Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 366: The Three Great Halls of the Chu Palace
"Your Majesty, the palace is now too large. The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that no less than 600 palace maids are needed. I suggest selecting young girls from Jiangsu and Zhejiang as well as self-combed girls from Huizhou to fill in the palace. What do you think, Your Majesty?" Queen Zheng Li sat on the dragon couch with a gentle expression, her elegant temperament invisibly revealing her.

At this time, Queen Zheng Li's eyebrows were as dark as distant mountains, her skin was as smiling as peach blossoms, her face was as white as jade, showing the charm of a mature and beautiful young woman, and her belly was slightly bulging.

Needless to say, she was pregnant with royal blood again.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu sat on the dragon couch with her, reached out and took her delicate hand, and said softly:

"The Queen is the ruler of the six palaces. All arrangements and dispatches shall naturally be subject to the Queen's wishes. I have no objections. The Queen's decision is final."

"Your Majesty, you are making things difficult for me! The harem is so huge, it gives me a headache just thinking about it."

"I know the Queen is working hard. She is also feeling heavy and tired. You can ask Concubine Mei and Concubine Qin to help with the trivial matters in the palace. You don't have to do everything yourself."

"This is the only way. I really can't take care of it." Queen Zheng Li said as she quietly pulled her hand out.

Even after being married for many years, she still feels shy and finds it difficult to accept intimate actions in front of others.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu noticed the queen's little action and couldn't help but feel happy in his heart. He just grabbed the queen's white jade-like little hand in his big hand and scratched her palm intentionally.

Just a moment
Queen Zheng Li's little hand quickly retracted like a frightened little rabbit, a blush appeared on her fair face, and she turned around and glared at him in shame and anger;
Your Majesty, as the king of a country, how can you be so frivolous?

The dozen or so concubines standing on both sides saw this and lowered their heads. Only Concubine Mei, who was standing nearby, rolled her eyes at him.

Prince Zheng Guohui of Chu chuckled dryly and said, "The old queen mother has been talking about finding a troupe to liven things up. Ganquan Palace used to be small, so there was really not enough room. Now that it's spacious, let Concubine Mei take care of it."

Mei Fei stepped forward, bowed, and said, "How should we prepare it? Your Majesty needs to give us some rules."

Prince of Chu, Zheng Guohui, said, "Let's deal with the emergency first. Ask the Imperial Household Department to present the selected opera troupe. Please gather the operas you want to hear, whether it's Peking opera, Yue opera, or something else. Concubine Mei will check it out."

"What about down there?"

"Those who are pleasing to the eye will stay and sing in the harem for a few days. If they sing well, they will be rewarded and can perform in the palace often. If their singing is not satisfactory, they will be sent back."

"and then?"

"Tell the Imperial Household Department to select some young girls with good figures and voices, and invite some famous opera troupes to teach them. From now on, even if it's a palace opera troupe, after they've been trained, you can go to opera whenever you want."

Hearing His Majesty say this, all the concubines were overjoyed. Mei Fei said happily, "Your Majesty, doesn't that mean we can listen to any opera we want?"

"Of course."

"Wow, that's great." All the concubines immediately cheered and their excitement was beyond words.

There were not many entertainment activities in those days, and listening to opera in the opera garden was the biggest pastime. Both the old and the young liked it, and there were many obsessed people.

Especially among the family members of the inner court, none of them disliked listening to opera.

As the saying goes; it’s hard to satisfy everyone.

The old empress dowager loved to listen to Peking opera, Queen Zheng Li was born into a famous family in northern Anhui and loved to listen to the local Huangmei opera, and Concubine Mei was from Yuhang, so she naturally preferred Yue opera.

His Majesty the King waved his hand and approved the establishment of several opera troupes so that we can have everything we want. We can listen to whatever we like. We don’t need this little money.

In the past, the palace was too small, but now that the space is larger, it is no problem to just allocate a few remote courtyards to keep them.

The Prince of Chu's Palace is located in the Longshouyuan area, just across the river from the original Manila Royal City, less than 5 kilometers away.

Standing high up in the palace, you can see the tall spire of the Manila Intramuros Cathedral in the distance.

The Longshouyuan District across the river is not only the location of the royal palace, but also a gathering place for dignitaries. Almost all the nobles of the kingdom have mansions of different sizes in the Longshouyuan District, and noble carriages are everywhere on the streets.

Throughout the palace building
Tianque, Tianjie and Tianmen (Yingtianmen) are external buildings of the royal palace. Tianque is a seven-arch, three-story pavilion over a hundred meters high. It is extremely majestic and spectacular and can be seen from a long distance.

Today, the Royal Guards are stationed in the palace, and morning bells and evening drums are set up inside the palace. At around 7 a.m., the bells ring seven times on time. The sound of the huge bronze bell is rich and can be heard throughout the city, heralding the beginning of the day.

In the twilight of the evening, the dull sound of drums sounded, reminding people to light candles and night had fallen.

Tianjie consists of two long streets on the left and right, separated by a wide imperial road in the middle. Both streets are mainly composed of 3-5-story Han and Tang Dynasty pavilion-style buildings, and were built by the Royal Household Department.

Not for sale, only for rent.

The land was rented out to businesses for the sale of general merchandise, gold and silver jewelry, ornaments, tea, porcelain, calligraphy and painting, jade, brocade and silk, and other businesses, including high-end teahouses, restaurants, brothels, theaters, post offices, telegraph offices, and so on.
The lanterns here are shining brightly and the lights are brilliant. The first kerosene street lamp in Chu State was built here. The bustling crowds of people are constantly coming and going, and it is quite lively.

