"He ordered all his ministers to dress up as merchants and then wandered through the palace pretending to be a commoner going shopping, aka the game I used to make my grandma play with me when I was three, except as a grown man"
"Chinese emperors were traditionally confined to the Forbidden City in Beijing, which served as the imperial palace for over 500 years. While the emperors could technically leave the palace, they rarely did so, as their movements were heavily restricted and they were surrounded by a highly structured and ritualized court life. The Forbidden City was designed to be a self-contained world, with everything the emperor needed available within its walls. However, there are historical instances of emperors leaving the Forbidden City for specific ceremonial events or military campaigns."
This has become one of my favourite substacks. consistently entertaining.
My suggestion, there are a trove of historical dirtbags associated with events around the Great Game. I suggest starting with Baron Von Ungern-Sternberg. I just scanned his wikipedia page, and he is more bonkers than I remember.
"All of these women deserved better. I hope their spirits are haunting him relentlessly." Not as funny as it should be, but I most have laughed for a solid 5 minutes at this comment.
"He ordered all his ministers to dress up as merchants and then wandered through the palace pretending to be a commoner going shopping, aka the game I used to make my grandma play with me when I was three, except as a grown man"
"Chinese emperors were traditionally confined to the Forbidden City in Beijing, which served as the imperial palace for over 500 years. While the emperors could technically leave the palace, they rarely did so, as their movements were heavily restricted and they were surrounded by a highly structured and ritualized court life. The Forbidden City was designed to be a self-contained world, with everything the emperor needed available within its walls. However, there are historical instances of emperors leaving the Forbidden City for specific ceremonial events or military campaigns."
A little context https://www.quora.com/Could-Chinese-emperors-leave-the-Forbidden-City
Hilarious and brilliant. This emperor was not only a dirtbag but a douchebag… literally.
This has become one of my favourite substacks. consistently entertaining.
My suggestion, there are a trove of historical dirtbags associated with events around the Great Game. I suggest starting with Baron Von Ungern-Sternberg. I just scanned his wikipedia page, and he is more bonkers than I remember.
funny and enlightening at the same time. As I was reading it I thought of Cecil Rhodes, have you ever done him. Quite a dirtbag by all accounts.
"All of these women deserved better. I hope their spirits are haunting him relentlessly." Not as funny as it should be, but I most have laughed for a solid 5 minutes at this comment.
23 years doing nothing. LIGHTWEIGHT.