Me and Empress Dowager Cixi

Chapter 44
At this time, all the dogs lined up in a straight line, neatly waiting for the Queen Mother to review, all their movements had stopped, and they stood very steadily, like a row of wooden stakes.Not only that, even the barking of dogs could not be heard.Presumably during training on weekdays, barking is also included, and there are strict rules on when to bark and when not to bark.At this moment, the eunuch issued the third order, and he shouted: "Stand upright." The dogs all imitated what Hai Long did just now, stood up, and then used their hips as a support point, like Sitting on the ground like a human, and sticking out its bright red tongue from time to time, it looks very proud, as if it has completed a great task.Of course, not every dog ​​can do this well. A few puppies who have not been trained for a long time still need the eunuch's urging and help to do it better.

When all the dogs were standing upright, the eunuch issued a final order: "Honor the Queen Mother!" This order has never occurred to me, and I have never dared to think of it.As soon as the words fell, the dogs barked at the same time, and from time to time put their front legs together, shaking them up and down. If you didn't look carefully, they really looked like they were bowing.It was indeed a wonderful scene, and I haven't seen anything like it anywhere else for many years.Seeing so many dogs that can bow and pay homage at once, I suddenly had a question: Since so many dogs can bow and pay homage, why does the queen mother favor the dog named Hailong so much?At this moment, Hai Long has completely lost the prestige just now, and can only do the same movements with other dogs, except for a few golden bells tied around his neck, it is no different from other dogs.Perhaps because of these small golden bells, every movement of it can attract the attention of the Queen Mother, and then win the applause of the Queen Mother.In my opinion, Hai Long at this time is a very cheap clown who can effortlessly win the Queen Mother's favor and smile, and this is where he succeeds as a dog.

If you stay in the imperial kennel for a longer period of time, in addition to watching the performance of these dogs, the Queen Mother will also examine the dogs.When the queen mother wanted to examine which dog, she would naturally not squat down to look at it herself, but asked the eunuch in charge to hold the dog up and put it in front of her, and then she watched it carefully.After reading it, the Queen Mother will give some comments or suggestions as usual, for example, "This dog's eyes are too dirty, won't you wash it?" "The hair on this dog's tail is too long, it needs to be cut in time." Just a moment." After hearing these words, the eunuch in charge will immediately ask someone to deal with it.But sometimes things are not so simple. If the queen mother says "this dog's body is too long" or "this dog's hind legs are too long and does not fit the size", it is not as simple as asking someone to fix it problem.If the queen mother said so, the dog will face only one fate, that is, be exiled.Sometimes, to save trouble, these eunuchs would kill the exiled dogs. The Queen Mother rarely tracked down the whereabouts of these dogs, and even if they were killed, there would be no hidden dangers.If it was a puppy that was judged unqualified by the queen mother, their fate would be different. The eunuch would not be willing to kill it, so he would take the dog out and sell it.Since it was carried from the imperial palace and it was a famous dog, naturally someone was willing to pay a high price for it, and the amount of money was considerable.

The purpose of our visit today was to see Hei Baoyu's four puppies, so after the Queen Mother rested for a while, the eunuch in charge of the dogs presented the four puppies in a small bamboo basket.The queen mother got up and looked at these puppies carefully, then pointed to one of them and said to me: "You see, it is the most perfect among the four, and it has all the advantages of its parents." These four puppies The dog's mother, Hei Baoyu, is an out-and-out famous dog, and their father is also very famous. The name is "Wuyun Gaixue", as the name suggests, the whole body is jet-black, only four legs are white.After teasing the little dog for a while, the Queen Mother continued: "One of the four dogs is not bad like this, and the remaining three are a little bit worse. You see, this one is too thin and too long. The hind legs are longer than the front legs, and the tail of the other one is bent backward instead of forward, anyway, these three puppies are too ugly.” After the Queen Mother’s comment, the fate of these four puppies is also It was decided that, except for the first one, all other puppies would be sent out of the palace.Taking this opportunity, I told the queen mother that I liked one of them, and the queen mother immediately announced that she would give me that puppy without hesitation.

