The Qing Dynasty was founded for three hundred years, and a total of twelve emperors were passed down. Although none of these twelve emperors can be said to be Ming Jun, none of them are Emperors of The Dark, and none of them are diligent and earnest, and none of them are indulging in pleasure and absurdity, and almost all of them can say the past.
Why? This can be seen in the frugality of the Qing emperors.
The Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, who was taught by his grandmother Empress Xiaozhuang since childhood, was determined to be a good emperor who was diligent in government affairs and loved the people. Therefore, his daily consumption refuses to be extravagant, and he has little interest in those who sit and enjoy happiness or pay attention to pomp.
In the second year of his reign, he received a very rare little yellow parrot, which was specially sent from the front line by a general, and he also built a very chic golden cage for this little parrot. Kangxi succeeded to the throne at the age of eight, but he was only nine years old at the time, and he was a playful age, and the general wanted to use this parrot to please him. However, the little emperor was surprised by him and rejected this rare little parrot, and not only that, he was also severely reprimanded by Kangxi.
Emperors like Kangxi, who already had such insight at a young age, were few in the past dynasties. What is even more precious is that Kangxi has been in power for so many years, and he can be consistent and stick to his own approach.
That year, kangxi's fiftieth birthday, some ministers made a screen to wish him a birthday. When the emperor was on his fiftieth birthday, he gave a screen, in fact, it was not a particularly valuable gift, moreover, this screen was made by a number of ministers together. But Kangxi still did not change his original intention, he copied down the birthday articles written by the ministers on the screen to himself as a memorial, and the screen was returned by him.
Not only his daily life, but also all kinds of expenses in the palace, Kangxi has strict requirements, everything is simple, and must not be wasted.
In the case of Guanglu Temple and Li Fan Yuan, Guanglu Temple had to prepare feasts for palace sacrifices and ceremonies every year, and in previous years it cost 700,000 taels of silver, but after the gradual compression of Kangxi, these expenses dropped by more than 600,000 taels, and only about 70,000 taels of silver were needed every year. The Rigakuin was in charge of the affairs of the ethnic minorities, and the annual cost of rewards and receptions was 800,000 taels of silver. Under Kangxi's deliberate tailoring, some unnecessary expenses were cancelled, and the cost of expenditure was reduced by more than 700,000 taels, and only about 80,000 taels were needed every year.
Even when he left the palace, Kangxi still strictly adhered to the practice of economy, not allowing special roads to be built for him, and not allowing him to build a palace without authorization. The existing palaces are not allowed to add bricks and tiles and deliberately build them. Some local officials asked Kangxi for instructions, saying that the local palace should be handed over to local management, but Kangxi felt that this would increase the burden on the locality. Therefore, he ordered that it would not be repaired after that, and let it be damaged.
In addition, Kangxi also ordered that local officials should not be allowed to build color tents, not to hold greeting ceremonies, and not to specially carve monuments and erect monuments for his inscriptions. If there is a violation, after he knows it, it will be a rebuke.
Kangxi's frugal style influenced the next generation, and after Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, he advocated saving grain. There is also a special decree to have a special management of leftover porridge, and give those that have not deteriorated and can be eaten to the subordinates in the service to eat; those that cannot be eaten are used to feed cats and dogs; those that cannot be eaten, simply dried and fed to birds.
To this end, Yongzheng will send special personnel to investigate, and if they do not do so, they will be punished.
As the head of a country, Yongzheng actually made a holy will for the disposal of leftover porridge, which is absolutely rare in China's thousands of years of history. As for how to save grain, Yongzheng can be regarded as painstaking, and after stipulating the leftover porridge, he made another holy decree for the matter of grain.
He ordered the eunuchs to cook rice in moderation, preferring to cook less than more, so that they discarded the leftovers and did not know how to cherish the grain. He also asked the chief eunuchs everywhere to pick up the grains of rice when they saw them. If, by Yongzheng, there are people who abandon the rice valley, no matter who it is, they will be punished and severely punished for forty plates.
If, as in the past, the general managers connived at these acts and were discovered by him, even the general manager would be severely responsible. From this point of view, Yongzheng is still very attentive to the conservation of grain, and there are orders, reasons, methods, and punitive measures, which are very thoughtful and complete. Unfortunately, the frugal style of Kangxi and Yongzheng was not passed on to Qianlong, but was inherited by Jiaqing in the next generation.
Qianlong's life was absolutely extravagant compared to Kangxi Yongzheng's, and Jiaqing's frugality was influenced by Zhu Jue. Zhu Jue was Jiaqing's master, and compared with He yan, it was really the opposite, and He yan was greedy and rich enough to rival the country, but Zhu Jue was honest and self-defending.
Zhu Jue was transferred to Beijing from Shandong, and even two hundred taels of silver had to be borrowed from others for the travel expenses.
