The suburban festival, also known as the suburban festival, has been the most solemn festival since the Zhou Dynasty.

Because this is a national ritual to worship the heavens.

During the Tang Dynasty, it was chosen in spring, summer, autumn and winter, and the suburbs were sacrificed four times a year.

Zhao Kuangyin is worthy of being the founding monarch and has a pragmatic and good style. He thought that the suburban sacrifices were too frequent and a waste of manpower and material resources, and he only had four suburban sacrifices in the seventeenth year of his reign.

Zhao Kuangyi carried forward this pragmatic style, reigned for 23 years, and only made five suburban sacrifices.

Song Zhenzong...... Well, you know.

This likes to sacrifice and auspiciousness, and since then he has set the ancestral system, and the suburban sacrifice is once every three years.

The next to appear, of course, is Song Huizong, who reigned for twenty-five years and had twenty-three suburban sacrifices.

Zhu Guoxiang and Zhu Ming founded the country, and various etiquettes have been set in the "Da Ming Law". The suburban festival is held once every ten years, and in case of major events, the suburban festival is increased from time to time - such as the new emperor's accession to the throne, the triumph of the general, and so on.

In addition, the northern and southern suburbs will no longer be divided into heaven and earth, and will be enshrined in the southern suburbs from this year.

Greatly save the cost of sacrifice!

In order to wait for the heroes to return to Beijing, the sacrifice time was postponed to the end of February.

On this day, the envoys of various countries waited in line in the royal street. In front of them were the ministers of civil and military affairs, as well as generals and troops waiting outside the Suzaku Gate.

The suburbs sacrifice heaven and earth, the triumphant ceremony, and the reward of meritorious heroes, the three are combined into one.

"The Emperor ascends!"

More and more people gathered in the streets around the city, and finally heard a few bells, and the emperor, empress, crown prince, and princess appeared in the Xuande Gate Tower.

In the sound of ritual music, the ceremonial officials announced that the civil and military officials stepped forward, and then the envoys of Fanbang stepped forward.

The ritual of kneeling was usually canceled, but this important occasion was retained.

The ministers knelt down, the mountain shouted long live, and then danced to celebrate.

"Inspect the Parade Horses!"

Bai Qi, as a representative of the meritorious heroes, led a group of meritorious soldiers to cross the state bridge from outside the Suzaku Gate and came to the royal street to line up.

At the front were 1,000 princes' heavily armored guards, followed by 1,000 musketeers, followed by 200 heavy cavalry, and 300 horsemen...... Space is limited, and only a small number of teams will be selected for the review.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

The heavy infantry was originally the best of the best, and those who could be selected to participate in the parade were even very similar in height.

They were wrapped in tin cans and walked slowly forward with neat steps.

He didn't shout any slogans, just marched silently, but stepped on the ground as if thousands of troops were coming.

Li Boxiang, the envoy of Dali, subconsciously felt frightened, and asked Li Renli, the envoy of Western Xia next to him, in a low voice: "How many such armor soldiers are there in the Ming Dynasty?" ”

Li Renli said: "I heard that there are thousands. ”

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Renli's pupils shrank, and he saw the musketeer following closely behind.

"What's wrong with Li Gui's envoy?" Li Boxiang looked at him and wondered, "What kind of soldiers are these soldiers holding iron rods?" ”

Li Renli said: "Fire Soldiers." ”

Li Boxiang still didn't understand: "Your envoy still looks calm when he sees the heavy armor, why does he suddenly change color when he sees the fire gunners?" ”

Li Renli was reluctant to answer, and watched the firecrackers pass by.

followed by 200 heavy cavalry and 300 Xiao cavalry, Li Boxiang knew for the first time that the original cavalry could wear all the armor with men and horses.

The two messengers of Zhenla, Brother Gumo and Mo Jun Mingji, were already standing in place and looking stupid.

They came to Kaifeng ten years to pay tribute, and there was no military parade at that time.

