Me and Empress Dowager Cixi

Chapter 6
These courtiers all look so solemn and solemn, but how important are they to the court?Will those national events become a mess without them?Or is it like a horse that can live without a tail?At least in my opinion, what these people are best at is to stand obediently in front of the queen mother and show their respect, and there seems to be nothing else.It is also inevitable that I have doubts about their abilities and functions, because I have never seen a courtier express his views confidently and freely, at any time and on any matter.

According to common sense, the duty of the courtiers should be to provide the Queen Mother with some suggestions for reference, to be the right-hand man of the Queen Mother, and to help the Queen Mother handle the government affairs reasonably and reasonably.However, this is not the case.These people are too worried about their own heads, and they always say some flattering words to the Queen Mother. Even if they have bad news, they will not report it truthfully, but intentionally distort the facts in order to win the favor of Lafayette.

I suddenly remembered something my father once told me, that was during the Sino-Japanese naval battle in the Sino-Japanese war in the Sino-Japanese War.At that time, because the courtiers were afraid of the queen mother's anger, they never dared to tell her the news of the defeat. All Cixi heard were lies such as "consecutive victories" and "our army's great victory". Annihilated, she was still kept in the dark.

Even so, they were important officials of the imperial court after all, so of course there must be carriages specially prepared for them on the imperial train.However, their treatment is not the best under the Queen Mother, the second only to the Queen Mother is Li Lianying, the chief eunuch.Those important court officials, no matter whether they were the highest or the lowest, were all crammed into one compartment.And what about Li Lianying?There was a whole carriage that belonged entirely to him, and it was magnificent and comfortable inside, which could only be compared with the Queen Mother's carriage.Isn't this strange?

In order to prevent everyone from going to the wrong room, a sign is hung outside many carriages, which indicates what character's carriage it is, or what is inside it.For example, this carriage provided for important officials of the imperial court has the three characters "House of Internal Affairs" written in a conspicuous position, for fear of being confused with the carriages of railway officials.However, the Empress Dowager's compartment was an exception. The sign must not be hung, but the mark must be there. The workers painted two dancing dragons with sky blue paint on the golden yellow car, which looked colorful. Gorgeous and intimidating.

These so-called important officials of the imperial court, showing off their power in front of outsiders, seem to feel that they are very important.But what is the actual situation?My second elder brother Xunling is one of them, so I am very clear about this, and I will never hide anything out of selfishness.The truth is, they are definitely not as important as they think.Take the second elder brother as an example. His personality and appearance are indeed outstanding, and he also wears elegant and luxurious clothes on weekdays. Not only that, his ability and knowledge are not inferior to others, and he can definitely take on some important responsibilities.However, he has all the abilities but has no place to use them. He doesn't even have the opportunity to do very simple things on weekdays. It is unimaginable to use his strengths.The only thing he can contribute to the court is his excellent appearance and clothing.

Minister of the Interior, isn't this title big enough?Should be responsible for all matters related to internal affairs.Whether it is the current Chinese national government, the United States or any other country, in terms of political status, the Minister of the Interior or someone in the same position is very important.But in China in the late Qing Dynasty, it was just the opposite. The Qingshan we will talk about below is an example.He is a dignified minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but the affairs he manages are all trivial matters.For example, he is equivalent to a servant or manager of a big family, and what he manages is only some trivial matters in the palace.Compared with other ministers, the biggest difference is that he has more opportunities to get close to the Queen Mother than others in the palace.If the queen mother happened to see him and ordered him to do something else, then he could find a way to gain some personal gain for himself.

At the end of this book, I want to specifically introduce the costumes of these ministers.Although their talents are mediocre, even mediocre, and although their status is not very important, their clothes are very standard and uniform.Qingshan is a person with very delicate clothes.On the head is a small umbrella-like round hat, decorated with a red coral crown - this is the patent of the first-rank minister of the Qing Dynasty, and the red crown represents the supreme glory!There is also a peacock feather trailing behind the hat, shining with glory with the movement of the head.There is a kind of plume with "two eyes" which is the most noble, and it can only be used with the permission of the Lord, and it must not be abused.In the centuries-old history of the Qing Dynasty, only three people have received this special grace, and Li Hongzhang is one of them. (Editor's note: There is an error in the statement here. From the Qianlong Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were 7 ministers who were given three-eyed feathers, including Fu Heng, Fu Kang'an, and Li Hongzhang, and more than 20 people were given double-eyed feathers.) Qingshan He is not entitled to such an honor.However, Qingshan's clothes are still very elegant, and can even be said to be very beautiful.He was wearing a heel-length sky-blue arrow jacket and a mandarin jacket, the color was purple and red, and there were many patterns on it.The color of the pattern is the same as that of the clothes, so it looks like a faint effect, which is the so-called "dark flower".It is said to be one of the most delicate and elegant designs, and requires a lot of work to weave.Most of the dark flower patterns are deformed characters such as "Fu", "Lu" and "Shou", expressing the beautiful meanings of longevity, wealth and honor, happiness and longevity.Not only the mandarin jacket, but also the blue arrow jacket that day was woven with the same pattern, and it was also "dark flowers", so it matched the mandarin jacket perfectly.From this point alone, Qingshan's clothes are really extraordinary, coupled with a pair of reflective black satin court boots, it can be regarded as a dignified appearance!

In addition to the beautiful clothes on these court officials, there are also two so-called "loyalty and filial piety belts" that are also very conspicuous.These are two white ribbons, tied on the belt, with the words "loyalty" and "filial piety" embroidered on them.No matter which courtier, as long as he leaves the court to go on a business trip, he must wear it. It is intended to make those courtiers always think of the court in their hearts: the body is not there, but the heart cannot leave, and they are absolutely loyal to the court.

Take this escort tour as an example, no matter which minister has two of these things on his belt, just like the colorful ribbons tied on top of a gift box.Not only that, but at the end of the two belts of loyalty and filial piety, there are also two pairs of small purses.This purse has no fixed style, so there are various shapes, various colors, and various patterns, all of which are exquisitely hand-embroidered, colorful and eye-catching, making this "gift" even more luxurious lovely.Speaking of the functions of these purses, they are actually just decorations, and no one has ever used them to hold things.This beautiful purse together with the white ribbon constitutes the belt of loyalty and filial piety carried by the ministers who go out, in order to show their loyalty to the imperial court!However, which of these accompanying ministers stayed away from the court this time?Wherever the queen mother goes, there is the imperial court.

The eye-catching accessories on these ministers include belts in addition to purses.The material of the belt is blue silk thread, which is hand-woven and colorful.The belt is connected by a pair of buttons. The buttons are the same as the purse. The style does not require uniformity, and people can use their imagination to make various ones.So, people took this button as a tool to show off.The courtiers racked their brains to buy distinctive buttons, wanting to show their excellence on the buttons.There are many types of buttons, gold, silver, and copper buttons are the most common, and they are generally worn by courtiers with lower official positions, simply because they are too shy to do so.But any official with some financial resources will choose the appearance he likes at will, such as Qingshan, he is a typical example.

(End of this chapter)