Empress Dowager Cixi's extravagant diet is famous in Chinese and foreign history. Every time she eats, she has to fill three or four assembled dining tables. There are often hundreds of dishes, including hot and cold dishes, barbecue dishes and various snacks. As soon as she finished eating, eunuchs, large and small, lined up to wait, the dishes would be set immediately, and several special ones would be served together. After the food was served, Cixi wanted to have a look, left when she was satisfied, and left immediately if she didn't want to eat.
De Ling, a female official who once worked beside Cixi, has the following comments on Cixi in Yu Xiang Lu: ... There are two meals a day, and at these two dinners, this 100 bowl of dishes should be served neatly according to the regulations. Besides these two dinners, there are two snacks called snacks. Of course, they won't be as rich as dinner. But the queen mother is always too casual. "So every snack, there are at least 20 bowls of food, usually around forty or fifty bowls. "
Of course, Cixi can't eat that much. "... there are only three or four products at most, and the rest can be discarded immediately, or enjoyed by higher-level female officials, maids and eunuchs in turn. "That is to say, the purpose of Cixi's dining is to eat on the one hand, and to show off her status and ostentation on the other.
On the 10th day of October in the 20th year of Guangxu, Cixi celebrated her 60th birthday. In the eighteenth year of Guangxu, the imperial edict was issued, and a banquet was held more than a month before her birthday. There are more than 29 170 glazed bowls, plates and plates in Jiangxi province, which are painted with the words "Long live without borders" and auspicious and festive patterns. The whole celebration cost nearly12 million taels of silver, which is unprecedented in the history of China.
Tongzhi acceded to the throne at the age of 6. Although the emperor is young, imperial meals are provided according to the emperor's share. Only these imperial meals were "eaten" by the eunuch Zhang Wenliang around him. Zhang was deeply loved by Cixi. After eating, Zhang Wenliang went to thank Empress Ci 'an and Empress Dowager Cixi for the emperor. Imperial meals are eaten by eunuchs. What does the emperor eat by himself? Emperor Tongzhi eats two meals sent by Empress Dowager Cixi every day: millet porridge, bean curd porridge, steamed brown rice, shredded mutton soup, sweet porridge, willow leaf soup, noodle soup, bean curd soup and so on. How can a growing child stand eating soup alone? Therefore, according to historical records, Tongzhi once went to the eunuch to steal something to eat, and was caught by the eunuch, who took it back and threw it away. Tongzhi's death is directly related to his malnutrition.
During the Daoguang period, the bureaucracy was corrupt, the armament was lax, the silver flowed out, and the finance of the Qing palace was tight, so Daoguang Emperor had to scrimp and save to maintain the daily life of the royal family. His diet was the simplest among the Qing emperors.
In summer, the Empress of Qing Dynasty ate watermelon every day to relieve the heat. Daoguang Emperor thinks eating watermelon is a waste. On the hottest dog days, he ordered the eunuch: "Cancel watermelon tomorrow and only supply water." One day, Daoguang wanted to eat "noodle soup" and asked the chef to make him a bowl. Most of the day passed, and noodle soup was not delivered. Under the questioning of Daoguang, the person in charge of this matter needs one hundred and two thousand pieces of silver. So he said to the visitor, "The noodle soup in a restaurant outside Qianmen is the best. A bowl is worth 40p. Let the eunuch go out and buy it. " The supervisor replied, "The restaurant has been closed for many years." Daoguang Emperor said, "I can't waste so much money because of my appetite." I must not eat. Daoguang emperor's diet all year round is limited to "five products", that is, two meals every morning and evening, five products per cake. Among them, scrambled eggs are daily necessities. Even on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, Daoguang Emperor was frugal. On the first day of the first month of the eighth year of Daoguang, the breakfast was "boiled in soup, a pot of mutton and shredded sauerkraut, a duck waist, fried tofu with diced duck and fried meat with eggs."
Puyi wrote in "My First Half Life": "I ate six spring cakes in a row and was known by the foreman and eunuch. He was afraid that I would be propped up by spring cakes, so he invented a digestion method, and asked two eunuchs to hang my arm around him and pier me on a brick like a rammer for a while. Later, they were very satisfied and said that I was not supported by spring cakes, thanks to that treatment. "
Cixi's diet hobby
After the Empress Dowager Cixi listened to politics, she ascended the throne in the palace and enjoyed the prosperity of the world. Diet alone is different. She has three hobbies in diet:
First, I like to drink scented tea. Cixi is addicted to tea and is particularly particular about it. The tea she drank was not jasmine or rose roasted by fire, but flowers, mixed with dry tea and then soaked in a small cup. It tastes delicious and fragrant. The water used for making tea is the spring water shipped from Yuquan Mountain that day. Cixi's cup for drinking tea is made of white jade, and the saucer is gold. Put three cups on the saucer, tea in the middle and flowers on both sides. While Cixi was drinking tea, two eunuchs ran to Cixi with saucers in their hands and shouted, "Lafayette has tasted tea!" " Cixi only drank.
Second, I like to eat golden carp. When eating, the two maids must wash their hands three times, and then pick out the fish pieces and put them in her mouth.
Third, I like to eat stinky tofu. Wang Zhihe, a son of Anhui nationality, was frustrated in his official career and failed many times. Later, I bought and sold stinky tofu. Cixi once ate stinky tofu from Wang Zhihe, which was very delicious, so she ate it every day. By the end of Qing Dynasty, Wang Zhihe's stinky tofu had become the imperial treasure of Cixi. You can't leave every meal. You must buy it from Wang Zhihe South Sauce Garden that day.
