() Translation:**

(If you have time, sort out all the allusions and sources in the spoke, and it's another reference manual...... ）

On January 9, 1880, San Francisco's leading newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle, carried the headline "Le Roi Est Mort" (French "The Death of the King"), declaring:

"Death of Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico."

As we all know, the United States was a British colony before, and a republic has been practiced since then, and January 9 is not April Fool's Day, how did an emperor come out? This emperor, of course, was self-appointed. In ancient and modern times, there are countless people who regard themselves as emperors, and even in contemporary rural China, there are often farces of emperors ascending the throne. There are very few people who can really rule the world, according to the law of success and defeat, many losers end up miserable, if they are not killed and imprisoned, they will be sent to the Jīng Divine Hospital. But the self-proclaimed emperor of the United States, who had no soldiers in his hands and was so poor, was deeply loved during his lifetime, and was extremely honored after his death. This can only happen in the United States, but only in the city of San Francisco. Only a country with a high degree of rhetoric would tolerate someone calling the shots for a self-proclaimed emperor; It is only in a romantic city that this kind of fake clown will be appreciated and used.

Like some emperors of humble beginnings, Joshua A. Norton's birth date is a mystery, with his tombstone inscribed in 1819 and an obituary in the San Francisco Chronicle stating that he was about 65 years old (that is, he was born about 1814). According to the diocesan birth records, we know that he was born in England on January 17, 1811, and immigrated to South Africa with his parents in 1820. His father was so successful in business in South Africa that he had $40,000 in his pocket as seed money when Norton went to San Francisco in 1849 during the gold rush in the western United States. Norton started out in San Francisco in a variety of businesses, speculating in real estate, supplying tools to gold mines, selling rice, and so on, and by 1854 he had about $250,000 in assets, becoming one of San Francisco's most respected businessmen, nicknamed "The Emperor" by his friends—presumably the inspiration for his later self-proclaimed emperor. That's when he had a bold business plan. At that time, there were already quite a large number of Chinese in San Francisco, and rice was their necessity, and the market was quite large. Norton wanted to monopolize the rice market and hoarded the price of goods. He raised money to buy almost all of San Francisco's rice, causing the price of rice in San Francisco to skyrocket. Just as he began to reap the rewards of becoming the king of rice, his business luck came to an end: two ships laden with rice suddenly arrived in San Francisco, and he had only enough money left to buy the rice on one of them. The price of rice plummeted, and Norton went bankrupt overnight.

For the next three years, Norton was embroiled in lawsuits by creditors, and by 1858 he was penniless. Then he disappeared for about 9 months. In the summer of 1859, he returned to San Francisco, wandering the streets in a shabby European marshal's suit, his eyes scattered and seemingly insane. On September 17, he decided to let the world know who he really was, walked into the office of the San Francisco Bulletin, and handed over a one-sentence edict: "At the strong request of the overwhelming majority of the citizens of the United States, I ...... proclaimed himself emperor of the United States" and ordered legislators from all states of the United States to meet at the San Francisco Music Hall on February 1 next year to amend the existing law. Signed "Emperor Norton I of the United States".

Instead of throwing the note in the wastebasket, the editors of the San Francisco Proclamation published the note the next day with the headline "An Emperor Among Us? The edict was published on the front page. The citizens of San Francisco woke up to find themselves the emperor's subjects and happily accepted the reality. On that day, people bowed and curtsey in the streets to Norton I. As time went on, Norton I became more and more beloved by the people of San Francisco. Like royalty in other countries, Norton I's Saver provided the public with a lot of after-dinner conversations, and people relished his anecdotes and scandals. There are rumors that Norton I was the illegitimate son of the French Emperor Napoleon III, and this rumor may have been concocted by Norton I himself, or at least endorsed by him. Napoleon III (1808-1873) was actually only three years older than Norton I, which may explain why Norton I kept his birth year secret. There are also rumors that Norton I proposed to Queen Victoria. In his later years, Norton I did issue an edict announcing his choice of empress, but his real motive was to use it as an excuse to move the palace to a high-end hotel. Norton I's edicts were more of a spur of the times, and there was no lack of insight, which was published in San Francisco newspapers, and often used Norton I's name for entertainment and political purposes. To the people of San Francisco, Norton I was not only a clown, but also a political tool, no different from most emperors in the world. Obviously, there are many who would think that Norton I was nothing more than a jīng psycho. However, with the exception of the self-proclaimed emperor, Norton I behaved normally, and did not exhibit the hallucinations common to people with schizophrenia. Mark Twain was a neighbor of Norton I when he was a journalist in San Francisco. According to his observations, Norton I was not as crazy as one might think. When he later wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, he created the role of "King" based on Norton I.

But Norton I's great attempt to unify the United States was repeatedly thwarted. On October 12, 1859, he issued an edict announcing the dissolution of the U.S. Congress on the grounds that it was prevalent and could not protect the lives and property of citizens today, and again ordered representatives of all parties to attend the San Francisco Concert Hall to discuss state affairs. In January 1860, when he heard that the congressmen were still meeting in Washington, D.C., he ordered General Scott, commander-in-chief of the U.S. Army, to send troops to the Capitol to expel the rebels. The U.S. team also resisted, so in July of that year, he issued an edict announcing the dissolution of the republic. At this time, the republic was indeed on the verge of dissolution, and the Civil War was about to break out. He ordered President Lincoln and President Jefferson Davis of the Confederate Union to come to the royal court to settle the dispute peacefully. Both of them resisted, and a civil war broke out. After the outbreak of the Civil War, Norton I offered President Lincoln his willingness to send the Imperial Guards to the aid of the Confederation, to which Lincoln politely replied that he and his troops would be used as a reserve. Norton I also wrote letters of advice to the heads of state of the world, and it is said that the Hawaiian king was so impressed by Norton I's wisdom that he no longer wanted to deal with the U.S. State Department, but only received envoys from the Norton Emperor. The U.S. Confederation did not completely disapprove of Norton I's status, and in the 1870 national census records, Norton's occupation was "Emperor."

