Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 352 Yongle Military Parade

"Dang...dang...dang..."

"Boom...boom...boom..."

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month of the sixth year of Yongle, as the morning light gradually illuminated the Nanjing city wall, what was different from ordinary times was that today's morning in addition to the sound of morning bells, there was also the sound of evening drums.

While the bells and drums were ringing inside and outside the city, the peaceful people in Nanjing were busy with their lives.

Some people are doing morning exercises on the roadside, while others are buying and selling various goods in the street market.

Vendors of all sizes began to appear in the streets and alleys, displaying various products, and shouts and discussions filled the entire city.

Pigs and sheep are slaughtered, delicacies are roasted, and perfumes are sold. All kinds of smells are intertwined in the air, forming a unique atmosphere.

The melodious sound of flutes and deep drums were also mixed in with the shouts, giving the entire city an indescribable charm.

Nanjing, this city is like a huge machine, everything is running in an orderly manner.

Facing everyone's gaze, Zhu Gaoxu got out of the car first to clear the way for Zhu Di.

Looking at the uniform cavalry and infantry, Zhu Di laughed heartily with joy, but it was not over yet.

History has proven that this land will never lack spectators. Therefore, when civil and military officials, foreign envoys, and chieftains took their seats on the platform, some places on both sides of the square that would not hinder the military parade were also filled with crowds.

What kind of national power is this? It should be noted that five thousand soldiers wearing Ming armor would be an army capable of shaking the country in any country in the world. In the Ming Dynasty, they were only part of the so-called elite.

In sharp contrast to the tranquility of life in the city, there is a noisy and exotic world outside the city.

Their entrance was quick, and their place was the open space under the platform.

The envoys from various countries had never heard of the majestic military music played by thousands of people. As the music was playing, the elite troops who had been prepared early on the east side of Qilinmen Square began to enter.

They all looked in this direction curiously. Zhu Di stroked his beard and said, "It's time to start."

He set his sights on Qilin Gate Square and saw 20,000 Jurchen horse infantry marching in unison in "The Elephant King's Journey", and the military appearance was not chaotic at all.

The Elephant, the King of Heaven, heard the name of this piece of music, and Zhu Di was so happy that he stroked his beard more.

Zhu Gaoxu looked at him with a heavy smile on his face: "Xing Wang Xing..."

The sun shines brightly on the armor, accompanied by a strong wind, and hundreds of flags are buzzing.

When they sat on the main seat, around the 20-square-meter high platform left for them alone, there were 18 people including the Sixth Department, the Sixth Department, and the grand bachelor of the palace.

Zhu Gaoxu was wearing a crimson round-neck robe, which looked no different from his usual clothes, while Zhu Di was wearing a uniform from the Twelve Regiments of Dragons and Twelve Chapters.

"Uuuuuu——"

As the sun rose, when the emperor's coat appeared in the square, tens of thousands of people who came to watch the excitement knelt down amidst the greetings of the soldiers, and envoys and officials at home and abroad stood up to bow and sing.

For a time, the square in front of Qilin Gate was almost occupied by the sound of shouting "Long Live the Mountain".

Groups of brightly armored Shangzhi elites lined up in the square outside Qilin Gate. From the city wall to the square, more than 5,000 Shangzhi elites strictly monitored everything.

When more than five thousand Ming troops with bright armors sang the salute, and some chieftains and envoys from the vassal states translated under the officials of the Seiyi Pavilion, they realized that the thousands of elites in front of them were not all part of the military parade.

As time went by, teams of more than 300 chieftains from 25 countries at home and abroad began to sit on the platform, and the sun rose higher and higher.

Hearing this, Wang Yan and Zheng He walked to the front and sang the salute in unison.

Soon, the surroundings of the square began to become more and more lively. If Zhu Gaoxu had not had the foresight to have the platform raised, perhaps the envoys would only be able to see heads.

"The parade begins!!"

When Zhu Di heard this music for the first time, he asked Zhu Gaoxu without thinking.

"Okay! Hahahaha..."

Almost all the envoys stood up in surprise and were shocked to see this 20,000-horse infantry wearing bright armor.

The father and son walked onto the platform under the escort of soldiers. As they walked towards the throne, the envoys and chieftains from various countries they passed by saluted one after another. Zhu Di was also very proud and calmly responded to the salutes of the envoys and chieftains from various countries. .

