Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Not only Zhu Xieyuan participated in this exercise, but also civil and military ministers, as well as meritorious relatives and close ministers.

After the rebellion in western Beijing broke out, Zhu Youjian planned to hold a grand review to deter opposition forces.

However, the conditions were not ripe at that time, and it was eventually postponed until the meritorious soldiers from the southwest arrived in Beijing.

The attack and defense of the Jingxi Bastion was part of the Jingxi Grand Review.

The soldiers who took part in the review included 4,000 meritorious soldiers from the southwest, 2,000 representatives from the Beijing camp, 2,000 representatives from the imperial camp, and all of the patrol camp in the west of Beijing.

The format of the grand review also changed. Zhu Youjian first held a parade, imitating the military parades of later generations.

The parade may seem simple, but it actually has very high requirements and is a concentrated display of the results of queue training.

When Zhu Youjian personally trained the patrol battalion in the inner training ground, he used the parade formation to test the training results.

Later, when the new army of the patrol camp was formed, this training was also given an important position.

Thanks to the fact that some patrol battalion soldiers trained by Zhu Youjian joined the new army, the new army was very good at this project.

After learning, the soldiers in the imperial camp also became proficient in this project.

Therefore, the main camps that were inspected in detail were the Imperial Camp and the Patrol Camp.

As the trainer of the new army of the Patrol Battalion, Grand Secretary Xu Guangqi was appointed as the commander-in-chief of this grand military parade. With his order, the artillery battalion of the Patrol Battalion, in accordance with previous instructions, took turns to fire 26 cannon shots in unison, representing that the Ming Dynasty had been established for more than 260 years.

The rumbling sound of the cannon gave the participants a great shock, because this had never been done before.

This not only represents the improvement of the status of artillery, but the neat sound of artillery also shows that the artillery battalion of the patrol camp is well-trained and has strong combat capability.

After the cannon fire, music was played. Li Yu led the royal orchestra chorus, and together with the Jinyiwei generals led by Qi Changguo, they sang "Victory Song" composed by Qi Jiguang.

After being modified, this song was designated as the Ming Dynasty Army Song. The current lyrics are:
If a thousand people are united, even the mountains can be shaken.

Only loyalty and righteousness come, and the bullfight is full of anger.

When soldiers are united, they are better than friends.

If you violate military orders, you will not be free.

The orders are clear and the rewards and punishments are given.

If you go through fire and water, don't dare to stay later!

Report to the emperor, and save the head of Guizhou.

Kill all the enemies and get a title of nobility!
The mighty and majestic voice filled the hearts of the soldiers participating in the review with a sense of pride.

Many soldiers even sang together unconsciously.

Afterwards, the Royal Orchestra began to play the "Warriors' March" with military instruments such as gongs, drums, and suona.

This was created by Li Yu with great effort based on the emperor's humming. Its biggest feature is its brisk rhythm and vigorous and powerful strength, making it very suitable as background music for marching.

The soldiers of the Imperial Camp Warriors Battalion, led by Ji Jike, the world's number one warrior, marched out first in a line, accompanied by the "Warriors' March".

Walking in the front was the reconnaissance brigade led by Hu Dawei and Ai Wannian.

As the people who made the greatest contributions in suppressing the rebellion last year, the two received a series of rewards. This year, the emperor granted them marriage and a family, so that they could pass on their hereditary positions.

This made them extremely respectful to the current emperor. When they led the team past the reviewing stand where the emperor was sitting, they shouted:
"Look to the right!"

All the soldiers under his command suddenly changed from marching in step to goose-stepping, while looking at the emperor and saluting him.

This sudden change surprised the audience who were not familiar with the parade.

The appearance of the Warriors Camp at this time was truly "slow as a forest, powerful as thunder".

They also understood why the reconnaissance team only needed 100 people to defeat the Jingxi rebels.

How could the temporary gathering of rioters and thieves stop such elite troops?
Zhu Youjian was also very pleased to see this familiar scene, and waved his hand gently to the troops that he had poured his heart and soul into.

The warriors were even more excited when they saw this scene, but they still remembered their mission and walked past the reviewing stand in an orderly and powerful manner.

Afterwards, the soldiers from the Yongwei Camp and the Siwei Camp also marched in formation.

Then came the new troops of the patrol battalion, passing by in large groups one by one.

In addition to the infantry, there were artillery, cavalry, and engineers, with their equipment.

This group of people is not as organized as the infantry.

This is also the reason why the soldiers in the imperial camp, who were also able to ride horses, chose to walk to accept the inspection.

The soldiers from the Beijing Camp and the Southwestern Camp further behind were even worse and were far less orderly than the Imperial Camp and the Patrol Camp.

But relatively speaking, although the soldiers in the southwest were not well-organized, they seemed to be very murderous. The worst was still the Beijing camp.

With the comparison between the Beijing Camp and the Southwestern Soldiers, many people were shocked by the ranks of the Imperial Camp and the Patrol Camp.

Even if some people think they may be just for show, they have to admit that they are the foundation of a strong army.

These soldiers can adapt quickly to any formation.

As long as we survive a few battles, we can become a strong army.
-
After the parade, the traditional review will follow.

The main test is on archery, horseback archery and foot archery, while the musketeer is only tested on foot archery.

All officers and soldiers who participated in the review had to undergo an examination and their promotions, demotions, rewards and punishments would be determined.

