During this period, Emperor Chongzhen asked Zhu Cixiang again why he wanted to read "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu. Zhu Cixiang took the opportunity to mention military affairs again, implicitly expressing that he wanted to train an army.

However, Chongzhen said that it was impossible to talk on paper, and that actual operations were difficult. For example, the Beijing camp was inferior to the internal operations in the palace.

"Your Majesty, if you have time, you can go to the Shouhuang Pavilion to review my East Palace Guards in person. I think they will surprise you." Zhu Cixiang said with a smile.

"Oh? That's fine. I'm tired of reviewing memorials, so I should go and relax. Let's go now." Emperor Chongzhen became a little interested in Zhu Cixiang's words.

Wang Chengen shouted to the eunuch on duty: "Show me the Longevity Emperor's Pavilion on Long Live Mountain!"

After Chongzhen and Zhu Cixiang walked out of the Qianqing Palace, the emperor's chariot was ready, accompanied by more than a thousand Han generals with royal guards.

Chongzhen boarded the Luanjia and wanted Zhu Cixiang to come up and go with him. Zhu Cixiang declined, saying that he did not dare to overstep his bounds.

Zhu Cixiang followed Chongzhen Luanjia and said to the Han general Xu Sheng beside him: "Go and order Sun Yingyuan to lead the East Palace Guards to assemble at the Shouhuang Pavilion campus immediately."

"Yes!" Xu Sheng accepted the order with his fists clasped and ran quickly.

After hearing this, Chongzhen smiled and said: "Your Majesty, you are gathering troops temporarily. I'm afraid I won't be able to complete the gathering when I get to the Shouhuang Pavilion."

The Shouhuang Pavilion is located on Wansui Mountain, which is also known as Meishan in later generations. The place where Chongzhen hung himself on the southeast branch in history is only more than a thousand meters away from the Qianqing Palace, and it only takes a quarter of an hour to walk there.

Now Zhu Cixiang asked people to inform him. Even if the big Han general's legs and feet were fast, it would still take less than half the time.

The East Palace Guards needed to assemble before the emperor arrived in less than a quarter of an hour, which was really difficult.

"Your Majesty, Father, please be at ease." Zhu Cixiang said with a faint smile.

When Emperor Chongzhen saw Zhu Cixiang's confident look, he stopped talking, sat in his carriage, and headed for the Longevity Emperor Pavilion of Longevity Mountain, surrounded by a group of royal guards.

It took Zhu Cixiang a year to create the East Palace Guards. He had not been given the right to command the army before, so Zhu Cixiang had to go to the Tengxiang Four Guards and select fifty elite soldiers who were good at fighting to serve as the East Palace Guards.

The selection criteria for the Tengxiang Four Guards are "the able-bodied officers and soldiers of the Tianxia Guard Station and the men who have returned from the captives", and basically all of them are elite soldiers.

It's just that by the Chongzhen period, the combat effectiveness of this army was no longer good, but the source of troops was still there. In fact, the main reason was the lack of training.

According to the operational points and training subjects written by Zhu Cixiang himself, after half a year of training, these fifty soldiers have formed a personal guard with extremely strong combat effectiveness.

I dare not speak of my actual combat ability on the battlefield. At least I followed orders and prohibitions and had strict discipline. It was much better than those soldiers in the Beijing camp who were just waiting to die.

Seeing the training results, Zhu Cixiang asked Cao Huachun for the newly built Yongwei Battalion for 500 elite soldiers. He personally led the selection and trained them for another half a year before forming the current East Palace Guards.

As a crown prince who has already left the cabinet, there is no problem in forming a personal guard of several hundred people.

The majestic Emperor Luan drove through the Xuanwu Gate at the north gate of the Forbidden City and entered the Longevity Mountain Pavilion.

The Shouhuang Pavilion is a military parade platform built by Chongzhen, specifically used for viewing internal exercises.

A group of people came to the school grounds, headed by Chongzhen. The Jinyi guards and Han generals who were guarding Chongzhen stood on both sides, and Zhu Cixiang stood beside Chongzhen.

As soon as they arrived, they saw hundreds of sergeants already lined up and standing there on the school grounds.

The entire team is neat and uniform, without any chaos. No matter which direction you look at it, it is a straight line.

All the sergeants remained motionless. Even when they saw Luan Jia passing by, no one turned their heads, as if they were frozen.

The more than 500 people in the East Palace Guards are all strong men of the same color. They all have straight backs and straight eyes. They exude a heroic aura. This is true for more than 500 people, which makes people feel an invisible pressure.

The imperial guards and Han generals who were guarding Chongzhen all had incredible expressions on their faces.

"Your Majesty, these sergeants are in good order and are as good as any other battalion in the capital." Wang Chengen praised from the side, not daring to speak too loudly.

This kind of momentum made Chongzhen's eyes light up. He had also seen the soldiers in the Beijing camp, and their indifferent and forced faces were incomparable with those of the East Palace guards.

Chongzhen's eyes were bright, and it took him a long time to say: "Okay!"

Hearing this, Zhu Cixi breathed a sigh of relief and sighed at the same time. After training hard for a year and killing seven or eight assassins who did not obey military orders as a deterrent, the East Palace Guards became what they are today.

