On the left side of the mountain and river altar outside the Zhengyang Gate, is the Beijing Qixu Temple that worships the Ming military flag. According to the ritual system, after bathing and fasting the night before, Chongzhen went to the Qixu Temple in the early morning to worship the Qixu gods.

As a temple dedicated to the god of the army, it was most valued at the beginning of the country. Before July of the third year of Hongwu, there was a system of sacrificing flags on the New Year's Day every month, and then it was changed to two sacrifices in spring and autumn every year. During the Yongle period, the annual frost sent officials to sacrifice, and the Xuanzong Dynasty sent officials to sacrifice flags in autumn and August every year, and this practice was used until the Wuzong period.

After Wuzong, as the status of Wenchen completely suppressed Wuchen, this practice of sending officials to worship the flag god twice a year no longer existed. As for the emperor himself going to the sacrifice, it has not happened for hundreds of years.

The officers and soldiers of the Bannerman Guard have long forgotten the process of how to sacrifice the flag, and many people stayed up late last night to make up for the etiquette of the emperor's personal sacrifice, and today there was no mistake. When the sky was just white, Chongzhen was wearing a red martial arts suit, holding the jade gui of the seal inscription of "Revenge for Guilt and Peaceful People" in his hand, and under the leadership of the guide and Tai Changqing, he walked into the temple from the left south gate.

There are no statues in the Qixu Temple, only a row of gods. And today, after the throne, the six military teeth used in the expedition were placed for the emperor to sacrifice. Under Tai Changqing's instructions, Chongzhen followed the tedious sacrificial process.

After completing the sacrifice, Chongzhen, who walked out of the temple, looked up at the rising sun that had risen in the east, and said to Lian Shanxiang, who was accompanying the guards: "Prepare the horse, go to the northern suburbs to review the three armies, and swear to go to the battle." ”

Chongzhen's words made Lian Shanxiang pause, and Tai Changqing, who was standing on the side, hurriedly said: "Your Majesty should take the big car at this time, and the etiquette system is in place." ”

Zhu Youzhen said disapprerovingly: "It's not early, and the soldiers will set off immediately after the review. I think it's a little subtle, and you don't need to pay too much attention to it, what does Mr. Sun think? ”

Sun Chengzong looked at the sky, and said with an unchanged face: "Your Majesty is right, this expedition must resist a strong enemy, and you must not be slow to treat the army's heart." It is not a good thing to let the soldiers wait for a long time in the school field. The minister asked His Majesty to obey the power and ride a horse at speed. ”

The emperor personally sacrificed the flag, and naturally a large number of officials accompanied him, and if Chongzhen drove in a car, they could slowly follow. But now Chongzhen dropped the car and drove away, riding lightly, and immediately left the officials behind, only Sun Chengzong and other ministers and a team of guards accompanied Chongzhen, and quickly walked towards the camp in the northern suburbs.

After leaving the Desheng Gate, Chongzhen slightly sped up his horse's speed. At this time, it was already dark, but there were not many pedestrians on the avenue outside the city. Chongzhen's mount, Chifeng, who has been confined in the imperial city, has run out of character on this empty avenue. Although the speed of Chifeng does not seem to be as fast as that of later motorcycles, the ups and downs of horses are much more exciting than driving motorcycles.

This is the first time Chongzhen has indulged Chifeng running like this, and Chifeng is very excited. And Chongzhen also enjoyed this kind of galloping speed, a kind of eagerness to try, fearless of everything The mood slowly grew in his heart. When he appeared in this world, he actually had a feeling of anxiety all the time.

No matter who it is, if you know that after 17 years, you will ruin the country and your family and hang yourself on an old locust tree. I can't play any step-by-step reformism in the old gods, and I will always be eager to do something.

Everything Chongzhen has done in the past two years is to protect the country and himself. If he hadn't crossed over to Chongzhen, with his personality, he probably wouldn't have thought about saving the fate of the country, and would only work hard to save his own life. Because he is very self-aware, saving this country is beyond his ability, and he was just an ordinary person in his previous life after all.

The tide of history is mighty, those who go along with it prosper, and those who go against it die. If he can save this declining world by relying on his own strength, then he would not have been an ordinary project manager in his previous life, and he would have been an indispensable elite of the party-state for a long time.

However, bad luck, when he woke up, he realized that he had become Chongzhen. In this era, others may still have a way out, but as a great tomorrow, Chongzhen is really nowhere to retreat.

Since there is no way back, Zhu Youzhen can only face the difficulties and try to struggle out a way to protect his family and country. However, the state affairs had just improved, and Huang Taiji made a detour to break through the barrier, making it impossible for him to continue to sit in the capital and accumulate strength.

Zhu Youzhen, who put aside all calculations, no longer considered the future fate of himself and Daming, and was determined to fight with Huang Taiji, felt that the burdens he originally carried on his body were gone, and his mood became comfortable and quiet, and he no longer had the previous sense of being afraid of trembling every day and worrying about everything.

The team that originally surrounded Chongzhen tightly in the middle, after Chifeng ran out of character and rode away, the entire team was suddenly torn apart. Lian Shanxiang followed closely behind the emperor with the imperial guards, leaving Sun Chengzong and several other ministers behind.

