Chang'an Palace

"Oh...... Hehe, let him go, the Germans are always much more straightforward than the British. "Emperor Richard lives in the deep palace and knows everything about the outside world.

The closer he approached the day of the celebration, the busier he became, and he had to pay attention to the current affairs at home and abroad. Therefore, the following people reported the actions of Wilhelm, the crown prince of Germany, and it was just a bland word.

According to the etiquette deduced by a group of old pedants of the empire;

The grand ceremony of the 40th anniversary of the enthronement and the 40th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China will go through the ceremony of worshiping the heavens on Mount Rocky (note, it is equivalent to climbing Mount Tai to worship the sky), the ceremony of worshipping ancestors, the official ceremony on May 1, the military parade and the parade of millions of people, the unveiling ceremony of the icon on May 5 and a series of large-scale celebrations.

The statue of the Holy Emperor is located in the Santa Cruz Mountains, 97 kilometers south of the imperial capital of Chang'an, carved into a steep cliff.

In order to complete this magnificent statue of the Holy Emperor, a total of more than 7,100 workers worked hard for more than 10 years to complete this unprecedented giant statue.

This is a bust of Emperor Richard, full uniform, wearing a cuirassier commander's helmet, one hand caressing a giant lion, a giant tiger and two holy beasts, the other hand holding a long knife, looking at the Chang'an metropolis in the distance......

The statue is 108 meters high, and the commander's helmet on his head and the huge sword he holds in the other hand are made of copper components, using 65 tons of steel frame, 72 tons of the finest copper, 3.2 tons of gold and 2.3 million rivets.

The main body of the icon is carved out of a huge mountain rock, and it took 325 large and small blasts to assist the construction, and it took a lot of effort to complete this magnificent work, which is a miracle.

With the bust of the emperor as the main body, one on the left and one on the right, the holy lion and the holy tiger are snuggled closely beside the emperor, opening their bloody mouths and roaring at the valley in the distance.

This stillness seemed to bring the whole icon to life.

The height of the whole icon is more than twice that of the Statue of Liberty, and the lower part of the icon is integrated into the overall mountain rock, which is more than 620 meters high, and the mountain rock is more majestic and has a myriad of weather.

At the foot of the icon, about 2.6 kilometers away is the Holy Emperor Temple, which is one of the six royal temples of the empire.

Among the more than 370 monks who have become monks here, most of them have a history of serving in the army, either because of their own experience, or because they have seen through the red dust and devoted themselves to the Buddha, they voluntarily recited Buddhist scriptures here in the ancient Buddha of the green light, and guarded His Majesty the Holy Emperor all their lives.

There is also a Qingyun Taoist temple on the back mountain, which is located between the mountains and forests, and it is difficult to see its true face from the outside, which is quite mysterious.

These massive construction projects are only a few parts of the unimaginable scale of the Holy Emperor's Mausoleum.

In the Santa Cruz Mountains, nearly 20,000 Native American prisoners have been building for more than 10 years, and a railroad branch line leads deep into the mountains.

It is said that there is a huge valley in the middle of the mountain, surrounded by lakes, and the scenery is breathtaking, and the surrounding area is closely guarded by the Royal Janissaline, and no one knows what was built inside.

During the reign of His Majesty the Emperor, the construction of the Holy Emperor's Mausoleum will continue, perhaps for another 20 or 30 years or more......

The royal family of the Tang Empire is world-famous, and there are more than 100 palaces built in various provinces of the empire?

The large-scale construction project has fed more than 100,000 skilled craftsmen, among whom there are extraordinary masters.

Even many of Europe's most famous contemporary artists, sculptors and architects dedicated their talents to various palaces throughout the Tang Empire in order to earn a good salary.

Refurbished on the palace of diligent government

Emperor Richard has just tried on several dragon robes, which are all emperor's formal robes to be worn during ceremonies, to reflect the historical inheritance of thousands of years, but also to be innovative.

At this moment, he was wearing a simple dress, sitting on a cloud couch and tasting fragrant tea, holding the "Summary of the World Situation" edited by the Royal Secretariat in his hand, and was watching intently.

There are two main things that have focused on him internationally this year;

One was the Statue of Liberty given to the United States by France and arrived in New York, where the building is now stored in warehouses and the base of the Statue of Liberty is under construction.

This is a gift that highlights the century-old friendship between France and the United States, and it can be called the heaviest gift in the world, with a total of more than 240 tons, containing countless efforts of the French.

In the War of Independence of the United States, France could be regarded as a painstaking help, and even sent the main forces of the army and navy to fight against the British, almost bearing most of the pressure of the war.

So when the defeated treaty was signed, Britain arrogantly said that "we lost to the French in an unimportant war", when three people from the victorious side signed, and both were French.

One is Washington, the "Commander-in-Chief of the United States and France", and the other two are Lieutenant General Count Rochambeau and Vice Admiral Count Grasse of the Royal French Army.

Therefore, France and the United States have a glorious historical relationship with the common defeat of the British, and the feelings are extraordinary.

Then again

The mercantilist United States entered into full-scale trade cooperation with the British in the second year after winning the Revolutionary War. It soon became Britain's largest trading partner overseas, and both Britain and the United States reaped huge trade benefits from the cooperation.

