Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Nanhaizi.

Zhu Youjian came to inspect the venue of the martial arts conference and held a hunting event at the same time.

Since he ascended the throne, he began to expand Nanhai Zi into Nanyuan, as the venue for martial arts conferences to demonstrate the martial spirit.

Today, Nanhaizi has built multiple arenas, horse racing tracks, Cuju fields, and swimming pools, which can accommodate most events.

Zhu Youjian looked at the completed buildings, nodded with satisfaction, and then looked at the reserved sports venues and instructed:
"The design of the stadium needs to be expedited. We need to build an open-air stadium that can accommodate at least 50,000 people so that everyone who is interested can come to watch the martial arts conference and enjoy the martial arts competitions."

"I hope that in ten years, I can watch various games in the stadium."

The Minister of Works Shang Zhouzuo quickly nodded in agreement, knowing that this stadium would be another major project of the court after the construction of Emperor Tianqi's Deling Mausoleum in the future.

Its importance may not be as great as that of the bell tower and the monument, but its construction difficulty is even greater.

After all, the Ming Dynasty had never built a stadium that could hold 50,000 people. And with so many people gathered together, it would be a big problem if an accident happened.

Therefore, the Ministry of Works must give priority to the safety of the stadium when designing it. At the same time, it must consider how to use the stadium as a fortress according to the requirements of the Privy Council.

All this means that the design of a stadium is very difficult, and skilled craftsmen must be mobilized to design the stadium to perfection.

Because of the importance of Nanyuan, Zhu Youjian also arranged a personal guard to be stationed here to be responsible for the guarding of Nanhai Zi and security issues.

After inspecting the soldiers and rewarding them, Zhu Youjian rode on the imperial horse and started today's hunting.

As an emperor who was a bit of a homebody, Zhu Youjian was not very keen on hunting and had rarely gone out hunting before.

The reason why he came here in person today despite the cold wind was because he designated Laba as the La Day in the new calendar.

"La" is similar to "hunting". In ancient times, the La Festival was a festival in which hunted wild animals were used for sacrifices to ancestors and gods.

At the same time, because Wen Tianxiang died on the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhu Youjian designated the eightieth, ninety-third and tenth days of the twelfth lunar month as Father's Day and Heroes Memorial Day, calling on all men to hunt and sacrifice to their ancestors and heroes at the same time.

Today is the first La Festival after the implementation of the new calendar, so of course he has to set an example.

He ordered someone to bring a newly equipped revolver cavalry gun. Zhu Youjian nodded with satisfaction and praised:
"The revolver musket is a really good weapon, as it can fire six rounds in a row."

"We need to equip the Liaodong cavalry for the war next year."

This revolving cavalry gun designed by Xu Sen was highly praised after being tried out by the cavalry of the Beijing Camp.

Zhu Youjian came here this time to personally test the power of this cavalry gun.

However, he dared to fire the gun, but the eunuchs and ministers beside him did not, for fear of accidents and injuries to the emperor.

Liu Ruoyu, the seal holder of the Internal Affairs Bureau, said:
"Your Majesty, be careful!"

"In the first year of the Tianqi reign, Wang Jin, the imperial attendant, fired a cannon in front of the late emperor. The cannon exploded, blowing Wang Jin's left hand away without a trace, and nearly injuring the late emperor."

"Your Majesty, please take the dragon's body into consideration and do not fire your guns carelessly."

The ministers also tried to dissuade Zhu Youjian from firing the musket himself.

Even Xu Sen, the designer of the revolver cavalry gun, disagreed with this, because he could not guarantee that the new musket would not explode, and letting the emperor fire the musket would mean gambling with the lives of his entire family.

In the past, when there was no metal fixed ammunition, revolver muskets often had problems with accidental firing, which could ignite the gunpowder in the entire cylinder and cause the musket to explode.

Nowadays, with the advent of metal fixed ammunition, this problem has been reduced, but in order to reduce the weight of the cavalry gun, Xu Sen shortened the chamber a bit.

He could not guarantee that there would be no problems with this musket, and said to the emperor nervously:

"Your Majesty, if you want to see the power of this musket, I can demonstrate it myself."

"This type of cavalry gun is not suitable for hunting, as it can easily smash small prey."

Zhu Youjian understood what he meant, and looking at the nervous expressions of the ministers around him, he laughed twice and said:
"Are the weapons of the Armour Bureau so unreliable?"

"From now on, I will have the military relatives inspected at any time. You all must be careful."

After warning the personnel of the Armament Bureau and the Equipment Department, Zhu Youjian continued:
"Xu Gong is the designer of this musket. I'll trouble you to demonstrate it in person later."

"Engineer Lu, you are the head of the Equipment Institute. Can you tell me which musket is the safest for me to use?"

Xu Sen felt relieved when he heard this and hurriedly prepared for the musket demonstration.

