Chapter 22 Chapter 5: Doomsday Dusk, Yellow Beam, A Dream Returns to Dust

The oriole's post is rewarded Since Cixi returned to Beijing, her personality has also changed. In addition to often receiving the wives of foreign ambassadors to China, she has become more greedy in searching for gold, silver and jewelry.Because she felt that the Eight-Power Allied Forces had robbed her of many of her treasures, she wanted to search vigorously to compensate for her losses.As for what kind of suffering the common people suffered, Cixi never thought about it. Li Lianying has collected a lot of gold, silver and jewels in the palace for so many years.Before fleeing, all the gold, silver and jewels could not be taken away in a hurry, and most of them were buried.Unexpectedly, an eunuch who helped him bury his jewels leaked the secret to foreigners in order to save his life, and most of Li Lianying's belongings were taken away by foreigners.Although Li Lianying looked down on ordinary belongings, but after returning to Beijing to see so many things lost, she was still very distressed.So, he tried every means to find out the eunuch who leaked the secret, and asked Cixi to sentence him to death.Cixi also lost a lot of treasures and couldn't find them. Now a scapegoat happened to come, and she got angry, and immediately approved the execution. After returning to Beijing, Li Lianying's first thought was to kill to vent her anger.

As life gradually settled down, and Cixi collected a large number of treasures again after returning to Beijing, her mood gradually improved.One day, Cixi and Li Lianying were looking at her treasured jewels together. After looking at ten boxes, she suddenly thought of the rare treasures she had lost, and she couldn't help sighing.Li Lianying hurriedly comforted Cixi not to regret those lost things, and said that China has a vast land and rich resources, coupled with the filial piety of local officials, foreigners often come to pay tribute, and they will definitely get more rare objects in the future.After Li Lianying's persuasion, Cixi turned her worries into joy.

Suddenly, the eunuch in charge of the performance office staggered in and knelt out of breath to report that Rong Zhongtang was vacant.Cixi, who was still admiring the treasure, didn't react for a while, and asked again, and then she was sure that Rongzhongtang was vacant, and Cixi was stunned. What is a vacancy?It turns out that in the Ming and Qing dynasties, there were two kinds of vacancies for officials, and opening vacancies.A vacancy generally refers to the death of the official himself, or Ding worry because of the death of his parents (that is, leaving the post and returning home, which generally requires three years of filial piety).

Now the head of the performance office said that Rong Zhongtang was vacant, indicating that Rong Lu was dead, and the reason why Cixi had such a big reaction was because Rong Lu had a special relationship with Cixi, and she did not want Rong Lu to die.When she confirmed that Ronglu was really dead, she was still stunned. She even said that she was fine yesterday, and she would be gone if she didn't say anything. After she said that Ronglu, there was no one in the court who was as loyal to her as he was.After she finished speaking, she seemed to have a bone stuck in her throat, and she couldn't speak any more, her eyes were red, and she burst into tears.

Ronglu and Cixi have a special relationship. What is this relationship?It turned out that they were cousins, and before Cixi entered the palace, the two had already engaged. Unfortunately, after Cixi entered the palace, Rong Lu had to withdraw from her marriage, but after all, the two had a similar heart, so they have always had a good relationship . Ronglu tried his best to protect Cixi both politically and peacetime.After the death of Emperor Xianfeng, Sushun and Zaiyuan wanted to murder Cixi, but fortunately Ronglu stepped forward and tried his best to protect Cixi, so Cixi escaped.In addition, Wang Zaiyi of the Gengzi year advocated using Boxers to fight against foreigners, but Rong Lu did not agree, and the imperial court finally did not adopt Rong Lu's opinion.As a result, Cixi was forced to flee to Xi'an.Cixi later regretted it a lot. If she had listened to Ronglu's words at that time, she would not have fled in such a embarrassment.

It is precisely because of this relationship between Ronglu and Cixi that Li Lianying only said good things about Ronglu in front of Cixi, and never said bad things, so as not to make Cixi unhappy. Now that Ronglu is dead, of course Li Lianying wants to comfort Cixi.He advised Cixi to take care of her body first, then praised Ronglu's loyalty and achievements, and then praised Cixi's generous kindness to Ronglu, which is worthy of him, and finally said: If he can't be resurrected, Lafayette still needs to reduce his sorrow, and just pay more care for him behind him.Cixi nodded sadly.

