Chapter 10 10. The gift that Empress Dowager Cixi gave to her younger sister was kicked to the ground

On the second day after Zhang Zhidong returned from Qingyi Garden, Zhang Zhiwan left the capital and returned to his hometown in Nanpi to continue guarding the system.Sang Zhiping was invited to stay at Zhang Zhidong's house for three days.Zhang Zhidong accompanied Sang Zhiping to visit Haiwang Village, Guozijian, appreciate antiques, and appreciate people.Yang Rui has been serving left and right, and has benefited a lot from the conversation between the teacher and Mr. Sang.Three days later, Sang Zhiping and Zhang Zhidong parted reluctantly, and made an appointment with Zhang Zhidong to visit Gubeikou in the next spring, and then climbed the Great Wall and Yanshan Mountain together to appreciate the essence of nature and history bestowed on mankind.Yang Rui also temporarily moved out of Zhang's residence, and together with He Ran and Huang Qixiang, visited Beijing Zhongshixian in order to broaden his horizons and broaden his mind.Zhang Zhidong appreciated the young man's decision.

With Yizhen's intervention, the unjust case in Dongxiang County, Sichuan was finally vindicated.The imperial court issued a decree: the citizens of Dongxiang County did not gather crowds for rebellion, so they should not send troops to suppress them. Sun Dingyang, the former magistrate of Dongxiang County, and Li Youheng, the former admiral of Sichuan Province, were immediately arrested and executed. Zhang Zhidong's righteous act of pleading for the people not only won him a high reputation in the Qingliu Party, but also won unanimous praise from the officialdom of the capital.Yang Rui and others returned to Sichuan and made the progress of the matter public. The elders in Sichuan all missed the former master of Xuetai who supervised the school for three years and made a lot of achievements. Some of the villagers in Dongxiang even enshrined the longevity of Zhang Zhidong. Card, one stick of incense in the morning and evening, three bows in the morning and evening.

Qingliu Party members have been greatly encouraged by this.Coincidentally, good news came from St. Petersburg that the negotiations between Zeng Jize and the Russians had progressed. Under various pressures, Russia might give up its territorial claims outside Ili City.This is tantamount to digging out the fat that has been swallowed into the tiger's mouth. The court is happy, and the Qingliu Party members are even more ecstatic. Point out the disadvantages of the time and rectify the powerful.They went to Shu to impeach He Shouci, Minister of Industry, Wan Qingli, Minister of Rites, Dong Xun, Minister of Household, Shi Zongxun, Deputy Governor of Zuo, Li Hanzhang, Governor of Huguang, or impeach them for corruption and bribery, or impeach them for being incompetent and misgovernment.Zhang Peilun even pointed the finger at Cixi's mother's family home, Cheng'en Gong Mansion, saying that the newly built houses in the mansion were modeled on the scale of the royal mansion, which violated the etiquette system, and asked the imperial court to send personnel to check and stop it immediately.

Some of these impeachments by Zhang Peilun and others have been effective, but most of them have been submerged. They only won the applause of a group of people who are dissatisfied with the government. Zhang Zhidong kept in mind his cousin's earnest admonition "not to offend the wealthy family for politics", and did not participate in this upsurge of impeaching the powerful and powerful.Although he hated the corruption in the officialdom very much, he also knew that he should not act rashly. As his cousin said, he should be more cautious and prudent when his reputation is getting better and better.At this time, another rare and lively incident broke out in the palace, which caused a lot of uproar for a while, and brought a stimulating and fresh topic to the always depressed, dull and boring life in the inner palace.

