eldest son of Ming dynasty

On the sixth day of the tenth month of the tenth year of Zhengde's reign, Emperor Long Chu came out of the Meridian Gate and headed towards the Martyrs' Monument in the West City.

Prior to this, the imperial court had officially issued a decree to declare the victory of the Northwest War in a way of offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors, and announced the establishment of a governor of Xinjiang to control the various guard posts outside Jiayuguan Pass.

For officials in both the government and the public, opening up new territories is no longer just words they write on paper to praise their virtues, but has become a fact.

For more people, Emperor Zhengde's pious memorial in front of the Martyrs' Monument is like a symbol, marking that today's Ming Dynasty is completely different from the Ming Dynasty after the Battle of Tumubao.

People's ideas have changed, and they no longer have to worry about any border troubles or people coming in.In the past, the Mongols repeatedly raided the border, which was a headache. Now, the Ming's cavalry patrols the border every now and then, and more and more Ming soldiers are galloping in the desert.

The impact on the people is that there is less yin and yang, and most of them start to brag to everyone, showing the arrogance of the country and the people.

In the northwest, the imperial court has decided to expand the cities of Hami and Turpan as a whole, and at the same time set up a horse market and a tea market in Turpan, making every effort to rebuild the trade routes to the Western Regions as quickly as possible. At the same time, private businessmen are encouraged to participate.

War horses are not only transportation tools, but also military supplies. The horses in the Western Regions themselves are very good breeds. Of course, we need them, and we need more of them, so Zhu Houzhao has agreed to expand the scale of the purchase.

And behind all this, there is one most critical point.

It is the improvement of the general's status.

The concept that a good man should not be a soldier has not changed among the common people, but among the nobles' children, it is still very popular to enter the military academy and fight with the army to gain some military exploits.

Originally, these guys didn't have the patience to study.

Therefore, places in military academies are very scarce and highly sought-after. Most of the generals currently going on expeditions come from military academies. Many of these little-known figures in the past have already achieved military exploits and become prominent.

This kind of thing is just like wherever you make money, countless people immediately flock to it.

Zhou Shangwen is of course the biggest representative among them, and there are many generals under him who have risen through the ranks.

This is also the reason why the simple poem "The husband is the owner of the newspaper, look at the hero with the sword" is widely spread in Beijing. Literary works such as poems are based on the social atmosphere. They will not shine by themselves. It is the broad resonance of people that makes them It glows.

Anyway, on the battlefield, living means making meritorious deeds, even if you die... you can at least allow your family to gain the status of a martyr's family.

Zhu Houzhao attached great importance to these two sacrificial ceremonies. Needless to say ancestor worship, he also required all officials in Beijing to be present in commemoration of martyrs. After the ceremony, he announced a crime of beheading in front of everyone:
From now on, anyone who insults the martyrs will be killed!
And there is no use just talking.

After careful investigation, the Criminal Department and Dali Temple caught three villains who insulted the young and old in the martyr's family.

These three people, one is a butcher, one is a civil servant, and the other is a thief. The specific crimes they committed are different, but the result is the same.

Right under the monument, in front of everyone, the emperor ordered his beheading!

Although Zhu Houzhao had killed many people, he had only seen a few heads roll off his neck in person, with blood spraying all over the floor, somewhat bloody.

However, his face did not change at all. The so-called powerful era and the iron-blooded era could never be achieved by laughing and joking.

The emperor was wearing a royal robe, and his ministers were arranged in sequence under him. The scene was grand and the atmosphere was solemn. After beheading these three heads, the emperor announced: "Today, I use the blood of the soldiers to pay tribute to the soldiers who died in the battle and comfort their souls." !Put up a plaque!”

Following his order, a plaque on each side of the Martyrs' Monument was unveiled, which were fixed by four stone pillars.

On the left are four words: The heroic spirit lives on forever.

There are also four words on the right: Yongzhen Mountains and Rivers.

In this extremely solemn way, the emperor told the world that dying in battle for the country is not meaningless.

