"His Majesty!"
In just half an hour, Wang Chengen led several young eunuchs into Wuying Palace.
Each little eunuch holds a plate covered with yellow paste.
After the plates were placed, the ministers stood up instantly, their eyes following Chongzhen's movements.
"Let's first look at the Dragon and Tiger Medal. This kind of medal is awarded to very brave and heroic soldiers in war.
Such as one man holding a barrier and not being able to open it, such as destroying the city, such as carrying thunderbolts to rush towards the enemy and perish together with the enemy. "
Chongzhen touched Huang Chou and explained, and then in the expectant eyes of everyone, Huang Chou was opened.
A striped vermilion box appeared in front of everyone. The box was engraved with the words "Dragon and Tiger Medal" and painted with gold paint.
Chongzhen slowly opened the box, and a dazzling light flashed, revealing the true face of the Dragon and Tiger Medal.
"My dear friends, come and take a look!"
The officials gathered around and carefully looked at the Dragon and Tiger Medal lying in the box.
The edge of the medal is abstracted round peony petals, in the middle is a golden ring wrapped with osmanthus leaves, and in the middle is a clear character surrounded by dragon and tiger patterns.
Chongzhen took the medal out of the box and pointed to the pattern on it: "Peony, the king of flowers, means blooming and wealth, the osmanthus leaf symbolizes honor, and the dragon and tiger represent bravery and prowess. What do you think?"
"What a metaphor. There is only one pistachio in the world, and among all the fragrant flowers, there is only one peony, which is the only one!"
"The osmanthus leaves are also good. If you win a branch of osmanthus, promise it to me first. If you wear the three leaves of the poplar tree, it will be amazing. If you win the laurel in the toad palace, you can walk through the poplar tree with a hundred steps!"
"The banners of dragon and tiger cross the Shuo River, and the commanders of Yulin support Tiange, subduing the dragon and subduing the tiger, and the dragon and the tiger are fierce."
…
As soon as Chongzhen finished explaining the design elements of the Dragon and Tiger Medal to everyone, everyone started praising it.
Various poetry dictionaries and anecdotes were readily available, and Chongzhen's face turned slightly red after listening to them.
He swore that he really didn't think so much when he designed it. Now that the ministers said this, it immediately improved a lot.
"The Dragon and Tiger Medal is made of gold-plated brass and weighs about three taels, of which brass weighs twenty-nine taels and gold weighs one tael.
The size is one inch and four minutes, the chapter width is five minutes, and the length is two feet and five inches. It is made of cotton and linen double thread weaving. "
After explaining, Chongzhen glanced at everyone, and then said to Wang Chengen: "Let the commanding officer of the forward guard of the government army who is on duty today come in!"
A moment later, Zhao Xian, the commander of the imperial army's avant-garde in armor, entered the Wuying Hall: "Your Majesty, Zhao Xian, is here to see you!"
"I am discussing something with you dear ladies, and I need your cooperation!"
"Your Majesty, please give me your instructions!"
Chongzhen picked up the Dragon and Tiger medal and hung it around Zhao Xian's neck, asking him to spin it slowly in a circle for the officials in the palace to look at.
The ministers' eyes suddenly lit up and they praised him.
But Chongzhen frowned. Although the Dragon and Tiger Medal was good, he ignored that the uniforms in later generations were military green, and now they were wearing armor, which seemed a bit inconsistent.
But if he was asked to change the Ming Dynasty's military uniforms and other uniforms into those of later generations, all the officials, including the sergeants, opposed it.
"Forget it, it's too late to change it. Let's do this for now and see if there is a suitable method later!"
After telling Zhao Xian to keep it secret, everyone left and looked at the other medals again.
The design elements of each medal are eye-opening to everyone.
The Mountain and River Medal is made of copper and depicts the Five Mountains, Yangtze and Yellow Rivers;
The Star Medal is made of gold and jade, depicting the stars in the sky surrounding the brightest star, implying that the winner is the brightest among thousands of soldiers.
A full half hour passed, and only the highest level of medals remained - the Sun and Moon Medal.
The moment the box was opened, a beautiful medal decorated with gold and red appeared in front of everyone.
"What a complicated structure, one, two...five layers?"
"The one in the middle is the dragon flag, the second layer is the ring composed of the sun and the moon, the third layer is... I don't know much about it! The fourth layer is... it seems to be mountains and rivers, and the fifth layer is auspicious clouds."
"Do you know what the third level is? Let me remind you, it is related to the sun and moon on the second level."
Everyone listened to Chongzhen's questions and prompts with curiosity in their eyes. After a while, Fan Jingwen, the Minister of the Ministry of Finance, spoke up.
"The third layer is the sunflower, which is the sunflower from Zhejiang. It is as big as a plate, facing the sun in the morning and evening, and its seeds are in the painting, just like a honeycomb."
Listening to Fan Jingwen's answer, everyone came closer to look at the third layer again, and saw that the third layer was not a whole circle, but a pattern of densely packed melon seeds carved on it.
The second layer is composed of the sun and the moon, representing the Ming Dynasty. The third layer is the sunrise flower, which is towards the Ming Dynasty. The sunrise seeds surround the sun and the moon, isn't that around the Ming Dynasty?
Everyone instantly understood why it was the Chaoyang Flower.
"The whole body is made of gold, weighs five taels and eight cents, and measures one inch and eight cents. The ribbon is woven in seven colors including cotton, linen, wool, and silk.
The six layers of the medal are made of filigree inlay. "
hiss……
Everyone really took a breath this time.
Nearly six taels of pure gold would cost six to seventy taels of silver if converted into silver, and the filigree inlay craftsmanship is even more astonishing.
Filigree mainly includes traditional techniques such as pinching, filling, saving, welding, weaving, and stacking. Inlaying techniques include filing, hammering, beating, stuffing, beating, collapsing, squeezing, and inlaying.
The most important thing is that this technique is mainly used for the production of royal jewelry. Now it is used in medals to award sergeants. What an honor it is.
"This Sun and Moon Medal is worth at least a few hundred taels based on its material and craftsmanship. Add in the story of the medal, and it's worth at least a few thousand taels of silver."
"That's what I say, but I believe no one will sell this medal, because once the honor is formed, they would rather die than go back and insult their honor."
"Your Majesty, can this kind of medal be sold? I mean, if you have no choice but to go out of your way, you can exchange the medal for money to tide over the difficulties!"
"If the soldiers who have won such medals are reduced to this situation, it will be a shame for our Ming Dynasty, and it will be your dereliction of duty.
I have said that medals should be in short supply rather than in excess, especially the highest-level Sun and Moon Medal. There may not be one in three to five years, or even ten years. Once there is one, it will be a great contributor to the Ming Dynasty.
If I have to give a standard, throughout the Ming Dynasty for more than two hundred years, I think Xu Da, Yu Qian, Yang Tinghe, Zhang Juzheng, Wang Yangming, Qi Jiguang and others are qualified to receive the Sun and Moon Medal. "
I go……
Everyone was shocked, their eyes were so shocked that they lost focus.
As the highest-level medal, it is normal for the standard to be high, but they never expected that it would be so high.
Each of the names the emperor just mentioned was like thunder. They were all famous ministers and generals who could be ranked in the top thirty in the entire Ming Dynasty.
