Emperor Qianlong: the beginning of his glory

Chapter 9: Comforting the Veteran Officials, Tasting Tea
On August 23, Emperor Qianlong succeeded to the throne, and made a public announcement detailing the cause of the illness and death of Emperor Daxing, both at home and abroad, to appease the world.At this time, Emperor Qianlong was only 25 years old, which was the time when he was proud and ambitious.When he was in the mansion, he practiced martial arts riding and shooting, exercised his muscles and bones, ate hard and stayed up all night, took care of funerals during the day, and handled government affairs as ordinary people. At the third watch and at the fifth watch, I got up again and went to the upper study.With such a struggle, not only Zhang Tingyu and Ertai were miserable, but even the brothers Hong Xiao and Hong Zhou found it difficult to support them.However, Qianlong was flexible. After seven days, he ordered his brothers to go inside to serve the spirit in three rounds, and the uncles and kings would keep their filial piety in their respective mansions after crying for the spirit every day.But Ertai and Zhang Tingyu couldn't be lazy and couldn't live in the big house, so they ordered to set up a shed for them in Longzongmen. The study room and the military plane are close at hand. Although they are tired, they can avoid the pain of trekking.During this period, imperial edicts were issued, respecting mother and concubine Niu Hulu as the empress dowager, and enshrining Fucha as empress Xiaoxian.In the first year of Qianlong's reign, the imperial edict of grace was issued, and the examination was given, and the world was amnesty.Until the [-]th day of September, Qianlong ordered the Yongzheng Zigong to be enshrined in the Lama Temple, and he would be buried in the Tailing Mausoleum after three years of filial piety.After resigning from the coffin at Lama Temple, the vigorous funeral has actually come to an end.White flags were removed inside and outside the Forbidden City, and yellow gauze palace lanterns were replaced in one color.

September [-] was a day off, and Zhang Tingyu, who was exhausted, slept from the night of September [-] until Shenshi the next afternoon, and when he got up, he felt sore all over his body.He was dressed loosely in a brown wool poplin jacket. After having some snacks, he sat by the window in the study in the West Garden. He casually pulled out a book from the shelf. He had just read two chapters when he heard the parrot under the eaves yelling: " A guest is coming, Lord Zhongtang! A guest is coming, Lord Zhongtang!"

"This bird is really considerate." There was a sudden laughter from outside, and then the curtain slammed, Qianlong had already entered, and he smiled and said to Zhang Tingyu who was stunned: "It's rare to have half a day off in Fusheng. I'm bothering you." Then he went on Seeing Fu Heng, Hong Xiao, and Pingjun Wang Fupeng—all close relatives of Qianlong, accompanying attendants of Yuqing Palace—entered together with the attendants, stood with hands down behind Qianlong, looking at Zhang Tingyu with a smile.Qianlong was dressed in casual clothes, held the bamboo fan of the concubine Xiang in one hand, sat down with his robe lifted, and said: "It's so quiet here, but the autumn colors in the garden are too heavy, so it's a bit chilly. I just went to Ertai Mansion to see him, and he was still asleep. I didn't disturb him, so I came to you again. Why, don't you even want to have tea?"

Zhang Tingyu kowtowed to the ground in a panic, and said, "Forgive me for my crime of disrespect! This slave has been in the hands of the late emperor for 13 years, and there has never been such a case—how can a master come to visit a slave! Disgusting old slave!" !” He said repeatedly, ordering people: “Quickly, dig out the jar of snow water stored last year, and make tea for the master!” “Snow water brewing tea, good!” Qianlong smiled and nodded, “Just fry it in this outhouse. Let me know when the water is about to boil, and I will cook it for you myself. The eunuchs in Prince Bao’s residence are all good at making tea, and I taught them!——Sit, sit down!” He kindly asked everyone with his hand, “ Today we are all guests, don't be bound by the etiquette of the monarch and his ministers. Wouldn't it be a pleasure to sit and talk about Taoism and drink tea?" Everyone saluted and thanked their seats.As soon as he sat down, before he could speak, he heard the boy who was digging the snow water altar in the garden exclaim: "Ah! What is this?" Zhang Tingyu looked through the window sullenly.

