December 26, the ninth year of Chongzhen.

Zhu Cixi passed the order and ordered all units of the National Guard Army to suspend training, and the Weiwu Battalion sent five thousand troops and Jin Yiwei to maintain order.

All officers above the general banner level of all ministries went to the Zhonghun Temple outside Fengtianmen to participate in the Zhonghun Temple sacrifice ceremony.

In addition, various departments of the National Guard Army are dispatching 6,000 veterans and 20,000 recruits to participate in the ceremony.

The National Defense Army has now expanded to more than 200,000 troops. It is impossible for them all to be present, and they cannot stand outside Fengtian Gate.

We can only mobilize some veterans and recruits to let the representatives experience the atmosphere of the Zhonghun Shrine Sacrifice Ceremony, which can stimulate the patriotic enthusiasm of the soldiers.

The land inventory in Gyeonggi Province has been completed. Officials from the six imperial ministries, the censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and other yamen, as well as officials from the Fifth Military Governor's Office, all attended the Zhonghun Temple sacrificial ceremony.

Zhu Cixi also decided that the legislation would be fixed after the Zhonghun Temple sacrificial ceremony.

From now on, a sacrificial ceremony will be held every year during the Qingming Festival, and senior officials from the royal family, the six ministries, and the five military governors' offices will all participate.

After the decree was conveyed, the National Protectorate Army, under the jurisdiction of the Weiwu Camp, Tiger Ben Army, Long Teng Army, Tiger Leopard Cavalry, and Tianxiong Army, immediately took action.

At the same time, officials from various government offices also rushed to the Zhonghun Temple outside Fengtianmen to participate in the sacrificial ceremony.

Although some officials believed that those who died in the battle were just mud-legged people and were not worthy of being sacrificed by scholars like them.

But the Crown Prince issued an order, no one dares to slack off, otherwise they may be facing disaster, so they can only go to Zhonghun Temple obediently.

This kind of sacrificial ceremony is originally intended to win over the people and the military, and the people must participate.

There are also the families of the dead soldiers, and they must all be in place.

Not all of the soldiers who died in the battle were soldiers of the national defense army, but there were also a few soldiers who were loyal to the king.

Zhu Cixiang had notified them one day in advance and asked them to send representatives to the capital as soon as possible to attend the Zhonghun Temple sacrificial ceremony.

After receiving the order, the general soldiers from all walks of life immediately sent people to the capital without stopping.

As imperial edicts were issued one after another, the outside of Fengtianmen became more and more lively.

Not only officials, eunuchs, nobles and soldiers arrived one after another.

The troops from various departments of the National Protectorate Army arriving in advance to maintain order.

They and the Jin Yiwei fans were even more cautious, looking around at every step.

At Chen time, all the people from all walks of life and officials from the six departments of the imperial court and other yamen arrived. After hearing the inquiry, there were more than 10,000 people who came to see the excitement.

Shortly after Chen Shi, Zhu Cixiang came to Zhonghun Temple accompanied by Hu Bao, Yuan Gui, Huang Degong, Zhou Yuji, Sun Yingyuan, Zhang Shize, Lu Xiangsheng, Zheng Chenggong and others.

Zhu Cixiang gave an order:

“Invite the ashes of heroes and martyrs to the cemetery!”

The musicians of the Bell and Drum Department immediately started playing mournful music, and at this time, soldiers from all armies walked into the Zhonghun Temple holding the ashes of the martyrs in their hands.

Due to the hot weather and the delay in the construction of the Loyal Soul Shrine, it was impossible to transport the bodies of the fallen soldiers back. We could only bring back the ashes and clothes of the heroes.

The spiritual tablets will be brought to the Loyal Soul Shrine for people to worship, and the armor, weapons and other relics of the fallen soldiers will be owned by their families and passed down from generation to generation.

Amidst the sounds of mourning and music, the soldiers buried the urns of their fallen comrades in the cemetery behind the Zhonghun Shrine.

Zhu Cixiang personally shoveled the soil with a group of generals to erect a monument for the heroes.

At the beginning of the sacrificial ceremony, groups of soldiers from the national defense army held spiritual tablets and invited them into the Loyal Soul Temple in an orderly manner.

During the solemn and grand sacrificial music and dance, Zhu Cixiang personally lit incense and bowed several times to the densely packed spiritual tablets in the ancestral hall.

