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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 722: Founding Ceremony

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    Thomas William Bob, standing on the majestic Chengtianmen (that is, *, formerly known as Chengtianmen, changed to * during the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, and later the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom changed its original name to Chengtianmen), his heart was surging, and he felt an indescribable excitement.  Love lasts forever and is hard to recover from.  Bob is a special correspondent of The Times in China. After being captured, his reporter status allowed him to obtain permission from the King of the West to conduct interviews, and Bob was completing a project that later historians regarded as having important historical research value.  His book - "Biography of the King of the West".

    Today, at 10 o'clock in the morning on October 1, 1861 AD, Bob and his assistant (a reporter accompanying the Taiping Army) appeared on the Chengtianmen Gate Tower with their cameras, together with other countries and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom who came from all over the country.  Together with the reporters, they will record an exciting and great moment. After more than ten years of war, the Taiping Rebellion finally officially announced to the world today that it overthrew the previous government, established a new regime, and announced the establishment of a brand new country.

    Bob felt incredible that he was allowed to climb the Chengtianmen Gate Tower to participate in the founding ceremony. His home country was still at war with this country, but the leader of this country generously allowed a person of his status to participate in such an important event.  At this historical moment, Bob felt that this leader had unparalleled courage and magnanimity.  Bob's best reward is to record all this in his most beautiful words, leaving the most wonderful scene in his "Biography of the King of the West".

    Decades later, when historians read this passage.  I can still feel Bob¡¯s mood at that time: ¡°This ancient and beautiful country is about to usher in its latest historical chapter. A new regime has given her confidence and beauty again. The gorgeous and majestic Chengtianmen Gate Tower has witnessed this.  Everything. Today is a good day. The sky is blue and clean, and the cool wind makes people feel no heat. Almost all the officials and generals in Beijing are gathered in the square in front of the city tower, as well as nearly tens of thousands of civilians from all over the capital.  I was able to participate in this important ceremony. On the tower, I also saw representatives from other countries, including the American Minister, the Prussian Minister, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Norway and other countries. Wait, I also saw the British General Grant.  and General Montauban of France. God knows in what capacity they ascended to such an important position: prisoners? Or friends? In an official capacity or in a private capacity?"

    Later, historians came to a conclusion through research.  Grant and Montauban were "deceived" to the scene by the Taiping government, and Bob seemed not to know another important captured person, that is, the previously captured Russian minister Putiyatin.  According to the memoirs of some people at the time, the prisoner status of the two generals Grant and Montauban did not change.  But as important figures in an important country, it obviously has special meaning for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to arrange for the two to appear.  Many historians speculate that this was the Taiping Rebellion's initiative to show favor to Britain and France in the diplomatic environment at that time. However, some historians believe that this was a move by the Taiping government to humiliate the two governments.  When the generals appeared on the city tower, the ordinary people of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were very excited, because they were prisoners, and envoys from other countries felt the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's preferential treatment and respect for the prisoners.

    "The atmosphere at the scene was warm and noisy, but when the salute troops arranged to the east fired the salute, the tens of thousands of people in the square fell silent. It is hard to imagine that tens of thousands of people would fall silent together. I guess the official organization of the Taiping Rebellion Government  Those who participated in the ceremony. They were led and guided by someone to comply with every aspect of the ceremony."

    After the 108-gun salute was fired, I saw the flow of people starting to disperse in the square in front. Numerous elite cavalrymen in gorgeous costumes cleared the way in front, and a large number of gorgeous retinues separated the crowd. There were always thousands of them.  There were so many drummers following them.  They were playing beautiful and solemn music as they walked, and the followers slowly passed here surrounded by a very large and luxurious carriage drawn by eighteen white horses.  Come to Chengtianmen Tower.  The assistant told me that His Majesty the Emperor's retinue are all members of the elite Young Guards Cavalry Regiment.  "

    "My assistant told me that the emperor first sent important officials to offer sacrifices to the Tiandi clan and tell Tiandi and their ancestors the news of the establishment of the new country. I am curious why the King of the West did not tell God the news, but my assistant did  He smiled and said to me, King Xi once said that God knows everything, oh, so that¡¯s it.¡±

    "The assistant also told me that the King of the West would wear the emperor's clothes and offer sacrifices in front of a table with sacrifices. On the table are the heaven and earth, and the tablets of the ancestors of the three emperors and five emperors of ancient China. This is the prelude to the ceremony, but it is a pity that the ceremony is very special.  It was solemn and had strong religious overtones of ancient Chinese Han culture, so we were not able to see this scene with our own eyes."

    "His Royal Highness the King of the West, who is already the emperor, will first go to the Temple of Heaven, the Xiannong Altar, and the Imperial Ancestral Temple to make his apologies under the protection of officials from the Ministry of Rites and many retinues.Know your ancestors.  Then at the time determined by the calendar experts of the Ministry of Rites, the drum band will play bells and drums, and the retinues will arrive at Chengtian Gate surrounded by the emperor's eighteen-horse white horse carriage.  "

    "I saw His Highness the King of the West standing on a carriage in bright yellow and gorgeous emperor's clothes from a distance. He frequently waved to the common people around him, but I don't think anyone saw him waving, because he was passing by  In this place, the common people spontaneously knelt down. Then, after His Majesty the Emperor ascended the Chengtian Gate Tower, the enthronement ceremony officially began."

