Shen Xi originally just regarded himself as a bystander, to participate in such a slightly hasty and abrupt ceremony of sacrificing prisoners, after all, there were so many highly respected ministers present, and even the emperor even sent the eunuch of the master of ceremonies to serve as the envoy, so he didn't expect that it would be his turn to preside over the ceremony. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

But looking at Xiao Jing's demeanor, Shen Xi knew that it was not as simple as a polite sentence, it seemed that the emperor had really confessed and asked him to preside over the sacrifice of prisoners.

Shen Xi excused himself again: "Father-in-law Xiao, this is not appropriate, right?" ”

Xiao Jing said with a smile: "Shen Zhongcheng, this is your soldiers and horses, and now that you have returned triumphantly, shouldn't you personally preside over the old army's entry ceremony into the city?" Don't shirk it......" As he spoke, he approached Shen Xi and said in a low voice, "This is what His Majesty personally ordered, and you must obey it!" ”

Even the name of the emperor was raised, and Shen Xi naturally had no reason to refuse, so he reluctantly agreed at the moment.

On the other side, Zhang Mao and Wang Shouren and others have already climbed the Zhengyangmen Tower, and Shen Xi, as the host of the entrance ceremony, does not need to go up to the city tower, just needs to stay in the Zhengyangmen and preside over the overall situation.

"Shen Zhongcheng, please!" Xiao Jing stretched out his right hand and made a "please" gesture.

Zhang Heling, who was wearing an official hat and a military attaché bullfighting uniform, walked over. As the governor of the five armies and the governor of Jingying, Zhang Heling has a very high status in the army, which is mainly due to the Hongzhi Emperor's family of Empress Zhang, so the two brothers were suddenly promoted to high positions from the white body, and there is no way out except for the loyal royal family.

Emperor Hongzhi adopted an attitude of neither suppressing nor supporting Zhang Heling, so that the Zhang brothers had a certain amount of power, but because they were fortunate ministers who had no foundation in the court, they had no way to threaten the civilian group, so that Zhang Heling had less ambition to usurp the throne and could only concentrate on supporting the royal family.

Zhang Heling said: "Governor Shen, looking at you like this, you shouldn't have ever had the experience of presiding over such a large-scale ceremony, right?" ”

Shen Xi smiled and arched his hand, and replied: "What Shou Ninghou said is that he really has no experience in Xia, so he is afraid of causing trouble, so he is laughing and generous!" ”

Zhang Heling's personality is relatively peaceful, and he does not have the aggressive attitude of his younger brother Zhang Yanling towards Shen Xi, so he comforted with a smile: "Governor Shen doesn't have to worry, just preside over the opening ceremony of the city gate." The rest of the things are all logical, just arrange the guards and horses to prevent the people on both sides of the street from making trouble! ”

Shen Xi's eyes fell on Zhengyangmen Street, which led directly to Damingmen.

The main gate of the Ming Dynasty is not far from the main gate of the palace where the Ming Emperor lives, and in this short journey, thousands of onlookers have gathered, and more and more people have rushed over from all over the capital.

Shen Xi thought to himself: "Making such a big battle can already prove that the emperor really wants to be powerful in this prisoner sacrifice ceremony." This is also to see the Tatars withdraw from the Bauhinia Pass, or they will escape from Zhangjiakou again in a short time, otherwise the imperial court will not dare to easily lift the martial law in the city! ”

Accompanied by Zhang Heling, Ma Wensheng, and Xiao Jing, Shen Xi came to a temporary high platform at Zhengyangmen, which is a wooden structure, more than two meters high, and a red carpet is laid on the surface, as if it is a review stand, where Shen Xi and others will review the soldiers and horses entering the city.

Shen Xi said to Hu Songyue, who was standing below: "General Hu, please go out of the city to report to the soldiers of the three armies, prepare to enter the city!" ”

Even if the officers and soldiers of the three armies were waiting to enter the city, it was impossible for the soldiers and horses to wait under the main gate of Zhengyangmen, and they had to line up a mile or two outside the moat to rest for the time being.

At this time, someone must go out of the city to spread the news, and they must also bring a token from the military department and the governor's office of the five armies, so that the soldiers and horses can be transferred into the city.

If the gate of the capital is never opened, the soldiers and horses can only return to the station along the same route...... These rules are all to prevent local soldiers and horses from having bad intentions when entering the capital, especially the soldiers and horses of the vassal kings, who have the experience of the battle of Jingjing, and must be even more cautious.

Hu Songyue commanded: "Get the order!" ”

Hu Songyue had already prepared a healthy horse, Hu Songyue turned over and got on his horse, went out of the city from the small gate of Zhengyangmen, and reported all the way to the waiting area south of the moat.

Shen Xi waited on the high platform, looking around boredly...... This high platform was built in the city, separated by a towering city wall, and he could not see the situation outside the Zhengyang Gate, so he could only wait for news.

……

……

The number of people gathered on Zhengyangmen Street is increasing, and in the end, there are already 20,000 or 30,000 people, although the road is very spacious, but this road is not long, and the people gathered are almost full of both sides of the Zhengyangmen Road.

Zhang Yanling suddenly came over and whispered a few words in Zhang Heling's ear, Zhang Heling bowed slightly, but glanced at Shen Xi, as if what he said was related to Shen Xi.

At this moment, Hu Song returned quickly and said to Shen Xi: "Lord Shen, the soldiers and horses are already outside the city gate, are they allowed to enter the city?" ”

Shen Xi knew that the soldiers and horses under his command had been transferred into the city about 5,000 people the day before, almost all of them were elites, and the remaining soldiers and horses were mainly grain and grass, baggage, and people escorting prisoners, the number was only average, but the convoy was even more, because yesterday the imperial court temporarily allocated hundreds of carriages out of the city to respond.

Shen Xi first glanced up at the direction of the city head, and the people on the city gate tower at the city head needed to investigate the details of the situation outside the city before they could issue a flag on whether to allow the city gate to be opened.

When the flags on the city head waved one after another, Shen Xi waved his hand and shouted: "Open the city gate!" ”

"Woo woo woo ......"

The trombone, which had been prepared a long time ago, sounded at this time, the drums sounded in unison, each sound was very strong, and the streets inside Zhengyangmen instantly quieted down.

"Hammer...... Squeak! ”

The inner gate of the Zhengyang Gate is opened first, then the main gate, and finally the gate of the urn city, the three gates of the Zhengyang Gate are not directly opposed, which is mainly to prevent the invading soldiers and horses from driving straight in.

Shen Xi didn't look outside the city gate, he just needed to wait for his troops and horses to enter the city on a high platform, just like a wooden stake.

The vanguard heralds arrived on fast horses.

The number of these heralds was no more than twenty or thirty people, and they all had various small flags behind them, and when these people appeared in the Zhengyang Gate, the people who had been waiting in the Zhengyang Gate for a long time had already made a noise.

The Ming Dynasty had been at war with the Tatars for several months, and it was the first time they had seen such heroic soldiers and horses.

Compared with the heroic posture of these athletes, the defenders in the city can be said to have no heroic spirit, only heavy twilight and laziness.

The herald put down the command flag, and then went to the noon gate in batches to report that the horse could only go to the Daming Gate, and the remaining part of the road must be run quickly by the herald on two legs.

The main task of these heralds today is to quickly report the situation at the city gate to Emperor Hongzhi, who was waiting in front of the noon gate.

At this time, Zhu Youzhu must have arrived in front of the noon gate and had already ascended.

The Emperor had to know the speed of the march of the three armies at all times to determine whether he would stay and attend the ceremony or return to the palace to rest for a while.