Jingshi, Forbidden City, Cining Palace.

Empress Dowager Bumu Butai was a little lost, yes, a look of loss was evident on her face. What Emperor Fulin has done in the past few days is more or less inconsistent with the ancestral system, which makes her "Imperial Mother" and "Empress Dowager" not very smooth:

First of all, on August 22, the twelfth year of Shunzhi, that is, the day when the bombardment of Xingbao failed, and then the so-called "firearms battalion" was established, perhaps inspired by Xiao Xuanye's words, the emperor ordered the military department in the imperial tent in the Mulan enclosure that night: "The country elects talents, participates in governance, and pays equal attention to both civil and military affairs." (After the end of the 12th year of Shunzhi's Yiwei Branch Martial Arts Examination) there are now 220 people in the middle school martial arts examination, all of whom should take the palace examination according to the Wenjin Shi Rules, and will personally read the examination: first try the horse step arrow, the second test the strategy, and Yongzhu as an example"[1].

Five days later, under the auspices of Shangshu Kadahun, the military department came up with a so-called "martial arts examination rules" in the Mulan enclosure with great efficiency: one member of each of the official scholars, bachelors, officials, households, rites, criminals, workers, five departments, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the General Political Envoy, and the Dali Temple official. Two members of the promotion officer and the secretary of the military department. Invigilation, acceptance of the papers, palm rolls, patrols, and writing lists. And Guanglu Temple to prepare a banquet, all with the Temple of Literature and the same. Its printing officer, the clerk of the employing party, Langzhong, his red haha, and the pen post type Hafan each have a member. The supply officer, the director of the Arsenal Division, and the Langchu Tachi Haha are each a member. A member of the Taichang Temple official. Six officials of Guanglu Temple. It stipulates that the Wuju people will take the test at Tiananmen Square. After the test, the paper will be sent to the east straight room outside the noon gate, and the official will read the paper. On the first day, the officers of the three inner courts and the officers of the military department each selected the roll and knelt down to read. After the first and third places were completed, they went to the inner courtyard and filled in the list with the treasure. The emperor from it. [For details, see Volume 93 of "Records of Emperor Shizu of the Qing Dynasty"]

You must know that the Manchu warriors do not have to participate in the "three tests[2]" of martial arts, so this palace test means that a group of Han martial artists will be handpicked by the emperor, so that "high-ranking officials can sit" and have a smooth career, and in the long run, the status of the Han people in the army will gradually rise......

On August 23, after the military exercise ended, the emperor and his entourage did not rush back to Beijing, but under the joint suggestion of Hongyi and Aobai, they continued to practice the various tactics of cavalry infantry to capture traditional castles, Russian-style square castles and star-shaped castles, as well as the defensive tactics of Western bird spearmen.

In those few days, Ao Bai received his own decree, and every day he would send many inside stories from the Mulan martial arts arena to this Cining Palace, such as the details of the martial arts, the emperor's attitude, the performance of the prince, and the reactions of the ministers. One day, when the emperor drove back to Beijing, the subordinate who came back to pass the word said that Xiao Xuanye now actually has a very good reputation among the Manchurian and Mongolian officers and soldiers who participated in the military exercise, and said that Xuan Ye, who was "meritorious" Dorobelle Ye, is really "a golden crow descending to earth, a military wizard" and other words have already spread throughout the army, and even the Eight Banners Army stationed in Beijing has begun to spread what "Belle Ye has his own heavenly help, leading the divine fire from the sun, and taking people's lives a hundred steps away, Even those rakshasas who eat human flesh alive in the north (here is the original intention of the devil in Buddhism) are obedient to orders, willing to be instructed, and have spewed out divine fire from the original ordinary bird guns, and the speed and frequency of the fire are extremely fast, Zuihou dozens of people defeated thousands of elite soldiers led by the first Baturu of the Manchu Dynasty, and even Ao Bai himself was seriously injured, this Belle Ye's firearms are really unheard of! ”……

