Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The participation of Ming Pao has greatly enhanced the influence of the music festival.

It caused a great sensation, especially among Tai students and college students.

For most people, this is their first time to participate in a vote. Many people called their friends to watch the show and vote for their favorite works and artists.

Zhang Pu was initially excited about this, believing that the works and artists selected in this way must be the best.

But he soon discovered something was wrong, because some newsstands were selling strange numbers of newspapers.

Not only are the fluctuations huge, but they are also very irregular.

After asking around, he found out that some wealthy customers were subscribing to newspapers in large quantities there.

The purpose of those people is to vote for certain shortlisted artists.

After asking Li Yu, Zhang Pu also learned that there were many ballots with similar mailing addresses that were cast only for a certain person.

This was like a bucket of cold water being poured over his head, and he said with some anguish:
"If this is the case, how can the voting be fair?"

“Can’t the wealthy manipulate the vote?”

Li Yu was quite open-minded and said to him:

"The public vote is just a reference. The only award that can be decided is the most popular award among the audience."

“When the actual awards are judged, there are also professionals involved.”

Zhang Pu shook his head and did not say that he regarded this vote as an experiment or a rehearsal for future elections of members of parliament.

The results show that unrestricted voting has serious drawbacks and is likely to be manipulated by the wealthy.

This made him understand somewhat the emperor's caution towards the parliament and his requirement for the proportion of members of parliament.

If we don't impose restrictions on the super wealthy, most of the future members of parliament will probably be those people.

The so-called fame and character of scholars are not worth mentioning at all in the face of money!
This made him very worried and he raised his concerns in the newspaper.

For a time, the chaos in the music festival voting attracted the attention of many students and scholars.

More voting chaos also appeared in newspapers as a result of their revelations.

Some people buy newspapers to vote, some force their employees to vote, and some introduce preferential policies so that people can get benefits by voting for someone...

The various methods are eye-opening.

Even the Yilin Newspaper, which often publishes erotic articles, revealed that a certain famous actress went in and out of the homes of wealthy people in order to win votes, and had affairs with some professionals, affecting the fairness of the awards.

This caused a public outcry in Beijing. Many people thought it was immoral and demanded that this person be disqualified from the competition.

If such a person wins the award, will she really be allowed to perform in the palace?
This matter was reported to the court by some officials of the Ministry of Personnel, so much so that Liu Zongzhou had to step in and cancel the nomination and award qualifications of some people on the grounds of violating the Four Virtues and Eight Virtues.

The music festival was also affected by this and some officials suggested banning it.

Zhu Youjian naturally ignored such remarks, and even arranged for people to create some voting chaos in order to delay the preparation of the National Assembly and allow Liu Zongzhou and others to formulate a more perfect election method.

So he clearly expressed his support for the music festival and even offered ten places for public officials to be awarded to outstanding performers after the Qianqiu Festival performance.

This greatly encouraged musicians in Beijing to participate more actively in the festival.

Many people also offered suggestions in newspapers, proposing various ways to make the election fairer.

However, the voting rules for this festival cannot be changed, and there is no need to change them. After all, except for the audience choice awards, the votes for other awards are only for reference.

After being impeached, Liu Zongzhou also focused more on the music festival and invited celebrities such as Qian Qianyi to participate in the award selection.

Prince Lu also invited many royal family members and dignitaries to participate in the award judging.

This allowed the festival to be held successfully and gain recognition.

After the awards were selected, the award ceremony was held on March 25th.

A group of famous actors and celebrities dressed up in their best clothes to attend the ceremony.

Some royal family members and dignitaries in the capital also attended the event at the invitation of Prince Lu.

Because of the previous incident, the awards at this festival were very strict. They even adhered to the principle of "better to have nothing than to have something rubbish", preferring to leave some awards vacant in order to select works and artists that are recognized.

The people who attended the award ceremony were very impressed by this, especially the trophies and certificates awarded by the nobles and celebrities, which made the participating artists even happier.

This honor and improvement in status made them even happier than the bonus.

The trophy of the music festival is in the shape of a pear blossom, which naturally symbolizes the children of the opera. Therefore, it is called the Pear Blossom Award. It is the first award in the music industry of the Ming Dynasty and one of the most recognized music awards.

After winning the award, these artists will have their portraits painted, and their images and deeds will remain in the opera world for future generations to admire.

Newspapers such as the Capital Literature and Art Newspaper and the Yilin Newspaper would also report specifically on them and spread their images and stories.

