Pu Yi hates that he can't eat while it's hot, and he hates it too
Pu Yi was the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, and in his later years often recalled life as an emperor, but there were two things that made him often complain. The first thing is: "Never have I ever had a bite of a hot meal." ”
The second thing is: "Each dish must not exceed three bites, otherwise the Empress Dowager Longyu will hit my hand." Pu Yi once asked the Empress Dowager Longyu why she did this, but the Empress Dowager Longyu only told him sternly: "This is the rule of the Qing Dynasty." ”
Because he was afraid of the Empress Dowager Longyu, Pu Yi did not ask any questions, and it was not until later that he understood the good intentions of the Empress Dowager Longyu. Some people may ask, since he is the emperor of the Qing Dynasty, how can he not understand the rules of the emperor?
In fact, Pu Yi is not a prince, let alone inherit the throne. It all started with the Empress Dowager Cixi. In 1906, that is, in the thirty-second year of Guangxu, Pu Yi was born in the palace of Prince Alcohol in Beijing, he was the eldest son of Prince Zaifeng, and the whole family held him in the palm of his hand.
However, even with the pampering of his family, Pu Yi's life was not carefree.
Due to the sudden death of Emperor Guangxu, in order to continue the throne, Cixi chose to choose an heir among the prince's sons. In the end, she chose Pu Yi, who was only 3 years old, the son of Prince Alcohol Aixin Jueluo Zaifeng, and the half-brother of Emperor Guangxu.
What's more, Aisin Jueluo Zaifeng was Cixi's close minister, and his son succeeded to the throne, allowing Cixi to remain in control of the Qing dynasty.
Empress Dowager Cixi did not expect that she would die the day after the death of Emperor Guangxu, on November 15, 1908. After more than half a month, Pu Yi, who was only 3 years old, succeeded to the throne and became the twelfth emperor of the Qing Dynasty.
At the same time, Empress Longyu naturally became the Empress Dowager of Longyu. However, the 3-year-old Pu Yi did not understand the duties of the emperor and the rules of the palace, he only knew that it was enough to stay in the palace as an emperor, be fed, play with someone, and spend every day happily.
By the age of 6, he was still running and playing in the palace at will. Since he was usually taken care of by eunuchs and palace maids, although he did not follow the emperor's rules, as the emperor, they did not dare to care about him.
It turned out that the emperor of the Qing Dynasty also had many rules for dining. When I picked up my favorite dish for the fourth time, the Empress Dowager Longyu suddenly became angry and slapped my hand hard. I was so scared that I didn't dare to speak.
After a while, the Queen Mother calmed down her anger, and I asked her in a low voice why she beat me. She sternly said that this was the rule of the emperor's meal, and each dish could not exceed three bites.
I understood that it was for the safety of the emperor. However, the rules for the emperor's meals were much more than that. After I asked an elderly eunuch, I learned that there were many rules for the emperor's meal.
Next, I will go into detail about all the rules for the emperor's meal. First of all, the process of the emperor's meal is as follows: after the imperial dining room receives the emperor's order to pass the meal, it will prepare the emperor's food.
When the food was ready, the eunuchs would deliver them to the emperor's chamber. The emperor began to eat, and he could choose the food as he pleased, but each dish could not exceed three bites. When the emperor finished his meal, the eunuchs would take the rest of the food.
That's all the rules for the emperor's meal.
During the Qing Dynasty, the emperor's dining habits were different from those of us modern people. Instead of eating three meals a day, they eat only two meals a day, called breakfast and dinner.
Breakfast usually starts at 6 a.m. and ends at 8 a.m.; Dinner starts at 12 noon and ends at 2 pm. The Qing emperors were very particular about their meals, with chicken, duck, fish, goose, pork and seasonal vegetables as the main dishes, as well as some mountain seafood and exotic fruits.
The rice they ate was specially cultivated yellow, white, and purple rice, as well as the high-quality "tribute rice" that was paid tribute from all over the country. At each meal, the Qing Dynasty emperors had a large number of dishes, ranging from sixty or seventy dishes to hundreds of dishes.
Especially the Empress Dowager Cixi, she has 120 dishes per meal, and a meal costs 200 taels of silver. This was the dining habit of the Qing emperors, who paid attention to the quality and variety of food as a way to show the dignity and luxury of the royal family.
It turned out that the diet of the emperor of the Qing Dynasty was not fixed, there were wine, meals and snacks every day, and the time was not fixed, and he needed to listen to the emperor's summons at any time. The emperor's diet is in charge of the imperial dining room in the palace, and the managers of the imperial dining room are the emperor's cronies, and the imperial dining room is the most confidential place in the palace, which is related to the emperor's safety and must not make any mistakes.
Every dish in the imperial dining room is very particular, from the selection of ingredients, to cooking, to the final emperor's meal, there are strict regulations and inspections. The procurement and preparation of ingredients have strict requirements and records, each stove only does one dish, by the chef, side dishes, miscellaneous three people to cooperate, to ensure that hundreds of dishes are made at the same time, after the first time to let the emperor taste.
Each dish is handled by three people who supervise each other to ensure that every dish is flawless. If something goes wrong, they take responsibility for it, so they work with care.
