Eunuchs who traveled through the Qing Dynasty

"Little Sanzi is born with eyes! The empress turned out to be a phoenix!"

"Little Sanzi's magic power is boundless, he can enlighten the queen and become a fairy!"

……

Similar gossip spread in the palace at an unprecedented speed, and soon there were N different versions, so that when Xiao Ran returned to Kunning Palace, the eunuchs and court ladies surrounded him like stars and asked what he was doing. If you ask that, it's almost like worshiping.Of course, everyone also heard that he was promoted to be the chief eunuch, and official uniforms had to be tailored, so he couldn't wear them now, but the badge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was issued first.

"You...you became the chief eunuch? You really became the chief eunuch?" Baolu looked at the waist badge over and over again, rubbing it over and over again, and couldn't believe it no matter what.You have to know which leader in the palace didn't survive for ten or eight years. He is only 16 years old, but he is the youngest leader and eunuch ever in the palace!

Impossible, this guy was just a eunuch in the first afternoon, but in the blink of an eye, how could he be promoted to the third level and become an eighth-rank leader eunuch wearing a crown and mending clothes?Could it be that the purlins in the previous room were smashed and changed their luck?Thinking of this, Xiao Baozi couldn't help touching the back of his head, thinking that in the future, if someone throws a pot, pot, bench, flower pot or something, I will be the first to rush up.

"Today, someone is entertaining guests at Chunqiu Building. Let's go, my brother will take you to the opening." Xiao Ran patted him on the shoulder.The eunuch's food was really bad, since Hong Wenli was going to treat guests, he might as well call someone to play Qiufeng.Unexpectedly, when Baolu heard the words "Chunqiu Building", it was as if struck by lightning and he would not move. It took him a long time before he stammered: "You, you are talking about the Spring and Spring Buildings in Beijing? I Darling girl, do you know that, that is a place only senior officials above the fourth rank can go to, moreover, only rich masters can afford it!"

Xiao Ran was also a little surprised, he didn't expect Chunqiu Building to be such a place, Hong Wenli really gave him face.As soon as he was promoted to the fourth rank, he went to the Spring and Autumn Tower to treat guests. He felt that he, the chief eunuch, had a lot to say.

When I think about it, I still have to eat food, if I don’t eat for nothing, I won’t eat it.According to the law of the Qing Dynasty, eunuchs were not allowed to leave the palace casually, but those above the leader level all had waist badges. As long as they were not on duty, this was a pass to enter and leave the palace.Xiao Ran was still wearing a gray eunuch uniform. When he arrived at the Shenwu Gate, a big guard walked up, squinted, and stretched out his hand to push him back: "Go back! The eunuch wants to leave the palace, too. Do you know the rules?"

Before Xiao Ran had an attack, Bao Lu jumped up and slapped the guard on the face: "Bold slave, do you know who you are talking to? This is the eunuch Xiao Gonggong, the leader of Kunning Palace, you bastard!" Impatient?"

The eunuchs are often bullied by the guards on weekdays, but today, with Xiao Ran's support, they just got a chance to take revenge.Baolu is short in stature, but his body is extremely nimble, and when he jumps up, he slaps his ears quickly and loudly.Guarding the Shenwu Gate is the guard camp pro-military academy, who is from the eighth rank, not even as good as the guards of Lanling. Although Xiao Ran is only the eighth rank, but the eunuch, the leader of Kunning Palace, even the third rank imperial guards have to give face, not to mention Just a military academy?

The military academy was slapped and was about to explode, but after hearing the words behind it, it lost its temper immediately.After looking at Xiao Ran for a long time, no matter how you look at it, he is just a small eunuch, not like a leader?Xiao Ran took off his waist badge, threw it on the ground with a snap, and sneered with his hands behind his back.Picking up the military academy in his hand, he took a look at it, and his brow was sweating immediately, he held it in his hands and returned it to Xiao Ran nodding and bowing.

"Damn the lowly job! You are the adult, don't remember the fault of the villain!"

Baolu took a deep breath, and said: "A dog's eyes look at things that are inferior to people, and its buttocks are up to the sky. It has eyes but no eyes!"

