Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 495: Northern Expedition
The resounding shouts of tens of thousands of people shook the heavens and the earth, leaving even the foreign envoys present in awe. Those envoys from Brunei and Champa, from small and sparsely populated countries, had never seen such a grand scene before, let alone a giant city like Jiankang with a population of hundreds of thousands, which was probably more than half the population of their own countries.

According to the ceremony's procedure, the shouts should be repeated three times. As soon as the first shout ended, many onlookers spontaneously joined in, shouting "Long live the Emperor!" The shouts grew louder and louder, prompting Lu Jin to turn around and look at the crowd.

Gongshu Tan, who was still fast asleep in Zhang Yunxiu's arms, was also awakened by the shouts. He opened his eyes and looked around blankly. When he turned his head and saw his mother dressed in a phoenix coronet and wedding robes, he grinned and said, "Mother, you look so beautiful today."

Shh, don't talk nonsense.

After the three shouts, the enthronement ceremony came to an end. Originally, the ceremony should have started with worshipping the Temple of Heaven and then the Temple of Earth. However, the Temple of Heaven and the Temple of Earth were to be set up in two separate locations, requiring people to travel back and forth between them. Lu Jin found this troublesome and had them all worshipped together in one place.

Lu Jin simplified many traditional and cumbersome procedures, but added some modern etiquette after the simplification, making the entire enthronement and founding of the country process even longer than before. However, it was a once-in-a-century event, so no one said anything. Such a day should indeed be celebrated in a grand manner.

According to the procedure, after Lu Jin ascended the throne and received the homage of the emperor, Li Shanchang was to read out the edicts appointing the empress and the crown prince. Although Lu Jin was the one who appointed them, according to etiquette, the edicts should indeed be read by the prime minister.

The Zhou Li (Rites of Zhou) also describes the organization of the emperor's harem. It should consist of one empress, three consorts, nine concubines, and a whole bunch of other miscellaneous titles, such as "Shifu" (ladies of the court) and "Yuqi" (imperial wives). The number of empresses has remained basically unchanged. Except for the Yuan Dynasty, where each emperor had four empresses, all emperors of Han Chinese regimes only had one empress. However, the number of three consorts has been increasing with the change of dynasties.

During the Tang Dynasty, the number of consorts increased to four. The Song Dynasty added several more concubines. The Jin Dynasty directly increased the number of first-rank consorts to five: Yuanfei, Guifei, Shufei, Defei, and Xianfei, all of the first rank. By the early Ming Dynasty, Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang had increased this to nine.
Lu Jin doesn't have that many women now, but he hasn't fixed the number of women in the harem either. It's unrealistic to try to restrict future emperors with 'ancestral rules.' As long as it doesn't involve the succession to the throne, adding a few more women isn't a big deal for the emperor, and the ministers won't strongly object.

Therefore, he simply followed the usual practice and made Zhang Yunxiu empress, Gongshu Tan the crown prince, Ma Xiuying a noble consort, and Fan Qiuchan a virtuous consort. The remaining titles would be decided later.

After bestowing titles upon the Empress and the Crown Prince, Lu Jin led the civil and military officials back into the city. Another ceremony was to be held at the Meridian Gate of the Imperial Palace, which included firing a cannon salute, raising the national flag, and a military parade.

For thousands of years, the Confucian ideology of self-cultivation, family management, governing the state, and bringing peace to the world prevailed, with the family always taking precedence over the state. As a result, the common people only knew about their families and not about the state. Whenever foreign enemies invaded, those large families would surrender to protect themselves, without caring about the survival of the country.

To change this mindset, it is not enough to simply punish Bei Kong, who led the traitors. To make all people feel a sense of national identity, we must create a tangible symbol for the 'abstract' nation. The national flag and national anthem are the most suitable things. These symbolic things can be placed in all aspects of life. Coupled with patriotic education from childhood, people will naturally develop a sense of national identity over time.

In the square in front of the Meridian Gate of the Imperial Palace, a new flag-raising platform was built. The first national flag of the Ming Dynasty was raised by Lu Jin, Liao Yong'an, and Li Shanchang. The flag was a rectangle with a red background and 12 small golden five-pointed stars in a circle, which together guarded a large five-pointed star in the center. It was somewhat like the flag of the European Union in later times, only with a different color and an extra star in the middle.

It has many meanings. For example, the star in the middle represents imperial power and the imperial court. In ancient times, the emperor was said to be the reincarnation of the Ziwei star, so this star can also represent the Ziwei star.

The 12 small stars surrounding it can be seen as the twelve Heavenly Stems. Together with the central star, they represent the unity of heaven and man. They can also represent various professions, such as industry, agriculture, military, education, teaching, officialdom, medicine, commerce, music, animal husbandry, fishing, hunting, etc. As long as you want to make up a list, you can always come up with all twelve.

The total of thirteen stars can also be seen as the sum of the Big Dipper and the Southern Dipper. In addition, "a galaxy of stars" also represents the Han Chinese, the main ethnic group. Han means the Milky Way or the Milky Way. If the Milky Way is bright and the people of the Milky Way are from there, then the people of the Milky Way should naturally use stars as their totem.

