I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 792: Inspiring Review

Outside Chengtian Gate, Chang'an East Street.

Chang'an Street is divided into East and West Streets by Chengtian Gate.

Pan Yinglong not only carried out renovation of the old city in the south, but also carried out large-scale renovation of the inner city and the east and west cities. One of the focuses was the "illegal buildings" on both sides of Chang'an Avenue.

These buildings, including mansions, restaurants, and shops, were built haphazardly and in a myriad of styles, making the capital's most important street look like an ugly sewer.

Most of these illegal buildings were built by royal relatives and nobles.

With the strong support of Zhu Yijun, Pan Yinglong violently demolished all the illegal buildings and forcibly created a street with Chengtianmen as the center, ten miles long from east to west and sixty meters wide from north to south. Twenty meters of sidewalks and green belts were reserved on both sides, making the street a full one hundred meters wide.

After Pan Yinglong's renovation, Chang'an East and West Street has been completely renovated, spacious and clean, and it is said that he is also planning to install gas street lights.

Opposite Chengtian Gate is Daming Gate, the office area of ​​the Cabinet and the Rong government, on the south side of Chang'an Avenue. Along the courtyard wall of the office area, a temporary stand was built and a security zone was designated.

Thousands of officials, professors, nobles and meritorious people sat here at seven o'clock, and tens of thousands of people stood on both sides.

Today is the first time a military parade is held on the birthday of the Emperor.

In the past, the emperor would review the troops every year, but they were always held at the Xishan Military Academy's playground. This was the first time it was held in front of Chengtian Gate, on Chang'an Avenue.

Everyone heard the news and came to watch the fun.

Just now, ten third-class petty officers held up trumpets and blew them, making the scene silent.

A team of heroic guardsmen, wearing olive green guard uniforms, holding the butt of a smoothbore rifle in their right hands, with the barrel of the gun straight against their bodies, their bayonets flashing coldly and piercing the sky, with a small triangular red flag hanging at the end.

He swung his left hand vigorously and walked forward in neat steps along a white line on the north side of Chang'an Avenue.

There are twenty people in a team, with a post every five meters.

The soldier behind walked to the position, stood still, held the gun with his left hand, put it sideways on the ground, returned his left hand to its position, turned left and stood still, standing straight like a pillar.

The musket, with bayonet, was held in the right hand, tightly against the right side of the body.

The bayonets made the soldiers' faces more solemn, and the little red flags made them more vivid.

One by one, they walked to their posts. The soldier in front walked to the westernmost post, stood still, held his rifle and fired, then turned left and stood still. Twenty soldiers stood in front of Chengtian Gate to form a cordon that could easily be evaded by ghosts and gods.

The drum tower in the distance struck eight times.

The twelve Type 95 cannons mounted on the Zhengyangmen tower faced south and were loaded only with propellant but not shells, and they fired in succession.

After twelve booms of cannon fire, the gate of Chengtian Gate was slowly opened, and everyone, including those who were sitting on the viewing platform north of Daming Gate, from Zhang Juzheng on down, all stood up.

There were three generals on each side of Chengtian Gate, wearing gorgeous military uniforms and riding on shiny war horses.

The army generals on the left are Xiao Wenkui, Ma Fang and Li Chengliang, and the naval generals on the right are Lu Tong, Li Chao and Zhang Yunxun.

When Chengtian Gate opened, they hurriedly grabbed the reins and were ready to go at any time.

Zhu Yijun rode a fire dragon horse and walked in the front, followed by Song Yaoshi, Xue Yi and the cavalry team.

Zhu Yijun rode his horse to the Jinshui Bridge, pulled the reins, and stopped the horse.

The army and navy generals on both sides rode their horses to meet him and stood on either side of him to serve as his protection.

In front of the Jinshui Bridge on the left, a burly general of the Jinyiwei was waving a seven-meter-long whip. Three whip sounds were heard, and the world became silent.

Zhang Juzheng and Tan Lun, who were sitting in the middle of the viewing platform, took the lead and saluted with their hands crossed and bowed.

"Your humble servant pays homage to His Majesty the Emperor. Long live the Emperor!"

"Be flat!"

As soon as Zhu Yijun opened his mouth, the eulogist beside him shouted, "The emperor has ordered, stand up!"

There were hymn singers standing in different positions, and their loud and long voices echoed over the city of Beijing, as bright as the sun.

"Wan Sheng!"

"The Ming Dynasty will be victorious!"

Zhu Yijun shouted loudly, and the twenty times sixteen columns immediately responded with overwhelming shouts, so neat and loud that it resounded throughout the heavens and the earth.

The second column was the Xishan Military Academy’s military officer team, and they were also riding war horses.

The third column was the Wuqi Army column. Three hundred and twenty-two elite soldiers were selected from the front, back, left and right wings of Mongolia. They rode 322 black war horses and lined up to be reviewed.