As soon as he left the Shenwu Gate, he left the palace, and Baolu led him to the Spring and Autumn Tower.Along the way, he babbled a lot to Xiao Ran, roughly speaking, how the chief eunuchs in the palace have power and status, who needs to be cured, and who should not be taken seriously.According to what he said, those below the fifth rank can be ignored. This surprised Xiao Ran and he couldn't help sighing secretly: Eunuchs can be so awesome, no wonder there are so many people who don't even become men and come to become eunuchs !From this point of view, it is not worth making a fuss that An Dehai and Li Lianying in history were able to manipulate the harem and even influence political affairs.

Chunqiu Building is really unusual, just looking at the grandeur of the front door is enough to discourage most people.And the rules of the people are also good, Beijing officials who are not above the fourth rank, don't even want to come in.Xiao Ran and the two of them just walked in in gray eunuch uniforms, which really surprised the doorman, and thought it was really weird, how could such two things come from in broad daylight, so bold!He picked up the fork and was about to blast out, there was already a green-topped official trotting to meet him, bowing his hands very courteously.The person who opened the door really opened his eyes this time. For the first time in so many years, he saw a fourth-rank official greet the two young eunuchs respectfully at the door.

Xiao Ran hastily returned the gift, Hong Wenli grabbed his hand and said affectionately: "Brother Xiao, you don't have to be polite, we are one of our own, why bother to see outsiders." It turned out that the eunuch's rule is not to call you father-in-law when you leave the palace, but to call everyone a lord.It's just that Xiao Ran is too young, so he had no choice but to call him brother.

There were still several officials standing in the door, and they all came out at this moment. Hong Wenli introduced them one by one: one is Zhan Shixunjing, the young man of Zhan Shifu, the other is Jijiu Lan Qingzhuo of the Imperial College, and the supervisor of Qintianjian Hou Caozhi chiseled, and the remaining two were petty officials, who thought they were here to accompany them.One of Xun Jing and Lan Qingzhuo is the fourth rank, and the other is the fourth rank. Cao Yan was promoted to the Hanlin Academy for review, and the other is the seventh rank.

After entering the restaurant, they came to a private room on the second floor, and everyone asked Xiao Ran to sit at the table.Hong Wenli said: "There is another Mr. Dai Tong, Mr. Dai, who didn't come for some reason, so we won't wait for him." Then Xiao Ran remembered that Dai Tong was also the Marquis of the Qintian Supervisor, and they both rewarded the Hanlin Academy for review, and said in his heart: He is not active in flattering, no wonder this guy is only a small official.

He ordered to go down to the banquet, and after a while, the wine and dishes came up one after another.Shixiang elbow, eight-treasure tenderloin, snow nest rock candy carp, old drunken fat duck, the fragrance is overflowing.When Xiao Ran Baolu saw it, his eyes lit up, he didn't care about the rules, he threw away his cheeks and just gave a shit.These two guys looked like big girls, and they tasted like hungry dogs that hadn't been fed for a few days. Hong Wenli and his gang looked at each other in blank dismay, and they didn't know what to say while holding a cup.For a moment, I saw two pairs of chopsticks flying up and down, galloping vertically and horizontally. Baolu was especially lacking. He reached out to pick up his elbow and gnawed, dripping the vegetable juice on his clothes, and angrily, Xiao Ran kicked him hard under the table : What a fucking embarrassment to me.

It wasn't until the two of them hugged their bellies that they felt disgusted, and everyone remembered what was important and didn't say a word. Immediately, Hong Wenli said: "Brother Xiao has become the leader of Kunning Palace at such a young age. He is really young and promising. There is no limit to the future! Let's collect some members according to the rules, give a small gift, and express our love, and hope that my brother will not refuse!" As he spoke, he took a stack of envelopes with everyone's names written on them.Xiao Ran made a haha, thinking that it's no wonder I declined!Without stretching out his hand, he said: "My lords are too polite! The youngest son, how can He De, he is only an eunuch, and he is really lucky to be called a brother by everyone! This congratulatory gift or something is to kill the youngest son." Already!"

Father-in-law generally taboos the word eunuch, Xiao Ran is a fake eunuch, so he said it without thinking, and everyone was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to explain it.Xiao Ran hastily kicked Baolu, this fellow was also a clever master, reached out to take the envelope, covered it with his sleeve, and secretly took out one from under the table.Surprisingly, it was a bank note issued by Fortune Bank, with neatly written on it: 500 taels of silver!

