Ma Chengfei roughly estimated the distance and shook his head. It was too far away. Even though he considered himself an excellent archer, he could only sigh in despair.
At this moment, a cavalryman suddenly rushed out from the Jiannu formation, carrying a white flag, and headed straight for the city.
He is not here to surrender. Anyone with combat experience will know that he is here to deliver a message.
The Jiannu messenger rushed to the city, stuck the white flag into the ground, and shouted, "The Khan has a letter for Governor Wang."
As he spoke, he drew his bow, drew his arrow, and shot it towards the city. This was called "arrow-stamping," and it was a common tactic.
After shooting the arrow, the messenger reached out and pulled out the white flag stuck in the ground, and was about to ride his horse back to the team.
Just as the messenger turned his horse's head and turned around, whoosh! An arrow suddenly shot from the city and hit the horse's neck.
The warhorse neighed, knelt on its front legs, and fell down.
The Jiannu messenger was caught off guard and fell off his horse, rolling on the ground. He turned his head and picked up the white flag and ran towards his own team.
Whoosh! Another arrow shot out at high speed and hit the Jiannu messenger on the back.
The Jiannu messenger stumbled forward, seriously injured. He staggered forward with blood dripping, leaving a thick red mark on the ground.
The Ming soldiers on the city turned around in shock and saw Ma Chengfei, a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, gritting his teeth and drawing his bow and arrow again.
The Jiannu army was in uproar, shouting and cursing, expressing their anger at this despicable act of breaking the rules. Two riders rushed out, apparently to rescue their companions.
The bowstring snapped, and the arrow shot out like a meteor. This time, it was a truly accurate shot, piercing the Jiannu messenger's neck from behind. Blood spurted out, and the body fell to the ground with a thud, raising a cloud of snow and dust.
"Good archery."
"Master Ma's magic arrow!"
The two Jinyiwei cheered loudly, half of which came from the heart and half was just a compliment.
Ma Chengfei blushed a little. He had originally thought of killing the enemy with one arrow. But the bow was not very easy to use. It took him three consecutive arrows to master it.
The Jiannu cavalry who rushed out to rescue their companions reined in their horses, pointed at the city and cursed loudly, but did not dare to move forward to take away the bodies.
Xiong Tingbi shook his head, speechless at this violation of the rules. He reached out to take the arrow book handed to him by his personal guard and unfolded it to read.
………………
In ancient times when polygamy was practiced, even ordinary families, if they had the financial means, would marry a wife in a formal and grand ceremony.
As for concubines, even the word "marry" cannot be used, it must be "accept". It probably means to accept, which sounds very casual.
The emperor got married and married the empress. In a smaller sense, she was the mistress of the harem, and in a more important sense, she was the mother of the country. The ceremony and the pomp were naturally beyond the description of the word grand.
It was quite grand, so grand that even Zhu Youxiao found it troublesome.
The six ceremonies of accepting the bride's proposal, asking for the bride's name, accepting the bride's promise, asking for the date, and welcoming the bride are essential, and the emperor is no exception.
Although the emperor did not have to go in person, he had to dress appropriately and look like an official, and then the officials from the Ministry of Rites would be busy.
For example, when accepting the bride's proposal or asking for her name, according to the "normal etiquette", the ceremonial guards should be displayed outside the Qianqing Gate, and female musicians should be placed on the steps of the Qianqing Palace.
In the main hall of the Qianqing Palace, two tables were temporarily set up, covered with apricot-yellow satin tablecloths. On one table was placed the "jie" (festival) and on the other the "wenming" (questioning name) imperial edict. The betrothal gifts to be sent to the empress's family were also displayed in broad daylight.
Hey, ha, this is something new, you may not be able to catch up with it in your lifetime!
Even members of the royal family and officials at the imperial court rarely witnessed such grand weddings. The officials at the Ministry of Rites, while making such a fuss, were simply following the records and regulations in the classics, not actually practicing them.
