Chapter 76: Military Review

When the three Embroiled Uniform Guard men who had been leading the ceremony stepped slowly onto the flag platform, two took up positions to the left and right, while only the man in the center walked toward the flagpole — and this man was none other than Xu Xianchun, Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, charged with overseeing all civil and military officials and the nobility throughout the realm.

Xu Xianchun reached the base of the flagpole, tied the red flag in his hands to the halyard, then held the rope with one hand and grasped a corner of the red flag with the other, standing there in solemn stillness.

Suddenly a burst of drums and horns sounded, and whether it was the civil and military officials and nobles atop the Gate of Heavenly Succession or the commoners in the square below, every scalp tingled, as if their hearts had all skipped a beat, then began pounding again in time with the drums.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard man originally tasked with calling out now raised his voice and sang: "How can you say you have no robe? I will share my robe with you."

"The king raises his host; I shall ready my spear and lance, and share your foe as mine."

"How can you say you have no robe? I will share my under-robe with you."

"The king raises his host; I shall ready my spear and halberd, and rise together with you!"

"How can you say you have no robe? I will share my lower garment with you."

"The king raises his host; I shall ready my armor and weapons, and march together with you!"

This song "No Robe" — sung with no particular skill, no melodic turns, by a group of big men bellowing at the top of their lungs, it could hardly be called beautiful — yet it made scalps tingle and eyes and ears burn red.

At this moment, Xu Xianchun flung the red flag in his hand outward, then slowly began to pull the rope, his eyes watching as the red flag rose steadily toward the top of the flagpole.

Atop the Gate of Heavenly Succession, the civil officials of the Great Ming, whether from north or south, were all drained of color; some even murmured under their breath: "A Tyrannical Qin! A Tyrannical Qin!" If one looked closely, the legs of many civil officials were trembling.

The military officers wore an entirely different expression — every one of them beaming with delight.

Before today, no one had known that the Chongzhen Emperor would pull a move like this.

All the Embroidered Uniform Guard's stalwart guardsmen and the musicians from the Guard had rehearsed inside the palace, so the court had been kept completely in the dark.

As for communicating with the palace precincts to gather intelligence — ever since the Chongzhen Emperor last purged the rear palace and had a batch of eunuchs, palace maids, and Embroidered Uniform Guard men beaten to death, no one dared secretly pass word outside anymore, and so not a whisper of news had leaked out.

Now, this sudden strike Chongzhen had pulled sent an unmistakable signal to all the military officers: "We intend to put warriors to use. We intend to wage war. No cowering — just fight!"

As for the nobles, they remained as expressionless as ever. After all, the titles passed down from their ancestors would continue through the generations; all they needed was to keep steady and follow the Emperor's lead, and there would be no problem.

Chongzhen took in the expressions of all the civil and military officials and nobles, sneering inwardly: Go on, strut about for now. Every last one of you bastards just wait. Slowly but surely, you'll find out exactly what your noble titles are worth.

By the time the second rendition of "No Robe" was sung through and the music ended at precisely the same moment, the red flag in Xu Xianchun's hands had also reached the very top of the flagpole.

As if Heaven itself were lending a hand, a gentle breeze happened to blow, and the red flag unfurled at once.

Upon the rectangular red flag, a fierce and menacing yellow dragon held the sun and moon in its mouth; of its two forward claws, one gripped a sword, and the other clutched a plowshare.

Those present who saw it — some felt their scalps tingle, some had tears welling in their eyes, and still others were stricken with terror, too tongue-tied to speak.

Chongzhen, however, stepped forward a few paces so that the commoners could all see him from afar, nodded slightly, and spoke: "The late Emperor abandoned his ministers and people and departed.

We are young and meager in virtue, and had no choice but to accept the late Emperor's dying command to uphold the ancestral temples."

"From this day forward, the reign era is changed to Chongzhen. Edicts will soon be dispatched throughout the Great Ming and to all tributary states, so that all under Heaven may know."

After bidding the vast kneeling crowd of civil and military officials and commoners to rise, Chongzhen shifted his tone and continued: "What was raised just now is the national flag of our Great Ming."

