On the third day of February, Emperor Dongyuan had his fiftieth birthday.

According to the ancient rites of the Central Plains that "men do not celebrate nine and women do not celebrate ten", Emperor Dongyuan turned fifty years old this year, and the Ministry of Rites ordered the prime minister to send a message to the world as early as the middle of last year, calling on all states and counties to make a big show to "live together for the Son of Heaven". Later, there were two Wei towns of Yanshan and Bohai that were defeated in a row, Zheng Guogong Sun Fu broke through Heishui City, and Yue Guogong Guo Biao plundered and exhausted Cizu Ting, and several great victories suddenly the army and the people were excited. These are not only rare and rare victories since the founding of the dynasty, but also add a strong stroke to the "cultural and martial arts" of the Eastern Yuan Emperor. This was not only the imperial merit of the Eastern Yuan Emperor, but also the brilliance of the Chinese military officials of the dynasty, so in November last year, Xue Xun, the attendant of the official department, wrote a splendid eulogy to the monarch, proposing not only to hold a grand ceremony on the birthday of the Son of Heaven, but also to present prisoners to the military parade at the gate. Relying on these two suggestions, Xue Xun won a reputation for himself as a "capable and capable minister", and his reputation in the six parts is also increasing. It is said that he is likely to replace Dong Quan, who resigned and returned to his hometown, as a subordinate servant. As for Ye Xun, the left attendant of the household who was originally the most promising to become a servant of the door, because this guy had offended many people before, and he was suspected of making a big deal at the Zhengdan Dynasty meeting, and after Gao Sheng became a scholar of Wenhuadian University, he was sent to the Bohai Guard Labor Army. But the household department is a very important yamen in the six ministries, Ye Xun is not there, many affairs in the ministry can not be dealt with in a timely manner, in order to ensure the smooth flow of government affairs, the imperial court quickly appointed a new household department Zuo Lang after the year. That is to say, for a long time in the future, Ye Xun will no longer be able to dictate the affairs of the DPRK and China as he did in the past, but will only hang the false title of a scholar and live in the capital. Considering Ye Xun's bad popularity, even the most optimistic people would not believe that he still had a chance to make a comeback. Yes, his career is over!

Xue Xun became a capable minister, but the Ministry of Rites was busy with his two suggestions. Whether it is "sacrificing prisoners" or "closing the door to parade", they are all important rituals of the imperial court, and they themselves cannot tolerate the slightest omission or error. What's more, it was the birthday of the Holy Monarch on that day, and the Son of Heaven wanted to lead the civil and military ministers and harem concubines, princesses, princesses, and foreign vassal states to watch the ceremony in the imperial city. There are many generals and veterans who participated in the military exercises of the Beijing Division more than 10 years ago, and the military department also has old files that can be used as reference and copy. But the last time he "sacrificed his majesty" was seventy-three years ago, and the prisoners who were sacrificed were also a big leader of the Buyeo people and one hundred and ten pawns captured by Bohaiwei, how could they be compared with the dozen or so thieves and nearly 10,000 thieves captured this time? Just when the Ministry of Rites was at a loss, someone came up with an idea that since the old system of this dynasty was not suitable, and the old precedents of the former Tang Dynasty recorded in the history books were vague, they simply used the records of the sacrifice of prisoners in the history books as the original, and revised the rules and systems. After this method was reported to the Prime Minister's Office by the Ministry of Rites, it was immediately supported by the Prime Ministers. The Prime Minister's Office informed the Ministry of War and the Domain, and sent cadres to help the Ministry of Rites to come up with a set of systems overnight, called "The Great Zhao Shi Prisoner Order", and then set up a file for filing.

With the "World Prisoner Order" as the standard, the rest of the matter is much easier. By the third day of the first month of February, when hundreds of officials gathered in Dacheng Palace for the birthday of the Son of Heaven, the people of Beijing, who had already received the notice of Pingyuan Mansion, opened the door one after another, sprinkled water and swept the floor, put up lanterns and pulled flags. From the Imperial City Daqing Gate to the Inner City Vermilion Bird Gate and the outer city on both sides of the Royal Road, whether it is a merchant shop or a family member, every household is set up in front of the door to set up an incense case, the case is full of green smoke, the silk ribbon in front of the house hangs, the pink flowers of the crimson silk tie the eaves of the house, like two meandering pink dragons, from the South Xun Gate to the north to the end of the Imperial City in front of the Royal Street. The birthday of the fifth rank of the Son of Heaven, the sacrifice of prisoners, and the military parade at the door are all grand ceremonies that are rare to see in decades, so as soon as the light of day is brightened, the people inside and outside the city will drag their families from all directions to both sides of the Shili Heavenly Street. Because the various military brigades participating in the Yemen military parade had been stationed in several military camps outside the Suzaku Gate the night before, it was obvious that their whole team was also starting from the Suzaku Gate, so from here to the north, the road was even more crowded, and there were people everywhere who watched the excitement and wonder.

