Liu Benming is Liu E, a native of Taiyuan. His father, Liu Tong, was the governor of Hulao Pass and a historical secretariat. He died in the process of conquering Taiyuan with Song Taizu and Zhao Kuangyin, and the Liu family declined and lived in Sichuan. When Liu E was a baby, her mother fell ill and died. At first, there was a grandfather's family to rely on, but the grandfather's family was weak and sparsely populated, and he had to worry about eating and drinking at night. To them, Liu E is just a burden. Because of helplessness, Liu E tried to hang herself several times and wanted to leave this miserable life. The taste of youth and poverty makes this innocent and lovely girl have more desires and scheming than ordinary women.
One day, Liu E happened to stand in front of the door. A fortune teller happened to pass by and saw Liu E, staring at her from top to bottom. Liu E felt a little embarrassed and asked the fortune teller, "Why are you just looking at me?" The fortune teller said, "I don't mean evil, just because your appearance is expensive." I have met many people in my life, and today is the first time to meet you. Liu E suspected that the fortune teller deliberately told such a lie just to cheat several fortune tellers, so she said, "I am a poor man, so don't lie. "The fortune teller said," I don't want your gold. Please show me your hand, and you will know. "When Liu E was extremely bored, she thought: since she didn't want to fall in love with gold, it wouldn't hurt to show it to him, so she held out a pair of delicate hands. After reading it carefully, the fortuneteller repeatedly said, "The phase of the empresses is the phase of the empresses. "
Liu E didn't take it too seriously, thinking that she was so poor and poor, where did she get her mistress? But people need spiritual support when they are in trouble. As a woman, Liu E can't have the ideal of a man who strives for fame and fortune by studying hard, so she takes the fortune teller's words as a magic weapon to forgive herself. Since then, although she has been at the end of her tether many times, she has never had the idea of suicide.
Liu E, in her prime, is petite and exquisite. Smart and alert, she learned a long-lost ancient music-pottery drum. Liao drum is a kind of small drum with elastic ears on both sides. It has a handle. When shaking the handle, two ears beat drums on both sides, commonly known as "rattle". Liao drum was originally just an ordinary thing, and it was nothing to listen to. However, Liu E is talented and can change and use Liao drums according to his own wishes. Coupled with her outstanding appearance and vivid rap, others often unconsciously revel in her Liao drum performance.
When Liu E was a teenager, her grandfather married a silversmith's younger sister. Later, the official history only said that Gong Mei was Liu E's neighbor and they were brother and sister, in fact, it was to cover up the fact that Liu E had already married. Gong Mei intends to do business in the capital. Liu E also wants to follow her husband to Beijing to see the world. Gong Maine is too poor to make a living in Beijing. She refused to agree because she was worried that taking Liu E would drag her down. Liu E guessed Gong Mei's thoughts and said with a smile, "Don't worry about the travelling expenses. I have the ability to take things away. I can eat anywhere and will never drag you down. " Speaking of which, Gong Mei couldn't refuse, so she agreed. So the husband and wife set off together. No one expected that this trip to the capital directly changed the lives of the poor couple.
Liu E drummed all the way to make money. Others saw her as gorgeous as a peach blossom, with a soft voice and a rhythmic flower drum, so she gave more money. Even her husband Gong Mei was jealous, so she made a small gong, and together with Liu E's Liao drum, it became a flower drum play for men and women. The ancient painting and drama was still a new thing at that time. They crossed the county all the way and caused a sensation in many places, so Liu E was still young and had savings.
Although the Qing Dynasty opened its doors to the outside world after voting, westerners, westerners and westerners gradually came to the East, but for a long time, China people could not understand the election in the modern western political sense, and even the enlightened advanced people could not understand it. In the eyes of all China people who can read and write, an election is an examination, not a vote. Whether to choose or not depends on your own performance and the examiner's eyesight, and has nothing to do with others. Therefore, although advanced people keep saying good things about western election politics and westerners who engage in elections keep beating us, China people still keep practicing their own imperial examinations, and even when westerners call in, they fantasize that people are taking exams just like us (it was once said that Waside, commander-in-chief of Eight-Nation Alliance, did just that).