Today is the 30th of August, and the emperor and his entourage have returned to the Forbidden City for two days. Within two days, Fu Lin, Yue Le, Ming An Dali, the military department Shangshu Ka Dahun, Tang Ruowang, several princes and ministers who participated in Mulan's martial arts, and the little Belle Ye Xuanye have been in the palace several times to discuss military affairs. According to the eunuch Shang Yougui came back to report, it seemed that the monarch and the ministers were very good, and several people sometimes argued endlessly, sometimes they enjoyed themselves, and many resolutions were frequently sent to the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Industry, and the distant Ningguta, Humar and Ulan-Ude...... Among them, there is also a Qin order Dorobelle Xuanye to be the Qin Mission, on behalf of the Emperor Fulin, accompanied by Ming Andali and Kadahun, to inspect the Eight Banners of the Qifu Garrison [3] and the Eight Banners of the Jingshi Forbidden Brigade [4]!

Rumors are rumors after all, and there is nothing to worry about at the moment, because every detail of Mulan's martial arts performance has been presented in front of her Empress Dowager Bumu Butai, including the proper command of her most beloved little grandson Xuan Ye, the ability to overcome strong enemies, and the persuasion of several internal ministers, especially Ao Bai, and the final decision of Emperor Fulin...... Reason told her that the result was very good, and if it continued to develop according to these deployments, the Daqing Iron Cavalry, equipped with advanced Western bird guns, would be invincible and invincible, but she still couldn't suppress the huge loss in her heart.

weishenme？ Isn't it worth being happy to watch your children and grandchildren strategize and win a thousand miles?

The answer is far from simple! You must know that the Manchurian and Mongolian Eight Banners are the basis for the Qing Dynasty to enter the customs and settle the Central Plains, and the Mongolian Eight Banners are no less than the Manchurian Eight Banners. And the Empress Dowager Bumu Butai, or the Borzigit clan of her golden family, is the mainstay among the Mongolian tribes, which also determines the position and role of the Empress Dowager in Mongolia and Manchuria! If once firearms become invincible combat power used like Sun Xuanye, the role of the traditional Eight Banners cavalry will decline, and the Mongolian tribes will no longer be the military liliang that must be relied on.

Moreover, we all know that the former open fire weapon has rich experience, and it has also caused a lot of losses to the Manchurian Eight Banners. Although Western firearms are sharp, they are far from quenching their thirst, and the Qing Dynasty will not simply pin their hopes on one or two foreigners. If we want to vigorously develop firearms, we must rely on the firearms experts of the foresight, so who are they? No matter how old or young they are, where they come from, or their temperament, they will be a group dominated by Han Chinese! Who can guarantee that the decisive military liliang of a "barbarian dynasty" is in the hands of the Han Chinese, who claim to be "Chinese orthodoxy", and who can guarantee that these Han Chinese will always respect the rule of the Manchurians? That's the key!

If the decline of the status of the Mongol tribes only involves their own honor and disgrace, whether the national policy of revering Manchuria can be continued is a matter of great importance. As the empress dowager of the Qing Dynasty, Bumu Butai had to think about the long term and had to pay attention to this, so he naturally felt lost and melancholy.

"Su Ma, is it so important to have firearms?" The Queen Mother asked suddenly, as if talking to herself.

"The Queen Mother, the slave asked the master about this yesterday, what do you think he said?" Su Ma took the teacup from the maid's hand, gently placed it in front of the queen mother, and said tepidly.

"Oh? My grandson has made such a big deal, what else can he say? The Queen Mother's eyebrows twitched, and her expression was a little urgent for a moment, but it was just a moment, and then she returned to normal, silent.

"The master said, if the Manchurian athletes take the lead in learning the recipe for the manufacture and use of firearms, they can protect me for eternity! This is also a calculation after he is now in charge of the firearms battalion...... "Su Mala cleverly said only half of the topic, and decided whether to continue according to the feedback of the listeners.