"woo woo woo woo--"

When they took their seats step by step and placed their musical instruments, the envoys from various countries thought that the Celestial Empire would play some melodious music to attract them, but they did not expect that the first sound would be the trumpet sound.

A band of this size made envoys from various countries look askance.

They were wearing bright armor, carrying matchlock guns on their backs, holding long spears in their hands, with pumpkin hammers and long knives at their waists. When they arrived at Zhu Di's position, they turned their heads instantly and beat their chests with one hand:

"Wan Sheng! Wan Sheng! Wan Sheng..."

After the two of them took their seats, the shouts of "Long Live the Mountain" ended, and the people and envoys around them got up one after another.

The horn sounded, the big drum followed, the guzheng sounded in unison, and the flute and pipa played one after another.

"This song is good, what's it called?"

Under their gazes, the Ming vassal states and chieftains at home and abroad carefully walked out of the Qilin Gate with their own guards and headed to the military parade platform that could accommodate thousands of people.

The first to appear were the Jurchen horse infantry of the 16th Guards. They formed a long square formation, two hundred steps from north to south, and one mile from east to west. The size of the team was as many as 20,000.

The platform base is one foot high, so even if they are below, they will not be hindered from watching the military parade.

As the horn sounded, the first person to enter Qilinmen Square was not the military parade, but a band of nearly a thousand people, each carrying a musical instrument.

Trained horses marched majestically amidst military music. The sound of horse hooves and the rustling of armor combined with the military music gave people a more intuitive sense of what it means to be an iron horse.

As the two of them opened their mouths, the surrounding soldiers who were guarding the emperor and the prince also sang salutes, spreading outward.

Different from the melodious sound that everyone thought, what was played at this moment was a majestic military song with a strong force and an iron horse.

Following closely behind the Jurchen horse infantry came the infantry and cavalry phalanx of Jurchen cavalry and Jurchen infantry.

The 20,000-person infantry and cavalry phalanx is no less shocking than the former horse-infantry phalanx, because the Ming army's infantry and cavalry phalanxes are uniform and closely connected.

The close cooperation between the arms is enough to illustrate the strength of this army.

The song "The Elephant King Walks" ends, and the song "Ambush from Flying Daggers" is matched with the infantry and cavalry phalanx.

The sound of the music combined with the gazes of the infantry and cavalry soldiers gave the envoys of various countries a chilling feeling.

The crown prince of Korea, Ri Bo, the envoy Gon Kon, the crown prince of Japan, Ashikaga Yoshitsugu, the envoy Ashikaga Mitsuru, the crown prince of Siam...

For a time, the envoys and princes of the various countries felt that they were trapped in a tight siege. They could not believe how their own armies would perform when facing the Chinese army.

Ashikaga Yoshitsugu couldn't help but think of the two thousand Ming army that the Ashikaga family could mobilize. He couldn't help but clenched his fists, and his eyes revealed longing at the same time.

"Two thousand heavenly soldiers are enough to destroy thirty thousand from the southern kingdom."

The southern kingdom he mentioned seemed to refer to the guardianship of various countries south of the capital.

There were also envoys from various countries who had the same idea as him.

Even the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, which controls the Western Region, can't help but sweat. It can't be imagined that if this army launches a western expedition, what will be left of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate.

But before their idea could be put into practice, the band changed its tune and a song "Breaking Formation Music" began to play.

Along with the formation-breaking music, there was an army wearing only armor and carrying matchlock guns.

They have no long soldiers, only short soldiers, but no one dares to underestimate them, because they are followed by various artillery pieces at the moment.

One hundred field guns, fifty siege guns, twenty-five naval guns, and ten shore defense guns.

These four types of artillery were drawn by one to four horses, the length and size of the cannon being proportional to the number of horses that pulled them.

The Shangzhi artillery force was composed of Jurchen and Yanfu soldiers and horses. The artillery force of nearly 20,000 people did not cross directly like the army in front. Load the propellant and ignite the fuse.

The music suddenly stopped, and a deathly silence appeared in the square in front of Qilin Gate, which was depressing.

Just when someone was about to speak, the fuse burned out.