Such a cumbersome procedure can greatly reduce the possibility of poisoning, and there is a clear responsible person for each link, whether it is praise or punishment, which can be traced. Next is the detailed process of the emperor's meal.
At five o'clock in the morning, as soon as the sky was bright, several eunuchs and palace maids were waiting outside the door of the dormitory behind the Yangxin Palace. Normally, the emperor's personal eunuch would cough lightly outside the door to remind the emperor to get up.
Once inside the room, several court ladies would help the emperor wash his face, comb his hair, braid his hair, and shave his hair. After washing, a eunuch would carry a dragon robe wrapped in yellow cloud dragon satin, and the palace maid would help the emperor put it on.
After the emperor was dressed, he would enjoy a bowl of white fungus soup or bird's nest with rock sugar for breakfast. The taste of this soup was usually determined according to the emperor's personal preference, for example, the Qianlong Emperor used to drink a bowl of stewed bird's nest with rock sugar after waking up.
Then, the emperor would leave the Palace of Nourishing Heart and go to Cining Palace to greet the Queen Mother, a ceremony known as "false salute", that is, throwing the braid behind his back, kneeling on one knee, with his right hand on the ground, and then performing a simple kneeling salute.
This is the usual greeting process. Usually, after greeting the Empress Dowager, the emperor would go for a walk in the imperial garden or return to the palace to read for a while.
Six o'clock in the morning was the time for the emperor to enjoy a hearty breakfast. At this time, the imperial dining room has been busy for several hours, just waiting for an order"Pass the meal"。One eunuch laid the tablecloth, and the other eunuchs entered the hall in turn with red lacquer boxes in their hands, and quickly put various dishes and soups on the dining table.
After that, they retreated one by one, leaving only the eunuchs who served the meal. This is a true royal meal, full of ritual and prestige.
When the emperor was eating, he sat in the east, facing west. In order to ensure the safety of the emperor, four eunuchs served by him. Each of them has a different task.
Among them, the first eunuch was responsible for checking the food for poison. He would use a silver test tag and swipe it lightly on each dish. This test card is about three inches long and half an inch wide.
If the silver medal changes color, it means that the food is poisonous, and the corresponding chef will be held accountable and may even face a capital offense.
The second eunuch took the test card, and after confirming that it was correct, he tasted the dish himself. After he was unwell, a third eunuch would bring the dish to the emperor, which became known as the "tasting".
Then the fourth eunuch sandwiched the dish into the emperor's bowl, and the emperor began to enjoy it. If the emperor particularly likes a dish and says "reward", then the three imperial kitchen servants who make this dish will be richly rewarded.
This tedious process ensured the emperor's safety, but it often caused the food to become cold, making the last emperor Pu Yi lament that he had never eaten a mouthful of hot rice. Although this cumbersome process caused many inconveniences to the emperor, for the sake of the emperor's safety, all emperors of the Qing Dynasty had to strictly abide by these regulations.
These provisions were clearly stipulated in the laws of the Qing Dynasty. What is even more strict is that no matter how delicious the dish is, the emperor cannot eat it more than three times in a row, and once it exceeds three times, it will be immediately withdrawn and will not appear again for several months.
This is a Qing family rule, requiring the emperor to act cautiously and not to be gluttonous to prevent poisoning.
The emperor's diet was of great concern, so there was a lot of attention to it. The purpose of these precautions was to protect the emperor's safety and prevent anyone from poisoning the emperor's favorite food.
For this reason, the Qing Palace's "Meal Bottom File" specially recorded the emperor's meal, and everything was meticulous and meticulous. However, the emperor's dietary preferences were an absolute secret and would not be recorded or made public.
Because the emperor knew that his preferences could be an excuse for others to murder him, he would try to keep a low profile.
In the imperial palace, it was strictly forbidden for the eunuchs and palace personnel to discuss the emperor's diet at will, which was a major taboo. If someone leaks this information, they will be punished with a rod at least and face death at worst.
Even the concubines of the emperor's harem could not know the emperor's personal preferences, which may be rarely seen in TV dramas, but in reality, the emperor usually only had dinner with the concubines on special days, which is why he called himself a "loner".
The emperor's diet was always elusive, and they strictly followed the rules to prevent anyone from poisoning the diet. Historically, although some people tried to poison and murder the emperor, few people succeeded.
This is because when it comes to eating, the emperor has a unique set of rules and procedures to keep them safe. According to the last emperor Pu Yi, when he was a child and did not know these rules and wanted to eat his favorite food all the time, the Empress Dowager Longyu would stop him.
On the one hand, this was to comply with the rules of the Qing Dynasty, and on the other hand, it was also to protect Pu Yi's safety. The flow and rules of dinner are similar to those of breakfast, except that the dishes are different.
From these rules, it can be seen that the life of the Qing emperor was bound by many cumbersome rules and regulations, not only the rules of the emperor's meal, but also the etiquette of the harem, the state affairs of the previous dynasty, and the succession of the ancestors.
In his later years, Pu Yi repeatedly expressed his dissatisfaction with the rules of the Qing Dynasty, believing that although he had supreme power as an emperor, he was reluctant to experience a life bound by various rules.
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