Chapter 12 The Little Court on the Twelfth Train

The front half of the queen mother's car is a small bedroom. Although its location is very narrow, its style and all the arrangements have taken a lot of people's thought and energy. It is composed; so it is not only beautiful and rich, but its outline and pattern are very similar to the inner bedroom in the palace. It is really a detailed and small bedroom.But this only refers to its quality and shape. As for the size of the status and the amount of furniture, of course it is too far away!Because in this small bedroom, except for a large bed, the bed is made of mahogany, and the material of the queen mother's car is also the best teak wood, which is very well painted. Bright, as good as Yi's big mahogany bed. — nothing else counts as a large piece of furniture.As usual, old Chinese beds always have a shelf for hanging mosquito nets. Of course, the Queen Mother's bed is also indispensable. The mosquito net Yi used this time is a light blue silk fabric with beautiful silk threads on it. , embroidered a lot of Lin Qinhua, it turns out that this time is the late spring season, Lin Qinhua happens to be in the most prominent position, so I have to borrow it!To the left of the queen bed stood the only ottoman, also of mahogany, about three inches high, and covered with bright yellow satin.In the eyes of our modern people, this footstool is really unnecessary, but in the past, no matter how low your bed was, this footstool was still indispensable. It is just that when people sit on the bed, their legs can save some effort.

On both sides of this small bedroom, there are also four large windows open on the wall of the car. The bright spring sunlight shines through these four windows, illuminating the whole room, making the temperature in the room warmer. , often kept around sixty or seventy degrees, it is by no means like traveling on a train in the wild.The Empress Dowager is of course very satisfied with this point; especially on the car wall between every two windows, there are several murals with rich colors and vivid patterns adorning them, which are extraordinarily brilliant when exposed to sunlight Bright, enough to appreciate!These murals are all painted with lacquer, and the new and old styles are coordinated with each other, which looks very harmonious.Of course, their authors were not painters in ordinary railway factories, but semi-artists specially selected from Beijing. Otherwise, where would there be such a good method?Below these murals, a very narrow wooden board was nailed. On the top of the board, daily necessities, various cosmetics, and many scattered things were placed, which were very convenient for Yi to access.As usual, there is a yellow satin curtain hanging on the windows.

Passed through a shaan board—although this partition is very thin, its material is also teak wood, and it is carved very delicately. ——There is a larger room outside, which is the so-called "little court on the train". Speaking of it, it is really luxurious and rich to the extreme.I can say something in a nutshell first: for the sake of beauty, for comfort, and for making it able to provide us with all court ceremonies as much as possible, no matter how much money is spent, we never care! The first thing that can be noticed are four vases of flowers, which are divided into four corners and placed in the four corners of this small imperial court, each of which is set off by a very delicate and tall wooden shelf.The bottle itself is, of course, a valuable antique. The color pattern and style are both extremely antique and beautiful.There are four kinds of flowers in the vase: the first one is peony, which is also known as the flower of wealth and honor. In China, peony is known as the queen of flowers. The queen mother treats it probably because of the similar status of each other, so it is special hobby.The second type is Tianzhu, which can be regarded as a unique plant in the East. It has green leaves and red coral-like seeds, which is really beautiful.The third is the winter jasmine, its color is as yellow as gold, on the contrary, it can represent a special color that the imperial family likes to use.The fourth type is pear, all white with a little light green, very refreshing.These four kinds of flowers are common in spring, but the reason why we used them to decorate this small court is not only because they are flowers in spring, but also because they have a kind of durable vitality. In a vase with not much water, they will not wither; moreover, they can still rely on the nourishment of the muddy water to continuously grow leaves, buds, and bloom.

