On July 20, 1853 AD, Jinling, now the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, was called Tianjing.
Meng De'en, Prime Minister Enshou and the chief minister of the Heavenly Palace, was reporting the construction status of the Heavenly Palace to Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan in the imperial study, "Now the inner city is basically ready, and the outer city is being expanded. It is expected that it will be expanded again." It will be almost done in three or four months. By the way, the Tianchao Gate and Yugou are completed. The three-hole white marble bridge in front of the Tianchao Gate is very exquisite. Please name it the Heavenly King. And the Heavenly King should have a saint. According to the imperial edict, I asked the craftsmen to frame it with yellow silk and hang it at the gate of the Celestial Dynasty to remind civil and military officials and idlers that they are not allowed to enter without permission from now on, and to show the majesty of our Celestial Dynasty."
"Well, I'll do as you say." Hong Xiuquan looked at Meng De'en with appreciation, put down the iced white fungus soup in his hand, stood up and came to the imperial book case, and took the pen handed by the female officer, "Oh, that bridge is called Wulong Bridge, our inner city is called Golden Dragon City, and our outer city is called Sun City. It¡¯s appropriate for Five Dragons to guard it, hahaha"
He smiled proudly while writing.
Yes, how could he be dissatisfied?
??From the Jintian regiment camp in January 1851 to the capture of this ancient Jiangnan city in March 1853, the heroic Taiping soldiers led by Hong Xiuquan were invincible. Although there were defeats in the battle with Changsha and so on, and he lost his mentor Feng Yunshan and his brother-in-law Xiao Chaogui because of this, it didn't matter after all. After just over two years of bloody fighting, he now has a country of his own, a country with his surname Hong. All of this is probably beyond the dreams of those scientific examiners who didn¡¯t point to themselves back then.
Now he no longer has to take any scientific examinations, he has the power to nominate the number one scholar, and he also has the power to dominate everything in the world!
Meng De'en also accompanied the Heavenly King and grinned. He looked at the fairly good calligraphy of the Heavenly King and admired, "Heavenly King, your handwriting is really amazing. I think what they often say about Wang Xizhi is nothing more than fear." It¡¯s been a while.¡±
Hong Xiuquan put down his pen and admired himself, "All ministers and workers, big and small, have stopped here and are allowed to proceed only if there is an edict, otherwise it will be snow in the clouds ('Yun Zhongxue' is the lingo of the Taiping Army to describe 'decapitation'). How to do it?" Well, isn¡¯t that good?¡±
Meng Deen opened his arms and nodded repeatedly, "What's so good? It's so good! I'll have someone embroider it and hang it up right away."
"Okay," Hong Xiuquan returned to the chair and sat down. He took a sip of the iced Tremella soup, and a coolness spread through his body. He reminded Meng De'en, "De'en, the entire palace must be entered nine times from the Golden Dragon Palace. Finally, A three-story pavilion must be built in front of it, and it must be able to see dozens of miles away. This is called the Nine Heavens."
"Don't worry, King, I will definitely do what you want."
Hong Xiuquan nodded, "By the way, De'en, don't just take care of me. Also, clean up the mansion that was allocated to you. We have conquered the world, and we have to make our family members comfortable as well."
"Yes, King of Heaven." Meng De'en seemed to be moved to tears, and said with choked sobs.
"Oh, there is one more thing I almost forgot," Hong Xiuquan narrowed his small eyes and looked at Meng De'en, "I heard that the female number one scholar in the new department is pretty good."
Meng Deen chuckled and said, "That's right. Her name is Fu Shanxiang. She has good articles and is very handsome. She is really a rare person. But" He sighed softly when he said this. tone.
"Hmm?" Hong Xiuquan was imagining what this female champion looked like. Seeing Meng De'en grumbling, he asked unhappily, "What's the matter?"
Meng Deen said carefully: "King of Heaven, she is now a member of Dongfu."
"Haha, that's good," Hong Xiuquan said haha ??insincerely, feeling a sense of disappointment in his heart, "I'm just asking casually, since he is the number one scholar that I personally selected, he should be brought to me for a look, and he should be hired based on his evaluation. Yes. Now that King Dong has a keen eye for jade, he doesn¡¯t need me to worry about it.¡±
"Yes, yes, the King of Heaven is still broad-minded and always considers the Heavenly Kingdom." Meng De'en sighed with emotion, but he disagreed in his heart. He knew very well what the King of Heaven was thinking at this moment. The Celestial Empire has explicitly implemented a system of separate libraries for men and women. For soldiers and civilians below the prime minister, let alone the union of men and women, even husband and wife cannot live together. But look at this heavenly king again. He has more than a hundred wives and concubines, but it is still not enough.
"King of heaven," he looked around and said softly with a flattering smile, "you don't like to move around. In fact, there is a girl in Jinlong City who is even better than that Fu Shanxiang."
"Really?" Hong Xiuquan perked up and stared at Meng De'en intently, looking impatient, "Quickly tell me, where is it? Why didn't I see it?"
"Don't say I told you," Meng Deen said fiercelyHe glanced fiercely at the female officials in the study, then pointed to the east, leaned in Hong Xiuquan's ear and said, "There is a beautiful girl like a fairy at the place of Princess Lai. She has just turned seventeen. She plays chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry and singing. She is proficient in everything. The princess once told people that if she took part in the scientific examination this time, she would definitely get the top spot."
Hong Xiuquan opened his mouth wide and his palms were sweating. He turned his brain vigorously and searched for the woman Meng Deen mentioned in his memory. After a long time, he swallowed his saliva and said, "Haha, since I have never seen her, then the princess must have some plans."
