Daming 1805

Chapter 507 George IV's Coronation Parade
Louis Charles put Liu Muyu in charge of arranging the itinerary of the envoys.

This job is not easy, and the actual power is also very large.

The former King George III of the United Kingdom reigned for 60 years, and after 60 years, another British king was crowned.

This is also a big deal for Thai and Western people, including the French.

How many people are going to France, who will be arranged for it, and whether the UK has any special requirements are all questions.

Of course, the more important thing is the enthronement ceremony of the Ming emperor.

For the first time, the Ming Dynasty invited Taixi people to participate in the enthronement ceremony of the Ming emperor.

The kings of the Thai and Western countries decided to participate without hesitation.

The top nobles, senior court bureaucrats, the most famous scholars and the most successful businessmen from all over the world also have the opportunity to participate.

Because Ming did not strictly regulate the size and composition of delegations from various countries.

The key problem is also here.

Specifically who to take.

If it was a few decades ago, this question was relatively simple, just bring the main nobles, and most of the senior officials were also nobles.

It's time to think carefully.

One is that the situation in the world is different from that of Ming Dynasty, and the other is that France is not an aristocratic court anymore.

France now had a new court of new aristocrats, progressive merchants, professional bureaucrats, military officers, and scholars.

Daming arranged a military parade and a ship review, and it was impossible for the French to simply go and watch the fun.

Be sure to bring merchants and craftsmen who can see the way.

Officers must be brought with them, and the mission will go there on a warship and participate in the ship review ceremony.

It should also bring well-known scholars from the people and the court to experience and learn the cultural system of Ming Dynasty.

In fact, Liu Muyu knew that many people in France were staring at this matter.

To be able to participate in the enthronement ceremony of the Ming Emperor is definitely an honor for a lifetime or even generations.

There are more people with practical ideas, hoping to use this opportunity to understand Daming more intuitively.

Liu Muyu considered all aspects of the situation in her heart, first of all, in the name of the French king and queen, she sent telegrams to the royal families of Thailand and Western countries, proposing her own invitations and suggestions.

Then go to the screening of suitable participants.

On the British side, Charlotte took on the same job as Liu Muyu on her own, and organized the list of going to Daming to attend the ceremony.

As for the coronation ceremony of his father, the King of England, it was left to the current British Prime Minister Robert Jenkinson.

Similar things are being prepared in Prussia, Lucia, Austria, Ottoman and other countries.

The proposals from the King and Queen of France were quickly sent to the royal families of Thailand and the West, and they basically agreed without much hesitation.

It is a natural arrangement to go to the coronation ceremony of the British king first, and then everyone to go to Ming Dynasty together.

Then everyone has the same considerations, and they have to think about who to bring.

The Thai and Western countries were busy preparing for the envoys, and the Ming Dynasty was busy preparing for the military parade and the main hall. The time soon came to the end of October in the 15th year of Ankang.

On December 1820, 12 in the Western calendar, it was still dark in London, England, and the city had become a lively sea.

Tonight is the traditional Christmas Eve in Taixi, and the coronation ceremony of the new king will be held during the day.

Tomorrow is Christmas Day, and there will be a parade to celebrate the coronation of the new king.

Not only the royal families of the Thai and Western countries will come to participate, but Ming also arranged for missions and fleets to participate.

These two days will be the busiest in the UK for decades.

The royal families of the Thai and Western countries, as well as a large number of entourages, came to London one after another in the past few days.

In the early morning of December 12, King George IV of the United Kingdom set off from Buckingham Palace in a royal car and marched to Westminster Abbey.

In the past, kings were crowned in special carriages.

George IV was a maverick, coupled with his daughter's urging to make the coronation ceremony a bit hasty, London in winter is definitely not warm, so he switched to a car at his daughter's suggestion.

The most high-end cars produced by Zhu Jingyuan and Charlotte's joint venture car factory in the UK are equipped with special air conditioners to maintain the temperature.

The king took his own daughter, not the queen, whom he disliked, in the most luxurious car.

On the surrounding cars are the top British nobles, including more than a dozen younger brothers and sisters of the king.

They carried various ceremonial items required for the coronation.

On both sides of the top VIP's car, there are two rows of guards on mopeds, guarding the king and his party.

At the rear of the procession, there are also open-top medium-sized buses carrying special musicians to play music in the procession.

Hostesses sprinkled flower petals around the carriage.

A large number of Londoners got up in the middle of the night and rushed to wait on both sides of the road for the parade.

The whole scene looked harmonious.

Only a little surprise.

George IV's legal wife, Caroline Amelia Elizabeth, was as fat as George IV.

