Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 481 Graduation Ceremony for Military Students on the Eve of the Northern Expedition
In the past in Ming Dynasty, the sources of military attaches were either the descendants of the family who inherited the hereditary military attache, or the folks with superb martial arts skills selected through military elections, or soldiers who made meritorious service.

However, the right to appoint and dismiss military officials and the right to assess them have always been in the hands of civil officials, so the civil officials have always suppressed military officials.

But it's different now. The officers of the Guards are all directly appointed, dismissed and evaluated by the Generalissimo's Mansion without going through the Ministry of War, and the military attaches don't have to look at the civilian officials anymore.

Therefore, this is also the reason why the combat effectiveness of the Ming Guards continues to rise.

Zhu Youjian walked into the Hall of Martial Heroes, and the moment he appeared, all the officers and students stood up unanimously: "I have seen Your Majesty!"

"Sit down, my sons and daughters! Today, you are the most shining existence here, and I will bestow on you the most supreme brilliance. A set of red tape for literati does not apply here! The hope of the empire rests on you, so sit today, I Stand with your officers!"

When Zhu Youjian said this, all the officers and students sat down and responded loudly: "Yes!"

Sitting in front of the emperor, such a specification is not only comparable to the title of the literati gold list, but even surpassed the literati!
Because Zhu Youjian was standing, other officials did not dare to sit down, but it was already a supreme honor for these officials to be able to stand beside the emperor, so even if they did not sit down, it would have little impact on them.

After all, on occasions like this, even the chief assistant of the cabinet has no right to come in, and Ruan Dayue, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, can only serve as a foil.

Chen Zilong and Zheng Zhibao presided over the ceremony, and the speaker was the Ming Emperor Zhu Youjian himself. For the military officers and students of the empire, this was an important moment that they could not forget.

But they also knew that they were about to embark on a new journey, that their ideal from now on would be to deploy soldiers on the battlefield to expand the territory of the empire, and they also knew that they were about to participate in the Northern Expedition to realize the reunification of the Ming Empire.

At the end of Zhu Youjian's speech, it was time for the graduation ceremony to award the sword and the letter of appointment to the Generalissimo's Mansion, and His Majesty the Emperor Ming bestowed the military officers and students with official titles.

This is the part that these officers and students look forward to the most. What they love is not only the dazzling Han sword, the honor red booklet symbolizing the official position, and the yellow silk imperial decree symbolizing the rank of the army, but also the ability to communicate with His Majesty the Emperor Ming. The pride of being in close contact and receiving that honor from their hands.

"Zhou Yanlong, an infantry scientist of the fifth phase of the Daming Army Military Academy! His academic papers are well written, and his shooting ability and cross-country ability rank first among the students of the fifth phase. Therefore, he was awarded the title of Lieutenant Cheng Xin and appointed as the First Corps of the Second Army of the Guards. The third infantry battalion, the fourth association, the first bid, the second general."

As soon as Chen Zilong's words fell, there was a burst of warm applause. A burly young man with thick eyebrows, wearing the military uniform of the Ming Dynasty Guards Army, walked up in the eyes of all the officers and students, and solemnly approached Zhu Youjian and others on the stage. A military salute was given.

"I wish the Northern Expedition great success!"

Zhu Youjian personally awarded the sword to Zhou Yanlong with a smile on his face.

For Zhu Youjian, it is just a sentence, but for Zhou Yanlong, it is the most memorable honor in this life, and even in order to repay this honor at this moment, he will be willing to sacrifice his life for it.

"Wei Liangtong, a scientific member of the Fourth Fleet Command of the Daming Shipping Bureau! He has unique insights in his academic papers, first in ship operations, third in theoretical tests, and second in overall rankings. Therefore, he was awarded Captain Zhaoxin and appointed fourth in the First Fleet of the Guards Navy." The third bid of the battalion is the first to be the general manager."

According to the rules, the students of the Daming Army Military Academy will be given sabers first, and then the students of the Daming Shipbuilding Academy will be awarded in turn. Therefore, it is Zheng Zhibao who is announced to be appointed at this time.

As soon as Zheng Zhibao finished speaking, a young military officer with a thin body and beige complexion came up with a smile, and gave Zhu Youjian a military salute solemnly.

"I wish the Northern Expedition great success!"

Zhu Youjian personally awarded the sword to Wei Liangtong.

Wei Liangtong was also in a very happy mood like Zhou Yanlong, his blood was surging, and he wished that he would rush to the battlefield of the Northern Expedition for His Majesty the Emperor right now.

Gradually, more and more cadets were awarded swords and ranks, as well as their first military posts in their careers.

And they were all awarded by Zhu Youjian himself.

While awarding thousands of people is no small feat, it can be tiring at the end.

But Zhu Youjian had to do it himself. He had to use this kind of ceremony to keep the military power firmly in his own hands.

Although these military officers are still low-level military officers, they are all important figures who directly control the soldiers. If Zhu Youjian controls the hearts of these people, it is equivalent to controlling the entire guard army.

"Zhu Keqing, the fifth infantry scientist of the Daming Army Military Academy! Passed the academic papers, ranked fifth in shooting, and ranked No. 20 in cross-country. He was awarded the title of Lieutenant Zhongwu and appointed as the fourth battalion of the second infantry regiment of the third guard army. One bid and the third overall."

Zhu Cijiong, whose alias was Zhu Keqing, finally waited until Chen Zilong read his name.

However, his mood at this time was a little different from other military students. He felt that as a prince, he should have higher grades in various subjects than others, but he did not expect that he was ranked in the middle and only got a sixth rank. Zhongwu Xiaowei, but the one who wants to confer his official position at this moment is his father Zhu Youjian conferring it himself.

Therefore, Zhu Cijiong's heart was complicated. He didn't know how to face Zhu Youjian. When he came up, he didn't smile, but saluted Zhu Youjian solemnly.

Zhu Youjian still only kept smiling, did not give Zhu Cijiong a different attitude, neither praised nor blamed, and also said "I wish the Northern Expedition meritorious service".

But Zhu Cijiong felt that he could see his disappointment in Zhu Youjian's eyes. He couldn't help but secretly vowed that he must make great contributions in this Northern Expedition, and that he would not let his father and the people present despise him.

Zhu Youjian has always been paying attention to Zhu Cijiong. After all, he is his prince and a legitimate contender for the heir apparent of the empire. However, he has not yet seen the difference between Zhu Cijiong and Zhu Cihong, but he hopes that Zhu Cijiong will be more prominent than Zhu Cihong. a little.

Thousands of graduated military officers also participated in the banquet hosted by Zhu Youjian himself to show their royal favor.

After this banquet, Zhu Youjian entertained civil servants and new scholars.

The 22nd year of Chongzhen was also the year of the Dabi.

This year's imperial examination, Zhu Youjian still did not change the content of the examination, and still used Cheng Zhu Neo Confucianism as the basis to examine the examinees. After all, the main military and political event of the empire is the completion of the Northern Expedition. For this imperial examination system that shakes the fundamental interests of the gentry group The main content of the assessment, he can't easily change it now, so as not to cause the stable society to lose balance.

(End of this chapter)