Chapter 10 five eunuchs
When talking about my childhood life, the eunuch is indispensable.They serve me to eat, dress and sleep, play games with me, serve me to school, tell me stories, receive my rewards and be beaten by me.Others still have time away from me, but they stay around me all day long.They were the chief companions of my infancy, my slaves, and my earliest teachers.
When the history of serving eunuchs began, I can't say for sure, but I know the day when it ended was the day when I won the Second World War and I fell off the imperial throne for the third time. At that time, there were probably the fewest eunuchs. , only about ten.It is said that the Ming Dynasty had the largest number of people, reaching 100,000.The use of eunuchs in the Qing Dynasty was limited in terms of positions and numbers, but there were still more than 3,000 eunuchs in the time of the Queen Mother.After 1911, a large number of eunuchs fled. Although the conditions of preferential treatment stipulated that eunuchs were not allowed to be recruited, the Ministry of Internal Affairs still secretly hired them.According to the statistics I recently saw on the "Single Construction Subsidy Form for the First Month and February of the Fourteenth Year of Xuantong (1922)", there are still 1,137 people.Two years later, after I was dismissed, there were about 200 people left, most of whom served the concubine and my wife (they still had nearly a hundred court ladies, who remained largely unchanged).From then on, only a much smaller number of guards and male servants known as squires were used at the palace.
In the past, within the Forbidden City, at a certain time every day, except for the guards of the Qianqing Palace on duty, everyone from the princes and ministers down to the most humble servant "Sula" left cleanly, except for the emperor's own family.Not a single real male again.The duties of eunuchs are very extensive. In addition to serving daily meals, serving people around, holding umbrellas and carrying stoves, etc., in the words of "Palace Rules", they also include: propagating edicts, leading and summoning giant workers, Undertake the inscription event; undertake the transfer of documents from various yamen of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, recover money and grain from external treasuries, and inspect fire candles; collect books in the study room, antique calligraphy and paintings, crown robes and tracks, shotguns and bows and arrows; , in fresh fruit products; lead the imperial physicians to ask pulses in various palaces, and outside craftsmen to build all objects; enshrine the ancestors' recorded admonitions, incense candles in front of the emperor's face and in front of the gods; inspect the entry and exit of each door's big and small giants; register the Hanlin entry value and the list of guards on duty ; abide by the imperial treasure; publish daily notes; whip the court ladies and eunuchs who violate the rules; raise various animals; clean the palace and tidy up the garden; check the time of the bell; please send; decoct medicine; sing opera; act as a Taoist priest to recite scriptures and burn incense in the Town God's Temple; serve the emperor Act as a double to act as a lama in Lama Temple, etc.
According to the system, the eunuchs in the palace can be roughly divided into two categories, one is the empress dowager and the emperor.The eunuchs around the queen and concubine are the eunuchs from other places.No matter what kind of eunuch, there are strict grades, which can be roughly divided into general manager, leader, and general eunuch.The empress dowager and the empress have managers and leaders around them, and the concubine's palace has only leaders.The highest rank is the third rank, but starting from Li Lianying, there has been a rule of rewarding the second rank top wear, so Zhang Qianhe, the chief manager I used, also got this "honor".The third-rank Hua Ling is the chief attendant, the highest leader of the eunuchs in all places, in charge of the forty-eight eunuchs in the palace. From the fourth rank to the ninth rank, there are also no ranks, and the following are ordinary eunuchs.Generally, the lowest rank among the eunuchs is the eunuch in the cleaning department, and the eunuch who made a mistake was sent here to serve as hard labor.According to regulations, the maximum amount of monthly silver for eunuchs is eight taels of silver, eight catties of rice, and three hundred yuan for making money, and the minimum monthly silver is two taels, one and a half catties of rice, and six hundred for making money.For most eunuchs, especially the upper-level eunuchs, this is just a nominal rule. In fact, they all have various "external money", group or individual, legal or illegal, which are more expensive than the nominal ones. There are as many times as many moon silver.For example, Zhang Lande, the chief eunuch of the Empress Dowager Longyu, nicknamed Xiao De Zhang, is known to all as "the noble enemy prince, the rich emperor".Ruan Jinshou, the second manager I used, changed into a fur robe every winter, such as mink feather eyes, mink claws, and mink neck, and I didn't wear heavy ones.Just the suede Quanhailong leather jacket he wore on New Year's Day was enough for a small Beijing official to eat for a lifetime.The other chief eunuchs and some chief eunuchs in the palace all had their own small kitchens, and each had some junior eunuchs to serve them, and some even had "family members" in outhouses, including mothers and maids.The low-level eunuchs are particularly hard-working. They endure hardships, torture, beatings and crimes all year round, and they have no one to rely on until they grow old. They can only live on a very limited "reward". One way out.
