If you travel abroad and go to the local Chinatown to taste Chinese food, you will find that the most popular Chinese dishes for foreigners are not boiled fish, nor chili stir-fried meat, and have nothing to do with braised pork, but the two dishes of Kung Pao Chicken and Zuo Zongtang Chicken. Speaking of which, these two dishes are also related to the two famous ministers of the late Qing Dynasty, did you not think of it?
Unlike Zuo Zongtang chicken, which only touched the name of Zuo Zongtang, Gongbao Chicken Ding this dish was really created by Ding Baozhen, a famous minister of the late Qing Dynasty, and the word "Gongbao" specifically refers to Ding Baozhen's title of Prince Taibao. Ding Baozhen was originally the Inspector of Shandong, the place in Shandong, the birthplace of Lu Cuisine.
Ding Baozhen was ostensibly an official, but in fact he had a heart that wanted to be a cook, and he especially liked to eat the "sauce fried chicken" in Lu cuisine at that time, not only liked to eat it, but also improved it to spicy stir-fry. Later, Ding Baozhen went to Sichuan as the governor, and once again improved this sauce to fry chicken cubes, and fried chicken cubes, red peppers, and peanuts and rice into today's Kung Pao chicken cubes.
However, this Gongbao Jiding also had an indirect relationship with another person, because he contributed to Ding Baozhen's promotion from Inspector of Shandong to Governor of Sichuan, and this person was Cixi's confidant An Dehai, but An Dehai used his own life to complete Ding Baozhen. Speaking of the eunuch who was most favored by Cixi, it is estimated that everyone will think of Li Lianying, but before Li Lianying, the most powerful and most trusted eunuch was the eunuch chief An Dehai.
In 1869, on the eve of the marriage of the Tongzhi Emperor, An Dehai, although he was favored again, was finally only 26 years old, so he begged Cixi to take this opportunity to let himself go out to play. Cixi also hurt him and sent him to Jiangnan to buy dragon robes and other wedding items, in fact, to let him go out to play and collect money by the way.
Since the Qing Dynasty had a rule that eunuchs were not allowed to leave the palace without authorization, there were no formal procedures for Andehai to leave the palace. However, according to the ideas of Andehai and Cixi, there is no one who does not have long eyes who will go to danger and Andehai because of this, but there is really such a person, that is, Ding Baozhen.
At that time, Ding Baozhen had been sitting in the position of inspector of Shandong for more than ten years, and had always been known for his integrity and honesty, how could such a famous courtier look at Andehai well? Ding Baozhen directly said that An Dehai went out of the palace to buy without passing on the will, and unrelated people were not allowed to move the dragon robe without permission, and the eunuch even dared to openly take several crimes such as female dependents when he left the palace, and beheaded Andehai to show the public.
Some people will ask, then why did Empress Dowager Cixi, who was covering the sky with one hand at that time, not prosecute Ding Baozhen and let him be promoted to the governor of Sichuan? Of course, Cixi wanted to pursue Ding Baozhen, but she couldn't. All of What An Dehai did violated the laws of the Qing Dynasty, and if Cixi punished Ding Baozhen for this, wouldn't it be tantamount to telling the world that he did not distinguish between public and private?
Moreover, at this time, it was indeed An Dehai who did too much, and even Li Hongzhang, who had never dealt with Ding Baozhen, said to his staff after this incident: "Zhi Huang (Ding Baozhen's word) has become famous!" Zeng Guofan was already suffering from an eye disease at this time, but he said that his eyes lit up after hearing the news, and he also praised Ding Baozhen as a "man of great talent". Emperor Shi Weng Tong Gong (he, two voices) not to mention, directly shouted one after another: "Hurry! Hurry! ”
In order to prove herself, Cixi not only could not pursue Ding Baozhen, but also reluctantly promoted him to an official, Presumably he was really angry. Later, Ding Baozhen served as the governor of Sichuan until his death in 1886, a life of incorruptibility, after his death was posthumously honored as "Wencheng", and he was crowned Prince Taibao, which is the origin of the name of the dish of the gongbao chicken at the beginning.