The team entering the capital headed north from Yongding Gate and entered the city via Zhengyang Gate, cheering all the way, and even half of the capital was excited.
Chen Wang followed the team until they reached about a few hundred steps in front of the Meridian Gate in the south of the Forbidden City before finally stopping.
The Meridian Gate was the place where prisoners were sacrificed, and Xuanye was above the court meeting.
The palace is majestic and the breeze is gentle.
There are many banners and banners, and there are many flags distributed one after another.
On the royal road in front of the Meridian Gate, the Han generals wearing gorgeous armor and robes and belts had already set up ceremonial guards along the east and west sides, and the imperial guards guarding the imperial city were densely guarding all sides.
The Jiaofang Secretary in charge of rituals and music in the palace arranged large music on the east and west sides to the south of the ceremonial guard, facing north.
Two worshipers from Honglu Temple stood in front of the Meridian Gate, facing each other from east to west.
The Registrar stands on the east side in front of the Meridian Gate, facing the west.
Opposite the presiding officer, slightly to the south, stands the announcing officer of the ceremony. The announcing officer stands facing west.
All civil and military officials and envoys from the Tibetan kingdoms were stationed in the south of the royal road in front of the Meridian Gate Tower, arranged according to Wen Dong and Wu Xi.
On the east side of the imperial road in front of the Meridian Gate, there is a large case displaying "cloths", with one publicity officer and two display officers.
"Lubu" also means "Luban", which is an unsealed document, especially emergency documents such as messages and good news.
The dew cloth placed in front of the Meridian Gate naturally records the news of the victory at Qingshan Pass.
The ceremony guide who had been waiting in front of the Meridian Gate for a long time came towards me.
Sun Chuanting dismounted first, followed by Chen Wang and the other generals, and then followed the lead officer towards the designated position.
According to the pre-arranged arrangement, six thousand armored soldiers stopped and lined up in the large square in front of the Meridian Gate to wait for review.
The ceremony officially begins.
A little east of the south of the royal road, the official who specially presented the cloth followed the official who led the way forward.
The official who presented the report to Lubu placed it on the large case on the east side of the imperial road with the victory report in his hand, and finally returned to his position.
The prisoner-presenting officer of the Ministry of Punishment is located slightly south of the east side of the imperial road in front of the Meridian Gate, facing the west.
The prisoner-general school is located slightly south of the west side of the imperial road in front of the Meridian Gate, facing north.
Chen Wang stood at the forefront of the generals, still standing in a row with Cao Wenzhao, Zuo Guangxian, He Renlong and others.
Forty-three Jiannu prisoners were escorted by armored soldiers to the Meridian Gate. Everyone was pushed to the ground and knelt on the ground.
After more than ten days of torture, they have long lost their former unruliness. Starvation, torture, and the heavy shackles on their bodies have left them with almost no power to resist.
The melodious and majestic bells slowly rang from the palace city, echoed up and down among the numerous palace gates and city walls in the Forbidden City, and finally reached the ears of a crowd of civil and military officials and spectators standing in front of the Meridian Gate. .
The bell did not echo for too long and soon stopped.
Chen Wang stood with everyone, and through the opening of the Meridian Gate, he had already seen the cars and teams slowly arriving from behind the Meridian Gate.
The officials responsible for teaching etiquette had already made it clear in advance that the stop of the bells would prove that the emperor's chariot had arrived at the Huangji Gate and was about to arrive at the Meridian Gate.
Soon after the imperial chariot arrived at the Meridian Gate, Chen Wang saw officials from Honglu Temple leading people forward, saluting and asking Emperor Chongzhen to change into a shoulder bag.
Jiaofangsi's band also started playing music at this time. It was not until Chongzhen, dressed in the emperor's uniform, arrived at the main gate of the Meridian Gate that the music finally stopped.
The palace officials had already set up a throne in the middle of the couplets in front of the Meridian Gate Tower.
However, when Chongzhen arrived at the main couplet of the gate tower, he did not sit down. Instead, he first took a look at the six thousand armored soldiers standing in formation outside the Meridian Gate.
Although Chongzhen had no military knowledge, he entered the Pass twice and besieged Beijing twice. He saw many soldiers and horses of King Qin.
But the feeling brought to him by those soldiers and horses of King Qin has never been as strong as that of the army now arrayed outside the Meridian Gate.
Even the white-poled elite troops that Qin Liangyu led across the southwest were only half as powerful as the current army.
Chongzhen clenched his fists subconsciously, his heart agitated, and there was even a little blood on his pale face.
Wang Dehua, who was standing aside, saw Chongzhen looking at the troops outside the Meridian Gate. He immediately stepped forward knowingly and introduced the composition of each army to Chongzhen.
"Which period is Hanzhong Town?"
Chongzhen glanced at the military formation outside the Meridian Gate and asked the question he wanted to ask most.
Qingshan Pass was a great victory, and Hanzhong Town was the one with the most reports.
