Since ancient times, the emperor was most worried about being afraid of his own life. According to historical records, in order to live longer, many emperors will add a lot of highly skilled guards outside their palaces, and they will be accompanied by many protective people when they enter and leave, and each meal is also checked layer by layer before it can be sent to the emperor. Sometimes even after checking, before the emperor ate, he would let a maid try first to ensure that it was non-toxic and harmless.
Those in the high ranks are afraid of any accidents and are also afraid of death. He is very particular about his food, food, housing and transportation. From this point of view, we can understand how high-risk the imperial doctor and the imperial cook in ancient times were, and they could be innocently killed if they did not agree.
According to historical records, when Empress Dowager Cixi was in power at the end of the Qing Dynasty, there was an imperial cook who made a fish with a great color and flavor. Everyone knows that Empress Dowager Cixi was a person who was very suspicious of how ill she was, and her belief in the purpose was: it is better to kill by mistake than to spare a person.
Empress Dowager Cixi attached great importance to her own life, and for her own safety, she paid great attention to her own food, even if one day she was inexplicably killed.
Once, a royal cook brought her a piece of fish, and Empress Dowager Cixi was very happy when she saw it. As a result, when she learned that the name of this fish was "Yuzang Sword", Empress Dowager Cixi was instantly furious and roared at the imperial chef Wang Yushan, do you think I don't know the meaning of this "Yuzang Sword"? What is your intention in making this fish for me?
So, what is the allusion to the dish "Fish Hidden Sword"? Looking at the name of this dish, it is not difficult to guess that there is a sword hidden in the belly of the fish. According to legend, during the Spring and Autumn Period, there was an Assassin named Zhuanzhu. At that time, in order to win the throne, Ji Guang, the prince of the State of Wu, conspired with warriors everywhere, hoping to get the help of warriors.
Zhuanzhu knew that King Wu loved to eat fish, and in order to get close to King Wu, he spent several months specially going to Taihu Lake to learn the cooking process of grilled fish from local famous teachers. After returning from school, he showed his craft to everyone around him, and everyone who ate it praised the delicious taste of this fish.
In this way, in order to assassinate Wu Wang, he was fully prepared and prepared, and then personally made a grilled fish with a unique shape and delicious taste, and hid a sharp dagger in the belly of the fish, the name of this dagger was called "Yuzang Sword", so the name of this dish was "Yuzang Sword".
Then, posing as a cook at a banquet, he brought this fish to King Wu, and in King Wu's preparations, he succeeded in assassinating King Wu. Although after assassinating King Wu, Zhuan zhu was caught by the guards around him and chopped into meat paste. But at this time, he had completed his task perfectly, and his reputation as an assassin was born.
After listening to this allusion, you can understand how angry and frightened Empress Dowager Cixi was at this time. At that time, Empress Dowager Cixi wanted to kill the imperial cook Wang Yushan, fortunately, although Wang Yushan was usually very timid and afraid of things, his mind was very bright at the critical time. He knew that Empress Dowager Cixi liked to hear compliments from others the most.
So he had a clever move, smiled and said, "Empress Dowager, how can King Wu compare with you!" This dish Wu Wangfu was not blessed to be used, but the empress dowager could be used, because the empress dowager Hong FuqiTian, Hong Fuqitian."
Sure enough, Wang Yushan's move not only saved his own life, but also was rewarded with a lot of silver by Empress Dowager Cixi. Since then, the "Fish Hidden Sword" has often appeared at the feast of the imperial palace.
References: "History", "Qing History Manuscript"