Tianjie has been open for more than two years and has become a bustling commercial street. Especially at night, there is a constant stream of cars and horses, and the prosperous scene is fully displayed.

Tianmen is Yingtianmen, which is about 120 meters away from Tianjie. Here, there are fully armed guards from the Royal Guard Division, and no outsiders are allowed to enter.

From Yingtianmen to Tianjin Bridge, there is a huge square in the middle. This square is called Yingtianmen Square. On one side is the solemn and majestic Martyrs' Shrine, and outside the Martyrs' Shrine is a huge stone archway.

The Martyrs' Shrine houses tablets of heroes who sacrificed their lives for the country. It is equipped with a high altar, a sacrificial hall with green tiles, sacrificial tablets, and sacrificial pavilions, and a dedicated person is responsible for the sacrifices and sweeping.

On the other side of Yingtianmen Square is the tall and magnificent Royal Museum, which houses the Chu royal family's collection of countless rare antiques, ancient paintings and rare books, including a complete set of the "Siku Quanshu" and most of the "Yongle Encyclopedia".

On the north side of Yingtianmen Square is the palace of the King of Chu.

Only after crossing the Tianjin Bridge with carved railings and jade bricks can one enter the actual area of ​​the King of Chu's palace.

Tianshu is a tall city gate building, which functions like the Forbidden City, protecting the huge Chu Palace.

The Tiangong has three main halls, namely Hanyuan Hall, Xuanzheng Hall and Zichen Hall. All the rituals and etiquette of the halls are based on the Tang Dynasty system.

Hanyuan Hall is the first and most important hall and also the palace with the highest status. The grand court meeting held every three months, the grand celebration of the kingdom and the annual New Year's court meeting are all held in Hanyuan Hall.

Xuanzheng Hall is the second most important hall, second only to Hanyuan Hall in status. It was here that the King of Chu rewarded his ministers, summoned foreign princes and nobles, held sacrifices, and held annual awards to knights who had made outstanding contributions to the kingdom. These major events were all held here.

The Purple Palace is the third most important palace, second only to the first two in status. It is the inner court hall and also the palace where the King of Chu lives and works.
35 meters behind the Xuanzheng Hall is the Zichen Gate, and 60 meters inside the gate is the Zichen Hall, which is the main hall of the sleeping area and where the King of Chu summoned his ministers to discuss state affairs on a large scale.

The Prime Minister and his cabinet members would meet with His Majesty the King of Chu every Monday, and it was here that they would make speeches and listen to His Majesty's teachings.

Ministers of the State of Chu were able to enter the Purple Palace to report to the emperor and discuss matters, which was called "entering the cabinet". It was an extremely honorable thing, so the cabinet ministers were also respectfully called "cabinet ministers" and "cabinet elders" to demonstrate their power.

To the east of the Purple Palace are the imperial study, bathing hall and greenhouse hall.

To the west are the Yanying Hall and the Hanxiang Hall, which are located side by side on the east and west sides. These are where the King of Chu conducts his daily activities. Compared to the originally tiny Ganquan Palace, this place is much more spacious.

In the spacious and bright imperial study

King Zheng Guohui of Chu, who had just returned from the harem, looked refreshed. He came to the couch on the side of the imperial study, lay down on the couch with his back leaning against the rosewood couch with a nine-dragon cloud pattern, and stretched out comfortably.

Three beautiful personal maids came forward, one knelt in front of the couch and massaged his thighs, while another stood behind him and kneaded his shoulders and neck.

One serves exquisite tea and snacks, a fruit plate, and brings the cut fruit to your mouth.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu is now nothing but satisfied.

After years of painstaking planning, the kingdom's domestic and foreign affairs are back on track, and its national strength is growing. Now that the new palace is complete, I feel comfortable living here.

It can be said that the Chu State's path forward has crossed dangerous shoals and rapids and entered a period of smooth development, and the future is becoming increasingly bright.

In the past two years
The House of Commons of the Kingdom of England began to perform its duties, restricting and supervising government behavior in many aspects, and formulating and promoting more than a dozen pieces of legislation, so that the country's administration has laws to rely on.

The Supreme Court of the Kingdom and the courts of various prefectures were established successively, which took back the power of rule of law from the hands of prefecture and county officials, reduced one-sided subjective conjectures, and better met the needs of the kingdom to embark on the path of rule of law.

The establishment of the independent prosecutor system is the final improvement of the rule of law system and forms a constraint on public power.

From now on
The Chu State had established a relatively clear system of checks and balances. Whether the criminal was guilty, how long the sentence should be, and whether the death penalty should be imposed were all decided by the court.

It is based on the laws promulgated by the kingdom. The King of Chu will no longer have to read those irritating files in the future. Those negative things will really make people feel dark if they read too much.

Now, if King Zheng Guohui of Chu is willing to understand the matter, he can do so. If he is not willing to intervene, the court will naturally handle the matter.

The King of Chu has the highest right of pardon, but he has never used it once.

Enjoying the service of beautiful maids, King Zheng Guohui of Chu was in a very good mood. After a while, he felt sleepy and closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

Seeing this, the maid hurriedly brought a thin quilt to cover His Majesty, placed two brocade cushions under his elbows, and then gently waved a round fan to help His Majesty sleep more comfortably.

(End of this chapter)