Wu Cheng Si dragged his sick body to sit on his horse, trying to create an image that his body was getting better. Wu San Si urged his horse to follow the royal carriage. Looking at the unmoving, dignified army, he couldn't help but be impressed. "As expected, this is an elite army. Yang Fan is someone who knows how to lead troops!"
He unconsciously looked forward and saw Yang Fan's tall and straight back. Wu San Si sighed to himself. "It's a pity that he isn't willing to be loyal to me. Although Second Zhang is arrogant, he only relies on Aunt's favor. They don't have the right to compete for the throne. Yang Fan is so short-sighted. It's really hateful! "
Wherever the yellow umbrella passed, the cheers of "Long live the emperor" rose and fell, like the raging tide of Qiantang. No matter what kind of thoughts they had, they were gradually infected by this atmosphere of majesty. When the royal carriage finally stopped in front of the high platform, Princess Taiping and Wan 'er helped the Empress up the platform. The old Wu Zetian also seemed to feel strength in her legs.
Unfortunately, this was only a spiritual effect after all. She walked very slowly and was supported by Princess Taiping and Shangguan Wan 'er. Even so, when she finally stepped onto the platform, she was still a little out of breath and her forehead was beaded with sweat. Princess Taiping and Wan 'er quickly helped the Empress to sit on the throne.
The accompanying officials all climbed up the platform. For the old people and the Venerables, the Emperor allowed them to sit. The last wooden frame was covered with a layer of crushed ice. The palace maids waved their fans, and the platform was immediately cooled.
According to the tradition of the Tang Dynasty, the Emperor should be wearing military attire and personally testing the arrows in front of the army. He would shoot seven arrows in a row and then go up the platform to inspect. This was to show off the Emperor's martial arts. At the same time, it was to show that although each army had its own commander, all the armies had a common commander: the Emperor.
However, Yang Fan had discussed this with the Ministry of Rites. The Empress would definitely not wear military attire to test the arrows in front of the army. Not to mention the fact that the Empress didn't know how to shoot on horseback, even if she was good at it, who would dare to let her ride a horse at her age? Who would dare to let her test the arrows?
The Empress couldn't test it, so it was time for the Prince to replace her. However, everyone knew that the Crown Prince was about to be replaced. It would be inappropriate to have the current Crown Prince, Li Dan, perform in front of the army. Li Xian was not the Crown Prince right now. Although everyone knew that the Crown Prince was about to be replaced, it had yet to become a reality. It would be inappropriate to publicly announce it.
Furthermore, of the two princes, one was under house arrest in the Eastern Palace, and the other was imprisoned deep in the mountains. Neither of them had ridden a horse for fifteen or sixteen years, and it had been a long time since they had touched a bow and arrow. Even if the target was placed very close to them, it would be too unsightly if they could not hit one or two of their seven arrows. Thus, after repeated discussion, this step was omitted.
Wu Zetian ascended the platform and sat down. Yang Fan rode his horse straight to the bottom of the platform. When the horse reached the bottom of the platform, Yang Fan fiercely pulled on the reins, causing the warhorse to stand on its hind legs. The warhorse let out a neigh, the man like a tiger, the horse like a dragon. This kind of appearance immediately won the applause of the entire audience.
The corners of Princess Taiping's and Shanghai Wan 'er's lips curled up at the same time, revealing a knowing smile at the same time. Princess Anle, Li Guo 'er, looked at Yang Fan's heroic appearance, and her eyes seemed to be intoxicated for a moment. Wu Yizong, on the other hand, curled his lips and revealed a cold, disdainful smile.
The warhorse's front hooves stomped down. Yang Fan cupped his hands in a salute, his energy sinking into his dantian. He loudly reported to the platform, "Requesting Your Majesty to review!"
On the platform, Wu Zetian nodded slightly. The chamberlain, Eunuch Gao, stepped forward and raised the horsetail whisk in his hand. In a loud voice, he announced, "The Emperor has decreed that the review will begin!"
