Silver sprouts are said to be a dish created by the imperial kitchen to flatter the Empress Dowager Cixi. In her later years, the Empress Dowager Cixi had bad teeth, and she liked to eat bean sprouts and chicken. Chicken was stuffed into her teeth. The chef in the imperial kitchen came up with the idea of ??stuffing bean sprouts with meat. Chop the chicken into mincemeat, roll the moistened white thread in the mincemeat, and finally use a needle to slowly pass through the bean sprouts.
Cixi (November 29, 1835 - November 15, 1908), Empress Xiaoqinxian, Yehenala, the concubine of Emperor Xianfeng and the biological mother of Emperor Tongzhi. An important political figure in the late Qing Dynasty and the actual ruler of the late Qing Dynasty.
He entered the palace in 1852 and was given the title of Lan Guiren (Yi Guiren is recorded in Qing history manuscripts), and the following year he was granted the title of Yi concubine of the Jin Dynasty; in 1856, the eldest son of the emperor Aixinjueluo Zaichun (Emperor Tongzhi) was born, and the Jin Dynasty granted him the title of Yi concubine. In the following year, she was granted the title of Imperial Concubine Yi of the Jin Dynasty. After the death of Emperor Xianfeng in 1861, she was honored together with Empress Xiaozhenxian in the two palaces. Xin launched the Xinyou coup, executed eight ministers, and seized power, forming a pattern of "the second palace hangs the curtain, and the prince discusses politics." The Qing government temporarily entered a period of tranquility, known in history as the Tongzhi ZTE. In 1873, the Queen Mother of the two palaces returned to power.
Making war and seeking peace
Cixi experienced five wars in which imperialism invaded China from 1840 to 1900. During the First Opium War, she was still a 5-year-old child. During the Second Opium War, she was already the concubine of Emperor Xianfeng. In the subsequent Sino-French War, Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War, and the invasion of the Eight-Power Allied Forces, she was the top decision-maker of the Qing Dynasty. From Cixi's main war and peace, we can see the changes in the relationship between Cixi and imperialism.
On September 21, 1860, the Qing army suffered a defeat in the Battle of Baliqiao. The British and French forces invaded Beijing, and Xianfeng decided to flee to the Rehe Summer Resort. When Xianfeng was about to set off, Concubine Yi tried her best to dissuade him and asked Xianfeng to stay in Beijing and continue to resist. For this reason, she offended Xianfeng and almost caused death. Yi? signed the "Treaty of Beijing" with the British and French allied forces. Concubine Yi was deeply ashamed and persuaded Xianfeng to abrogate the treaty and fight again. Because Xianfeng was critically ill, he had to give up.
In February 1885, the French army captured Lang Son, and Cixi turned to Zhuhe. With the fall of Zhennanguan, Cixi even lost confidence in the victory of the war. Jin Dengqian, an Englishman who authorized the Chinese Customs Office in London, went to Paris to negotiate a secret peace with the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On April 4, 1885, Jin Denggan was authorized to sign the "Paris Armistice Agreement" with the French government. On June 9, Li Hongzhang was authorized to sign the "New Sino-French Treaty" with the French Minister to China, Bardnot, in Tianjin.