Chapter 093 Honey in Mouth and Sword in Belly (Part 2)
Gao Pragmatic was thinking about something while walking with Chen Ju.
The Ming Dynasty was not the Qing Dynasty, and there were no privileges such as riding in the Forbidden City or riding horses in the Forbidden City. No matter how powerful a minister entered the palace, he had to walk honestly. Historically, Shen Li was already old and in poor health when he became a cabinet minister. Well, he fell ill and fell a lot when he went to court, and was recorded in history as "people pity him." Of course, Gao pragmatism was no exception. Even if the distance from entering the palace to the prince's residence was really far, he could only walk.
But as he walked, he noticed something was wrong and hurriedly asked: "Mr. Chen, this doesn't seem to be the direction to Ciqing Palace?"
"Ah, you deserve to die. I forgot to tell you." Chen Ju explained: "Although Ciqing Palace is the prince's main palace, because the prince is young, the Holy One took pity on him and ordered the prince to temporarily stay in Zhongcui Palace for the convenience of the noble concubine. Go to visit and care.”
Gao Jingshi breathed a sigh of relief and thought to himself: It's strange that in those TV dramas, as long as you take the wrong route in the palace, something will happen, which makes me worried... But Long Qing is really good to his son.
But...it's really far to walk to Zhongcui Palace. Do I have to exercise like this every day in the future?
Gao pragmatic thought for a while, and it seemed that this was the only way to go. It was no wonder that China's royal gardens had always been about scale. Imperial palaces had always been about scale, and they were getting bigger and bigger. The same was true for the Forbidden City in the Ming Dynasty, so much so that it took a long time to walk from outside the palace to the center. It took a long time, and Zhongcui Palace is in the East Sixth Palace of the harem, which is even further away.
Of course this can be solved by setting off early, but for my ministers, especially Gao Wuchen's current body, walking such a long distance every day has become a chore.
It is estimated that it is for this reason that after the Qing Dynasty, riding horses or riding sedans in the Forbidden City, also known as court horse appreciation, became a very noble courtesy to the royal family, princes and civil and military officials. It is definitely not the case in later generations. Those who joke about history make it up arbitrarily, and any governor can ride a horse or enter the palace in a sedan chair. Although there are no clear regulations on who can do this, there are no clear regulations on who can do this, but it can be seen from historical records. You can see some rules.
Gao Pragmatic muttered in his heart: I don’t know when I will have enough influence to at least get these two privileges. Otherwise, I won’t say that my ministers are tired and panicked. At least this will be a waste of time for no reason and reduce the administrative level. Efficiency.
But this matter may be difficult to handle. After all, Gao Pragmatic also knows that because of Zhu Yuanzhang, some of the regulations of the Ming Dynasty have always been nonsense. It can even be said that they are just for show off, which is very annoying. On the contrary, he keeps looking at Although the Qing Dynasty, which was not pleasing to the eye, treated the people simply, its attitude towards its ministers was much more humane than the Ming Dynasty... Of course, there was a development process.
Let’s just talk about riding in sedan chairs and riding horses in the Forbidden City. In the early Qing Dynasty, only a few princes of the recent clan were allowed to enter the Forbidden City on horseback, and they could only enter the outer city and dismount outside Jingyun Gate. Other ministers could only follow the old Ming Dynasty system and walk on foot. Enter the dynasty.
"The king, Beile, and Beizi all rode their horses into the Forbidden Gate and rode down at the Jingyun Gate. All the ministers still made clear the rules." Donghua Gate, the left gate next to the Xihua Gate and the right gate in front of the Meridian Gate. Outside the door, there are stone tablets erected on each side, engraved in six languages: Manchu, Mongolian, Chinese, Tibetan, Uighur, and Thoth-Mongolian, with the words "Dismount here" and "Officials and others will dismount here." The dismounting stele still existed until Gao Pragmatic went traveling in later generations, showing that A generation of customization and palace majesty.