"Boom boom boom——"

The sound of aerial cannon fire was more solemn, and many people were frightened to the point of sitting on the ground. The envoys and chieftains from various countries also looked bad, and many people were frightened to sit down.

Many envoys were so frightened that their faces turned pale. Before they could react, when the thick smoke dissipated, the artillery troops had already turned their guns and continued to advance towards the west.

The band played music, and the infantry and horseback phalanxes and horseback phalanxes of the Eight Guards of the Yan Mansion appeared one after another.

Just when everyone thought this was the previous team changing their flags, all the troops entered from the east and west and occupied the entire square.

The invisible elites gave many envoys a clearer understanding of the national power of the Ming Dynasty. If it was such a national power, it would not be surprising that Annan was destroyed in a few months.

But before they could breathe a sigh of relief, officials from the surrounding barbarians began to introduce to them the differences between the Shangzhi and local armies.

After learning that the Ming Dynasty had not even mobilized its superiors, but only relied on local troops to achieve the destruction of all the Annan regime in six months, the countries and chieftains in the Indochina Peninsula shut their mouths one after another.

Before they could react, the densely packed army in front of them began to shout in unison:

"The capital of Yunnan presented eight hundred heads of Dadian Kingdom to the Emperor!"

"The capital of Yunnan presented eight hundred heads of Dadian Kingdom to the Emperor!"

When tens of thousands of people sang in unison, the shock was indescribable. Only the envoys from various countries who faced them could feel the numbness in their scalps.

Following the translation by the Siyi Pavilion, the envoys from various countries in the Indochina Peninsula learned that the Kingdom of Chiangmai (Babaidian) entrenched in northern Siam had been conquered two months ago by Duke Muchun of Guizhou, Marquis of Ningyuan He Fu, and Jian The country was destroyed by the troops of Changhou Qu Neng, Governor Tongzhi Wang Xuan and others, and the king and his royal family were all captured alive.

Before the envoys could stop being surprised, the army sang the salute again.

"The Navy Commander's Office presents the Nanyang thief Chen Zuyi to the emperor!" "The Navy Commander's Office presents the Nanyang thief Chen Zuyi to the emperor!"

"what?!"

When the news of Chen Zuyi's capture spread, not only the envoys in the Indochina Peninsula began to be surprised, but also North Korea, Japan, Dagu La and other countries and chieftains were shocked.

As the leader of tens of thousands of pirates, the Chen Zuyi Group owned hundreds of warships and hundreds of merchant ships at its peak. It dominated the seas of Japan, Southeast Asia, and the Indian Ocean, robbed tens of thousands of passing ships, and attacked more than fifty coastal towns. City, all countries suffered greatly.

Now that they learned that Chen Zuyi had been captured, even the princes and envoys of Northeast Asian countries such as Ashikaga Yoshitsugu, Li Bao, Quanchichi, etc. all looked forward.

Under their gaze, Phraya Sanfanggeng, the king of Babaidaidian, and his family, as well as Chen Zuyi, the pirate king of Nanyang, were escorted under the platform.

At this time, Zhu Di stood up and walked to the platform, looking down at them.

The envoys from various countries looked at him and did not dare to move at all.

"Babai Dadian blocked the Rites Team, but did not use a sword, so the death penalty can be avoided..."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!!"

Hearing that he still had a chance to survive, Phraya Samfang, the king of Babaidaidian, knelt down and kowtowed. His words were also comforted by Lucchuan, Mengyang, Mengken, Siam, Laos and other countries who were familiar with Thai. When the envoy heard this, he was very sad.

After all, Babaidadian was also a powerful country in Indochina. Although it was not as good as Annan, it was still considered the goalkeeper of a powerful country. However, in less than half a year, it was captured alive by Mu Chun, who had traveled more than 1,400 miles from Kunming.

If it were not for these more than 1,400 miles of rugged roads, I am afraid that Phaya Samfang would have been captured even after ten days.

"Death penalty can be avoided, but living crime cannot be avoided."

Before Zhu Di finished speaking, he spoke directly in front of the envoys from all countries: "Xuanwei Si will be the governor of 800 Dadian, and Xuanwei will be the magistrate of Dao Zhaosan!"

With one word from Zhu Di, Babai Dadian became a territory directly under the Ming Dynasty, which also represented the demise of the Chiang Mai Kingdom.

