On this day, the inside and outside of the Xiwang Mansion in Suzhou are very lively, from the outside of the palace to the wall, the gate, the instrument gate to the main hall more than 100 steps in the building complex, you can see everywhere the generals of the West Palace who came to participate in the new political meeting of Suzhou Province.

They all wore the robes and hoods of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and everyone seemed to be in good spirits after losing the pigtails of the money rat tail, even Xu Naizhao and other Qing court officials who had descended to the Taiping were the same, they straightened up, and under the mutual introduction of familiar officials, they knew each other with the officials of the West Hall from other places, and they could hear everywhere "Oh, it turns out that the elder brother is so-and-so, and the younger brother so-and-so really admires the name for a long time". There is no official title of the Manchu Qing Dynasty here, only a brotherly greeting that seems to be equal, but the Taiping officials generally regard themselves as brothers, but Xu Naizhao doesn't know how many brothers he has called.

The gate of the West Wangfu Mansion is more than three rooms and four zhang wide, and the depth is more than three zhang, which is the top of the single eaves rest. The front and rear eaves columns are placed on the forehead fang, the flat fang is framed, the three ginseng single ang bucket arches are applied, the eaves truss is bearing, the angle beams are trowelted, the bucket arches are placed, the golden truss is supported, and the angle beams are bearing. Liang Fang paintings are all painted, the original Qing court palace can only use the dragon and phoenix color painting fresh and gorgeous, apparently painted not long ago, the column base is bluestone raspberry type.

Starting from the gate to the inside, there are three steps and one post on both sides, five steps and one sentry, and more than 2,000 West Hall staff members are waiting for the battle, protecting the West Wangfu inside and outside. Li Zuoche and Tang Erniu, who were in charge of the security errands inside and outside the Xiwang Mansion, opened their eyes even wider, and they were afraid that something would happen.

The Taiping army patrol in Suzhou has also become more rigorous since a few days ago, and Li Kaifang mobilized nearly 10,000 Taiping soldiers to patrol the city, which shows the unprecedented nature of this event.

Behind the gate of the West Palace, there is a wide courtyard of stone slabs, and the east and west corridors are seven rooms wide, and the courtyards are opposite. The main hall and the back hall are the top of the mountain, each side is three rooms wide, and the corridor is transitioned by the roll roof of the five frames in depth. It is connected as a whole, and the plane is I-shaped, so it is commonly known as the I-shaped hall.

The main hall is about four zhang high, more than six zhang wide face, and five zhang deep. The front corridor, the forehead fang is placed on the flat fang, the row is a bucket of three liters of the bucket arch, and the upper is connected to the eaves truss. The head of the column is placed in the front of the T-shaped section to overhang the eaves truss, and the rear beam cushion bears the moon beam. There are 14 long windows with begonia lattice heart between the step columns, and the skirt board is embossed with cloud dragons. The tapered ring plate is decorated with a cloud and phoenix pattern. The beam frame structure in the hall is like the hall to raise the head of the Xuan paste type, between the step pillar and the golden pillar as the canopy Xuan, the golden pillar and the back step column frame girder, even the back double step eaves corridor.

There is a screen door between the pillars of the back step of the bright room, and the back hall is five feet wide. Three feet deep, rear corridor. The beam frame is round. It is different from the main hall flat work. The beams, fangs, and trusses of the main hall and the back hall are all decorated with paintings. A small courtyard is set up between the back hall and the apse. There are things that are opposite each other. The apse is the top of the mountain, the height is the same as the main hall, and the face is three wide. The front is set up with a corridor, and the forehead is set up with a flat fang, and a bucket and three liters of the bucket arch are arranged. The pillars have a T-shaped family with one-sided jumping. Between the step pillar and the golden pillar there is a canopy Xuan, and a girder is erected between the golden pillar and the rear step column. There are eighteen screen doors between the rear step columns. There is a backing board between the door fang and the back step fang, separated by a lead strip for nine sides, all are painted with murals, the content is mainly birds and beasts such as deer, crane, tiger, leopard, lion, elephant, mandarin duck, ribbon bird, white rabbit, flower cat, etc. With trees, stones, flowers and plants, each has its own meaning.

