Just after the Spring Festival, Emperor Qianlong went to Jiangnan for a private visit. On the first day of the second lunar month, he passed by Tianjin Wei and stayed at Longting in Wucaihao Hutong, Beima Road. When he got up the next day, Qianlong asked the eunuch who followed h

Just after the Spring Festival, Emperor Qianlong went to Jiangnan Weifu for a private visit. On the first day of the second lunar month, he passed by Tianjin Wei and stayed at Longting in Wucaihao Hutong, Beima Road.

When he got up the next day, Qianlong asked the eunuch who followed him: "What day is today?" The eunuch said: "Your Majesty, today is February 2nd ." Qianlong was very happy after hearing this, and he said: "Oh, Today is a good day for shaving my head. I want to have a good shave and have a safe trip." So he asked the eunuch to find a skilled barber. The eunuch hurriedly went to a barber shop in the city to invite a barber with the best skills. He first taught him a set of etiquette for paying homage to the emperor, and then brought him to meet Emperor Qianlong. After the barber made a big gift, Qianlong said: "There are three rules for giving me a haircut: first, you are not allowed to smoke me with your foul mouth; second, you are not allowed to breathe at me; third, you are not allowed to scratch my head!"

This person When the barber heard that he was shaving the emperor's head, he panicked for a long time. After hearing these three rules, he was even more frightened and his limbs were shaking. If he didn't want to shave his head, he would be guilty of "resistance" and would be beheaded. There was no other way but to shave the emperor's head. The eunuch took good care of him and gave him a handful of Amomum villosum and cardamom to put in his mouth to prevent bad breath. At that time, the so-called "head shaving" did not mean shaving the whole gourd, but combing the braid in the center of the head, leaving a circle of tassels around it, commonly known as "leaving the pot circle", and then shaving the sides with a razor. The more panicked the barber became, the more trembling his hands became. After shaving two or three times, his heart panicked, his hands trembled, and he said, "Chi!" and made a gash on the back of Emperor Qianlong's head. Qianlong shouted: "You bastard, do you want to assassinate the king? Take him out!" The guards immediately took the barber out and beheaded him. Qianlong scolded the eunuch and ordered to hire a truly skilled barber.

After a short time, he found another barber. Qianlong reiterated the three rules and added: "If you cut my throat, be careful with your head!" This sentence once again made the barber His face turned pale with fright, and his hands trembled even more. After shaving three times, there was a crack, and another cut was made on Qianlong's forehead. Qianlong became even more angry: "You are such a bold pariah. You dare to commit murder in front of me. Push him out quickly!" The guards beheaded the master again.

made two cuts in a row, but Qianlong was so angry that he slapped the table and ordered the eunuch: "Go and call the shopkeeper!" The eunuch was also frightened, and ran into the barbering booth in a panic, venting his anger on the shopkeeper. He showed off his power: "Well, you bastard, you asked two losers to shave the emperor's head. They pulled two holes in the emperor's head and made it bleed. The emperor was anxious and asked you to shave it with your own hands. If you shave it, you will be rewarded. "If you can't shave well, don't lose your head!" When the shopkeeper heard this, he was so frightened that his body was like chaff. He hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed to beg for mercy: "Master Eunuch, I am too timid to see the emperor. Please ask someone else!" The eunuch scolded: "How dare you resist and disobey the order? Are you going to die?" The shopkeeper thought to himself: "If two skilled masters are not good enough, my two attempts will be in vain." The best strategy is to leave." So he said with a fake smile: "Don't worry, I'll go. Please wait a moment, I will change clothes in the back, take off my hands and leave." Then he slipped to the back and ran away.

At this time, there was only a young apprentice of sixteen or seventeen years old left in the barbering shed. He was from a small county town. Because of the famines in his hometown for many years, he fled to Tianjin to seek a way out, so he made a pact to sell himself in this barbering shed. In craftsmanship, apprentices were not allowed to use their given names in the past, and were only called by their nicknames. This young man had a brogue, so the shopkeeper and the masters gave him a nickname, "Little Qieshao". Even though he speaks with an accent, he is smart, diligent, and a clever guy. He was practicing the basic skills of shaving his head: he was holding a razor in his hand to scrape off the layer of white frost on the skin of the winter melon, scraping off all the white frost one by one, and scraping it cleanly without even scratching the skin of the winter melon. Xiao Qishao has become quite proficient in the practice and would like to try his hand at shaving people's heads, but the shopkeeper doesn't dare to ask him to take a seat.At this time, Xiao Qishao had already guessed that the shopkeeper had used the golden cicada's plan to escape and fled. He rolled his eyes and thought of an idea. He pretended that nothing was wrong and stood in the corner, slowly and steadily shaving the winter melon.