The national anthem is the long-sung song of the Holy Martial Army, which uses the melody of the Big Sword Song and has been rewritten by Lu Jin. It contains the lines "Drive out the Tartars and restore our rivers and mountains, never forget the sacrifice of the Divine Land at Yai Shan". Although the Tartars will soon be driven out, the lyrics of this song can be left behind to constantly remind future generations that this is the consequence if they dare to mess around again.

Furthermore, the lyrics of this song also prove the legitimacy of the establishment of the new dynasty. We are the regime that drove out the barbarians and rebuilt the land. The establishment of the nation is what everyone hopes for and is only right and proper.

Boom boom boom boom boom——

Two rows of cannons roared outside the Meridian Gate, startling the civil officials who had hardly ever been on the battlefield. After 22 rounds of salvo, representing the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, the band began to play music, the Imperial Guards sang the national anthem, and Lu Jin, along with Liao Yong'an and Li Shanchang, the two civil and military representatives, slowly raised the national flag to the top of the flagpole.

Then everyone went up to the city tower, and Feng Guoyong, as the representative of the military officials, went to the street outside to inspect the troops. After that, Chang Yuchun led the soldiers of the Ninth Army Group to march neatly past the Meridian Gate.

They had just finished attending the enthronement ceremony in the southern suburbs of the city. This time, they circled around halfway and entered the city through the east gate. After participating in the military parade, they went directly out through the west gate and headed to the battlefield.

After the enthronement and founding military parade are completed, the first court assembly of the new dynasty will be held in the Grand Hall of State Affairs. The main purpose will be to confer official titles on civil and military officials, but nobility titles will not be conferred for the time being, at least not until the Northern Expedition is over.

Li Shanchang and Feng Guoyong both became prime ministers, but many ministerial positions in the State Council are still vacant due to a lack of professional talent. The various departments cannot be established all at once; it is estimated that it will take at least Lu Jin's generation to cultivate enough talent before all the restructured departments can be filled.

After bestowing titles upon all the officials, Lu Jin also rewarded the envoys of Brunei and Champa at the court assembly. He appointed Yang Puxiong, a former official of the Xu Song dynasty who had recently massacred the Northern Kong, as the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies and ordered him to go to Brunei and Champa to confer titles of nobility on the kings of the two countries on behalf of the new dynasty, exchange letters of credence and gifts, and also to negotiate and explain the new dynasty's attitude toward Southeast Asia.

The Ming Dynasty could join forces with Brunei to attack Sulu, but in terms of the distribution of spoils after the war, those lands and people would belong to the Ming Dynasty.

Regarding Champa, the Ming Dynasty promised not to trade with 'Dai Viet', nor to establish diplomatic relations with it, nor to recognize its legal status, in order to weaken Dai Viet. Well, there is no Annam yet, but the northern part of Vietnam calls itself Dai Viet and promotes that to the outside world.

As for whether there will be any military action against Dai Viet afterward, that will have to wait until later. At least until the Ming Dynasty recovers Guangdong and Guangxi and borders Dai Viet.

Furthermore, Lu Jin bestowed upon the King of Champa the title of King of Linyi, granting him the rank of a county-level prince. He stated, "I don't care what your country is called; if you want to receive investiture from China, I only recognize the title of Linyi. Otherwise, you won't receive any investiture." Linyi was a place name during the Han Dynasty, and the Sui Dynasty also used this name when it conquered the Linyi Kingdom. Lu Jin's bestowal of this title upon the King of Champa is an official statement that while he acknowledges the fact that Champa occupies this land, it was previously his territory, and he still claims ownership of Linyi's territory. The timing of the attack is unimportant; the important thing is to preserve the claim.

Regarding trade with the two countries, Lu Jin suggested that Chinese merchants should stop at Brunei and Champa in the future, but the two countries should not impose heavy taxes. At the same time, Chinese merchants should be allowed to buy land, build houses, establish trading posts, and send people to reside in Brunei and Champa.

Furthermore, these merchants could not be considered local citizens, and Brunei and Champa could not collect any taxes from them other than port entry taxes and transaction taxes, nor could they conscript soldiers or perform other labor services from them.

Furthermore, in the future, the Ming Dynasty will exchange ambassadors with both countries, establish embassies in each other's capitals, and set up consulates in major economic and trade centers to handle the entry and exit of citizens of both sides, as well as legal disputes and commercial issues.

In other words, the Ming Dynasty established by Lu Jin did not engage in tribute trade. Sending gifts during festivals was called tribute, but trade was trade and had nothing to do with tribute. Lu Jin wanted to use free trade to destroy their market, set up more spies and people, and wipe them out when the time was right.

Of course, these kinds of tactics were something that neither Brunei nor Champa had ever seen before, and even few Chinese officials had ever encountered them. They were still unaware of Lu Jin's true intentions.

As for the two countries exchanging ambassadors to each other's capitals, although there is no precedent for this, it is not unacceptable.