    "The officials who have been waiting in front of Chengtian Gate for a long time are all wearing Han court uniforms that are obviously different from the official uniforms of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties. Under the guidance of officials from the Ministry of Rites, they will enter Chengtian Gate through the Jinshui Bridge. His Majesty the Emperor also boarded the Chengtian Gate. Minister  The generals were in the square outside Chengtian Gate, standing on both sides of the royal road in the manner of Wen Dong and Wu Xi, waiting for the emperor's arrival."

    "His Majesty the Emperor's carriage passed through the square in front of Chengtian Gate and then entered Chengtian Gate. The important ministers and generals who accompanied him followed, and they all came to Chengtian Gate to escort His Majesty the Emperor down from the carriage. Here I couldn't help but turn to  Looking from the other side, I saw a detail. It turned out that His Highness the King of the West¡¯s wife was on a carriage with him. His Highness the King of the West took the initiative to help his wife get off the carriage, and then the couple boarded the carriage under the escort of many people.  Got to the tower."

    "After boarding the city tower, His Majesty the Emperor accepted the most solemn courtesy from the people who had been waiting here. The ministers, generals and envoys from various countries bowed deeply to the Emperor and his wife. My assistant told me that His Highness is the daughter of thousands of people.  The first emperor in China in recent years who did not accept the kneeling of courtiers, and the kneeling of the common people was spontaneous, I have no doubt about this."

    "His Majesty the Emperor shook hands with everyone in a cordial and friendly manner, and said a few words to everyone. They were a little far apart. I didn't hear what King Xi said to everyone, but I could see the smile on everyone's face.  Look, they are very happy, and this happiness comes from the bottom of their hearts.¡±

    "After meeting with everyone, the Emperor came to the front of the center. He opened an edict written on yellow silk and began to personally read out the "Edict to Determine the Country." Regarding the content of this edict, I  I have heard it for a long time, but I am very curious whether His Majesty the Emperor's voice can be heard by the crowd in the square? The answer soon came to me. Whenever His Majesty the Emperor read a sentence loudly, there were more than ten people beside Chengtian Gate.  They loudly repeated His Majesty the Emperor's words together, and then dozens of people further away repeated them together, and so on until there were hundreds or thousands of people in the crowd on the square repeating them loudly. It turned out that they used this method  The sound spreads out. It¡¯s hard to imagine that dozens or even hundreds or thousands of people can pronounce a sentence so neatly. It seems that they have been rehearsing for a long time.¡±

    "His Majesty the Emperor read in Chinese, and I couldn't understand many of them, but fortunately the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom government was very careful. They distributed a pamphlet to every foreigner, which contained the foreign language translations of the Dingguo Shizhao.  I was also lucky enough to get a copy. After reading the entire content, I found that the "Edict of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom" of China is completely comparable to the British "Magna Carta", the American "Declaration" and the French "Declaration of Human Rights".  Comparable, she marks that this ancient civilized country has moved into the ranks of modern civilized society"

    "After the long edict of establishing the country, His Majesty the Emperor personally announced the founding of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of China. The square was filled with cheers and applause. It is unimaginable for you to see nearly 100,000 people cheering together. This moment  I feel a kind of fear. I wonder if my motherland can win a battle with such a populous country? She is no longer the weak and bully Qing country in the past. She has the support and love of the people. I think as long as  With a single order from His Majesty the Emperor, he can mobilize millions or more soldiers to fight."

    "The cheers continued for a long time, and after waiting for the excitement of the crowd to calm down, His Majesty the Emperor solemnly announced that he would serve as the first emperor of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of China, and announced that the national public calendar would be based on the world-recognized AD calendar, and recognized that China has always used it.  The lunar calendar was used as a supplement, and the Han emperor's reign name was restored to assist the chronology. His reign name was Gonghe, and 1861 became the first year of the Republic. This year name is very interesting. I think His Majesty the Emperor hoped that he would implement the Republic of All Nationalities.  I hope that the honor policy can be implemented smoothly and remind everyone in the year name."

    "Then His Majesty the Emperor announced that the national anthem of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of China would be played, and the national flag representing this new country would be raised. Their national anthem was taken from the ancient song "General's Order" and was slightly changed in rhythm and tune, and was accompanied by some music, the assistant said.  The lyrics are also very characteristic of Chinese culture. I read the English translation of the lyrics, and it mainly talks about the origin and prosperity of Chinese culture. They condensed it into a lyric, and the person who wrote the lyrics is very good at summarizing it.  Their national flag is also very conspicuous, a huge flag with a red background.?, with a huge yellow dragon flying on it, this is what they call the red and yellow dragon flag all over the ground.  The dragon is an ancient totem of China and can symbolize China. I believe that the meaning it represents will be extraordinary in the future" (To be continued)
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