This made all the participating musicians feel that their status had been elevated.

From then on, musicians were no longer considered lowly and were able to interact with the powerful and famous.

However, the person who benefited the most was Li Yu, the conductor of the Royal Orchestra and one of the judges of the music festival.

Although he did not win any awards due to his status, his play "Qing Zhong Pu" was included in Yuefu along with other famous dramas such as "Jing Zhong Ji", "Ming Feng Ji", "The West Chamber" and "The Female Number One Scholar".

Edited and collated by the Hanlin Academy, they were published together as "Selected Yuefu Dramas".

This raised his status to the level of famous writers such as Tang Xianzu, making him one of the great dramatists of the time.

Li Yu was naturally very excited about this, and he hosted the Qianqiu Festival performance more attentively and held a grand banquet in the palace.

This time, Empress Zhou did not invite the ladies of state to congratulate her. After experiencing it once, she never wanted to experience it again.

And after having a son, she no longer needed external etiquette to maintain her status.

Anyone who knows what the eldest son represents would not dare to disrespect her.

Therefore, the atmosphere at this Qianqiu Festival banquet was very relaxed.

The lively banquet also made the participants very satisfied.

Zhu Youjian was also very satisfied because this music festival successfully covered up his actions in Liaodong and the exercises that were still being held in western Beijing.

Although whitewashing the truth may not sound good, it does have some effect.

The internal and external troubles of the Ming Dynasty were somewhat covered up.

Many wealthy people who came to the capital believed that the Ming Dynasty was still prosperous and that the current emperor had swept away the previous chaos and made the Ming Dynasty prosperous again.

This is the most beneficial thing for Zhu Youjian——

What he was most worried about was that some "insightful people" would speak out loudly, causing the local powerful to have inappropriate thoughts. Now that these local tycoons came to the capital, they still saw the prosperous scene. It would effectively suppress their dissent and even make it easier for the government to govern.

What made Zhu Youjian happiest was that this music festival did not cost much money.

The inner court gained a lot of profits from the consumption of wealthy people in the capital and their generosity at auctions.

So he decided to hold the festival again next year, and even make it bigger, adding red carpets, formal dresses and other elements.

The fashion and clothing industries of the Ming Dynasty also needed to develop so that celebrities and actors could show off their gorgeous costumes on the red carpet.

After planning next year's music festival and rewarding Li Yu and others who organized the festival, Zhu Youjian turned his attention back to the exercises held in western Beijing.
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It turned out that the exercise was necessary.

Even without bloodshed, there is much to be gained from the exercise.

After holding many consecutive bastion attack and defense battles and testing various attack and defense methods, the design of the bastion was greatly improved and combined with traditional city technology.

Whether it is long-range attack or close combat, or in the air or underground, effective tactics have been developed to defend against enemy attacks.

The hot air balloon that Zhu Youjian had ordered Lu Xiang to make was successfully used in the battle to defend the city. Not only could it observe the enemy from a high altitude, it could even throw grenades at the enemy.

This method of defending a city was unheard of. After the attackers suffered a great loss, they quickly used hot air balloons to attack the city. They tied multiple grenades together and bombarded the soldiers on the city wall.

As a result, after their initial triumph, the defenders soon suffered a great loss.

The exercises between the two sides soon progressed to hot air balloon attack and defense, as well as ground air defense.

Since the hot air balloon has no power at this time, it is difficult to maneuver in the air. In addition, the altitude is limited for safety reasons, so it is possible to be shot by bows and arrows or muskets.

So hot air balloons soon began to encounter dangers and even break down. This in turn promoted the advancement of hot air balloons and the development of emergency landing parachutes.

This parachute is not for personal use, but for the hot air balloon basket. It can temporarily slow down the descent speed and increase the chance of survival for the crew.

The hanging basket has also developed a bomb dropping function, and dropping bombs from the bottom opening makes it easier to aim.

Even the Equipment Research Institute has begun researching larger bombs specifically for use with hot air balloons.

Their goal is to use hot air balloons to blow down the city walls in the future to facilitate sieges.

This is not good news for the Ming army, which is good at defense.

The reason why the Ming Dynasty can hold out against the Jianlu is because of its defense of the city. Hot air balloons can be used to attack cities, so it must be kept secret.

After Zhu Youjian learned about this, he quickly ordered to increase the confidentiality level of the hot air balloons and bombs to prevent them from being discovered by the Jianlu and threatening the Ming city.

