Why did Empress Dowager Cixi eat 20 eggs every day, but the chef had to prepare 500?

Although Empress Dowager Cixi only ate 20 eggs a day, the chefs bought and prepared 500. So who were the remaining eggs for?

Empress Dowager Cixi (1833–1908) was a figure who held supreme power during the late Qing Dynasty. She was the first favorite concubine of Emperor Wenzong of Qing, the biological mother of Emperor Tongzhi, the adoptive mother of Emperor Guangxu, and the nominal grandmother of Emperor Xuantong Puyi.

According to historical records, Empress Dowager Cixi held the key power of the Qing Dynasty for 47 years. During this time, the Empress Dowager was also famous for her lavish lifestyle. Not only did she wear lavish clothes and have many splendid jewelry and gems, Empress Dowager Cixi also had very high demands on the quality of life, especially in terms of food and drink.

Empress Dowager Cixi held supreme power for many years during the late Qing Dynasty.

According to historical records, in order to keep others from knowing her favorite dishes and fear being poisoned, Empress Dowager Cixi only ate no more than three bites of each dish, and did not eat every dish.

After the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1912, a eunuch named Xin Xiu Ming wrote a book called "The Imperial Palace Chronicles" about his life in the palace during the last years of the Qing Dynasty. The book describes the historical changes and life in the palace that the eunuch heard and saw. The book even revealed details about the daily lives of emperors, high-ranking officials, and eunuchs during the late Qing Dynasty.

According to the "Palace Records", during the reign of Emperor Guangxu, the place in charge of cooking in the imperial palace was divided into two parts. One part was the Imperial Kitchen, which served Emperor Guangxu, while the other part included the Shou Kitchen and Shou Tea Room, which were set up to serve Empress Dowager Cixi.

Specifically, the Tho Thien room was in charge of food, while the Tho Tra room was in charge of preparing fruits, tea, and snacks for Empress Dowager Tu Hi.

In particular, there is a strange thing mentioned in "The Royal Palace Chronicle". That is, the Thien Phong family was assigned to prepare 500 eggs every day for Empress Dowager Cixi.

Empress Dowager Cixi's meals often had many dishes.

Preparing 500 eggs for Empress Dowager Cixi, what is the truth?

Empress Dowager Cixi had very high demands on food and daily activities.

In fact, Empress Dowager Cixi only needed about 20 eggs a day. While eating, the empress dowager only ate one or two eggs . So, why did the empress dowager have to prepare 500 eggs in her private kitchen?

During the Qing Dynasty, food in the palaces was also distributed based on one's rank. Of course, with the power of Empress Dowager Cixi, it was not unusual for her to receive the privilege of having 500 eggs a day.

But the paradox is that this queen mother only needs 20 fruits per day, so who will get the remaining 480 fruits?

Every day, Empress Dowager Cixi only needed 20 eggs.

According to the book "The Royal Palace Records", the chefs were tasked with preparing 500 eggs, but only 20 were prepared for the Empress Dowager Cixi. The remaining 480 eggs were pocketed by servants of different ranks . In order to get everyone a share, these people declared the number of eggs they needed to buy as high as 500, and of course they all hid this from the Empress Dowager Cixi. Afterwards, they sold the extra eggs and divided the money among themselves.

Although Empress Dowager Cixi knew about this kind of thing, she never asked about it. This was because the Empress Dowager only cared about the quality and luxury of the meals. Therefore, even if the servants below her did something secretly or embezzled a little, Empress Dowager Cixi did not care too much. For this powerful Empress Dowager, as long as these people could serve well, there would be no problem.

In fact, embezzlement of 480 eggs was a very common thing in the late Qing Dynasty. Accordingly, not only eggs, but also other foods were also in the same situation. Corruption within the Qing Dynasty government was widespread and serious, while people's lives became increasingly difficult.

The high demands on the dishes unexpectedly became a loophole for the servants of Empress Dowager Cixi to secretly exploit.

The problems of the Qing Dynasty in the final years were not only due to Empress Dowager Cixi but also depended on the existing and painful problems within the country. Among them, corruption occurred in many places. Even Empress Dowager Cixi eating eggs could embezzle such a large amount of money. Therefore, it was not difficult to predict the final fate of the Qing Dynasty in the early 20th century.