Under the feet, there is a carpet about two inches thick, which covers the whole of this small court. Its material is velvet, and its color is light blue, which is very beautiful, not to mention there are clusters of carpets on it. It is piled up with golden patterns and paintings, all of which are peonies and phoenixes among birds. It can indeed be praised as "golden and brilliant". The window openings in this room are not as wide as the windows in the Empress Dowager's bedroom, the ratio is about three to two.The reason why these windows are narrower than the former ones is intentional.So why do it on purpose?It's ridiculous to say it: because the queen mother has a very strong hobby, which is to play with all the treasures she owns; when she decided to go to Fengtian, at the same time, she thought of taking some of her jewelry and antiques with her Come on the train.Although Yi never clearly told me, or Qingshan, or Li Lianying what this meant, we speculated based on Yi Ping's daily hobbies, and everyone already understood it.So when Qingshan supervised the repair of the train that the Empress Dowager was riding on, he made a plan, which was to open the windows a little smaller and leave some gaps in between. There are many small shelves of different styles, ready to place those treasures for the queen mother.This design was actually greatly appreciated by the Queen Mother. Before Yi got on the car, everyone was busy putting all the treasures on it. After getting on the car, Yi looked around more and more fascinated. Never seen the same before.

Although the windows are relatively narrow, the curtains hung on them are more elegant than those used in the small bedroom.The curtain itself is still generally made of non-embroidered yellow satin, but there is a row of short beards made of gold thread underneath, which makes it look extra beautiful.There are also many colorful murals painted on the walls of the car, but the content of the paintings has been more focused on stories; and these stories are all picked from those famous old Chinese novels or legends.For example, "Jiang Ziya beheaded the general and made him a god", "Guan Yun rode alone for thousands of miles", there is no lack of intention to inspire people's loyalty and filial piety.Even on the four large vases full of flowers, there are also paintings of this kind of story, and the paintings are very delicate.

The Empress Dowager is very fond of flowers. Besides the four kinds in the four large vases, she also has many small and exquisite vases—each vase has a special mahogany frame, which is very delicately carved. ——placed one by one in the east and west at will.There was also some water in the bottle, and then I picked several kinds of flowers and plants I liked, and asked someone to cut off the long stalks, and put them in them to soak them.Therefore, this small imperial court was almost covered with the scent of flowers, not to mention the colors of those flowers were extremely pleasing to the eye!

Apart from that small bedroom and this incomparably rich little imperial court, the rest of this train has very limited status.But at the back end, there are also two small rooms about the size of a bucket. One is for our female officials to rest in it when they are not on duty, so that we can take care of the Queen Mother at any time.At the back of this room, there is another smaller one, in which there is only a small charcoal stove, which is specially used for preparing tea for the Queen Mother.The eunuch in charge of taking care of this matter was Zhang De, that is, the person who stood by and called on the bowl of tea every time the Queen Mother ate.However, in fact, his status is already higher than others. He is happy to take these small things of cooking tea seriously. Fortunately, there is no one to monitor him. He can choose one or two among those little eunuchs. The more delicate ones work for him, and when the queen mother asks for tea, he still brings it up by himself, so of course the queen mother will not ask him again.Speaking of drinking tea, I might as well report that the Queen Mother is a very researched "tea taster".There are dozens of kinds of tea commonly used by Yi; jasmine and lotus are just the two most common ones.Many of the others have so many names that they are hard to remember, and most of them are rare items that have never been seen outside, so their names are all that have not been mentioned by anyone until now.

Although this train is divided into four different rooms, the focus of our interest is of course the small court on that train.In this small imperial court, different orders can be issued at will to teach this neat train to move forward, or backward, or to stop; not only that, but also all political, military, and economic aspects of China. The various changes and the main driving force for the adjustments—the Queen Mother’s edicts, all of which were issued in this small court that only occupied half a carriage in these few days. In the middle between our lounge and this small court, it is also separated by a row of very delicate wooden boards, and on the upper part of this row of wooden boards, there is another very solemn canopy, like a pole. An open umbrella is usually placed on top of the cage.Below it is the throne of the Empress Dowager.In the palace and in the Summer Palace, there are as many as ten or twenty thrones specially prepared for the Empress Dowager. They are all larger in size than the one on the carriage, but their appearance is generally beautiful, without any The raw materials for the upper and lower thrones are all the most noble rosewood, covered with countless pearls and gemstones, which shine brightly at night, but on the cushions, for the requirement of sitting For the sake of comfort, of course no jewelry can be used, but even a simple apricot-yellow velvet is already very eye-catching.Behind this throne, as usual, there is inevitably a screen. Its material is also red sandalwood, painted very brightly, and it is also inlaid with valuable jade and precious stones.However, no one can say what real use it has, only that it is always connected with the throne!Where there is a throne, there must be a screen behind it, and where there is a screen, there must be a throne in front.These two things have almost become an inseparable set of furniture.It is said that this habit has been passed down for a long time in the past dynasties, and it is not only in the Qing palace.It's a pity that no one can tell how this special habit was formed in the first place!

