The Fiery Era: Starting from Longxugou

Chapter 92 This Dragon Throne and I are Destined

"Hehehe!"

On the Jinshui Bridge, Zhao Xiaoyue, Zhao Xiaole, and the others ran around and played around the bridge.

Zhao Shi'an walked across all five bridges and explored all five gates under Tiananmen Gate.

In modern times, we wouldn't have this opportunity. Now that we've had the chance, we naturally want to take a good look around. Unfortunately, Tiananmen Gate is not open to the public yet, so we can't go up to the gate and have a proper look.

After having their fill of fun, Zhao Shi'an called his younger siblings to cross Tiananmen Square and Duanmen Gate. Suddenly, a bright and open space appeared before them. Passing through the shadow of the city gate tower, a flat and spacious square unfolded before them. This was the imperial road open space between Duanmen Gate and Wumen Gate.

On both sides are mottled gray palace walls, and the blue bricks on the ground are polished to a shine by the footsteps of pedestrians. Directly in front, the majestic Meridian Gate stands at the end of the field of vision, with its wing-shaped buildings layered upon each other, and the red walls and yellow tiles look particularly heavy in the sunny day.

Separated by a wall from the Imperial Road open space were the Altar of Earth and Grain and the Imperial Ancestral Temple, which are now Zhongshan Park and the Working People's Cultural Palace.

The Forbidden City has been cleaned up long ago, and the courtyards are very tidy, without the weeds and grime that used to grow there.

A simple wooden ticket booth was set up on one side of the square, with several staff members sitting behind it, stacks of light-colored paper tickets in front of them, and many people queuing to buy tickets.

Zhao Shi'an led a few people to queue up, and soon it was their turn.

"Hello comrade! I'd like to buy a ticket!"

Zhao Shi'an looked at the staff and said.

Are these children with you too?

'

"right!"

"Wait a minute! Kids, you three come here for a second! Stand here one by one so Auntie can take a look!"

The staff pointed to the wall behind them and asked Zhao Shijie, Zhao Shixiong, and Tian Xiaocao to stand in that position one by one. As for Zhao Xiaoyue and Zhao Xiaole, they were obviously less than a meter tall, so there was no need to measure them.

The three obediently stood over, and soon the results came out: Zhao Shijie and the other two had to buy half-price tickets.

Upon seeing this, the staff member said, "Three free tickets, three half-price tickets, and one full-price ticket, totaling two thousand five hundred!"

"Give!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Shi'an readily took out his money. He hadn't expected the Palace Museum tickets to be so cheap now, costing only 1,000 yuan each, which would be worth only 10 cents in today's market price.

"Exactly two thousand five hundred, here's your ticket!"

The staff member tore off four tickets and handed them over.

Zhao Shi'an thanked them and took the tickets, then led the group into the Forbidden City through the gate on the east side of the Meridian Gate.

Passing through the gate, you are greeted by a vast courtyard of blue bricks that stretches as far as the eye can see. The ground is free of weeds and trash, and is very clean and tidy.

Looking at the scene before her, Zhao Xiaoyue jumped up excitedly: "Wow! Big brother, the palace is so big!"

"Haha! We're entering the palace!"

Zhao Shijie and Zhao Shixiong were thrilled as they looked at the seemingly endless grand hall! Tian Qingshan followed behind them, shouting excitedly. Tian Xiaocao looked at the courtyard, which was dozens of times larger than her home, her mouth slightly agape, her face full of wonder and amazement!

Zhao Xiaole let go of her older brother's hand, tilted her head back and looked around, then turned to her brother and asked, "Big brother, is this where the Emperor lives? It's so big!"

"Yes! This is where the emperor used to live! Come on, let's take a good look around!"

Zhao Shi'an responded with a smile and followed behind the group.

There is a small river in the middle of the courtyard. Upon closer inspection, the water is clear and bright, and five small white marble bridges are neatly arranged with snow-white railings.

As the group stepped onto the bridge, they saw the Taihe Gate. Passing through the gate's archway, the majestic Taihe Hall suddenly appeared before them.

Layer upon layer of white marble steps support the main hall, and the yellow tiles and red walls are particularly dazzling in the sunny day. The mythical beasts on the eaves are majestic and imposing.

The group of children stared in amazement. Zhao Shijie exclaimed, "Big brother, is this the Imperial Palace? It's so grand!"

"Big brother, second brother said this is the Imperial Palace?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xiaoyue tilted her head and looked at her older brother for confirmation.

"Yes! This is the Imperial Palace! Let's go inside and take a look!"

As Zhao Shi'an spoke, he led the group forward, following the steps to the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Nowadays, people can freely enter and exit the Hall of Supreme Harmony, unlike in modern times when they could only look at it from the entrance.

The interior of the hall is very spacious, with a dozen thick red-lacquered pillars supporting the huge roof. Although the painted patterns have faded somewhat, they are still very impressive.

On the high platform in the very center of the hall, the dragon throne stood quietly in front of the screen.

The platform is surrounded by a white marble railing, and outside the railing is a simple, low wooden fence to prevent tourists from climbing. If someone ignores the warning, staff will ask them to leave.

At this time, there were many tourists in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Zhao Xiaoyue and Zhao Xiaole followed a group of children, curiously looking around.

Zhao Shi'an gave a few instructions to the group and then carefully toured the Hall of Supreme Harmony. He hadn't had the chance before, so now he was going to make the most of it.

When Zhao Shi'an saw the dragon throne in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, he felt a surge of temptation. This thing is a dragon throne? Why is it different from the ones he saw in modern times?

The so-called dragon throne in front of me is not the ancient throne with coiled dragons that we see today. Instead, it is a rather strange chair with a high and straight back, a low seat, and messy carvings. The style is incongruous and it does not have the majesty and weight that a dragon throne should have. It just doesn't look right.

