The Struggle History of the Fourteenth Qing Dynasty

"It's being renovated there, what are you going to do with all the fuss? Do you want to see a pile of rubble? Don't go, have dinner with Huang Ama, and then go back to the harem. You are still young, and you won't be able to help much if you go." Kangxi called the two little ones to him and touched his fleshy and smooth head: "Go to Dongnuan Pavilion to play, and wait for Huang Ama to finish reading the scriptures."

"Is this an excerpt?" Little Fourteen glanced curiously: "What is it all about? Is it a eulogy?"

"It should be a major national event!" Xiao Shisan also glanced curiously: "The color of the cover is different."

On Kangxi's imperial case, there are several stacks of memorials, the covers are colorful, not uniform, and the folds are all satin-faced, which looks very gorgeous.

"Then let's not bother Huang Ama anymore, let's go to Dongnuan Pavilion." Little Shisan is good, and little Fourteen is even better. The two children held hands and ran to Dongnuan Pavilion. In the past... there is no way, there are various details in this palace, especially the height of the threshold, and it was the same when entering the palace just now.

The threshold is not for "stepping", the two of them have to use the posture of "lying on their heads".

It was the sensibleness of the two younger sons that made Kangxi very pleased. After reading many memorials, he only wanted to pass on the meal and remembered the two younger sons.

Go to Dongnuan Pavilion to have a look, okay, the two little guys are very interested in his Dongnuan Pavilion, and they will be looking at the globe.

"Where we are, is it on the ball?" Xiao Shisan looked at the globe curiously.

"Of course!" Little Fourteen looked at the slightly crude globe. The marks on it were very interesting, because only the Qing Dynasty was marked [-]% clearly, while those places in the outer sea were marked vaguely.

Frank only has Paris; Great Britain only has the British Isles and England, Scotland and Ireland, and even Northern Ireland is not marked.

The five continents and four oceans are even more vague titles, and even the printed words are in foreign languages.

This is bullying who doesn't know foreign languages?Or is it fooling the Qing Dynasty?In fact, foreigners came to fool the emperor of the Qing Dynasty, because only missionaries came to the Qing Dynasty, but no one from the Qing Dynasty went abroad.

Xiao Shishi knew what was going on in his heart, but Xiao Shisan was just watching the fun.

But the two young ones had played with the globe, and then ran to look at the white jade plate placed on the red sandalwood at the front of the room.

This white jade plate is 1.5 meters in diameter, a super large white jade plate, with a map of rivers and seas drawn in gold on it.

"What is this for?" Xiao Shisan made a gesture and found that it was so big that he could lie on it.

"I don't know, is it such a big plate for roasting whole lamb?" Little Fourteen also gestured: "But such a big jade plate, it's hard to clean the roasting whole lamb, right?"

During the Chinese New Year, he saw roasted whole lamb, which was served on a large willow plate, with cabbage leaves on the bottom of the plate, and roasted whole lamb on top.

I remember what Grandma Sun said, such wooden plates are light, resistant to falling, and easy to clean.

As for the porcelain plates, firstly, they are not that big, and secondly, they are too heavy to handle.

What's more, it's a jade plate, such a big piece of jade is rare.

What's more, it's carved into a plate, and it hasn't been broken yet.

"Shouldn't it be roasted whole lamb or roasted beef leg? But it doesn't look like it either!"

"If it's for food, it shouldn't be put here, it should be put in the Imperial Dining Hall."

The guesses of the two little ones broke through the sky, and Emperor Kangxi laughed when he heard it: "This is a plate for icebergs in the hot summer."

"Emperor Ama!"

"Huang Ama."

"Well, let's go to the Imperial Dining Hall." Kangxi took his two younger sons to the Imperial Dining Hall.

"Huang Ama, such a big piece of jade has been carved into a plate containing icebergs? Isn't it too wasteful?" Little Fourteen felt that such a large piece of jade is rare.

And it's not sapphire, it's white jade.

"Yes, it's a pity, such a big piece of jade has carved a jade plate." Emperor Kangxi said, "But, that's not what we got after we entered the customs. It was used by the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. It's very extravagant."

"Well, isn't there anything else to put icebergs on?" In summer, when the heat is unbearable, the palace plays icebergs to dispel heat and cool down.

But at this time, there is no greenhouse effect in later generations. The winter is cold and the summer is not too hot.

Only the hot air of more than half a month was suffocating, so I used some ice to cool it down, and there is no place to use ice at ordinary times.

In the Changchun Garden, there is no ice at all, it is very cool there.

When they arrived at the imperial dining hall, after they sat down, Emperor Kangxi's imperial meal was served. The emperor, although Emperor Kangxi admired simplicity, there is a certain bottom line for this simplicity. It is impossible to serve him only four dishes and one soup.