I just said that the screen behind the throne, no one knows what real use it has, but when it comes to the train, it shows a part of its function.As usual, the Empress Dowager often takes a nap, so we specially prepared a small soft couch for him, and placed it behind the screen, so that she can rest at any time during the day without having to go back to the bed. Go to that small passive palace. I remember very clearly that when our trip this time just started, at Yongdingmen Station, the Queen Mother was supported by me and a few other people, and after stepping on this novel transportation tool for the first time, she seemed very nervous at first. There is a look of difficulty; because although the layout of this small imperial court and the bedroom has gone through the design and efforts of many people, compared with all the main halls and bedrooms in the palace, it is super similar, as good as possible. It deserves to be praised as "unlucky ingenuity", but their area is ultimately limited by the status of the train. No matter how many great engineers are consulted, there is no way to expand it.And the queen mother used to be used to spacious and grand places in the past, once she was suddenly placed in such a narrow room, of course she would feel a little strange mentally.However, after five or six minutes, Yi gradually got used to it.In the first sentence, Yi ordered the eunuchs to check whether the direction of Yi's throne was indeed the same as the direction of the train, because Yi felt that if she turned her back, the train would drag Yi Well, if you keep going backwards, it will have a lot to do with Yi's dignity.After asking this point clearly, he took Yi and issued many orders, and sent the eunuchs to carefully arrange the many antique jade articles hanging on the wall of the car; probably because Yi was not satisfied with the display method used by the columns, Gang spared no expense in inventing them, and then rearranged them; when the changes were made, Yi saw that there was nothing wrong with them, so she gave the order to drive.Apart from these antique jade objects, Yi expressed her full satisfaction with all other decorations, such as murals, curtains, vases, carpets, etc., so Yi's spirit was more excited than before.Although Yi was nearly seventy years old at that time, as soon as Yi got into the car, she had a smug smile all over her face, pointing things out as happy as a seven or eight-year-old child who got a new suit. like a toy.And the point that makes Yi feel extremely proud is that on this royal train, the empress dowager's authority is revealed more clearly than elsewhere, and the impact is particularly fast; Yi just hums in a low voice, and the whole train The train will move forward, reverse, or stop.At the same time, the small court of Yi could easily move freely in the land ruled by the divided troops. From the eyes of the people at that time, it was indeed a very proud thing.

Before I entered the palace, I had taken trains countless times not only in foreign countries, but also in my own country, and I didn’t feel any strange feelings; From the very first moment—that is, when I was preparing—I was extremely nervous. From the beginning to the end, I was always clutching two fistfuls of cold sweat, fearing that something unexpected would happen.Because the Empress Dowager has never seen a train, perhaps the various actions of the train are unavoidably uncomfortable for Yi, so there is no need to think about the safety of the journey!What worried me in particular was the shock when the train first left. Of course, this shock had no effect on others, but it couldn't be said to the Queen Mother.Helpless, no matter which experienced driver in the world, it is probably a thing that will never happen if he is asked to never vibrate the vehicle while driving!At least, the driver who is currently driving this imperial train for us here does not have such a good ability!

