The sacrificial arrangements for the Xiaoling Mausoleum in the Ming Dynasty were divided into "three major sacrifices" and "five minor sacrifices".
The three major sacrifices are the Qingming Festival, the Zhongyuan Festival and the Winter Solstice Festival.
The five minor festivals are Shengdan (the emperor's birthday), Zhengdan (Spring Festival), Mengdong (the first month of winter) and two Jian (the death anniversaries of Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma).
On the first day of the first lunar month, the Crown Prince Zhu Cilang of the Ming Dynasty led a group of officials to the Xiaoling Mausoleum to offer sacrifices.
The whole process was solemn and dignified.
After the sacrifice, the group walked out.
Under Zhu Cilang's instructions, the ceremonial guard and officials retreated first.
Soon, only Zhu Cilang, the commander of the Xiaoling Guard Mei Chun, and the eunuch Wang Zhixin who was guarding the mausoleum were left in the palace.
"Commander Mei, are you frozen?" Wang Zhixin asked with false concern.
"It's okay, it's okay!" Mei Chun rubbed his hands.
"What do you mean it's okay? Your hands are all frozen blue. You'd better go back and warm yourself by the fire!" Wang Zhixin urged.
He knew that Zhu Cilang wanted to talk to him about something, but Mei Chun had a very low emotional intelligence and stayed at the scene and refused to leave.
This made him very annoyed.
Mei Chun smiled carelessly and said, "It's really okay..."
Zhu Cilang couldn't bear to watch it any longer, and said to Mei Chun, "Commander Mei, please leave first. Wang Zhixin has something to say to me."
"Oh...Oh!" Mei Chun suddenly realized, "Your Highness, please forgive me. I will leave now."
After Meichun walked away, Zhu Cilang looked at Wang Zhixin and said, "Eunuch Wang, how are you?"
Wang Zhixin immediately knelt down and said, "Your Highness, please be humiliated by me. I am just a eunuch who was demoted to Nanjing to guard the mausoleum. I am not worthy of the title of eunuch!"
"Hey," Zhu Cilang waved his hand, "You are someone close to His Majesty, so you are a eunuch wherever you go."
"Please don't address me like that, Your Highness. Otherwise, I will have to kneel down for a long time." Wang Zhixin insisted.
Seeing Wang Zhixin's firm attitude, Zhu Cilang could only change the topic and ask, "You have been in Nanjing for a few months. Have you been bullied?"
Wang Zhixin shook his head: "To answer your Highness, no one bullies this slave."
Wang Zhixin spoke the truth.
Others who guard the mausoleum stay inside the mausoleum palace, and their range of activities is greatly limited.
But Wang Zhixin didn't.
Chongzhen told him that he could walk more when he had nothing to do.
This gave Wang Zhixin great freedom.
To Wang Zhixin, freedom means being innocent.
Otherwise it would be impossible to give him freedom.
What Wang Zhixin can understand, others can also understand.
What's more, he has been the commander-in-chief of the East Factory for more than ten years, and a lean camel is still bigger than a horse.
Therefore, no one dared to bully her.
"It's good that no one bullies you," Zhu Cilang smiled, "Before you came to Nanjing, did His Majesty give you any other instructions?"
Wang Zhixin shook his head and said, "No."
"really?"
"I dare not hide it."
Seeing Wang Zhixin's serious look, Zhu Cilang felt a little confused.
He originally thought that Wang Zhixin came to Nanjing with an imperial decree.
Now it seems that there is no purpose.
But if there was no imperial decree, why did my father give Wang Zhixin the power to enter and leave the imperial mausoleum freely?
With this right, the so-called guarding of the tomb has become a refuge.
Zhu Cilang stared at Wang Zhixin's eyes for a while, but still couldn't see any clues.
He still didn't give up, and said to Wang Zhixin: "Are you used to living here?"
"Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. This servant's place is very nice."
"Take me to have a look." Zhu Cilang said calmly.
Wang Zhixin had no choice but to take Zhu Cilang away from the imperial mausoleum and come to the southeast side of the mausoleum gate.
This is the station of Xiaolingwei, and Wang Zhixin also lives here.
Wang Zhixin led the way in front, and Zhu Cilang followed behind.
After walking for a while, Wang Zhixin stopped beside an old courtyard.
Zhu Cilang pretended to "appreciate" it for a while, then pushed the door and walked into the house.
He went on a tour to look for suspicious objects.
After searching for a long time, he found a wooden box made of sandalwood.
Zhu Cilang walked to the wooden box, pointed at it and asked, "What is this?"
Wang Zhixin didn't want to tell the truth, but Zhu Cilang looked like he would not give up until he told him the truth.
He could only say: "Your Highness, this is His Majesty's belongings."
"Your Majesty?" Zhu Cilang was even more confused. "Why are His Majesty's belongings here with you?"
"Before I left Beijing, His Majesty gave me this item and asked me to take it to Nanjing." Wang Zhixin replied.
"Then what?" Zhu Cilang asked, "Who should I give it to?"
"Hmm..." Wang Zhixin was afraid that she couldn't explain it clearly, so she simply changed the topic and said, "This is a secret decree. I dare not leak the news."
Zhu Cilang retracted his finger as if he had been electrocuted, and said with lingering fear: "Since it is a secret order, I will not ask."
The two chatted awkwardly for a while, and Zhu Cilang left with regret.
On the way back, he kept thinking: What would be in the box?
What exactly does Father want to do? Why doesn't he just say it out loud?
Why is the king's heart hidden?
With many questions, he returned to the imperial city of Nanjing.
In order to find out what's in the box as soon as possible, Zhu Cilang decided to win over Wang Zhixin.
Time quickly came to the 18th day of the first lunar month of the 25th year of Chongzhen.
The Lantern Festival has just passed.
While people were still immersed in the festive joy.
The coast of Dengzhou was lined with flags and warships were densely packed together, with the sails and flags on the ships fluttering in the wind.
According to the plan, Zheng Chenggong was going to send troops to Haezhou Port in Korea and Pi Island, where Mao Wenlong had once been stationed.
While opening up the second battlefield, destroy the smuggling channels of the Jiannu.
Zheng Chenggong stood on the shore and said goodbye to Yuan Shu: "The wind is strong at the seaside, please go back, Lord Yuan. The Koreans and the Jiannu are not reliable, and there will be no danger in this expedition."
Yuan Shu clasped his fists and bowed: "I wish Master Zheng great success and victory!"
"Thank you!" Zheng Chenggong turned and walked into a small boat.
After entering the sea, the small boat sailed towards a flagship.
After stepping onto the boat, Zheng Chenggong waved his hand and ordered: "Raise the anchor and set off!"
Swish swish——
With the command flag waved, the fleet set off in a mighty manner.
They first headed north to southern Liaoning, then sailed along the coast to Zhangzi Island.
That was the base of Huang Fei’s naval division.
From here, one can go upstream along the Yalu River to support Zhenjiang Fort and Kuandian Fort, and also keep an eye on Pi Island and Haizhou Port in North Korea.
The strategic location is very important.
After Zheng Chenggong arrived at Zhangzidao, he stayed there for a day.
During this period, some supplies were replenished and some latest information was obtained from Huang Fei.
On the 24th day of the first lunar month, Zheng Chenggong, with well-trained soldiers and sufficient food, led 8,000 naval forces straight to Pi Island!
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