Chapter 943: Loyalty and Victory (First update, please subscribe)
The Martyrs' Shrine is not only a memorial site for fallen soldiers, but also a national cemetery. Located in the southern suburbs of Yingtian, the Martyrs' Shrine covers hundreds of hectares. This large-scale cemetery is all green, and looks like a national defense green. Like all cemeteries, it seems a bit deserted. On the green cemetery, there are only a few white lines stretching into the distance. They are tombstones made of white marble. Although there are not many, this is just the beginning.
At the entrance of the cemetery is a Chinese-style city gate-style memorial archway. On the central porch of the archway is written "Loyalty and Martyrdom for Thousands of Years", on the right porch is written "Marching for Benevolence", and on the left porch is written "Taking Justice", which is taken from Wen Tianxiang's last poem "Confucius said to martyr for benevolence, Mencius said to take justice, only when justice is exhausted, benevolence is achieved."
Going further in, along the pine and cypress trees on both sides of the passage, you can see a large-scale Chinese-style building. That is the Martyrs' Shrine. Its shape was inspired by the Hanyuan Hall of the Tang Dynasty - it was entirely designed by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, who drew a sketch of the restoration of the Hanyuan Hall based on his memories, and then gave the sketch to the architects. It took three years to build this large palace-style building. From the day it was completed, it has been the most Chinese-style building in the whole of South America.
Instead of building a palace, build a shrine to loyalty!
This shows the difference between the Ming Dynasty and previous dynasties!
The Martyrs' Shrine not only enshrines the tablets of the Ming Dynasty's fallen soldiers, but also the tablets of China's loyal and righteous men from the pre-Qin Dynasty to the late Ming Dynasty. To a certain extent, this is the inheritance of Chinese civilization.
After all, the Ming Dynasty, which was founded in South America, is only a part of China's thousands of years of history, and China's ancestors and heroes can be commemorated here four times a year.
For the Ming Dynasty, this is not only a Martyrs' Shrine for commemorating the martyrs, but also a memorial center. Its right side hall is the Shrine of Sages, which enshrines the Chinese sages, while the left side hall is the Youjiu Hall, which displays the armaments of the Ming army and the weapons seized from various countries. Since the day it was built, schools have often organized students to visit here.
Today, as in previous days, there are elementary school students from Yingtian School coming here to visit. What is different from previous days is that the usually quiet Martyrs' Shrine seems a bit "noisy".
"Bang! Bang..."
When neat volleys of gunfire came from the empty cemetery, the students who were visiting stood at attention and looked in the direction of the gunfire. The funeral of the martyrs was going on. There would always be casualties in war. Every day, the ashes of the fallen soldiers were sent from the front line to Yingtian. There would be funerals every day in the cemetery of the Martyrs' Shrine.
Led by their teacher, the students walked in the direction of the gunshots, on the green ground and between the white tombstones. These young students were full of curiosity and even yearning for the military funerals. After all, there were descriptions of military funerals in the middle school textbooks of the Ming Dynasty.
Solemn and dignified.
This was the first time they witnessed Jun's funeral, but unlike the descriptions in the books, there was no sobbing from relatives today.
"Bang……"
When the students approached, they saw a funeral going on about ten meters away.
Six armed soldiers fired their rifles into the air.
"Ready...fire!"
"Bang!"
The sound of gunfire rang out again as the sergeant gave the order. Although the gunfire made the students' bodies tremble slightly, their expressions became more solemn at this time.
The students consciously lined up and saluted towards the cemetery.
"Bang!"
“Beep…beep…beep, beep…beep, beep…”
After the salute, the bugler picked up the bugle and blew the lights-out horn. The low sound of the lights-out horn seemed extremely solemn at this time.
There were no relatives to see him off in front of the tomb. Only six soldiers in full dress uniforms stood there. The coffin that was about to be buried was covered with the national flag. This was the honor of the soldiers.
Accompanied by the low and solemn lights-out signal, six soldiers standing beside the coffin raised the national flag at the same time. They wore white gloves on their hands, and then gently folded the national flag along the center line. The soldiers followed the standard flag-folding steps, standing on both sides of the military coffin with their six hands crossed, and folded the national flag slowly.
The leading sergeant clasped his arms and held the national flag against his chest, then slowly walked towards the soldiers in front of the cemetery.
"This flag is dedicated to you in the name of His Majesty the Emperor and the country! It is used to thank your brother for his glorious, loyal and respectable contribution to the empire. This flag expresses the gratitude of the entire country and the Imperial Legion to him."
Children can even memorize this passage, which is the "flag gift message" written in the book. Logically, it should be given to the relatives of the fallen soldiers. If they have no relatives, they should be given to their brothers - comrades-in-arms.
In fact, many soldiers who died in the Ming Dynasty had no relatives. They came here alone across the ocean. They created this country with their blood and loyalty and opened up this land for the Chinese nation. They are buried in the Martyrs' Shrine, and they deserve to be commemorated and remembered.
The sergeant's voice was low, and he gently handed the national flag to his comrade with both hands. Although everything seemed to be a normal procedure, when the soldier took the flag, he also held it in front of his chest with both arms, as if he was hugging his brother.
After completing the "flag presentation ceremony", the sergeant saluted the young soldier. His movements were gentle and seemed full of reluctance. Everything seemed so solemn at this moment...
In the name of His Majesty the Emperor and the country, we remember them and express gratitude to them!
In the Ming Dynasty, almost everyone can recite this sentence. It is the sacrifice of the soldiers that laid the foundation for everything in this country. Because of this, they deserve people's respect and must be respected and remembered by people.
Seventeen years!
In the past seventeen years, many people's habits and personalities have changed. Seventeen years ago, soldiers were soldiers who served and ate food, but now? Soldiers are sacred and respected.
What has made all this possible is the sacrifices and bravery of the soldiers, and of course the country's heartfelt respect for the soldiers and the many guarantees they provide, rather than just saying "the military is a respectable profession."
In order to show respect for soldiers, the Ming Dynasty used many seemingly dogmatic things and detailed and cumbersome regulations to protect the interests of soldiers during their lifetime and after their death. It was this meticulous concern that allowed everyone to feel the extraordinary status of soldiers.
At this time, at the funerals of these loyal martyrs whose souls returned to the Martyrs' Shrine, these solemn-looking students once again received patriotism education, which was more intuitive than the "military funeral" they learned in class, and the impact on them was also obvious...
It's still hard to bear... I'll try to update three times! Thank you all for your support and love!
(End of this chapter)
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