The Jingyang bell rang at the right moment, twenty-four rode fast horses out of the imperial city, the gold-armored warriors on horseback galloped with red flags, and the soldiers of the general Yamen of the plain who guarded on both sides of the heavenly street began to arrange the guards, ten steps, one post, twenty steps and one sentry, and the colonels and soldiers stood proudly with spears and swords, and the three forbidden drums were stopped, and no one was allowed to come and go on the royal street. The voices that were originally boiling in the sky suddenly stagnated. There are also some old people who have insight and tell those who only care about the excitement with their mouths open and their eyes open that it is still early before the time of the military parade; It is not until the drum music and hymns in the imperial city are played in unison, and the Holy Emperor and the Son of Heaven ascend to the top of the city, and the various armies will enter the city in turn to be read. There are also some children of the eunuchs who are waiting in the song pavilion of the roadside restaurant early to be well-informed, and quote the law in the "World Prisoner Order" to explain to others that they will not "sacrifice the prisoner" until noon......

As they said, just arrived at noon, the Jingyang bell in the imperial city and the east and west drum tower bells and drums in front of the gate rang out in unison, and the drum music was also loud in the imperial city, it was just that moment, the city tower on the Daqing Gate on both sides of the brush erected forty-five red painted gold daxu, the golden bright embroidered dragon, phoenix, unicorn, lin, lion, tiger, leopard...... In front of the city tower, a red-faced copper-handled nine-dragon umbrella was propped up, and there seemed to be a person under the umbrella. I don't know who raised the head, and in the blink of an eye, they crowded on both sides of the royal street in front of the gate and shouted "Long live" in unison. The sound swept over the ground like a mountain and a tsunami, and in an instant, from north to south, whether it was the inner city or the outer city, there were cheers and singing everywhere. In the midst of this cheer that penetrated the sky, the doors of the left and right sides were opened, and the six thousand forbidden troops with bright armor were divided into twelve teams, carrying banners and rushing out, each clustered in front of the imperial city according to their position into two long matrices in front of the imperial city. At this moment, the sun is about to reach its peak, and under the warm sun, the red tiles on the city tower, the bricks on the city wall, the iron armor, spears, straight knives, carved bows, and painted shields in the hands of the soldiers...... Everywhere there was a shiny light, and as the swords and guns swayed, the shadows moved, and the blazing lights flickered one after another......

When the sun was approaching midday, the crowd watching the ceremony saw someone walking in front of the city tower from afar, as if someone waved his hand in mid-air, and the sound of bells and drums stopped in an instant. What followed was a roar: "The Son of Heaven declares the system, sacrifice the prisoner!" ”

The 6,000 forbidden troops in front of the imperial city shouted in unison, "Sacrifice prisoners", and in a trance, it was like a thunderbolt rolling on the ground. The soldiers of Yu Tu's customs guards passed on one after another, and when the sound gradually spread and faded away, they saw two columns of soldiers in the south rushing along the royal road with a black pressure and a crowd of people. This is the 9,383 thieves written in the court documents, one by one, but in fact, more than 3,000 men and women were sent to Beijing. But the seventeen royal clans that Sun Zhongshan captured alive in Blackwater City were among them. The seventeen chieftains walked in front of the three thousand captives, men, women, and children, all of whom wore a long flail around their necks, and each of them had a white cloth tied around his neck and a hemp rope for his long practice, and was pulled forward by seventeen strong soldiers on horseback......

At the forefront was a squad of cavalry. Guo Biao, the Duke of Yueguo, and Sun Fu, the Duke of Zheng Guo, are surrounded by a golden helmet and red robe Shangzhuguo on the left and right. Someone who knew pointed to the Shangzhu State and said, this is Lu Guogong Wuchen, the commander of Bohaiwei. The three of them were served with liquor by the Ministry of Rites in front of Huabiao, and then fell off the horse and walked to the front of Daqing. The king of Qinghe County was ordered by the Son of Heaven to inquire about the results of the battle on behalf of Emperor Dongyuan in the city, and then asked for the system after telling the Son of Heaven the truth, how to deal with the captured thieves and chieftains. Emperor Dongyuan proclaimed the system, and once the thief was captured, he was handed over to the criminal department for questioning; The Criminal Department immediately received the order, and the arresters and servants of the various yamen who had been prepared for a long time immediately handed over to the two guards who escorted the prisoners, and the iron ruler flew and the leather whip sounded wildly, and in the midst of the people's sky-high cheers and cheers, they drove more than 3,000 people who had been tortured so long ago that they did not have the slightest anger to leave the gate. The three generals who made great contributions to the heavens were also recruited by the Son of Heaven to go to the city tower to pay their respects, and were given the honor of being given a seat to watch the ceremony in front of the king...... At this point, the ceremony of "sacrificing His Majesty" came to a successful conclusion.