He even ordered that hot air balloons could only be used for surveillance and calibration in the city to prevent them from being captured by the Jian invaders and enriching their siege weapons.

The Equipment Research Institute also began to develop artillery for air defense that could deal with hot air balloons.

This is just one example from the exercise, and there are countless improvements to other weapons.

What surprised Zhu Youjian the most was that the gun-like weapon he had envisioned finally found its most suitable use, which was to defend the city.

On the city wall, this weapon does not need to be carried by anyone. It can be operated by one person by just setting up a bipod or tripod.

Its range and power are both great, far superior to ordinary muskets. Its status is closer to that of a small cannon, used to fill the gap in firepower between muskets and cannons.

Historically, this weapon has also appeared in the West and was called a wall rifle. When the rifle was translated into Western languages, one of its translations was Wallgun.

After discovering its effect, Zhu Youjian ordered the Armory Bureau to make some and send them to Dalingh Fort for trial use.

However, he was more concerned about the fact that the square formation was rejected by Xu Guangqi and others:

"The most effective role of the phalanx on the battlefield is not volley fire, but defense against cavalry attacks."

"But the Jianlu cavalry are very good at archery, and it is difficult to fully defend against them without shields."

"I think the most effective way to deal with cavalry is to use chariots."

"Put shields on the chariots and raise them to defend against arrows. At the same time, raise the spears to defend against cavalry attacks."

"The musketeers stayed behind the vehicles and attacked the enemy through the firing holes."

This was the conclusion everyone reached after the drills of the Imperial Camp Cavalry, the Beijing Camp Chariot Formation, and the Patrol Camp Square Formation.

They found that the square formation proposed by the emperor was not as useful as the chariot formation, and suggested abandoning the square formation and using the chariot formation left by Qi Jiguang again.

After seeing this, Zhu Youjian felt very complicated.

He only knew that phalanxes were popular in the West, but he didn't know that battlefields in the East were different from those in the West.

For the West, where firearms are widely used, no matter how thick the shield is, it cannot stop the various firearms, and the defensive capability of the chariot formation is not practical.

However, for the Jianlu who mainly used bows and arrows, the shields erected on the chariot formation could effectively defend against arrows.

At the same time, erecting long spears on the chariot can better resist cavalry attacks than forming a phalanx with bayonets.

It can be said that the chariot formation left by Qi Jiguang is not outdated yet and can still be used to deal with the Jianlu, and it is still very effective.

This made him pay more attention to the traditional tactics of the Ming Dynasty. He approved Xu Guangqi's proposal to form several chariot battalions in the patrol camp.

However, light infantry still had to practice phalanx formations, so that they would not be unable to resist when encountering cavalry.

There is also the issue of Jianlu's firearms. Zhu Youjian said:
"Although the Jianlu don't have as many firearms as the Ming, they are equally threatening."

"The chariots in the chariot formation need to be improved. Try to use cotton armor, ceramics, glass, etc. to increase their defense."

He had heard of people making tanks out of wet quilts in later generations. The Ming Dynasty even had cotton armor, which had good defensive capabilities.

Materials such as ceramics and glass are commonly used in composite armor.

Zhu Youjian plans to equip the research institute to develop composite shields to improve the defense of tanks.

After this incident, Zhu Youjian thoroughly realized his tactical shortcomings. Although he had the insights of later generations, he only had a superficial understanding of many aspects.

Considering that he had no chance to fight in the battlefield and would not command a war in the future, Zhu Youjian chose to completely delegate power and let Xu Guangqi and others train cavalry and charioteers according to the military books left by Qi Jiguang and learn from previous effective experience.

But formation training cannot be relaxed either, because the army of the future must be firearms-based. The foundation of a firearms army is formation and discipline.

His military arrangements turned to a more macroscopic aspect. For example, after Zhu Xieyuan took office as the commander-in-chief of the Great Wall, he wanted to reform the battalion system of the troops along the Great Wall.

This was a decision made earlier, in conjunction with the reform of the garrisons.

After the garrisons were transformed into a source of troops, they were no longer responsible for specific combat operations. Even local defense had to be handled by garrison battalions or guard teams.

The troops in the border towns are selected from the defense forces, and qualified soldiers take turns to serve in the border towns.

So they are collectively called Border Guards and are managed by the Border Defense Department.

Since the reform of the Shuntianfu garrison had already begun, the two towns of Jizhen and Changping also took the lead in starting the reform of the battalion system. (End of this chapter)