The eunuchs I have the most contact with are the eunuchs in the Hall of Mental Cultivation. The closest one is the little imperial eunuch who waits on me to dress and eat.The so-called palace eunuch who is in charge of cleaning also has a leader.These two kinds of eunuchs were all under the management of Zhang Qianhe, the chief supervisor, and Ruan Jinshou, the second chief supervisor.
When Empress Dowager Longyu was alive, Zhang Dean, the eunuch in charge of the capital, was appointed as my "Zhu Da". This job was to take care of my life, teach me all palace etiquette and so on.But my feelings and trust for him are far less than Zhang Qianhe.Zhang Qianhe was a hunchbacked old eunuch in his fifties at the time, and he was my actual first teacher.Before I entered Yuqing Palace to study, he was ordered by the Empress Dowager to teach me how to read Chinese characters, and he taught me how to read and write.After I entered Yuqing Palace, he would stand outside my bedroom every morning and read to me yesterday's homework to help me remember.Like any emperor's chief eunuch, he always took advantage of any opportunity to show his loyalty and deep affection to his master.Therefore, amidst his endless chatter, before I entered Yuqing Palace, I understood Yuan Shikai's hatefulness, Sun Wen's horror, and the fact that the Republic of China was "let out" by the Qing Dynasty, and almost all the high officials in the Republic of China belonged to the Qing emperor. Old minister, wait.Changes in the current situation outside are often conveyed to me through his emotional changes in sorrow and joy.I can even tell from the voice of his endorsement every morning whether he is worried about me or happy for me.
Zhang Qianhe was also one of my earliest playmates.In competitive games with him, I will always win.I remember one time during Chinese New Year, Concubine Jingyi asked me to play betting, and Zhang Qianhe was in the dealership. Whichever one I bet on, I was sure to win, but in the end I always won all the money from the dealer.He didn't care, anyway, the money belonged to the concubine.
Like other children, I loved listening to stories when I was young.The stories told by Zhang Qianhe and many other eunuchs are always inseparable from two types: one is the nonsense in the palace;In short, they are all ghost stories. If I could write them all down, they would be thicker than a Liaozhai.According to them, any object in the palace, such as copper cranes, golden vats, water animals, trees, wells, stones, etc., are all perfect and supernatural. Not to mention the statues of clay sculptures and wood carvings.From those stories that I never tire of hearing, I got such a belief at a very young age: All ghosts and gods are flattering to the emperor, and some even can't flatter them, so the emperor is the most honorable.According to the eunuchs, the bronze crane with a dent on the left leg in the Chuxiu Palace became a spirit when Lord Qianlong went to Jiangnan, and ran to Jiangnan to escort him, but was shot by Qianlong and killed It was boring, so I had to slip back to the original place and stand there.The red and rusty dent on the left leg was the arrow wound shot by Qianlong.It is also said that there is an ancient pine tree near the wall near the West Fish Pond in the Imperial Garden. When Qianlong went to the south of the Yangtze River, he covered the sun all the way. After Qianlong returned to Beijing, he gave this pine tree a poem on the wall.The illiterate eunuch didn't care what Qianlong said in his own poem.
On the steps in the northwest corner of the Qin'an Hall in the Imperial Garden, there used to be a brick, and there was a footprint-like dent under the brick.The eunuchs said that there was a fire in the Qianqing Palace during the Qianlong period. Emperor Zhenwu walked out of the palace gate, stood on the steps and pointed in the direction of the fire, and the flames stopped. This footprint was made by Emperor Zhenwu when fighting the fire.This is of course nonsense.
When I was young, there was a stone pillow on the steps of the west wing of the Changchun Palace. According to an eunuch’s explanation, because one of the four golden dragons on the top of the nearby Zhongzheng Hall used to drink water from the big golden tank in the Changchun Palace at night. Which generation of emperors made this stone pillow for the golden dragon to rest on.I also enjoy hearing such nonsense.