The king's coronation, the theoretical queen was not invited.

Although the two have been separated for many years and even have their own illegitimate children, Caroline feels that she is queen.

In the past, the Thai and Western royal families did not care about the extravagance of the two parties, but both parties had to admit that they were legal couples.

But George IV just didn't want to see Caroline.

Just ignored her.

Caroline got the news of George IV's coronation, hired a carriage after dawn, and prepared to go to Westminster Abbey by herself.

When Caroline arrived at the church, the king and his party had already entered the church.

At the same time, George IV made arrangements in advance, and the guards blocked Caroline outside the church.

George IV didn't care about outside things at all, and enjoyed the most glorious moment of his life without distraction.

The honor that belongs to me alone, I don't have that disgusting wife to share with me.

The king and queen of all Western countries, as well as the representatives from Ming Dynasty, were on the VIP seats on both sides of the hall.

King George IV, dressed in fine clothes, walked to the podium in the middle of the church hall amidst the attention of everyone.

The British court ministers headed by Prime Minister Robert Jenkinson followed the king to the middle of the hall.

In the sound of melodious music, all the nobles and ministers cheered to the king together, declaring their loyalty to the king.

After the cheering session, King George IV took his seat on the throne above the Great Hall.

The Archbishop of Canterbury anoints the King.

This consecration ceremony, which is similar to the coronation of a bishop, symbolizes that the king is the ruler chosen by God, and also symbolizes the status of the religious leader of the British king.

The archbishop and ministers then present symbols of the monarch's power to the king.

First of all, three special swords were presented, and the archbishop led the king to read the oath:
Use the sword to bring justice, and power to stop evil.

Protect the holy church, help widows and children.

Repair what is broken, maintain what is good.

Punish and correct mistakes and create a correct order.

After taking the oath, the king puts on the sovereign's ring, receives the king's orb and scepter,
Sitting on the throne the archbishop crowns the king.

All the British subjects in the whole venue shouted "God bless the king" together.

It should have been shouting to keep the king and queen, but now George IV's legal wife is blocked from outside the church.

The air temperature in London in December was only a few degrees. Although Caroline was fat, she definitely didn't feel well.

Thinking of this, George IV felt even more comfortable, listening to all the nobles and ministers cheering for their new monarch together.

The bells of Westminster Abbey rang and a cannon salute was fired from the Tower of London.

Satisfied, George IV sat on the throne and accepted hand kisses from the church's senior clergy, senior nobles and ministers.

Finally, George IV announced a batch of prepared pardons.

The core part of the coronation ceremony is over.

After everyone had a short rest, they left the cathedral with King George IV and started a new round of parade.

After the parade returned to Buckingham Palace, the army and air force parade began.

First of all, the most elite infantry units selected by the army, wearing bright red military uniforms, lined up in square formation and passed in front of the palace one by one.

The Ming Dynasty in this world did not have the habit of going forward, and the British did not even have the habit of going forward. The infantry marched as long as they walked neatly.

Followed by "motorcycle riders", they are actually cavalry riding motorcycles, which can be regarded as an upgraded version of bicycle soldiers.

Maybe it was some kind of influence in the dark, the British in this world are very good at motorcycles.

The motorcycle rider not only directly demonstrated the normal single and double cycling, but also added some acrobatic performances.

If Zhu Jingyuan is watching here, he will probably think of the Indian military parade in his previous life.

In fact, different countries have very different understandings of military parades, and in many cases they cannot be directly compared.

Military parades in Thai and Western countries often have the meaning of a float parade...

There are not only acrobatics on motorcycles, but also various shows on floats.

But these links should be separated.

It should be a formal military parade first, followed by performances and demonstrations.

It's kind of weird when you mix it up.

It's just that George IV wanted to hold a military parade, so he had a playful mentality.

Instead of really paying attention to reviewing the status of the troops.

In addition, the time is relatively tight, and the process arrangement is relatively random, so it feels a bit confusing.

However, George IV himself was very satisfied. He sat on a special high platform and watched the team of motorcycle riders pass by, nodding and applauding from time to time.

At the same time, remind the relevant person in charge to pay attention to recording all the pictures for archiving.

Not far from both sides of George IV are the kings, queens, princes and princesses of other countries.

The French Queen Liu Muyu looked at the motorcyclist below, and couldn't help but whispered to her husband beside her:

"It turns out that the military parade can still be done like this, like an acrobatic performance..."

Charles also asked curiously:

"Won't Ming's military parade have such a performance parade?"

Liu Muyu nodded as a matter of course:
"According to my understanding, there will be no such thing. Ming Dynasty's military parade should be a pure display of soldiers and weapons.