Empress Dowager Cixi washed her feet.
Empress Dowager Cixi regards foot washing as a very important thing, and her foot washing water is very particular. In summer, soaking chrysanthemums in water, boiling, drying and washing have the effect of clearing away glare and improving eyesight. After washing, the body is cold, and there is wind under the armpit to ensure that it is not hot. When the weather is cold in winter, you can wash it with papaya soup, which can promote blood circulation, warm your knees and make your whole body warm as spring. In addition, it is necessary to adjust the ready-made formula at any time according to the changes of the four seasons and the weather, which is also the secret of Empress Dowager Cixi's fitness.
Washing feet with a silver basin is also elaborate. This silver basin is deeper than the ordinary basin, so it is convenient for soaking feet; Silver can resist viruses; The middle is wrapped with wooden tires, which is not easy to dissipate heat; Roll over, you can put your legs down. Use two such basins every time you wash your feet. One is to put boiling liquid medicine, and the other is to put water. Use liquid medicine first, then water. There can be no mistakes.
Waiting for Empress Dowager Cixi to wash her feet, there are two close-fitting maids. They are all full-time and trained. There are a set of special techniques for how to apply hot compress to knees when washing feet, how to rub Yongquan point on the soles of feet and other massages to be done. When washing feet, the old lady leaned back in the chair, chatted with the servants and enjoyed the comfort of the foot-washer.
After washing your feet, if you need to cut your toenails, please cut them-Cixi's family has strict rules that you are not allowed to touch knives and scissors. With the consent of the queen mother, she took out scissors. Two ladies-in-waiting who washed their feet, one knelt down on one leg to light a lamp, and the other knelt down on one leg, holding the queen mother's feet in her arms and carefully cutting them. When it's all over, the ladies-in-waiting please kneel down and step down, and the foot washing play will be over.
Cixi's Four Beauty Prescriptions
The first tremella tremella, also known as auricularia auricula, tastes sweet and contains many ingredients beneficial to human body, especially protein and fat. It is an indispensable beauty and health care product for human body. It can tonify kidney, strengthen body constitution, consolidate essence, regulate blood, moisten lung, relieve cough, invigorate qi, strengthen brain, strengthen heart and skin, especially nourish yin and beautify skin, and has special curative effect on female beauty.
The second maid-in-waiting wrapped the hand of the Western Empress Dowager with a hot towel, and the maid-in-waiting brought a silver basin full of hot water. After the Western Pacific, the wrapped hands were soaked in hot water in a silver basin. Wait for the hot water to get warm and cool, and then heat the bubbles again. In this way, the joints of the back of the hand and fingers are soaked for three times, which looks white, red, tender and soft, and achieves the best effect.
The third hot compress is one of the secrets of beauty care of Empress Dowager Cixi, and it is also the most talked-about secret of staying young forever. At that time, the ladies-in-waiting in the palace called washing their faces. To be exact, they smoke their faces with hot air, which is what modern beauties call hot compress. Fill a special silver basin with hot water sprinkled with spices, then soak it in hot water with a delicate and soft cotton towel and apply it carefully according to the texture of the skin. After years of hot compress, there are basically no wrinkles on my face, and I can always keep it bright, white, beautiful and shiny.
The fourth way to drink milk is to drink human milk and milk. This is what she is most used to and what she is most persistent about. In the court of Manchu dynasty, breakfast usually retains the custom of the northeast people outside the customs, and drinking milk and tea is called milk tea. The milk tea that Empress Dowager Cixi drank was not provided by the royal teahouse, but by a small tea stove in Palace of Gathered Elegance. Milk tea is prepared by Empress Dowager Cixi to ensure delicious taste, and then made and supplied by a small tea stove for Empress Dowager Cixi every day. In order to reduce wrinkles on her face, the Western Empress Dowager also ordered specially trained maids to massage her skin with jade every day and so on. But all this, the western queen mother found that the best formula to stay young is human milk. After the Western Pacific, she likes to drink human milk. Three wet nurses provide adequate and healthy milk every day. The Western Empress always drinks more than half a bowl every day.
52,000 coffins
How many treasures are buried with Cixi? His confidant eunuch Li personally attended the treasure burial ceremony of Cixi. According to "Notes on Love Moon Xuan" written by him and his nephew, before Cixi's body entered the coffin, there were three layers of gold beads and a layer of pearls at the bottom of the coffin, which was one foot thick. The head is a green lotus leaf; Pink tourmaline lotus under your feet. Wearing a pearl rockhopper, the largest pearl on the crown is as big as an egg, worth12 million taels of silver; There are twenty-seven Buddha statues carved with gold, precious stones, jade and jade beside him; Jade watermelons, melons and cabbages, as well as peaches, plums, apricots and dates made of more than 200 precious stones are placed on both sides of the feet; Put a Yu Lian on the left and a jade coral tree on the right. In addition, there are eight jade steeds and eighteen jade arhats. A total of more than 700 pieces. After the funeral, four liters of pearls and 2200 precious stones were poured into the coffin.
A coffin full of treasure, gathered together, is naturally a catastrophe. Twenty years after she closed her eyes, a robber who robbed and dug violently finally destroyed her coffin and abandoned her body for these fabulous treasures.