Late November is Chun Wang Fujin's 40th birthday.Since mid-October, precious gifts from all directions have been sent to Prince Chun's Mansion in an endless stream. The leader of the Qingliu Party, Li Hongzao, never showed any special closeness to princes and nobles.He didn't even go to mourn the death of Cixi's mother back then, let alone the birthday celebration of King Jin Fujin?Zhang Peilun, Chen Baochen, and Deng Chengxiu admired Li Hongzao's toughness very much, so they unanimously decided not to send gifts to Prince Chun's mansion.But Pan Zuyin, who is recognized as the No. 2 person, is not like this. He sent a priceless night pearl the size of an egg from his ancestors to Prince Chun's mansion early on.Chun Wang Fujin liked this luminous pearl very much.Bao Ting, Wu Dayu and others also quietly paid heavy gifts to Prince Chun's Mansion.

Zhang Zhidong thought about this for a long time: to give, or not to give?Thinking of the key role that King Chun played in reversing the Dongxiang incident, it seemed unreasonable not to send some gifts to express his congratulations.But what gift to give?Zhang Zhidong became troubled. Zhang Zhidong's father's official position was not high, and his family had a large population.My father's salary was just enough for the whole family to live on, and he had no savings, let alone any ancestral treasures.At the beginning of his official career, he set his ambition to be an upright official who is not greedy for money.The salaries of officials in the capital are meager, and almost all of them are poor if they don’t use means to obtain external wealth; Zhang Zhidong is only a middle and lower-level historian, so let alone Zhang Zhidong.He puts on a test job and studies political affairs, both of which are good jobs that can make money.Because there is Cheng Yi in the test difference, Xuezheng has extra income, and the amount is very considerable.Especially in Sichuan Xuezheng, the number of children is the highest in the world. If all the extra income is in his arms, after three years of studying politics, he will have an income of at least 30,000 silver.But Zhang Zhidong adhered to the principle of honesty and honesty as an official, and took nothing. Three years ago, he entered Sichuan with a load of luggage and two sleeves, and three years later, he still left Sichuan with a load of luggage and two sleeves.Being an official like this will naturally never get rich.Even if Zhang Zhidong wanted to give a big gift, he would not have the money to buy it, not to mention that he never connected the depth of affection with the weight of the gift.

After thinking about it, he finally came up with a good idea. The next day, he sent Dagen to ride a fast horse to Nanpi's hometown in the starry night, and asked Ziqing to draw a colorful picture of a good harvest and a fairy boy offering his birthday.I heard that it was used to celebrate Chun Wang Fujin's birthday, and Zhang Zhiwan was very excited.He put on his presbyopic glasses and worked hard all day to make a picture carefully.After Dagen brought it back to Beijing, Zhang Zhidong wrote a poem on it himself.Then it was sent to the Dashilan Frame Shop, where it was paid a high price of five taels of silver, and it was mounted with the best yellow silk.After everything was ready, Zhang Zhidong generously sent it to Taiping Lake Chunwang Mansion in person.

There are so many rare treasures that Chun Wang and his wife got tired of looking at them. Seeing this hand-in-hand work of the No. 1 Scholar Tanhua Brothers, the couple both found it fresh and pleasing to the eye, so they happily accepted it.A heavy burden on Zhang Zhidong's shoulders was finally let go. The ten-year-old little emperor also gave his mother a pair of top-quality jade Ruyi, a nineteen-story pure gold pagoda more than a foot high.The emperor's heavy gift pushed the festive atmosphere of Prince Chun's Mansion to a climax. Cixi naturally remembered her younger sister's birthday, but these days she was suffering from illness and was not in good spirits.She has always had indigestion in the stomach and intestines, and recently she has abdominal distension and doesn't feel like eating, but she still struggles to deal with state affairs, but she falls on the bed weakly as soon as she returns to the harem.When the Empress Dowager Ci'an saw that she was sick and diligent, she both admired and felt distressed.The day before Jin Wangfu's warm birthday, Ci'ante reminded Cixi to give some gifts to his sister.Cixi thanked Ci'an for her concern, and personally went to the imperial kitchen to pick out some food and cakes, packed eight boxes full, and ordered someone to send them to Prince Chun's mansion as soon as possible.

