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中国古代自汉以后大多数时间都实行夏历，夏历的十二月为一年的末尾，称为腊月，十二月八日称为腊日。腊日是一年岁末祭祀百神的日子，在唐朝腊日时皇帝要向大臣们派发礼包，大臣们收到礼包后要上表圣上感谢恩德，得了免费的礼包说些好话也是情理之中的事，这种上表多数靠秘书代劳。
刘禹锡就曾经替别人写过两份谢腊日赐赠的上表，一篇是贞元十七年替淮南节度使杜佑写的《谢历日、面脂、口脂表》，另一份是替御史中丞李汶写的《为李中丞谢赐紫雪面脂等表》。
从这两份谢表中可以得知，皇帝腊日派发给大臣的礼品有：新年历日、紫雪、红雪、面脂、口脂、澡豆等。
腊日赐口脂面脂不知起于何时，杜甫写过一首《腊日》的诗，诗的后四句为：“纵酒欲谋良夜醉，还家初散紫宸朝。口脂面药随恩泽，翠管银罂下九宵。”罂是一种口小腹大的小罐，杜甫这首诗写于唐肃宗乾元元年，可见至少在那个时候就有了这种赐赠。
紫雪、红雪都是唐代的化妆品，刘禹锡在谢表中形容说：这种化妆品“膏凝雪莹，含液腾芳”，由此可见是一种芳香的膏状物。谢表中还写到：这种化妆品“功能去疾，永绝于疠疵；泽可饰容，顿光于蒲柳。”蒲柳是指蒲树和柳树，二者都属于落叶较早的树种，古人因而用蒲柳来比喻人的容颜早衰。而紫雪、红雪则可以消除皮肤上的病疵，使早衰的面容焕发容光。搽了之后小豆豆不见了，二十变成十八。
紫雪和红雪装在盒子或罐子中，盒子有金花银盒，带棱角的木盒。罐子这是银质的罂罐。
唐代的王焘写过一本《外台秘要》，记载了许多前人及当时的药方，比如武则天用来养生的《则天大圣皇后炼益母草留颜方》，书中有《紫雪丹》的配方，内含滑石、石膏 、磁石 、羚羊角 、青木香 、犀角 、沉香 、丁香 、玄参 、甘草 、朴硝 、朱砂 、麝香、黄金等十几种药物，明代的李时珍在《本草纲目》中也记有紫雪、红雪的验方，只是不知道和唐代皇帝赐给大臣们的紫雪、红雪是不是一种东西。看来这些都是高档化妆品，皇帝的筐里没烂杏。
这些化妆品中的一种主要成分是扑消，它是硝的一个种类。
硝就是土地上和土墙上泛出的那种白色的结晶体，一硝二磺三木炭是古人制造火药的配方，硝也用来熟制皮革。将原硝加以煎炼之后，凝结在容器底部杂质较多的部分就是扑消，外用能治疗皮肤上的疮痈，也可以消除皮肤上的硬质。当然，扑消的加入量是要严格掌控的，掺的太多了就不是在美容而是在熟皮子。
关于紫雪、红雪下发前的准备工作，唐朝的诗人王建在他的《宫词》中写到：“黄金盒里盛红雪，重结香羅四出花。一一旁边书敕字，中官送与大臣家。”
从诗意可以得知，紫雪、红雪是装在黄金的盒子里，这一点和刘禹锡谢表中“金花银盒”的记载相吻合。这些盒子还要由宫女们进行再包装，用香羅包裹起来，香羅要打成四个花瓣状的花结。每个包装外面都要写上“敕”字，表示这是皇帝赐给的，这个字也是宫女们来写。最后，这些化妆品要由中使分别送到大臣的家中，即刘禹锡谢表中写的“中使某乙至，奉宣圣旨赐臣……。”
这种腊日赐给也惠及到公主们，王建在另一首《宫词》中写到：“月冷江清近腊时，玉阶金瓦雪澌澌。浴堂门外抄名入，公主家人谢面脂。”诗中“月冷江清近腊时”表明赐面脂的时间是在腊日之前，浴堂门是浴堂殿的外门，浴堂殿位于大明宫内紫宸殿东侧，是皇帝的寝殿，唐德宗、唐宪宗都在这里居住过。全诗描写的是公主接到赐给的面脂之后派家人前来谢恩的情景。
王建并没有在宫中呆过，也不知从哪里扒来这么多宫女日常生活的八卦，甚至包括“入月”这种事，这些宫词流传甚广“天下皆咏于口”。天下人都知道了宫中生活的秘闻，怪不得宦官王守澄要追究王建的泄漏皇宫私秘罪，“禁宫深邃，何以知之”。王建赶紧写了一首诗，将王守澄恭维了一番，还拉关系说“自是同姓”，一笔写不出两个王字，这才算过关。
皇上的恩赐一年就这么一回，政治意义高于使用意义，不能指望它来满足日常的需求。作为化妆品的主要使用者，唐朝的女性日常所需还是要掏钱购买，这部分费用叫做“脂粉钱”。有一些官员的夫人不必为这笔开支发愁，据《嘉话录》中记载，唐湖南观察使和柳州刺史每月的工资表中就有“夫人脂粉钱”这一项收入。
百姓人家的女子也是要装扮的，爱美之心人皆有之。脂粉钱是日常零用钱，如果有额外的收入来满足这一需求，那是再好不过的了，省得为这笔开支和丈夫争强斗气。一些知名人士府中看门的老妈子每年都盼着考进士的学子前来投卷。唐朝的学子在考进士之前要将自己得意的文章汇编成卷送给当时的名家，让他们宣传宣传，以博得个名震京师。晚唐时期，每年参加进士考试的学子不下千人，真正能够录取的不过三十人左右，录取率也够低的。这一千多学子大多数都会投出自己的文卷，那些知名人士家门口往往是卷轴成堆，这些文卷最终会被看门的老妈子拿去卖给收破烂的，换回的钱就用作脂粉开支。当时有一个叫薛保遜的举子喜欢编写巨著，那些老妈子对收破烂的人说：如果收集到薛保遜的文卷，卖下的钱将会是普通学子的几倍。
大户人家女婢们的脂粉有时也由主妇提供，这大概是一种雇工福利。如果遇上出手大方的主妇还好一些，但也由小气的主妇。有些小气的主妇不是吝啬，而是出于妒忌之心，怕的是女婢们打扮的妩媚之后喧宾夺主，博得男主人频频放电送出束束秋波。唐人段成式在他的《酉阳杂俎》中写到：“房孺复妻崔氏性忌，左右婢女不得浓妆高髻，月给胭脂一豆，粉一钱。”
豆是一种计量单位，一两等于二十四铢，一铢等于六豆。一个月一豆胭脂少得可怜，也就那么一小粒。那些婢女们也只好坚定不移的奉行素面朝天的原则了。
化妆品在人们死后也会带入坟墓中，吐鲁番出土文书中有不少《随葬衣物疏》，从中可以得知当地男子的随葬物中有刀具弓箭，女子的随葬物中有胭脂胡粉。
宋人的笔记中记载：“国朝旧日不赐口脂面药，熙宁初始赐二府。”这是在说宋朝建国之后皇帝不再赐给大臣口脂面脂，直到宋神宗熙宁年间才恢复赐赠。
顺便说一下，腊八粥这一民俗源于佛教，因此宋朝时腊八粥又叫“佛粥”。腊八粥盛于宋朝，每到腊八这一天，北宋东京“诸寺作佛浴会，并送七宝五味粥与行徒，谓之‘腊八粥’。”在这一天，各个寺院还会给门徒们发放“面油”，这一点应该和唐代皇帝赐赠面脂有关。
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About the game:
USA as a world power? In E-Sim it is possible!
In E-Sim we have a huge, living world, which is a mirror copy of the Earth. Well, maybe not completely mirrored, because the balance of power in this virtual world looks a bit different than in real life. In E-Sim, USA does not have to be a world superpower, It can be efficiently managed as a much smaller country that has entrepreneurial citizens that support it's foundation. Everything depends on the players themselves and how they decide to shape the political map of the game.
