Preface
In recent years, the term "stall economy" has rapidly become popular and has become the focus of heated discussions in society. As many provinces and cities have relaxed the regulatory restrictions on street stalls, the once silent corners of the city are now revived, filled with a thick "fireworks" in the world.
However, if you talk about the most legendary hawker in history, it is none other than Wang Kuer, who sneaked into the palace to sell steamed buns during the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty. He actually ran a "stall economy" in the heavily guarded palace for two years, and his deeds are amazing.
In the perception of ordinary people, the emperor's residence, the imperial palace, can be called a place with strong barriers. Within the majestic palace walls, there are three steps and one post, five steps and one sentry, and the iron-clad guard system seems to be unable to easily pass through even a bird. It is a symbol of power, a sacred temple of royal majesty, and a mysterious world that ordinary people can hardly reach. However, it was in such a seemingly impeccable palace that Wang Kuer managed to run the "underground steamed bun shop" for two years?
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It is said that during the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty, in the capital, there was a hawker named Wang Kuer, who was from Wanping County, Shuntianfu, from a poor family, and followed his parents to sell steamed buns in the Dashilar area of the capital since he was a child. By the time he was a teenager, he had already carried a burden on his shoulders, shuttling through the streets and alleys, selling along the streets.
One day in May of the first year of Xianfeng (1851), Wang Ku'er was selling steamed buns in an alley near the palace when he suddenly saw a golden light shining on the ground in front of him. He hurriedly stepped forward to pick it up, and when he looked closely, he couldn't help but be shocked, it turned out to be a waist card for entering and leaving the palace. If ordinary people encounter this thing, they are afraid that they will be sent to the government immediately because of timidity, but Wang Kuer looked at the majestic and magnificent palace, and a strange thought sprouted in his heart: If you can visit the palace in person, wouldn't it be a wonderful thing?
The bold Wang Kuer then held the waist card, walked straight to the palace gate, and showed the waist card to the guards without changing his face, and successfully blended into the palace. In the days that followed, Wang Kuer wandered around the palace and traveled everywhere, only to find that there were no vendors operating in the palace. He thought to himself: Wouldn't it be a good thing to set up a stall to sell steamed buns in this royal important place - the palace, so that the emperor and the queen can taste folk food, and maybe they can be rewarded by the emperor?
The idea was set, and in the early morning of March 23, the third year of Xianfeng (1853), Wang Kuer carried two baskets of steamed buns on his shoulders and came to the outside of the palace. He showed his badge to the guard again, who examined it and let him pass. In this way, Wang Ku'er walked into the palace like a ghost, and actually set up a stall at the Longzong Gate near the Yangxin Hall where the emperor lived, and sold steamed buns. Longzong Gate is an important gateway to the Qianqing Gate and the inner court, known as the "forbidden door".
The palace maids and eunuchs in the palace have long been tired of the daily meals in the imperial dining room, and when they saw Wang Kuer setting up a stall to sell steamed buns, they were stunned at first, and then couldn't help laughing, and then they all came forward to buy them. Wang Kuer was quite business-minded and knew that the people in the palace were not short of money, so he increased the price of steamed buns tenfold. However, because of its large white bread and soft and glutinous taste, it is deeply loved and sold out in a short time. The palace maid and eunuch who could not buy the steamed buns also specially instructed him to come early the next day and prepare more steamed buns.
Wang Kuer made a small profit from this, and the next day he carried two baskets of steamed buns into the palace again, so that he sold steamed buns in the palace for two years, and became friends with many palace maids and eunuchs, and even many concubines and even Empress Ci'an knew about his deeds.
In addition to the palace maids and eunuchs, the civil and military officials who went to the early court every day also became frequent visitors to Wang Kuer. These ministers got up late at night and rushed to the palace, hungry and tired, and when they saw Wang Ku'er selling steamed buns, they all happily bought them, and some people even mistakenly thought that this was specially arranged by the emperor to comfort them.
In the palace, Wang Kuer made a wide range of contacts, including palace maids, eunuch friends, and princes and ministers. Once, Wang Kuer was bedridden due to illness and did not enter the palace to sell steamed buns for several days.
Wang Kuer's step-brother Zhang Guilin saw that his younger brother had become rich in just two years, and he was curious and asked him the secret of getting rich. Wang Kuer truthfully informed the waist card. Zhang Guilin was very interested after hearing this, and repeatedly begged to borrow a waist card to enter the palace. Wang Kuer couldn't resist his entanglement, and finally lent him the waist card.
Since then, Zhang Guilin has replaced Wang Kuer to sell steamed buns in the palace, and Wang Kuer himself has found an errand in the palace. It turned out that because of his outstanding steamed bread making skills, he was accepted as an apprentice by Zhang Chuncheng, a famous chef in the imperial dining room, and asked him to cook with him, not only to eat and live, but also to start a career in the court.
Later, under the strict supervision of Emperor Xianfeng, the palace launched an in-depth review of job responsibilities and access control system. During this purge, temporary employees such as Wang Kuer, who had no formal establishment, were dismissed, ending their temporary errands in the palace.
Faced with the dilemma of making a living, Wang Kuer decided to take back the waist card, return to his old business, and continue to sell steamed buns in the palace. One day, when Empress Ci'an and Emperor Xianfeng had a royal meal, she inadvertently mentioned that Wang Ku'er's steamed buns tasted better than those made in the imperial dining room, which surprised Emperor Xianfeng and asked who Wang Ku'er was.
When Empress Ci'an heard this, she was surprised and explained that Wang Ku'er was a small merchant selling steamed buns in the palace, and he had been active in the palace for more than two years, and almost no one knew about it. When Emperor Xianfeng heard this, he was shocked and angry, and his inner court in his palace had allowed a private hawker to enter and exit freely for a long time, which undoubtedly exposed a major omission in the management of the palace ban. Enraged, he immediately ordered a thorough investigation into the matter.
After some verification, the truth surfaced: the waist card held by Wang Kuer originally belonged to Yuan Shidong, the captain of Luan Yiwei, because Yuan Shidong accidentally lost it after drinking. However, losing the waist card is a felony, Yuan Shidong was afraid and did not dare to report, but forged a waist card to hide people's eyes, and the real card happened to be picked up by Wang Kuer, which opened his days of selling steamed buns in the palace. After Emperor Xianfeng learned the truth, he wanted to severely punish the people involved, but Empress Ci'an remembered that Wang Ku'er had no malice and that the steamed bun craft was deeply loved by the palace people, so she personally pleaded with the emperor. In the end, Emperor Xianfeng adopted the empress's opinion and commuted Wang Kuer's punishment.
source
The source of this article is the notebook novel "Qing Barnyard Banknotes", a compilation of the anecdotes of the Qing Dynasty, and compiled by Xu Ke in the late Qing Dynasty. Xu Ke was born in Yuhang, Zhejiang, was a member of Yuan Shikai's staff during the Guangxu period, and later served as the editor of the Shanghai Commercial Press. The book is modeled on the genre of "Song Barnyard Banknotes" and "Ming Barnyard Banknotes", divided into categories, according to the nature of the age, the types of things are compiled, compiled into a book, a total of 92 categories, more than 13,500 articles, about 3 million words. The content is rich, the classification is clear, and the review is convenient, which is of great value for the study of Qing Dynasty literature and history.