Chapter 418 Champion? Wu An? Courageous and Loyal

In the spring of the second year of Hongzhi.

After the court meeting that day, Emperor Hongzhi led hundreds of civil and military officials out of the city to greet the army returning to the court. Among the dark red court uniforms, the bright yellow figure in the middle stood out.

"Your Majesty, the army is back."

While Zhu Youtang was waiting, the eunuch Huaien had been looking into the distance. He also had some martial arts background, and his eyesight was much better than that of ordinary people. He was the first to spot the dark army in the distance, and quickly spoke out to remind him to wait. Long time emperor.

The emperor quickly raised his eyes and looked up. The first thing that caught his eye was the dragon flag representing him. Eunuch Cao Zhengchun, a master of martial arts, rode a horse to lift the flag, following Xu Xin, the coach.

The spring breeze is coming, the banners are fluttering, and the mighty army is coming in order, marching in unison, and majestic. The sound of horse hooves and footsteps compose an impassioned war song, which makes people seem to hear the inspiring war drums on the battlefield.

"This is my army, the army that enslaves the wolf and drinks the vast sea of ​​horses!"

Zhu Youtang's eyes involuntarily fell on the figures in the front. The figure in front of the Dragon Flag was riding a white horse, wearing golden armor, shining in the sun, with a face like a crown jade and sword-like eyebrows. Eyes, like the ancient god of war coming from the epic.

The cavalry behind him were in order, and every soldier looked at the dragon flag with admiration and conviction. He drove the horse forward slowly and burst into Zhu Youtang's eyes.

"His Majesty!"

Under the protection of Eunuch Cao and the tenth prince Zhu Wuwu, Xu Xin rode his horse to the front of the emperor, stood down from the white horse and stood still.

"Shouren, thank you for your hard work. Come with me into the city..."

"The Ministry of Rites, prepare the ceremony of knighthood..."

Zhu Youtang invited Xu Xin to get on the emperor's chariot with him, and paraded straight into the Forbidden City. The army returning to the imperial court followed closely behind, enjoying the supreme glory.

…

"Your Majesty is going to knight Mr. Wang?"

"It is the supreme honor of a military attache to be granted the title of a wolf, to drink from the vast sea of ​​horses. It is also normal to be granted a title."

"The key is what title should be given? Champion? Counting his age, Mr. Wang is only eighteen this year. For what he did, it is not an exaggeration to say that he is the reincarnation of the Han Champion."

"The champion of the Han Dynasty can't restrain Shi Yanran."

"In the first battle, we suppressed the turmoil in the northern frontier, defeated the Mongolian tribes, and conquered all the countries in the western region. When we returned, we swept away the Jurchen tribes, and showed our great power. For at least twenty years, the northern frontiers will not dare to move without permission. , such military honors are the only one since the founding of the Ming Dynasty..."

"With such a military honor, it's no wonder that His Majesty wants to negotiate a knighthood, but in this case, could it be that Lord Wang wants to transfer to a military position?"

There was a lot of discussion among the civil and military officials in the court. Zhu Youtang's statement that the Ministry of Rites was preparing to be knighted aroused countless people's discussions. They all felt that Xu Xin might switch from civil service to military affairs, and the subsequent structure of the court might also change.

There were precedents in the Ming Dynasty for converting civilian titles into military honors. For example, Wang Ji in the Battle of Luchuan during the Zhu Qizhen period was awarded a civilian title. It's just that his achievements are far behind compared to what Xu Xin did.

Xu Xin led an army of tens of thousands to the west, defeated the Mongolian tribes in one battle, and then hired the defeated soldiers of the Mongol tribes to destroy the countries in the Western Regions that were not convinced by the Ming Dynasty. He himself led his army deep into Mobei In the grassland, the wolf lives in Xu, the horse drinks from the vast sea, and so on.

In the process, countless alien races on the grassland were wiped out. When returning from Beihai, they changed another route and ran to the northeast to plow through the three Duoyan guards and the Jurchen tribes who were ready to move, and wiped out some Jurchens who were not very obedient. , such as...whatever Jueluo.

He has traveled in a large circle this year, and he has wiped out countless barbarians from the north. For at least twenty years, the barbarians in the towns on the nine sides of the Ming Dynasty have basically not dared to speak loudly.

…

In the Forbidden City, in the Wuying Hall, Xu Xin was invited here by Emperor Hongzhi Zhu Youtang, and then the two of them discussed the time of the reward in a few days.