Parade Officer Lu Maofeng whipped his warhorse and galloped past the front of the three armies. He pulled out the long saber at his waist and with a loud shout, the three armies were like a mountain, their formation changing, leaving the drill ground in an orderly manner. There was not the slightest bit of chaos. The neat formation of the troops, the scene of moving the field, was actually very pleasing to the eye.
Prime Minister Yao Chong, who came from the Ministry of War, could not help stroking his beard and praised, "The soldiers are brave, the formation is solemn, the banners are messy, the armors are shining, they are like mountains, the power of heaven and earth, they are truly a brave army!"
Hearing Prime Minister Yao Xiang's sincere praise, Wu Zetian felt even more proud. This was an army formed under her orders, she naturally felt a sense of closeness. Sitting high on such a majestic platform, watching such a powerful and spectacular formation, she felt a strong sense of pride in her heart.
Parade Officer Lu Maofeng returned to the bottom of the platform. His eyebrows and cheeks were faintly covered in sweat, but he had never been so excited before. This was in front of the Emperor and all the officials in the court, in front of the most powerful group of people in the world. Seeing that the drill ground had been quickly cleared, Lu Maofeng waved the long saber in his hand and gave another order. The banner fluttered and a group of cavalry immediately spurred out.
This group of cavalry was dressed in light armor, with sabers, shields, spears, and chainhammers in their hands. Beside the chief commander, there were flag bearers, gongs, and drums constantly giving various military orders. Following the military orders from the flag bearers and musical instruments, the officers and soldiers spurred their horses to gallop, attacking, defending, changing formation, or combining formation. They began to simulate riding on the battlefield.
In the eyes of outsiders, this kind of performance was purely for fun, nothing special at all. For example, the princesses and princesses, at this time, rather than saying that they were watching a drill, it was better to say that they were watching which soldier was more handsome and whose riding posture was more valiant. But in the eyes of the generals and ministers who came from the army, they could see the combat strength of this army.
In their eyes, from the moves of this cavalry, as well as the coordination of the formation and the coordination of attack and defense, they could completely infer the combat strength of this army. Even the most picky general could not help but secretly nod at this time.
After the cavalry battle, there was also the infantry battle, which was divided into alley battle, city defense battle, field battle, horsemanship, martial arts, archery, and various other skills were displayed one by one. Military discipline, military skills, military knowledge, military weapons, and military fortifications were displayed one by one until it was almost noon. Only then did the military law event begin. After a morning of drill, it was now noon. The sun was scorching, and there were already nine carts of ice on the high platform. The platform was dripping with ice water.
All the officers and soldiers returned to the drill ground and lined up neatly. Chu Kuangge threw headless arrows, and whoever he hit would come forward to answer the military law. With Chu Kuangge's archery skills, he had actually still tampered with the candidates. However, because the drill process lasted for a total of two months, the cheating soldiers who were responsible for memorizing the military law had memorized not just one book, but all of the military law.
Thus, Yang Fan simply handed the task of inspecting the military law to the Empress. The Empress casually flipped through the "Law of Yixing", "Order of the Palace Guards", and other military laws. She would select one, and Eunuch Gao would shout it down, ordering the soldiers to recite it aloud. Wu Zetian, who had been watching until noon, was already tired, because she could personally participate, and her interest was rekindled.
Wu Yizong really wanted to find some fault with Yang Fan during the great review. It did not need to be too serious, as long as he could make up for it a little and not make the Emperor too displeased. However, this was not easy to grasp, and he had not waited for the opportunity.
The military law examination was the easiest to cheat. After all, he was someone who led the army, so how could he not know this point? However, the soldiers were selected by archery, and he really did not believe that anyone could do something like shooting a willow leaf from a hundred steps away without fail. Moreover, the one who excitedly came up with the test was the Emperor himself. Wu Yizong thought about it again and again, and still gave up the idea of possibly angering Wu Zetian.
"Puchi!"