Although the Chenla Angkor Dynasty was in its heyday, the political system was too loose, most of the land was not developed enough, and a large amount of money was spent on building Buddhist temples and statues. It seems that the territory is huge and the strength seems to be strong, but in fact the army is very bad.

Where have they ever seen heavy cavalry and heavy infantry?

Mo Jun Mingji whispered: "This Ming Kingdom is stronger than the previous Song Kingdom. The army of the Ming Kingdom is invincible, and you should tell Your Majesty when you go back. The emperor of the Ming Kingdom asked us to send young people to Kaifeng here to study the Confucian scriptures, and we must not go against the emperor's wishes.

The monk said, "Of course I know...... Is their armor all made of iron? ”

"I guess so." Mo Jun Mingji couldn't figure it out.

Bai Qi knelt down on behalf of the soldiers, and the rest of the soldiers all stood and saluted, because they were armoured and had difficulty moving.

Zhao Shu, the secretary of the military department, began to read out the military exploits, from Yang Zhi's defeat of Western Xia to last year's great victory.

The music was loud, and the civilian, official and military generals danced again to celebrate.

"Prisoners!"

The drums of war beat and the trumpets sounded.

Several teams of light cavalry escorted the prisoners of the Jin Kingdom and went straight to the Xuande Gate from outside the Suzaku Gate.

The people along the street cheered and shouted, and some people threw rotten vegetable leaves at the captives.

Tokyo was besieged and starved to death, and of course they couldn't blame Prince Zhu, so they vented their anger at the death of their relatives on the heads of these Jin soldiers.

The Lady limped to the front, for he had the highest status among the captives.

When she was captured last year, the tibia of her legs was broken, and she was only done with a simple bone bandage, but after healing, she became a cripple.

Zhang Guangdao stepped forward to introduce: "This person's name is Wanyan Living Girl, and she is the son of Wanyan Lou. Wanyan Lou is the second fierce general under the command of the Jin chieftain Aguda, and his son Wanyan Huonu has also made many military exploits in the Jin country, and there is the most elite army in the Jin country under his command...... When this person destroyed Liao and attacked the Song Dynasty, he was brutal and murderous, and countless people died at his hands......"

A military officer went to verify his identity.

One after another, more than 30 generals, officers, and soldiers of the Jin Kingdom were brought up.

Zhao Shu rushed to His Majesty and asked: "The captives have been verified, please instruct Your Majesty." ”

"Fa-rectification!" Zhu Guoxiang said.

"Fa-rectification!"

"Fa-rectification!"

"Fa-rectification!"

One after another, it spread from the tower to the outside of the city gate.

Several generals with big shoulders and round waists, temporarily serving as executioners, dragged the captives to the southern end of the royal street and beheaded them.

At the end of the prisoner sacrifice ceremony, Meng Zhao, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, came out of the list and began to read out the content of the reward.

The first to be entitled, but Zhang Gen, who is about to retire: Feng Ganguo Gong, Taishi, Shangzhu Guo, and Doctor Jin Ziguanglu.

As soon as the ministers heard about these officials, they immediately understood that Zhang Gen was leaving the court, otherwise it would be absolutely impossible to engage in a large wholesale of rewards.

"Minister, thank you, Your Majesty!" Zhang Gen was extremely excited.

Even if you are about to retire, you can have this honor while you are alive, which is enough to glorify your ancestors.

The second to be entitled was Li Bao, who destroyed the country and destroyed the small court in the southeast. It was named the Duke of Puyang County, with 1,500 households and 800 households.

Next up is -

Zhang Guangdao, the prince of Yangchuan County, has 1,400 households in the food town and 700 households in the food area.

Yang Zhi, the prince of Jiyin County, has 1,400 households and 700 households.

Chen Ziyi, Hua Rong and other six people were named marquis, and Han Shizhong, Yao Pingzhong and other 27 people were named uncles.

There were nearly 100 people who were named viscounts and barons, and they did not return to Beijing, but they all led troops in their respective stations.

Han Shizhong was mixed in the team of the recipients, and he was a little excited and a little weak, because with his qualifications and military exploits, it was really reluctant to be named an earl this time.