Although there was no fixed system of envoys residing permanently in ancient times, those small countries were quite diligent in coming to China. For example, Korea in history would make six trips to the Ming Dynasty a year! The envoys of the Ryukyu Kingdom would stay in the Ming Dynasty for half a year at a time. The kings of Brunei and Sulu even brought their entire families of over a hundred people to reside permanently in the Ming Dynasty. Two of the kings even died in China, and their tombs were left in the Ming Dynasty, one buried in Nanjing and the other in Shandong.

With this kind of diplomatic mission frequency, it's no different from having a permanent embassy. Before the previous batch of envoys has even left, the next batch arrives. What's the difference between this and a permanent embassy?
Yang Puxiong led the envoys from both countries to Hangzhou first, carrying two copies of the "Good Neighborliness, Friendship and Commerce Treaty". Whether they could be signed was still unknown. The establishment of a permanent embassy would be a matter for after the treaty was signed. They would stay in Hangzhou until late September to make sure there were no more typhoons before returning.

Meanwhile, in Jiankang, after the coronation and founding ceremony on the first day of the lunar new year, a group of generals immediately rushed to the front lines to prepare for the Northern Expedition. Chang Yuchun also led the Ninth Army to Huaiqing Prefecture, which is next to Shanxi. Lu Jin was also preparing to go on this Northern Expedition.

While it wasn't exactly a matter of the emperor personally leading the expedition, the four armies of the Northern Expedition were not under each other's command, and the battle lines were too far from Jiankang. Lu Jin had to take command at the front to avoid delaying military operations.

As for the target this time, Xiao Tieguo, he is, after all, an emperor. Even if the generals at the front capture him, it will be difficult to deal with him. It is better for Lu Jin to handle it personally. In addition, Lu Jin also plans to take this opportunity to investigate the situation in the north.

On August 15th, Sang Shijie and Miao Youzhen of the navy, as well as a musketeer regiment of the Imperial Guard from Miao Daheng's Fourth Army Group, were all transferred back to Jiankang by Lu Jin. During the Northern Expedition, when Lu Jin was not in Jiankang, they were put in charge of protecting the central government.

In terms of government affairs, since there was no suitable person to oversee the country, all memorials followed Lu Jin wherever he went.

In addition, the two prime ministers, Wen and Wu, left Feng Guoyong in Jiankang to look after the family, while Lu Jin took Li Shanchang with him to the front line. The official reason was to let Li Shanchang assist in handling government affairs, but in reality, Lu Jin did not trust this guy and wanted to keep him by his side to keep an eye on him personally.

Li Shanchang has a dark history in the original history. After Zhu Yuanzhang destroyed Chen Youliang, he immediately prepared to pacify Zhang Shicheng, but Li Shanchang kept making excuses and did not support this matter. He kept saying that it was not the right time to deal with Zhang Shicheng. So what was his purpose?

It is known that Zhang Shicheng was very good at intelligence gathering at the time, and he successively turned and bribed many civil and military officials under Zhu Yuanzhang. Therefore, there is reason to suspect that Li Shanchang may have also received bribes from Zhang Shicheng, which is why he spoke on Zhang Shicheng's behalf.

In the original history, Zhu Yuanzhang did not show any signs of success for a long time. At that time, he was squeezed and surrounded by the forces of Han Song, Xu Song, Zhang Shicheng, and the Yuan army. Who could have imagined that Zhu Yuanzhang, who developed the latest and had the smallest scale, would eventually become emperor? Therefore, it is normal for Li Shanchang to be half-hearted under him.

However, in this timeline, Lu Jin pacified Huaixi in one year, Zhejiang East in two years, and half of the southern country in three years, appearing to be destined by heaven. Li Shanchang was indeed much more loyal than in the original history. After all, the other forces were very weak, and even if he wanted to be fickle or switch allegiances, he would have nowhere to go.

However, Lu Jin's subjective impression was still too deep. In addition, Li Shanchang had a history of accepting bribes from Hu Weiyong and illegally promoting Hu Weiyong. This was something Lu Jin had in his hands, so it was normal for him to be uneasy. But at this time, he could not touch Li Shanchang.

He's only just ascended the throne, and he's already dealing with his meritorious officials. What will the other officials think of him? So, this person needs to be guarded against, but also utilized. The only option is to keep him by my side and keep a close watch on him.

By August 25th, all the armies at the front were ready. Liu Futong's Provisional Eleventh Army had tens of thousands of soldiers all wearing new armor. The soldiers of other armies, who had only been half-armored during the Henan-Hunan-Jiangxi Campaign, had seen their armor coverage rise to almost 90% after nearly a year of preparation. With such a powerful army facing the Yuan army, which was so short of food that they resorted to cannibalism, the soldiers were naturally in high spirits.

Lu Jin summoned Bao Yu, who was about to embark on the expedition, for one last check: "Is the little iron pot still there? Has Da Du left?"

“He didn’t leave. In mid-August, I had the intelligence bureau deliver a final shipment of grain to Dadu in Fang Guozhen’s name. It was only 50,000 shi. Hama was the one who collected the grain. Emperor Yuan was indeed still in Dadu, and Hama was still urging for more grain,” Bao Yu replied immediately.

Lu Jin nodded in satisfaction, "It's good that they didn't leave. Send orders to all troops at the front: they will officially set off on the first day of September!"

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)