On March 8, the 11th year of Tianwu, a grand ceremony was held outside the Chengtian Gate in Nanjing.

According to the previous rules, every time there was a major war and the army was victorious, it would pay tribute to the emperor at noon gate to pay tribute to the prisoners of war.

Because Zhu Cihong is the main gate of the Forbidden City, it is located in the imperial city, and the people cannot observe it, so he changed the prisoner offering to the Chengtian Gate of the main gate of the imperial city, showing that he celebrates with the people.

On this day, thousands of people in Nanjing City were empty, and the people helped the old and the young to go to Chengtianmen to watch the ceremony.

Zhu Cihong wore a crown of heaven on his head, wore a purple gauze robe, and took the nobles of Beijing and the civil and military officials to ascend the Chengtianmen Tower.

By his side, Prince Zhu and His Majesty also wore a crown of heaven and a purple gauze robe, and the two slightly longer princes also followed.

To educate the prince, we must start from an early age, Zhu Cihong wants the children to expand their horizons, know that the enemy of the Ming Dynasty lives on the other side of the world, and avoid Yelang being arrogant and not enterprising.

The inner envoy set up a throne on the tower of Chengtianmen City, and Zhu Cihong did not sit, but looked at the noon gate square downstairs.

This scene, just like the prisoner sacrifice ceremony in the ninth year of Chongzhen, on the square in front of the city tower, a large number of royal guards and brocade guards stood with guns in a neat and orderly manner, and the square was solemn.

It's just that twenty years ago, it was Gao Yingxiang and Taqing's Eight Banners captives who were sacrificed prisoners, and now they have become a group of Spanish nobles.

Back then, Emperor Chongzhen took the crown prince to watch the ceremony together, and Zhu Cihong's age was similar to the current crown prince Zhu and His Majesty, and now he has just experienced a generation.

Zhu Cihong pointed to the neat Spanish nobles who were tied up and kneeling under the city, and asked the prince beside him: "Do you know who they are?" ”

Prince Zhu He nodded and said: "The emperor knows, they are Spaniards, and we used to call them Franc Machine. ”

Zhu Cihong asked again: "Do you know where Spain is?" ”

His Majesty Zhu replied: "Returning to my father, Spain is located on the Iberian Peninsula in the southern corner of Eurobasil, bordering Portugal and France, bordering the Mediterranean Sea to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. ”

Zhu Cihong smiled with relief, and asked again: "In the future, are you willing to die for my country and eliminate its descendants?" ”

Without waiting for Zhu He's majesty to answer, the second prince Zhu Heqi stood up, hugged his fists and said: "Father, the emperor is willing to go!" ”

Then, he looked at the prince seriously and said: "The prince's brother is the prince of the Ming Dynasty, and he should sit in Shenzhou to assist his father and the emperor to stabilize the country, and the son is willing to fight on behalf of his father and brother to sweep away the ugliness!" ”

"Who said the prince should take care of the house?"

Zhu He retorted: "My father is in his prime, even if it is another fifty years, he is still old and strong, although my brother is not talented, he also has the dream of pioneering, and he is willing to step on the Black Sea North for his father's imperial horse, drink the Rhine River, and sweep the countries of Europa!" ”

"Alright, alright!"

Zhu Cihong touched their heads one in one hand, and said, "From tomorrow, the two of you will go to the martial arts hall to hone your skills, and there will be opportunities to go to the battlefield in the future." ”

"Yes! Father! The two answered.

As the saying goes, "Fight tigers and brothers, go into battle and father and son soldiers", Zhu Cihong has always dreamed of the day when the next generation can be like himself, tempered by the army, and not be the king of the peaceful and prosperous world.

It was only now that he could appreciate Zhu Yuanzhang's good intentions, and after becoming the emperor and having an heir, he wanted his descendants to defend the country in every possible way.

"Prisoner sacrifice begins!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom..... Boom! ”

With the shouting of the officials of the Ministry of Rites, the ceremony of presenting prisoners officially began, and suddenly drums were played, salutes were roared, and all officials stood solemnly to celebrate the victory.

The official of the Ministry of Rites continued to shout: "Xuansi Rite Supervisor Zhangyin Eunuch, Yuanyang Envoy Qin sent Wu Zhong to meet and sacrifice prisoners!" ”

Wu Zhong, who was dressed in a python robe and jade belt, came in high spirits, and judging from the momentum of walking, he didn't look like a eunuch at all.

The surrounding eunuchs cast envious glances at him, since the power of the eunuchs was almost taken over by the emperor, the eunuchs in the palace could no longer straighten their waists, and they were always walking on thin ice.