Li Sanshun, the head eunuch of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, took this mission and called two young eunuchs, Xiaogouzi and Erlianzi, to be porters, and he followed behind empty-handed.It was the noon hour when the sun was at its peak, and everyone except the eunuchs and maids on duty took a lunch break.The Forbidden City was so empty that there was not a single tree or grass in it, and it was quiet and somewhat lifeless. When he walked to the side of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Xiao Gouzi remembered something, and said to Li Sanshun, "I haven't seen the door yet!" In the inner palace system of the Qing court, when eunuchs and maids leave the palace, regardless of whether they are public or private, they must issue a release form through the respect room.This procedure is called "photographing".After the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the management of the palace was chaotic. It was easy for the eunuchs and maids to store some things privately, but it was more difficult to transport them out of the palace. This is because of the strict guards at the Meridian Gate.The things obtained by the eunuchs and maids are of no real value if they do not leave the palace.To ship out, there are usually two ways to take.One is to bribe the deacon eunuch who billed the respect room, and write the private property publicly on the door slip, and the guards let it go according to the slip, and the private property is out of the palace.One is to bribe the guards, turn a blind eye during the inspection, and private belongings can also be taken out of the palace.

Just now when I left the Hall of Mental Cultivation, I was in a hurry, and I was negligent for a while, and now I have to make up the photo gate, which is okay, but Li Sanshun doesn't want to do it.One is that he is lazy and doesn't want to go back.Second, it is estimated that the deacons and eunuchs in the respect room have also rested.Those guys rely on their power, and they are very airy and tempered. If you ask them to do business during the lunch break, it will never look good on you.The third is that Li Sanshun deliberately wanted to fight with the guards. Last month, Li Sanshun picked up a rouge-marked jade finger finger in a crack in the bricks of the Hall of Mental Cultivation. This finger finger was of excellent quality, and it was probably lost by an official when he met the Queen Mother.Li Sanshun had been in the palace for a long time, and he was quite good at identifying jade wares. He estimated that if this finger was sold at Wangfujing jade wares shop, it could fetch at least thirty or forty taels of silver.Li Sanshun is from Zhili, and has a distant relative who works as a waiter in a restaurant in the capital. Through this relative, the money can be brought back to his hometown.Once he was ordered to go out of the palace to handle errands, so he put the jade finger on his hand in an attempt to slip through the Meridian Gate.Unexpectedly, the guard's sharp eyes just saw the jade finger on his hand.Because it was not stated on the door slip, he couldn't use whatever he said.Because of this, Li Sanshun hated the Meridian Gate Guards to death.This time, I want to take the opportunity to quarrel with them and express the resentment in my chest.