The main hall is in accordance with the regulations of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, in addition to being the place where the King of the West presides over the military and political affairs of the West Palace. It is also a place to worship the Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother and hold worship ceremonies, so it is called the Xifu Temple.

After the three salutes were fired, the generals of the west hall entered the main hall according to their ranks. Although the main hall is wide, officials from all over the west hall have come, and the main hall still seems to be crowded. In addition to leaving a passage in the middle of the more than a wide passage, the two compartments are full of pestles, and the pestles are numbered on the seats, and after the officials enter the door and hand over the official defense, there will be a sign from the west hall to the guard, and each person holds the number to find a seat.

This kind of arrangement was also discussed by Xiao Yungui and Hong Yun'er, the number of people in the West Palace, such as praise and Cheng Xuan, was limited, and there were so many officials who could not greet them, so they numbered the seats in advance, and each of them took their seats, they were all generals in charge of one side, and this rule could still be observed, otherwise they would not be qualified to enter the West Palace. But many generals don't know why, so it looks like this King of the West will give a seat as soon as he comes up.

There is a pedestal pedestal in the palace, the pedestal is seven steps, this step is less than the eight steps of the East Wangfu, the nine steps of the Tianwangfu, the gold lacquer wood carved tiger stripe throne is high on the pedestal of the seven-layer platform, the back of the throne leans on the carved tiger lacquer screen, the left and right sides of the throne are furnished with a few Taiping elephant high incense, Lu Duan incense table, there are four incense tables on the left and right of Dan Majesty in front of the throne, there are three-legged incense burners on the incense table. At this time, several female officials of the Xiwang Mansion stepped forward and burned sandalwood in the furnace, and the incense was inserted in the incense tube, so the cigarette smoke in the hall was swirling, which was quite solemn and solemn.

After the officials took their seats, Li Xuanji, the female Chengxuan of the West Palace, came out of the back hall, stood on the outer edge of the steps, and said in a voice like a yellow warbler: "His Royal Highness the West King, West Wang Niang go to the palace!" ”

The officials hurriedly stopped whispering, stood up together, and turned out the hands of the West King and the West Queen Niang and several Bo secretaries behind the hall. The king of the west walked straight to the front of the steps, and all the officials wanted to bow together, but the king of the west raised his hand and said: "We are discussing the new policy in the west hall, which is the so-called new personnel and new school, and my heavenly kingdom wants to restore the Zhou ceremony, and the atmosphere of the Han and Tang dynasties does not have this bowing ceremony, and our new policy is the first new thing to reform this kneeling ceremony, how about it?" ”

Xiao Yungui was in high spirits, thinking that he would come up and shake the tiger's body, and he came to such a show on a whim, so that Zuo Zongtang and Hong Yun'er behind Xiao Yungui at the bottom of the stairs were taken aback, Zuo Zongtang secretly wondered why did this King of the West suddenly come to such a play? Hong Yun'er secretly stomped her feet, which tendon is wrong with this bastard?

Before the words fell, Xu Naizhao stepped forward slightly and said: "His Royal Highness the King of the West wants to resume the Zhou ceremony, but the Zhou ceremony also describes the ceremony of three kneeling and nine bowing, worshipping the master of heaven and earth, using three bows and nine bows This is the Zhou ceremony, and within the Heavenly Empire, seeing Shangguan kneeling and bowing is the difference between upper and lower respect. His Royal Highness the King of the West wants to be gracious to his subordinates, and he can regulate it separately, but above the canon, this law cannot be abolished. ”

Xu Naizhao's meaning is very clear, kneeling is a kind of respect between the top and the bottom, if you think that you need red tape, you naturally have the right to prevent people from practicing this etiquette in private, and on formal official occasions, this thing is still necessary.