The dust raised by these guards galloping on their horses made Han Yi and other officials who were not skilled in riding avoid it one after another. Han Yi, who coughed for a while before stopping, held back his unhappiness and said to Sun Chengzong beside him: "Your Majesty, is it too frivolous today?" It is a military affair to go on the oath to go on the expedition, or it should be done in accordance with etiquette, and the morale of the army must not be underestimated. Yu thought that it would be better for His Majesty to consider it again. Putting Your Majesty in danger is not what a courtier should do. ”

Sun Chengzong glanced at this old friend and replied with a slight hesitation: "Take a look again, Your Majesty is young after all, and it is not surprising that he is a little young.

In fact, there is not much danger for His Majesty to go on this expedition, and Jizhou City plus tens of thousands of new troops is not something that can be taken by a partial division of Houjin. And as long as it takes ten days and half a month, after the official troops of Baoding and Shandong arrive in Gyeonggi, I will rush to Jizhou as soon as possible, and Your Majesty will be able to return to the capital safely at that time.

If the Jiannu army could not be held back to the east of Jiju, there would be no place to use near Gyeonggi to block the Jiannu army. There is no way to do it. ”

When Han Yi was still thinking about Sun Chengzong's answer, Sun Chengzong had already gently lifted the reins and urged the horses to speed up. He didn't forget to explain to Han Yi: "There is a big camp not far ahead, I will go first, and I can't let His Majesty and the soldiers of the army wait for me for a long time." ”

Han Yi subconsciously wanted to reach out to grab Sun Chengzong's reins, but he was empty, and he had to smile bitterly and continue to let his horse stride forward.

When Sun Chengzong accelerated his horse, he was already less than a mile away from the camp in the northern suburbs. Four or five minutes later, he appeared outside the main camp gate. When he arrived at the camp gate, he realized that something seemed wrong. When reviewing the three armies, there must be a snare drum playing music, and the queue of sergeants will also make noise from time to time.

But now the camp was quieter than ever, and only a man could be heard shouting something in the wind. Sun Chengzong hurriedly threw his stirrup off his horse, threw his mount to the sergeant guarding the gate to take care of, and hurried to the large school field on the left, wanting to know what was going on inside.

As soon as the sun rose, the Gyeonggi New Army was summoned to the Daxiao Yard and waited for the emperor to present the flag and set out for the battle. The members of the new army under the name of the Gyeonggi Governor's Office were from the remnants of the guards, the freed villagers from Huangzhuang, some of them were farmers from all over Gyeonggi, and a small half were people retained by the Gyeongyeong.

Whether it is a former Huangzhuang villager or a farmer from all over the country, after one to two years of full-time training, the obedience to Shangguan's orders has been deeply rooted in the bones. From six o'clock in the morning when the cold wind was biting, he stood until almost nine o'clock, and still remained silent and uncomplaining.

However, the remnants of the guards and the retained sergeants of the original Beijing camp became a little impatient. These people have been begging for a living in the barracks for several generations, and they are very familiar with the rules in the barracks and the temper of the officials. Although it has also undergone nearly two years of training, it is much more sleek than those soldiers of the new army who were born as villagers and farmers.

Although it was a cloudy day today, but estimated the time, it was about three poles in the morning, and seeing that the emperor still hadn't appeared, some of the sergeants were a little impatient and complained quietly.

"Your Majesty personally sacrificed the flag, and you must first go to the south of the city and then return to the northern suburbs, at least at noon. The battalion general didn't know how to sympathize with me waiting, so early let me wait on the school field as a log, Shengsheng wanted me to wait for a morning. ”

"It's good to be able to arrive at noon, Your Majesty is not running back and forth alone, take the honor guard and hundreds of officials to drive back and forth in a car, don't miss the lunch meal."

"I heard that there is braised whale meat at noon today, the brothers of the first and third divisions, but they are going to miss this meal. After the review, they will immediately go to the top. However, it is said that the promotion fee and the settling-in allowance will not be paid until we return, and the officials of the logistics department will not want to swallow up the money we have paid. ”

"If they dare to do that? Then we will refuse to fight, and then we will see how Your Majesty punishes them. ”

"Chen Da, white face, you better say a few words, the battalion officer just stared at us. If His Majesty comes suddenly, our team will all be punished. ”

"If you are punished, you will be punished, isn't it just to dig a stinking ditch? It's better than fighting those Jurchen barbarians. It is said that those barbarians are all big-shouldered and round-waisted, and they can walk like flying in triple armor, and they can beat a team of us alone. ”

"What nonsense, Master Liu, I don't believe that those barbarians have such cattle, they are all useless Liao people, so I put gold on the barbarians' faces. On this expedition, Master Liu, I will inevitably cut off the head of a barbarian and present it to His Majesty... Your Majesty? ”

"What Your Majesty, are you demonic? The military music in front of the camp gate has not yet sounded. The companion standing next to this man said, following the somewhat stunned gaze of his colleague.

I saw that from the east side of the school grounds, a man in a red robe rode a horse like a dark red brocade, and swept straight in front of the army. Soon the soldiers recognized that this was the great tomorrow wearing a martial uniform.

Chongzhen rode the red wind from east to west, galloping past the three armies standing north on the school ground, he drove his mount while turning his head to look at the new army column passing by, and everywhere he looked, the soldiers all stood solemnly, not daring to say a word again.

When he ran to the end of the army, he pulled the reins violently, turned his horse's head and ran back to the middle of the front of the three armies, and the tens of thousands of soldiers standing on the school field suddenly became silent. Since Emperor Wuzong, the Great Tomorrow has never appeared in front of the armies in such a heroic manner.