With the tiger roar of the king of Qinghe County, "All the armies are read", several command flags on the city tower waved left and right, and the various armies and brigades that had already advanced to less than two miles away from the imperial city immediately accelerated the pace of marching.

After the twelve guiding red flags that opened the way, the first one to appear in people's eyes was, of course, the forbidden army guarding the palace. The three battalions of the Ten-Way Column were followed by the five commanders of the Plains General Yamen, and the four battalions of 2,000 soldiers discharged the Twelve-Way Column, carrying swords and spears, bows and shields, kicking and kicking through. Next is the military horses of the Liyuan battalion, the hussar army, the mighty army, the left and right Shenwei army, and the left and right Jianwei army...... Each army was a battalion of five or six hundred men, and it was also a ten-way column. After that, there is Siwei Town. The two Wei towns of Dingjin in Longxi entered Beijing to be read by two battalions of cavalry, Bohai Wei made great contributions, and the Ministry of War authorized to enter Beijing with a brigade of five battalions, in order to strengthen the momentum, the cavalry sent was also a cavalry, and the cavalry with fresh armor put the long knives and spears on the side, and the war horses clicked by, finally let the people who were crowded on both sides of the heavenly street look at the rare and a little flustered and bored people to lift their spirits a little. But the nine cavalry battalions are almost the same, and they don't look fresh at all, and many people are inevitably a little anxious in their hearts, and some anxious people are worried about things and have begun to disperse. But more people still didn't leave. Regardless of it, there is only one Yanshanwei left in the army that has been read, and the soldiers of the six battalions can actually pass in a blink of an eye......

I don't know when the noise in the south has subsided, and all that remains is the sound of "ho ho ho", and it sounds like it's completely unrecognizable. Curious people leaned over and tilted their heads to check. Guided by a red flag raised diagonally in front of them, two sword-bearer military academies escorted the standard-bearers and strode along the long bluestone-paved royal street. About ten paces behind them were two generals wearing double silver-winged sideburns and iron hats and black patent leather armor. If there are people who are familiar with the generals of the Yanshan Guards here, they will definitely be able to recognize who they are Shao Chuan and Zheng Qi! Right now, they were staring straight ahead, and they were marching forward rhythmically with their hands in a rhythmic manner. Behind them were two hundred and twenty-five spear-wielding soldiers, also wearing black lacquered iron helmets and black lacquered leather armor, and these soldiers were two paces apart, forming nine horizontal formations, holding their upper bodies straight, and following the steps of the two generals step by step.

Ho, ho, ho, ho!

People were immediately amazed at the fact that the standard-bearers, the flag guards, the generals, and the soldiers, their steps were so uniform that they looked exactly like they were walking! Oh my God, how the hell did they do it? What surprised them even more was that when the team walked in front of them, they could clearly see that there were twenty-five soldiers in a horizontal row, lifting their legs, kicking their legs, and even raising their arms as they walked, almost at a height, looking as straight as a line! No, not just one line, but several! Their arms are just as high, their knees are just as high, their feet are just as high, and even the length of their strides is the same...... The most amazing thing was that when a soldier at the far end of each column walked in front of their eyes, they couldn't see the rest of the squad at all, only the neatly swinging arms and legs!

It's unbelievable! How do they do it?

And it's not just this one phalanx, it's the same with the five next phalanxes. Even though there were more people in these phalanxes, and there were twenty rows in the horizontal column, they still looked so neat, with neat swinging arms, neat leg lifts, neat feet, and even the shiny spear tips, all of which seemed to be shaking back and forth with the silent command!

Ho, ho, ho, ho!

People were talking and staring, staring intently at these Yanshan guards wearing black lacquered iron helmets and black lacquered leather armor, and they had not been able to come back to their senses until the last phalanx passed. Even the most knowledgeable and insightful people have never seen such a soldier in front of him! Not a single soldier was looking left or right, their eyes were always flat and straight ahead, and there was no expression on their faces except for a resolute and calm look on their faces like those of a boulder washed by the river. They marched silently on the streets of heaven with unwavering steps, surging between heaven and earth like black waves. Even the most uninformed people, at the first glance of them, can immediately see from them that this is a hundred battle heroes who have been baptized by blood and fire, they not only have overwhelming strength, but also have a granite rock as hard character!

It wasn't until the procession had gone far that the people woke up from their surprise and excitement. They only now realize that they are crowded with people. Many people were squeezing out desperately, and many more were running along the little gap in the side of the street towards the north. They also wanted to take another look at the almost infinite black, and look at the soldiers who were full of thunderous power! Even a glance is enough!