However, Zhu Di did not kill them all. Instead, he gave Phaya Sanfang the official position of local magistrate.

Although everyone knows that from now on, Phaya Sanfanggeng will no longer have real power, but for Phraya Sanfanggeng, being able to spare his life and get some salary is already an extrajudicial favor.

He kept kowtowing to thank Zhu Di, but Zhu Di looked at Chen Zuyi aside.

At this moment, Chen Zuyi no longer had the arrogance of the Nanyang Pirate King. He lowered his head like a poultry waiting to be slaughtered.

"Rebel Chen Zuyi, behead him in public display!"

Zhu Di showed no mercy to Chen Zuyi, but wanted to use it to intimidate other countries.

Chen Zuyi also knew his fate. He hesitated and said something, but could not utter a single word, just because his tongue had been cut off by Ji Gang to prevent him from making any jokes on such a day.

He was pressed down like a dead dog, and the executioner waiting beside him raised his knife and dropped it.

In an instant, Douda's head flew up and down, and blood sprayed all over Phaya Sanfang, scaring him so much that he collapsed on the ground.

Such a bloody scene not only made him collapse to the ground, but also the envoys from various countries looked sideways, and some even almost vomited.

Fortunately, Chen Zuyi's body was taken away quickly and the venue was cleaned up.

After a while, Zhu Di returned to the chair and sat down, and the envoys from various countries also sat down uncomfortably.

In the ensuing military parade, the Ming army demonstrated cavalry outflanking, infantry assault, combined infantry and cavalry attacks, and vehicle and camp defense against the enemy. The most impressive of these was the Ming army's artillery siege.

The target of the artillery siege was to deal with the several city walls built in front of Qilin Gate. They were made of concrete and were seven feet thick, two feet high, and three feet long.

At a distance of less than 300 steps, these city walls were turned into a pile of ruins after being bombarded by ten heavy coastal defense guns and twenty-five naval guns for six consecutive rounds.

Envoys from various countries had seen those walls when they came, and some even went up to touch them.

Now they are watching these city walls being penetrated, and their mood is self-evident.

The Ming army used artillery to tell the envoys of various countries what the future path would be, and the reasons why the Ming army could destroy a country in a short period of time.

"Your Majesty, wouldn't it be bad to display the artillery in such a grand manner?"

Xie Jin, the Grand Scholar of the Imperial Palace, bowed in salute, but Zhu Di stroked his beard and said calmly: "Since ancient times, I have never heard of anything being kept privately for a lifetime."

"The imperial court built sea ships for various countries, and there were Hongwu iron cannons on the sea ships. Although they are not as powerful as our artillery, it is still a way."

Zhu Di did not think that the Ming Dynasty could hide its artillery technology for a lifetime. After all, the Mongols had already begun to use firearms to attack other countries. Moreover, his second son also said that the countries in the west were also studying artillery, but they were not as fast as the Ming Dynasty.

"Hiding things will only make you fall behind. Only when a hundred flowers bloom can you make progress."

Compared with Zhu Di, Zhu Gaoxu is more relaxed.

He knew very well why the firearms of the Ming Dynasty lagged behind the world in the middle and late stages. In the final analysis, it was because the opponent was not strong enough.

There are frequent wars on the European battlefield. When more advanced firearms appear in various countries, other countries will rush to imitate them, which can be regarded as a disguised promotion of firearms progress.

On the other hand, in the Ming Dynasty, the most used tiger cannons weighing tens to hundreds of kilograms were used to defeat the Mongols in the north, while ordinary iron cannons were sufficient to defeat the Mongols in the south. Because of this, firearms have not improved.

On the contrary, it was the successive invasions of the Portuguese and the Dutch that made Ming Dynasty see Western artillery and immediately imitated it.

The former's Franchise machine is okay. Although it has reached the middle to late stage, the Ming Dynasty still has the finances to iterate firearms.

However, in the late period of the Hongyi cannon, even if the Ming Dynasty had the technology to imitate it, it was still unable to equip the army in large quantities due to financial constraints.

Just like the Battle of Songjin, although the Ming army had hundreds of artillery pieces, most of them were small cannons.

Although the Qing army had few artillery pieces, they were all big guns.

Because of this, when the artillery fire between the two armies was exchanged, the Ming army was unable to maintain its firepower advantage, and instead many generals were killed by the Qing army.

