The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 345 Decay
The sun sets over the western mountains, and only a corner of the sun remains on the distant horizon.

The blood-red sunset was slowly disappearing from everyone's eyes, and the darkness was gradually devouring the earth and spreading continuously.

The war outside Kaifeng City is also coming to an end.

After completing the meeting and defeating the main left wing of the Wanmin Army, Chen Wang issued the order to withdraw his troops.

A group of Ming army cavalry, loaded with gains, followed Chen Wang back to Kaifeng, and everything was smooth sailing along the way.

Naturally, the Ten Thousand People's Army did not pursue pursuit. The Ten Thousand People's Army cavalry that came to the rescue from Nancheng only protected the formation and had no intention of blocking it.

Even facing the provocation of the Ming army's rangers scattered outside, they chose to retreat instead of fighting.

The tens of thousands of soldiers in the West City watched as Chen Wang led his troops to retreat safely.

Daliang Gate is wide open facing the western suburbs, facing the tens of thousands of troops of the People's Army.

Before leading his troops into Kaifeng, Chen Wang ordered his troops to burn all the siege equipment abandoned by the Wanmin Army, and also destroyed the mounds and some defensive fortifications that had been built outside the city.

After everything was done, Chen Wang slowly led his troops into Kaifeng City.

It was getting late at this time, and the sun had already completely set below the horizon.

The world was dark, with only a faint light on the horizon in the distance.

Chen Wang was the last one to enter the city. As the sun set, in the wilderness to the west of Kaifeng City, the soldiers of the Wanmin Army were cleaning up the messy battlefield.

Chen Wang glanced at the battlefield behind him for the last time, then withdrew his gaze and stepped into the Daliang Gate.

In the corridor of the city gate, the brazier used for lighting has been lit.

With the cold wind blowing, the flames in the corridor brazier were constantly swaying back and forth.

The dazzling firelight flickered back and forth on the shadows of the cavalry passing through the city gate corridor.
Chen Wang led the war horse forward slowly. It turned out that the horse in his hand had already been taken away by the bodyguard beside him.

The light reflected in Chen Wang's eyes also calmed Chen Wang's originally impetuous mood.

The sound of the hooves of the war horse Qing Yue was extremely loud in the narrow corridor of the city gate.

The air was filled with an extremely strong smell of blood, mixed with the smell of decay, which made people feel extremely uncomfortable.

But this smell didn't make Chen Wang feel too much discomfort.

Chen Wang was already familiar with this smell. He had seen more cruel and bloody scenes and smelled more unpleasant smells.
A large amount of blood was dripping on the ground in the city gate corridor.

The blood undoubtedly fell from the bodies or horses of the soldiers who had passed through the city gate and corridor before, as well as from the captured heads.

The formation of more than 3,000 soldiers on the left wing of the Ten Thousand People's Army, as well as a dozen phalanxes of thousands-level recruits, were all trampled through by them.

Even the robe on Chen Wang's body was stained even more red by the blood, and the hair on the war horse was also stained with blood in many places.

Even though he was surrounded by a group of armored cavalry, Chen Wang also encountered some enemies head-on.

Of course, without exception, these enemies all fell under Chen Wang's horse.

In the urn city, the four gates were wide open. A group of knights entered the urn city and stopped in unison. All of them got off their horses and stood on the ground, looking towards the direction of the beam gate. go.

Not only in the urn city, but also on the walls around the urn city, a group of soldiers guarding the city in Kaifeng City crowded the walls. They gathered at the crenellations and looked in the same direction.

When Chen Wang led the war horse out of the corridor of Daliang Gate, he also discovered this rather strange scene.

Everyone's eyes were focused on him, and everyone's eyes were filled with admiration and respect for him.

Chen Wang sat on the horse, raised his head to face the people who were looking at him, and subconsciously straightened his back a little.

Everything in front of him made him slightly confused, making him not sure what to do or say.

But soon, Chen Wang no longer had to wonder.

Because among the crowd, a soldier suddenly raised his arm.

"General the thief!"

The soldier blushed, raised his right hand high, clenched his fist, his eyes were full of eagerness, and his voice was extremely high, which attracted everyone's attention in an instant.

"mighty!"

There was silence in the urn city at first, and then soon all the blood-stained soldiers in the urn city raised their fists, raised their arms and shouted towards Chen Wang.

The cheers like a roaring mountain and a tsunami resounded in the barbican city.
The cheers were like thunder, deafening, reaching into the sky.

Immediately afterwards, there were a group of defenders and social soldiers in Kaifeng City.

They were affected by the fanatical atmosphere in the barbican city, and the great victory outside the city also made them elated.