Chongzhen's face was full of admiration, and he said to Zhu Cihong: "Your Majesty, I am very curious, how did you, the East Palace Guards, train?"

Zhu Cixiang said: "Reporting to His Majesty the Father, the emperor read many military books, added some of his own ideas, re-wrote a set of training methods, and then practiced them rigorously."

Military books? There are so many military books in the royal collection. Some time ago, someone presented a newly compiled military book.

However, it is basically impossible to build an imaginary army by strictly following the military manual. The resistance is too great, and there are very few people who can succeed.

Zhu Cixiang continued: "They train for at least four hours every day, not including the emergency gathering at night..."

"Oh..." Chongzhen said nothing after hearing this.

This kind of training intensity is unmatched by anyone. For those soldiers in the Beijing camp, it would be good if they could train for four hours in a month.

"Prince, let's practice." Chongzhen nodded and said.

Zhu Cihong bowed deeply to Chongzhen, walked to the Shouhuang Pavilion, and gestured to General Sun Yingyuan of the East Palace Guards.

Sun Yingyuan was a military attaché in his thirties. He was transferred from the border army to the Beijing camp. He was then incorporated into the newly built Yongwei camp by Cao Huachun. Finally, he was picked by Zhu Cihong at a glance in the Yongwei camp, which made Governor Cao feel distressed.

It took quite a while.

After Sun Yingyuan saw Zhu Cixiang's special gesture, he immediately walked to the front of the formation and shouted: "Stand at attention!"

With a sound of "Wow!", all the sergeants in the school grounds immediately stood upright. They became more energetic after seeing Emperor Chongzhen. The emperor personally inspected the troops. What an honor it was.

Sun Yingyuan continued to shout: "Shoulder up!"

There was another sound of "Wow!", and all the Donggong guards in the training field leaned their spears and fire guns on their shoulders, and their movements were uniform and shocking.

Chongzhen looked at it and nodded repeatedly, issuing orders and prohibitions. This was something that many generals wanted but couldn't do.

Sun Yingyuan continued to command and shouted: "Forward in formation!"

The sound of neat footsteps sounded, and five hundred sergeants formed five rows, the first row of shield soldiers, the next two rows of spear soldiers, and the last two rows of fire rifle soldiers. Each row was separated by a few steps, and the five rows marched at the same time, with the same pace, and they all marched together.

The sound of footsteps made the ground shake.

"The team members advance and retreat freely, give consistent orders, follow orders and prohibitions, and are well-trained. It really opened my eyes. With such a strong army, why did the Ming Dynasty worry about the injustice of the country..." Chongzhen said with emotion.

When passing the Shouhuang Pavilion, every sergeant looked towards Longevity Mountain. They held their heads high and their chests high, looking extremely serious.

The phalanx of the East Palace Guards was marching on the school grounds, and when it was about to arrive at the Shouhuang Pavilion, Sun Yingyuan gave an order, and the entire phalanx stopped instantly. The movements were still uniform, and the array was still extremely orderly.

Zhu Cixiang looked at the army he had trained, and felt a little excited. He suddenly pulled out the sword of his personal guard Xu Sheng, stepped forward, pointed it out diagonally, and shouted: "The Ming Dynasty will be victorious!"

"Victory!" The five hundred East Palace Guards shouted in unison, shaking the whole world!

Wang Chengen looked at Zhu Cixiang and was about to say something. Chongzhen shook his head and stopped him. It didn't matter if his own son was showing off in front of him, as long as he wasn't someone else.

"The Ming Dynasty will be victorious!" Zhu Cixiang continued to roar, but his vocal cords were not yet mature and his voice was a bit shrill. This did not affect his success in pretending to be cool. After all, many in the Beijing camp were run by eunuchs...

"Wan Sheng!"

"Ming dynasty!"

"Wonderful victory! Ten thousand victory! Ten thousand victory!"

The deafening sound resounded throughout the Long Live Mountain... and also ignited the blood of everyone.

After a long time, Chongzhen said loudly: "I have passed on my decree. Although the prince Zhu Cihong is young, he is diligent and loyal to the country. The prince has unique insights and knows military affairs. He has specially ordered the governor of the capital camp to handle all personnel matters.

Can be dispatched and fully responsible for renovating the Beijing camp."

Hearing this result, Zhu Cixiang's heart pounded, and he quickly knelt down to accept the order and thank him. After struggling for so long, he finally achieved his goal.

He first let Chongzhen remove the mental obstacle of being a child by performing well, and then attracted Chongzhen's attention by saying that he was studying Sun Tzu's Art of War.

According to Chongzhen's suspicion, Zhu Cixiang took the opportunity to mention military affairs and express his thoughts.

Finally, he verified his ability to lead the army by reviewing the East Palace Guards. This interlocking plan finally allowed Zhu Cixiang to achieve his goal.

The East Palace Guards are the core part, which is why Zhu Cixiang has been preparing for a year. Only when Chongzhen saw this army with his own eyes could he arouse his man's original passion and let him issue a reward on the spot.
Chapter completed!