Xiao Yungui found out that he had picked a big trouble, and there was no bowing ceremony before the Song Dynasty, basically it was a trick. As for kneeling, it is kneeling to the heavens and kneeling to the parents, and it is a very important ceremony. When Song died, Wen Tianxiang was sent to Dadu, Kublai Khan asked him to kneel, he said, "Kneel in the south and kneel in the north", kneeling is the custom of your Hu people, and we southerners are doing it. Since the Yuan Dynasty, kneeling seems to have become a common practice, and in the Qing Dynasty, the grass people knelt when they saw the officials. And the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom did not get rid of this bad habit, and when the king of Yan saw the Eastern Kingdom Sect, he did not kneel and salute before he caused a groom case.

Xiao Yungui naturally didn't know that Zhou Li had also said the bow of bowing, and he couldn't argue, so Hong Yun'er hurriedly said: "What the King of the West means is that this kneeling ceremony does not have to be done to him, and the great bow is performed by the master of heaven and earth, and the father and the king of heaven are worshipped." And if I want to do the new things in the West Temple, I don't have to stick to the rules. Moreover, when the Zhou Rite was celebrated, the monarchs and ministers all knelt on the ground, and they all knelt together to kneel. In the future, the kneeling of the West Hall will be abolished except for worshipping the Father, the earth, the king, the parents, and the master. Xu Naizhao, King Xi is not your old master, right? ”

The officials chuckled together, and in the chuckle, Xu Naizhao bowed slightly, not caring at all about Xi Wangniang's ridicule, until he felt that Xi Wangniang gave him the steps, and he stopped making a sound at the moment.

At that moment, King Xi and Queen Xi went back to their seats and sat down, Xiao Yungui was in the right position, Hong Yun'er sat down, and when she turned around and sat back, Hong Yun'er glanced at Xiao Yungui and gave him a glare. Xiao Yungui's face was as thick as a city wall, and he didn't even blush, so he still sat down with a smile.

After all the officials made a big salute together, Li Xuanji said in a clear voice and looked at the seat. All the officials returned to their positions and sat down together, and then a West Hall Leader praised a plate, on which were all official photos, Li Xuanji unfolded the yellow silk and began to announce the official system of the West Palace, and issued the official photos on the spot.

Most of the generals knew what their new official position was, and even Xu Naizhao knew that the king of the west had spoken to him alone the day after he returned to Suzhou, although the county guard of Suzhou County had demoted his original official position in the Manchu Dynasty, but in Xu Naizhao's view, this Suzhou County was by no means so simple, and the ambition of the king of the west was not limited to this. After all the officials bowed and thanked them, they received their official photos.

There is a small detail in the official photo, after Li Xuanji finished reading, Yinzan presented a servant official photo, and the king of the West personally got up and asked all the officials to go up the steps one by one, and sent the official photo to the hands of all officials, regardless of the size of the official position!

After the official photo was issued, Xiao Yungui said loudly: "You are either the center of the West Palace, or the members of the Sufu side, our Sufu Province was first established, and the name Sufu should be in the heart of the people's welfare. Remember, for the sake of the festival of the ministers, for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, for the benefit of the people! ”

The generals received the order together, and then opened the back page of the official photo and saw that the engraving and printing on it were very clear, and the dense small characters were so dense that they remembered clearly how the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom dealt with corruption, dereliction of duty, etc., so that all the officials couldn't help but feel a pang in their hearts.

Xu Naizhao nodded secretly and said, King Xi is going to purge the rule of officials, but looking at the harsh law, it seems that it is better than the beginning of the Ming Dynasty.

Then it was noon, and the king of the west instructed everyone to have dinner in the palace of the king of the west, and in the afternoon, all the counties and counties and departments gathered separately, got acquainted with each other, and discussed with each other how to carry out their respective errands in the future, and they were scheduled to officially start discussing politics tomorrow. (To be continued......)