Lu Xiang's heart suddenly tightened, knowing that the emperor was determined to fire the gun. If an accident occurred, it would be his responsibility.

For safety reasons, he compared several types of muskets in his mind and said:
"The safest is the hunting rifle, which uses 6X20 rimfire bullets."

"This bullet has very little power and can only kill pheasants and rabbits. Even if it explodes, it is not very dangerous. And since it was finalized, there has never been a dangerous accident like explosion."

"Many hunters in Northern Zhili have purchased this type of musket. The 30-meter and 50-meter shooting competitions at next year's martial arts tournament will use this weapon."

He took out a musket and explained in detail that this was the best-selling weapon of the Equipment Department this year. Its safety was also praised by people, and there had never been a single explosion or other accidents.

Zhu Youjian heard that this small-caliber smoothbore musket could guarantee accuracy at a distance of fifty meters and still be lethal at a distance of one hundred meters. He nodded with satisfaction and said:
"The range of this kind of fire gun is comparable to that of a bow and arrow, which is enough for the people to defend themselves when they encounter the Jianlu."

"What's even more rare is that it can be used for hunting to supplement the family income. It's really a good weapon."

"Reward! A special reward for the designer of this weapon, Yuanshi."

After issuing this reward, Zhu Youjian took the musket and said to the eunuchs and ministers who were accompanying him:

"I should be able to use this kind of musket, right?"

“It has never had a major accident.”

Most of the ministers who attended the ceremony who had used this type of musket nodded in approval and did not think that this type of musket would cause any major problems.

However, there are still some officials who do not want to take any risk. Liu Zongzhou said:

"The son of a rich man cannot sit down in court."

"Your Majesty is worth a fortune, why take this risk?"

"Even if you must hunt, you can use a bow and arrow."

When Zhu Youjian heard Liu Zongzhou's advice, he had to respond:

"The bow and arrow can be used for hunting, but compared to the hunting gun, it is about to be eliminated."

"As the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, I must set an example for the people. How can I promote a skill that is about to be eliminated?"

"From now on, among the six arts of a gentleman, archery should be included in the list of shooting." "If I can't even shoot, how can I be the emperor?"

This was a serious statement, and it also involved changes to the Six Arts of Confucianism. Liu Zongzhou frowned and said:

"When fighting a war, how can we rely solely on firearms?"

"The state's major plans are based on laws and discipline. Your Majesty should focus on governing the country. If the country is governed well, people from afar will obey you."

This is the general principle, and Zhu Youjian is also doing this now, focusing on rectifying internal affairs and stimulating the vitality of the Ming Dynasty.

But firearms were not as unimportant as Liu Zongzhou said. He said to Liu Zongzhou:

"The Book of Zhou says: Raise the sons of the state with the Way. Teach them the Six Arts: the first is the Five Rites, the second is the Six Musics, the third is the Five Archery, the fourth is the Five Chariots, the fifth is the Six Scriptures, and the sixth is the Nine Mathematics."

"The ancient sages all attached great importance to archery and charioteering. How can I ignore this when I am re-establishing rituals and music?"

“Today, we are practicing the teachings of our ancestors by shooting on horseback.”

"Teacher, you will also teach you to learn the six arts well while re-creating rituals and music."

Using the Six Arts of a Gentleman to pressure others, Liu Zongzhou was forced to remain silent and unable to dissuade the emperor.

Seeing that Liu Zongzhou had fallen silent, the other ministers naturally stopped talking.

After convincing his ministers, Zhu Youjian raised the hunting gun in his hand and fired at the hare frolicking in front of him according to the shooting requirements.

However, his shooting skills were not very good, and he was not familiar with the weapon in his hand. Naturally, the first shot missed, and the prey was frightened and fled.

Seeing this, Zhu Youjian laughed out loud, not feeling embarrassed at all about not hitting the target. He said as he loaded the bullets:

"The major event of the country lies in the sacrifice and the army."

“When hunting and worshipping ancestors, the most important thing is the intention. You know the importance of sacrifice and war.”

"If you really can't catch any prey, you can use the money you earn to buy prey and offer it to your ancestors."

He continued to pull the trigger and fired. On the third time, he finally shot and killed a rabbit that looked a little stupid.

Then, he remembered this feeling, and relying on his strong body control, he almost hit the target every time and shot dozens of rabbits and pheasants driven by the Jinyiwei.

Seeing his high spirits, the ministers thought they had to continue and were even worried that they would not be able to complete the ancestor worship today, but suddenly they heard the emperor say:
"Yes, this hunting rifle is very good and should be used by more people."

"Nanhaizi will be open for the next half month, and people can rent firearms for hunting for a fee."

"Bring these prey with you. I will use them to sacrifice to our ancestors and heroes."

He finished his work without any regrets and prepared to return to the capital.

