Chapter 64: The Grand Ceremony of Presenting Captives

The Brocade Guard arranged honor guards on both sides of the imperial way before the Meridian Gate, standing in a formation running east and west. A human wall composed of elite imperial guards clad in golden armor isolated the commoners along the outer perimeter.

South of the honor guards, officials and musicians of the Directorate of Music arranged grand ceremonial music in eastern and western tiers, facing north. Two heralds of the Court of State Ceremonial stood on either side of the Meridian Gate, facing east and west. The imperial decree-proclaiming officials faced north and south.

Civil and military officials, along with envoys from tributary states, lined up in sequential order along the imperial avenue. The commoners permitted at the outer perimeter were all locally revered village elders and scholars of high virtue.

As the morning sun rose, Li Shanchang, Minister of the Left of the Secretariat and head of the civil officials, loudly chanted the anti-Yuan proclamation written in Song Lian's calligraphy upon the bright yellow imperial edict—the Proclamation to the Central Plains—while officials of the Ministry of Rites echoed and sang out each phrase in succession.

"Expel the northern barbarians, restore the Chinese civilization..."

When he chanted this deafening slogan, the surrounding commoners erupted into a roar resembling crashing waves and howling gales.

"Long live our Emperor, long live our Emperor, ten thousand years to our Emperor!"

They embraced one another, tears welling in their eyes, and tossed their hats into the air to express the venting of a century of humiliation. Under the Yuan, people were divided into four castes, with the southern populace relegated to the lowest tier. The tyrannical Yuan had no dao, subjecting them to generations of blood and tears. Starting today, they would no longer have to live like cattle and horses, with lives as cheap as blades of grass.

Seeing the stirred-up populace, Lü Ben, Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, turned as pale as death. Kneeling before Zhu Yuanzhang, he said cautiously, "Your Majesty, why not dispatch the imperial guards to drive the people away, lest they disrupt the grand state ceremony?"

Zhu Yuanzhang cast a side-long glance at him. Were it not for the fact that Lü Ben's daughter was a secondary consort to the Crown Prince, Zhu Yuanzhang would have given the order to have him thrown down from the gate tower. He said in a deep voice, "I am the sovereign and father to the people of all under heaven. Seeing them so moved fills my heart with joy. Let anyone who speaks again of driving away the people be cast into the imperial prison."

After Li Shanchang finished reading, the Minister of War stepped forward, and Chen Ning trotted up to the gate tower, respectfully placing the military dispatch on the large desk before Zhu Yuanzhang's throne. Huang Gou'er, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial in the Forbidden City, read the dispatch aloud on behalf of the Emperor, while eunuchs stationed along the steps relayed it tier by tier downward.

Upon hearing the words, "The Ming army suffered one hundred and fifty thousand casualties, while eight hundred thousand Yuan troops were utterly annihilated,"

Zhu Yuanzhang looked to his left. Crown Prince Zhu Biao declared in a ringing voice to the officials, foreign envoys, and throngs of commoners below the tower: "From this moment forth, our imperial Ming unifies all under heaven, and the hearts of the people return to us. The Nine Provinces are united as one, and our state shall flourish for generations."

"Radiant and magnificent is our Great Ming, governing all directions, encompassing the universe."

"We your subjects respectfully congratulate Your Majesty on a dynastic lineage stretching long and a prosperity that knows no bounds."

From this day forward, there would be no more separatist regimes under heaven. Across the four seas and eight wildernesses, only Zhu Yuanzhang could style himself Emperor. He stood up, swept his hand through the air, and commanded, "Play the music, and present the captives."

As an emperor sprung from the common folk, the refined zhou ritual music held no appeal for him; it sounded merely like decadent airs.

The Drum and Bell Department struck the battle drums atop the gate tower, and the Directorate of Music struck up the tune of *The Prince of Qin Breaking Through the Array*.

Amidst the stirring strains of music, General Conquering the Captives Xu Da, clad in golden mountain-pattern armor and mounted on an imperial steed, led the vanguard of senior military commanders at the front of the procession.

Their warhorses moved in precise, uniform steps, and enthusiastic applause erupted from the midst of the commoners.

Following behind were the former Yuan Emperor Toghun Temür and Empress Gi, wearing the ceremonial robes and phoenix coronets of the Yuan imperial house, walking with lowered heads.

Behind them marched the Yuan Crown Prince, Siyurgagatmi, and over three thousand Yuan court officials. With the exception of the Crown Prince, the upper bodies of all the others were bared, their hands bound with hemp ropes, urged forward by the imperial guards of the Four Elite Guard Divisions.

This vast and mighty procession took nearly half an hour to pass, followed by an even more gargantuan contingent: nearly ten thousand Yuan princes, nobles, and military generals. Burdened with cangues and leg irons, clad in prisoner garbs, they were driven forward on foot under the whip handles of the Brocade Guard.

Aside from the Yuan imperial couple and the Crown Prince, who were escorted up to the gate tower, all these captives knelt in sequence before the Meridian Gate, a vast, dark sea of humanity awaiting the judgment of Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang stood behind the battlements; after this day, he would be the peerless, pioneering founding monarch.

With a voice like a bronze bell, he proclaimed, "With the exception of those guilty of heinous crimes and those who have harmed the common people, all others are pardoned. The rest shall be handed over to the Three Judicial Offices for a joint trial."

Mercy is forever the prerogative of the victor. Amidst the curses and revilement of the populace, these prisoners were escorted away.

The tune of *The Prince of Qin* came to an end, yet the protagonist—the Prince of Qin—was nowhere to be seen. Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly felt a faint, ominous premonition: surely that rebellious son of mine wouldn't pull some bizarre stunt on such a joyous day, would he?

