On the sixth day of the tenth month of the tenth year of Zhengde, the Son of Heaven came out of the noon gate and walked to the martyr's monument in Xicheng.

Prior to this, the imperial court had officially issued a decree to announce the victory of the Northwest War in the form of sacrifices to the heavens and ancestors, and announced the establishment of a governor of Xinjiang to control the guards outside Jiayu Pass.

For the civil and military officials of the government and the opposition, opening up the territory is no longer a word they write on paper to praise their merits and virtues, but has become a fact.

For more people, the pious commemoration of Emperor Zhengde in front of the martyr's monument is like a symbol, marking that today's Ming Dynasty is completely different from the Ming Dynasty after the Battle of Tumubao.

People's perceptions have changed, and they no longer have to worry about any side troubles or who comes in. At that time, the Mongols repeatedly swept the border, which was a headache, and now it is the cavalry of the Ming Dynasty patrolling the border every three or five times, and there are more and more Ming soldiers galloping in the desert.

The impact on the people is that there is less yin and yang, and most of them begin to brag about people, showing the mentality of the country's great people.

In the northwest, the imperial court has decided to expand the cities of Hami and Turpan as a whole, and at the same time set up horse markets and tea markets in Turpan, doing its best to reconstruct the trade routes to the Western Regions as quickly as possible, and at the same time encouraging private merchants to participate in them.

War horses are not only a means of transportation, but also armament materials, and the horses themselves in the Western Regions are very good breeds, of course, and more, so Zhu Houzhao has agreed to expand the scale of purchases.

And behind all this, there is one of the most critical points.

It is the improvement of the status of military generals.

The concept that a good man should not be a soldier has not changed among the common people, but among the children of the nobles, entering the military academy and fighting with the army to earn a little military merit is still very popular.

Originally, these guys didn't have the patience to study.

Therefore, the places in the military academy are very scarce and sought-after, and most of the generals who go out to fight now are from military academies.

This kind of thing is just like where to make money, and immediately countless people rush to it.

Zhou Shangwen is of course the biggest representative of them, and there are many generals under him.

This is also the reason why the simple poem "The husband reports to the lord and looks at the treasure sword" is widely spread in Beijing, and such literary and artistic works are based on the social atmosphere, and it does not shine itself, but it is the wide resonance of people that makes it shine.

Anyway, on the battlefield, to live is to make a meritorious deed, but to die... At the very least, it can give the family the status of a martyr's family.

Zhu Houzhao attached great importance to these two sacrificial ceremonies, needless to say, to commemorate the martyrs, he also required all the officials in Beijing to be present, and after the ceremony, he announced a crime of killing his head in front of everyone:

From now on, anyone who insults the martyrs will be beheaded!

And it's useless to just say it.

After careful investigation, the Criminal Department and Dali Temple caught three villains who had bullied the old and young of the martyrs' families.

These three people, one is a butcher, one is a lifter, and the other is a thief, and the specific crimes they committed are different, but the result is the same.

Just under the monument, in front of everyone's eyes, the emperor ordered to be beheaded!

Although Zhu Houzhao has killed many people, he has not seen his head rolling off his neck many times, and the blood is sprayed all over the ground, somewhat bloody.

However, his face has not changed in the slightest, and the so-called era of strength and iron-blooded age has never been achieved by giggling.

After the emperor was dressed in a crown robe, and the ministers below him were arranged in turn, and the scene was magnificent and the atmosphere was solemn, and after beheading these three heads, the Son of Heaven announced: "Today, I will pay tribute to the soldiers who died in battle with this blood, and comfort their souls!" Plaque! ”

With his order, a plaque on each side of the Martyrs' Monument was uncovered, and they were held in place by four stone pillars.

On the left are four words: Heroic Souls Are Forever.

There are also four words on the right: Yongzhen mountains and rivers.

In this solemn and extreme way, the Son of Heaven told the people of the world that it was not meaningless to die fighting for the country.

And this place will eventually become one of the sources of spiritual strength for this nation.