How can I describe the dragon throne before me?

Zhao Shi'an stared at the so-called dragon throne in front of him for a long time, and suddenly felt that describing the dragon throne in front of him as a high-backed sofa was very appropriate.

Just then, Zhao Shijie pointed to the high platform, looked at his elder brother with curiosity, and asked, "Brother, is that the emperor's chair? It looks strange; it doesn't look like the golden dragons the storytellers described."

"It definitely doesn't look like it! This dragon throne looks a bit strange, kind of like something from a foreign country!"

Zhao Shi'an compared the so-called dragon throne in front of him with the dragon throne he saw in modern times and found that they were not the same thing at all. Could it be that the dragon throne that modern people see has not yet been found?

Upon having this thought, Zhao Shi'an was extremely excited! If that were really the case, wouldn't this dragon throne be destined for him?

It just so happens that my little courtyard is missing a place to sit. I have to stand every time I enter the space. If I could find a dragon throne, I could put it in the courtyard and preserve it well.

Thinking about all this, Zhao Shi'an's heart burned even hotter!

"Haha! Little one, your older brother is right! The dragon throne you see now isn't the one the emperors used to sit on!"

Zhang Wenyuan, who was guarding the dragon throne, smiled and took over the conversation.

"If it's not the emperor's seat, then who is it?"

Zhao Shi'an was somewhat surprised to hear this, and quickly and humbly asked for his advice.

"What you see is Yuan Shikai's Western-style dragon throne, which is 2.04 meters high, with a backrest of about 1.62 meters and a base of only 0.42 meters. The backrest is extremely high and the seat is relatively low."

The base is a concave Sumeru pedestal with a high waist. The waist is carved with brocade patterns, and the bottom has a raised apron with a cheek support. The central apron is carved into the shape of a pot door.

The backrest is shaped like a jade tablet, with four dragons playing with a pearl carved in openwork at the top. There is a circular opening with a diameter of two feet in the middle, and a white silk cushion in the center, embroidered with the national emblem of the "Chinese Empire". The lower part is a rectangular horizontal screen with three dragons carved in relief.

The armrests feature two openwork dragons carved in the round, forming a total of nine dragon patterns when combined with the backrest.

Upon hearing Zhao Shi'an's question, Zhang Wenyuan chuckled and explained. He was already used to this. People in the capital were well-informed, and anyone with a little knowledge could tell at a glance that the dragon throne was not quite right.

"So it belonged to Yuan Shikai? What happened to the original dragon throne? Why wasn't it switched back? He was emperor for only a few days!"

Zhao Shi'an was extremely surprised. He said he hadn't seen wrong and hadn't expected that Yuan Shikai had replaced it.

Most people's impression of Yuan Shikai silver dollars is that they are silver coins. However, by chance, he visited Yuan Shikai's tomb in Anyang, Yuanlin.

The overall layout of the tomb imitates that of an imperial mausoleum, but the ritual specifications are those of a prince, which means it is "imitating the outer shell of an imperial mausoleum, but in reality, it is the core of a prince".

After figuring out the situation of the dragon throne, a new question arose—where did the original dragon throne go?

"Don't worry, young comrade, it's not that we don't want to replace it, we just can't find one!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Wenyuan patiently explained.

"Didn't you just say the dragon throne was replaced? Does that mean it's no longer in the palace after the replacement?"

Zhao Shi'an became even more curious upon hearing this.

"I'm really not sure. It might be in the storeroom! We're currently taking inventory of everything in the Palace Museum. Once we've finished, we should be able to find it if it's there!"

Seeing the puzzled looks on everyone's faces, Zhang Wenyuan explained again.

"Didn't the Forbidden City just finish cleaning? Why are they doing an inventory check?"

"Exactly! Didn't they just clean it up the year before last? I even came to help!"

Hearing this, the tourists visiting the Hall of Supreme Harmony were quite puzzled.

"Listen to me, everyone, this is not the same thing. The cleanup two years ago was of the garbage in the Forbidden City."

This year, the Palace Museum will begin inventorying its cultural relics; this all requires cataloging and listing!

Seeing everyone's reaction, Zhang Wenyuan quickly began to explain.

"So that's how it is! No wonder I couldn't see the dragon throne; we hadn't found it yet!"

"Comrade, how long will it take to finish cleaning? We've never seen the emperor's dragon throne before! When will you let everyone see it?"

"that is----"

"Everyone! I understand your feelings. Inventorying cultural relics is a meticulous task, and it could take years. But don't worry! Once we find the dragon throne, we will definitely release it for everyone to see!"

After hearing the staff's explanation, although everyone was somewhat disappointed, they did not insist on making things difficult for the staff.

"Ugh! I thought I'd be seeing a real dragon throne! Turns out it's a fake!"

Zhao Shijie sighed as he spoke.

"Second brother is right!"

Zhao Xiaoyue nodded in agreement, and everyone was overjoyed to hear this!

Zhao Shi'an patted his younger brother and sister's heads.

The staff member's words reminded him.

I remember when I visited the Forbidden City before, the tour guide said that the dragon throne that is now in the Hall of Supreme Harmony was found in 1959. At that time, it was found in a warehouse in the Forbidden City where old furniture was stored. The dragon throne was in a bad state. The reason why it was recognized as a dragon throne was because experts identified it based on an old photo of the Hall of Supreme Harmony from the late Qing Dynasty.

He was just thinking that if the real dragon throne weren't there, wouldn't his opportunity come?

But when he thought about the discovery and restoration process of the dragon throne, he lost interest. Experts had to rely on old photos to identify the dilapidated dragon throne, and it took several restorations to get it to its current state. Even if he found it, it would be useless to take it back!