When the Yeng built the War Palace, they placed it on the western side of the city, so that the palace's eastern wall is a segment of the city's western wall. Two gates that formerly led into the countryside now lead into the palace complex, although only one of them is for public use.
The whole complex is more or less patterned after the old one at Peach Grove, but it is somewhat less open and ornate than that one. Thought has been given more to defense than to elegance. The entrances are narrower and the walls thicker and higher. It is whispered by some that the Yeng have built secret passages and listening posts throughout the complex, although this has not been confirmed.
The complex itself is divided into five compartments, running from south to north. The southernmost, the Court of Imminent Appeal, is nearly a little city in itself. Here countless petty officials and servants have their own small apartments, and there are a handful of minor government buildings which each serve some obscure sector of the beaurocracy. The Far Gate on the south wall opens to the countryside, while the Oak Gate on the east wall leads back into Mutsai. It is through one of these two gates that most visitors to the palace pass through.
On the north of this area is the entrance to the next section of the palace. The Armory Gate, as the name suggests, leads into the area which houses the royal arsenal, The Court of Unkindled Flame. Barracks and stables are also found here. Anyone serving in the King's guard will have a bunk and locker in this court.
Passing north through the Pheasant Gate one enters the third department, the Court of Proclamation. Most of the royal bureaucracy works in this area, centered on the building known as the Outer Hall. Legal changes, judicial decisions, and royal decrees will be published here.
The Gate of Reply, sometimes confusingly called the Main Entrance, leads into the fourth court, the Court of Enlightened Counsel. Here the King meets with his various councils and holds audience. The Ash Gate on the east side leads into the city. Few are allowed to pass through this gate. Only the King, his personal couriers, servants, and guards will generally use it, and that rarely. However, the Scions are allowed to enter it to attend the War Council in the latter half of the morning, after the King has finished with his administrative council.
North of this is the Tiger Gate, painted a royal purple, which leads to the private living area of the king and his concubines. This area is designated as the Court of Undisturbed Tranquility. There is a banquet hall here which is reserved for exclusive dinners with the king and a select few. The King's House is here, along with various houses for concubines and apartments for eunuchs. Obviously this is where the king spends most of his time. The Queen's House stands uninhabited, for a chief wife has not yet been selected, and at Fennu's ascension his mother left the palace to live in seclusion on a country estate. She has not been seen in some time. Beside this house is the tomb of the former king, Chengshi-- but that name is never spoken here. By longstanding tradition, it is forbidden to use the name of a deceased king of the Huo line (and here is another place where Shan and Huo differ). Each deceased king is given a posthumous title. Fennu's father is properly referred to as the Reclusive King, although in less reverent circles he is called the Recumbent King.
Fennu has stayed within the palace for much of his reign, infrequently entering the city and rarely going out into the country. He has never returned to Peach Grove, even during the times it was recaptured by the royal armies. This has made many uneasy. Traditionally the Altar of the Center is where the King makes sacrifice to the Lord of Heaven at midsummer, to ensure stability and prosperity. A fane has been erected on a hill about a days' journey from Mutsai, but it is unclear whether this stopgap measure will meet with Heaven's approval.
Fennu has thus far ruled with a light touch, not overburdening the people with taxes or conscription. This has won him a fair measure of approval among the wider populace. But there are whispers in isolated corners of the capital. He is certainly a good king, they say, but isn't there something about him? That grin, for instance-- positively feral. And when you look at him from a certain angle, does he look-- not quite human? And his appetites are prodigious, even for a king. Nevertheless, they hasten to add, somewhat more loudly, he does not seem to be ruled by them. Unlike his father, he has not neglected affairs of state for affairs of the heart. Certainly none of the concubines (and there are quite a lot of them, aren't there?) seem to have captured his special attention.
If he has not neglected the ship of state, he has also not given as free a rein as his father did to the Yeng family of artificers, or to the nobles. It certainly seems that he intends to bring both into line. How he intends to do that remains to be seen. It is doubtful that he can control one without the other.
No comments:
Post a Comment