Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 185 Honey-mouthed Sword (Part [-])
While thinking about something, Gao Wushi walked with Chen Ju.

The Ming Dynasty was not the Qing Dynasty, and there were no privileges such as riding a public house in the Forbidden City or riding a horse in the Forbidden City. No matter how high-ranking ministers entered the palace, they had to walk honestly.In history, Shen Li was old and in poor health when he was an old man. He fell ill and fell a lot in court, and was recorded in the annals as "the world pity him". The distance is far enough that you can only walk.

But as he was walking, he found something was wrong, so he hurriedly asked: "Mr. Chen, this doesn't seem to be the direction to Ciqing Palace?"

"Ah, the servant girl deserves to die, but the servant girl forgot to mention it." Chen Ju explained: "Although the Ciqing Palace is the official palace of the prince, because the prince is young, the sage felt sorry for him, so he ordered the prince to temporarily live in the Zhongcui Palace for the convenience of the imperial concubine and empress. Go to see and care."

Gao Wushi heaved a sigh of relief, and thought: I blame those TV dramas, as long as the route in the palace is wrong, accidents will happen to almost everything, which made me worry... But Long Qing is really kind to his son.

But...it's really far away to go to Zhongcui Palace. Do I have to exercise like this every day in the future?
Gao Yushi thought about it, and it seemed that this was really the only way to go.It’s no wonder that Chinese royal gardens and palaces have always paid attention to scale, and the more they were built, the bigger it was. The Forbidden City in Ming Dynasty was the same. The East Sixth Palace is even further away.

Of course, this can be solved by starting early, but for the ministers, especially Gao Wuzhen with his current body, walking such a long distance every day has become a hard job.

It is probably because of this reason that after the Qing Dynasty, horse riding or sedan chair appeared in the Forbidden City, also known as rewarding court horses. These two privileges became a very noble courtesy to clan princes and civil and military officials.It is by no means arbitrarily fabricated by those joking about history in later generations. Any governor can enter the palace on horseback or in a sedan chair.Granting shoulders or riding horses in the Forbidden City, although there is no clear regulation on who can do this, but from the historical records, we can also see some rules.

Gao Yushi murmured in his heart: I don't know when I will have enough influence, at least to get out these two privileges, otherwise, I won't say that the ministers are tired and panicked, at least this is a waste of time for no reason, reducing administrative Efficiency.

However, this matter may be difficult to handle. After all, Gao Wushi also knows that because of Zhu Yuanzhang, certain regulations of the Ming Dynasty have always been nonsense, and it can even be said to be a display for the sake of showing off, which is very annoying.On the contrary, the Qing Dynasty, which he has always disliked, although he treats the common people like a joke, is much more humane than the Ming Dynasty in this attitude towards the courtiers... Of course, there is a process of development.

Let's just say that the Forbidden City rides sedan chairs and rides horses.At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, only a few princes of the nearby branch were allowed to enter the Forbidden City on horseback, and they could only enter the outer city and dismount outside the Jingyun Gate. Other ministers could only enter the court on foot according to the old Ming Dynasty system.

"It is customary in the country. The king, Baylor, and Beizi all ride horses into the forbidden gate, and ride under the Jingyun gate. All the ministers still make it clear." Outside the gate, there are stone steles, inscribed in six languages: Manchurian, Mongolian, Chinese, Tibetan, Uyghur and Todt Mongolian as "Dismount here" and "Officials wait here to dismount".The Dismounting Monument still existed when Gao Yushi went on a tour in the later generations, showing a generation of customization and court majesty.