When the order to drive was given, the train officially began to move; at this time, we all stood upright in that small court.The Empress Dowager sat alone on the throne, smiling all over her face, and was about to experience the experience of riding a train for the first time. Unexpectedly, the whole train suddenly looked back and rushed forward, shocking us all. Several people almost fell over suddenly, and at the same time, many antique jade objects that were most loved by the Empress Dowager on the small wooden shelves on the wall of the carriage fell down one after another because they couldn't stand the shock.Such a sequence of events really scared me out of my wits!A driver who looks like a coolie dared to shake the Queen Mother's beloved thing to the ground. Would he not be punished severely?I think it was in the heart of the empress dowager at that time, or she did have this kind of thinking.Regardless of whether Yi has such thoughts, we can no longer take care of the driver, so let's hurry up and take care of ourselves!Because the arrangement on this train was almost entirely organized by Qingshan and I, and it was also our idea to install these small wooden shelves on the wall of the train for the Empress Dowager to place Yi's antiques and jades; Now the city of Beijing is not without surprises. The train is the first to move, and all these things have fallen. If the train goes forward, can there be any tricks in the future?I think among these people, someone must sacrifice his head!Of course, I can't believe that the person who was stabbed was definitely not me, maybe it was me!Who dares to keep it?What's more, before I surrounded the Empress Dowager out of the palace and got on the sedan chair, I proudly praised in front of Yi how thoughtful the arrangement on the train was, how well-arranged all the furnishings were, and I didn't know that it took less than two hours to get the train. Such a contradictory proof.Readers think about it: Does the Queen Mother still have any affection for me? However, although I was secretly worried, the rest of the female officials, court ladies, and eunuchs didn't feel much; they only knew that there was a small incident in front of them, that the antique jade objects that the Queen Mother loved had been turned over. When they got down, they were like ordinary people when they encounter such things. Before it was too late, they rushed forward one after another, and quickly held the fallen ones with their hands. Almost everyone had exerted all their strength, but Such a commotion caused the small imperial court on a train to become chaotic and out of order.In the palace, or in the Summer Palace, it can be said that in hundreds of years, there has never been such a big gaffe!I think that if the courtiers who desperately wrote a memorial to oppose the Queen Mother's risk of taking the train to Fengtian saw this situation, they would definitely shake their heads and sigh: "Are we admonishing it? Now You see: isn't this an ominous omen?" Firstly, I have admitted that this matter is out of control, and secondly, it may be said that I was frightened out of control, so I just stood by and waited, hoping that the Queen Mother herself might come up with some good solutions, to remedy the defect; but Ea made no sound.I couldn't help turning my head to look at Yi,—with 120% fear in my heart—unexpectedly, Yi was smiling there. At such a time, Yi was able to give us something without getting annoyed. With a gentle smile, it is really a rare event in a hundred years!A big stone in my heart just fell down.But I was so frightened that I was about to fall down, my legs were shaking involuntarily, and my hands were as cold as winter. I thought that the rest of the people, if they were as frightened as I was, would just stand aside in shock, with their eyes wide open. Watching those things fall by themselves, so that they shattered, we will inevitably suffer a terrible torment no matter what.Fortunately, they forgot the dignity of the imperial court and made such a hasty attitude, which made the queen mother turn her anger into a smile, and turned a day's event into nothing. After four or five minutes, the clever queen mother immediately came up with a remedy, so Yi personally instructed the eunuchs how to reinstall all the wooden shelves and how to tie them with colored threads so that each Antiques or jade can be as safe as Mount Tai.By the time our train was moving toward Tianjin at the speed of an ox cart, everything was completely finished.But we have forgotten one thing after all, and that is the four vases on the four corners of the small imperial court.Because the wooden shelves under them are made of mahogany and are very smooth, and the bottom of the vase is also very smooth, so the four vases, affected by the driving action, gradually moved freely as if they had given birth to legs. Actions were taken; some slipped out, and finally two fell off.When the eunuchs saw it, they rushed over and supported the two that hadn't fallen down first. What's more, the two that had fallen down were not broken either, because of the carpet underneath. , it is really too thick.However, although I was lucky that the vase was not broken at the time, but after a while, I was afraid that the sewage in the vase would stain this precious carpet. There is very little sake in Risheng's water. Although both the bottle and the blanket survived unharmed, the false alarm we suffered was not a small one.So everyone hurriedly inspected and tied everything else one by one for the second time, hoping to get rid of it once and for all, so as not to be frightened again. In this way, our long journey officially began.But the author's bald pen can't go with the train, because in the above article, although I have listed all kinds of passengers on this imperial train, from the queen