According to the "Chronicle of History, Li Sheng Lu Jialie's biography", "The king regards the people as heaven, and the people take food as the sky." ”
Nowadays, people's lives are getting richer, and there are all kinds of entertainment activities. However, in the era of poverty, or the common people in ancient times, eating enough was the top priority, how could they think about how to have fun? However, what many people don't know is that in ancient times, even the princes and ministers had to worry about eating.
Where to eat in the early hours of the morning, there are also roadside stalls in the Forbidden City? Say it and don't believe it!
The early qing dynasty was very early, and the ministers often got up at midnight to prepare for the dynasty
According to the "Beijing Archives", the time of the early Qing Dynasty generally followed the previous dynasty, and the sky had not yet broken at dawn during the early dynasty, around 5 a.m. During the Qianlong and Jiaqing years, the world was too peaceful, and it was slightly later, extending to the time of sunrise, that is, 6 o'clock in the morning.
The Tongzhi Emperor had no way out, and did not arrive until after 8 o'clock. Later, the Guangxu Emperor attempted to change the law and restore the new to save the decline of the Qing Dynasty, and once advanced the early dynasty to 4 a.m.
When the Qing Dynasty was an official in the capital, it was inevitable to go to the early dynasty, although the emperor would generally start to govern at the time of the death, but sometimes he would encounter an emperor who liked to get up early, and then count the consumption of rushing, queuing, and waiting for the pass.
The chancellor's ascension to the court could only be made earlier and earlier, so in order to catch the court meeting, the minister had to get up at midnight and then cross half the capital to the noon gate.
At 3 a.m., the minister would arrive outside the noon gate and wait. And when the drums on the upper floor of the noon gate sounded, the ministers had to line up. When the bell rings around 5 a.m., the palace doors open.
The hundred officials entered in turn, crossing the Jinshui Bridge in the square in a whole line. If anyone among the officials coughed, spitted, or walked unsteadily, they were recorded by the imperial history in charge of picketing and waited to be dealt with.
Most of the ministers of the Shang dynasty did not dare to eat breakfast, and the Ming Dynasty solved the problem humanely
The time of the dynasty is early, not only is the Qing Dynasty a dynasty problem, Daming is also similar, the great poet Gao Qi in the early Ming Dynasty wrote a poem "Early to quexia waiting for the dynasty": "The moon Ming li gong yugou bridge, half open arch not put the dynasty", which means that the moon is still lit, just rush to run to the forbidden city gate to wait, there is still a long time away from the palace gate, this taste is probably quite uncomfortable.
Like some ministers who are farther away, they have to get up earlier to prepare for the dynasty, at that time people are basically sleeping, so there is no breakfast to eat, in addition, the biggest reason is because the system of the early dynasty is strict, in order not to go out of the morning dynasty, many officials do not dare to eat breakfast before the early dynasty.
The emperor of the Ming Dynasty could not bear to be hungry for the ministers of the country and the people, hungry on the morning dynasty, so he issued an order to prepare breakfast in the palace every day, and also arranged a place for the ministers to eat breakfast, so that the ministers did not have to go hungry to open the morning dynasty.
Such a system can be said to be very humane!
There are road stalls in and around the Forbidden City, and the ministers and the people in the palace are regular customers
In the later Qing Dynasty, there was no such humane order, so where did those ministers go for breakfast?
Because in the law, there was no prohibition on setting up business outside the Forbidden City, so at that time, some cooks and peddlers opened their breakfast stalls outside the Longzong Gate. In the Forbidden City, there is also a place to outsource to others to buy breakfast, buns and wontons, etc., and there are many kinds of breakfast.
This breakfast spot was called "Four-In-One" in the Qing Dynasty, which is now the East Long House where people specialize in selling souvenirs from the Forbidden City.
At that time, when officials came to the early dynasty, they came here to eat at their own expense, but there was also a restriction. As we all know, the ancients still paid attention to appearance, and the identity of officials was there!
If they go straight to sit down and eat, then you think about how many people are crowded together, that is a loss of official status! On the other hand, if one accidentally soils his own government while eating, he will not be punished again, and if it is serious, he may have to lose his head.
Therefore, ministers will generally send the next people around them to buy it, and then sit in the palanquin and eat it themselves.
In addition to the officials of the early dynasty, the palace ladies and eunuchs in the palace were tired of eating the "big pot rice" in the palace, and sometimes they would go to small stalls to change their appetites. Sometimes, even the concubines of the palaces, who eat too much of the treasures and seafood in the palace, will order their servants or slaves to come out here to buy a few things to go back to relieve their hunger.
brief summary
In this way, these well-dressed and seemingly majestic ministers are actually quite pitiful to some extent, even eating breakfast is so troublesome, and they have to carry their heads to do things every day, afraid that they will offend the emperor with their own words, or which thing will offend the emperor, and end up with a full door! It seems that today's new life is rich and colorful!
References: "History of Li Sheng Lu JiaLie", "Early to QueXia Waiting Dynasty"