"Master Xiang!" A young servant ran in excitedly holding a piece of wet soil, and said with a smile, "It's really a rare thing. It's a purple mushroom, like a crab shell, and it's still hard!" As soon as the light came on, he got up and said, "Ganoderma lucidum! Your Majesty is in the house of a lucky minister, born with auspiciousness——" He suddenly remembered that Qianlong had denounced Sun Guoxi, the governor of Henan, on the Zhu Zhu the day before yesterday for "speech auspiciousness, and regard me as the master who can be deceived", so he paused. Yes, with a look of embarrassment on his face.What a delicate person Qianlong was, he immediately saw it, and said with a chuckle: "There is still auspiciousness. The world prospers, river maps and Luo books are published; the world is chaotic, mountains, rivers, and lakes collapse. Hengchen reads five carts, don't understand this reason? Like what Sun Guoxi said, 'ten thousand silkworms weave one cocoon', he told him to come in, he said it was a rumor; he said 'nine ears of grain share the same branch', I saw it in the mansion in the past years - it was actually a big deflated ear, scattered It’s just divided into a few small spikes. I personally went to the valley in Shandong to see that there were a lot of them, and the common people called them ‘silly spikes’. They are so tall that they have no seeds in them! Can a ruler believe such an ‘auspicious spike’?” Ping Jun Wang Fupeng interjected: "Long live's words are really a blessing in the world. Looking at the annals of history, Wang Mang's new dynasty has the most "auspiciousness". 'Coax yourself.' Too much 'auspiciousness' is really harmful but not beneficial." Hong Xiao said from the side: "As long as it is true, you must report what should be reported. Just like today, the master did not notify Hengchen, and suddenly came Fortunately, when I asked for tea by chance, there was a purple ganoderma lucidum, and it cannot be said that there is no providence in the dark." Seeing the relaxed atmosphere, Zhang Tingyu was so happy that his face lit up, and he said with a smile: "My master is lucky, and there is a purple ganoderma. This is the auspiciousness of the country, and it is also the auspiciousness of the Han family's Chengze. No matter what the princes think, the old minister is happy anyway."

"This is Hengchen's family fortune." Qianlong said with a smile, "But it just appeared when I came here, so I'm really happy." As he spoke, he asked for a pen and paper.Zhang Tingyu hurriedly came over with the inkstone, and Fu Heng smoothed the paper one by one.Qianlong dipped in thick ink and wrote solemnly, writing the four big characters "Zizhi Shushe" with great energy.His handwriting was already good, but at this moment, he was so full of energy that his brushwork was like the wind, and he looked like a dragon and snake flying in a magnificent and luxurious way. Zhang Tingyu called out "Okay" first, and everyone cheered from the bottom of their hearts.Qianlong himself was also satisfied, took out his small seal, and said: "My jade seal is still being engraved. This is the title given to me by the late emperor, so I can use it." Then the seal was sealed.When everyone looked at it, it was:

Changchun Layman
The four seal characters form an interesting contrast with the dignified block letters.The seal is good, pointing to the paper and saying: "This is Ci Hengchen."

Amid all the admiration, Zhang Tingyu kowtowed to thank him, put the paper on the long case with both hands, and told the servant: "No one is allowed to move, and I will call Tang's mounting shop tomorrow, and I will watch them mount." As he said, Li Wei broke in, and as soon as he entered the door, he said: "There is a fragrance of pen and ink here, and there is a small boy fanning the stove on the porch to make tea. Zhang Xiang is in a good mood today. It is better to catch up early. Li Wei is now—" He suddenly saw Qianlong Sitting in front of the desk, he suddenly stopped, and it was fixed in place like a nail!

"I want to have a good meal today, don't you?" Qianlong said with a smile, "Why, Li Wei, don't you know me?" Li Wei came to his senses at this moment, hurriedly bumped into each other, and said: "The slave is the master's dog, why? Will not recognize the master! It's just too sudden, and I didn't come back to my senses for a while." Qianlong said: "Get up. I said that I summoned you, but today is a coincidence-take off the robe and sit down on Fu Heng. " Then I heard Tong'er shouting outside: "Master Xiang, the water is ringing!" Then I saw a young man coming in with a few small and exquisite jasper cups and tea pots on a tray.Zhang Tingyu hurriedly took it and held it in front of Qianlong.

