A doctor who travels through two eras

Lin Sanqi stroked his chin and suddenly thought, since there is only one sedan chair in this era, could there be other sedan chairs in 1964?

After all, 66 hasn't arrived yet...

"Wait, Mr. Qu, you can proceed with the rest of the plan. I'll try to figure out a way to get the 10,000-craft sedan chair. If I can't get one, we can settle for the 1,000-craft sedan chair we have here."

Qu Xiaofeng suddenly became a little worried and said:

"Chairman Lin, stealing museum artifacts is a serious crime, we shouldn't be doing this..."

Lin Sanqi rolled her eyes, while Yin Lianyi laughed so hard she couldn't straighten up.

"President Qu, don't worry, he's very capable. A small sedan chair shouldn't be a problem for him. Just wait and see."

In another time and space, January 1964, at the airport in the western suburbs of the capital.

When Lin Sanqi crawled out of the Xinzhou airplane, a gust of northwest wind blew by and almost froze him to death.

Several jeeps were parked beside the runway, and several men in green military uniforms on the runway saluted in unison when they saw Lin Sanqi get off.
"Minister Lin!"

Lin Sanqi returned the greeting and asked, jumping up and down, "What's the temperature today?"

"Minister Lin, it's -21 degrees Celsius today."

Lin Sanqi glanced at the snow-covered landscape in the distance and thought to himself, "It's good that it's snowing. A good snow promises a good harvest. We can't have natural disasters like the previous three years."

"The colder the better, it'll freeze the pests in the fields to death, hehe. Let's go, let's go to the Palace Museum first. Load a truckload of cargo from the plane and send it to the Palace Museum together."

"Yes!"

The Palace Museum, at the Xihua Gate.

Dean Wu Zhizhong held Lin Sanqi's hand tightly, his eyes narrowing into slits with a smile.

I thought to myself, this guy used to work in the health system and the military, but today it's finally the Forbidden City's turn to shine.

"Commissioner Lin, I have long admired your name. Meeting you today, I can see that you are indeed a young man of great talent."

At less than thirty years old, Lin Sanqi is the only one in the country to have received a gold star, according to the standards after the conferment of ranks in 55. He deserves to be the number one among young people.

However, this number one ranking is questionable. Even if he has three stars on his shoulders, he is destined never to enter the central core.

Lin Sanqi dared not be negligent in the face of the white-haired old dean.

The director of the Palace Museum is a vice-ministerial level official, a very high-ranking official, and is a leading figure in the cultural relics field. Lin Sanqi, a cultural relics smuggler, is incomparable to him.

"Dean Wu, you're too kind. I'm just an unwelcome guest who has come to your door. I'm sorry to have troubled you. Hehe."

Dean Wu thought to himself, "I'm not afraid of you getting into trouble, I'm just afraid you don't want to bother yourself."

"In that case, Commissioner Lin's matter is our Palace Museum's matter. Please feel free to make any requests you may have, and we will do our best to fulfill them."

Lin Sanqi thought to herself, "Can I drive my G-Wagon into the Forbidden City?"
If Director Wu knew, he would definitely reply: "Don't even mention cars, you can drive any truck you want. At this time, the Forbidden City does not prohibit motor vehicles from passing through."

Lin Sanqi was still a little guilty. He had only ever taken one artifact from the Palace Museum, which was a set of medicine cabinets from the Imperial Medical Academy.

However, the Imperial Medical Academy was not located within the Forbidden City, but rather in a courtyard on Di'anmen East Street. Lin Sanqi had only briefly touched upon it back then.

The artifacts in the Forbidden City are not so easy to take, after all, I'm surnamed Lin, not Aisin Gioro...

"Director Wu, there are 500 small radios on that truck behind us. It's almost Chinese New Year, so we're giving them to the staff of the Palace Museum as a bonus."

Dean Wu was pleased to hear this, but he wasn't really excited; five hundred radios couldn't satisfy his appetite.

"Very good, very good. Commissioner Lin is very generous. Hehe, please come in and we can talk as we walk."

Lin Sanqi wasn't going to play games anymore; the old man might think she was there to borrow the dragon throne.

"Director Wu, it's like this, I wanted to ask if your Palace Museum has any sedan chairs made by ten thousand craftsmen? I need them urgently."

"A 'Ten Thousand Craftsman's Sedan Chair? The kind used for weddings? Hmm, I'll have to think about that..."

Dean Wu fell into deep thought, and an older employee beside him reminded him:

"Dean, Commissioner Lin, we have two sedan chairs made by skilled craftsmen. One was used by Empress Longyu of the Guangxu Emperor, and the other is less prestigious; it was used by Empress Wanrong of the Puyi Emperor for her wedding." Lin Sanqi became interested: "What is your surname, sir? Since they were both empresses, why is there a difference in the sedan chairs made by skilled craftsmen?"