"Isn't it? Hehe, I said that this kid wouldn't be so stunned...... "The Queen Mother was interested, and motioned to Su Mala to speak carefully.

In fact, Su Mala had long understood the key point of the matter from the performance of the Empress Dowager in the past few days, hesitated and thought twice, and she finally took the initiative to use the time to teach Xiao Xuanye the Chinese national book, and deliberately put it forward, hoping that Xiao Xuanye would not lose more than she gained, blindly approached the emperor and snubbed the empress dowager, and could not lose the protection and care of the empress dowager. After all, whether it is the queen mother, the second son of the emperor, or even the emperor, for Su Mala, they are his dearest and beloved. But now, it seems that Xiao Xuanye has given up his original impartial position and is getting closer and closer to the emperor......

At that time, Su Mala only said, "Master, the Queen Mother has been unwell these days, and she is always worried that once the Manchurian Eight Banners learn firearms, they will abandon the riding and archery ......" At that time, she noticed that the brush in the hand of Xiao Xuanye, who was a big man, suddenly went off the rails, and the entire Manchu calligraphy was abolished.

"Aunt Su Ma, has Xuan Ye done it? Is Huang Ma Ma unhappy? Hongyi simply threw away the brush in his hand, went directly into Su Mala's arms, looked up and flashed a pair of big black eyes, and asked pitifully.

"Hehe, the master is too worried, the queen mother feels sorry for you the most, how can she be angry with you? She was just worried about the fundamental ...... of the Qing Dynasty, "Su Mala didn't want to say a lot, but as a woman, she is still a woman who has never and will never have the opportunity to "grow up with children", and the maternal love in her heart has been involuntarily since she saw this lovely little brother, and she can't help but come to Peng**, this maternal love, and even her twenty years of loyalty to the Lord can be quietly covered, as long as the little prince in her arms needs it, she is willing to go to the soup.

"Aunt Su Ma, Xuan Ye is actually for Manchuria and for the Qing Dynasty. You also know the result of Mulan's martial arts exercise, just 400 Rakshasa bandits can resist 6,000 Eight Banner soldiers in Nahumar City for 100 days, if this is a national war, how many Eight Banners warriors will die innocently? Nowadays, if we in the Qing Dynasty grasp the benefits of firearms as soon as possible, and at the same time select intelligent and excellent Manchurian, Mongolian and Han Eight Banners teenagers to learn Western firearms, a few years later, the Eight Banners will still be the first in the world! At that time, whether it is the Han people and the Mongolian people, or the Western people, it will be difficult to shake the Manchurian world! Seeing that Su Mala had no intention of objecting, Hongyi knew that these words would eventually be sent to the ears of his own Empress Dowager. So he went on to say a very crucial word of welcome.

"Aunt Su Ma, in fact, we Mongolians are the people who know how to use firearms the most in the world! At that time, the Mongol army was invincible, swept away the Southern Song Dynasty, and entered Europa, but it relied heavily on the advantage of firearms. At that time, there were iron barrels, handguns, and hand cannons, and they were also inherited and developed by the Ming Dynasty in later generations. These firearms were later introduced to the West by the Arabs, and the Western countries secretly learned and improved them. I am the world's champion in the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty, and firearms should also be unique in the world! Su Mala was really surprised by Hongyi's statement, and there was a look of satisfaction in his eyes.

In fact, Hongyi calculated in his heart that if he used the opportunity of learning firearms to gather young people of all ethnic groups in Manchu, Mongolia and Han together, let them learn from each other and establish friendship, and when they became adults, they would spread out and lead from point to point, then the national estrangement in Japan would not be as antagonistic as it is today, and the concept of the "great Chinese nation" would definitely be formed earlier!