Even, at the time of his death, Jiaqing went to pay tribute, but because the door of the home was narrow and old, the palanquin could not be carried in, and Jiaqing could only get off the palanquin and walk in. When he saw his master's bedroom, there was only a large bed, a few wooden stools, old cotton mattresses, and old cotton quilts, Jiaqing couldn't help but cry bitterly.
With such a shabby family situation, how many people will believe that this is the family situation of an emperor?
Jiaqing once recalled that his teacher led by example and had a great impact on his life. After Jiaqing became pro-government, it strictly prohibited local officials from searching for all kinds of treasures of The Nagan. Some officials, in accordance with the old practice of the previous dynasty, transported the jade produced in Hetian, Xinjiang, into Beijing, the largest of which was more than 10,000 catties. When Jiaqing learned of this, he ordered: No matter where the jade has been transported, it will be abandoned on the spot and cannot enter Beijing.
In Jiaqing's view, the items of tribute by local officials are all looted from the people, and officials at all levels will also use the name of tribute to expropriate and riot, causing the people to be unhappy. What's more, these things can neither fill the hunger nor withstand the cold, and have no effect. Not only jade treasures, but also foreigners that many officials love to put down, Jiaqing is not interested, and also denounces it as "more like dung".
On the occasion of Jiaqing's fiftieth birthday, a royal historian suggested that in order to celebrate the emperor's fiftieth birthday, the inner city should continue to perform plays for ten days. This Yushi originally wanted to please Jiaqing, but unexpectedly, After Jiaqing read this recital, he was very angry. After Jiaqing pro-government, he decided to reverse the atmosphere of extravagance and absurd government affairs in order to achieve the purpose of exerting great efforts to govern.
The inner city forbade acting, which was his decision. If you follow this imperial advice, wouldn't it be a corrupt atmosphere? Soon after, this imperial history was not only dismissed as an official, but also sent to Shengjing, far away, to work as a coolie.
After Jiaqing, the Daoguang Emperor, who succeeded to the throne, was also a frugal emperor. He even had his most important enthronement ceremony, which was to save and save. According to the custom, the new emperor must have a band to play when he ascends the throne, but Daoguang believes that the band rehearsal is not only time-consuming and laborious, but also costs silver, so he ordered "set music without doing", which means: let the musicians take the instruments to pose, do not need to make a sound.
Daoguang not only canceled the music, but even the ceremony of the minister reading the congratulatory watch to the new emperor was also canceled. From this point of view, Daoguang is not interested in the face project of this image, and really puts frugality in the first place. Daoguang, like Kangxi, was also frugal about his ability to eat and wear. The palanquin he sat on was used by Jiaqing, and if it was broken, he would repair it and not let him make a new palanquin.
In addition, he does not pay much attention to pomp and circumstance, and even feels that "even if you don't take advantage of it, it is not necessary." As the supreme emperor, Daoguang wore clothes with patches. If the knee of the pants is broken, he never changes it, and wears it directly after patching it, not only not worrying about being seen, but also proud.
Emperors are like this, and ministers naturally want to follow suit. Whether the pants were really torn or not, they would be patched, just to be consistent with the emperor. Cao Zhenyong, a university scholar, had the heart to expose the patch on his knee when he knelt down to salute the emperor, but he did not expect to let Daoguang see it.
When the serious matter was finished, Daoguang chatted with Cao Zhenyong about the patch. Daoguang casually asked Cao Zhenyong how much money he had spent on the patch. Cao Zhenyong didn't know how much money it would cost to patch it, and he could only talk nonsense, almost three or two pieces of silver. Unexpectedly, Daoguang actually had a lot of emotion, thinking that it was very cheap to patch the people, because the Ministry of Internal Affairs would cost him five or two silver to patch him.
As soon as Daoguang said this, Manchu Wenwu couldn't help but smile, because of the cost of five or two pieces of silver, he didn't know how many new pants he could make. Although Daoguang was bent on frugality, he was an emperor in a high position and did not understand the world, just a patch, and he was calculated a lot of silver by the people of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
After Daoguang's son Xianfeng became emperor, he also strictly abided by Daoguang's hadith, advocated frugality and luxury, and tried to "always keep the simple family style". The door to the study was broken, and he didn't let it be replaced, but let someone fix it. Perhaps during the Daoguang period, the officials fooled the emperor, built a door, and even offered a reimbursement of five thousand taels of silver.
Naturally, Xian Feng did not have Daoguang to be confused, and was furious, ordering an interrogation, and the official who reported it immediately said that it was a misreporting, but it was actually fifty taels, which was only confused.
Diligence and thrift have always been the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation, no matter what era, such an atmosphere should be worth inheriting from everyone.
Resources:
[Records of the Ancestors of the Qing Dynasty, Records of emperors of the Qing Dynasty, Manuscripts of the History of the Qing Dynasty, Benji of Xuanzong, And Sons of Heaven: Emperor Xianfeng' Yixuan]