the third year of Longqing's reign, Jin Yiwei prepared a chariot and set it up under Huangji's gate.

Emperor Longqing rode out of the left gate of Chang'an in his regular uniform, with his officers and troops leading him in front and behind, and their drums and drums vibrating.

From the Anding Gate to the Yuewu Gate, the General Association's Rong Zhengguan led the generals and junior officers to kneel down in military uniforms to greet them. They passed by and followed him into the general stage, standing in order to the north.

As they marched through Wumen, the Chinese army raised three trumpets and cannons, each battalion's drums and drums rang out, and the retinue officers stood outside the palace gate to greet them.

Emperor Longqing's chariot arrived at the gate of the palace, lowered the chariot, and the officers of the Ministry of War led it into the palace.

After the drums were sounded and the drums were sounded, Emperor Longqing ascended the throne. The attendants performed a kowtow ceremony and offered wine and rice as usual. After each official kowtowed and thanked him, he left and stood in order from east to west under the general stage.

The officers of the Ministry of War knelt down to invite him to the stage for the grand parade. The officers of the Ministry of War and Honglu Temple guided Emperor Longqing to the stage, raised the royal flag, and fired three cannons.

The officials of Honglu Temple knelt down to play, and the soldiers of the Beijing camp kowtowed.

After the kowtow ceremony, they were divided into east and west. Gu Huan, Zhenyuanhou, the chief military officer of the General Association, was placed to the north of the guard officer, and the rest of the generals were assisted to the south of the guard officer. Huo Yi, the minister of the Ministry of War, knelt down and asked to order each battalion to organize the troops.

After accepting the order, the trumpets, flutes, and yellow flags were blown on the stage, and the general auxiliary military and political officers commanded the deputy counselors, tour assistants, and other officials to return to their respective departments to organize the troops.

The Minister of the Ministry of War knelt down again and asked for a review of the formation. He raised the trumpet and cannon three times, and the horse and infantry officers and soldiers performed the formation as usual.

Emperor Longqing was sitting on the throne on the high platform, and now his eyes widened as he looked at the Ming Dynasty officials and troops that Wei Guangde had always boasted about.

Generally speaking, the order of the military parade has not changed. It is still the fifth military camp of the Beijing Camp at the beginning, followed by the Shenshu Camp, the Shenji Camp, and the troops and horses of the three towns of Changping, Baoding, and Shandong.

Just before the Shenji Battalion entered the grand parade, the ten majestic cannons attracted the attention of the officials. It was really that the size difference between the other general cannons and Folangji displayed by the Shenji Battalion and the ten cannons was too huge. , even if you don’t want to attract attention.

"Good loans."

On the high platform, Emperor Longqing leaned forward and waved to Wei Guangde below the stage.

When Wei Guangde heard the emperor's shout, he looked back and walked over quickly.

When he arrived and stood in front of the throne, Emperor Longqing pointed at the ten cannons and asked: "Is that the general cannon you mentioned?"

Wei Guangde felt a little proud at this time, but he still didn't show it on his face. He just replied in a low voice: "Your Majesty, that is the cannon I mentioned. The Ministry of Industry is still studying the casting method. Once it is completed, the power will be extraordinary. "

"It's a pity that I won't be able to see it today."

Thinking of what Wei Guangde said before, Emperor Longqing felt a little regretful.

He has a fun-loving temperament, just like his father, Emperor Jiajing, who still likes fireworks and other performances when he is in his decades, so naturally he is not sensitive to the rumbling sound of cannons.

And the musket's explosion, like fried beans, was unsatisfactory. The sound was too childish.

Unlike the civil servants in the audience at this moment, many of them were already dizzy from the noise of the firearms during the drill, and they also felt severe discomfort from the dense rain of arrows flying in the sky.

For most civil servants, the warriors in their eyes are the servants in their own mansions. Where have they seen such soldiers who are fully armored and armed with all kinds of deadly weapons.

In the various battle reports sent to the capital every year from the border town, the soldiers who died defending the border for the country were nothing more than a group of numbers, not the living lives in front of them.

It has to be said that today's Great Reading had a huge impact on the civil servants. In their eyes, the humble soldiers of the Ming Dynasty seemed to suddenly become different.

In particular, the scene where thousands of cavalrymen from the Beijing camp unite to show the charge of a large cavalry group is a scene that can only be seen in border towns.

During the Gengxu Incident, it also appeared outside Beijing, but at that time no one was willing to see the sharpness of the Anda cavalry with their own eyes, nor to feel the atmosphere in person.

"Is this the Ming army that followed Taizu in the south and north? I didn't expect it to look like this."

Li Chunfang was standing at the edge of the stage, murmuring.

Although the voice was small, Chen Yiqin, who was standing next to him, still heard it, so he answered in a low voice: "It is indeed very powerful. No wonder Shandai said that as long as the sergeants are paid enough, our army of the Ming Dynasty will still be the most powerful in the world. army."

"Yeah, I didn't expect that the formation would look like this."

Li Chunfang replied in a low voice.

"The Ming army I saw before was just a guard of honor, but today I saw a murderous aura. This is what an army should look like."

Chen Yiqin smiled.

"If there had been such an army eighteen years ago, perhaps we should have vowed to fight the Northern Expedition as the late emperor intended and wash away the shame of the Gengxu Rebellion."

