Chapter 8 Chapter 3 Skyrocketing from a small eunuch to a chief executive

Entering the palace for the first time to learn art from a teacher The first thing for a young eunuch to enter the palace is to learn from a teacher, and the second is to recognize the flag.According to the rules, Li Lianying also had to worship a teacher. The master he worshiped was Liu Duosheng, the chief eunuch who was in charge of Yuxi in the three main halls. It is also an important juncture in life for the little eunuchs to learn from a teacher.The rules in the palace are strict, and there are many etiquettes. You must stand with a standing image and a standing posture, and you must not be sloppy.Such as salutation, kowtow, hello, hello, kneeling, pouring tea, serving water, setting meals, passing messages, and matters, etc., all have a set of strict procedures. Difference.

The rules in the palace are complicated and specific. Take the eunuch's reply and greetings as an example, they are very particular.The specific steps are: first take off the hat, put it on the right side of the body, keep the upper body straight, bend the head slightly, look directly at the knee joint of the master, and kneel down with the two legs in order of left and right, which is called double legs. install.For example, when the master celebrates the Longevity Festival or rewards two items of silver, he has to kneel three times and kowtow nine times, and sometimes touch the ground and make a sound called kowtow, which is a respect for people.For those who visit the master, if the grade is lower than the master, only the left leg is kneeling on the ground, the hat is not taken off, and the right hand is virtual ground to the ground. This is called single-leg security.Another example is when handing something to the host while kneeling, the object should be level with the center of the eyebrows, with both hands held in front of the body, and the body must lean slightly to the left.And the knowledge of answering will be great, please An said auspicious; after the master has finished the meal, he should say that he has done well; Concubine expresses understanding, and it is absolutely forbidden to use vulgar and contemptuous words such as um, ah, etc.

Then there is the waiter.The Chinese have always paid attention to respecting their elders and masters, and thus built a feudal social system with strict hierarchy.In front of the apprentice, the master is a high-ranking figure.As an apprentice, in the morning, you have to wash the face, put on clothes, fold the quilt, and empty the urinal for the master. In the evening, you have to take the urinal, spread the quilt, and wash your feet. daily life such as smoking.If you do not serve well, you will be scolded, beaten, punished to stand, kneel, etc. The hierarchy in the palace is strict, and even the group of eunuchs is also hierarchical.Compared with the Ming Dynasty, the number of eunuchs in the Qing Dynasty has been relatively reduced, but with the spread of the ease of the palace, the required manpower is gradually increasing.In the Xianfeng period, there were still more than 60 palace supervisors and more than 1,000 eunuchs.There is a government office in charge of internal affairs to lead its affairs.There is one person in charge, with great power, who manages all the eunuchs in more than 60 places in the palace.The emperor, empress, and each palace have chief managers, as well as chiefs, affairs, and eunuchs.As the saying goes, the first level of the government crushes people to death, and the first level suppresses the first level. No one will take a young eunuch who has just entered the palace in their eyes, and it is commonplace to be called around.It is even more common to be beaten and scolded by the emperor and concubine in the palace, and the prince, Fujin, and side Fujin in the deep mansion.

In short, there is always an endless amount of kowtows and incense burners for each god and one incense burner.Therefore, many eunuchs in the palace fled privately because they could not bear the heavy oppression and hard work.Once the escape is successful, it is considered to have escaped from the kang.And those eunuchs who were arrested, if they were first-time offenders, could not help but be punished first with a stick, and if they were in good health, they would be able to withstand it and leave one life; face, in order to achieve the effect of killing chickens and scaring monkeys.According to records, only in the one-year period from December 23 (1897) to December 24 (1898) of Guangxu, there were 110 eunuchs who escaped from the palace. Nineteen.After the eunuch escapes, his eunuch in charge will report it in time.Here is a report on the escape of the eunuch:

Maoqin Palace Zhou Dexin News: Su Wenzhi, the eunuch of our office, is eighteen years old and a citizen of Wanping County. On May × day, I asked for leave to shave my head until late at night, so I sent people to search everywhere, but there was no trace. It was the first time I escaped, and I found a lot of official property and private property. Wearing a tasseled cap, a blue cloth gown, a green cloth coat, and blue cloth boots, he is under the management of the Seven Families of the Zhenghuang Banner. After Li Lianying entered the palace, she stayed in Cixi's bedroom (that is, Chuxiu Palace) as an errand.In order to win people's hearts and cultivate cronies, Cixi asked Li Lianying to worship under her.Cixi was a member of Xianghuang Banner, so Li Lianying recognized Xianghuang Banner, which meant that she was a member of Cixi's family.Although Li Lianying's master is Liu Duosheng, he has been learning from Cixi's proud eunuch An Dehai.It can be said that Li Lianying was favored by Cixi as soon as she entered the palace, which is very rare for a low-level eunuch who has just entered the palace.