"Shouren, I have ordered officials from the Ministry of Etiquette to arrange the awards. Just tell me what title you want. What do you think of the word champion!"

Zhu Youtang asked Xu Xin that the reason why he considered the word "champion" was that Xu Xin's current achievements were too similar to those of the champion of the Han Dynasty. He made great achievements at the same age and achieved the same results in the first command of the army. The big events are the same as sealing the wolf to live in Xu and drinking the horse from the vast sea.

"Your Majesty wants me to be a general? But I am not interested in continuing to command the army! The Fifth Army Commander's Mansion should be left to the Tenth Prince to take charge!"

Xu Xin still called Zhu Wuwu the tenth prince, which also showed his closeness. The emperor's eyes also showed a trace of nostalgia, as if he was still recalling the time when he was still the prince. During that time, he also had some wonderful experiences!

"What you mean is that the Tenth Emperor's brother should temporarily not join the clan. What does he think?"

The emperor seemed a little hesitant. Before Xu Xin went on the expedition, the two of them had analyzed the current situation of the Ming Dynasty many times.

The Ming Dynasty in the last years of the Chenghua Dynasty had too many problems. Officials, eunuchs and factory guards, lax military equipment, etc. are all very troublesome. Among them, there are many problems related to military affairs. The fundamental reason is that after the Battle of Tumubao, the military class of the Ming Dynasty was basically abolished.

In the battle of Tumubao, the civil and military forces of the Ming Dynasty suffered heavy losses, especially the military officers and nobles. Those who could fight were basically ruined by Zhu Qizhen, a loser.

Later, Emperor Jingtai, Yu Qian and others finally rebuilt some of their military force. Zhu Jingmen carried out a coup to seize the door and came to power again. Then he carried out another operation, basically destroying the three major battalions of the capital and the governor's office of the fifth army. .

Later, Emperor Chenghua Zhu Jianshen came to power. Although he did a lot of things and had both civil and military achievements, he was only a paperhanger in the end and failed to completely solve some problems.

When Zhu Youtang succeeded to the throne, after Xu Xin's guidance, he realized that the Ming Dynasty was really in trouble both internally and externally. Many problems were already very serious, but they had not yet been detonated.

It was precisely because he knew that the Ming Dynasty had too many problems that he chose to support Xu Xin in doing some taboo and risky things. Of course, Xu Xin's consistent and uninterrupted spiritual and mental hints were also one of the key factors for Zhu Youtang to absolutely trust him.

"Your Majesty, I have already talked to the tenth prince. He does not want to be a mediocre prince, and supports my suggestion. He chooses not to be included in the clan register for the time being, and first grants a military title to work in the court... Regarding the matter of conferring a title, I have some ideas, please listen..."

Xu Xin had been thinking about the matter of conferring a title for a long time on the road. After returning to Beijing this time, it would be better for him and the emperor to show some contradictions, so that it would be easier to fish!

On the second morning, in the Fengtian Hall, the emperor issued an order to discuss the conferring of titles, among which the three leading ones were the most controversial.

The general manager of the Imperial Horse Administration, the military supervisor Cao Zhengchun, was conferred the title of Loyal and Brave Earl.

This was the first time in the Ming Dynasty that a eunuch was conferred a title for military merit, but this was not the most shocking.

There were two people above Cao Zhengchun's Loyal and Brave Earl. The second most meritorious was Zhu Wusi, the vanguard of the army, who was conferred the title of Tiedan Shenhou and the Grand Commander of the Five Military Commander's Office. Although he was also a first-rank official, he ranked above the left and right commanders and was the head of the military officers of the Ming Dynasty.

The Grand Commander was only conferred in the early Ming Dynasty. The emperor brought it up again this time, which was obviously a very unusual signal.

The conferring of Xu Xin, the commander-in-chief of the army, caused a lot of discussion among the civil and military officials. Xu Xin was not conferred the title of Marquis or the Duke of the State, but the Duke of the County. There was no Duke of the County among the current meritorious nobles in the Ming Dynasty. Only a few Dukes of the County were conferred when the titles were conferred posthumously in the early Ming Dynasty.

This is unique. It seems that in order to avoid the situation where there is no more title to be given, the title of Duke of the State was not given on purpose. However, the title of Duke of the County given by the Emperor is very interesting. It is not Guanjun, but... Wu'an.