Work for the good of your country and see it rise to an empire.
Activities in this game are divided into several modules. First is the economy as a citizen in a country of your choice you must work to earn money, which you will get to spend for example, on food or purchase of weapons which are critical for your progress as a fighter. You will work in either private companies which are owned by players or government companies which are owned by the state. After progressing in the game you will finally get the opportunity to set up your own business and hire other players. If it prospers, we can even change it into a joint-stock company and enter the stock market and get even more money in this way.
In E-Sim, international wars are nothing out of the ordinary.
Become an influential politician.
The second module is a politics. Just like in real life politics in E-Sim are an extremely powerful tool that can be used for your own purposes. From time to time there are elections in the game in which you will not only vote, but also have the ability to run for the head of the party you're in. You can also apply for congress, where once elected you will be given the right to vote on laws proposed by your fellow congress members or your president and propose laws yourself. Voting on laws is important for your country as it can shape the lives of those around you. You can also try to become the head of a given party, and even take part in presidential elections and decide on the shape of the foreign policy of a given state (for example, who to declare war on). Career in politics is obviously not easy and in order to succeed in it, you have to have a good plan and compete for the votes of voters.
You can go bankrupt or become a rich man while playing the stock market.
The international war.
The last and probably the most important module is military. In E-Sim, countries are constantly fighting each other for control over territories which in return grant them access to more valuable raw materials. For this purpose, they form alliances, they fight international wars, but they also have to deal with, for example, uprisings in conquered countries or civil wars, which may explode on their territory. You can also take part in these clashes, although you are also given the opportunity to lead a life as a pacifist who focuses on other activities in the game (for example, running a successful newspaper or selling products).
At the auction you can sell or buy your dream inventory.
E-Sim is a unique browser game. It's creators ensured realistic representation of the mechanisms present in the real world and gave all power to the players who shape the image of the virtual Earth according to their own. So come and join them and help your country achieve its full potential.
Invest, produce and sell - be an entrepreneur in E-Sim.
Take part in numerous events for the E-Sim community.