Their responses were clear and articulate, and they were all elite men who had received official education in the Ming Dynasty.

The fourth column is the Marine Corps, the fifth column is the Army, the sixth column is the Navy, the seventh column is the Guards, the eighth column is the Army Artillery, and the ninth column is the Navy Rocket Corps.

The tenth team is the Luanzhou Workers' Militia Division, wearing Luanzhou blue uniforms; the eleventh team is the Agricultural and Pastoral Corps Militia Division, wearing grass-green uniforms; the twelfth team is the Medical Rescue Team, wearing army and navy uniforms with a white vest on the outside, with a red horizontal stripe on the front and back.

Zhu Yijun rode past these columns one by one, and interacted with each column with three sentences.

After riding his horse to the end of the twelfth column, Zhu Yijun turned his horse around and, under the protection of Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou, rode back to Chengtian Gate, crossed the Jinshui Bridge in the middle, and returned to his original position.

Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou did not follow across the Jinshui Bridge, but stood on horseback at the south end of the bridge, one on the left and one on the right, like the two generals, guarding the Jinshui Bridge.

Three flares soared into the air.

Twelve blank salutes were fired at Zhengyang Gate again.

The sound of artillery fire was still echoing and tearing the air, and the youth military band standing on the right, and the army and navy military band that had just stood over, played a marching song together.

As the music sounded, the sound of horse hooves came from East Street. Twelve columns marched in line one after another along Chang'an Avenue to be inspected by Zhu Yijun and the officials and civilians on the viewing stand.

The first team walked to the Jinshui Bridge on the left. Under the leadership of two leading officers, all members of the Hongwu Military Academy team drew their swords, stretched their right arms straight, and held the sharp swords straight in front of their chests.

Pull the reins with your left hand and trot your horse.

His upper body was straight, he looked up to the right, his eyes fixed on Zhu Yijun.

Zhu Yijun looked solemn and saluted with his right hand.

Walk across the Jinshui Bridge on the right, put away the sword, pull the reins, and slow down the mount.

Second, the same applies to third-party teams.

The fourth column was the Marines, wearing blue and black uniforms, military caps, and carrying guns. They came to the left side of the Jinshui Bridge, marched in step, took the guns, supported the guns, split the guns, raised their heads to the right, and saluted solemnly.

People are like dragons, guns are like forests, swords are like the sea, flags are like fire, and the murderous atmosphere suddenly hits you in the face.

Marcelo and Leon, who were standing on the viewing platform, felt a chill in their tail vertebrae.

It’s just that they didn’t wear helmets during the review. Instead, the two major militia divisions wore helmets in order to highlight their differences from the regular army.

Except for the different helmets and uniforms, the formation and muskets were the same. Although not as murderous as the army and navy teams that had experienced actual combat, this kind of momentum would definitely sweep across Europe.

Marcelo knew too well the military strength of European countries.

He and Leon could never have imagined that the Ming country's militia division, the so-called "amateur army" was so well-trained and powerful. How could they fight them?

When the twelfth column passed by, many officials and civilians exclaimed in surprise, because the last four rows of this column were all women.

They were all military dependents, nurses in field hospitals. Wearing military uniforms, felt hats, and carrying first aid kits, they appeared in front of everyone in a heroic manner, which not only caused exclamations, but also attracted everyone's attention.

After hearing Shu Youliang's simple explanation, Marcelo couldn't help but exclaimed: "Women are going to the battlefield?"

"They are nurses in field hospitals, saving lives and healing the wounded. They are the guardians of the battlefield."

"Why do you let women rescue soldiers?"

"We are short of people. Daming is short of people everywhere. Cotton mills and silk mills are now full of women workers. Tobacco factories, enamel factories and other light industrial factories also have some women workers.

Nowadays, anyone who dares to call for women to bind their feet will be beaten to death, which will hinder the people's important way to make money.

In the final analysis, we are short of people. Regardless of gender, as long as they are laborers, they are urgently needed.”

"There are so many people in Ming Country, why are they still short of people?"

"Although there are many people in my Ming Dynasty, the world is too big." Shu Youliang immediately stopped talking, "Oh, the sun is so strong, it makes me sweat.

Under the scorching sun, Marcelo and Leon's backs were covered in white sweat.

To the sound of majestic music, all twelve columns completed their march.

The military band began to play a slow tune.

A team of engineers quickly entered the scene and quickly built a high platform canopy that could accommodate a hundred people.

Zhu Yijun dismounted, and Qi Jiguang and others also dismounted, followed him into the shed.

Zhang Juzheng, Tan Lun, Zhao Zhenji and Wang Chonggu were invited to leave, cross Chang'an Street and come to the shed.

More than twenty people were invited to the side of the awning, including Li Shizhen, whom Marcelo and Leon had met once.

What's next?
(End of this chapter)