And this place will eventually become one of the sources of spiritual strength for this nation.

After that day's ceremony, people would still come here from time to time.

Most of them are ordinary people, either old women with their grandchildren, or wives with their children. They hold flowers, put them down here, say a few words, and then leave.It's like this every day, maybe different people come, but there's no day when the flowers aren't updated.

But one day was a bit special, because a group of people came in front of the Martyrs Monument. The sedans were bright and beautiful, and at first glance, they were not ordinary people.

The common people did not dare to get close and only dared to watch from a distance.

Although Yang Yiqing is already old, he should not continue to ride in the sedan here, so he climbed up each step by himself, with only his son Yang Zhi'an supporting him.

Yang Yiqing has no family members who are officials in the court, and none of them are in the army.

This trip was to commemorate his old friend.

He once served as the governor of the three sides and also fought against the Tatars. He once had a general named Zuo He under his command who once saved his life, but unfortunately died in the battle.

Yang Yiqing was extremely pious. He said to himself in front of the monument: "Brother Zuo died for the country. Fortunately, the Holy Emperor is in the court. With this monument, I hope that Brother Zuo can smile under the nine springs."

After saying this, he kowtowed and bowed again.

Before leaving, Yang Yiqing looked thoughtfully at the people climbing up the stairs to worship one by one.

The emperor did this in an upright manner. Although it cost a lot of money to build the stone monument, it can be considered a meritorious deed to make so many people worry about it.

Being commemorated by people above and below who died fighting for the country will of course further stimulate the morale of the frontline soldiers. At the same time, it is also an honor to have the emperor preside over it.

The Ming Dynasty's century-long practice of using culture to suppress military power seems to have ceased to exist.

Yang Yiqing himself could feel that because of the emperor's support, many nobles were now reliving the 'old days'. They were living a prosperous life with the money they got from sea trade in one hand, and in the other hand they were living a prosperous life. Arrange for the children of the family to join the army and win military exploits.

Above the court, headed by Duke Cheng, supported the emperor in various military activities.In addition, the newly ennobled Marquis Jinglu, Bo Pinghai and Bo Weining are all nobles who can make a sound in the court.

The atmosphere during the ten years of Zhengde was completely different from before.

"Mr. Ge, are you going back to the palace or to the cabinet?"

"Go to the cabinet."

"Yes."

Yang Yiqing understood more and more that the emperor wanted both civil and martial arts. Naturally, all industries were prosperous in the civil and political field, but martial arts was still not limited to the current borders. The link between this was the word industry mentioned earlier.

When we arrived at the cabinet, a meeting on these two words was in progress.

He walked straight in from the door, and when he saw everyone greeting him, he waved his hand directly, "Continue."

It was the Shaofu Gu Renyi who was talking. He said: "...Developing industry is nothing more than three links, planting, manufacturing, and selling. The first two are easy to say. There is not enough cotton to buy, and the factory is not big enough. The Shaofu can invest in expansion. The key is that it must be sold. In the future, we will report to His Majesty, and this will definitely be the key point."

"Does Mr. Gu have any good ideas?"

"I have ordered people to trial-produce cotton cloth. Although the business atmosphere in the inland is not strong, there is still a certain demand in several big cities. Furthermore, I wonder if I can apply to His Majesty to list cotton cloth in the export of this Western Region Trade Mission. Among the items, try it.”

Yes, the emperor is already preparing to send two groups of troops to the Western Regions.Along the way are people who built and expanded the city. Chinese construction was to be carried out there. Language was one aspect, but in fact the architecture also reflected a culture, so Zhou Shangwen was in short supply of such people.

In addition, the emperor wanted to send a trade mission to the Western Regions to bring tea and silk from the Ming Dynasty and find a way to exchange them for war horses from the Western Regions.

If the trade routes are open, then do business and everyone gets what they need. If the trade routes are blocked, then Zhou Shangwen will give me a fucking fight.

Yang Yiqing listened to a few words, and then said: "Would you like to ask Ping Haibo to try it in Nanyang?"