Not only did they have this strong desire to take a closer look, but the people on the upper floors of the Imperial City also flocked to the battlements of the city walls. They were farther away from the Yanshan Guards, but they saw more clearly. Where is this still a military brigade, this is completely a rolling pouring black flood peak! Even if it is the Qin army, the Han army, and ** that shook the world, they are nothing more than that, right? No, maybe they're not as good as the team in front of them!

Ho, ho, ho, ho!

Closer, they approached. Six black phalanxes, like six black waves, surged along the Heavenly Street. The three thousand Yanshan athletes marched forward in unison, and it seemed that they were completely alone! People saw these soldiers walking from Yanshan to the Central Plains, except for "neat", no one could think of any other words to describe what they saw. Even if it is an article like Chang Xiu, or a great Confucian like Zhu Xuan, they can't find any other words to describe this army. In fact, when many people see this army, their minds are left blank......

The banner of the Yanshan Army has already walked through the Huabiao, and Shao Chuan and Zheng Qi are also about to walk between the two towering Huabiao.

With an indiscernible order, the two hundred and twenty-five soldiers behind the two generals shouted in unison: "One! "All the soldiers already held the shaft of the iron spear in their left hand. This was followed by another shout: "Two! ”

Something that stunned all the spectators happened, two hundred and twenty-five soldiers, in three steps, actually lifted diagonally in two uniform movements, and the sharp spear tips were facing the iron helmets of their comrades in the front row; At the same time, they no longer raise their knees, but kick their legs straight down......

Ka, ka, ka, ka!

Not only this one phalanx, but also the five Yanshan phalanxes that came over immediately after were like this, with the hoarse and high-pitched orders of the leading officers, the soldiers shouted "one, two" in unison, followed by spears and kicks!

There was silence above and below the city, and there was no sound except for the monotonous sound of "Titicaca". People are completely unable to describe what is happening in front of them, and they are unable to concentrate on thinking about anything. Their minds went blank, an unknown emotion rolled and surged in everyone's chest, and many people didn't even know that hot tears were flowing on their faces, just staring blankly at the black-armored army with blazing eyes.

It wasn't until the Yanshan Guards assembled and lined up at the designated position under the gate that the King of Qinghe raised his trembling arm and wiped his face, and muttered: "The world is the strongest, invincible!" This is the real strongest in the world. This is the real strongest in the world! ”

Emperor Dongyuan heard his words and wanted to turn his head and laugh with him, but he felt that his neck was as stiff as a stone, and it was impossible to move it. He smiled and said, "Uncle Huang is talking about ......" However, it was as if a piece of coals had been stuffed into his throat, and all the water had already been burned clean, and he only opened his mouth, and he couldn't even make a sound. He finally pulled his eyes out of Yan Shanwei's phalanx, and saw Zhang Pu, Zhu Xuan, Xiao Jian, Yang Du, these civil and important ministers and military generals, all of whom were either pale or rosy......

Emperor Dongyuan tried to calm down his mood, turned his head and said to Guo Biao and Sun Zhongshan with a smile: "The two generals are both good skills, and the soldiers they brought out are also different!" ”

Guo Biao and Sun Zhongshan gave a military salute together. Guo Biao said: "I was praised by the Holy King, and I was ashamed to be ashamed. This is not the credit of me and General Sun, it is all the planning and distortion of General Shangda. ”

With his words, Emperor Dongyuan and the important ministers of civil and military affairs were all turned to Shang Cheng. Shang Cheng shook his head and said, "General Guo is sticking gold miles on my face. It's not all my credit. The Yanshan Guard Army can have its current appearance, and most of the credit is due to the old general Duan Xiuduan, the Sima Governor of the Yanshan Right Army. His face darkened, and he was silent and said, "It's a pity that Old General Duan died in battle, and I couldn't see our Yanshan Guards break through Blackwater City and plunder the ancestral court......

Most of the people here have never heard of the old general Duan Xiu. After inquiring about who Duan Xiu was, they didn't believe what Shang Cheng said. Duan Xiu has been in Yanshan for so many years, and there is nothing surprising about the Yanshan Guard, how could it be that in these two years, they suddenly sprung up? You don't have to think about it to know that this is Shang Yanshan's humble resignation again!

Emperor Dongyuan asked Zhen Qian about Duan Xiu's life, and said to Cen Shangshu of the military department: "General Duan is so meritorious, he should be credited with great merit." Your military department should discuss with the Ministry of Rites to see how to give the old general a posthumous glory. If possible, it is best to find the training minutes of General Duan Lao and compile it into the "Water and Land Drill Code". After thinking about it, he rejected his suggestion again, saying, "If you can find the old general's training minutes, let's make it a separate book." ”

He turned his head, looked at Guo Biao and said, "General Fengyi, these soldiers are very well trained, I don't know how well they are performing?" ”