mother to the cook and servant. ——It has been fully described, but one very important character has been left out.In terms of his status, he is only slightly inferior to the Empress Dowager. Compared with us, he really pales in comparison.Then who is he?It was originally a pet dog of the Queen Mother.It also has a name, a very powerful name, called "Sea Dragon"; in fact, no one has ever seen what kind of animal a sea dragon is, but the appearance of this dog is somewhat similar to that of a sea otter, probably the Queen Mother. I feel that the word sea otter is not very popular, so I use the word "dragon" instead.This dog is a real Pekingese, with dark brown fur all over the body, but on the neck and head, there is a large tuft of long hair as white as silver, which seems to be the hair of an old man.Its body is very short, very small, its legs are short and bent, like a bowed back, its nose is as flat as flattened, but its two eyes are very big, I can say that I have never seen such a big eyes of dog.Based on its strange appearance, it must be the best among many dogs in Beijing; therefore, the Queen Mother is very happy with this little beast, and can even be said to be the best dog. Twelve points of love.Every night, Yi insisted that it lie down in that small imperial court, but since it is a dog loved by the empress dowager, even if it lay down, it could not just lie on the ground casually like ordinary dogs. It had a bamboo basket as a couch.This bamboo basket is very big, it can hold a small child, and the inside is lined with beautiful red satin. People who don't know the details will never think that it is something for dogs to lie on.But it is more than that generous, the queen mother also specially appointed a eunuch to teach him to take care of this little dog with good luck day and night.Of course it also has clothes, which is a piece of armor like the horse armor worn on a horse, with a red satin face and a softest leather lining.There are three golden bells tied around its head and neck, the two on both sides are relatively small, and the middle one is very large; as long as it walks, runs, and jumps casually, it will play a kind of bell on its own body. Simple music to come.Behind a collar around its neck, just close to its ears, are two things like the badges that soldiers put on their caps, both made of silk thread, one red and the other Green is really pretty; when the color is old, it will be replaced immediately, so it will always be very bright and eye-catching.But there is one thing, which is a fly in the ointment; that is, no matter how comfortable the dog's enjoyment is, it will inevitably be tied to a leash, so that it will never be able to move freely.This leash is about four or five feet long, and there are many small bells attached to it, so no matter where the eunuch who specializes in serving dogs takes it, it is not difficult to find it. If you are happy, you can run faster If you are in a hurry, you may hear the ringtone in a place far away. Readers, don't underestimate the eunuch who specializes in serving this "royal dog". His position is indeed very troublesome, and his responsibilities are extremely heavy.Just like the food a dog eats, he has to adjust it himself. ——Of course, Hai Long's meals are very delicate, and they are often changed, but the most eaten ones are chopped liver, mixed with gravy, and mixed with freshly cooked rice. ——After the adjustment is completed, I have to send it to Zhang De, which means asking him to have a look and decide whether it is easy to use or not. Holding this bowl of dog food, he walked to the Queen Mother and followed Guan to ask for instructions.When the queen mother saw her, she not only didn't think she was disobedient, but she would check it very carefully, and if she found anything wrong, for example, the rice was undercooked, the liver was too undercooked, the broth was too little, etc. Yi always refused to let it go.They must take it back and handle it again; in this way, the eunuch who is in charge of dogs will inevitably be scolded by Zhang De, and even the cook in the imperial dining room will also be scolded. I still remember very clearly that the eunuch serving the dog always pretended to be serious, and stood on the corner of the carriage with the huge bamboo basket on his arm.On the way, whenever the fourth son stopped for a longer period of time, we all got out of the car to take a leisurely look at the son, and he often came down with this bamboo basket.The first step is to carefully place the basket on the ground, then gently lift the sea dragon out of the basket, fasten it on the belt with numerous small bells hanging on it, and let it walk casually.Usually, the person who leads the dog is always the person who leads the dog, but this eunuch never dared to be so bold. He could only let the dog lead, that is, he would always obey the dog's will. If it wanted to go east, it would go east; In the west, when it is absolutely necessary, some people dare not make decisions.I've seen it, and I often have a kind of wishful thinking, wondering if the dog knows whether it knows the superiority of the treatment it receives, and the importance of its status.But no matter whether it knows it or not, this situation is always true!And I can say with absolute certainty that if anything happens to this dog unfortunately, or it is injured, or it eats something bad, or it gets lost suddenly, as long as any of these things happen, everyone in the palace will There is no doubt that all people will make a fuss together, and the impact will be far greater than the death of a eunuch. However, after all, this dog is so powerful because it relies on the blessing of the Empress Dowager. Although most of the ministers living in the capital are happy to keep dogs, the situation is of course very different. separated.