Er Lengzi was carrying the food load, Li Sanshun was in front, Xiao Gouzi was behind, and the three came to the Meridian Gate. The little leader of the guard who is on duty at the Meridian Gate at the moment is named Yulin.Yulin was born in the Xianghuang Banner, and his father was serving as a third-rank patrolling battalion commander of the infantry commanding the Yamen.There are two other soldiers.One named Xiangfu was born in Zhengbaiqi, and his father was working as the capital in Luying, Anhui.The other is Zhonghe, who is a Jueluo red belt.The three of them were all of noble birth, and they were all around twenty years old, at the age of youthful vigor, and there was no place for castration in the corner of their eyes. Li Sanshun walked towards the Meridian Gate swaggeringly with Xiaogouzi and Erlianzi.As soon as he reached the door, Yulin shouted sharply: "Stop! Why are you leaving the palace?" Li Sanshun subconsciously stopped his footsteps, but his expression was still arrogant. He didn't look at Yulin, nor at the other two guards. Gifts to Prince Chun’s Mansion, to celebrate the birthday of the emperor’s mother-in-law!” "Following the orders of the Empress Dowager" and "celebrating the birthday of the emperor's mother-in-law", such a mission is so great and noble!If it was an ordinary guard, he would be too courteous, so would he dare to interrogate him again?But here is the imperial guard at the Meridian Gate, whether it is the queen mother or the emperor, they have heard it a lot, and they don't think it is terribly sacred, not to mention Li Sanshun's arrogance, they also hate it very much. Dogs fight against others!After Yulin cursed viciously in her heart, she said coldly, "Take out the door slip and have a look!" "No." Li Sanshun swallowed back. "You can't leave the palace without a door slip!" Yulin was also not polite. "You are so courageous. You dare not let go of the Empress Dowager Cixi's belongings. Do you want to rebel?" Li Sanshun put his hands on his hips, threatening with a stern voice. "Don't scare people!" Yulin refused. "Without the door slip, how can you prove that you are following the orders of the Empress Dowager Cixi?" "I, Mr. Li, have served the Empress Dowager in the Hall of Mental Cultivation for many years. Don't you know me?" Li Sanshun pointed at the tip of his nose and screamed arrogantly. Jueluo Zhonghe couldn't help but sneered and said, "You don't even have any eggs, so you deserve to be called a man?" The most taboo thing for eunuchs is "no eggs".This sentence greatly angered Li Sanshun, he rushed in front of Zhonghe aggressively, puffed up his scary eyes and said, "You bastard, how dare you scold me?" The little hook and the second fool were similarly stimulated, they rolled up their sleeves, followed closely behind Li Sanshun, ready to strike at any time. The situation is deadlocked. The guard Xiangfu had a better temper, and he also knew Li Sanshun's identity, so he stepped forward to smooth things over: "Okay, okay, even if you are working under the order of the Queen Mother, let you go out of the palace!" "Wait!" Yulin also felt that what Zhonghe said just now was a bit too much, and if it was spread, it would offend the eunuchs in the palace, so he wanted to be flexible, but the procedure of "checking" had to be done routinely.These eunuchs are all thieves, if they smuggle any important items out of the palace, the little leader will be responsible for the investigation in the future.He directed at Li Sanshun and said in a commanding tone: "Open the lid of the box and let us check!" The second fool was always honest, and after hearing this, he went to lift the lid of the box.Eight red birthday peaches were exposed. "Open the second box!" Yulin ordered again. The second fool picked up the birthday peach pastry box, and underneath it was a golden and dazzling cornbread the size of eight thumbs. At this moment, Li Sanshun, who was still full of hatred, suddenly had a vicious idea in his mind. When Zhonghe stepped forward to inspect Wowotou, he secretly stretched out his right leg and hooked Zhonghe's left leg. Zhonghe staggered unexpectedly and bumped into the hand of the second fool.The eight red birthday peach pastries that Er Lengzi held in his hand all fell to the ground, covered with black ash.Er Lengzi and Zhong He were frightened by this sudden scene at the same time, their faces turned pale. "You son of a bitch!" Li Sanshun rushed forward while cursing, grabbing Zhonghe's collar. "You damaged the queen mother's gift, how can you pay for it?" After being stunned for a moment, Zhong He realized that it was just this eggless eunuch boss who tripped him up on purpose.After all, he was born with a red belt, and at the age when his anger was at its peak, he kicked Li