In the middle of the formation, a knight's body swayed, and suddenly fell from his horse. In the midst of thousands of soldiers and horses, it was not easy to see an occasional person falling from his horse, but the entire team stood in neat rows, straighter than a drawn line. Occasionally, one of them would move, and naturally it would be obvious at a glance.
"Ah!"
Princess Taiping exclaimed, and covered her mouth with her hand. "Someone has a heatstroke?"
"Puchi!"
Like a plague, with the first person falling from his horse, the second and third person fell one after another. Seeing this, Wu Zetian could not help but frown. She leaned forward slightly and was about to speak, but she saw that below the stage, the chief examiner Yang Fan, the deputy chief examiner Xu Liang, and the parade officer Lu Maofeng, the three of them were standing perfectly straight, as if they were made of steel, and did not move at all. Wu Zetian swallowed the words that were about to come out of her mouth.
The yellow silk umbrella above her head was gently blown by the breeze, and Wu Zetian slowly leaned back on her chair. She turned her head to Prime Minister Wei Yuanzhong and said, "The Thousand Cavalry Army has strict discipline, Yang Fan has managed the army well, and I am very pleased."
Wei Yuanzhong bowed and said, "This is because Your Majesty has a good eye for people!"
Wu Zetian smiled and nodded.
Yang Fan stood there ramrod straight. Beads of sweat rolled down his cheeks and dripped down from his chin. But the corners of his lips curled up slightly, and the eyes and nose that peeked out from between his cheeks and eyebrows also seemed to curl up into shallow smile lines.
The weather today was indeed very hot. Yang Fan had long thought of this problem, and had prepared buckets of mung bean soup, sour plum soup, and salt water by the side of the drill ground. The internal court had publicly pulled out 12 carts of ice from the Palace, but in reality, there were 15 carts. The extra three carts of ice were now half floating and half submerged in the soup buckets.
With these drinks to quench the heat and the strong bodies of the Thousand Cavalry Army, they had adapted to the heat after training in the scorching heat for such a long time, so they would not faint from heatstroke. But on such a hot day, if they did not add some special effects, how could they strengthen the impression of a superior?
At this moment, Yang Fan was laughing to himself. These kids have fallen quite well. It looks like even with the Emperor in front of them, they know they have to put on a show for real and are afraid others will see through their flaws.
Below the stage, the voice of the soldier who had been sampled rang out. Without pausing, he recited the total of 28 military rules that the Emperor had sampled. Eunuch Gao held the military rules and compared them one by one. After he finished, he turned and bowed to Wu Zetian. "Congratulations, Your Majesty. We sampled a total of nine soldiers and sampled a total of 18 military rules. There is not a single mistake!"
At this time, a few more people succumbed to heatstroke and fell from their horses, but the three armies stood solemnly. No one moved, and no one went to help up the soldier who had suffered from heatstroke. Wu Zetian was very pleased. She stood up and said loudly to the audience, "Officers and soldiers have worked hard. It is noon and the heat is unbearable. Chief inspector, you may order the three armies to temporarily disperse and have a good rest!"
Yang Fan turned around to accept the order. He then ordered the military inspector Lu Maofeng to loudly give the military order. When the flag was waved, the Emperor, the royal relatives, and the nobles on the stage thought that the three armies would retreat like the tide. Unexpectedly, when the soldiers of the three armies heard the military order, they uniformly dismounted from their horses and knelt on one knee. They said in unison to the stage, "Your Majesty is benevolent and loves the soldiers. We dare not cherish our lives. We are willing to conquer the four seas for Your Majesty, to make the four barbarians submit and the world submit! Long live the Emperor, long live the Emperor! "
Wu Zetian did not expect that a casual order would be met with such a magnificent response from the soldiers of the three armies. For a moment, her heart was in turmoil and she could not control her excitement. She nodded repeatedly and took two steps forward to the side of the stage. She opened her arms and said loudly, "Good! Good! They are all my soldiers! They are all my brothers' soldiers! "
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