The officials who were watching the ceremony listened to instructions and looked around, just to watch the fun. The emperor was getting married, and we were able to watch the ceremony, something we could brag about for the rest of our lives.
It’s a pity that I don’t have a mobile phone or anything, otherwise I would just take a lot of photos and post them on WeChat Moments.
After waiting for almost an hour, the official from the Imperial Observatory reported proudly that the auspicious time had arrived!
Zhu Youxiao was dressed up in an elegant manner and made a grand appearance, surrounded by ministers, guards and eunuchs. He walked into the main hall of the Palace of Heavenly Purity to the sound of music and took his seat.
The princes and ministers prostrated themselves on the ground and shouted "Long live the emperor".
The official who announced the decree, bearing the imperial edict, stood on the eastern Danbi and read it aloud, appointing the chief and deputy angels to go to the empress's house to ask for the bride's name. Amidst the sound of music, the two angels carried the imperial edict and the imperial edict. The ceremony concluded, and Zhu Youxiao withdrew from court.
Well, Zhu Youxiao just appeared like a puppet, showed his face, and didn't even have to say a word. He had nothing to do with anything else.
Then the chief envoy held the imperial edict and the deputy envoy held the imperial edict, the ceremonial guard and the drum and music band led the way, and the officials who presented gifts followed behind the two envoys. They set out from the Qianqing Palace and rushed to the father-in-law's residence with music and drums.
The future father-in-law knelt at the gate to receive the angel, obeyed his orders, accepted the gifts, and expressed his gratitude. He then presented the angel with a "table" containing his daughter's name, resume, and date of birth.
After the ceremony, a banquet was held to entertain the angels. After a satisfying meal and wine, the angels led their team back to the Forbidden City. They entered the Meridian Gate and stopped outside the Gate of Supreme Harmony. They handed the "festival" and "tableau" to the eunuchs of the Imperial Household Department, thus completing their mission.
The eunuchs of the Imperial Household Department then went to the Palace of Heavenly Purity with the imperial edict and memorials to report the "imperial order". Zhu Youxiao then "recorded" the situation of the marriage proposal and the name of the bride to the princes and ministers.
After all this trouble, the last of the six ceremonies, "welcoming the bride", is finally here.
Tomorrow is the day of the "bride-receiving ceremony". In folk customs, the groom will be dressed in red and decorated with flowers, and will go to pick up the bride. After the bride is brought home, there will be a feast and a lively occasion, and then it will be the "bridal chamber" night.
The emperor naturally did not have to condescend to go, but there was a very complicated set of etiquette procedures for bringing the queen to Kunning Palace, which required him to experience and operate it personally.
As the saying goes, "When people are happy, they are in high spirits." But tomorrow was the day for the wedding, and the emperor himself was not very happy. Instead, he felt a little anxious and worried.
Could it be that the emperor is so anxious that he can't even wait for this day?
After Zhang Yu'er finished combing Bai Niang's hair, she carefully glanced at the young emperor and found that the emperor was frowning slightly and circling around the sand table again.
Even though Zhang Yu'er was favored by Zhu Youxiao, her status did not improve at all.
A palace maid is still a palace maid. Only when she is pregnant with a dragon child can she be given a title. This is an established rule in the palace.
If Xiong Tingbi could act according to his secret instructions, there would be a relatively good chance of defending Guangning.
Zhu Youxiao touched his beardless chin and analyzed and judged again, also to encourage and comfort himself.
Judging from historical wars, if the Ming army defended the city with all its strength and there were no traitors causing trouble, it would still be very difficult for the Later Jin army to capture the fortress.
Ningyuan is an example. It had strong city walls and trenches, and was supported by red-haired cannons. Jinzhou, on the other hand, was not as strong as Ningyuan, and the Later Jin army was still unable to capture it. It took a year-long siege before forcing Zu Dashou to surrender.
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