Me and Empress Dowager Cixi

Chapter 22 The Great Wall Collapsed (1)
What I said earlier was the welcome ceremony for the Empress Dowager at the Tianjin Station, but it was much simpler than expected.Yuan Shikai and his like had already discussed with Qingshan, Li Lianying and others, and they were going to take this opportunity to make a big scene.Unexpectedly, the queen mother did not obey their orders. After all the officials offered their treasures, she turned around and returned to the car, and gave the order to drive.In this way, the countless good shows planned by those people will be ruined.

In fact, what is the grand ceremony in the eyes of those people to the Queen Mother?Just a regular meal.Although the Queen Mother was troubled by these rituals, it was rare for her to relax, but the formality in the same palace was somewhat different after all.Usually in the palace, the Empress Dowager would never relax during ceremonies, big or small, and was always very solemn.But it's too hard to be in a tense state for a long time.Everyone seemed very excited about the pick-up ceremony at Tianjin Station, as if it was a festival.In addition, probably because of passing by, almost everyone's eyebrows are filled with the joy of traveling.

The queen mother at this time is also very different from before. Although she is still sitting in the small court, what her eyes focus on is no longer the jewels and antiques, but the much-loved puppy, and the two just arrived. Parrots here.Judging by the situation, she seemed to really want to see how the dog and the parrot would react when they met.In fact, not only the queen mother, but I also think that they will definitely be lively and beautiful when they are put together.

Who knows, the actual situation is completely unexpected. The dog seems not to be interested in the parrot at all.Obviously, despite its strange appearance, this dog is not much smarter than ordinary dogs, maybe even a little lower.I really don't know why the Queen Mother loves it so much.

What about the two parrots?Although they look very beautiful in appearance, people who see them for the first time can praise them, but their disgustingness is really intolerable.They call almost all the time, and we don't know when we go to sleep. As long as we stay with the Queen Mother, we can always hear them shouting "Great Lafayette" and "Safe Lafayette" upside down... Later, the few of us My head is almost blown by them, I really want to use something to block their mouths.Only the Queen Mother, not only can't see the meaning of disgust, but she will laugh whenever she hears them shouting. I really don't understand why she likes them!
From this, I have to praise Yuan Shikai's ability, he is simply too good at currying favor with the Empress Dowager.Teach two parrots to say flattering words, and you have achieved your goal.Think about it, when the Queen Mother heard the parrot calling, how could she not think of Yuan Shikai?No wonder Yuan Shikai's position in the Queen Mother's mind became more and more stable.

As mentioned earlier, this was the first time the Empress Dowager traveled by train. To be safe, there were four doctors on board.Their main task is to serve the queen mother, and the health of us people is also responsible for them.However, we were all safe and sound along the way, so the four doctors never found a chance to show their abilities.

In addition to these few people, there was another eunuch with us, who had risen to the sky because of temporary needs, and his status was very important.He has no other skills, and he is devoted to the research of plants. Probably his ancestors were engaged in agriculture, and he is good at research.Usually, he was arranged in Zhang De's narrow tea room, waiting quietly all day long.As long as the queen mother saw the flowers and trees outside the window were very special, but she had never seen them before, or she had seen them but the impression was vague, she immediately called the eunuch and ordered him to explain them in detail.Since the queen mother is not satisfied with simple understanding, she has to listen in detail every time. Therefore, when the eunuch is free, he will go to the narrow tea room and concentrate on studying botany books.Probably because of his hard work, every time the queen mother asked him, he could always answer every question, and he was very detailed.The Empress Dowager was originally short-tempered, if she asked for a few minutes before hearing the answer from the other party, she would not tolerate it even if the words were extravagant, and this person has never been punished for this.In short, the queen mother is quite satisfied with the eunuch's explanation.I am not the Empress Dowager, and I am always skeptical of this person's words, just because his literary talent is good, and it has not reached the point where I am bored.

Probably because of the solar terms, the thin rain almost never stopped along the way, but it felt warmer and warmer.When the imperial train we were sitting on finally approached Fengtian, summer was almost here, and the wind blowing in front of us was warm and intoxicating.As the weather gets warmer, our hearts become more and more cheerful; more importantly, we are getting farther and farther away from Beijing, where the eerie, right and wrong are all left behind by us, the relaxed, Happiness and excitement are simply hard to express in words. As for what will happen after going back in the future, no one wants to think too much.

The queen mother also felt the breath of late spring, and one day she suddenly said to me: "Spring is so lovely! This warm weather makes people feel young again. It is the season of young people!"

After finishing speaking, she actually started to chant poems, her voice was low and beautiful.That is "Spring Dawn" by Tang Dynasty poet Meng Haoran:
I don't feel dawn when I sleep in spring, and I hear birds singing everywhere.The night comes wind and rain, Whispering Colour!