The dog that the queen mother kept for herself was a male, and like its mother, it was black all over, and the white spot on its head was inherited from its father.According to its shape, the Queen Mother named it "Banyu", which I like better.The Queen Mother took another look at the puppy carefully, and then said: "It will take another seven or eight days before this dog's eyes can be opened. Three or four days after the eyes are opened, we need to cut its tail." Take a piece of it." I wondered why the puppy's tail was cut off, and the Queen Mother told me the reason very quickly.According to the queen mother's narration, I learned that this is a habit of raising dogs. If you don't cut off a part of the puppy's tail, its tail will bend backwards, and finally drag it like a horse's tail, which is very ugly. .If a part of the puppy's tail is cut off, the remaining tail will be bent forward, which is conducive to shaping a good shape.In addition, Her Majesty told me that the pug's drooping ears are also artificial.When it was just born, the puppy’s ears were standing upright. After a short time, the tip of the puppy’s ear needs to be artificially glued to a small stone or copper coin. Due to the weight of the stone or copper coin, the puppy’s ear will He was soon hung down.After about half a month, even though the stones and copper coins were removed, the puppy's ears could no longer stand up.

After babbling a lot, the queen mother stopped to drink some water, and then added: "It is not easy to raise a good pug dog. When raising a pug, one thing needs to be paid great attention to, that is, the puppy eats When the puppy grows up, whether its body is satisfactory or not depends entirely on the feed. When it is still very young, it must not be fed too much water, if so, its body It will grow very thin and long; you can’t feed it meat every day, otherwise its body will grow thick and short. These two situations are not good, so it is very important to master their feed formula, no experience There is absolutely no way people can do this.”

The dogs kept in the Royal Kennels have their own names, which are very elegant and suit their appearance or temperament.The dogs were all named by the Empress Dowager, who not only was able to give them proper names, but also remembered very clearly which dog was called which name.No matter which dog she met, she could always call its name very easily.There are four pugs with grayish-purple fur. Not only are they alike in fur color, but they also have similar shapes and voices. It is difficult to distinguish them without careful observation.The Empress Dowager named them Qiuye, Amber, Ziyan, and Shuang Persimmon in turn. These four names were so suitable for these dogs that anyone who saw them would immediately think of these four things. No wonder the Empress Dowager gave them name like this.

In the Empress Dowager's imperial kennel, there are four very rare puppies, they are so small that they can be played on the palm of a person.These four dogs will always be so big that they will not grow up even in a few years. When people go out, they can be put in their sleeves, so they are named "sleeve dogs".In fact, sleeve dogs are a variant of pugs. As long as they are properly fed, the pugs’ body size can be controlled within a certain range, and even their coat color can be controlled artificially.The Empress Dowager knew this in detail, and explained it to me in detail, but I have a bad memory, and now I have almost forgotten all of it.The queen mother's four sleeve dogs are all very cute, and they all have their own beautiful names: the one as white as snow is called "Snowball"; The gray, very lively one is called "Wind"; the rest is the prettiest, with the purest silver-gray all over the body, and the Empress Dowager specially called it "Moonlight".Among the four dogs, my favorite is the most moving "wind".

Most of the dogs kept by the Empress Dowager are in pairs, and this pairing not only refers to male and female, but also includes similarities in color and body shape.This is nothing more than to let them leave the same species, which is a very interesting phenomenon.But there are exceptions to everything. There is a lone dog in the royal kennel. Although it is not tall, it looks very strong and powerful. It is an authentic bulldog.Because its coat color is dark yellow and brown and black, which looks a bit like tiger skin, the Queen Mother specially named it "Little Tiger".The queen mother once ordered people to find a female dog with the same color as it, but it was still unsuccessful. When I left the palace, the queen mother had not found a satisfactory partner for Xiaohu.

The most attractive thing about pugs is their hair, which is very long and wraps the body tightly, looking like a ball of wool from a distance.If pugs didn't stick their tongues out a lot, I think few people would think that furry thing was a living thing.It is precisely because their hair is so long that they need special care. In addition to washing and brushing, they also need to be combed with a special wooden comb every day, just like a beautiful girl needs to comb her hair.Since the Empress Dowager ordered specialized staff to take care of her pet dog, these tasks were naturally done every day.

When living with the queen mother in the Summer Palace, the queen mother often went to see her pet dog.She not only loves Hai Long very much, but also loves other dogs.In her spare time, if the Empress Dowager felt bored, she would order the little eunuch to hold and pet the dogs she ordered. In a sense, these dogs became the empress dowager's comfort in her later years.As I write this, I can't help but feel a little sad, and I don't know what happened to the queen mother's pet dogs after her death.Most of the dogs that were treated like favorites by the Queen Mother in the past are probably dead now.

(End of this chapter)