Xiao Ran glanced sideways, his heart beat faster, his hands trembled, and he almost knocked over the cup.Hey, one piece is 500 taels, such a stack, at least two or 3000 taels, right?At that time, the monthly rate of concubines in the harem was only a dozen or twenty taels, and the living expenses of a small family at that time were only three to five taels a year.Such a few thousand taels of silver are so easy to get, and we became rich overnight, a rich man!

Xun Jing of Zhan Shifu patted his chest and said: "You are welcome, brother Xiao. We should reciprocate courtesy and courtesy. But I have to use my elder brother as much as I can. Old Xun has nothing to say!"

Everyone was echoing, when suddenly the waiter ran in panting, and said, "Masters, there is an old man walking down the street downstairs, he is very well dressed, he is trying to force his way in, he must say that he is here for you." Drinker. I'm arguing with the door right now, do you want to take a look?"

Xun Jing and Hong Wenli looked at each other, sighed and said, "Oh, needless to say, old man Dai Tongdai is here!"

Of course Xiao Ran didn't know who this old man Dai was.But looking at everyone's expressions, I was a little curious, and followed everyone downstairs.Before I got off the Hu ladder, I heard a broken voice yelling there: "What's the matter, isn't the master here to drink? Dog's eyes see people as inferior! If Hong Er Er hadn't invited me, who would want to come! Go find out soon! Yes, I have annoyed the Lord, and set your Laoshizi Chunqiu building on fire!"

Looking down with the probe, Xiao Ran almost laughed out loud.No wonder people don't let them in, it's because the old man's clothes are too different.He was dressed in a long blue cloth robe that hadn't been washed for several months. It was almost black with oil stains and a patch on the shoulder; exposed.No wonder the waiter said he was an old man on the street, with this attire, if he hadn't been worried about Hong Wenli and others, he would have been beaten out with a random stick.

"Stop!" Xun Jing spoke first, knocking back two disciples.With his hands behind his back, he hummed a few words from his nose: "Master Dai, do you have to dress like this every day? It's a good thing you don't wear a hat, otherwise, you will completely lose the face of our officials in the Qing Dynasty !"

"Master Xun!" Dai Tong cupped his hands slightly, and said, "Old Dai's family is poor, and he can't afford good robes. Unlike you, Mr. Xun, your concubine married seven or eight families, and they are all good at supporting the family. Of course, you wear them." Brightened up!"

In total, Xun Jing begged for seven concubines and wives, but six of them were redeemed from brothels.Dai Tong's words sounded like he had eaten manure.Xun Jingqi's face turned green, "You, you..." After trembling for a long time but unable to utter a word, Hong Wenli hurried over to smooth things over: "Forget it, since we're here, let's go upstairs and have a drink first! "

The people went into the private room again and took their seats respectively. The old man Dai was still stuck in his neck, seven of them were not convinced and eight were not.Xiao Ran could tell at a glance that the old man's temper was stinky and tough, but he didn't expect that this guy was a raw rice eater, even a fourth-rank officer dared to stand up to him, no wonder he was a ninth-rank prison guard with a lot of beards, Can't help shaking his head and smiling.Dai Tong looked at Xiao Ran, looked up and down, and said in a rough voice: "You are Xiao Ran? I heard that you saw the divine bird, hehe, Lao Dai really admires it! I also watched the sky yesterday. What about the northward shifting of the gang star and the movement of the white tiger star? Tomorrow, I will write an excerpt, but Lao Dai will write whatever he sees, so don’t be surprised by the rest of you!”

Xiao Ran really didn't even have the heart to be angry, he thought that this old man was really a deadhead.Look at Xianfeng's posture today, no one would believe Dai Tong even if he told the truth, why is there such a person in this world who twists his thigh with his arm?Hong Wenli quickly changed his face, and said in a deep voice: "Lao Dai, you are not authentic. Everyone has a share in the emperor's reward. Why can't you be the only one to lose? Brother Xiao was promoted to the leader, in the busy schedule Let's get together, why don't you come to congratulate, and say these things that have no shadow!"

Xiao Ran waved his hands and said with a smile: "It's okay, Mr. Dai seems to be a straightforward person, and he speaks straightforwardly! Since we're here, how about having a drink together?"