The emperors of the Qing Dynasty usually had more than 20 dishes for each meal, six to eight staple foods, and two kinds of porridge (or soup).

The dishes are mainly chicken, duck, fish, goose, pork and seasonal vegetables, supplemented by rare seafood, exotic melons and fruits.

The rice that the emperor ate was specially cultivated yellow, white, and purple rice, as well as the top-grade "tribute rice" from various places.

At the same time, the administrative heads of each locality have to hand over deer, roe deer, deer tail, deer tongue, deer tendon, bear, wild boar, wild duck, tiger bone, goose, cured pig, salted fish, sturgeon, and perch according to the prescribed quantity every year. , Luanse fish, milk wine, butter, bird's nest, shark's fin, sea cucumber, etc. Mongolian princes also offered yellow sheep.

It can be said that delicacies from mountains and seas are everything.

However, Kangxi is indeed very simple. Although there are many dishes, there are not many expensive things.

Little Fourteen was curious, what did the emperor eat?Xiao Shisan focused on the meat dishes.

The emperor has a lot of meat dishes, especially tonight, there is a stewed wild pork, a wild duck soup, and a dry roasted deer tendon.

However, when Emperor Kangxi saw this dish, he shook his head: "If it's not suitable for the two elder brothers, let's serve it!"

"It's all because the slave didn't make it clear. The chef thought it was the older brothers!" Li Dequan immediately said: "The slave will do it now!"

Dry-roasted deer tendons, steamed bear paws, etc.

Take it back directly and replace it with steamed pigeon eggs and steamed pork.

"Huang Ama, are you tired from reading the memorials? Is reading fun? Is going to the study interesting?" Little Fourteen asked a lot of questions, which was a real version of "a hundred thousand whys".

Emperor Kangxi kindly answered some strange questions of Xiao Shishi, but he asked Xiao Shisi to find the answers to some common sense questions by himself in the next day.

Then he discovered that Xiao Shisan and Xiao Shisi both love to eat meat!

"Huang Ama, the meat here is too small." Xiao Shisi looked at the very delicious Dongpo meat, a piece was only the size of a mahjong, and the maid who served the meal only gave him three pieces at most.

He didn't eat enough. The plate of Dongpo meat was only 13 yuan. After three yuan for each of the three fathers and sons, there were still four yuan left.

He watched helplessly for a long time, and the maid who served him food just stopped serving him, and he still hadn't had enough.

"Then let them make it bigger next time." Emperor Kangxi said happily, "I tell people, from now on, this Dongpo meat should be made bigger."

This satisfies the son's desire to eat meat. Of course, the children should not be too accustomed to partial eclipse.

"Then can we come to eat meat next time?" Xiao Shisan and Xiao Shisi have similar tastes, and they both have a soft spot for Dongpo meat.

"Come here if you want. Your Huang Ama's Dongpo meat will always be available." It was rare for Emperor Kangxi to taste a little bit of the affection between father and son after many years.

And the two kids are so cute.

But he was just talking, and it is estimated that when the two children go back, Concubine De should talk about them.

Sure enough, when they returned to Yonghe Palace, the two children were scolded by Concubine De, and they were not allowed to go to Qing Palace for no reason, especially the Hall of Mental Cultivation!

"That place, when you grow up, you don't have to go if you don't want to." Concubine De told them both: "You are not allowed to go now."

Concubine De has never been so strict before, the two children just nodded like chickens pecking at rice.

And it will be the Mid-Autumn Festival on August [-]th.

The Manchus have many festivals, but the Han people also have to celebrate this Mid-Autumn Festival.

In the court of the Qing Dynasty, celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival was an extraordinarily grand event. The Ministry of Internal Affairs would carefully arrange various activities for the emperor and concubines. Among these activities, watching dramas and eating moon cakes were definitely the highlights.

And the opera troupes who can be selected by the Ministry of Internal Affairs to sing operas in the palace are all extremely popular opera troupes.

They sang so well that the nobles in the palace even appreciated it on the spot.

There are also many types of mooncakes in the court of the Qing Dynasty. There are not only crispy skin mooncakes made with sesame oil and noodles, but also creamy pastry mooncakes made with butter and noodles, and mooncakes made with lard.

In addition to these mooncakes with various ingredients, there was also a "sweet and salty dispute" in the Qing court mooncakes.

Sweet mooncakes are filled with ingredients such as sugar, fruit, bean paste, and jujube paste;

Salty mooncakes are filled with sesame, salt and pepper;

So whether you are a sweet party or a salty party, Qinggong mooncakes can meet your needs.

Qing court mooncakes not only have a variety of flavors, but also come in eight different sizes. Among the wooden molds for mooncakes made in the Qing palace, the largest weighs ten catties and has a diameter of [-] centimeters, while the smallest weighs only three ounces and has a diameter of only seven centimeters.There are also many interesting patterns on these molds: Guanghan palace, clouds, osmanthus trees, jade rabbit holding a pestle, magic objects of the Eight Immortals and so on.