Chen Wang, the general of Hanzhong Town, has made many meritorious deeds since King Qin. This time at Qingshan Pass, he shot and killed Tan Tai, the general who established the slaves, and captured Gongshu Terrace, which greatly strengthened the morale of the three armies.
"Reporting to the emperor, right in the middle of the Meridian Gate, wearing red clothes and red armor, like blazing fire, are the soldiers from Hanzhong Town."
Chongzhen looked in the direction of Wang Dehua's finger and couldn't look away anymore, and praised him heartily.
"He is truly a mighty soldier in the world!"
After looking at it for a while, Chongzhen withdrew his gaze and sat on the throne.
Outside the Meridian Gate, Chongzhen did not take his seat for a long time on a whim, leaving the Jiaofangsi musicians who were playing music to play for a long time.
If Chongzhen didn't sit down, the music couldn't stop according to etiquette, so they could only keep playing. When Chongzhen took his seat, all the musicians from the Jiaofangsi also stopped playing.
Chongzhen ascended the throne at the Meridian Gate. In front of the Meridian Gate, the Han general in golden armor waved his whip and started to silence. The whole audience was solemn.
The salute officer loudly sang "Enter!" The official who presented the cloth bowed four times to the Meridian Gate, and the ritual music started playing again until he died.
The process of the ceremony is very cumbersome, and then there are a series of procedures such as offering the dew cloth, taking the dew cloth, showing good news, presenting prisoners and so on.
Chen Wang stood among the crowd and followed the instructions of the ceremony officer.
Forty-seven prisoners were forced to kneel in front of the Meridian Gate, waiting for their final fate.
During the Ming Dynasty's prisoner presentation ceremony, waiting for the prisoners generally had two outcomes.
The first is that the emperor magnanimously pardons his crimes so that he can start a new life.
The second type is for crimes that are so heinous that they cannot be tolerated, so they kill people and abandon the city to demonstrate their strictness to the world.
But this time, facing the request from the Minister of Punishment, Chongzhen only said one word.
But it was this word that pronounced the fate of the slave captives in front of the Meridian Gate - kill!
Along with the officials of Honglu Temple and the Han generals who were standing there, the message was passed down from level to level.
Outside the Meridian Gate, the crowd of people watching the ceremony were also infected by the momentum, and they all shouted for death.
Suddenly, in front of the Meridian Gate, the sound of killing shook the sky, and the sound of shouting filled the air.
Forty-seven Jiannu slaves were sentenced to death and were escorted by soldiers to Shicao for public execution.
With the end of the final sacrifice of prisoners, under the guidance of the ceremony officer, the civil and military officials re-entered the class and stood facing north.
Addressing the official, he knelt in the middle of the road and delivered a congratulatory speech.
Under the high order of the praise officer, the ritual music started playing again, and everyone bowed, bowed five times, and kowtowed three times.
After leveling up, the music also stopped.
Honglu Temple knelt down to perform the ceremony, and the ceremony officially came to an end with Chongzhen's departure.
On that day, the capital was celebrating!
Not only the inner and outer cities, but even the hungry people outside the city were included in the celebration. The rice porridge in the porridge shed was not only thick and sticky, but also had some minced meat added to it.
The army retreated and stopped fighting, thus saving a lot of food and rice consumed every day.
Now that we have surplus food, many things will be easier to handle.
The military camp outside the city once again received a large amount of wine, meat, food and rice as a reward.
After the prisoner presentation ceremony, Chen Wang and others were invited into the Forbidden City by the internal officials and went to the palace to attend the banquet.
Just learning etiquette took nearly an hour.
Everyone was basically not treated like entering the palace before, but now they were summoned to the palace for a banquet, and they were all very reserved.
Chen Wang didn't feel much nervous at first, but due to the influence of everyone, his mood couldn't help but fluctuate a little.
Even if he is as calm as Cao Wenzhao and as unruly as Zu Dalue, he still has a strange look on his face and a fluctuating heart.
This is the case in this era. The emperor is still the supreme existence in the hearts of most people.
It seems that in the minds of most ordinary people, the emperor should be sage.
The country is restless and the society is in turmoil because there are treacherous ministers who are deceiving the emperor. As long as the treacherous ministers are expelled, the sage will be restored and the world will return to peace.
Before the banquet, they received a summons.
The internal officer led them onto the platform.
At this time, Chongzhen had already been waiting on the platform for a long time to receive him in person.
Chen Wang had imagined meeting Chongzhen up close. He thought it would be at a banquet, but he didn't expect it to be on a platform.
In history, Yuan Chonghua, Yang Sichang, Lu Xiangsheng, Sun Chuanting and other important ministers all met Chongzhen on the platform.
Arriving at the platform, Chen Wang noticed that Sun Chuanting and Chen Xinjia had arrived on the platform one step ahead of them.
In addition to the two of them, Gao Qiqian, who had met several times in Taiping Village before, was also standing on the platform at this time.