Dai Tong snorted, put the bag on the table, and said: "Eunuch Xiao is promoted, this is for congratulations. Old Dai's family is poor, so don't take it for granted that he can't get anything to hand. If you think it's too light, just throw it out through the window. As for drinking," he turned his head and glanced at everyone, "I'm afraid we can't get on the road, so excuse me!"Looking at the things on the table again, I couldn't laugh or cry. It turned out to be a bag of apples.

Xun Jing was so angry that he was trembling all over, and he really wanted to throw his bag out.Xiao Ran hurriedly said: "Don't, this apple is big and red, it's really good!"

Everyone exploded and cursed Dai Tong one after another.Hong Wenli said: "What are you talking about this old man? The whole latrine is made of stones, which are smelly and hard! Brother Xiao, don't be surprised if you spoil your drinking!"

Xiao Ran didn't take it seriously at all, and said with a smile: "It's nothing. This old man Dai is really special."

Guozijian Lan Jijiu smiled bitterly and said: "This old Dai's family is really a weasel cub, one generation is not as good as one generation. His ancestors had such a bad temper, otherwise they wouldn't have sent Lord Kangxi to exile in Shengjing. There must be six or seven generations by now, but the result is still this temper, feelings are brought from the womb, and cannot be changed!"

Xiao Ran also asked casually: "Oh? I don't know the name of this ancestor of the Dai family?"

"Hey, isn't it Dai Zi Dai Hanlin, the attendant of the Imperial Academy back then!"

"Dai Zi?!" Xiao Ran was taken aback, "You mean, that firearms expert, Dai Zi who created the 'Sky Cannon' in eight days?"

Xiao Ran is not very interested in history, but he is a standard military enthusiast.Speaking of this Dai Zi, I couldn't be more familiar with it.He is a native of Qiantang, Zhejiang. He calls himself the Old Man Gengyan, and is known as the greatest firearms expert in the Qing Dynasty. He has made many kinds of firearms.Among them, the most famous one is the "Lianzhu Gun", also known as "Lianzhu Firebolt", which can continuously fire 28 rounds of lead bullets at a time, which is extremely powerful. The mechanism design of "Lianzhu Gun" is very ingenious, and the two steps of firing and loading projectiles can be carried out simultaneously, thus simplifying the loading procedure and greatly increasing the firing speed.It was a remarkable invention at the time, far ahead of firearms in Western countries.Because its principle is similar to modern machine guns, some people call it "the first machine gun in the world".And in terms of time, it is 200 years ahead of Western countries!

In addition, Dai Zi also imitated the Dutch "pangut shotgun" and the Belgian "Sky Cannon" (also known as "Sub-Mother Cannon").However, the Manchu Qing court foolishly believed that "riding and archery is the foundation of Manchuria", and exiled Dai Zi to Shengjing (now Shenyang).There, Dai Zi lived with difficulty for more than 30 years, and was forced to sell calligraphy and paintings for a living. "I used to sleep on the cold kang with cotton wool at night, and walked into the mountains to pick up hazelnuts on ice in the early morning to cure hunger."Dai Zi was not pardoned by the emperor until he was 77 years old, and died suddenly due to poverty and illness soon after.

According to history books, after Dai Zi died, the continuous firearm he invented did not become a weapon equipped on a large scale by the Qing army, but could only be "hidden at home", and gradually disappeared after the Qianlong Dynasty. Hou Daitong, the chief inspector of Qin Tianjian, turned out to be his descendant!Xiao Ran couldn't even describe his current mood, he was both surprised and excited, maybe there was something else, it was very complicated anyway.Hong Wenli and the others chattered and said something else, but he didn't listen to a word, but secretly pulled Lan Qingzhuo and asked Dai Tong's family to live in Tianshuijing Hutong.After a while, Xiao Ran excused that the queen's master had orders, and took Baolu to leave in a hurry, and he didn't forget to take the bag of apples with him before leaving.

After leaving Chunqiu Building, the two of them inquired all the way to Tianshuijing Hutong.This Dai Tong is really a character. When he said that he wanted to find that old man Dai who was an official in the imperial court with ragged clothes, everyone in the street knew about it.When he arrived at the door, Baolu knocked on it, and an elderly servant came out, Xiao Ran didn't say anything else, he just handed over the bag of apples, asking to see Mr. Dai for a while.The family member went in for a long time, then slowly folded out, this time he only opened the door a crack, and said coldly: "My master doesn't bother to associate with eunuchs!"

