In April of the first year of Zhengde in the capital, spring greenery began to appear in the streets and alleys, and the weather gradually became warmer. People in the north who had been sleeping all winter took to the streets one after another. The entire capital was suddenly crowded, showing great vitality, but today's crowd But there is something strange, they are all surging in one direction. The Xizhimen of the capital is already crowded with people. The three floors inside and outside are surrounded by ordinary people. Among them are many Taixue students wearing student clothes. At this time, no one can care. Regardless of each other's identities, they are crowding forward. People in the city are still pouring out, and even the city top is full of people. All this is because the newly established Imperial Guards of the Son of Heaven have returned to Beijing.
As the capital of the Ming Dynasty with a population of more than one million, bureaucrats, officials, their families, and servants accounted for a large part of the capital. In this era, there was no secrecy system like that of later generations. National events were sometimes spread in the streets before they were even published in the world. Therefore, the common people of the capital have long been familiar with everything about the Guards.
What the common people like to hear and talk about most is the deeds of heroes and heroes. The predecessor of the Guards was the Boy Scouts. What did the Boy Scouts do? Nowadays, no one in the capital does not know it. If people from other places do not know it, then go to a teahouse and it will become clear. The storytelling with the highest attendance rate in all the teahouses in the capital is "Boy Scouts vs. Wayaokou Fort". In Wang Shouren's speech, Under the instruction of Jinyiwei, the spies of Jinyiwei spread the news more accurately, because the protagonist of this war is the current emperor Li Dong, and Li Dong's other identity is the supreme commander of the Guards.
The common people don't care whether there are any ulterior secrets behind the news. They only care about the authenticity of the news. The Ming Dynasty has been bullied by the Mongols for hundreds of years. There are many people in the capital who have fled from the border. As soon as they heard that Li Dong With so few officers and soldiers, they actually annihilated three thousand of the most elite Golden Horde warriors of the Mongolian Great Khan. Everyone became inexplicably excited. They felt very uplifted in their hearts, and a sense of honor as a Mingren arose spontaneously.
Since the formation of the boy scouts, they have been constantly fighting against each other, and they have always won every battle. These are important talking points. I heard that they recently fought against 20,000 pirates in Tianjin, and the pirates were defeated. Someone said It is said with certainty that the blood shed by those pirates made the entire Tianjin seaside red for half a month. . .
I have to meet such a heroic man no matter what.
"Where have the Guards gone in the winter?" a vendor asked the people who were also watching.
"Who are you?" The common man looked at the hawker with disdain.
The hawker smiled awkwardly, "Tangshan people, I just came to the capital yesterday to join my relatives?"
"Tch, let me tell you, these people are definitely not natives of our capital! I tell you, listen carefully. There is a prince in Shaanxi who actually wants to imitate Grandpa Jingnan. Damn! He doesn't even take pictures of himself in the urine. According to myself, I dare to challenge the current Long Live Lord. That Long Live Lord was the master who had fought with the Mongols at the border. He still wants to fight with Long Live Lord? Isn¡¯t that looking for porcelain? Eighteen days It only took In eighteen days, that Prince Laozi was destroyed by the Guards!"
"It's so awesome"
The sound of neat footsteps coming from far away came, and everyone's heart trembled violently.
When the phalanx of the Guards turned into people's sight, the people were immediately dazzled by the once bright armor, and a golden sea slowly appeared in everyone's sight accompanied by the sound of neat footsteps.
The Guards' feet were walking in goose, bang bang bang, the soles of their cowhide boots hitting the ground hard, their sharp bayonets standing neatly, and a murderous aura rushed towards their faces.
People on both sides of the street were already crowded, and the upper floors on both sides were covered with heads. But when the Guards passed by, no one in this large area made a sound except for the occasional babble of a child. But even such a little noise was immediately stopped by their parents. Everyone seemed to be possessed, collectively immersed in this strong visual shock.
After the Guards passed by, someone murmured in a low voice, "Then King Anhua really doesn't know how to live or die"
¡°The Emperor wants to welcome the Guards personally on the tower of the Forbidden City!¡± Someone shouted, and the crowd immediately rushed towards the Forbidden City.
The south gate of the Forbidden City is wide open. Li Dong, who had already arrived in Beijing in advance, was wearing a dragon robe and looking down at the wide imperial road at his feet. There were eighteen eunuchs on the imperial road waving their whips vigorously at the same time. Both sides of the road were lined with majestic imperial guards. Surrounding these golden and silver armored guards, who are like heavenly soldiers and generals, are countless people from the capital in black crows. The news that the emperor was going to welcome the Guards in person had already disappeared. The people who came had been waiting for a long time. No one wanted to miss the opportunity to feast their eyes on this. This was a rare sight!
As soon as Li Dong appeared on the city tower, the peopleThey all knelt down to him in unison and issued a cry of long live as if praying to God. Wang Ping rode a tall horse and stood at the forefront of the Guards. Suddenly he shouted, "Commander! Long live! Marshal! Long live!" The Guards used fire cannons to strike down the ground, and at the same time looked up at Li on the tower. Dong, with a kind of heartfelt reverence, shouted "Long live! Long live!"
Seemingly affected by the overwhelming cheers, Li Dong's heart was surging at this moment - with a strong army in hand, dominion over the world, and billions of subjects, Li Dong suddenly felt a surge of pride in his chest. He shouted with a smile, "Long live the Guards! Long live the people of the Ming Dynasty! Long live the Ming Dynasty!"