"I heard that the princess wanted to adopt her as her adopted daughter." Meng De'en nodded.
"You know so much?" Hong Xiuquan tilted his head and glanced at Meng Deen, looking strange.
"King of Heaven, I" Meng Deen felt a chill in his heart and hurriedly wanted to explain something.
Hong Xiuquan waved his hand, "You did a good job, but it's better not to know more about the princess's affairs in the future." In fact, he liked Meng De'en like this. At the beginning of the incident, Meng Deen not only protected him, but also thought about him in every aspect. As long as Meng Deen is there, he can understand the meaning of his gesture or even his look.
Hong Xiuquan is a person who likes to be suspicious by nature. He does not trust anyone, but he believes in Meng Deen. But the second half of his words still came from his heart. Princess Lai is his first wife. Perhaps it is due to uneasy conscience. Perhaps Lai himself has done an impeccable job in the harem. He is accustomed to beating and scolding any concubine, but he is still polite to Lai. a lot of.
"I am reporting to the Heavenly King, Your Highness King Yi is waiting to see you." A female Diantian official came in and bowed to report.
Hong Xiuquan raised his eyes to look at the large Western gilded clock on the floor, and frowned. It was already five o'clock in the afternoon. This Dapao, if he doesn't want to eat, why don't he ask others to eat? He waved to Meng Deen to indicate that he could leave, then turned around and ordered, "Please come here, King Yi."
Wing King Shi Dakai just came out from the East King Yang Xiuqing and came directly to see the Heavenly King. Since Tianjing was established as the capital, the King of the East has taken charge of the military and political affairs of the entire Celestial Dynasty as a military advisor. The King of the North, Wei Changhui, has been responsible for the defense of Tianjing. His task is to assist the King of Heaven in managing military affairs.
"Brother Wang, I am polite." Shi Dakai bowed deeply and sat down according to the king's instructions.
Seeing his melancholy look, Hong Xiuquan smiled slightly and pointed to the iced white fungus soup brought by the female officer, "Da Pao, drink this first. It can relieve the heat and ward off the fire. Look at how much these clear demon heads enjoy it." , Lu Jianying actually kept ice cubes in his Liangjiang Governor's Mansion. Unfortunately, his blessing is too small, so he can only leave it to me to enjoy." He laughed very proudly.
Shi Dakai took the jade bowl filled with iced white fungus soup and took a symbolic sip. Then I looked at the two female officials standing behind the King, waving paper fans, one on the left and one on the right fanning the King. I felt an indescribable feeling in my heart. From the King of Heaven, the Hong Xiuquan of Jintian could no longer be seen, and he sighed secretly.
"The Heavenly King, Lin Fengxiang sent back the document. They have crossed the Yellow River north and have now arrived at Huaiqing Mansion in Henan." Shi Da opened the crystal clear white jade bowl without any flaws and looked at the Heavenly King and said.
"At first, many people opposed the lone Northern Expedition, but now it seems that this decision is still the right one." Speaking of this, Hong Xiuquan felt a little irritated by Shi Dakai, because the person who opposed the lone Northern Expedition was led by Shi Dakai. He chuckled and said, "Lin Fengxiang and the others marched very quickly. Firstly, they had the protection of Heavenly Father, and secondly, they had good tactical guidance from Da Pao before leaving. That is, they should not overly pursue the capture of a city, but should use the best possible method. With quick movements, they went straight to the lair of Qingyao in Beijing. They had meritorious service in battle and wanted rewards, which would also boost their morale. Well Jin made Lin Fengxiang the Marquis of Jing Hu, Li Kaifang the Marquis of Ding Hu, and Ji Wenyuan the Marquis of Ping Hu. Tell Xiuqing and ask him to send a message."
"Rewards are deserving, but what they need most at the moment is probably not this." Shi Dakai sighed, "Lin Fengxiang's troops are currently frustrated in their attack on Huaiqing and are confronting Qingyao. Their military strength is obviously insufficient. I have discussed it with Dong Wang and the others. For a long time, the originally planned reinforcements could not be sent out. What I am worried about is that if Lin Fengxiang and the others go deeper, they may become even more passive."
Hong Xiuquan blinked and thought for a while, "The defense of Tianjing is the top priority right now, and Xiuqing is right not to send reinforcements at this time. Besides, Qingyao is now a frightened bird, and is simply vulnerable to our holy soldiers. Don¡¯t worry about it, Dapao.¡±
Shi Dakai pondered for a while and said: "Currently, the Qingyao Jiangnan and Jiangbei camps are echoing across the river, which has restrained a large number of our troops in Tianjing. Especially the Jiangnan camp has not only hindered our future development to the east, but also hindered our future eastward development. It directly blocked our food route. According to my brother's opinion, we might as well withdraw some of the troops from the Western Expedition and cooperate with the Tianjing defenders to get rid of the monster Xiang Rong. In this way,They can reinforce Lin Fengxiang and others in the Northern Expedition at critical moments, and can also expand the development area for Tianjing. Being trapped in an isolated city is never a good idea. "
"I'm afraid it's not appropriate," Hong Xiuquan shook his head. "Yesterday Xiuqing also discussed with me that the strength of the Western Expedition should be strengthened. What he meant was that he wanted to ask Da Pao to go to Anqing and take charge directly. I think this idea is good, and you can command it. With the army marching westward, the west side of Tianjing will be safe."
Shi Dakai nodded and said nothing more. He knew that it would be useless to say more