Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 35 This is a new era for the Ming Dynasty!

The Minister of War Xu Jin was not a clean civil servant, so even though he was also a Jinshi from the two lists, he was not averse to the Emperor Zhu Houzhao's close contact with officers and soldiers who came from the military.

He was even pleased that the new emperor had taken actions to win the hearts of the army. In his opinion, such actions were what a true emperor did.

Duke of Yingguo Zhang Mao was a top nobleman in the Ming Dynasty. His father Zhang Fu and grandfather Zhang Yu both made great military achievements for the Ming Dynasty. He himself can be considered a veteran minister of three dynasties. However, he has not reviewed the army and understood the military situation with the emperor for many years. Now, the new Emperor Zhu Houzhao personally distributes rice and talks with the officers and soldiers, which makes him feel that the martial spirit of the Ming Dynasty is about to be rekindled.

Zhu Houzhao waited until the officers and soldiers finished yelling before he asked again, "Then I ask you again, as soldiers of the empire, is your mission just to earn money to live?"

The question Zhu Houzhao asked was somewhat difficult for the officers and soldiers to answer because they had never thought about such a question and had never thought about what their mission was.

After all, for the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, most of them were military households from birth, and then lived on salaries. When there was a war, they naturally relied on military exploits in battles, and when there was no war, they would farm.

The officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty had no sense of their own mission.

Not to mention them, even the Minister of War Xu Jin had never thought about what his mission was before. Even Duke Yingguo Zhang Mao began to ask himself: "What is my mission?"

Zhu Houzhao knew that few people in this era thought about their mission or their ideals, so he helped these officers and soldiers answer:
"No! Your mission is not to earn money to live. You are soldiers of the Ming Empire. You are born with the mission of defending your homeland and the people! Men should establish their careers on the battlefield, not lose their will in the court! If the soldiers of the Ming Empire want to live, they should live a life of earth-shaking, not living a life of cowardice, not living in mediocrity, and not doing nothing! If they want to die, they should not die of starvation, freezing, or illness, but die in battle! Your destination is either to be buried in a horse's hide, or to be a prince in brocade clothes. This is your glorious mission. Tell me, is it true or not!"

The commanders and commanders of the various camps standing in the front, as well as other officers, were all excited by the Emperor Zhu Houzhao's loud shout, and they all responded loudly:

"Yes!"

It seemed that at this moment, they were no longer lowly military households, no longer crude warriors, but imperial soldiers with a glorious mission, as His Majesty told them in person.

"My sons, you should be like the Han Yulin Army that defeated the Xiongnu, like the Tang Iron Cavalry that swept across the Turks, the most powerful army in the empire. Our ancestors drove out the Tartars, restored China, and unified the land that had not been recovered for three hundred years. Our fathers marched to the northern desert seven times, and the Hu people did not dare to go south and had to bow down to us. We are not lowly soldiers, we are the most noble soldiers in the empire!
And now, this era also belongs to us. I am the new emperor of Ming Dynasty, and you are the new soldiers of Ming Dynasty. I don’t want the empire to sink in my hands and lose its former prestige. I also don’t want your family to decline in your hands and lose its former bravery! "

Zhu Houzhao raised his fist and shouted loudly: "Long live the Ming Dynasty!"

"Long live the Ming Dynasty!"

For a moment, tens of thousands of officers and soldiers on the entire parade ground didn't know whether it was because Zhu Houzhao was the emperor or because Zhu Houzhao's words were so exciting that they resonated with him and started shouting.

Even Duke of England Zhang Mao started to shout. He was also a descendant of a famous general of the empire. He had seen the glory of his ancestors and fathers since he was a child. Now Zhu Houzhao's words seemed like a raging fire that instantly ignited the blood in his heart that had been frozen for a long time. Minister of War Xu Jin watched from the side and laughed. He felt that the young emperor in front of him seemed to have the shadow of Emperor Taizong.

Liu Jin and the other eight tigers also felt honored and proud, and felt more and more that the emperor they followed was special and unique. They even felt that they would become special eunuchs just like Eunuch Sanbao in the Yongle Dynasty, and it seemed that they would also create brilliant achievements in the future!
However, at this moment, an official from the Ministry of War hurriedly came to the Minister of War Xu Jin and muttered for a while.

Because Zhu Houzhao was right in front of him, Xu Jin, the Minister of War, hurried to Zhu Houzhao and said, "Your Majesty, I just received an urgent message from 800 miles away that the little prince's army led tens of thousands of cavalry to invade Guyuan, killed 300 of our border residents, massacred two villages, and is now heading towards Zhenyi."

Zhu Houzhao could not help but be shocked. He did not expect that just when he was enthusiastically boosting the morale of the officers and soldiers in the capital, he received the news that the little prince was invading his Ming Dynasty.

Minister of War Xu Jin looked at Zhu Houzhao with some trepidation. He didn't know how Zhu Houzhao would deal with the matter.

But Zhu Houzhao just nodded at this time, took the report from Xu Jin, looked at it for a while, and after the officers and soldiers were basically calm, he said loudly:
"However, just now, I received news from the Ministry of War, little prince, that this Tartar leader actually brought tens of thousands of cavalry to invade our Guyuan border town again, killing 300 of our Daming civilians and massacring two Daming villages. Shame! This is simply a great shame!
When I think about the past, our Ming Dynasty had never suffered such humiliation. Where has the courage of our fathers who marched to the northern desert seven times and made the Tartars tremble in fear gone?

Did the Battle of Tumu Fort really crush the fighting spirit of our Ming soldiers?

My sons, tell me, have you lost your spirit? Are we really inferior to our fathers, and will we sit back and watch our Ming Dynasty decline, until a hundred years later, like the fate of the two Song dynasties, we fall into the hands of foreigners again! "

"no!"

Some of the governors and commanders-in-chief who came from military families in front of Zhu Houzhao were completely enraged by Zhu Houzhao's remarks and the little prince's aggression, and they started shouting loudly.

"Well, from now on, you will receive enough rice. When you return, you must train well. I will summon you again in three months to conduct intensive training and assessment.

In the near future, I will lead you to realize the glory of our ancestors!
Let the flags of the Ming Dynasty be planted on every inch of land in Mobei!
And you should also be like him, wear the dragon robe, be appointed as a general and be granted a title of nobility, and even become the new generation of Dukes of our Ming Dynasty! Soldiers who don't want to be granted a title of nobility are not good soldiers. I hope that you can all be appointed as generals and be granted a title of nobility in the future!"

As Zhu Houzhao spoke, he pointed at Zhang Mao, the Duke of England. Zhang Mao, the Duke of England, could not help but straighten his chest, which in turn made the officers and soldiers under him become more ambitious.

"Remember, from now on it is a new era, the era of our young generation. You are the new soldiers of the empire, and they are the new officials of the empire. I am the new emperor of the empire, and we will surely usher in a new glory for the Ming Dynasty!"

Zhu Houzhao left the training ground after saying this, leaving only his back.

As for Duke of England Zhang Mao, Minister of War Xu Jin and all the officers and soldiers present, they were so overwhelmed with emotion that they could not calm down.

Thanks to the book friend Qingwu Feiyang for the 500 Qidian coins reward

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(End of this chapter)