The queen mother is quite accomplished in poetry appreciation. Although I have never seen her write poetry herself, it is common for her to recite ancient poems.Among so many great poets in ancient China, she was the only one who admired Li Bai very much.She has read almost all of Li Bai's poems, and can even recite them silently.This special hobby of the Empress Dowager created a trend in the imperial court at that time. All civil servants who could recite poems regarded it as an honor to be able to imitate Li Bai. Zisheng felt that he had hope to be comparable to Li Bai!In fact, the Empress Dowager only stayed at the appreciation of poetry. She studied more, it should be said that it was ancient Chinese history and some famous histories and legends, and she was quite insightful.

As long as you are a Chinese who has read books, you will know that Confucius is a very important figure in Chinese history.The queen mother admired Confucius so much.Not only that, but she is very familiar with many words of Confucius. Whether it is reviewing memorials or giving lectures to ministers, she always likes to quote a few sentences, as if this can add an invisible power to her language, so that people are more interested. As if in awe of her.

Thinking about it now, this trip to Fengtian was really hard for the Queen Mother.Although the journey was not long, she was old after all and lived a leisurely life on weekdays. Such bumps were really hard.But fortunately, she didn't seem to have such feelings at all at the time, probably because of excitement. After all, she was going to her ancestors—the homeland of Yehenala, where her family lived and multiplied, and her family was born. Herself.As a result, her spirits were always high, and her physical fatigue was completely ignored.Among the emperors and empresses of the Qing Dynasty, except for Emperor Qianlong in his heyday, the Empress Dowager was the first person to return to her hometown. That kind of ardent expectation for the homeland must also be stirring in the Empress Dowager's heart?

After leaving Tianjin, I arrived at Shanhaiguan within two days.The "queen" botany expert also became more and more busy, and could not leave the Queen Mother's side for almost a moment, so as to be ready to listen to the Queen Mother's inquiries at any time.The types of flowers and plants in the fields on both sides are really rich, the more the queen mother looks at it, the happier she is, and a problem will arise from time to time.

When we passed a certain place, we saw a big river with a wide surface and no waves, just like a clear blue mirror.Probably this place is also an important waterway on weekdays, but now it is quiet, and no ships can be seen.Because it is too close to the track of the Queen's train, the travel ban has been issued long before the arrival of the Queen Mother.Without the boats, the river looked even more beautiful, and the Queen Mother was very happy to see it.

Think about it, there are boundless fields all around, and a strip of green water in the middle, just like a wonderful landscape painting.However, I later found out that someone must have come here to repair it before, otherwise the scenery would not be so moving.Because it is very unusual for trees to be planted on both sides of the river.The Chinese people have always lacked the awareness of landscaping, because there are too many poor people, and the trees that can be seen everywhere are often not spared, and they will become their firewood and fire.As a result, except for those very remote places in Jilin and Heilongjiang, there are almost no forests in the vast middle area, and it is rare to see even trees that seem to be able to form a row.But at this time, two neat rows of trees were planted on both sides of the big river. Strips of green willow silk floated on the river surface, and there were pink peach blossoms mixed in from time to time. The gorgeousness was amazing.

With such a beautiful view, the Queen Mother would never pass by in a hurry, so she immediately ordered the car to stop, and she wanted to get out of the car to enjoy it.Who can change the Queen Mother's mind?Just like that, the yellow imperial train stopped again.When the Empress Dowager goes down, all the other ministers and court ladies must follow, but they are absolutely not allowed to move freely, only us few female attendants can follow the Empress Dowager as she pleases.After standing respectfully in the car for so long, we really need to move around, even if it is only a little bit, it is very necessary for us.Others can't do it, they have to stand respectfully facing the Queen Mother like in the palace, without the slightest neglect, like a statue of clay sculpture, with no freedom to move their eyes, they can only look at the Queen Mother all the time, absolutely You can't look elsewhere, and you can't have a chance to appreciate the beautiful scenery, because the Queen Mother may talk to someone at any time, and this person has to go forward immediately.Only those eunuchs who were not regarded as human beings were free and could move about at will.

This long river like a bright mirror really attracted the Queen Mother deeply. She just looked at it like that and said after a long time: "The scenery here is really beautiful! It's a pity that I forgot to bring the yacht. It would be great if I brought it with me." It's going to be fun here!" She looked a little disappointed, but her tone was soft.

The Empress Dowager likes boating very much. She has prepared two royal yachts on weekdays. When she is interested, she will paddle a few laps on Kunming Lake in the Summer Palace.It's a pity that the two yachts are big and heavy, and it takes a lot of eunuchs to row each time. If they go on the road with us, there is not much room for a flat car to load them.However, if she had known beforehand that she would pass such a lovely river, the Queen Mother would definitely order a flat car to be prepared to take the yacht with her.Moreover, even if you didn't know it before, if there is a way to transport it immediately at this time, the Queen Mother will order someone to go at any cost.However, from here to Beijing, it takes two days to go back and forth, so there is really no way.Besides, who can afford to keep the Queen Mother waiting for such a long time?Of course, her old man also understands this, so she just sighed there, nostalgic.

(End of this chapter)