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   Chapter 717 714 [Grand Ceremony]

  Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Zhenqing both returned to Beijing by boat urgently, and led the army to offer prisoners on behalf of the frontline generals.

   Followed back, there are five thousand soldiers.

  The remnants of the Tartars fled to Ningguta, so there is no need for so many troops in the Northeast. As a result, Yang Zhenqing's independent regiment was cancelled, some were broken up and incorporated into brother troops, and some returned to Nanjing to serve as imperial troops. Other troops in the Northeast were also transferred, and they were all those who made meritorious service in the battle last year.

  In this way, the number of regular troops in the entire Nanjing city (including the Forbidden City) finally reached 10,000.

  Lu Xiangsheng rode a tall horse, with a guard of honor and a band in front of him. Behind him was Yang Zhenqing who was also riding a horse, and then the soldiers who had returned from the northeast, and a long list of captives. There were Tartar prisoners of war and Dutch prisoners of war. The Dutch who surrendered in Malacca, except for the few civil servants, were all escorted back to Nanjing.

  The band played the "Steel Torrent March", and the Datong soldiers strode forward. Yang Zhenqing turned his head to look at the captives behind him, with a smug smile on his face, it didn't matter if he was dismissed from the military or feudal state, the most important thing was to destroy the Man Qing.

  Unfortunately, there are still some remnants of Tartars who hide in Ninggu Pagoda and dare not come out, which makes Yang Zhenqing feel quite regretful.

   "Ping Da," Lu Xiangsheng said, pulling the rein, "I heard that Mr. Pang Ge wanted to be your matchmaker, but you directly rejected him, and you didn't give him any face."

Yang Zhenqing smiled and said: "I am a hunter in the mountains. Even after joining the army, I can read a thousand words. The in-laws that Pang Ge told me about are from a scholarly family. How can I afford it? Me, just marry me. As a peasant girl, it is enough to pass on the incense to the ancestors."

  Lu Xiangsheng sighed: "Oh, that's fine, as long as you don't contaminate too much."

  As soon as Lu Xiangsheng returned to Nanjing, he felt that the court was a little strange. He probably won't be able to return to the front line, and he is very likely to take over as Minister of the Ministry of War as a tool for the emperor to balance the factions of civilian officials.

  In the past few days, civil servants from Jiangxi have been visiting one after another, mentioning Song Yingxing overtly and secretly.

  Lu Xiangsheng knew what it meant, but after Pang Chunlai and Li Banghua left, Song Yingxing would be promoted to the chief assistant of the cabinet. Those officials from Jiangxi wanted to bring Lu Xiangsheng in, implying that he would pay a visit to Song Yingxing's house.

   Lu Xiangsheng pretended not to understand this, because he didn't want to make the emperor suffer.

  Nowadays it is not as simple as "the court is half Jiangxi". Although Zhao Han deliberately suppressed it, there are more and more Jiangxi officials in the court, and 70% of the Beijing officials above the fourth rank are from Jiangxi. It's simply unstoppable. The qualifications and achievements of Jiangxi officials are there. Even if nepotism is put aside, normal promotion will cause this situation.

   "Victory, victorious!"

  The team arrived at the bank of Xuanwu Lake, and the people along the way cheered and cheered for them.

  These soldiers who came back from the Northeast were all beaming, with their heads held high and their spirits uplifted.

  The Tartar captives turned pale with fright. They were all prisoners convicted of felony crimes. Their hands were covered with blood. Even if their heads were not beheaded, they would still be thrown into the mountains for mining.

  The Dutch captives are better off. The company has not been in Malacca for a long time, and it has not had time to turn against the Han people. It is a normal act of war to kill and wound Datong soldiers in battle, and the Chinese emperor does not intend to kill them. Even, they can immigrate to the north and settle down to divide the land, but the land allocated is half of that of the Han people.

  Zhao Han has already issued an order to overseas officials. Once the Dutch captives are caught, the heinous ones will be beheaded directly, and all the rest will be moved to northern China to enrich the population. The Netherlands has only a few people, and the population of its overseas colonies is even smaller. It is estimated that it will not be able to recruit soldiers after a few more attempts.