The eunuch waited for a pack of cigarettes, but when he didn't see the shopkeeper come back, he shouted angrily at the little Qieshao: "Why hasn't your shopkeeper come back yet?" The eunuch said with a smile: "Master, you Don't worry. To tell you the truth, our shopkeeper is afraid of seeing the emperor, so he ran away. Did you ask me to shave the emperor's head?" When the eunuch heard this, he shook his head like a rattle. "You are so stupid. What a nonsense! The two master craftsmen have smashed the pot, not to mention you, you can’t even save my head.” Xiao Qieshao said seriously: “What’s wrong, sir?” I'm young, but my craftsmanship is better than theirs! As the saying goes, if you have ambition, you will live a hundred years in vain! Just let me go, and I will definitely satisfy the emperor." The eunuch thought: The shopkeeper ran away. I was worried that I had nowhere to find anyone, so I had no choice but to take this little scapegoat on a mission.

They came to Longting. When Qianlong saw that he was a child, he immediately became angry. Just when he was about to rebuke the eunuch, Xiao Qianlong immediately kowtowed to Qianlong and said, "Your Majesty, what are you doing? Don't look at me as a small person, but my craftsmanship is amazing." Yeah, everyone calls me 'the little prodigy who shaves my head'. If I can't shave it for you, will you kill me?" When Qianlong heard that this little mouth was really good and eloquent, his anger was half gone; After taking a closer look, I saw that this child had pretty features, neither tall nor short, and he looked very energetic. I felt very fond of him, so I agreed to let him have his head shaved.

Xiao Qieshao was a little scared at first, but he made a plan in his mind: "If I accidentally open a hole for you, then I will risk everything. Before you can chop off my head, I will strike first." I'll cut your head off with a click, and it's enough to exchange my little life for your old life as an emperor." When he thought about it, he was no longer afraid. Furthermore, Xiao Qishao's basic skills were also well practiced. He was calm, dexterous, and moved briskly and neatly. He shaved his head, shaved his face, and braided his hair in a short time. Emperor Qianlong didn't seem to feel anything at all, so he got a haircut and plastic surgery comfortably. Take a look in the mirror, hey! She was both beautiful and generous, and I couldn't help but feel so happy. I couldn't help but extended my thumbs and praised him repeatedly: "You are indeed a little prodigy with a shaved head!" Then he turned back and complained to the eunuch: "If I had invited him earlier, why would he have done this for me? What a hole!" The eunuch knelt down in a hurry and said, "The slave is guilty, and the slave deserves to die!"

At this time, Xiao Qishao said, "Your Majesty, how can I blame you for this? In fact, those two masters are better than me. Ah, their hands trembled because they were afraid of being shaved by you, so they hurt your dragon's head." Qianlong asked in confusion, "Are you afraid?" Xiao Qieshao replied calmly, "You are a real dragon. Emperor, you are the most noble in the world! You asked me to shave my head, so you gave me the dragon head. The knife was in my hand, and you were not afraid. I am a little shaver, an unknown person. Compared with you, I am nothing. One day and one day, what else am I afraid of!"

After hearing this, Qianlong thought about it and suddenly realized, "Oh! Those two masters were loyal to me, so they were afraid that I... would kill them by mistake. Killed by mistake! It's too late to regret it. I have to give them a good burial, a good coffin, and give their families more money." Qianlong thought about it and ordered the local magistrate to handle it. Aftermath.

Qianlong liked the young barber's good skills, broad-mindedness, wit, and eloquence very much, so he made him a fifth-grade accompanying officer who specialized in giving him haircuts and plastic surgery.

Two years later, Xiao Yishao asked for leave to visit relatives, and the people he led were very impressive. The villagers lined the streets to welcome him, and the gongs and drums were noisy, which was very majestic.