When Chongzhen heard the news, he was silent at first, then he let out a long breath.

This feeling had been weighing on his mind ever since the Jiannu invaded the country, making him feel uncomfortable all over. Sometimes he would wake up in the middle of the night and lie in bed unable to fall asleep, so he could only wake up his bedmates to exercise.

This tone came from the pressure from the Jiannu.

Even if the Jiannu looted money and food every time they entered the pass, and slaughtered many civilians, it could not damage the foundation of the Ming Dynasty.

To put it bluntly.

The Ming Dynasty has no shortage of money, food and people.

What really hurt the foundation was the suspension of the court due to looting.

Nearly half a year has passed since the Jiannu entered the Pass.

The situation was fine in the first two months, as the war was confined to the north of Beijing and did not affect the south.

The capture of Shandong a few months later directly cut off communications between the North and the South.

If the Crown Prince had not been in Nanjing to supervise the country, the area south of the Yellow River would have been in chaos due to the lack of government orders.

After all, no one dares to make the final decision when something happens.

If the imperial court investigates the case, the offender may be dismissed from office at the least and beheaded at the worst.

But now it’s different, because the Jiannu have come out!

The Ming Dynasty can finally get back on track!

Upon hearing that Jian Nu had left the border, Wang Chengen immediately knelt down to congratulate him: "Your Majesty, first the auspicious sign came from heaven, and then Jian Nu left the border. It's a double blessing!"

Chongzhen nodded, looked up to the sky and sighed in his heart: My Ming Dynasty will never perish!

After sighing, Chongzhen quickly regained his composure.

He first looked at the Jinyiwei who delivered the letter.

The snow on the Jinyiwei's body began to melt slowly due to the room temperature.

Water droplets dripped along the edge of the armor and onto the imperial kiln gold bricks on the floor of the Qianqing Palace.

"The soldiers on the front line fought bravely, and your scout who delivered the letter also worked hard. Wang Chengen, take him down to claim the reward."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." The Jinyiwei's eyes were red and he almost cried.

After Wang Chengen and the Embroidered Uniform Guard left, Chongzhen looked at the painter again.

At this time, the painter had completed the painting according to Chongzhen's requirements.

Chongzhen picked up the map and looked at it carefully.

"Yes, the painting is indeed good. Go down and claim your reward."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." The painter hurriedly cleaned up the table and ran out happily.

Soon, three cabinet ministers and Prime Minister Li Banghua came to congratulate him.

After a round of flattery, Chongzhen got down to business.

"Everyone, this is the flag of the Ming Dynasty that I asked the court painter to draw. What do you think of it?"

The four people, not knowing what was going on, came to the dragon desk and examined it carefully.

I saw a rectangular piece of paper covered with colors.

Most of the paper is covered in blue.

Centered on the left and right side of the page is a yellow circle with a white crescent moon just to the right of it.

The circle and crescent are dotted with red ripples.

"Your Majesty, what is the national flag?" Qiu Yu asked somewhat embarrassedly after hearing the glances from Li Banghua, Fan Jingwen and Fang Yuegong.

It was the first time he heard the word national flag.

Chongzhen was stunned at first, then he understood.

Not only did the Ming Dynasty not have a national flag, it didn't even have the concept of a national flag.

Historically, the first flag that could be called a national flag was the Yellow Dragon Flag of the Qing Dynasty in the late Qing Dynasty.

Cixi approved the "Beiyang Navy Regulations", stipulating that the Qing national flag be a rectangular yellow dragon flag.

In fact, the earliest national flag was brought back from the West by merchants.

Since the opening of the port during the Longqing reign of the Ming Dynasty, maritime trade has been very prosperous.

At that time, Ming Dynasty merchant ships discovered that merchant ships in the Western Ocean were all flying colorful flags.

After some inquiries, I realized that the different flags represented that the merchant ships came from different countries.

The Ming Dynasty court did not have an official flag, so Ming merchant ships made their own national flags in order to identify themselves.

Since the word "Ming" in the name of the Ming Dynasty means sun and moon, sun and moon flags of various shapes and colors were hung on merchant ships.

However, these flags were only circulated on civilian merchant ships and were not recognized by the imperial court.

This was the problem Chongzhen wanted to solve.

In response to Qiu Yu's question, Chongzhen thought carefully and replied: "The national flag... represents my presence in person!"

In this feudal dynasty era, there is no way to explain what are political characteristics and what are historical and cultural traditions.

They don’t understand!

In this era, if we want to give the national flag political significance and make it cohesive, it can only be explained by the four words "as if I were here in person."

Sure enough, when Chongzhen explained the meaning of the national flag, the four ministers immediately stood in awe.

Chongzhen continued to explain: "As long as this national flag is there, it means I am here. My will will be imprinted on the national flag and will follow the soldiers fighting on the front line."

"Your Majesty is so talented!" Li Banghua bowed.

He was the Minister of War, in charge of the country's military.

When Chongzhen said the four words "As if I were here in person", Li Banghua instantly understood how much spiritual encouragement this flag brought.

Sometimes the difference between victory and defeat on the battlefield is just this one flag!

Because the flag is there, the emperor is there!

Fan Jingwen followed suit and saluted. He not only served as the Minister of War, but also led troops in battles.

I understand the reason well.

Qiu Yu and Fang Yuegong were both smart people. They reacted quickly and followed suit.

"Your Majesty, who are you going to give this flag to?" Li Banghua asked.

"Who...?" Chongzhen was stunned by Li Banghua's question. "From the imperial guards to the border troops, the garrison troops, the sentries, the garrisons, and even the navy, all wore this flag."

"Wherever the Ming flag goes, it's Ming territory! All the people under the flag are Ming troops!"

"Anyone who dares to disrespect the national flag will be regarded as traitor to the country!"

The four ministers were moved by the tone of Chongzhen's speech and knelt down one after another: "Long live our emperor! Our emperor is wise!"

"Everyone, please stand up."

After Chongzhen vented his emotions, he quickly regained his composure.

At this time, Wang Chengen walked in from outside: "Your Majesty, the Minister of Justice Meng Zhaoxiang, the Minister of Dali Temple Ling Yiqu, and the Left Censor-in-Chief Shi Bangyao are outside the palace asking to see you."

"It is said that the case of Yangwu Marquis Xue Lian has been applied for investigation, and I have come here to report to Your Majesty."

The four cabinet ministers looked at each other, then tactfully stepped back half a step to make room for the three judicial officials.

Chongzhen chuckled.

The Three Courts were indeed interesting. As soon as the Jiannu came out of the pass, they closed the case.

They are indeed all good officials of the Ming Dynasty!

"Let them in. I want to see how they solved the case!"