Chapter 6 The sixth chapter Luanyu

Now let us write some notes for the Empress Dowager's "Luanyu".In fact, the word "Luan Yu" is just a commonly used name, and that thing is not a "Yu" at all, it's just a rattan sedan chair. No matter in which team's guard of honor, or in which grand ceremony, this rattan sedan chair always occupies a very important position.Because it seems to be the home of the queen mother, even when the queen mother is not sitting in this rattan sedan chair, all the ministers have to respectfully kowtow to it. ——This is also a habit passed down by the emperors of all dynasties. As long as the things belonged to or used by the emperor or empress dowager, when the ministers see them, they must pay respect in general and must not desecrate them.

Just for this Luanyu, I specially prepared an extra car to carry it. Not only does this Luanyu have a special car, but it also has a special wooden frame lining it so that it does not touch the wooden boards underneath;—that is, the floor on the car—for these floors are all Having been trampled on by ordinary people, of course he can no longer tarnish the Empress Dowager's Luanyu.On the way from Beiping to Fengtian, the Empress Dowager needed it many times, and every time she used it, the whole train had to stop, and put the piece at the door of the car where the Empress Dowager was sitting. I used the wooden plank used when I got on the carriage, and then set up something like a springboard between this plank and that luanyu; the front and rear planks were of course covered with thick tapestry. Walking on it, you can feel as soft and comfortable as walking on the powder flakes.

If you ask about the appearance and decoration of this Chengluanyu, it is really glorious!Such a beautiful sedan chair does have a special car to carry it! Because it is too luxurious and beautiful, I really don't know how to describe it properly! The interior of Luanyu is all covered with apricot-yellow satin hats. The color of those satins is particularly bright, and they are often changed.When the Empress Dowager was about to use it, Li Lianying went over to inspect it carefully, and if there was any stain or something was missing, she immediately repaired it.When the Empress Dowager walked into the Luanyu, a curtain had to be temporarily added to surround it, so that no one could peek at her, even the eunuchs who were assigned to carry the Luanyu. Definitely can't see Yi.It wasn't until Yi sat firmly in Luanyu that the curtain was removed; at the same time, the porters carefully shouldered the heavy burden.If, unfortunately, one of the bearers took a wrong step, so that the queen mother who was sitting in the luanyu fell down, or even though she did not fall down, she was frightened, then there would be a big fuss. up!Within half a day at most, the heads of the sixteen bearers would all fall off!But as far as I know, such a thing has never happened in fact; because the sixteen bearers who carried the Luanyu for the Queen Mother can be said to be selected from the tens of thousands of bearers in China. No matter what comes out, the top and the top will never make a wrong step.Even they themselves are often very conceited; and they think that being able to work for the Queen Mother is really the most glorious thing.The costumes they wore were also very beautiful; on their heads were ordinary caps without crests or feathers, and on their upper bodies were pale red waistcoats; Lake green trousers; on the feet are dark black boots, but not long.

Whether they are starting or walking, they are extremely careful; of course, they also know that beheading is not a fun thing! In front of this Luanyu, there is a small short door. When the Empress Dowager gets on the sedan chair, Li Lianying opens it first; Come up, lean your back on the soft cushion at the back, face forward, and sit comfortably in this box-shaped activity room.When we ordinary people sit in sedan chairs, the bearers often shake their shoulders up and down inadvertently, making the people sitting in the sedan chair very uncomfortable for them; Here comes the temper. On both sides of the Empress Dowager's seat, there is an armrest, which is made of yellow satin wrapped with silk cotton, and is specially used by the Empress Dowager to rest her arms.Except for these two handrails, it was attached to Yi's chest—the thing that looked like a short door, and there was also a long and narrow wooden plank on it, usually wrapped in yellow satin, very soft and smooth; If you want to lean forward, you can lie comfortably on this door, because it has iron buttons at both ends, so it will never shake.

This board that can be laid down is about five or six inches wide, and it can be lifted.To be more clear, although the underside of this board is the short door of Chengluanyu in name, it is actually a rectangular flat box.Because it was made exactly equal to the width of Luanyu, it killed two birds with one stone and used it as a short door; and its lid can be used as a shelf for the Queen Mother at the same time.The person who designed this was really ingenious at that time!So what is placed in this rectangular flat box?Of course there are!The first one is the powder puff used by the Empress Dowager, and the second one is a short drunken jade ruler, but this ruler is round, and the Empress Dowager often uses it to rub her face, and its function seems to be able to reduce the wrinkles on Yi's face.In addition, such as hand towels, powder, rouge, combs, castors, etc., there are everything an empress needs to use for makeup.The most ingenious thing is the lid of the box, which can be used as an armrest when it is put down, and becomes a long and narrow mirror when it is lifted up; therefore, even though the queen mother is on the way, she can also dress up as much as she wants, without being seen by others.