In the early morning of the next day, Cixi announced to the princes and ministers: Ronglu is loyal all his life, and he will do his best especially when Gengzi is in chaos.Unfortunately, he died of illness now, so it is better to pay special attention.Now I bestow upon Qidara Sutra and quilt, and reward five thousand taels of silver for mourning.In addition, he was allowed to enter the Xianliang Temple, and Prince Gong Puwei was sent to offer sacrifices.This kind of standard has exceeded the courtesy of ordinary princes and ministers, but the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty also knew the relationship between Cixi and Ronglu, and they knew each other tacitly.

In addition, the Ministry of Rites also drafted several posthumous posthumous laws, and Cixi finally selected the word Wenzhong.He also gave a table for sacrificial banquets, and ordered Ronglu's life story to be published in the National History Museum.All the punishments he was given in office will be rescinded, and his son will be rewarded with honors to succeed in his post.Looking at the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty, who else can have such treatment?The reason why Cixi did this was because she missed the benefits of Ronglu in her heart, and secondly, Li Lianying did what she liked and said a lot of good things about Ronglu in front of the Empress Dowager Cixi.

No matter how much Ronglu made Cixi feel sorry, after all, life had to go on, and with Cixi having Li Lianying as a company, naturally she gradually forgot about Ronglu.One of the reasons why a person forgets things easily is that he is old, and so is Cixi.Others don't say it, and I dare not say it, but she can feel it herself. She is almost seventy years old, and she doesn't have much energy to deal with government affairs and military affairs. She also let them fight the war, as long as it doesn't come to Beijing. Accompanied by Li Lianying, the passive and lazy Cixi played cards with concubines, maids, and eunuchs to pass the time every day, or called a few Liyuan children to sing operas to pass the time.During this period, she got to know Zhang Lande, known as Xiao De Zhang.

Xiao Dezhang knows everything about gambling, no matter what kind of cards, Tian Gow, Pai Gow, mahjong cards, betting, and making treasures, he is very familiar with it.Among them, he is especially good at making treasures.Before he was appreciated by Cixi, he was the eunuch next to the queen. Xiao Dezhang just didn't work hard on calligraphy and reading, and he is no worse than Li Lianying in other things. In particular, he is smarter and smarter, and his conversation is very humorous. He often makes people around him laugh. Cixi and the Queen's favorite. Xiao Dezhang is also a very caring person. The reason why Li Lianying can be so powerful and say one thing in front of the Empress Dowager Cixi is also a question he is very interested in. He is determined to copy Li Lianying's road to success.So, he deliberately tried to figure out Li Lianying's every word and deed, and he didn't even let go of a small gesture.Not only did he deliberately imitate his appearance and behavior, but he also speculated on his psychology, so many actions and speeches were similar to Li Lianying.Doing this not only made Li Lianying happy, but Cixi also praised him for being well-behaved.