Zhu Gaoxu believed that after his own reforms, the financial system of the Ming Dynasty no longer relied much on the king's ability. Even if there were some lazy emperors like Wanli, the financial system would not be shaken at all.

As long as there are no financial problems and firearms can be iterated normally, Ming Dynasty may be able to survive for a while longer than in history.

Of course, if something goes wrong in the middle, it will be beyond Zhu Gaoxu's control.

"Since His Majesty and His Highness say so, I have nothing to say."

Jie Jin frowned and retreated, but the taste in his words was so strong that Zhu Di couldn't help but frown.

If he hadn't considered that today was more important, he might have started to scold Jie Jin.

Such a scene was seen by Zhu Gaoxu. Although he knew that Jie Jin had crazy capital, in Tianjia's view, there was no possibility that his capital could not be replaced.

"Let you be arrogant for two more years..."

Zhu Gaoxu picked up the teacup and took a sip, and stood up as time passed.

At dusk, the military parade ended successfully. Through this military parade, envoys from various countries became more aware of the strength of the Ming Dynasty.

For North Korea, Japan, Siam, Champa, Chenla, Manchuria and other countries with strong influence, holding on to Ming Dynasty’s thigh is more important than anything else.

Their attitude is more humble, and those who don't know it think they are Ming Dynasty's territory.

Compared with them, the chieftains from Xifan, Southwest, Sanxuan Liuwei, Nanyang and other places were more fearful than respectful.

At present, the Ming Dynasty's reform and restoration is in full swing in the southwest, and no one knows when the change will happen to them.

After Zhu Di, Zhu Gaoxu and Ming officials left, some close chieftains directly discussed on the spot the matter of returning to their native land.

Some chieftains saw that the Ming Dynasty was powerful, and they knew how powerful Mu Chun, Wang Xuan, He Fu, Qu Neng, Gu Cheng and others were, so they were inclined to accept the change of land and return to their hometown, and took the measures announced by the court a few days ago. Xinzheng went to persuade the chieftain with whom he was close.

He gave up his military power, took up an official position that could be passed down to his descendants for seven or eight generations, and retained half of his land.

Although he lost his power, he could at least keep his family and part of his money and food.

Judging from the emperor's attitude towards Babai Dadian today, as long as he is honest and obedient, there should be no big deal.

This idea was affirmed by many chieftains. After all, they only had a population of tens of thousands and only tens of thousands of acres of cultivated land.

Giving up half of it is not unacceptable to them. Anyway, they don't have the strength to resist Ming Dynasty.

In the past nearly forty years, at least a quarter of the southwestern chieftains were wiped out by the two emperors Hongwu and Yongle.

They do not hope that they will become the new quarter, so accepting the reform is what they want to do.

On the contrary, compared with them, some big chieftains who had more people, soldiers, horses, and cultivated land under their command were somewhat unable to accept this method of returning to their hometowns.

The chief chieftain who was the first to start discussing the idea of ​​returning to his native land was the Mu family of Lijiang. He was also the commanding general of Duo Gandu and Mu Tu of the local magistrate of Lijiang, who was currently being held in high esteem.

Ever since Mu Tu discovered gold mines in the Santang area and received permission from the imperial court to mine them, Mu Tu had shifted his focus from the land to the gold mines.

The cultivated land in Lijiang in his hands is only a few hundred thousand acres, and although he has 10,000 soldiers and horses, most of them are without Mingjia.

Instead of raising ten thousand such soldiers and horses, he preferred to raise three thousand elites wearing Ming armor.

Therefore, the bottom line for him to accept the reform was to retain a certain number of soldiers and horses, but he was willing to hand over the governance rights of Lijiang and half of the cultivated land.

The other big chieftains could not accept his idea, because land was their foundation, and giving up half of their land was equivalent to giving up half of their lives.

Seeing that it didn't make sense, Mu Tu didn't bother to communicate with them. Instead, adhering to the Naxi philosophy of "small tribes not fighting with big tribes", he prepared to discuss specific treatment with the court.

Soon, many chieftains dispersed, and their conversations and actions on the platform were recorded by Jin Yiwei and Xichang who were hiding in the dark, and were sent to the palace in time...

(End of this chapter)