Qing Dynasty Folk Story Emperor Kangxi and the Water chestnut tree

On this day, Emperor Kangxi retired from the court and came to the South Study, only to find that the person serving him was not the old eunuch Agui, but a young eunuch. He asked casually: "Why didn't Agui come?" The eunuch said that Agui took leave today and left the palace. Emperor Kangxi also wanted to hear something new outside the palace, so he ordered Agui to come back to see him immediately.

It was not until dusk that Agui hurried back to the palace and paid his respects to Emperor Kangxi. Emperor Kangxi saw his tired appearance and asked him why he wanted to leave the palace. Agui smiled and said that he heard that a water chestnut tree grew in a good town in the south of Beijing. He was surprised and went to watch the fun.

Emperor Kangxi laughed loudly after hearing this: "Water chestnut tree? This is so strange. Tell me about the water chestnut tree you saw." Emperor Kangxi knew that water chestnuts grow in water. He remembered that Xiaogang, Emperor Jianwen of the Liang Dynasty, wrote a song called "Lotus Picking Song", which mentioned water chestnuts. "In the sunset, everything is empty, and the lotus flowers are gathered into the sunset. It is difficult to have wind in the lake, and lotus flowers are not rare. When the lotus falls, the boat moves and the egrets fly. The lotus silk wraps around the wrist, and the water chestnut pulls the clothes away." If the water chestnut grows on a tree, how can it run away? Go into the water and grab the lotus girl's clothes?

Agui did not laugh and spoke seriously. After hearing the rumor, he felt strange and rushed over to watch the fun. When he arrived at the farmland, he actually saw the water chestnut tree. It was strange to see trees covered with water chestnuts.

Emperor Kangxi took a pen and paper and asked Agui to draw the tree, and he drew it. When the tree had to be finished, he copied another one and just removed all the water chestnuts from the tree. He studied the tree in the painting carefully, turned to a turtle and asked, "Have you seen such a tree?" Agui thought for a while and said, as if he had seen such a tree in the imperial tomb.

Emperor Kangxi nodded and said that he had seen this kind of tree in the imperial mausoleum, but there was no such tree elsewhere. He was curious and asked the gardener. The gardener said that the name of this tree is bitter pear, but it is used for grafting fruit trees. Without grafting, the fruit will be sour and astringent, making it impossible to import, and it will be difficult to see if no one grows it.

Agui suddenly realized that the big bitter pear tree grew on the deserted beach outside Liangxiang Town, and it survived because no one paid attention to it. Emperor Kangxi thought to himself: How could such a bitter pear that no one wanted to see turn into a strange water chestnut tree in an instant? Unknowingly, his interest increased and he quietly prepared a Gui to leave the palace early tomorrow morning.

The next day, at dawn, Emperor Kangxi quietly left the palace with a gui.

They came to Liangxiang and found the water chestnut tree, but the water chestnut tree had been guarded by officials and no one was allowed to get close. Emperor Kangxi stood on tiptoes and looked from a distance, only to see a bitter pear tree covered with water chestnuts. After all, it was too far away to see how those water chestnuts grew on the trees. He secretly gave the village chief two taels of silver and asked him to find a convenient place. The official collected the money, then waved his hand with a smile and said, "Your Excellency is coming to pay homage to the water chestnut tree today. No one is allowed to come near the tree without the county magistrate's order. He will let you see it when you leave."

At this moment, two firecrackers sounded on the road, followed by drums and music. Emperor Kangxi turned around and saw several large sedans slowly arriving in front of the water chestnut tree. Several officials got off the sedans. The biggest immortal among them was Qin Fuming, the river supervisor. Emperor Kangxi was afraid of being recognized by Qin Fuming, so he hid in the crowd. I saw a group of officials surrounding Qin Fuming under the water chestnut tree. Qin Fuming respectfully burned incense and kowtowed, and said something that Emperor Kangxi could understand. It turned out that Qin Fuming was robbed by robbers on his way to Beijing to take the exam. He begged for food all the way to Liangxiang and was hungry. Fortunately, the water chestnuts were ripe, and some fell to the ground, so he picked them up and ate them. Then he barely had the strength to go on his way, and passed the exam in second place, making him what he is today.

Emperor Kangxi was secretly amused after hearing this. This nerd, I don’t know which farmer went to the market to sell water chestnuts at that time, but when he was resting under a tree, he left a few behind, and he picked them up and ate them. He thought that there were water chestnuts growing on the tree, which was really pedantic. What's even more annoying is that he has been working as a river inspector for several years, but he still doesn't know that this water chestnut grows in the water. I really don’t know how he became an inspector. Some people say that he has outstanding achievements and needs to be promoted. Emperor Kangxi suppressed his anger and continued to watch Qin Fuming's poor performance.

Qin Fuming was deeply touched and wrote two more poems. Officials on both sides applauded enthusiastically, and County Magistrate Yu did not miss this opportunity to please Lord Qin. He sent his master to write down these two poems, engrave them on a tablet, and set them up next to a water chestnut tree. We also need to put up a fence to protect the water chestnut tree. Yu smiled flatteringly and said: "The water chestnut on this tree has an ordinary taste, but since I passed by, it has been stained by your talent and is extraordinary. Its taste is extremely delicious and cannot be compared with other trees."

Qin was also shocked: "Is there such a thing?"

I picked off a water chestnut, peeled it off, and handed it to Qin Fuming. Qin Fuming took a sip and nodded. So he immediately ordered the government officials to pick off the water chestnuts and let Mr. Qin take them away to taste. After Qin Fuming paid homage to the water chestnut tree, a group of people sat back on the sedan chair and left in a grand manner.