Baolu was furious immediately, and opened the door to reward the old man with his big mouth, but Xiao Ran quickly stopped him.After thinking about it for a while, I asked for a pen and paper in the concierge, and wrote these big characters: Rifle line, long projectile, breech loading.Xiao Ran handed the paper to the old man, and said: "Leave it to your master." Then he took Baolu to sit on the steps in front of the door, and said: "Don't worry, it won't take a while, then old man Dai will definitely come to invite us .”

The old man Ding was not willing to believe this, shook his head and sneered and went.Baolu asked strangely: "What are you writing? This old bastard is as stubborn as a donkey, can he really invite us?"

Xiao Ran laughed, and said: "I said yes, then I will." Patted him on the shoulder and said: "Hey, don't talk about this, I don't know how many taels of silver we got today! Quickly count it!"

The two nouveau riche sat on the steps, shaking out the stack of bank notes.After counting off their toes for a long time, both of them were taken aback: a total of 400 taels!Baolu's eyeballs were straightened, and he kept saying, "Why don't we exchange the bank notes first, pile them up and count them, and then deposit them back? My mother is good, I have never seen them in my life. So much silver!"

Xiao Ran was also very surprised that Guang Hong Wenli gave away 1000 taels by himself!He didn't know that this was the result of his ripping off.But after doing this, he felt that he had his pulse. It seemed that the eunuch, the chief of Kunning Palace, was really a bit oily.

The two were drooling over a stack of bank notes when the door opened suddenly. The old man gave Xiao Ran a strange look, and bowed respectfully: "Master Xiao, my master is here to invite you!"

Old man Dai's house is not very big, but it is not in general chaos.There are scraps of copper and iron piled up everywhere, as well as rusty pillows, operating beds, and even abandoned blacksmith stoves. It looks like a scrap yard.Xiao Ran roughly guessed that the old man's clothes were so shabby, maybe it was really because of his poor family.Think about it, a ninth-rank official’s annual salary is only more than 30 taels, and Beijing officials usually receive double salaries, and every regular salary is one tael and rice and one dendrobium. Calculated by miscellaneous things, 100 taels is already the sky. .One can imagine how hard it is to invent firearms with this little money.Just looking at the piles of junk in the yard, which one doesn't cost money? More than 100 taels may not be able to.The old man must have spent all his money on the invention of firearms. From this point of view, it is already very good for the old Dai family not to drink the Northwest Wind.

When he saw Dai Tong, the old man was sitting among a pile of rags in a daze.While looking at the piece of paper that Xiao Ran wrote to him, he pulled his beard vigorously.Xiao Ran bowed respectfully, and said, "Xiao Ran has seen Lord Dai!"

The old man didn't turn back, and said in a buzzing voice: "Rifles, do you know rifles?"

"The so-called 'rifle' is the transliteration of the foreign word 'rifle', that is, 'rifling'. More than 200 years ago, Westerners discovered that engraving grooves in the barrel of a gun can not only improve the precision of the gun, but also increase the Range, so this rifled gun is called a 'rifle'. It's just that the reload speed of this rifled rifle is too slow, so it has not been widely used."

"En, en, keep talking!" Dai Tong jumped up suddenly, looked at Xiao Ran, his eyes lit up, "Dai He, go, tell Mrs. Liu to quarrel over two dishes, and to entertain guests tonight!"

Ding Daihe from his hometown agreed to go, Baolu opened his mouth wide and looked up at Xiao Ran adoringly, his eyes were full of stars.

"If we can improve this loading method and change from front-loading to breech-loading, it will effectively solve the above problems. The usual matchlock guns and flint guns-oh, this is my opinion on the current use of matchlocks and guns. The abbreviation of the two types of guns fired by flint, the current musket is fired by these two methods. If it is improved, the firing pin is used instead of the flint, and the gunpowder is ignited by the impact method. chamber to load projectiles and ammunition?"

"The firing pin fires, you mean the impact..." The old man was overly excited, his eyebrows and beard trembled, and his face turned red with blood, "Dai He, Dai He! Tell Aunt Liu to borrow a chicken from the Zhang family to stew it , make two more jugs of wine!... No, make seven jugs and eight jugs, the master will get drunk to the fullest today!"