Sanshun angrily and kicked Li Sanshun's lower abdomen, causing Li Sanshun to let go of his hands and roll on the ground in pain.He simply kicked and kicked a load of food to the ground, then got up, pointed at the three guards ferociously and said: "You are preventing the food from the queen mother from leaving the palace, and you beat the people around the queen mother, the crime is heinous!" .You just wait and see!" Then he turned his face and gave orders to Xiaogouzi and Erlianzi: "The food burden is gone, let's go back and report to the Queen Mother!" The three eunuchs turned around and ran towards the Hall of Mental Cultivation.Yulin, Zhonghe, and Xiangfu looked at their backs, and suddenly felt a sense of terror in their hearts: What happened to such a big mess? When Li Sanshun returned to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the sick Cixi was still taking a nap, so he didn't dare to disturb him, so he went to find Liu Yuxiang, the leader of the shift.He knelt in front of Liu Yuxiang, weeping and telling what happened at the Meridian Gate, expressing how forbearing and restrained he was, and accusing the guards of how domineering and arrogant.Li Sanshun emphasized three points to Liu Yuxiang: First, Yulin blatantly said that the gifts of the Empress Dowager Cixi should also be checked, and the Empress Dowager was not in her eyes at all.Second, Zhonghe intentionally kicked over the food box.Three, scolding the eunuch for having no eggs and not worthy of being a human being. The first two were directed at the queen mother and had nothing to do with Liu Yuxiang, but the latter sentence hurt him deeply.Liu Yuxiang was almost fifty years old, and had been a eunuch in the palace for forty years. What he was most afraid of was when people talked about eggs, and what he hated most was calling him unworthy of being a human being.In the past, when others laughed at him and scolded him, he only kept the grudge in his heart, and he couldn't calculate it even if he wanted to.This time it's all right, the big deal is in his hands, and he wants to use the supreme authority of the Empress Dowager Cixi to punish his enemies justifiably. In the afternoon, taking advantage of the opportunity of the palace maid to take the medicine, Liu Yuxiang tiptoed to Cixi's side. After Cixi finished drinking the medicine, he bent half of his body to greet Cixi. "Has the food been delivered to Prince Chun's Mansion?" Cixi's voice was a little lower than usual, but it was still crisp and pleasant. "The slave is about to report this matter." Liu Yuxiang took a step forward and approached Cixi's bed. "Queen Mother, the food was not delivered to the officials, but was kicked over by the guards." "What?" This is a strange thing that has never happened in the palace!Cixi's face suddenly turned livid, and her hands began to convulse.She didn't ask the reason at all, but directly traced the responsibility. "Who kicked it over? How brave, he dared to do this even with my gift!" "The Meridian Gate Guards were loyal and kicked." Liu Yuxiang angrily narrated the events that Li Sanshun compiled, "San Shun brought the little hook and the second fool, and under the order of the Queen Mother, they carried food out of the palace. The Meridian Gate Guards The little boss Yulin asked Sanshun to bring out the door slip. Sanshun politely said to them that the people in the respect room had taken a nap, and this was given to King Fujin by the queen mother, please excuse me! Yulin put on a serious face Said, the Empress Dowager is also unavoidable. Sanshun said, please let us out of the palace first, and give you another one in the afternoon. Yulin said, open the box and let us check. Sanshun said, it is all food made by the Queen Mother’s imperial dining room , don’t check it. Yulin said again, the queen mother’s delivery should also be checked! Sanshun disagreed, fearing that the dust would contaminate the food. Hujun Zhonghe stepped forward and grabbed Sanshun’s hand, asking him to take off the cover. Sanshun Refused, the two began to scuffle, Zhonghe kicked up, first kicked over the food load, and then kicked over Sanshun." "It's wrong, it's wrong!" Ci Xi was so angry that her teeth were gnashing loudly, her cheeks were bulging.As soon as she lifted the quilt, she was about to get up from the bed, so panicked that Liu Yuxiang and the two maids rushed forward to help her. "Queen Dowager, calm down." Liu Yuxiang angered Cixi after seeing a few words, and he was very pleased with himself, so he persuaded, "Queen Dowager, you are sick, it is important to take care of your body, and there is no need to worry about those bastards guarding the army. .” Although Cixi is anxious by nature and can't tolerate things, she is not so easily irritated at