Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 165: Red Army Parade

Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, rose from a commoner and experienced many hardships. He was well aware of the accumulated problems of the previous dynasties. He believed that the country should be governed by rules and regulations, and the rules and regulations of the country were etiquette and law. Once etiquette and law were established, the people would be at peace.

In the chaotic times of the late Ming Dynasty, rituals and music collapsed, and social order was unprecedentedly chaotic. Danchu experienced it firsthand and realized the importance of rituals and laws. He also truly understood a truth: rituals and laws are profound and of great significance. Even if he advocates the Taizhou School in the future, he must respect rituals and laws.

Since the Ming Dynasty, various ideological theories such as Neo-Confucianism, Mind-learning, and Qi-learning have flourished, creating a splendid civic culture, advanced science and technology, and the embryonic form of capitalist economy.

The Qing dynasty was not a legitimate government, and it launched literary inquisitions many times, promoting Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism and suppressing other theories such as the School of Mind and the School of Qi. Under this high pressure, scholars could only concentrate on textual research, and Neo-Confucianism became more and more biased, leading Chinese civilization astray.

Things are never black or white, and there is no fundamental conflict between Yangming's philosophy of mind and traditional etiquette. With this understanding, Danchu organized a military review outside the city of Nanning to boost morale and demonstrate military power.

The military ceremonies of the Ming Dynasty were complex and varied, and can be roughly divided into four types: personal expedition, dispatching generals, grand archery, and grand review. The military review ceremony of the Zhaoyong Army was based on the grand review ceremony.

The Yongli Emperor often organized grand reviews, mostly during his own campaigns, to familiarize himself with the battle formations before the battle to prevent panic when encountering the enemy. Subsequent grand reviews were either conducted by the emperor himself or by eunuchs appointed by the emperor to review on his behalf.

In the second year of the Longqing reign, Zhang Juzheng proposed to establish a grand review ceremony, which would be reviewed by the emperor himself in order to revise the military preparations. From then on, the grand review ceremony became a military ceremony exclusively for the emperor.

When Dan first reviewed the Zhaoyong Army, it naturally could not be called a grand review, so he called it a military review.

It was a sunny and cool morning. On the parade ground outside Nanning City, military flags fluttered and armor and weapons were bright. Five thousand Zhaoyong soldiers were solemn and in line, waiting for the commander-in-chief to review them.

It was noon when Danchu arrived at the training ground on horseback.

Feng Lin came over to report: "Report to the commander-in-chief, the Zhaoyong Army's Nanning garrison has assembled, please come on stage for inspection!"

Danchu nodded slightly and returned the military salute.

The personal soldiers led away the army horses, and Danchu came to the general platform and shouted loudly: "Welcome the army flag!"

Three personal soldiers walked up to the platform and presented a large flag. The flagpole was two feet high and made of wood as thick as a bowl. One could tell it was heavy just by looking at it.

Danchu received the flag with a heavy expression, hugged the flagpole tightly, and then waved it left and right. The flag was unfurled, and a huge military flag fluttered in the wind. The flag was red, three feet wide, and a big "red" was embroidered in gold thread in the middle.

"Commendants, from now on, the Zhaoyong Army will be renamed the Red Army! This big flag is the flag of the Red Army. The flag survives and the people survive. If the flag dies, the army dies!"

Danchu's official position was the commander-in-chief garrisoning Zhaoping and Yong'an. Since he had already captured Nanning, it was no longer convenient to refer to it as the Zhaoyong Army.

Changing the name of an army, especially adding the word "army", would obviously arouse suspicion. But in this chaotic era, the army had a resounding name, which would also help improve its reputation. Moreover, "red" means red and red, so changing the name to "Red Army" is also understandable.

"Long live the Red Army! Long live the Red Army! Long live the Red Army!" The soldiers repeated the slogan three times as they had rehearsed in advance. The sound was deafening and echoed for a long time outside the city.

Next, three personal soldiers took over the flag and stood by to protect it. This brand new flag fluttered in the wind, with red background and golden characters, attracting attention and boosting the morale of the troops.

The military review ceremony does not need to be as complicated as the grand review ceremony. In fact, before Longqing established the grand review ceremony system, the procedures and content of the grand review ceremony were quite arbitrary, with some being used to exercise military formations during wartime and some to examine training results in peacetime.

It is not easy to gather so many soldiers together, so several items were added to this military review.

"Sacrifice to the Banner God!"

The most important thing for a country is the military, and the most important thing for the military is the flag. The flag god is the god of the military flag.

“When a great banner is raised, ten thousand men will rush to it.” A banner is a fluttering flag, a large flag of an army or a guard of honor, and a symbol of the army.