One year during the Spring Festival, the usual seriousness in the imperial palace was also lost. Many concubines and eunuchs would gamble and play, and Cixi also knew how to place bets. It so happened that one day Xiaode Zhang set up the villa, and Cixi, the emperor, and concubines were all betting on the treasure, and everyone else had already placed their bets. Only Cixi closed her eyes and thought of a way to find the treasure.At this time, Xiao De Zhang was so proud that he yelled loudly: "Open, open!"Bet fast! When Xiao De Zhang yelled like this, the Empress Dowager Cixi couldn't concentrate on thinking, and was very annoyed, and she was about to question him.Xiaode Zhang knew that he had encountered a catastrophe, so he quickly knelt down and explained that it was taught to him by Shanxi alternate Taoist Xu Ziming.He said that as long as you shout loudly when betting, the bettors will panic and place bets anyway, so that the guess will be inaccurate, and the dealer will have a chance to win money. Li Lianying also often received benefits from Xiao Dezhang, so she quickly stood up to help him.Seeing that Xiao Dezhang had such a unique skill, Cixi also wanted to take the opportunity to let him earn money for herself, so she asked him to sit in the manor for herself in the future, and Xiao Dezhang quickly kowtowed to thank him. With Cixi's words, Xiao Dezhang even more blatantly used the banner of Cixi to gamble in various palaces and princes' mansions.And Cixi would receive a considerable amount of silver from him every few days, and Cixi was also happy to collect the silver, so she turned a blind eye to it.In addition, Xiao Dezhang also gave some to Li Lianying and the queen from time to time, but anyway, most of them were kept for himself. In addition to gambling, another hobby of Cixi is watching operas.At that time, a large number of famous actors had appeared in Peking Opera, such as Chen Delin, Tian Guafeng, Wang Yaoqing, Wang Fengqing, Mei Lanfang, Yang Xiaolou, Tan Xinpei, Yu Shuyan, Hou Junshan, Wang Changlin, etc., as well as the Shengping Department (namely Nanfu Opera Troupe).Of course, the most famous ones are Tan Xinpei and Yang Xiaolou. Tan Xinpei sings old students, and Yang Xiaolou sings martial arts students. In order to please Cixi, Li Lianying often thinks of new tricks to make Cixi happy and consolidate her position in her mind.Cixi has always been superstitious about gods and Buddhas. She always burns incense and worships Buddhas regularly. In her later years, she even prays for the protection of gods so that she can prolong her life and live forever.Of course, Li Lianying would not let Cixi's move go, so she tried her best to satisfy Cixi's requirements and desires. Once, Li Lianying saw a fortune-teller on the street who cheated him of money with orioles.Li Lianying had an idea and wanted to use this trick to please Cixi.Therefore, he asked the little eunuch to call this person home, gave the person a lot of money, studied and mastered the method of the oriole holding the post, and spent money to buy the oriole. In late spring and early summer, Beijing is full of bright spring, pleasant scenery, lush vegetation, and a vibrant color.Empress Dowager Cixi always spends her time at the Summer Palace during this season. One day, the Empress Dowager Cixi came out from the Buddhist Incense Pavilion.Li Lianying deliberately and mysteriously told the Empress Dowager Cixi that she had recently bought a squirrel, which not only has a beautiful cry, but also has a very human nature.What's even more amazing is that it can also do divination and fortune-telling, which is very effective. After hearing this, Cixi, who was in a good mood, felt that there were many birds with clear and crisp singing, but she had never seen one that could do fortune-telling, and said that she wanted to let it count. Li Lianying reached out to open the small door of the birdcage, and the little squirrel jumped out immediately, bounced around on the ground a few times, and chirped for a while. Li Lianying then put the hexagrams in her hand on the ground one by one.The front of the hexagram post is written with auspicious words, such as endless life, a hundred birds facing the phoenix, a bumper harvest, peace in the world, a prosperous life, a full spring, etc. There are also astrological signs on the top, but the side with patterns and characters is on the bottom, and the top is on the top. Both sides are painted the same beige. After all this was arranged, Li Lianying asked the Empress Dowager Cixi to make an order for fortune-telling, and the Empress Dowager Cixi asked the oriole to calculate her zodiac sign first.Li Lianying then made a gesture in a calm manner, and the little oriole hopped and yelled around the hexagram post, and finally took out one with its mouth.Li Lianying took it and handed it to Cixi.Cixi turned it over and saw that it was indeed her zodiac sheep, with the word Wei Nian. Seeing that the oriole had guessed correctly, Cixi was very happy, but she was not very sure, so she let it count as this year's harvest.Li Lianying did the same, and made another gesture, and the little oriole picked up another hexagram post, and Li Lianying took it and presented it to the Empress Dowager Cixi.Cixi took it over and looked at it, only to see that it said there was a good harvest, and she was immediately happy.Li Lianying also took the opportunity to greet her and said: "The emperor's grace is mighty, the people are universally bathed, the grain is plentiful, and the world is prosperous. These are the blessings that Lafayette brought to people." Cixi saw that the little oriole was really effective, and her interest greatly increased. She wanted to continue to try what this little oriole could do, and said to Li Lianying that if the little oriole was right again this time, she would reward Li Lianying heavily. Cixi wanted to embarrass Li Lianying this time, so she asked to count her own lifespan.Li Lianying pretended to be mysterious, and expressed her embarrassment, while silently thinking that the little oriole must be right, otherwise she would be punished.He gestured to the little squirrel, who looked at it, jumped up a few times, and quickly pulled out a hexagram post.Li Lianying took it and handed it to Cixi. Cixi was also a little apprehensive, after all, the little squirrel is not a human being, so she doesn't know the stakes.However, when she opened it, it was written on it that she wished for a long life without bounds!Cixi was in a good mood because of this, and rewarded Li Lianying a sum of money heavily.