At this time, Zhang Juzheng also stood over and whispered.

"yes."

Li Chunfang immediately agreed.

The Gengxu Revolution that occurred in the 29th year of Jiajing had a huge impact. When the Anda cavalry was plundering outside the capital, people in the capital were panicked, as if the sky had collapsed.

At this time, several ministers in the cabinet, except Wei Guangde, had already been awarded Jinshi at that time and had experienced that period of history in the Hanlin Academy.

When Emperor Jiajing appeased Anda Khan's cavalry and the cavalry withdrew from the Great Wall, he once planned to launch the Ming Dynasty's elite Northern Expedition. He would rather be ridiculed for being dishonest and unrighteous in order to save face for the Ming Dynasty, but it ended in vain due to many reasons.

Among them, I have to say that Qiu Luan, Marquis of Xianning, the Ming army commander chosen by Emperor Jiajing, talked about preparing for war, but in fact he was afraid of the enemy and did not make any meaningful military preparations.

In addition, Yan Song, the chief minister of the cabinet at the time, also strongly opposed the Northern Expedition, which finally made Emperor Jiajing give up the plan, and the money and food prepared by the Ming court for the Northern Expedition eventually became the outer city wall of Beijing.

At this moment, seeing the completely new Beijing camp, several ministers in the cabinet could not help but recall the past and the turbulent days.

The other ministers, many of whom had been in power for more than ten years, had the same idea as them.

At that time, Yan Song nominally obeyed Emperor Jiajing's decision of the Northern Expedition, but in fact he contacted most of the courtiers to oppose this decree. In fact, it was because he saw the unbearable condition of the soldiers in the Beijing camp during the martial law in the capital.

In their eyes, if the Beijing camp is like this, the other Ming armies will not be much better.

Especially later, Ding Rukui, the Minister of War, issued an order to the generals inside and outside the capital not to fight easily. This not only encouraged the arrogance of the Anda tribe's cavalry, but also gave rise to the idea of ​​​​not planning a battle among the officials in the Ming Dynasty.

"Okay, very good."

When Emperor Longqing saw the cavalry of the Beijing Camp rehearsing a charge, he was unconsciously infected by the momentum. He patted the armrest of the throne and shouted loudly, "As expected of the Ming Dynasty, the Jingying Camp is really powerful.

Shandai, you will still be responsible for arranging the Great Review three years later. Look at the faces of those ministers and envoys from foreign countries, haha."

"I obey the order."

Wei Guangde heard that Emperor Longqing was now arranging for the Grand Parade three years later. Although he felt funny in his heart, he immediately accepted the order.

"Also, the Ministry of Industry should pay more attention to this. I hope to see that kind of cannon firing by then."

Emperor Longqing's face was flushed at this time and he was very excited.

"By the way, you said this cannon can hit two miles of land, and each shot can cause damage for several miles? Is it really that powerful?"

"Well"

Emperor Longqing asked suddenly, leaving Wei Guangde at a loss for words.

This rotten number was something he saw somewhere in his memory. It seemed that in the late Ming Dynasty, the Ming army reported to the court after using the Hongyi cannon.

The number of miles of erosion is definitely an exaggeration, but with one shot, there will definitely be no corpses left in the area hit by the shot. That is to say, buildings such as city walls that are deliberately enlarged for defense can withstand it. A city wall made of bricks and stones should probably be able to withstand it. Can't live.

"Your Majesty, this cannon must be very powerful. Even if it cannot penetrate the rammed earth city wall, if it hits the top of the city, the bricks and stones may not be able to withstand it."

Wei Guangde had no choice but to say, "As for breaking into the enemy's army, I can't imagine what else will be left except corpses and broken arms."

"Please urge me from the Ministry of Industry and let me know when you test the cannon."

Emperor Longqing said again.

Wei Guangde knew that the emperor seemed to be interested, perhaps wanting to see the power of such a large cannon with his own eyes.

Although the test cannon must not be interviewed in front of the emperor, he can only agree to it now.

In fact, the solution to this problem is easy. Forge two cannons at the same time. Try one cannon first, determine the range, power, etc., and then arrange for the other cannon to be tested by the emperor. This can be regarded as satisfying the emperor's wishes.

"These military formations are very ordinary. Are they all soldiers and horses from other towns?"

The performance of the Jingying camp really exceeded everyone's expectations, but the subsequent drills of the Changping, Baoding and Shandong Army seemed a bit lackluster in everyone's eyes. Although Qi Jiguang had carefully trained them, they were still not as good as the Jingying camp.

"Your Majesty, the last ones are the troops mobilized from Jiubian Town. They are all officers and soldiers who have experience in fighting the border cavalry, and they are still the best among them. At that time, they will join the Beijing camp cavalry to show your majesty the scene of the battle in the border town."

Wei Guangde said when he saw the mixed military formation marching towards the Grand Parade in the distance.

"The performance of the Beijing camp today far exceeded my imagination. How do you think I should reward these soldiers?"

Following Wei Guangde's gaze, Emperor Longqing saw the military formation approaching in the distance and said.

"Thunder, rain, and dew are all gifts from God. For these warriors and rough men, Your Majesty can just reward them with some vulgar things."

Wei Guangde laughed and said.

The common things he talks about are gold and silver, of course. Is there anything that military households like more?