Thomas. William. Bob, standing on the majestic Chengtianmen (that is, Tiananmen, formerly known as Chengtianmen, changed to Tiananmen during the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, and later changed back to the original name of Chengtianmen) tower, his heart was surging, and the indescribable excitement was difficult to calm down for a long time. Bob was a special correspondent for The Times in China, and his status as a correspondent after his capture allowed him to obtain permission from the King of the West to conduct interviews, and Bob was working on a work that would be regarded by later historians as of great historiographical value, The Biography of the King of the West.

Today, October 1, 1861, at 10 o'clock in the morning, Bob and his assistant (a reporter accompanying the Taiping Army) appeared on the tower of Chengtianmen with his camera, and together with other reporters from other countries and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, they will record the next exciting and great moment, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has finally officially announced to the world today that the previous government has been overthrown, a new regime has been established, and a new country has been announced.

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

Decades later, when historians read this passage, they can still feel Bob's feelings: "This ancient and beautiful country is about to usher in her latest chapter in history, and a new regime has regained her confidence and beauty." The gorgeous and majestic Chengtianmen Tower bears witness to all this. It's a good day, the sky is blue and clean. The cool wind did not make people feel a trace of heat, and the square in front of the castle tower gathered almost all the officials and generals in Beijing. Nearly tens of thousands of civilians from all over the capital were 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 many other countries. Wait, I also watched General Grant in England and General Montauban in France, God knows in what capacity they ascended to such an important position, prisoners? Or friends? Is it in an official capacity or in a private capacity? ”

Later historians came to the conclusion that Grant and Montauban had been "tricked" into the scene by the Taiping government, and that Bob did not seem to know another important prisoner, the previously captured Russian minister Putiyatin. According to the memoirs of some people at the time. The captives of the two generals, Grant and Montauban, have not changed, but as important figures of an important state, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's arrangement of the two on the stage obviously has a special meaning. Many historians speculate that this was the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's initiative to favor Britain and France in the diplomatic environment at that time, but some historians believe that this was a move by the Taiping government to humiliate the two governments, but in any case, when the two British and French generals appeared on the castle tower, the ordinary people of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were very excited, because their status was prisoners, and the envoys of other countries felt that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom treated the captives favorably and respectfully.

"The atmosphere was warm and noisy. However, when the salute troops arranged in the east fired the salute, the tens of thousands of people in the square fell silent, and it is hard to imagine that tens of thousands of people would fall silent together, and I guess that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom government officially organized a crowd to participate in the ceremony. They are led and guided by someone to observe every aspect of the ritual. ”

After the 108 gun salute was fired, I saw that the flow of people in the front square began to disperse, and many elite cavalry of the guards in gorgeous clothes opened the way in front. There were a lot of ornate servants who separated the crowd, and their numbers were always in the thousands. They were accompanied by a large number of drummers, who played beautiful and solemn music as they went. The servants slowly passed through here with a very large and luxurious carriage drawn by eighteen white horses, and came to the Chengtianmen Tower. The assistant told me that His Majesty the Emperor's servants were all members of the elite Young Guards Cavalry Regiment. ”

"My assistant told me that the emperor first had to send important officials to the Heaven and Earth Sect to tell the heavens and the earth and their ancestors the news of the establishment of the new state, and I was curious why the King of the West did not tell this news to God, but my assistant smiled and said to me, the King of the West has said that God knows everything, oh, so that's the case."

"The assistant also told me that the king of the west would wear the emperor's costume and make an offering in front of a table where sacrifices were made, and on the table there were tablets of the ancestors of the three emperors and five emperors of heaven and earth, and ancient China. This is the prelude to the ceremony, but unfortunately we were not able to see it with our own eyes because the ceremony was very solemn and had a strong religious overtone of ancient Chinese culture. ”

"His Royal Highness the King of the West, who is already the emperor, will first go to the Temple of Heaven, Xiannongtan, and Taimiao to inform the ancestors under the escort of the officials of the Ministry of Rites and many servants. Then, after the time calculated by the calendar experts of the Ministry of Rites, the drum band will play the bell and drum instruments, and the servants will gather around the emperor's eighteen white horses and carriages to Chengtianmen. ”

"From a distance, I saw His Royal Highness King Xi standing on top of the carriage in a bright yellow gorgeous emperor's costume, and he frequently waved to the common people around him, but I don't think anyone saw him waving, because where he passed, the common people spontaneously knelt down. Later, after His Majesty the Emperor ascended the Chengtianmen Tower, the enthronement ceremony officially began. ”