The official express permission for ministers to enter the palace on horseback began in the Qianlong period, mainly because it was inconvenient for ministers to enter the court at night and encounter rain and snow.In addition, civil and military officials at home and abroad who have made great contributions or received special favors will also be granted permission to "ride horses in the Forbidden City".For example, in the reign of Emperor Qianlong, General Yue Zhongqi specially granted "riding horses in the Forbidden City" to flatten the "Two Jinchuan" chieftains, and Zhao Hui granted "riding horses in the Forbidden City" for his military exploits in the Northwest Hui.Qian Chenqun, a retired civil servant, went to Beijing in the 36th year of Qianlong to celebrate the birthday of the Empress Dowager, and was specially ordered to ride a horse in the Forbidden City, which was considered a great honor at that time.In Jiaqing, ministers who were over [-] years old were allowed to take a small sedan chair in the Forbidden City. Since then, there has been a "shoulder sedan" in the Forbidden City.

There is a record in "Xiaoting Xulu": It explains the general situation of granting "horse riding in the Forbidden City" during the Qian and Jia periods: "In Qianlong, the ministers of the Shangnian waited for the leakage, and whenever there was a snowstorm, they walked for several miles. In the fall, because the ministers of the cabinet were allowed to ride horses to show their honor and favor. Jiaqing has already passed, and the ministers who are over [-] years old are given a special order, which is especially Kuang Dianyun."

As for entering the palace by sedan chair, during the Qianlong period, there was already a special case for ministers to enter the palace by sedan chair, because some ministers were old and frail, and it was actually difficult to ride a horse. Riding", "Meng En allowed to walk in a sedan chair in the Forbidden City".In the ninth year of Jiaqing, Wang Jie, a university scholar, was over eighty years old when he entered the palace. It was specially decreed to allow him to enter the palace in a sedan chair and enter the inner court on crutches. This is a very special "favor".

So from this point of view, in the early Qing Dynasty, riding a horse or taking a sedan chair to enter the palace was also a very high courtesy, and only veterans of high morals could enjoy this honor.But in practice, not all the ministers who got the privilege of riding horses in the Forbidden City really rode horses. Some people used a small shoulder chair instead, using a chair with poles tied on both sides, and two people carried them into the palace.Such flexibility actually existed during the Qianlong period.

This is actually a very necessary workaround: first, considering that if the horses are not well controlled, they are afraid of colliding with the guards of honor in the palace; second, many of the ministers who were awarded the "Forbidden City Riding Horse" are actually very old , some people have difficulty riding a horse, and some people can't ride a horse at all.

It is said that in the 55th year of Qianlong’s reign, Qianlong issued an edict specifically for this purpose, specially bestowing on horseback riding ministers in the Forbidden City, those who were old and ill and found it difficult to mount a horse. Go straight." Such a decree was praised by later generations as "especially the magnanimity of the elders and sages."

This kind of small shoulders walking in the palace is similar to the emperor's "Buyu", but the chairs are smaller, and only two people can carry them.It is still consistent with the situation mentioned in the above material that "use more small chairs for two people".Such tools for walking in the palace are generally only carried on the waist, not on the shoulders.

After Jiaqing, the scope of riding horses and sedan chairs in the Forbidden City was gradually relaxed.In the 24th year of Jiaqing, the equestrian ministers of the Forbidden City who were over 60 years old were allowed to ride on small chairs carried by two people. In the 77th year, it was ordered that the ministers of the banner over 80 years old and the Hanchen over 86 years old who had rewarded court horses could enter the court on shoulders and go to the place where they should dismount.Older officials can also enter the inner city by sedan chair.Later, there were even cases of sitting in warm sedan chairs in the Forbidden City.For example, during the Daoguang period, the [-]-year-old University scholar Chang Ling, the [-]-year-old University scholar Cao Zhenyong, and the [-]-year-old University scholar Fu Jun, etc., could sit in warm sedan chairs in the Forbidden City to keep out the cold, which is also a special treatment for elderly ministers.

Thinking of this, Gao Yushi suddenly felt that he should find an opportunity to speak up, to see if there was a chance to fight for the privilege of entering the palace for the elderly civil servant.

Of course, Gao Wushi's sudden idea didn't mean he had nothing to do. He had his own considerations.

　The second half of this chapter is off topic, mainly because I suddenly remembered such a stubble, and found that the protagonist can use it to gain some civil servant favorability for myself...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)