Everyone carefully watched how Qianlong acted.He opened the teapot, took a look at a pinch of tea leaves, and said, "This Biluochun is not the best. Tomorrow, I will reward you with a bag of my daughter's Biluochun. You can eat it." Put a little in each cup as if grabbing medicine, and a little Xitong came in with a freshly boiled pot.Qianlong rolled up his cuffs and held the pot in his hand, and poured about half a tael of boiling water into the cups, and the dry tea leaves immediately sizzled.He listened quietly to the sound of the tea leaves stretching, carefully observed the color of the water in each cup, mixed the water bit by bit, sat down and said with a smile: "The best way to drink tea is dew, followed by snow water, and the second is rain water." In short, the lighter the water, the better the color and taste. You are the snow water after a year, not as good as it was back then. This is not wine, the better it gets with age." Zhang Tingyu looked at the tea, the color was as clear as amber, The room was filled with the fragrance of tea, and he said with a smile: "How can I save this, I just think that drinking tea can refresh my mind and quench my thirst. The same water and tea, I have never smelled such a fragrance before!"

"Wait a minute, this tea is only half-warm. It tastes good. As for quenching thirst, boiled water is also good." Qianlong waved his hand to stop, and said: "It was the fragrance of the king just now, and now it is a hermit It’s fragrant, try smelling it.” Everyone held their breath and sniffed, and it turned out that the fragrance of the tea was different from before.Just now the fragrance was strong and mellow, but now it is a delicate fragrance, like the orchids in the empty valley, clear and refreshing.Li Wei shook his head in surprise and said, "My master's sage learns from Yuanquan, it's really jaw-dropping, there's such a knowledge in taking a sip of tea!"

When he said that, everyone was stunned: What are the "Yuanquan of holy learning" and "Tangmu's tongue-tied"?Fu Heng covered his mouth and smiled, and said, "You're making a fool of yourself again. You must have pronounced 'Yuanyuan' as 'Yuanquan', and 'Gambling' as 'Tangmu'!" Qianlong thought it was right, and sprayed smiled.Everyone roared with laughter.The dull atmosphere of mourning for many days was swept away.

"You, Li Wei, still don't read!" Qianlong swallowed his breath with a smile, "I heard that you are still swearing at others?" Li Wei blushed and said coyly: "You also read a little, not much; Some changes have been made, but not all of them have been changed." Fu Heng jokingly said: "Forget it, you! Now who is scolding, who is promoted. Last time I went to Shandong, one of your Goshha greeted me and smiled. Said he was going to be promoted soon. I said how did you know, and he said, 'Our Li Zhitai scolded me yesterday as a "thief girl, fuck me well"!' Aren’t you making progress?" The voice fell into laughter. everyone.

So everyone began to taste the tea, and they felt that it was fragrant and refreshing. Every time they sipped a little, they felt the fragrance in their mouths, which was quite different from the usual brewed tea.

"Tea is the gentleman in the water, and wine is the villain in the water." Qianlong sipped tea and glanced at everyone, everyone stopped joking immediately, and heard him say: "I am naturally fond of tea and not wine. I also advise all the ministers here to pay attention."

"But a gentleman can only be close to a gentleman and stay away from a villain. You can't kill all the villains, and you can't smash up the winery. Because 'you can't raise a gentleman if you are not a villain'! Li Bai will be gone if he has no wine Poetry." Qianlong said, holding a cup in one hand and a fan in the other, got up and paced, looked out the window and said, "Confucius said that the way of the mean is the ultimate virtue. The more you chew, the more meaningful it becomes. Governing the world is also a principle, You have to work hard to get it right. For example, the holy grandfather has been in power for 61 years, and he has been benevolent and generous, and he has recuperated. In his old age, he really came to a state of governance with benevolence, and the people are peaceful." Speaking of this, he has a lot of meaning Nodding to everyone.

(End of this chapter)