December 29th, the 12th year of the Qingli calendar, was a climax of the celebration.
There is the Little New Year's celebration on the 24th, the New Year's celebration on the 28th, and the grand military review and awarding of military titles on the 29th, which demonstrate the national strength and military power of the Song Dynasty.
Early in the morning, newspapers throughout Bianliang began to take action.
There are many newspapers in Bianliang today. In addition to the official ones, there are also a large number of private newspapers.
Moreover, newspapers and periodicals not based in Bianliang must also set up an office in Bianliang.
Local newspapers in commercially developed areas such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangzhou, Quanzhou, and Chengdu had offices in Bianliang so that they could keep abreast of the court's developments at any time.
So in addition to the local newspapers in Bianliang, dozens of major newspapers from other places flocked to Xuande Gate.
Since cameras had not yet been invented, newspapers often relied on hand-drawn illustrations to increase newspaper sales.
This gave many unknown painters a way to make a living.
But in order to achieve better results, you need a wider field of vision and a better position to paint the most beautiful pictures.
According to investigations by many newspaper reporters, Changqing Tower on the east side of Yudajie Street outside Xuande Gate and Baoci Temple on the west side are currently the best places to observe Xuande Gate Square.
The grand military parade requires a larger square, and only Xuande Gate Square is suitable. After the expansion of the imperial palace, the original Jingling East Palace and Xingguofang were incorporated into it.
The current Xuande Gate Square is the southern part of the former Xingguofang and Jingling East Palace. The cross street outside Xuande Gate becomes the Imperial Street outside the palace gate.
As a result, the south gate of the imperial palace became two pavilions, east and west. The Changqing Tower located in the east pavilion was three stories high, and the Baoci Temple located in the west pavilion was not high, but it had a five-story tower inside.
Standing at the highest point of the tower, you can even overlook the South Palace of the Imperial Palace.
As a result, Baoci Temple and Changqing Tower were packed with people early in the morning. The seats at Baoci Temple were the most sought-after. Because there were so many people, the head monk of the temple originally wanted to close the temple, but they gave too much money in incense offerings.
So after offering a position that cost as much as ten strings of coins, the great monks of Baoci Temple let more than twenty people in, filling the top floor of the originally small tower with people.
If it weren't for safety reasons, they would even want to climb over the railings on the side of the tower and run to the eaves or even the top of the tower.
Baoci Temple has the best location, but the place is too small. Basically, only those who pay a lot of money or have a noble status can go up there. And for food problems, you can only ask the big monk of Baoci Temple to send some vegetarian meals up there.
It’s different over at Changqing Building. The place is big and you can sit down and eat there. It costs little and can solve the problem of breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is much more comfortable than Baoci Temple.
As a result, more than a hundred people gathered on the grand stand on the top floor of Changqing Building.
Although it is a bit far from Xuande Gate, separated by a street and a square, glass craftsmanship has become popular.
In addition to selling glasses, private optical shops also sell telescopes.
The result was that starting from the morning, many people went up to take seats, and all kinds of drawing boards, tables and chairs, pens and inks were laid out, and everyone had a telescope.
By the beginning of the Chenshi period, which was seven o'clock in the morning, the palace had become bustling.
Outside the Chuigong Hall, all the officials gathered in the Imperial Gate Square, including more than a hundred generals wearing new military uniforms. They were extremely excited among the crowd, and each of them had a small team gathered together to chat.
Zhao Zhen, Zhao Jun, Fan Zhongyan and others stood at the gate of Chuigong Hall. Beside them were Zhang Kang, Di Qing, Wang Deyong, Cao Cong, Li Yonghe and Li Zhaoliang.
All six of them were dressed in the new light blue military uniforms, standing straight and straight, with ribbons, epaulettes, service badges and general stars hanging on them.
Compared to the excitement of the lieutenant generals and major generals below, they were much calmer.
Cao Cong, Li Yonghe and Li Zhaoliang were Zhao Zhen's confidants with little experience. They were appointed as generals purely for Zhao Zhen's sake and had no real power, so naturally they could not smile.
Zhang Kang, Di Qing and Wang Deyong were veterans on the battlefield and had long known how to conceal their emotions.
Zhao Zhen walked out of the Chuigong Hall, glanced down, and then noticed Di Qing's collar. He walked over and helped him turn it up, smiling, saying, "Han Chen, how are you? How are you feeling?"
Di Qing was flattered, but he didn't dare to resist. After Zhao Zhen helped him turn up his collar, he stepped back and bowed, saying, "My lord, I can only repay your grace by dying a thousand times."
"alright."
Zhao Zhen patted his shoulder and said with a smile, "You have earned all these achievements through life and death. Everything you have now is what you deserve. Don't underestimate yourself."
"yes."
Di Qing was still quite cautious and maintained a humble appearance.
Although he is no longer attacked by civil officials, even if he is attacked by them, he is often protected by Zhao Zhen, Zhao Jun and others, and the attackers are punished accordingly.
For example, Ouyang Xiu once published an article criticizing Di Qing without authorization, and was scolded by Fan Zhongyan as a result, and was not promoted for several years.
But as he rose from a low-level private to the highest level of the Song Dynasty army, he was accustomed to cold eyes and humiliation, and he knew that he was walking on thin ice all the way, so being cautious had long become a habit.
Seeing his appearance, even Zhao Zhen felt a little heartbroken.
"Sir, the military parade is about to begin."
Zhao Jun said on the side.
"Um."
Zhao Zhen nodded and said, "Then you go first."
"yes."
Zhang Kang, Di Qing, Wang Deyong and others around him bowed and said goodbye.
Following their shouts, many lieutenant generals and major generals below also lined up and headed towards Chongwenyuan.
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