Yi absolutely forbids Yi's people to peek at her, so when Yi's father-in-law passes by on the street, no one dares to stand and watch.In fact, we all know that those ordinary people often poke a few small holes in the paper windows to secretly watch the royal driver pass by their door; the only one who doesn't know is the Queen Mother herself.Even if someone told Yi, Yi would not believe that these people were so bold.However, in order to require extra carefulness, a special kind of curtain was hung on the windows on both sides of this Chengluanyu. On each side of the window, there were two curtains, the same length, but close to the window. The one inside—there are two on the left and right—was made of yellow satin wrapped with silk cotton because it was right next to the place where Yi was sitting. .Isn't this too boring?So the outer one (there are also two left and right ones) was changed to transparent gauze, so that Yi could vaguely see the outside scenery without being seen by outsiders.If Yi still thinks that seeing through the heavy and light veils is too unclear or too difficult, she can lean forward, gently pull some veils, and look sideways.That's it, outsiders don't have to try to see Yi, even the character with the best eyesight can only see a few of Yi's fingers at most.

Didn't I already say above that the interior of this Chengluanyu is all wrapped in yellow satin?And on these yellow satins, except for the curtains on both sides and the steps underneath, there are also very beautiful patterns embroidered!There are a total of eight kinds of these patterns, called "Eight Treasures"; they are also arranged row by row just like the pattern paintings on the most popular floral paper for wall paste.There are infinite numbers of each pattern.Their size is about two inches square.Therefore, if we walk into Luanyu and take a look, what we see in front of us will be all messy patterns.Moreover, they are not only tied with silk thread of one color, but two or three sets of colors are used for almost every pattern; in addition, their embroidery is particularly delicate, so the arduous work of this project Greatness, it is beyond the comparison of ordinary Chinese embroidery goods!If the reader can see it with his own eyes, he can certainly believe that I am not exaggerating.As far as its value is concerned, it is of course appalling. According to my estimation, even if calculated based on the cheapest salary, it would cost six or seven thousand taels of silver; but the queen mother has the same two-carrying luanyu.This time it was only one of the two that was brought to Fengtian from the train.

What are the so-called "eight treasures"?In the past, many people may have known about it, so there is no need for the author to explain it in detail; now, this kind of pattern painting is no longer popular, and I am afraid that most people will not know it, so the following eight paragraphs may be explained. Said it was necessary. (1) Hehe The so-called Hehe is a small hexagonal box.It means that the contents of this box will always be in surplus.When they are embroidered on the yellow satin that covers the interior of the Luanyu, they are light red in color and very neatly embroidered.

(2) Drum board Drum board is the kind of musical instrument that we saw when we sang Beijing Opera and Kunqiang, with two wooden boards tied by a rope.It means "neatness".Because the drum board is a thing to adjust the rhythm in Chinese musical instruments.In theatrical troupes, teachers have to use it whenever they teach their apprentices to sing.Most of the real drum boards are made of rosewood, so their color is always purple like ink; Switch to a light black. (3) Longmen Longmen is the dragon gate of "carp jumping over the dragon's gate" in Gu language.Its form is similar to the archway; it is not much different from the goals we see on the football field at the moment.But when the female workers embroidered this kind of pattern, they were very flattering, and almost all the colors were used; the gathering was as beautiful as a rainbow.I just don't know how they embroidered it?But the meaning of it—Longmen—is only used to represent a kind of supernatural fetish.

(4) Jade fish means prosperity and reproduction.The style is very simple, but it is two small fishes merged.Maybe one is male and one is female, and when they are put together, it means that the husband and wife are reconciled and their children and grandchildren are prosperous.As far as the fish itself is concerned, it doesn't take too much trouble, but the fish scales on its back are extremely delicate, so of course it takes a lot of hard work to embroider.The rest of the fish is embroidered with gray silk thread, and the scales are embroidered with a shiny silver color, so it looks like it is alive.