Chen Wang didn't look any further. Following the etiquette taught by the internal officials, he followed Cao Wenzhao and others and bowed down.
A very gentle voice also came from above: "My dear friends, please rise. No need to be polite."
Chen Wang stood up with Cao Wenzhao and others, and also saw Chongzhen sitting at the top.
Different from the Chongzhen in Chen Wang's imagination, the Chongzhen sitting at the top was wearing red imperial uniform and a Yishan crown on his head.
Chongzhen's body was thin and his face was pale. At this time, Chongzhen should have been only twenty-eight years old, when he was young and strong.
But Chen Wang noticed that there were some white hairs between Chongzhen's temples.
However, it is understandable. After all, Chongzhen has been in control of the country for so long, but the situation is getting worse and worse, and the pressure in his heart is probably as heavy as a ton.
Chen Wang lowered his head slightly and did not look at Chongzhen again.
On the way here, the internal officials had already conveyed to them the things they might ask about and explained the process.
This summons was not an impromptu invitation, but a customary greeting before the banquet began to show God's grace.
After everyone stood up, Chongzhen also gave some precious military armor and horse equipment after some gentle words of encouragement as the internal officials said.
These gifts are private gifts from the emperor and are not public rewards.
The specific reward will not be issued until the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of War and other ministries and the cabinet have discussed and decided.
Although Chongzhen's tone was gentle, the atmosphere on the platform was still quite serious.
When the items are given out, the internal officials give a speech, and then the recipient comes forward to thank the gift. After the gift is completed, he can return to the queue.
The summons did not last long.
Chongzhen had a brief chat with everyone, talking about the victory at Qingshan Pass and his past experiences, mainly to win people's hearts.
Hu Dawei, Yang Guozhu, and He Renlong all had their faces flushed, as if they were drunk.
Cao Wenzhao and Zu Dale performed much better, but it could also be seen that they were quite excited.
"Chen Qing has worked tirelessly to serve the king. He is commendable for his loyalty and righteousness. He has also bravely won the three armies. He has made great achievements in battle. He will definitely have a bright future in the future."
Chongzhen seemed quite enthusiastic about Chen Wang, and even came down to give him warm words of praise in person.
It took four years for him to rise and fall in the officialdom. Although Chen Wang felt nothing in his heart, he had an excited look on his face and thanked him for the gift.
From the perspective of outsiders, it seems that the monarch and his ministers are in harmony.
After the ceremony, at the signal of the internal officials, Chen Wang finally retreated from the platform together with Cao Wenzhao and others.
When retreating from the platform, he slightly raised his head without leaving any trace, facing Chongzhen who was sitting on the throne.
Facing the direction of Chongzhen, he retreated all the way until he exited the platform.
Chen Wang turned around and slowly exhaled the turbid air in his chest.
If nothing else happens, after he leaves Beizhili this time and goes south to Huguang, he and Chongzhen may not see each other again.
Chaos has begun to emerge in the south. Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai will soon rise up again in May to stir up turmoil, and the remaining seventy-two battalions of bandits will rise up again to respond.
From the capital all the way south to Huguang, the march alone would take several months.
Because of Xiong Wencan, Zuo Liangyu became even less dedicated to suppressing bandits and began to gradually embark on the path of a warlord.
Xiong Wencan now has no way to stop this vigorous change in the south.
By the time Yang Sichang arrived in Huguang on October 1st from the south, half of the entire territory of South China was already in war.
However, no one knew about all this except Chen Wang himself.
On the platform, Chongzhen sat on the throne and watched Cao Wenzhao, Chen Wang and other generals leave the platform.
He didn't notice Chen Wang's last glance when he raised his head to look at him.
…
In the twelfth year of Chongzhen, March 20th.
Before the reward was issued, the edict of punishment was announced first.
Emperor Chongzhen ordered Yang Sichang to take charge of the rewards and punishments of the officials. Yang Sichang reported three things that happened: he lost his opportunity to defend the border, destroyed the city, lost his commander, and allowed the enemy to move out of the fortress.
Zheng Xizhao, the chief officer of Ji Town, Sun Maolin, the sub-supervisory officer, Chen Zubao, the governor of Shuntian, Zhang Qiping, the governor of Baoding, Yan Jizu, the governor of Shandong, Wu Guojun, the general soldier of Ji Town, Ni Chong, the general soldier of Shandong Province, and there are divisions in the prefecture and county. Twenty-four people discussed Nearly two hundred people died and were devalued.
Compared with history, the accident reported by Yang Sichang was less guilty of losing the vassal title. After all, Jinan City was not breached and Defan was still there.
This time, due to Chen Wang's influence, there were twelve fewer people considered dead.
Both Zu Kuan and Li Chongzhen also survived, and even received awards for their military exploits in lifting the siege of Jinan.
Because Lu Xiangsheng did not die in Jiazhuang and survived in the end, Lu Xiangsheng was also among those who suffered derogation this time.
(End of chapter)