Such a backlash almost made the nose of the French angry, but there was nothing to be done.

Another event was the completion of the conquest of Burma by the British Foreign Legion, which extended the margin of safety on the eastern side of the core colony of the British Indian subcontinent and consolidated British colonial hegemony in the region.

The British were doing this to guard against their old rival, the French, who had colonized Indochina and were now trying to digest the colonial gains.

Through the Suez Canal, France sent a large number of people and white immigrants to Indochina, and began large-scale construction of the city of Saigon, including roads, bridges, urban buildings, reservoirs and railways, with the ambition to develop it into a "second Libya".

The defeat of the Qing-French War greatly frustrated the ambitions of the French colonists to go north, and they had to focus on the remaining territory of the Indochina Peninsula.

There are two main goals;

One is Myanmar and the other is the Kingdom of Siam (Thailand).

After France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871, the French decided that the best way to save face was to expand their colonies on Indochina.

In 1883, France completely occupied Annam, and in 1884 turned its "protectorate" Cambodia into a colony.

After the French occupation of Annam, its territory bordered the three vassal states of Siam, Vientiane, Luang Prabang and Champasak, and the French proposed that these three small states should also be called tribute, and put forward territorial claims against them.

Under the threat of French force, in 1886, the Kingdom of Siam was forced to sign an agreement with France on the border between Annam and Laos, stipulating that the Kingdom of Siam would transfer all the territory east of the Mekong River to France, but Luang Prabang on the east bank of the river would remain owned by the Kingdom of Siam.

"Huh...... It's really non-stop! With a chuckle, Emperor Richard put down the "Summary of the World Situation" in his hand, and looked thoughtful.

As an emerging colonial power in the world, the Tang Empire adopted similar methods to the old colonial empires such as Britain, France, Russia, and Jose, except that it is called the "sausage cutting" strategy in the West, and it is called differently in the Tang Empire.

The appetite of a robber will never be satisfied, like a wolf traveling thousands of miles to eat meat.

The French would not be satisfied with the existing colonial areas of Indochina, and after the road to expansion to the north was blocked, they could only expand westward and eastward, starting with the Kingdom of Siam, Burma and the northeast island of Taiwan.

In fact, the French and Germans have coveted Taiwan Island for a long time, but they just didn't make a move out of various scruples.

The British had been in love with the French for hundreds of years, and they knew too well about the nature of the French, so they first launched a strong military invasion of Burma and incorporated it into the colony of the British Indian subcontinent.

In doing so, a sufficient strategic margin of safety would be guaranteed to prevent the penetration of French power into the colonies of the Indian subcontinent.

Commonly known as "demarcation", this is the method by which the two robbers divide their respective spheres of influence.

Generally speaking

After France digests the existing colonies in Indochina, that is, in 10 years and 8 years, it will continue to encroach on and even seek to destroy the Kingdom of Siam.

The French colonizers were like this, the British and the Tang Empire were the same, the bandits were all the same, and the means of expanding colonization were similar.

Therefore, after the accession to the throne of King Rama V Chulalongkorn of the Kingdom of Siam, the French were regarded as the greatest threat and were now trying to move closer to the British and the Tang Empire.

In this 40th anniversary ceremony, the Kingdom of Siam sent a strong lineup of crown princes and many princes, and after participating in the celebration, they will enter several famous universities in the Tang Empire for further study.

In the next step, it is also hoped that the royal families of the two countries will marry.

This is a very sincere gesture to the royal family of the Tang Empire, and the Kingdom of Siam is willing to pay tribute as a vassal state, but this is only in the intention at present, and the details need to be further explored.

The reason why the Kingdom of Siam did this was also to hope to repay the thick legs of the Tang Empire and rely on it as a backer.

King Chulalongkorn has been intelligent since childhood, has studied both Chinese and Western, and has a thorough understanding of the current world situation, and has a special British adviser on his side to provide timely and thoughtful advice.

What he formulated for the Kingdom of Siam was the basic strategy of relying on Britain and Tang as backers to resist the invasion of French forces.

Emperor Richard did not refuse the Siamese royal family's initiative to approach, but gladly accepted it, which greatly helped the Tang Empire to expand its power in the Indochina Peninsula.

The requirements are also clear; That is, the Kingdom of Siam must be called a minister and pay tribute, provide garrison bases and ports for the Tang Empire on the territory, and be included in the vassal state system of the Tang Empire.

The conquest of Burma by the British Foreign Legion and the French invasion of the Kingdom of Siam were in fact the same thing, the confrontation between Britain and France in Indochina.

Coupled with the involvement of the Tang Empire, the problem becomes even more complicated.

In 1886, American and British missionaries respectively forcibly repaired churches in two places, the Goose Neck and Congshu Monument under the Futu Pass in Chongqing, which caused great anger among the local people.

The public widely disseminated the post, and made appointments to apostatize.

Subsequently, the merchants boycotted the market, and the martial arts students who were taking the examination in Chongqing also went on strike, and the angry crowd burned down the churches and British and French houses in succession, triggering a lesson plan of thousands of people.

This is really a wave of unsettled, wave after wave!

(End of chapter)