  As for the low-level Dutch soldiers, they will be assimilated in a few years when they serve the people in northern China. It's just that these guys have red hair and green eyes, and there are more men than women in the north. Whether they can marry a wife and start a family is no one to care about. It is estimated that many of them will spend their entire lives as bachelors, and their only role is to farm land and pay for the government.

  After passing Xuanwu Lake, the team finally entered the city, circled around the Forbidden City, and was guided to enter through the main gate.

  There are too many triumphant soldiers, and it is certain that they cannot all go in. Only 300 were selected as representatives. They escorted the captives and walked forward for a while, so they were arranged to wait there first.

  Before the Meridian Gate, civil and military officials were already in place, and envoys from other countries also arrived one after another.

  In addition to envoys from the Southeast Asian countries, Korea, Taungoo (Myanmar) and other countries also sent envoys. It was not a coincidence, but an official tribute trade by celebrating the birthday of Emperor Datong.

  The king of North Korea is the most filial, and he sends envoys every year. They arrive in March every year, and wait for April to congratulate the emperor on his birthday.

   "The emperor ascends the tower!"

   "Play music!"

  Among the majestic and solemn ceremonies and music, the umbrella guard of honor appeared first. Then came Zhao Han in formal attire, Queen Fei Rulan, and Crown Prince Zhao Kuanghuan. The harem concubines and princes and daughters were also allowed to show up to watch the ceremony as an exception today.

  Zhao Han walked to the center of the Meridian Gate tower, and the master of ceremonies immediately shouted: "Le Bi, all officials step forward!"

   Hundreds of civil and military officials lined up in two rows, holding wat boards in their hands, and came to stand at the bottom of the Meridian Gate.

  Under the instructions of the master of ceremonies, all the ministers put away the wat boards to meet them, and then shouted long live, wishing the emperor a long life without bounds, and almost sang a happy birthday song to the emperor.

   "The envoys of Fanbang step forward!"

  A group of envoys stepped forward, with similar etiquette. After wishing the emperor a happy birthday, they lined up behind all the civil and military officials.

  Zhao Han sat on the top of the Meridian Gate, glanced at the officials and envoys below the city, feeling a sense of heroism in his heart. No wonder the monarchs of all dynasties liked to hold such ceremonies, and the satisfaction in their hearts was overwhelming.

  Now China's territory, north to the Mongolian grasslands, only Hetao has not been recovered.

  As far as Jiayuguan in the west, although Qinghai, Tibet, and Xinjiang have not been recovered, they have all expressed their surrender in name.

   On the northeast side, Liaoning and Jilin all belong to the imperial court. However, Jilin has not yet established a province, and Liaoning is planning to officially establish a province (Jilin is temporarily under the jurisdiction of Liaoning). To the south of the Yalu River, that is, Sinuiju in the later North Korea, about 200 square kilometers were actually controlled by the Daedong Army.

  The south side is bigger, including the entire Ryukyu, half of Vietnam, Luzon Island, Champa, Palembang, and Malacca.

   "Offer a prisoner!"

   The one who yelled this was Yang Zhong, the left servant of the Ministry of War.

   This guy is a scholar from Jishui County, who Zhao Han took refuge in when he captured Jishui County. First worked as a military secretary for Zhao Han for three years, and then he was directly released to the county magistrate. When the territory expanded, he quickly became the magistrate, and then transferred back to the Ministry of War as a doctor.

  An unremarkable Jishui scholar, just because he worked for Zhao Han early and had certain abilities, he was able to rise to the top and become the left servant of the military department.

   There are a lot of Jiangxi officials like this!

  In fact, the Minister of the Ministry of War should preside over the offering of prisoners, but Fang Shengchang, the Minister of the Ministry of War, fell ill.

  Fang Shengchang is also from Jiangxi, and the two brothers raised their own troops, taking two and a half counties of territories to join them. This time, when Pang Chunlai and Li Banghua left, Zhao Han would let Fang Shengchang join the cabinet and vacate the position of minister of the Ministry of War to Lu Xiangsheng.