After that ceremony, there are still people who come here from time to time.

Most of them are ordinary people, either old women with grandchildren, or wives with children, they hold flowers in their hands, come here to put them down, say a few words, and then leave.

It's like this every day, maybe the people who come are different, but there is no day when the flowers don't renew.

However, one day was a little special, because there was a team of people coming to the martyr's monument, and the sedan chair was bright and beautiful, and it was not an ordinary person at first glance.

The people did not dare to come near, but only dared to watch from afar.

Although Yang Yiqing is already old, he shouldn't continue to sit in a sedan chair here, so he climbed up each step by himself, and only his son Yang Zhi'an supported him on the side.

Yang Yiqing has no family members in the court, let alone any military officers.

This time he made a trip to commemorate his original friend.

He was the governor of the three sides, and he also fought with the Tatars, and there was a general named Zuo He under his command, who once saved his life, but unfortunately died in battle.

Yang Yiqing was extremely religious, he said to himself in front of the stele: "Brother Zuo died for the country, fortunately the Son of Heaven is in the court, there is this monument, I hope Brother Zuo can smile under the nine springs." ”

When he had finished speaking, he bowed his head and bowed again.

Before leaving, looking at the people who climbed the ladder one by one to worship, Yang Yiqing was thoughtful.

Although it took a lot of money to build the stone monument, it was also a meritorious deed to make so many people worry about it.

Being commemorated by people up and down for the country's death in the war will certainly boost the morale of the front-line soldiers even more, and at the same time, it is also an honor to have the Son of Heaven preside.

The Ming Dynasty's 100-year use of literature to suppress military force seems to no longer exist.

Yang Yiqing himself can feel that because of the emperor's support, many nobles have now begun to relive the 'old days', they hold the silver from the sea trade in one hand, and live a prosperous life, and with the other hand, they arrange for the children of their families to enter the army and win military exploits.

And above the court, headed by Cheng Guogong, he supported the Son of Heaven in various military activities. In addition, like the new Marquis of Jingyu, Pinghaibo and Wei Ningbo, these are all nobles who can make a voice in the court.

The atmosphere of Zhengde for ten years is completely different from the original.

"Elder Ge, go back to the house or go to the cabinet?"

"Go to the Cabinet."

"Yes."

Yang Yiqing understands more and more that the Son of Heaven wants to be governed by culture and martial arts, and the culture and governance are naturally prosperous, and martial arts are still more than the current boundaries, and the link between them is the word industry mentioned earlier.

By the time I arrived at the Cabinet, a meeting on these two words was underway.

He walked straight through the door, and when he saw the crowd greeting him, he waved his hand directly, "Go on." ”

It was Shaofu Gu Renyi who was talking, and he said, "...... The development of the industry is nothing more than three links, planting, manufacturing, and sales. The first two are easy to say, cotton is not enough to buy, the factory is not big enough, the Shaofu can invest in expansion, the key is that it must be able to sell. In the future, we will report to Your Majesty, and this will definitely be the key point. ”

"Gu Shaofu has a good plan?"

"I have ordered someone to try to make cotton cloth, although the commercial atmosphere is not strong in the interior, but there is still a certain demand in several big cities, and besides, I think I can apply to His Majesty to list cotton cloth in the export items of the Western Regions Trade Mission, try it."

Yes, the Son of Heaven is already preparing to send two groups of men to the Western Regions. All the way is the person who builds and expands the city, where the construction of sinicization is to be carried out, language is one thing, in fact, the building also reflects a culture, so Zhou Shangwen is very short of this kind of person.

In addition, the Son of Heaven wanted to send a trade mission to the Western Regions, bring all the tea and silk of the Ming Dynasty, and find a way to exchange them for war horses in the Western Regions.

If the trade route is open, then do business, take what you need, the trade route is not open, Zhou Shangwen will Lao Tzu again.

Yang Yiqing listened to a few words, and then said, "Do you want to ask Ping Haibo to try it in Nanyang?" ”