Official permission for ministers to enter the palace on horseback began during the Qianlong period. This was mainly because ministers would have difficulty walking in rainy and snowy weather when entering the palace at night. In addition, domestic and foreign civil and military officials who had made major contributions or received special favors , will also grant "horse riding in the Forbidden City". For example, during the Qianlong period, the general Yue Zhongqi was specially awarded the "horse riding in the Forbidden City" because he was trying to pacify the chieftains of "Liang Jinchuan". Zhaohui granted the "horse riding in the Forbidden City" in order to conquer the northwest Huibu military merit, etc. Retired civil servant Qian Chen In the thirty-sixth year of Qianlong's reign, Qun went to Beijing to celebrate the Empress Dowager's birthday and was specially ordered to ride a horse in the Forbidden City. It was regarded as an honor at that time. During the Jiaqing period, ministers over seventy were allowed to ride a small sedan in the Forbidden City. He learned about riding a "shoulder carriage" in the Forbidden City.
There is a record in "Xiaoting Xulu": It explains the general situation of the "Forbidden City Horse Riding" in the Qianlong and Jiajia Periods: "During the Qianlong period, the ministers were ordered to wait for leaks. Whenever there was wind and snow, they walked for several miles, which was very embarrassing. In order to show his honor and favor, he gave permission to all the cabinet ministers to enter the palace on horseback. To celebrate the occasion, we specially ordered ministers who are over seventy years old to be given carriages to enter the palace, especially Kuang Dian said.
As for entering the palace by sedan chair, during the Qianlong period, there were already special cases where ministers entered the palace by sedan chair. Because some ministers were old and frail, it was actually difficult to ride a horse. For example, Ertai, a great scholar during the Qianlong period, and Zhang Tingyu, who "cannot ride a horse because of his old age" "Ride", "I am allowed to ride in a sedan in the Forbidden City". In the ninth year of Jiaqing, when Wang Jie, a great scholar, entered the palace, he was already over eighty years old. He was specially allowed to enter the palace in a sedan and to enter the inner court with a cane, which was extremely special. of "grace".
So from this point of view, in the early Qing Dynasty, riding a horse or riding a sedan into the palace was also a very high courtesy. Only senior and virtuous ministers could enjoy this honor. In actual implementation, not all ministers who received the privilege of riding in the Forbidden City It is really riding a horse. Some people use a small shoulder cart instead, with a chair tied with lifting poles on both sides, and two people carry it into the palace. This kind of modification actually came into being during the Qianlong period.
This is actually a necessary modification: firstly, considering that if the horses are not controlled well, they are afraid of colliding with the palace guard of honor; secondly, many of the ministers who were actually awarded the "Forbidden City Horseback Riding" are very old. , some people have difficulty riding a horse, and some people cannot ride a horse at all.
It is said that in the fifty-fifth year of Qianlong's reign, Emperor Qianlong issued an edict specifically for this purpose, granting a special edict to those among the equestrian ministers in the Forbidden City who were old and foot-sick and found it difficult to mount a horse, "Gence, permission to ride on a chair, with a short piece of wood tied to the side," The two of them walked in harmony." Such an edict was praised by later generations as "especially a great example of caring for the elderly and respecting the virtuous."
Regarding this kind of small shoulder carriage walking in the palace, it is similar to the emperor's "walking carriage", but the chair is smaller and only carried by two people. It is consistent with the above material saying "two people usually use a small chair" The situation of "taking advantage of it" is still the same. This kind of tool for walking in the palace is usually only carried on the waist, not on the shoulders.
After Jiaqing, the scope of permission to ride horses and sedan chairs in the Forbidden City was gradually relaxed. In the tenth year of Jiaqing, the Forbidden City's equestrian ministers who were over seventy years old were allowed to ride with two people carrying small chairs. In the twenty-fourth year, the flag ministers were ordered to be sixty years old. Above, Han ministers who are over 60 years old and have been rewarded with court horses can ride into the court in a carriage and dismount at the place where they should dismount. Older officials can also ride in a sedan into the inner city. Later, some even sat in the Forbidden City. The situation of warm sedan chairs appeared. For example, during the Daoguang period, the seventy-seven-year-old bachelor Chang Ling, the eighty-year-old bachelor Cao Zhenyong, the eighty-six-year-old bachelor Fu Jun, etc. could all ride in warm sedan chairs in the Forbidden City. Warming out from the cold is also a special treatment given to elderly ministers.
Thinking of this, Gao Pingshi suddenly felt that he should find an opportunity to make a suggestion and see if there was any chance to win the privilege of entering the palace for the elderly civil servant.
Of course, when Gao Pragmatic suddenly had an idea, he couldn't just have nothing to do. He had his own considerations.
