Why did Empress Dowager Cixi only drink boiled white water once after taking power, and when was that time?
The percentage of water in the human body is more than 60%. Without enough water, basic human survival will be difficult to guarantee. Usually, when we feel lack of water, thirsty, we humans will replenish by drinking filtered water, boiled water, this is also a good habit that has been maintained for thousands of years by the Chinese people.
But Empress Dowager Cixi is probably an exception.
While in power, Empress Dowager Cixi never drank boiled water. The only time she drank boiled white water was when she was fleeing from Beijing, due to the long distance and the rush to escape, she could not prepare anything, she was so thirsty that she could not stand it, so she drank a cup. water.
The first impression when referring to Empress Dowager Cixi is her luxury. Cixi’s life is truly worthy of the luxurious name.
Every time Cixi eats rice, there must be more than a hundred dishes on display, each dish she will eat and will not touch her chopsticks a second time. She wears at least one pair of socks every day, no matter how sophisticated they are, they can only be used once. The material is all made of high-class silk, and every year, just counting socks alone, more than ten thousand taels of white silver are used.
How much is a thousand taels of white silver worth? It was equivalent to the annual income of 500 people then.
From there, it can be seen how luxurious Tu Hi lived.
The image is reproduced on film.
Having such a luxurious life, in drinking water, Empress Dowager Cixi also attaches great importance, absolutely not overboard, anyway can not lose face of the title “Old Buddha”. Therefore, during the years of her rule, she did not drink water, instead, Empress Dowager Cixi used the following drinks:
1. Vegetable juice
Empress Dowager Cixi does not drink boiled water, usually she will drink expensive vegetable juices or juices of rare vegetables.
Valuable things are inherently difficult to obtain, so each time it takes a lot of human and material resources to find. Of course, all the officials or servants are willing to search, because if you can flatter the “Old Buddha”, you don’t have to worry about your future path to becoming a mandarin.
2. Tea water
The tea that Empress Dowager Cixi drank was no ordinary tea. Except for tea leaves, which are first-class tea leaves, tea water is also a first-class spring water. She once sent people to Tuyet Son to search for the purest spring water. These luxuries make it hard to imagine.
The water of Yuquan Mountain in Beijing belongs to the best spring water, so starting from the Qianlong period, the spring water of Yuquan Mountain was used only for royalty.
Empress Dowager Cixi felt that was not enough, so she ordered to drink only the fresh spring water that was brought in during the day. Therefore, every day when the gate of the Forbidden City opens, the first thing that is brought in is the water truck for the “Old Buddha”.
3. Breast milk
That’s right, it’s breast milk. Once, Empress Dowager Cixi had a very serious illness. As a result, she recovered from her illness after drinking breast milk. Therefore, she firmly believes that breast milk can ensure the health of the human body. Since then, Cixi has raised many nannies in the palace who specialize in providing her with breast milk.
Thinking about it, it feels difficult to say, children aged two or three are all weaned, only a few years later, but Cixi – an old woman in her decades still drinks breast milk. I don’t know how she felt when she drank milk, was it a feeling of shame that was speechless?
Just looking at such an aspect can see the luxury of Empress Dowager Cixi. Just thinking about it is enough to understand all other aspects. Having such a luxurious and familiar “Old Buddha” in power, this is also one of the reasons why Dai Thanh entered the path of destruction.