The old man chuckled and said:

"No need for formalities, my surname is Jin, and my ancestors worked for the Imperial Household Department. I know everything about the palace, so I have been working at the Forbidden City since liberation."

The difference between Empress Longyu and Empress Wanrong is actually quite simple.

Empress Longyu was the last Qing Dynasty empress to be carried into the palace through the Great Qing Gate. When Wanrong married into the palace, the Qing Dynasty had already fallen, so she did not enter through the Great Qing Gate, and the ceremony was simpler, naturally resulting in a simplified sedan chair procession.

Lin Sanqi asked curiously, "Master Xu? Is there a specific way to enter through the Qing Dynasty gate?"

Old Xu chuckled and continued to explain:
"The difference is huge. The one who enters the palace through the Great Qing Gate becomes the Empress, whose legal status is extremely high, almost on par with the Emperor. Do you remember Empress Alute of the Tongzhi Emperor?"

Lin Sanqi nodded:

"I know. She was said to have a tragic life. After the Tongzhi Emperor died, she was forced by Empress Dowager Cixi to commit suicide by swallowing gold. She was pregnant at the time. Later, it is said that tomb robbers cut open her body to search for gold."

Master Xu chuckled and said:
"Alute did not actually commit suicide by swallowing gold. According to the Qing Palace archives, she actually died of illness. But as we all know, Alute was indeed forced to commit suicide by Empress Dowager Cixi, but she hanged herself."

Because at that time, she had a deep conflict with her mother-in-law, Empress Dowager Cixi. The young girl was hot-tempered and scolded Cixi, saying: "Those who do not enter through the Great Qing Gate cannot depose the Empress who enters the palace through the Great Qing Gate."

It means that Cixi was not married into the palace through the main gate of the Qing Dynasty, but was a concubine, a minor one, whose status was far below that of the Empress.

This humiliation naturally enraged Empress Dowager Cixi, who could no longer tolerate this daughter-in-law and naturally tried every means to kill Alute.

The point of telling this story is to tell you that it was the rule to walk through the Great Qing Gate. Therefore, the entire procession and bridal sedan chair used by Emperor Guangxu to marry the Empress were the most top-notch, the most luxurious, and also the 'unparalleled'.

Empress Wanrong, who came after her, did not enjoy this treatment.

Wanrong was, after all, an empress in name only.

As for the marriages of the children of high-ranking officials and nobles during the Republic of China era, they were even less worthy of such a wedding. They were all self-proclaimed descendants of famous families, and they were hardly worthy of a grand sedan chair.

Therefore, I say that Empress Longyu's sedan chair was the best. Besides that, going back further, the last empress to enter through the Great Qing Gate was Empress Xiaochengren of the Kangxi Emperor, of the Hesheli clan. Those were 300-year-old artifacts; how could they still be used?

Longyu?
Lin Sanqi clicked his tongue, thinking that if he had a choice, he really wouldn't want this old lady's sedan chair.

After all, this woman was unhappy throughout her life and was never favored by Emperor Guangxu. It is said that the two never shared a bed until their deaths, and she died in depression, making her a tragic figure.

Marriage is all about good luck, and even the bed-making process requires a woman to have both a son and a daughter, a harmonious marriage, and living parents.

The group chatted as they walked toward the warehouse area.

As everyone prepared to cross the square in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony and head towards the three southern warehouses, Lin Sanqi suddenly stopped.

Lin Sanqi visited the Palace Museum in both eras, but neither time did she enter the largest palace, the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony is truly extraordinary; it is the supreme golden hall in the Forbidden City, and what ordinary people refer to as the "Golden Throne Hall" is actually this place.

In the movie "The Last Emperor," there's a final scene where Puyi finds a cricket nest he used to play with as a child under the dragon throne, which is located in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

In the 1960s, visitors were allowed to enter the Hall of Supreme Harmony, but only to view the dragon throne from the entrance.

By 2016, a fence had been built directly outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and tourists could only look into the distance through the main gate, which was crowded with people.

It's Monday, and there isn't a single tourist in the Forbidden City. Lin Sanqi's eyes darted around as she cautiously asked:

"Dean Wu, may I...may I go inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony for a visit?"

Dean Wu replied without hesitation:

"Sure, as long as Commissioner Lin is interested, you can even stay overnight in the Hall of Mental Cultivation."

Lin Sanqi was immediately excited:

"Come on, let me experience what it's like to sit on a real dragon throne today."

This super VIP feeling is way more exhilarating than driving a Mercedes G-Class to the Taihe Hall Square. (End of Chapter)