(5) Crane The crane is the white crane we saw in the zoo.The word "immortal" is just an adjective.Because Chinese people have many legends about gods, and in these stories, the things the gods ride are often "crane".So the crane also became a kind of fairy.And because the lifespan of the crane is relatively long, it is specially invited to be one of the "eight treasures" as a symbol of "immortality".When it was embroidered on the yellow satin that hung in Luanyu, its body was pure white, and the top of its head was purple-red; such a rich color tone is so beautiful that it cannot be described. (6) Ganoderma lucidum What kind of thing is Ganoderma lucidum, it is really impossible to explain, maybe there is no such thing in the world!All I can explain is "a kind of fungus".Its meaning is the expression of auspiciousness and authority.At that time, the Empress Dowager was still in the Regent, and Yi was like the Son of Heaven. The whole of China was under Yi's authority, so it was all right to say that this Ganoderma lucidum represented Yi's authority.They are dark green in color, resembling old holly leaves. (7) Chime Chime is also one of the ancient Chinese musical instruments.It is a notched triangle, almost like the character "人".It is knocked with a very thin wooden stem, and there is something like an abacus on the head of the wooden stem.But the person who knocks must not use too much force, and must knock gently to make a clear and gentle sound; mixed with many musical instruments, it sounds wonderful!As for why it is listed as one of the "Eight Treasures", that can't be studied.The color it embroiders on the yellow satin is white jade, which can be regarded as the purest one among the "Eight Treasures". (8) Songsong is an ordinary pine tree without any other fancy patterns. It means to symbolize "consolidation" and "unity".Due to the fact that its color is limited, it cannot be arbitrarily embellished, it is just a touch of pure green. From this point of view, readers can know how difficult and delicate it is just to embroider the fancy patterns on the yellow satin. I estimated its value at about six or seven thousand taels of silver. The minimum price!However, this is just an embellishment to cover the inside of the luanyu bottom, perhaps the queen mother has never noticed it!But as far as the actual situation is concerned, the Empress Dowager did not spend much money on these embroidered pieces except for the raw materials; because the embroidered workers were all kept in the palace for a long time, and they never cared about their wages. .Even if the working hours are long, they also know about Yizhi, but they are absolutely unaware of it; maybe a job can be finished in one or two months, maybe it can't be finished after three or four years, maybe the person is exhausted from doing it. Even his eyes are blind, but his work has not been completed, so he has to send another person to continue to do it, so that this work must be completed until it is complete. The Luanyu itself is made of rattan, and the workmanship is of course extremely delicate and durable.On either side of the yu, in the middle of the waist, was fastened a wooden stick; both sticks were made of the strongest wood, round in the middle and slightly flattened at the ends.And at the front and rear ends, there is a crossbar connecting each other.There are four wooden sticks vertically and horizontally, which happen to form a rectangle, and Luanyu is sandwiched in the middle of this rectangle.When carrying it, eight porters occupy the four corners of the rectangle; in the middle there are two other horizontal wooden stalks, one in front and one behind, and their positions are just between the body of the car and the two poles at the head and tail. The middle of the crossbar is only slightly longer than one or two feet; each of the four ends is carried by two bearers.So when combined, there are sixteen bearers together. Luanyu's exterior is even more glorious!The front, back, left, and right sides are all made of thin silk satin bordered by gold threads against the yellow satin inside, making it extraordinarily luxurious and rich, beyond description.What's more, there are four blue flying dragons painted on all sides, making the scene even more majestic and splendid!The style of the sedan chair roof is completely made according to the style of the palace, and generally there are raised cornices, which are painted with gold and emerald, shining brightly.On the top of the center, there is also a yellow ball, about the size of a bunch of grapes; although the ball is hollow, it is made of pure gold. Another point we must realize is that although the style of the Chengluanyu is unavoidably archaic, no matter its exterior, interior, upper part or lower part, it is very beautiful.It must be very comfortable for people to sit in it!But when it comes to sitting, I haven't tried it.As far as I know, apart from the queen mother herself, only Li Lianying, who is responsible for cleaning and tidying up the house, can go in and clean it up when the queen mother is not in the house; no one else dares to step in. One step, not to mention riding!Even the pattern of "Eight Treasures" embroidered on the yellow satin inside the curtain can only be quoted on the things used by the Empress Dowager.Judging from my long speech, it is not a strange thing that this Luanyu can monopolize a car on our royal train, and it can also be said that "it should be so"!