ordinary times. This time she became so angry very quickly. There are two reasons: one is that she gave some to her sister, the current emperor's biological mother. For a birthday gift, to be insulted for lack of a door slip, the Meridian Gate guards are so domineering.This not only insulted her, but also her natal family, and also insulted the current emperor.How can you tell her to swallow this breath!Secondly, she is ill.She has always been very strong, but her illness made her unable to handle political affairs properly, her heart was irritable, her nameless anger was burning, and she wanted to vent everything, not to mention a few lowly guards bullying her head, how could she bear it! "Hurry up, pass on my order, arrest all those Meridian Gate guards, and immediately behead them for public display!" She was so angry that she stared at the curtain with her eyes blankly, not knowing who she was making such a decree to. "Who are you beheading to show the public?" As the curtain was lifted, a woman's voice with a sweet voice came in, and then swayed into the Empress Dowager Ci'an.She came here specially to visit the sick Cixi. "Sister, what made you so angry?" Ci'an is actually two years younger than Cixi, so it stands to reason that she should call Cixi her elder sister, but she is the queen of Emperor Xianfeng, and Cixi is just a noble concubine, and her status is higher than Cixi's.Cixi had to wrong herself, calling her elder sister and claiming to be younger sister. "Sister, help me decide!" Cixi, who has always been strong, may be ill, or may have suffered a great grievance. After seeing Ci'an, she suddenly became weak. As soon as she uttered a word, she shed tears. In Ci'an's memory, Cixi was very sad only in those days when Emperor Xianfeng passed away in Rehe palace in Xinyou year, when Sushun and other eight ministers did not pay attention to the two empress dowagers and governed by themselves. After shedding tears, I sometimes held Ci'an's shoulder pain in the middle of the night and cried, saying "You have to make decisions for our mothers and daughters". In the next twenty years, including the sad moment of Emperor Tongzhi's death, Cixi did not I cried so much.Ci'an was shocked. "Sister, what's the matter, tell me, my sister will make the decision for you!" Ci'an softened her heart, seeing Cixi crying, she also shed tears while talking. "The Meridian Gate guards refused to let us leave the palace and kicked over the load of food we sent to Lao Qi's mansion just now. Sister, look, the Meridian Gate guards actually bullied us. It's worth paying it back!" Got it?" Cixi said while wiping her tears and nose with a handkerchief, looking really sad. "There is such a thing!" Ci'an also became very angry: How dare the guards bully the Queen Mother, and the sun came out from the west?She asked sternly, "Who is on duty today?" "The servant is here." Liu Yuxiang hurriedly bent down and answered. "Bring San Shun'er!" Ci'an ordered. "Hey!" After a while, Li Sanshun came in after Liu Yuxiang. "San Shun, tell the Empress Dowagers about the Meridian Gate incident." Liu Yuxiang ordered Li Sanshun. Li Sanshun hurriedly knelt down in front of the empress dowagers of the two palaces.Seeing that Cixi's tears were still wet, and Ci'an's face was full of anger, he knew that the two empress dowagers had been greatly angered, and he was very proud, so he recounted what he had said to Liu Yuxiang vividly and emphatically. "It's really lawless!" Ci'an stood up angrily, and she was indeed enraged.Cixi's gift was given at her reminder, and this gift can also be regarded as a common gift for the two of them.Don't give Cixi face, that is, don't give her face.Ci'an has always been cowardly and has no children, so she relies a lot on Cixi.Although Cixi's son died, but the current emperor is her nephew, of course he will kiss his aunt in the future, Ci'an is still in a weak position.In the Tongzhi era, Ci'an always followed Cixi and yielded to Cixi; in the Guangxu era, this elder sister was still like this.To curry favor with Cixi by severely punishing a few insignificant guards, it should be said that the price is the lowest, not to mention that these few guards are really unreasonable! "Liu Yuxiang!" "The slave is here." Ci'an delivered the decree word by word: "You go to the cabinet to convey my will, and ask them to draft an order in the name of the emperor, and order the Ministry of Punishment to immediately arrest the Meridian Gate guards Yulin, Zhonghe, and Xiangfu, and to interrogate and punish them severely. The commander of the guards and the Ministry of Communications strictly dealt with it." "Hey!" Liu Yuxiang and Li Sanshun happily retreated, and immediately rushed to the cabinet to convey the order of the two empress dowagers.