A large bead on the emperor's hat also has mythology.It is said that one day Qianlong was walking by a small river in Yuanmingyuan and found light shining in the river. He shot a shot with a shotgun, and the light disappeared. This big pearl.He also said that after this bead was made into a hat bead, he often went out privately and flew back and forth. Later, according to the "expert"'s instructions, he drilled holes in the bead and put a golden top on it, and then it was stabilized.There are other legends about this bead, but of course they are all nonsense.I used to wear the bead crown made of this bead, but it was lost in Dalizigou in Tonghua when the Puppet Manchukuo collapsed.
In my childhood, I completely believed in such stories and various explanations of eunuchs.The degree of belief is illustrated by the following story.When I was eight or nine years old, Zhang Qianhe brought me a purple pill when I felt a little unwell.I asked him what kind of medicine it was, and he said, "I was sleeping just now, and dreamed of an old man with a white beard, holding a pill in his hand, saying that this is the elixir of immortality, and he came here specially to honor the Lord Long Live." I listened to him. I was overjoyed when I said this, and I even forgot that I was not feeling well. In addition, at this time, the fairy tale was associated with the story of the twenty-four filial piety, so I took this immortality pill to the four concubines and asked them to share some.These four mothers probably got the cue from Zhang Qianhe first, and they all laughed happily and praised my filial piety.After a period of time, I accidentally went to the imperial pharmacy to look for medicine, and accidentally found the purple gold ingot here, which was exactly the same as the elixir of immortality. I still refuse to admit that the story of me delivering the medicine was fabricated.
On the one hand, the eunuchs' ghost stories caused me to be arrogant, and on the other hand, I also developed my fear of ghosts since I was a child.According to the eunuchs, ghosts and spirits are everywhere in the Forbidden City.The alley behind the Yonghe Palace is a place where ghosts choke their necks; the well outside the Jinghe gate is home to a group of female ghosts. Fortunately, there is an iron plate on the Jinghe gate, otherwise they can come out every day; Jinaoyu Chenqiao, every three years, a pedestrian must be pulled down by a ghost under the bridge... The more you hear this kind of story, the more you are afraid, and the more you are afraid, the more you want to hear it.After I was twelve years old, I became fascinated by the books of "Strange Powers and Chaos Gods" (all the eunuchs bought them for me). In addition, the constant activities in the palace such as worshiping gods and worshiping Buddhas, shamans dancing gods and so on all the year round made me feel obsessed all day long. Suspicion, fear of darkness, fear of thunder, fear of lightning, fear of no one in the house.
Whenever the sun sets, the Forbidden City enters the twilight, and all the people who enter the palace to do business have left, there is a sad and shrill voice from the quiet center of the Forbidden City——the Qianqing Palace: "Hold the bar, Small lights—heart—” Following the lingering sound at the end, echoes of the eunuch on duty echoed one after another in every corner of the Forbidden City.This was a routine prescribed by Emperor Kangxi for the eunuchs to keep them vigilant.This kind of routine made the Forbidden City full of ghosts.At this time, I didn't dare to go out of the house anymore, and felt that all the ghosts in the story had gathered outside my window.
The eunuchs fed me these nonsense, not all with the intention of flattering and frightening me, they were very superstitious themselves.Zhang Qianhe is such a person. Whenever he has any doubts, he always has to read "The Story of the Jade Box" to make up his mind.Ordinary eunuchs also devoutly enshrined the "temple gods", namely the four animals: worms, foxes, weasels and hedgehogs.Originally, there were many gods enshrined in the palace. In addition to Buddha, Taoism, and Confucianism, there were also "Papa Wang and Mama Wang", as well as the "magic pole" outside Kunning Palace, horses from Shangsiyuan, silkworms from some other palace, sun, moon, and stars. , Cowherd and Weaver Girl, all kinds, all of which are offered, but only the temple god is the protector of the eunuchs, and is not included in the royal family's offerings.According to the eunuchs, the temple god is a second-rank immortal family conferred by the emperor.An eunuch told me that one night, when he was walking on Danbi in the Qianqing Palace, a man wearing a second-rank top wearing a boa robe and mending gown suddenly came from behind him, grabbed him and threw him under Danbi. It is the temple god.The eunuchs don't eat beef. According to one eunuch, eating beef is a big five crimes. The temple god will punish them by rubbing their mouths on the bark until the skin is broken and bleeding.If a eunuch enters a hall where no one goes, he must shout "Open the hall!" before opening the door, so as not to accidentally meet the god of the temple and be punished.The eunuchs would make offerings to the temple gods every first and fifteenth day of the new year, usually with eggs and dried tofu.Shochu and a snack called "Two-five Eyes", whole pigs and whole sheep and a lot of fruit are used during the New Year's festival. For the low-income eunuchs, even though it is a burden to share the cost of the offerings, they are all willing, because These low-level eunuchs who were beaten most often hoped that the temple gods would bless them, so that they would suffer less in the unpredictable future.