However, Norton I's rule was apparently limited to San Francisco. As Emperor, Norton I enjoyed some privileges, such as free dining at the best restaurants in San Francisco, which were also proud to display the "Emperor's Designated Restaurant" sign. The theater in San Francisco reserved three seats for him in the front row for him and the two royal dogs. The rent of the "royal palace" where he was stationed - a dirty, cramped apartment room - was also paid for by the Freemasons. Of course, there are a few people who do not recognize his royal privileges, such as the Chinese laundry refuses to wash his royal clothes for free, but it doesn't matter, there are rich people with good intentions who secretly pay for him. When he really needed to pay, he issued "royal" bills, mostly in 50 cents, but also in 5 or 10 dollars. These banknotes are generally accepted by shops and banks in San Francisco, and are said to have a better reputation than the U.S. dollar. However, Norton I did not make a fortune from printing money, and after his death, it was found in the palace that there were only a few dollars left in the treasury. When Norton I's imperial dress was too shabby, the city ordered a brand new imperial dress for him and gave it to him in a grand ceremony. When the bicycle became popular, the city bought one for him to ride as an emperor.

Norton I also encouraged Jīng to govern, diligently govern and love the people. He was seen inspecting the streets in imperial attire every day, monitoring the construction of municipal facilities, supervising the work of jǐngcha, and often speaking as a guest of honor at various ceremonies. If he found that the municipal facilities were inadequate, he ordered them to be improved. If the tax rate was too high, he ordered it to be lowered. If his subordinates do not carry out his orders, he will sometimes step up. At that time, there were frequent sāo riots in San Francisco that attacked the Chinese. During one of his rounds, Norton I encountered a **sāo riot, and it is alleged that in order to quell the sāo riot, he ran to the Chinese and the mob, knelt down and prayed repeatedly, causing the mob to feel ashamed and disperse. When countless normal people are crazy, only one person who is regarded as a madman fearlessly stands up to stop the tragedy, who is crazier?

Norton I was also a far-sighted and brilliant emperor. In 1869, he issued an edict ordering his subjects to fund a local inventor surnamed Marriot to research the "air plane qì", and it was more than thirty years before the Wright brothers succeeded in building the first human airplane. He proposed to the leaders of other countries to form a "League of Nations" to peacefully settle international disputes; In 1919, under the Treaty of Versailles, such an international institution was established with the same name and function as his Tiyì, but at this time the leaders of the countries did not know that they were fulfilling the long-cherished wish of Norton I. In 1869, Norton I ordered the construction of a suspension bridge over San Francisco Bay, and several more orders were issued thereafter. Unlike his other decrees, this decree was not only enshrined but also attributed to him, only more than sixty years later: in 1933, San Francisco began construction of a suspension bridge at the site planned by Norton I, and in 1936, one of the most famous bridges in the world, the Golden Gate Bridge, was completed, and a plaque was hung on one of its bridges commemorating Norton I: "Traveler, please stop and thank Norton I, Emperor of the United States and protector of Mexico (r. 1859-80), for his foresight, Conceived and ordered the construction of a bridge over San Francisco Bay. ”

Such an emperor deserves to be loved by the people. On January 21, 1867, a new jǐng official named Armand Barbier dared to commit a crime and arrested Norton I for vagrancy. Someone pointed out to Babil that Norton I had $4.75 in his pocket and a place to live, so he couldn't be considered a vagabond, so Barbier instead accused Norton I of being a jīng mentally ill and locked him up for a verdict from the jīng mentally ill commissioner (the zhèngfǔ official responsible for deciding whether a person had a jīng mental illness or not). Public opinion was in an uproar, and newspapers in San Francisco published editorials attacking the Jǐng official's practices. Seeing that the people were about to revolt against King Qin, Governor Jǐng ordered the release of Norton I and apologized to him, and Norton I magnanimously pardoned the new Jǐng official. Since then, the jǐng officials of San Francisco have saluted Norton I when they see him on the street, and the annual jǐng cha – Norton's "royal jǐng cha" – parade is also led by Norton I.

On January 8, 1880, Norton I died of a stroke on his way to lecture at the Academy of Natural Sciences. Two days later, he was buried in a Masonic cemetery, attended by about 30,000 people, in a 2-mile procession that was said to be the most solemn funeral in San Francisco history. On the second day of the funeral, a total eclipse darkens San Francisco, reminding the people of San Francisco of the end of a good dynasty. On June 30, 1934, the city of San Francisco moved his body to the Woodlawn Cemetery, where a new marble tombstone was erected, not-so-shabby, with the inscription "Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico." On January 7, 1980, at lunchtime, San Francisco held a ceremony to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of its sole emperor. Throughout the ages, how many emperors are still remembered 100 years after their deaths?

Ranger B: Yes, but you speak like you're a king.

Henry VI: Ah, I am, in jīng god yes, and that's enough.

Ranger B: But if you're the king, where is your crown?

Henry VI: My crown is in my heart, not on my head.

It is not set with diamond jewelry, nor is it meant to be seen.

My crown is called contentment, and few kings enjoy it.

(Shakespeare's Henry VI II, Act III, Scene 1, Humble Translation)

2004.2.11.