In the Notes on the History of Ye in the Qing Dynasty, there are many scandals about Empress Dowager Cixi, saying that she has raised a lot of male pets in the palace, and has unclear and unclear relations with Li Lianying, Rong Lu and others, and even often summons folk men to the palace. Among them, the story of Zhang Chunpu's reluctance to serve the empress dowager was widely circulated in the folk.
Zhang Chunpu was a famous violinist in the Beijing Liuli Factory during the Guangxu years, and lived by playing the piano to accompany him. He was straightforward and simple, his piano skills were fascinating, and he had a very good reputation among scholars.
Cixi has always been a good voice of silk and bamboo, and some of the courtiers have voted for him, and once recommended Zhang Chunpu to Cixi. Cixi smiled and thought that all the musicians in the palace were masters, and the so-called folk strange people should be nothing more than vain names.
Li Lianying racked her brains all day to please Cixi, and it was difficult to renovate the natural tricks for a long time, and he had heard that Zhang Chunpu was not only skilled in piano, but also handsome in appearance. So he deliberately went to the Liuli Factory to listen to Zhang Chunpu's playing a few times, and sure enough, it was better to be famous than to see, Zhang Chunpu really looked better than Pan An, not tall, not short, not fat and not thin, ten fingers slender, the face was like powder, and there was a sense of heroism and pride in the show, and it was a matter of time.
After Li Lianying made some real explorations, she blew Zhang Chunpu into a mess in front of Cixi, not only could her piano tone go around Liang for three days, but her beauty was also difficult to find in the world. Cixi originally did not think so, and when she heard Li Lianying say this, she couldn't help but be moved, and the next day she announced her will to invite Zhang Chunpu into the palace to play.
Zhang Chunpu was born in a family of court musicians, his father was on duty in the palace, his father was dissatisfied with the oppression of eunuchs, passive resistance, and was eventually expelled from the palace, from then on drinking for pleasure, not seeking a livelihood, and the family's situation is gradually declining. Although Zhang Chunpu was dissatisfied with his father's deeds, he was also unwilling to bend to enter the palace on duty, and he was arrogant and arrogant, although he had a good piano art, he was basically a tycoon, just selling art on the street.
But now that Li Lianying had come forward in person, and it was also the Empress Dowager Yi's will, Zhang Chunpu just didn't want to enter the palace. However, he also made a request, saying that he could not play on his knees, and Li Lianying finally thought of a compromise method, letting Zhang Chunpu play outside the curtain, so that they did not look at each other, and there was no need to be informal.
On the day of entering the palace, Zhang Chunpu did not dress up, and entered the palace wearing a half-old long shirt as usual. The place to play the piano was arranged in the West Wing of the Chuxiu Palace. Cixi was invited to the westernmost room, through the thin veil, Zhang Chunpu's heroic spirit came straight to the eye, Cixi was very satisfied, and the money was seated.
Zhang Chunpu first played a song "Yangguan Three Stacks". The strings jump between Zhang Chunpu's fingers, sometimes soothing, sometimes intense and compact, layer by layer, meaning long. Cixi and the beat were mesmerized to listen. Immediately after that, Zhang Chunpu played several heart-wrenching songs, such as "Eighteen Beats of Hu Di" and "Mountain Flowing Water".
Zhang Chunpu played several songs in a row, a little tired, and Cixi signaled for him to take a break and offer fragrant tea. Cixi originally wanted to leave Zhang Chunpu in the palace, and Li Lianying repeatedly forced him to stay, indicating that Lafayette had a good feeling for him. Helplessly, Zhang Chunpu only did not understand and resolutely resigned. Cixi admired his clear bones and ambitions, and did not insist on him, so she released him from the palace.
Since Zhang Chunpu left the palace, and later Cixi called several times, Zhang Chunpu had already understood Cixi's intentions, and his heart was full of contempt, and he would rather die than go. Cixi ordered Li Lianying to say: "You should make offerings with your heart, and in the future you will receive an official for you, and you will be sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and you will not be worried about being rich."
However, Zhang Chunpu knew very well that there were not many in the palace, and when he was a child, he watched many chaste and martyr women playing and rapping, and scorned Cixi's intolerance and loneliness, and refused to re-enter the palace. Most of his peers envied him for such a rare opportunity, but he did not think so: "I am not envious of such a dirty and rich person." ”
Prince Su heard of Zhang Chunpu's reputation, summoned him to the mansion to play the piano, gave him thirty-two monthly gifts, and returned early and late. Zhang Chunpu felt that the bondage was not free, and he always wanted to quit, but he was suffering from no good way. One day it was raining at dusk, and Prince Su said you shouldn't go back and live here. Zhang Chunpu refused, and Prince Su repeatedly retained him, but they were all refused, which made Prince Su very angry, and a few days later Zhang Chunpu was expelled from the palace by Prince Su.
Later, a lady of the family asked Zhang Chunpu to teach the piano, during which she took the initiative to show her willingness to marry Qin jinzhi, but Zhang Chunpu did not want to climb, came in the afternoon, played a song and left, not even willing to drink a sip of water.
Although Zhang Chunpu's piano skills moved Gongqing, but all day long to sell street art for a living, the income was not high, and then there were several incidents in the capital, depression was a lot, the days were more difficult to continue, the Gongqing palace did not move him, and eventually died of poverty.