The next moment, the entire West City of Kaifeng, the social soldiers and defenders on the city all raised their arms and paid their highest tributes to Chen Wang.

It seems that apart from the "mighty" sounds, there is no room for any other sounds between heaven and earth.

Orange-red firelight danced in Chen Wang's eyes.

Countless figures swayed before Chen Wang's eyes.

Chen Wang knew clearly that after this battle, he had won the hearts of the soldiers and civilians in Kaifeng City...

……

The celebration banquet was held in the Zhou Palace.

The prince is given the title of prince, awarded with gold books and treasures, a salary of thousands of stones, and officials and subordinates in the mansion.

As a prince, the crown and attire he wears, the carriages, flags and residence he wears are second only to the emperor in this world.

The princes and ministers fell down to pay homage, but no one dared to salute him.

The first generation Zhou King Zhu Ji was the fifth son born to Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty and Queen Ma. He was sealed in Kaifeng.

Kaifeng was the capital of the Song Dynasty, so the Zhou Palace was built directly on the site of the Forbidden City during the Song Dynasty.

It is precisely for this reason that the Zhou Palace is much larger than other palaces.

The Prince of Zhou's Mansion consists of two inner and outer walls. The outer wall is about two feet high, suppressed by centipede wood, covered with glazed tiles, and has a circumference of nine miles and thirty paces.

The inner city wall is five feet high, has crenellations, and is even surrounded by moats.

In the Ming Dynasty, the palaces of vassal kings were also surrounded by tall city walls and square gates.

The main gates of the four palaces are called Duanli in the south, Guangzhi in the north, Tiren in the east, and Zunyi in the west.

At the same time, it also has "three main halls" like the palace, which are laid out according to the front hall, middle hall and back hall.

There are three palaces, ancestral temples, academies, warehouses, bathing, dining and other houses around the two wings of each hall, and the same is true for Prince Fu's Mansion.

The tower is covered with blue glazed tiles, and the gate is decorated with red lacquer and gold-coated copper nails.

It is like a miniature version of the imperial city.

Although it is not a royal palace, there are also strict etiquette rules for entering the prince's residence.

However, with his previous experience of entering the palace in Beijing, Chen Wang was undoubtedly much more calm than before.

When he won the battle of Qingshan Pass and heard that he was going to the palace to perform the duel, Chen Wang had made preparations in advance and thought about how to answer the many questions Chongzhen raised before entering the palace. This time he was meeting only vassal kings like King Zhou who had no actual power. Chen Wang was undoubtedly more relaxed.

However, Chen Wang still did not forget the proper etiquette and caution.

To Chen Wang's surprise, in addition to the internal officials and attendants of Prince Zhou's Mansion, those who came to greet them, the Crown Prince of Zhou, Zhu Shaozong, also came to greet them in person.

As soon as they met, Zhu Shaozong, the crown prince of Zhou Dynasty, took a few steps forward, walked up to Chen Wang on his own initiative, and praised with a smile.

"General Chen became famous all over the world. The victory at Qingshan Pass was the greatest victory since Liaozuo used troops, and it greatly strengthened the momentum of our country."

"This time he traveled thousands of miles to support under the stars and won a great victory outside the city. He defeated thousands of thieves and lifted the siege of Kaifeng. He is truly a famous general in the world."

The Crown Prince of Zhou, Zhu Shaoyong, was quite handsome, with a well-mannered manner and a rich and friendly voice, which made people fond of him.

"The Crown Prince Miao Zan, with his meager ability as a general, is able to win consecutive victories, thanks to the protection of the emperor above him and the hard work of the soldiers below."

Chen Wang smiled and maintained a humble attitude.

"Hahahahaha, what General Chen said is true."

The Crown Prince of Zhou, Zhu Shaoyong, smiled and turned to the people waiting at the palace gate.

"In this battle, the soldiers and civilians in the city worked together as one, the towns fought hard, and all the officials worked hard to defeat the powerful enemy. I have prepared a small banquet in the palace to express my gratitude. I hope you can have a good time today."

Zhu Shaozong kept his posture quite low, and his words were filled with words of gratitude.

Although the feudal king had no real power, his status was extremely noble.

None of the people waiting at the palace gate were as calm as Chen Wang. They all had reserved expressions and all echoed Zhu Shaozong's words.

Even Gao Mingheng, who is the patrol minister of Henan, no longer has the calmness of the past.

His face was reddish, he looked quite excited, and his eyes were full of energy.

Chen Wang's eyes passed over Gao Mingheng and a group of military officials.

Although he didn't feel it in his heart, he knew why these generals and officials were excited.

Just like when he was received by Chongzhen.

Those military leaders who used to be unruly were extremely cautious when facing the emperor, lest they be disrespectful in the slightest.