"It is to let the troops pass through the square in full armor, which will give people a feeling that they are about to go to the battlefield...

"This British military parade doesn't feel like soldiers fighting a war..."

Charles imagined a little:
"The level of the British Army in Taixi can only be regarded as average...

"In addition, there has been no war for more than ten years, and most of the old veterans have retired.

"These new generation of soldiers may not have been trained according to the goal of war, and they have no intention of fighting at all.

"Rather than a show of force, it's better to have some entertainment...

"But Britain is an island country, unless he wants to go to the mainland again to participate in other countries' wars, the army is of little significance.

"The key is to look at the state of their navy..."

Liu Muyu also nodded slightly:

"Indeed, the British Army is fine, it's completely different from the situation in France...

"Prussia next to us is a large military camp, giving people the impression that it is very similar to the Qin State in the history of China.

"They don't look at all like a country that can settle for long-term status quo..."

Liu Muyu and her husband were chatting, and the two glanced at the other side at the same time. The King and his wife of Prussia were also watching the ceremony.

At this time, the locomotive parade was over, and the military personnel carrier towed the artillery, as well as the armored combat vehicles equipped with special artillery, and the mechanized army troops began to enter the parade site.

Compared with the motorcycle riders in front, these armored mechanized infantry have a stronger taste of soldiers.

Field Marshal Gneisenau next to King William III of Prussia shook his head slightly and said:

"The state of the British Army is very average. It may be because there is no threat of war, and there are no potential war targets, so the organization and construction of the Army have been relaxed.

"If no other country intervenes, if Britain is on the same road as us, our troops can defeat them with relative ease.

"The British Army 15 years ago, with the same equipment, should have been able to defeat them."

William III turned to Gneisenau:
"So we don't need to consider the attitude of the British?"

Gneisenau said directly:
"We have established a tacit understanding with Lucia, and the only thing we need to consider at the moment is Daming, and pay a little attention to France.

"As for the other continental European countries, they are no longer a sufficient threat to us."

William III nodded slightly:

"When you arrive in Daming, you have to carefully observe the state of Daming's troops. Daming also hasn't fought a war in more than ten years.

"Da Ming... It should be said that, to a certain extent, there is also no threat of war anymore."

Gneisenau said with some concern:
"Even if Ming's army is only at the level of the current British army, it cannot be shaken by us.

"Once Ming enters a state of war, under the pressure of war, the army can quickly recover.

"And Daming's geographical conditions are almost perfect, and the surrounding buffer zone can keep all invaders exhausted.

"These buffer zones can hold off long enough for their Army to re-mature.

"What's more, according to what we have learned over the years, Ming's army building has never stopped.

"They may have five to one hundred thousand dedicated military vehicles, including tens of thousands of armored fighting vehicles.

"According to our latest military theory, no country can confront Ming Dynasty head-on.

"We can only hope that Daming does not pay attention to continental affairs..."

William III was silent for a few seconds, sighed slightly, and then nodded again.

The protagonist of this military parade, George IV's interest in mechanized troops is not very high, at least not as good as the motorcycle riders.

George IV has always just looked at it quite seriously, and kept smiling and waved to the marching team below.

Not as excited as before.

It wasn't until the British Air Force came out that George IV became excited again.

Britain's main fighter jets and bombers flew across the sky in square formations, pulling out streaks of colored smoke.

The audience below, no matter what kind of mentality they have, looked up and observed very seriously.

Gneisenau went on to say to his king:
"Britain's planes are pretty good, maybe even stronger than ours, and should be the strongest tier apart from Daming.

"If we were to go to war with Britain, the aircraft could be the difference between victory and defeat.

"There is a strait between our two countries. Whether it is a sea battle or a land battle, the air battle must start first...

"The British obviously paid more attention to aircraft than the traditional army. They learned from Ming Dynasty and set up an independent air force very early.

"If we want to land on the British mainland, we must suppress the British air force."

William III also very approvingly said:
"Britain is an island country, and before the advent of airplanes, it could rely on the navy to protect its homeland.

"But now with aircraft, aircraft can go right over the navy and attack the land across the Channel.

"The most important enemy in the history of the British, France can threaten the British mainland by air.

"It's only natural that the British place more emphasis on the air force than the traditional army.

"However, we will not target the United Kingdom for the time being, unless the United Kingdom arranges for the army to land and interfere with our operations."

Gneisenau nodded slightly, then added:
"It is true that we should not list the UK as a target of war, but we should plan accordingly."

William III nodded directly.

(End of this chapter)