The vast square outside Zhonghun Temple was already filled with a dense crowd of soldiers and civilians, numbering hundreds of thousands of people.

Zhu Cixi walked out of Zhonghun Temple and stood in front of the square, shouting:

"The Emperor Ming's loyal soul is still alive. His soul is buried in a foreign country and his soul has returned. The soul of the Ming Dynasty will exist forever.

May you all go well, heroes and martyrs. Today, I personally offer sacrifices to you. As long as the Ming Dynasty is not destroyed, sacrifices will continue!

In the center of the square, six thousand soldiers of the National Defense Army immediately lined up and saluted with their rifles, and then all Huang Ming rifles pointed at the sky.

Zhu Cixiang waved his hand:

"Fire a gun to see off the heroes!"

As Zhu Cixiang's voice fell, two thousand Huangming rifles pulled the triggers almost simultaneously:

"Bang bang bang..."

Six thousand Huangming rifles fired into the sky in three rounds to see off the heroes, and the sound was shocking...

The sound of gunfire and the sorrow of the battlefield infected everyone present, and the families of the soldiers who died in the battle burst into tears.

In their grief, they were also proud that their man's death was not in vain.

The officials bowed to the heroes, and the crown prince saluted the heroes. What kind of concept is this? It is absolutely unprecedented.

Such a grand sacrificial ceremony brought tears to the eyes of the soldiers present. Everyone was excited and proud to be a member of the Ming army. They were not afraid of death.

The new recruits were even more excited. If they could receive such a grand sacrifice from the Ming Dynasty civil and military officials and the crown prince, they would sacrifice themselves for the prosperous Ming Dynasty at all costs...

Li Banghua, Ni Yuanlu, Fan Jingwen and other civil servants could not help but be moved:

"If I can be sacrificed by the Ming Dynasty like this, I can die for the Ming Dynasty immediately..."

Zhu Cixiang glanced at the surrounding soldiers and ministers.

He was very satisfied with the tears in the eyes of the soldiers and the envy on the faces of the civilian officials. His purpose of building the Zhonghun Temple had been achieved.

Zhu Cixiang raised his legs and walked to a group of people kneeling on the ground crying bitterly. He knew that they were all family members of heroes and martyrs.

"Don't be sad, be proud of the men in your family.

Whether they are your sons or your husbands, they are all heroes of the Ming Dynasty.

They saved thousands of people with their own lives, and Ming Dynasty will never forget its heroes."

The families of the fallen soldiers hurriedly kowtowed to the crown prince:

"Thank you Crown Prince Tianen, the men in my family deserve to die..."

Zhu Cihong walked up to a five or six-year-old boy, stretched out his hand to touch the hero, who was about the same age as him, and said:

"How many brothers are there in your family?"

Although the child is not much different in age from Zhu Cixiang, his nutrition is compared to that of the crown prince. Zhu Cixiang looks much taller.

Hearing the Crown Prince's question, he hurriedly said:

"Reporting to the Crown Prince Qiansui, my father is my only son!"

Zhu Cixi nodded:

"Your father should have two hundred taels of silver for his meritorious service and pension. In a few days, I will allocate twenty acres of land to your family. From now on, you can farm well and honor your mother and elders. Remember, never join the army..."

The only one in the heroic family, Zhu Cixiang did not want his subordinates to have no descendants.

But before he finished speaking, the child suddenly said loudly:

"No, I want to join the army and kill the slaves to avenge my father..."

Seeing her son contradicting the crown prince, the child's mother was frightened and hurriedly reached out to cover the boy's mouth:

"You are so rude, how can you talk to the Crown Prince like this..."

Zhu Cixiang smiled slightly:

"It doesn't matter, this kid is ambitious, as all good men from the Ming Dynasty should be!"

The little boy struggled to break away from his mother and bowed to Zhu Cixiang:

"Thank you, Crown Prince Chitose, do you allow me to enlist in the army?"

Zhu Cixi nodded:

"Well, you can wait until you grow up!"

Standing behind Zhu Cixiang, Huang Degong laughed and picked up the little boy:

"What a good boy, he is the son of our National Guard Army. I like him! When he grows up, he can go directly to the Tiger Guard Army to find me, Lao Huang!"

The little boy nodded hurriedly:
Chapter completed!