   Who knows that Fang Shengchang is suddenly seriously ill, and he is not yet fifty years old, and he doesn't know if he can survive it.

   Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Zhenqing led the army to **** the prisoners of war.

  They were allowed to ride horses to the foot of the Meridian Gate City, and then dismounted to meet them, and presented a victory report to the Ministry of War.

   The victory report document has been submitted long ago, and today is purely a process.

  Yang Zhong finished announcing the merits of each unit, and publicly announced the rewards for the meritorious soldiers. Including Hong Xu, who led the troops to capture Malacca, the ranks of the chief generals were all promoted. Only Wang Tingchen and Wang Yaochen, who violated military regulations, only won honorary titles.

  As for Yang Zhenqing, his contribution was too great, and he could not be suppressed even if he violated the military regulations. This time he was named "Jianzhou Marquis".

   "The captives come forward!"

"bye!"

  More than a hundred captives were escorted to kowtow to the emperor.

  Zhao Han smiled and said, "Take it."

  Yu Julian shouted: "Take it!"

  The guard commander Zhu Youdong next to him shouted louder: "Take it!"

  The guards under the city shouted: "Take it!"

  Yang Zhong, the left servant of the Ministry of War, shouted again: "Take it!"

  Lu Xiangsheng waved his hand to order, and the soldiers of Datong escorted the prisoners of war to retreat, and handed them over to the officials of the Ministry of Punishment to wait for their punishment. It's time to behead, to mine, to emigrate, anyway, it won't be a **** mess today.

   "Play music, dance!"

  Whether it is the civil and military officials or the foreign envoys, they all put the wat board on their belts and began to dance to the sound of ritual and music.

   This is the ritual of presenting captives that has continued since ancient times. After the captives are taken away, everyone has to dance together to celebrate. Even Pang Chunlai and Li Banghua danced with their old bones.

  Everyone didn't feel embarrassed, and all of them were smiling.

  Although the North Korean envoys were not familiar with this, they also knew that there was such a dancing ceremony from the history books of their own country. But those envoys from Nanyang felt very fresh. They had rehearsed before, and now they are doing it with the Han officials.

  In Zhao Han's eyes, the group of people in the city are purely doing radio gymnastics.

  The dance is over, all the ministers stand up, take out the wat board and worship again, and the ceremony ends after Shan Hu Long live.

   "The ministers give a banquet!"

  On the third day after the ceremony, Pang Chunlai and Li Banghua officially retired, and Song Yingxing took over as chief assistant.

  Fang Shengchang, Secretary of the Ministry of War, Fei Chun, Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Liu Ziren, Secretary of the Ministry of Officials, and Yuan Yunlong (Fei Ruhe's brother-in-law), the Secretary of the Ministry of Industry, all four Jiangxi people joined the cabinet as prime ministers.

  Lu Xiangsheng, a native of Jiangsu, took over as Minister of the Ministry of War.

  Wu Yingji, a native of Anhui, took over as Shangshu of the Ministry of Finance.

   Zhang Bingwen, a native of Anhui, took over as Minister of the Ministry of Officials.

  Li Rixuan (Li Banghua's nephew) from Jiangxi took over as Minister of the Ministry of Industry.

  Zhao Hanming intends to weaken the influence of Jiangxi officials, and hand over all military administration, finance, and personnel to non-Jiangxi officials.

   Even so, it can only be relieved a little, after all, there are too many Jiangxi natives in the court. Moreover, after this adjustment, the cabinet is full of people from Jiangxi.

   There is no way for Zhao Han to form a Jiangxi cabinet.

   They are all heroes, and they didn’t make a big mistake, so can they be suppressed by force? If you really want to change the situation in the court, you have to raise the butcher's knife against the heroes, and you have to make a few big cases.

  Zhao Han finally understood Zhu Yuanzhang's mood, and also knew why Comrade Zhu killed the hero.

   Zhao Han's heroes are more disciplined, but they still make him very uncomfortable. And Zhu Yuanzhang's heroes were so domineering one by one that they had to kill several groups.

  (end of this chapter)