Later, they will burst into tears because of the emperor's casual compliment, and they will also regret because of their slip of the tongue.

In this era, in the hearts of most ordinary people.

The emperor is actually no different from a god.

Imperial power is supreme.

And the emperor is the real Nine-Five Supreme.

Therefore, many people naturally have extremely heavy filters in their eyes when it comes to the royal family.

Chen Wang made no moves or words. None of this had anything to do with him.

They did not stay at the palace gate for too long. After a simple conversation, they walked towards the palace of Prince Zhou.

The chariot of Zhu Shaozong, the crown prince of Zhou Dynasty, was at the front, followed by civil and military officials on foot, with the civil officials on the left and the generals on the right.

Chen Wang stood in the first row of generals and followed the chariots forward.

Chen Wang had never entered the palace before.

When he was in Hanzhong before, he had a very good relationship with Prince Rui's Mansion because of the rescue of Hanzhong.

Every once in a while, Prince Rui's palace would send people to bring some rice, grain, meat, etc. to reward the troops. He had also been summoned and wanted to hold a banquet for him.

However, Chen Wang was concerned about the prince's identity, made excuses and did not answer the call.

This is the first time Chen Wang has entered the palace.

Of course, not only Chen Wang, but also most of the military academies and officials entered the palace for the first time.

The civil servants were okay. They paid attention to etiquette. Although they were curious, they could barely look away and kept looking ahead.

But all the generals had never seen such a gorgeous palace before. They all wanted to look around, but they were afraid of being rude, so they could only keep looking at it with their peripheral vision.

Chen Wang walked on the road much more calmly than others, and even occasionally raised his head to look at the surrounding buildings.

Compared to the imperial palace, Prince Zhou's Mansion is undoubtedly smaller, but only smaller.

The palaces in the palace are all decorated with arches and roofs, with dragons painted in the middle, decorated with gold edges and eight auspicious flowers, which make them look extremely luxurious.

Chen Wang looked at the bustling palaces along the road. He didn't feel any longing in his heart, but only felt heavy.

He remembered some records he had read a long time ago.

"Ru Meng Lu" records that in the late Ming Dynasty, there were more than 40 palaces of Zhou vassal princes. In addition to the Zhou prince's palace, there were more than 40 princes' palaces.

In addition to the residences of princes and county kings, there are many more residences of generals, lieutenants, and guests of honor, spread throughout the main areas of the city, sometimes reaching more than 4,000.

After Chen Wang entered Kaifeng Mansion, the most profound impression he had on Kaifeng Mansion was the countless number of archways lined up one after another.

Some of these archways belong to squires, some to Jinshi, but most of them belong to the royal palace.

In the Ming Dynasty, Kaifeng City also had a large number of buildings related to the royal palace, such as Shizi's Mansion, Shisun's Mansion, Zongxuan Academy, Incense Academy, etc.

The royal titles of the Ming Dynasty were divided into eight categories: prince, county prince, general of Zhenguo, general of auxiliary state, general of Fengguo, lieutenant of Zhenguo, lieutenant of auxiliary state and lieutenant of Fengguo.

The prince is entitled to 10,000 shi per year, the prince is 2,000 shi, the general is 1,000 shi, the general is 800 shi, the general is 600 shi, the lieutenant is 400 shi, the lieutenant is 300 shi, and the lieutenant is 300 shi. The lieutenant had two hundred stones and a lot of land.

Calculated this way, the money and food consumed by King Zhou's branch every year is an astronomical figure.

I don’t know how many people I can feed, I don’t know how many soldiers I can feed, I don’t know how many ordnances I can make, and how many fortresses I can build.

And today's Ming Dynasty, not only the King of Zhou, there are no less than ten vassal kings such as King Zhou.

Chen Wang walked on the spacious road. The further he moved forward, the heavier his mood became.

In the end, Chen Wang didn't know how he entered the palace and sat on the seat.

In the spacious hall, a group of civil and military officials sat on two seats.

The desks on both sides were filled with exquisite food and wine.

In the middle of the palace, silk and bamboo orchestral music played melodiously, and the palace maids, musicians and prostitutes were as graceful as a startled dragon, talking and laughing.

All the civil servants also looked on with joy.

In the midst of the scene of people drinking wine and dancing, Chen Wang raised his head and looked at King Zhou who was sitting at the top.

Zhou Wang Zhu Gongzhen was sitting on the throne and enjoying the dance music.

The prince's throne is also extremely luxurious. It is made of red paint and gold panchi, the hangings are hung with red pins and gold panchi, and the back wall of the throne is painted with colorful clouds of panchi, making it look extremely luxurious.

But in Chen Wang's eyes, it was a decaying scene.

(End of this chapter)