In terms of personal significance, today's ceremony was no less important to him than his grand wedding with Empress Ma.

Even as his thoughts wandered wildly, the reedy, discordant notes of suonas struck up, stirring a vexation within his breast. Next, he beheld a sight that would remain etched in his memory for the rest of his life.

An imperial state carriage drawn by six fine steeds bore a massive coffin. Zhu Xun was dressed in coarse white mourning robes, a hempen band bound around his head, holding aloft a towering white funeral banner that bore the inscription: *General Defeating the Captives, Vice Commander, Duke of Kaiping, Lord Chang Yuchun*.

The seven thousand Qin soldiers marching behind him all wore stern and solemn expressions, each clasping an ash urn against his chest bearing the name and native place of the fallen. Aside from the strains of the dirge and the soft, rustling sound of footsteps,

not a single word was uttered by this procession. They marched forward in silence.

Bathed in tears, Zhu Xun stood at the front of the carriage, looked up at the sky, and shouted, "In all my life I have deceived countless men, yet to my brothers I never uttered a single falsehood!"

"Today, I shall lead General Chang and my brothers marching down this imperial avenue reserved solely for emperors and esteemed metropolitan graduates."

"Return, oh souls, return! I, Zhu Xun, am bringing all you fallen heroes home."

Hearing these words, the commoners in the crowd wept bitterly without exception. The surrounding imperial guards of the Four Elite Guard Divisions, the Brocade Guard, and the twelve metropolitan garrison divisions guarding the imperial city all felt their eyes turn red. Their hands gripping their sabers trembled, and as if moved by a single shared impulse, they shouted at the top of their lungs, "Return, oh souls! Return!"

Zhu Yuanzhang, standing atop the gate wall, was deeply moved. Beside him, Crown Prince Zhu Biao gazed with a complex expression upon this full brother who had vanished for four years.

"Return, oh souls! Return, manifest heroes, protect our Great Ming!"

The moment Zhu Xun finished shouting these words, his procession vanished into the far end of the long avenue.

Having cleared the imperial way, he distributed the thousands of silver taels he carried upon his person among the common street performers who had followed him all the way, and had Chang Yuchun's coffin transported to the Prince of Kaiping's Mansion.

Lighting the incense and candles, he approached Chang Yuchun's spirit tablet and kowtowed three resounding times before the ancestral plaque.

Blue Yu and Chang's two brothers returned the bow with looks of profound gratitude. Zhu Xun patted Blue Yu on the shoulder and said, "You are the father-in-law of the Crown Prince; the Crown Prince is our sovereign, and I am the Crown Prince's full brother. Observing mourning on behalf of my elder brother is a duty as it should be."

Without lingering for the meal urged upon him by the company, he stood up and departed the Chang residence.

Blue Yu's eyes were red-rimmed as he remarked with a sigh, "The greatest regret of my brother-in-law before he breathed his last was not being able to drink his fill with the Prince of Qin. Truly, the Prince of Qin is a great and honorable man."

Zhu Xun changed into a fresh set of robes and hurried without pause back to the gate tower. Since old Zhu was still alive, parading around in mourning garments before his eyes would inevitably risk driving the old man mad enough to slash him down with a saber.

Because the enthronement ceremony directly followed the grand ritual of presenting captives, Zhu Yuanzhang had not left the gate tower. He had just finished conferring rewards upon Xu Da and other generals.

The anxious and apprehensive Yuan imperial couple was escorted up by the Brocade Guard. As the victor, Zhu Yuanzhang was preparing to display his magnanimity.

"To gaze directly upon the sovereign is akin to regicide. Kneel before my brother!"

With a sudden, explosive roar that startled the Yuan imperial couple into a violent shudder, their legs went soft and they dropped straight to their knees.

Zhu Xun stood at Zhu Yuanzhang's side, attired in a flying fish robe with a Embroidered Spring Saber at his waist, radiating an overwhelming, heaven-reaching aura of slaughter.

The Yuan Emperor was so frightened he prostrated himself completely, not daring to raise his head.

Seeing Zhu Xun's ingratiating, smiling expression, Zhu Yuanzhang reined in his fury.

He turned and seated himself upon the throne, with the Crown Prince to his left and Zhu Xun standing guard with his blade to his right.

Master Zhu the Second maintained an impassive expression as he commanded in a voice like thunder, "Sound twenty-one salvos of salute cannon, and bid the Yuan Emperor perform the ceremony of three kneelings and nine kowtows."

Resistance surged in the Yuan Emperor's heart, but his fear of this fierce man who had captured him single-handedly and dragged him bound to a war chariot was far greater.

Zhu Xun shouted in the Mongolian tongue, "Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, perform the grand ceremony of three kneelings and nine kowtows."

With reluctance gnawing at his heart, hands and feet pressed flat against the ground, the Yuan Emperor performed the grand obeisance of a subject amidst the thunderous roar of salute cannon.

He intoned, "Your humble subject Toghun Temür pays homage to Your Majesty, the Emperor of the Great Ming."

Zhu Yuanzhang felt a gratification surpassing that of tasting the immortal peaches of legend, his face glowing with radiance. He could not help but reflect upon past emperors—aside from Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, who captured the Khan Jiali in Chang'an and made him dance the *Hu Xuan* dance, which other sovereign had ever enjoyed such glorious splendor as he did this day?

Anxious with excitement, he descended the imperial dais, raised the Yuan Emperor to his feet, and said with a warm, intimate air, "My wayward son was lacking in courtesy and treated a friend with discourtesy."

He instructed those to his left and right, "Transmit my imperial decree: bestow upon Toghun Temür the title of Prince of Respectful Submission, with all protocol and regalia identical to that of an imperial prince."