Qualified officers were rewarded with silver medals, silk, and silver, while soldiers were only rewarded with silver.

Those who fail to meet the requirements will be fined or even beaten.

Zhu Youjian continued to use this inspection method and changed the reward of silver taels into silver coins, which actually increased the reward slightly.

The silver medal was also engraved with the eight characters "Grand Review in the Second Year of Chongzhen" and was awarded to soldiers with outstanding performance. This made the soldiers very enthusiastic and everyone showed their true abilities.

After the competition, quite a few sharpshooters emerged. Most of them were archers, but there were also musketeers.

Zhu Youjian ordered that these people be organized into a separate group and a sniper team be formed in the support and guarantee squadron to specifically snipe and kill enemy generals.

After the review was completed, Zhu Youjian ordered people to distribute rewards. Soldiers who participated in the parade were rewarded with one silver dollar each, and officers were rewarded with between five and one hundred yuan.

Those who performed well in shooting were rewarded on the spot.

As an officer who participated in the parade, Gu Yanwu was rewarded with five yuan and fifty cents in silver coins.

But he was not rewarded for shooting, and was even nearly punished and beaten with nothing.

Or maybe it was because he was a trainee instructor and was not subject to strict requirements.

Otherwise, given his grades, he would have to accept punishment.

This made Gu Yanwu very depressed, and he felt that he might have no future in the army.

Because he had contracted smallpox when he was three years old, his right eye became blind after the scab fell off. So when shooting, he could only rely on his left eye to see, which was a natural disadvantage.

No matter how hard he tried, his shooting results were not satisfactory.

How can you advance in the military if you can't even master the shooting of a musket?

It was not until the evening when he and Zhang Yongan were summoned by the emperor that his mood cheered up.
-
Zhu Youjian summoned the two men, naturally because of the articles they wrote.

These two people have quite some insights into the military.

The "Strong Army Newspaper", a secret publication in the military, published many of their articles, which gave Zhu Youjian a refreshing feeling:
Whether it was Zhang Yongan's experience as a squadron leader or Gu Yanwu's approach as a trainee instructor, Zhu Youjian felt that grassroots officers were maturing and qualified training templates were emerging.

If all squadron leaders and instructors were like these two people, the new army would definitely be stronger and become a more combat-effective army.

So he endured the fatigue of the day and summoned the two people in Tsinghua University at night.

After first praising the two men's performance, Zhu Youjian asked Gu Yanwu:

"Gu Qing's shooting performance is not ideal. Is it because the training time is too short?"

"When you officially join the army, you need to train more."

Gu Yanwu was extremely excited about the emperor's reception, but his mood did not change until he heard this question. He sighed and said:

"When I was a child, I suffered from smallpox, which was quite dangerous at one point."

"I managed to escape the disaster, but unfortunately I became blind in my right eye."

"I have always seen with my left eye."

"I'm afraid it will be difficult to lead troops to fight in the future."

He was quite pessimistic about his future in the army.

It was also a pity for Zhu Youjian. No one expected that this great scholar who was famous in later generations had this flaw.

However, he still encouraged Gu Yanwu to develop in the army, hoping to set an example and motivate students to join the army.

So he ordered someone to fetch a telescope and gave it to Gu Yanwu, saying:
"This is a telescope made by the Imperial Household Department. It can see things clearly from a distance."

"The Imperial Hospital has a specialized ophthalmology department, and they are also making glasses. Let them see if they can restore Gu Qing's right eye."

He sighed again:

"Unfortunately, when Gu Qing was young, he didn't use the smallpox vaccination method."

"If the vaccination had been carried out earlier, this ordeal might not have occurred."

Gu Yanwu also felt a little sorry. After all, who wants to go blind in one eye?
But he said:

"Vaccination is very dangerous. Two or three people die for every thousand people."

"I was still young at the time, so naturally my family didn't get vaccinated."

When it comes to this, Zhu Youjian has something to say, because after the queen became pregnant, he asked the Imperial Hospital to study cowpox.

Cowpox was used instead of dangerous human pox to prevent smallpox.

The experiment has now been successful. Dozens of death row prisoners did not show any reaction after being vaccinated with cowpox and then human smallpox, and they were not infected like smallpox patients.

This shows that they have become immune to smallpox and no one has died from the vaccination, making it much safer than smallpox.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian has decided to implement the cowpox method in the palace as soon as it is mature, so as to prevent the newly born eldest son from being infected and any accidents from happening.

When I mentioned this to Gu Yanwu, Gu Yanwu was very excited when he heard that the cowpox method was very safe:
"If so, I ask that the cowpox treatment be promoted throughout the country."

"It is hoped that smallpox will be completely eradicated and will no longer be a hazard."

Zhu Youjian also had this plan, but he also remembered one thing and discussed:

"I heard that smallpox rarely occurs among the Jianlu outside the Great Wall."

"This means they are not immune to smallpox. Can we arrange for someone to try it?"

This he knew from history: Emperor Shunzhi of the Qing Dynasty died of smallpox.

The reason why Kangxi became the heir was that he survived the infection with smallpox and would not die from it in the future.

So Zhu Youjian was thinking, is it true that the Jianlu now have very low resistance to smallpox?

Is it possible to use this to delay the Jianlu's dispatch of troops?
As long as they can delay for a few months, Dalinghe Fort can be built, and then the Jianlu will have to remove this thorn in their side so that they can bypass the grassland. (End of this chapter)