"The officials who had been waiting in front of the Chengtian Gate for a long time were dressed in Han court clothes that were obviously different from the official uniforms of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and under the guidance of the officials of the Ministry of Rites, they would enter the Chengtian Gate through the Jinshui Bridge. His Majesty the Emperor also ascended the Chengtian Gate, and the ministers and generals stood on both sides of the imperial road in the square outside the Chengtian Gate, waiting for the arrival of the Emperor. ”

His Majesty's carriage passed through the square in front of the Chengtian Gate and entered the Chengtian Gate, followed by the important ministers and generals who followed him, and they came together to the Chengtian Gate to escort His Majesty the Emperor down from the carriage. Here I couldn't help but turn to the other side to watch, I saw a detail, it turned out that His Royal Highness King Xiwang was in a carriage with him, His Royal Highness King Xiwang took the initiative to help his wife get out of the carriage, and then the couple went up to the city tower under the escort of many people. ”

"After ascending the tower, His Majesty the Emperor accepted the most important courtesy from those who had been waiting here for a long time, and the ministers and generals and representatives of the envoys of various countries bowed deeply to the Emperor and his wife, and my assistant told me that His Highness was the first emperor in China in thousands of years to not accept the courtiers' bows, and that the common people did their own thing, and I am convinced of this."

"His Majesty the Emperor shook hands with everyone cordially and friendly, and they all said a few words, a little far away, I didn't hear what King Xi and everyone said, but judging from the smiles on everyone's faces, they were all very happy, and this joy came from the heart."

After meeting with everyone, His Majesty the Emperor came to the front of the center, opened an edict written in yellow silk, and began to read out this "Edict of the Determination of the Country" himself. I had heard about the contents of this edict for a long time, but I wondered if His Majesty the Emperor's voice could be heard by the crowd in the square. Soon there was an answer, every time His Majesty the Emperor read a sentence aloud, there were more than a dozen people next to the Chengtian Gate who repeated His Majesty's words aloud, and then dozens of people repeated it together, and so on, until there were hundreds or thousands of people in the crowd above the square who repeated it loudly together, and it turned out that they used this method to spread out the sound. It's hard to imagine that dozens or even hundreds, thousands of people could read a sentence so neatly, and it seems that they have been rehearsing for a long time. ”

"His Majesty the Emperor reads Chinese, many of which I don't understand, but fortunately, the government of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is very careful, and they give each foreigner a pamphlet, which is the foreign language translation of the edict of the country. I was also fortunate enough to get a copy, and after reading all the contents, I found that this "Edict of the Determination of the Country" of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of China is completely comparable to the "Magna Carta" of Britain, the "Declaration of Independence" of the United States, and the "Declaration of the Rights of Man" of France......

"After the long edict was recited, His Majesty the Emperor personally announced the establishment of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of China, and the square resounded with the cheers and applause of the mountains and tsunamis, and the scene of nearly 100,000 people cheering together is unimaginable, at this moment I felt a kind of fear, I was wondering if my motherland could win the battle with such a populous country? She is no longer the weak and bully Qing country she used to be, she has the support and love of the people, I think that as long as His Majesty the Emperor gives an order, he can mobilize millions or even more soldiers to fight. ”

After the cheers continued for a long time, waiting for the excitement of the crowd to slowly calm down, His Majesty the Emperor solemnly announced that he was the first emperor of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of China, and announced that the national public calendar was based on the world-recognized Common Era calendar, and recognized the lunar calendar that China had been using as a supplement, and restored the Han emperor's era name auxiliary year, his era name was the Republic, and 1861 became the first year of the Republic. This era name is very interesting, and I think His Majesty the Emperor hopes that the policy of republican and co-prosperity of all ethnic groups promoted by him can be implemented smoothly, and he specially reminded everyone in the era name. ”

His Majesty the Emperor then announced the playing of the national anthem of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of China and raised the flag representing the new nation. Their national anthem is said to be taken from the ancient song "General Order" and has a slight change in rhythm and tune, and the lyrics are also very Han cultural characteristics, I read the English translation of the lyrics, the above is mainly about the origin and prosperity of Han culture, they condense it into a song lyrics, and the person who wrote the lyrics is very good at summarizing. And their national flag is also very conspicuous, a huge flag with a red background, on which a yellow dragon flies, this is what they call the red and yellow dragon flag all over the ground. The dragon is an ancient totem of China, and I believe that the meaning it represents will be extraordinary in the future......" (To be continued......