Empress Dowager Cixi fled the Forbidden City, had to borrow money and ended up in disgrace

In the past, when the coalition of eight countries stormed the Forbidden City, even the Queen Mother who "screamed fire" like Tu Hy was scared to the point of trembling. The old Buddhist, who loved to dress up, no longer cared about the rules, hastily put on commoner's clothes, and secretly escaped from the capital.

Her escape route went through many difficult days. Although there were still maids and eunuchs to serve her, this was the first time the most powerful woman in the Qing Dynasty had to experience the feeling of not being able to eat enough, not being able to wear warm clothes, and even having to secretly steal eggs from people's houses. .

After many days, the Qing royal family's fugitive group finally reached Son Tay - a famous wealthy land at that time.

It was also here that Tu Hy first did something "salacious", but what the Old Buddha family earned was extremely profitable.

Empress Dowager Tay's journey to escape to the richest land of Dai Thanh

When Tu Hy's palanquin just arrived at Ky Huyen (Son Tay), the district command here received news of the Queen Mother's actions and quickly brought people to the city gate to receive the bride.

Tu Hy was somewhat embarrassed at first, but quickly regained her composure. After eating, she started walking around Ky Huyen, Thai Coc, and Binh Dao districts to evaluate this rich Son Tay land.

Son Tay people trade in straw, tea leaves and many other industries. The financial capacity of this place is of course very strong.

In particular, the tycoons here always want to show off their prestige, always dressing to stand out when going out, afraid that people won't know they are rich.

Witnessing the prosperity of this place, Tu Hy couldn't help but sigh and say to herself:

"No wonder when Emperor Dao Quang was still in power, I often said this was the richest place in the country. Now I have the opportunity to see it in person."

Tu Hy went to Thai Coc and discovered that the rich people's way of getting rich here was mainly from real estate. Here, she visited the palace of a famous and wealthy family at that time - the Cao family.

Legend has it that in the past, the ancestors of the Cao family used to beg for a living. After ending his years as a beggar, the Cao family turned to business.

Thanks to his sharp mind in economics, plus the Cao family's extremely good communication skills, he eventually built a career with nothing, creating the famous "Three Crown Jewels" for a time.

During the years Ham Phong was in power, the Tao family's network of shops spread throughout Dai Thanh territory. The total assets of this family once reached 1,200,000 taels of white silver and 30,000 employees.

During its peak, the Cao family's branches were distributed in major capitals around the world such as Paris, London, and Moscow. Being able to reach out to the international market in feudal times, this alone is enough for posterity to clearly know the economic strength of the Cao family.

Having "salted" to borrow money, Tu Hy received back an excessively high interest rate

Tu Hy saw that Cao Gia had "a lot of real estate" and a prosperous family, but at the same time the Queen Mother was in need, she had to "saltly" open her mouth to borrow 100,000 taels of white silver.

At that time, the transmission of news was more or less difficult. Rich merchants in Son Tay at that time did not know that the capital had changed. The people of the Cao family simply thought that the Empress Dowager was not carrying enough travel expenses, so she immediately said: "I would like to give the Empress Dowager 300,000 taels of silver. If that is not enough, please just say so." .

How big is 300,000 taels?

It must be known that the imperial Beiyang fleet at that time only used military expenses of up to 1200,000 taels all year long. Thus, the amount of money the Cao family lent to Tu Hy at that time was equal to the spending of an entire fleet in one quarter.

This generosity made the "screaming fire" Queen Mother temporarily frightened. But the old Buddha calmed down very quickly.

She secretly thought that if the Cao family lent her money, she should also give the people here some reputation, and order the tax and financial items of this region to be handed over to the merchants here to do business.

After returning to business, Tu Hy felt that even though she lacked money, she could not lose her image. Therefore, she gave the Cao family a precious treasure from the Western Ocean - a golden train clock.

This watch is an item donated by France to Emperor Qianlong. Its design is extremely sophisticated, crafted from gold and glass.

From Qianlong's time until Cixi took power, this watch was still as brilliant as new. By 1931, the clock given by Tu Hy was still solemnly placed in the main hall of the Cao family in Thai Coc.

By the 30s of the last century, the Cao family was still a famous Chinese family. When Japan launched a war of invasion, this family's huge fortune was destroyed in the blink of an eye.

Empress Dowager Tu Hy likes to put chrysanthemum petals into hot pot, do eunuchs and maids enjoy the Emperor's leftovers? JLO19:48:15 18/11/2023In feudal China, every meal the emperor ate dozens to hundreds of delicious dishes. Many people are curious, can palace maids and eunuchs eat leftover food from the emperor and concubines?