However, the modern world is, after all, the western world. The system, rules and seats have to be decided by others, and then you are dragged in and pressed to a certain position. Sooner or later, the dragged nation will accept other people's rules, including the concept of nouns. China people's ability to learn and understand the times is not bad, just because the country is too big, the qualifications are too old, the shelf can not be put down, and too much energy is delayed. Fortunately, China people are smart after all. When we were taught a lesson by the Japanese, a good student in the west, we were finally willing to put down our airs and study.
Shanghai is the gathering place of new things in China in the late Qing Dynasty. People from all over China come here to watch foreigners westernize, eat western food and take carriages, while people living in Shanghai dare to do anything, play squash, be comprador, speak pidgin English and even vote.
However, Shanghainese first voted for beauty instead of politics. /kloc-Shanghai at the end of 0/9 is an era of prosperity and prostitution, from street prostitutes to school books in books, thousands. There are many prostitutes and many literati. It was an era when culture was still active. Even a brothel should pay attention to piano, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry and songs, so pork and bamboo were made, tabloids were published, and sanhua came. After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, scholars were worried about their country and home, and there was nowhere to send them. The action about drinking women is particularly active, so someone launched an activity to evaluate the roster of prostitutes.
The flower list imitates the imperial examination, separates colors, and grades prostitutes into A, B and A, but prostitutes don't need to write or hand in papers. The beauty who can enter Sanding's home is naturally the most popular person in the industry, and at least some people are willing to pay tribute. This activity has been going on for a long time. It is said to exist in17th century. It is not clear how it happened at that time. However, at this time, the roster was organized by newspapers in the form of voting, the most famous of which was the roster selection of Li Boyuan Game Newspaper. The author of "Officialdom in the Sky" is full of flowers, is handy in scolding officials and has many ideas for running a newspaper. Since the summer of 1897, the selection of the game newspaper flower list has been carried out four times a year, and the first selection in that year attracted the most attention, and the newspaper sales increased greatly. At that time, the votes in the roster election were called "letters of recommendation", and each letter of recommendation counted as one vote. The one with more votes won, and the one with the same number of votes was decided according to public opinion. Three in first class, thirty in second class, and the rest with tickets in third class. All prostitutes, regardless of grade one, two or three, are listed in the newspaper. Although the first election was only about the famous flowers in the flower industry, there were still many people watching and few people voting. The champion only got nine votes, and the second place and Hua Tan got seven votes each. However, at least one participant is a foreigner, an American named Art. He sent a letter to protest, saying that ugliness comes first and beauty comes later, and asked for correction. Obviously, if this letter is true, it can only show that westerners have different feelings about beautiful women in China and China. According to the "democratic principle", the ranking cannot be changed.
Although you can't be an official and won't win any prizes, the benefits you get are obvious. When the list was published, the newspaper indicated the residence after everyone's name and listed some praises. It is said that these praises are all from recommendation books. The higher the ranking, the longer the praise. Compliments are long and short, but the degree of disgust is similar. Compared with people, they are either beauties or Wang Qiang. Metaphors are not flowers, but the moon, what is "as clear as Bai Mei", what is "competing with the moon", and even the last two are "delicate figure" and "Shu Qi Qionghua" (judging from the photos handed down at that time, most of these beauties who were blown into flowers and closed their eyes were flat. After the publication of the list, not only the famous flowers are on the list, but also the top famous flowers, whose business is booming and their income has suddenly increased. Even scholars who have written letters of recommendation have more opportunities to appear in newspapers because of gorgeous rhetoric, so they can receive more embellishments. Of course, the newspaper that initiated the activity benefited the most. Sales have increased, advertisements have come, and you can eat it for several months once you review it. In fact, with the selection of the flower list, all related industries have been pulled in. At that time, the photography industry in China had just started, and it was precisely because the roster was later photographed by prostitutes that it finally aroused the appetite of ladies and jasper. Because of the propaganda in the newspaper, the clothes of prostitutes were imitated by the majority of good women, so the clothing cutting industry was also developed. Newspapers and periodicals are becoming more and more prosperous because of more and more beautiful photos. From prostitutes to female students to ladies and their families, the first spring of China media industry is ushered in. It is estimated that other industries will be pulled, and space is limited, so I won't list them one by one.