The ministers were all very surprised to see this scene. They had clearly seen that the emperor was interested in hunting, but they did not expect that the emperor would suppress his interest in just a moment and go back to worship his ancestors.

This is completely different from emperors like Xuanzong and Wuzong who liked hunting. The emperor was deliberately restraining himself.

Liu Zongzhou, who had previously disagreed with the emperor's use of fire guns for hunting, said excitedly:
"Restrain yourself and return to propriety!"

"Your Majesty is restraining his desires and restoring the ancient rituals."

"Your Majesty is truly a benevolent ruler!"

My recognition of the emperor increased again, and I believe that the current emperor's actions are truly worthy of being called a benevolent and holy monarch.

Most of the ministers were Jinshi graduates and Confucian scholars who had studied "The Analects of Confucius". Of course, they knew what Liu Zongzhou meant by "discipline oneself and return to propriety".

According to Confucius, "To restrain oneself and return to propriety is benevolence. If one restrains oneself and returns to propriety every day, the world will return to benevolence! Is it up to oneself to be benevolent, or is it up to others?"

The actions of the present emperor are clearly what Confucius meant by restraining oneself and making one's words and deeds conform to the rites of the previous kings.

Since the emperor is like this, how can they not follow him?

Even those who disagreed with the ancestor worship on the La Festival had no choice but to follow the emperor's example and go to the hunting ground with muskets.

The gun skills of these people varied, so it was impossible for them to catch prey quickly. After watching Xu Sen and others demonstrate the newly developed fire gun, Zhu Youjian issued an oral order, asking the officials who were willing to stay to stay, and he would only take some officials to worship the ancestors.

After a solemn ceremony, the Lari ancestor worship ceremony was finally concluded.

But this is not completely over yet, because tomorrow, the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhu Youjian will also have to offer sacrifices to the heroes.

The planning of the monument to the heroes and martyrs only started this spring. Even the demolition has not been done yet, so it is naturally impossible to build it. However, there is a temple dedicated to Wen Tianxiang in the capital, which is one of the nine temples in the capital and is located west of Shuntianfu School.

Zhu Youjian chose this place to commemorate Wen Tianxiang and other heroes who sacrificed their lives for China and the Ming Dynasty. After the sacrifice, he issued another order:
"Heroes sacrificed their lives for their country. The court cannot ignore their contributions."

"Decree that all heroes who are willing to serve in the army for generations shall be hereditary first-class sergeants and above."

"The descendants of heroes should also be given more pensions, allowed to enter military schools without taking exams, and given one shi of grain coupons per month before they turn 20, and allowed to take out loans to buy things."

"When recruiting civil servants and imperial enterprises, the descendants of heroes and martyrs should be given priority."

This measure excited the generals present and the onlookers cheered.

After the implementation of the compulsory military service system this year, which required military service for both military and civilian households, many people were worried about what would happen if they died on the battlefield after joining the army. Some people have complaints about the policy of military service.

Now that they have heard from the emperor himself about the policy of compensation for martyrs, they finally feel relieved:

They knew that they didn't have to worry about dying on the battlefield, as the Ming Dynasty would support their descendants. If they were determined to become military households, they could obtain hereditary sergeant or even officer status.

Some people whose lives were not so satisfactory even thought about joining the army to make meritorious contributions. They thought that even if they died accidentally due to bad luck, they could still be treated as martyrs for their descendants.

For the first time, the recruiting points set up by the various guards in the capital city saw people volunteering. The capital camp also began to fill up gradually, preparing enough reserve troops for the war next year.

Zhu Youjian's ancestral worship and sacrifice to heroes on the twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month had a good effect. This custom gradually became popular and became one of the biggest events in winter.

Every year, many people go out hunting on this day to sacrifice their prey to their ancestors, or even go to the martyrs' cemetery to pay tribute to heroes they know or don't know.

The martyrs' cemeteries of the Ming Dynasty were built like mushrooms after a spring rain. The cemeteries that matched the cemeteries also gradually changed people's funeral habits. More and more people were buried in public cemeteries and brought prey to worship their ancestors on the day of the twelfth lunar month.

The morale of the Ming army was also unprecedentedly cohesive, and the will to fight was also rising. Knowing that they would not have to worry about their descendants after their death, many soldiers who knew that there would be a major war next year were looking forward to the Liaodong War next year. They were eager to make achievements and gain wealth for their descendants. Even if they unfortunately became heroes, their sons could also receive preferential treatment because of this.

After the same ceremony of honoring the heroes was held in Liaodong, many soldiers who were afraid of death and did not plan to join the war were given courage and took the initiative to request to participate in the next year's campaign. A new round of adjustments began throughout Liaodong to select the most combat-capable troops.

At this time, Man Gui on the grassland welcomed the vanguard of the Jianlu returning eastward, and started the first major battle after being equipped with new fire guns. (End of this chapter)