The patterns on these mooncake molds depict the most traditional mid-autumn scene.

There is even a big eight-treasure box, which can hold mooncakes of all flavors, but this kind of mooncake box will be appreciated by the Long Live Lord, basically one for each palace.

This is a symbol of honor, followed by rewards to the clan ministers outside the palace.

Of course, the harem naturally had their own mooncakes, but what Long Live Lord rewarded was honor, not to eat poor stutterers, and to listen to an opera. This was the first time that Xiao Shishi went to an opera with Concubine De.

The same is true for Xiao Shisan.

The little one is fourteen or fifteen years old, and when the Mid-Autumn Festival was celebrated for the first time, he was sleeping!

Mid-Autumn Festival after the first birthday, well, he fell asleep again!

The third time I ate some mooncakes to meet the occasion, and Concubine De didn't take him with her when she went to the party.

The fourth time he was a "left-behind child" with Xiao Shisan, and he still didn't leave the Yonghe Palace.

This was the fifth time, he insisted on not sleeping, and stood at the gate of Yonghe Palace in good spirits early on, waiting for Concubine De to come out and take him to the theater.

"Do you understand?" Concubine De deliberately teased him.

"Take a look, I haven't seen it before." Little Fourteen was actually curious about the entertainment items of this era.

And the harem seems to only have one item of listening to operas, and they can't even go shopping outside.

In the homes of other Manchu ministers, housewives can go out to buy something, visit temples, Taoist temples and other religious places.

But the women in the harem, as long as the Lord Long Live doesn't speak, they can't even meet their family members.

"Then let's go!" Concubine De looked at her cheerful youngest son, and said to herself, how could she still sit still and watch a play?

Go dream!

Xiao Shisan also went with Concubine Min, because they were both from Yonghe Palace, so the two mothers brought their two sons.

Because they were too young, the two children went to the Compassionate Peace Palace with their mother-in-law on the shoulders.

Little Fourteen knew that at this time, Changyin Pavilion, a place dedicated to listening to operas, had not been established in the palace, and the place for royal festivals and celebrations was in the large garden of Cining Palace.

It was the most lively place in the palace.

Speaking of this Palace of Compassion, there are only three people living there, the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, the Empress Dowager Xiaokangzhang, and the Empress Xiaohuizhang in front of me.

Empress Dowager Xiao Kangzhang, Tong Jiashi, concubine of Emperor Shunzhi, birth mother of Emperor Kangxi.

She passed away in the second year of Kangxi, only 24 years old.

The current one is the later Empress Dowager Xiaohuizhang, who was Shunzhi's second wife.

She was three years younger than Shunzhi. When Shunzhi was 17 years old, she was first hired as a concubine and then canonized as a queen.

She is the adoptive mother of Emperor Kangxi, the empress dowager handpicked by the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, and she was born in the Horqin tribe of Mongolia.

An authentic Mongolian woman, do you expect her to love to listen to opera?

In fact, just to watch the excitement, Xiao Shishi found out that this Huangma, she does whatever Kangxi says, she is obedient and honest, the kind of woman who never participates in government affairs, and the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang are two extremes!

But Kangxi served her very well, and she was happy to be "kind to the mother and filial to the son" with the emperor.

Therefore, Long Live God served the Empress Dowager to listen to the opera, and other harem concubines, princes and princesses all came to join in the fun.

In order to please the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it specially arranged a lively scene.

It was "Chang'e Flying to the Moon" in Qin Opera, which was very suitable for the occasion, and "Heavenly Immortals", which was very lively, were all group plays, breathing fire and setting smoke from heaven to earth.

It was indeed very lively at first, and Xiao Shishi couldn't take his eyes off it, applauding again and again.

But after the excitement passed, it was changed to Shaoxing opera. As we all know, the costumes of this Yueju opera are very gorgeous, but the singing voice is somewhat dragging the elders.

Little Fourteen started to feel drowsy, and later fell asleep on his stomach!

It wasn't until the play was over that he was woken up by Concubine De: "Didn't you want to listen to the play?"

"Er Niang, it's very lively up front, but what's that behind it? The word "嘿" hummed for a long time, what do you think is a big deal for him? It's not over for a long time, is there another two?" Little Fourteen muttered: "It's exhausting to say something, it doesn't matter if you don't listen to this play!"

But to tease Concubine De too much, Fourth Elder Brother asked someone to pick him up and put him on Concubine De's shoulder, Concubine De told Fourth Elder Brother to go first, so she took Little Fourteen back to Yonghe Palace.

Elder Fourteen fell asleep, Elder Thirteen fell asleep too, and neither of these two children seemed to have the talent for watching theater.