Although Li Dong shouted, only a few people around him could hear him, but Li Dong didn't need to worry about this matter. The two eunuchs behind Li Dong repeated Li Dong's words loudly, followed by four, eight, Sixteen, thirty-two. . . By the time it reached the Forbidden City, it had become the shouts of thousands of uniformed guards. The sound of the clouds filled the sky and the earth, just like the thunder sent by the gods from the sky.
Listening to the shouting, the common people were also infected, their faces flushed, and they stretched their necks and shouted like a mountain roar and a tsunami, "Long live the emperor! Long live! Long live!"
Although the Jin Yiwei tried their best to stop him, countless people on both sides of the royal road wanted to rush forward. They wanted to get closer to Li Dong. Many people held incense candles high in their hands and wished Li Dongyao "Long live the emperor, and may the Ming Dynasty prosper!"
In any era in history, the people always need the guidance of a hero and strive to beautify him deep in their hearts. They desperately hoped that this hero could lead them to realize their dreams. When this man with a legendary story appeared in front of them, fanatical worship spread uncontrollably among the citizens of the capital. Li Dong looked at the boiling scene in front of him, and a layer of mist rose in his eyes. "My time has come," Li Dong whispered
"Your Majesty, today an envoy from the Ministry of Rites came to the capital. He was sent to the capital by Yanda Khan from the grassland." As soon as Li Dong returned to the palace, the great scholar Li Dongyang asked to see him. Now the Ministry of Rites is in charge of Li Dongyang, and it is the right person to receive foreign envoys. Responsibilities of the Ministry of Rites.
"Who? Yanda Khan? What did he send the envoy to do?" Li Dong took a sip of tea with a smile. He knew what he was asking. Qian Xing's messenger had already passed the news to Li Dong. The name of the Otok tribe was permanent. Disappeared on the grassland.
"Your Majesty, Yanda Khan's envoy said that the Otok tribe at the border of Shaanxi Province was wiped out by an army from the Ming Dynasty. He asked the court to give a reasonable explanation. Yanda Khan expressed strong protest against this matter!"
"Protest? Haha This word sounds so familiar to me. Tell him, I don't have time to explain to him, just hit him. If you don't accept it, let him bring someone to beat me, and I will make good gestures with him. !" Li Dong laughed and said
Li Dongyang's eyes widened and he looked at Li Dong blankly, thinking that the matter of the Otok tribe was really Li Dong's hand. When the envoy mentioned it, he even denied it, saying that the Ming Dynasty did not No troops were sent to the grassland. According to the peace agreement between the two sides many years ago, the Central Plains and the grassland stopped their troops, opened mutual markets, and became neighbors forever! However, Yanda Khan often violated the agreement and sent troops to plunder the Central Plains. He asked Yanda Khan to give an explanation to the Ming court.
The envoy smiled slightly, was very polite, and said to Li Dongyang in smooth Chinese. The two sides have not determined the border. I, the Great Khan, do not need to inform you of the Ming Dynasty when I do anything on my own border. As for the explanation, I will leave it to you. This is even more nonsense.
After hearing what the envoy said, Li Dongyang turned pale and walked away immediately. However, as it involved diplomacy between the two parties, he still had to report the matter to Li Dong. But to be honest, he didn't believe that what happened to the Otok tribe was caused by the Ming Dynasty. He felt that this was just Yanda Khan's excuse.
After listening to what Li Dongyang said about the envoy, Li Dong smiled indifferently, "Grand Bachelor, what's there to be angry about? What is diplomacy? Diplomacy means saying the dirtiest words in the most polite way. You If you have strength, you can say whatever you want, if you don¡¯t have strength, haha whatever others say is OK!"
¡°Your Majesty, it¡¯s true that you said this about the Otok Tribe It¡¯s true that you¡±
Li Dong shrugged his shoulders and said with a smile, "Grand Bachelor, didn't you notice that the number of guards returning to Beijing was reduced by half? The cavalry are all gone."
Li Dongyang was stunned. When Li Dong said this, he remembered that when the Guards left Beijing, they had both infantry and cavalry. But when they returned to Beijing, they only had infantry. "Your Majesty, the cavalry"
"Of course the cavalry is going into the grasslands to teach the Mongols a lesson! I'm afraid you will never hear the name Otok tribe again!"
"But But Your Majesty, why do you do this?"
Li Dong stretched out two fingers: "Two reasons, the first one is MongoliaPeople actually dare to help King Anhua rebel. If you don't give them some color, they think I have no one in Ming Dynasty. Secondly, I just want to tell the Mongols that from today on, the Mongolians alone will have no history of attacking us. It's gone forever, we have to fight back, take revenge and complain! "
Li Dongyang breathed a sigh of relief and said from the bottom of his heart that he didn't blame Li Dong at all for not telling him in advance about sending troops into the grassland to exterminate the Otok tribe. He felt much more relieved now. He had been aggrieved for so many years , I can finally feel proud, but . . "Your Majesty, in this case, we must come up with an excuse to explain to Yanda Khan, otherwise we may be responsible for the charge of provocation."
"Do I have to give them an explanation?" Li Dong asked puzzledly.
Li Dongyang nodded resolutely, "Your Majesty, our Ming Dynasty is a great country that is admired by all nations. It is a state of etiquette. Fighting without telling us is absolutely not allowed. If other vassal states know about this, I am afraid that my Ming Dynasty will make a statement." It's damaging"
"Is it so troublesome?" Li Dong tilted his head and thought for a moment, then his eyes suddenly lit up and he smiled slyly, "Just tell him that the map of our Ministry of War was from many years ago. The map is wrong, so he typed it wrong."