"Henceforth, all government offices, academies, and guard stations in every region must display the national flag. Violators will be punished for breach of regulation."

"Wherever the sun and moon shine, wherever the national flag stands — that is the territory of our Great Ming. Any who show it no reverence are enemies of our Great Ming."

His tone shifted again, and he went on in plain speech: "Our subjects — We shall lead the armies of the Great Ming to win victory after victory, and with the swords and blades in Our soldiers' hands, We shall win for you land that you can till."

"From now on, you need never endure hunger again, need never worry about having no land to farm!"

"From now on, if you suffer injustice, if you are bullied and humiliated, go without hesitation to the government office where the national flag flies and seek redress."

"If the officials ignore you, go to the Embroidered Uniform Guard and seek redress — We Ourselves shall see justice done for you!"

How simple-hearted were the commoners of that time? Hearing this, they all knelt upon the ground once more, roaring "Long live the Emperor!"

After once again bidding the commoners to rise, Chongzhen continued: "As for the Jianzhou barbarians beyond the passes, We shall deal with them in due course. One day, We shall surely lead a campaign in person and utterly exterminate the Jianzhou barbarians!"

Having spoken, and paying no further heed to the commoners' reactions, Chongzhen signaled Wen Tiren to begin the military review ceremony.

Wen Tiren, having received the Emperor's signal, stepped forward again and shouted at the top of his lungs: "The military review ceremony — now begins!"

As Wen Tiren's words faded, that same scalp-tingling drumming from before came rolling back — only the melody had changed to "The General's Command."

The commoners now felt the very ground beneath their feet trembling.

A sound of marching footsteps approached — it was the tremor fed back through the earth with every step lifted and planted down.

The commoners looked up toward the east side of the Gate of Heavenly Succession and saw a square formation of over three hundred Embroidered Uniform Guard men marching forward.

This formation of over three hundred was still led by three men at the head, with fifteen men per rank behind them, twenty ranks in all.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard, as the Son of Heaven's own personal troops, appearing first was something everyone had expected.

What was unexpected was that these three hundred-odd men were all of uniform height, build, and weight, as if stamped from the same mold. Every man wore a flying-fish robe and carried a firelock, having set aside the most commonly seen Embroidered Spring saber.

The guns were also of a strange design, never before seen by anyone — somewhat shorter than the long guns that had appeared during the flag-raising earlier.

The square formation of three hundred and three men moved as a single body, even the angle at which their feet lifted and fell perfectly identical. Who knew how long they had trained to achieve such an effect — whether viewed from the side or the front, they looked like one man.

When the square formation reached the foot of the Gate of Heavenly Succession, the Embroidered Uniform Guard men within it all thrust their firelocks forward with a forceful chop, making the watching commoners' hearts clench, fearful that something might go wrong.

At that moment, the Chongzhen Emperor stood atop the gate tower of the Gate of Heavenly Succession and called out: "Greetings, soldiers!"

The square formation below shouted back in unison: "Long live the Emperor, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years!"

Then Chongzhen called out again: "Soldiers, you have worked hard!"

The square formation below shouted back: "Defend home and country! Long live the Great Ming!"

This was Chongzhen's mischievous streak at play — he had specially had these lines taught to them.

After the Embroidered Uniform Guard column had passed, a cavalry unit came riding forward.

Likewise three hundred and three fine horses — and what was rare was that their coats were all date-red, their heights uniform, the riders upon them also of uniform height, and even the moment the horses' hooves struck the ground followed the drumbeats without the slightest deviation.

After them, the Guanning Iron Cavalry, the White Rod troops, and columns from guard stations across the realm passed by one after another, until the commoners watching felt a surge of heroic spirit rising in their own chests.

Who knew how many scholars, in that moment, thought of those predecessors from the Han and Tang who went out as generals and returned as ministers, and yearned to cast aside the brush for the sword.

It was not until noon that all the columns had finished marching past.

At this point, Chongzhen led the hundred officials down from the Gate of Heavenly Succession and headed toward the Shrine of the Loyal Martyrs.

Couldn't find a satisfactory national flag or national anthem, so I just threw together a flag and used "No Robe" for both the national anthem and the military song.

(End of chapter)