Eunuchs have many ways to obtain extra income.It has been described in operas and novels that Guangxu had to spend money to the chief eunuch of the Empress Dowager's Palace, otherwise Li Lianying would make things difficult for him, and he would not be notified when he asked for peace. In fact, this would never happen.As for eunuchs ripping off ministers, I have heard a lot.It is said that when Tongzhi got married, the Ministry of Internal Affairs managed all the eunuchs, but one place was missed. On the day of the wedding, the eunuch from this place called the Tang Lang of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and said that a piece of glass in the palace was cracked with a streak.According to the rules, the secretary of the House of Internal Affairs is not allowed to go to Danbi without being summoned. The Tang Langzhong just stood below and looked at it from a distance, and he saw stripes on the glass.The officer was so frightened that he had such a broken image on a happy day, which made the Queen Mother know that it must be a disaster.At this time, the eunuch said that he didn't need to find a craftsman, he could quietly find a way to exchange a piece.The people in the Ministry of Internal Affairs knew that this was a scam, but they had no choice but to send a sum of money.As soon as the silver arrived, the glass was also replaced.The glass wasn't actually cracked, the streak was just a hair stuck on it.When Shixu's father, Chonglun, was the minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, once because of some errands, the money was not fully delivered, and the eunuch, who was not full, waited on Chonglun on the way to meet the queen mother, and waited for Chongge to pass by. Deliberately set up a basin of washing water from the house, and splashed Chongji's mink coat with water.The eunuch pretended to be panicked and pleaded guilty.Chongge knew that this was not the time to lose his temper, because the queen mother was waiting for him to go to see him, so he was very anxious to ask the eunuch to find a way.The eunuch then took out a prepared sable coat and said: "We are in a miserable place, and we need to thank you for your kindness." It turned out that the eunuchs usually prepared various court uniforms and crowns for temporary use by officials. For renting, this time Chongji had no choice but to let them extort a fortune, and spent a considerable amount of money on renting clothes.
According to an old person from the Ministry of Internal Affairs who told me later, when I got married, the Ministry of Internal Affairs once asked my chief executive (who had just been promoted in place of Zhang Qianhe) Ruan Jinshou to make a big deal.Because I stipulated the amount of marriage expenses in advance, which should not exceed 360,000 yuan. The Ministry of Internal Affairs can distribute the actual amount according to this amount, and then it can be distributed to eunuchs. The amount is not much, so it was not approved by the chief executive, and the matter froze. up.For this reason, Zhong Kai, the hall doctor, went to the place where Ruan Jinshou lived. There was Master Ruan on the left and Master Ruan on the right. After begging for a long time, Ruan Jinshou didn't agree.That friend was present at the time, he was too young, and he had just started "studying", so he didn't understand a lot of jargon, so he didn't know how much extra money Ruan Jinshou got.
But I believe that "masters" like Zhang Qianhe and Ruan Jinshou are far behind Xiaode Zhang in all aspects.When I was in Tianjin, Xiao Dezhang also lived in Tianjin.He had a luxurious mansion in the British Concession, served by several concubines and a large group of servants, and his prestige was no less than that of a warlord.It is said that because an aunt could not stand his abuse, she fled to the British police station and asked for protection.Xiao De Zhang Qian was able to communicate with God, not only did the patrol house not protect the woman, but sent her back to the Palace of the King of Hades, only to be beaten to death by Xiao De Zhang.After the woman died, no one dared to touch him.
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