Danchu held the yellow paper in his hand, his expression solemn, and he muttered:

"In the second year of the Yongli reign, the year is Wu Zi, the month is late winter, and the day is an auspicious day. Your servant Cen Danchu has been ordered by the Ming Dynasty to lead the Red Army to defend the territory and resist the Tartars. Now that the country is in crisis, war is raging, and powerful enemies are surging, I have prepared sacrificial offerings to offer to the Banner God..." I beg the Banner God to accept that your servant Cen Danchu and the Red Army officers and soldiers are all reverent and loyal. May the gods always be there to protect our Red Army and our Ming Dynasty, so that I can drive out the Tartars, revive the Ming Dynasty, and bring peace to the people.

"Enjoy your meal."

I originally thought that offering sacrifices to gods was a superstitious act, but when I personally read the sacrificial text, Danchu felt a sense of sacred mission and could not help but take it seriously.

Burning paper and pouring wine, Danchu showed his majesty and was full of confidence in the future.

"Awarding flag!"

The personal guards came on stage and presented five large flags, one for the personal guards, the first infantry, the third infantry, the auxiliary troops, and the navy.

At the same time, Danchu presented new flags to all the commanders.

The Third Battalion was newly established not long ago, and its commander was Wu Jie. Danchu originally planned to give this important position to Chen Wu, the deputy commander of the Second Battalion, but Chen Wu was far away in Zhaoping and was Jiao Lian's personal soldier. After careful consideration, Danchu decided to use Wu Jie. After all, Wu Jie was his old follower.

"Wu Jie, congratulations!"

Wu Jie took the flag from Dan Chu, grinning from ear to ear, and said, "I will always remember your kindness, Marshal!"

"You deserve this!" Danchu shook hands with him to show his intimacy, and said, "Being an infantry commander is very different from being a cavalry battalion commander. You have to study harder and don't let me down."

"promise!"

The commander of the navy was Nguyen Dinh Phong. He was a newcomer who had just joined the Red Army, but he had gained Dan Chu's trust. Dan Chu ignored all objections and boldly appointed him as the commander of the navy.

"Ruan Tingfeng, I'm handing the navy flag to you. You must use all your skills to build a Neijiang navy as soon as possible."

"Yes! I will obey your orders. If I fail, I will be subject to military law!"

Danchu handed him the navy flag and shook hands with him for the first time.

"Reward and punish clearly!"

The Red Army did not receive military pay, so they attached great importance to rewards and punishments. Merits must be rewarded and crimes must be punished in order to enforce strict discipline.

"After nominations by all levels and verification by the camp office, the following five people were identified as first-class meritorious officials and awarded the title of combat hero. Cavalry Battalion Commander Wu Jie led his troops to capture Huanghuayi, blocked the enemy's retreat, killed six enemies, and was promoted two levels to the commander of the third infantry battalion. He was awarded ten taels of silver and a medal. The captain of the personal guard He Guozuo led his troops to attack the enemy's battle formation and broke the formation. He captured Xu Biao's head and was promoted two levels to the commander of the cavalry battalion. He was awarded ten taels of silver and a medal. One. The personal guard sentry captain Cen Yong, the first to reach Kunlun Pass, killed five enemies, was promoted two levels, promoted to the captain of the personal guard, and was awarded ten taels of silver and a medal. The cavalry Zhou Yiming, who was extremely brave, killed eight enemies and cut off the enemy's central army flag, was promoted two levels, promoted to the personal guard sentry captain, and was awarded ten taels of silver and a medal. Another intelligence bureau detective Hou Mou went deep into the enemy's rear and captured Gulou Pass by strategy. His merits were great, so he was promoted two levels and was rated as a captain. He was awarded ten taels of silver and a medal. "

The Ming Dynasty mainly used rewards and punishments, and the meritorious officials were divided into three levels: the first level had five people, the second level had ten people, and the third level had twenty people. The thirty-five meritorious officials came on stage one by one, looking very proud, and the soldiers below the stage were envious.

There must be punishment for every reward, and this time five people were punished. One of the guards violated military discipline, which made Danchu particularly sad:

"You are my personal soldier, yet you dare to disobey my military orders, rape and kill women, and ruin the reputation of my army. Let me ask you, what are the five requirements of marching?"

"Reply, reply to the commander-in-chief. Our army has five requirements when marching: one, no killing; two, no setting fires; three, no raping; four, no slaughtering cattle; five, no looting. I beg the commander-in-chief to spare my life and let me die on the battlefield, not in such a cowardly way."

"It's too late! You don't have to beg me. Considering that you were once my personal soldier, I will send someone to provide for your family!"

"Marshal! Marshal!"

The personal soldiers had already taken him down and beheaded him on the spot as a warning to all. The whole army was shocked and took it as a warning.

(End of this chapter)