Downstairs in the city, a eunuch of the imperial horse eunuch whispered to the people around him: "The chief manager really gave our eunuch a long face!" ”

Another eunuch said: "Isn't it, I heard that Your Majesty is also planning to confer the title of chief administrator!" ”

"Shhhh You still dare to chew the root of your tongue, don't pull me if you want to die! ”

The mouthy eunuch immediately broke out in a cold sweat and glanced around in a panic.

......

Wu Zhong took a few steps forward on behalf of the ocean-going fleet, and shouted to Zhu Cihong on the Chengtian Gate: "Minister Wu Zhong, knock to see Your Majesty, Your Majesty bows to peace!" ”

As he spoke, he bowed four times.

Zhu Cihong raised his hand to him and motioned for the ceremony to continue.

Then, Wu Zhong held his hand and began to read out the Lu Bu. (The silk flag of the Quartet is equivalent to good news)

"The minister from the nine years of Tianwu sent to the West, lasted two years, my cloud sails are high, day and night starry, involved in the turbulent waves, the country, from the Champa State, Siam, Luzon, Java, straight beyond South India, Ceylon, arrived at the Safavid Dynasty in the Western Regions (Central Asia), the Arab tribes, from the small Western Ocean into the Atlantic, large and small more than 40 countries, more than 100,000 miles!"

"And when it comes to a foreign country, the disrespectful of the king will be captured; Exterminate the barbarian raiders! From the sea road Qingning, the people rely on it, are all the blessings of the imperial court! ”

"The minister led the ocean-going fleet to Europa, passing through Portugal, and the lord of Spain, Philip IV, was disrespectful and tried in vain to destroy our ocean-going fleet, so he formed an alliance with Portugal, defeated the invincible fleet with a combined fleet, captured dozens of nobles, and returned to his country in ten years, seeking grace and returning to his country!"

At this time, the Spanish captives, whose bodies were erected high on large wooden shelves, were taken to the sacrifice position, waiting for the disposition of the will, and then they were killed and displayed in public or locked up in labor reform.

Zhu Cihong said: "Pick the two oldest ones out, and the rest will be on the street for seven days and sent to the Xingguo mining area!" ”

He looked at the crown prince and the second prince beside him, and said: "When I was eight years old, I personally killed Zhu Chunchen, the Duke of Chengguo, who fled in fear of the enemy, you are all nine years old this year, and you shout every day that you want to learn from me to go into battle to kill the enemy, and now your opportunity has come." ”

The two princes were stunned on the spot, no one expected their father to come out like this.

Looking at the two children's faces slightly pale, Xu Sheng, who was driving, persuaded: "Your Majesty, the two highnesses are still young, it is better to wait for them to grow up for a few more years, starting with hunting beasts......"

It's a bit too harsh to practice with a living person before the age of ten.

You must know that even adult men, when they join the army and kill people for the first time, they will leave a psychological shadow, and they will slowly smooth out after more experiences.

Zhu Cihong interrupted him: "Xu Sheng, you go to accompany them, it's really not good, you don't have to be reluctant." ”

After speaking, he walked down the Chengtian Gate and returned to the Fengtian Temple by Luan.

In the afternoon of the same day, Zhu Cihong held a ceremony to reward the officers and men of the ocean-going fleet, and named Wu Zhong as the Marquis of Jinghai, Zhu Chenggong as the Marquis of Yanping, and Shi Lang as the Bo of Haicheng......

There are only two titles of Marquis of Jinghai in Chinese history, the first is Wu Zhen, the general of the Hongwu Dynasty, and the second is Shi Lang, who was awarded after the Qing Dynasty.

Wu Zhen and Wu Liang brothers, both of whom followed Zhu Yuanzhang in the early days to fight the world, were both marquises after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, and were posthumously crowned after their deaths, and were buried in the Yin of Zhongshan in Nanjing.

Zhu Yuanzhang once commented: "Wu Liang, Wu Qi now!" ”

According to blood relations, Wu Zhong is a descendant of Wu Liang's younger brother Wu Zhen, and he became a eunuch only because of his family's downfall. (Wu Liang was the father-in-law of the King of Qi, and after Zhu Dijing's martyrdom, he cleaned up the vassal kings, demoted the King of Qi to a concubine, and placed Nanjing under house arrest until death, and the Wu family was implicated and suffered.) ）

Therefore, Zhu Cihong gave the title of Marquis of Jinghai to Wu Zhong and renewed it to the Wu family.