After all, he only led troops to take Zhijiang County, participated in the confrontation with Jin soldiers in Gyeonggi, and participated in the recovery of Shouyang County in Shanxi. Soon transferred to Shandong for military training, in the face of the puppet army that fell in despair, he recovered more than ten cities in a daze, and his identity was only a deputy general.

The only explanation is that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince attaches great importance to it.

Not only that, but he was also appointed as the deputy chief soldier of Shanxi, and completely took over the territory of the Zhe family, which was even much larger than the territory of the Zhe family.

Han Shizhong looked up at the Xuande Gate Tower, but it was too far to see the truth. He felt that the prince was too good to him, and it was worth selling his life to the prince, and the person who was a confidant would die.

Zhe Keqiu, Yao Gu, Liu Yanqing, Liu Guangguo and others are standing in the ranks of Wuchen at this moment.

They returned to Beijing one after another these days, and soon received their appointments, and all remained in the Privy Council and the Generalissimo's Palace.

Because Yao Gu was the first to submit to obedience, he also had the largest official position and a certain amount of real power.

And Liu Yanqing, Zhe Keqiu, and Liu Guangguo, their positions are neither high nor low, and they seem to have a reasonable arrangement, but in fact, they have no real power, and they basically stay in the capital to retire.

Their focus is not on Han Shizhong, but on Yang Weizhong and Wang Yuan.

Wang Yuan was made a marquis this time, and he made a lot of contributions: quelling the Huainan rebellion, organizing and training the Huainan New Army, organizing and training the Zhejiang New Army, and participating in the destruction of Zhong Xiang.

Yang Weizhong was awarded the title of earl, and he had more food than Han Shizhong, and his credit was to defend Taiyuan twice.

The once famous Western Army of the Great Song Dynasty is now obviously headed by Wang Yuan.

Yao Gu doesn't care, his son Yao Pingzhong is also a feudal uncle this time - Yao Pingzhong's military achievements are not high, but his generals are awesome, and even he has some of his military achievements.

The current Ming army, the most awesome is the Sichuan system, followed by the Gyeonggi system, then the Shandong system, and then the Western military system.

The Hebei system has not grown up for the time being, and the southern generals are even more soy sauce-making.

Titles do not represent all, such as Li Cheng and Zhao Li. The former was only mixed up with a baron, but he was appointed deputy commander-in-chief of Shandong. Zhao Li is also a baron, and has always served as the chief general of Denglai, which is directly dispatched by Li Bao.

Everyone thanked and rewarded, and then the emperor and the crown prince went downstairs and led the ministers of civil and military affairs to the southern suburbs to worship heaven and earth.

Zhu Ming rode forward slowly, and countless pairs of eyes fell on him.

As the commander-in-chief, he won a great victory in Hebei, and the prince did not have any reward, and some people even suspected that the emperor and the prince were not on good terms......

Of course, those who think this way are definitely not in the core power circles.

"Long live Daming!"

"Long live the official family!"

Among the onlookers, a scholar shouted excitedly, and the people around him also shouted.

The accompanying soldiers and horses, with bright armor, majestic and majestic, and excellent military discipline, the common people are naturally proud.

Li Hanzhang turned his head to look at the cheering people, and thought: "It would be good if Bai Saburo was here, I met the prince in the countryside of Yangzhou that day, how could I have expected to have today's grand occasion?" ”

Bai Chongyan is still the prefect of Hangzhou, and it is estimated that he will be promoted to the governor of Kaifeng next year.

Li Renli turned his head to look at those firecrackers from time to time, always thinking that it was a monster, and he really wanted to steal a few firecrackers and bring them back to Western Xia.

After all, he was hurt by a firearm, and Xixia was also quietly researching and had already come up with a primitive firecracker.

Requires the use of leads (not arquebuses), which are not very powerful, are a matter of luck, and are extremely slow to build.

Li Qianshun mobilized craftsmen last autumn, and only now has he knocked out more than a dozen.

After going back and forth, Li Qianshun decided to build artillery first.

(End of chapter)