After listening to Su Mala's retelling, the empress dowager felt a little relieved, although the road ahead was slow, and the worries in her heart were still there, but, at least now, her little grandson who had fallen from heaven and auspicious from the sky still did not forget the roots of Manchuria, and he might not blindly take refuge in the emperor. All of them still need to continue to observe quietly in this Cining Palace, the world of the Qing Dynasty, and they also need their own imperial queen to see everything!

[1] In the official history, on August 22, the twelfth year of Shunzhi, Emperor Shunzhi issued an order to conduct the first martial arts palace test.

[2] The three examinations, namely the township examination (also known as the autumn examination), the meeting examination (also known as the provincial examination or the spring examination) and the palace examination (also known as: "imperial examination", "court examination", "court pair").

[3] The garrison of the Eight Banners was the Eight Banners Army stationed by the Qing government throughout the country to guard the danger, and during the Shunzhi period, there were more than 15,000 soldiers stationed in the Eight Banners; During the Kangxi and Yongzheng periods, there were 79,000 people; There were more than 100,000 people during the Qianlong and Jiaqing periods, until the end of the Qing Dynasty. According to the division of the station, it can be divided into the garrison of Kifu, the garrison of the northeast and the garrison of each province. The garrison of Qifu began in the second year of Shunzhi (1645 AD), and was stationed in Changping Prefecture, Gu'an, Caiyuli, Zhangjiakou, Gubeikou, Dushikou and other places. Garrison in the Northeast. Northeast China is the birthplace of the Manchus and is highly valued by the Qing government. Including Shengjing garrison, Jilin garrison and Heilongjiang garrison. As the land of Longxing in the Qing Dynasty, the Shengjing area was second only to the Gyeonggi region in terms of garrison troops. There is 1 general Shengjing under the general jurisdiction, 4 deputy commanders, 1 deputy commander, 8 city guards, 15 assistant leaders, 2 defense captains, 131 assistant leaders, and 207 Xiaocai schools; The main garrisons are Shengjing, Xingjing, Phoenix, Yizhou, Niuzhuang, Jinzhou, Jinzhou, Liaoyang, Xiongyue, Fuzhou, Ningyuan, Guangning, Tieling, Kaiyuan, etc.

[4] The Eight Banners of the Forbidden Brigade, also known as the Beijing Banner, is the part of the Eight Banners that remained in the capital, and is a force of the nature of the Praetorian Guard. The four flags on the left wing, the yellow flag is in the northeast of the city, stationed in the Anding Gate, and the south is the white flag in turn, stationed in the Dongzhi Gate, the white flag is stationed in the Chaoyang Gate, and the blue flag is stationed in the Chongwen Gate; The four flags of the right wing, the yellow flag is in the northwest of the city, stationed in the Desheng gate, and the south is the red flag in turn, stationed in the Xizhi gate, the red flag is stationed in the Fucheng gate, and the blue flag is stationed in the Xuanwu gate. In this Praetorian Guard, it can be divided into two types: Lang Guard and Bing Guard. Lang Wei, also known as the pro-military camp, was mainly responsible for defending the palace and serving as the emperor's entourage, and was the pro-army around the emperor. All the officers and soldiers were selected from the so-called three banners such as Zhenghuang, Zhengbai, and Huang, and each of the three banners sent two people to lead them. The guards were mainly responsible for the work of the garrison division. In the guards, it is divided into guards, cavalry, forwards, and infantry battalions. In addition, more elite personnel were selected in each battalion (including the pro-army battalions) and organized into special forces such as the Shenji Battalion, the Jianrui Battalion, the Firearms Battalion, and the Tiger Gun Battalion. These special forces were specially trained and equipped with the sharpest weapons of the time, and the Qing court attempted to constantly strengthen its own pro-army with new military jishu and equipment, as the basic suppression of the dynasty, not only to ensure the absolute security of the emperor and the stability and order of the Kifu region, but also to deter other armies.