When a girl is not only spoiled and spends a lot of money, but also asks for the treatment of a little princess, if at this time she is not living in a dream...
Then we usually complain that she "did not have the life of a princess, but she had a princess's illness."
However, in fact, what surprises people is that in the Qing Dynasty, there are such a bunch of real princesses who frequently encounter economic crises, which can be said to be unable to get the princess's illness with the life of the princess.
Before talking about the princess's economic crisis, let's first say that the princess's rich economic income is good, which seems contradictory, since there is a "rich" economic income, how can there be a lack of money?
Above_ Heshuo Kejing Princess Mansion, also known as Hohhot City Museum or Qing Princess Mansion
The princesses of the Qing Dynasty had two grades, one was "Gulun" and the other was "Heshuo". According to the royal laws of the Qing Dynasty, "Whoever resides in Beijing at the age of Princess Gulun shall be given four hundred and two silver taels, and Princess Heshuo shall be given three hundred and two taels of silver." For each silver one or two, one or two pieces of rice are given. "The annual salary of a qing dynasty official is only 180 taels of silver plus 180 pieces of rice, but it is also quite rich."
There may be a word in the above sentence that caught your attention, "in Beijing".
These two words can have a little bit of talk, there is a saying called "poor born in the imperial family", born in the royal family, there is indeed endless glory and wealth, but behind the scenes there is no such scenery as ordinary people see, which is especially the princess as the most. What were eighty percent of the princesses of the Qing Dynasty used for?
The answer is to be kind and pro.
Marry all the forces that the emperor thinks should be good, such as the Mongols. To put it mildly, this is called maintaining a friendship between Manchuria and Mongolia that has been good and touching for generations. To put it bluntly, this is just an ordinary political transaction. It's just that as a trade item, it is the emperor's thousands of gold.
Above_ Qianlong Emperor (reigned 1736-1796)
There is an old saying in ancient times, called "marry the chicken with the chicken, marry the dog with the dog, marry the door panel and carry it", so the princess who marries is even the daughter of the noble, she must marry into the territory of the Mongols. Now Hohhot has a tourist attraction called Princess House. It is the residence of a princess who married into Mongolia.
Fortunately, the national strength of the Great Qing Dynasty was still relatively strong, and the emperor was not desperate, so when qianlong began, this system was abolished.
She had to get married, but when ma Ma Ye came to the capital, Yuan's precious daughter would not go to the steppe and be blown by the wind.
Therefore, the princess house in Hohhot is precious.
Because after Qianlong, there was basically nothing.
Above_Qing Dynasty Tianshun Xiang Silver Ingot (Wang Chi)
Speaking of the economic income of the princesses, in addition to the four hundred taels of silver and four hundred meters per year, the princesses also enjoy a variety of subsidies. In addition, if it is a foreign clan, then the silver will change from four hundred to one thousand.
What do these subsidies include?
When you get married, you have makeup, including clothes and jewelry, all kinds of daily necessities, and then attach gold hundred and two, silver ten thousand two (Gulun Princess Gold Hundred Two, Silver Twelve Thousand Two; Princess Heshuo Gold Hundred Two, Silver Ten Thousand Two).
If it is a princess who has received the grace of the holy gods, there will be some other reward. For example, when he married Princess Jinggulun, he was also rewarded with a "Qiacheng Pawnshop" with 25,000 taels of silver. Later, Princess Zhuang Jinggulun married out of gold and silver and pawnshops, as well as five shops, which were run by the royal family, and the princess could "withdraw 160 taels of silver per month". Since Princess Zhuang Jing, the shop has become a regular reward for the princess.
Above_Qing Shunzhi Golden Silk Dragon Robe
In addition, after seven years of Shunzhi, the princesses were able to obtain "Zhuangtian". Each princess has a garden of sixty acres (about 360 acres), and this income depends on the heavenly appreciation meal, which varies from about ten to dozens of twos per year. Later, when Princess Shou'en was married in the twenty-fifth year of Daoguang, she was changed to withdraw 1,200 taels of silver per year from the head of the accounting department manor every year. The treatment can be said to be greatly improved.
The above treatment can not be said to be not rich, but it is not over. The princess lived there after marriage, and who came to serve these golden and precious heavenly women was also handled by the royal family. The Princess Mansion is provided by the Royal Family, and the entourage (maids, bodyguards, etc.) is also paid for by the Royal Family.
Not only that, but these personnel were also members of the "system" of the Eight Classics of Zheng'er, "The Qianlong Emperor Decree: Decree: Princess Gulun is within the scope, and is designated as a member of the Three Pins Lingding Changshi, a member of the First Class Guard, a second class guard, two members of the Third Class Guard, and two members of the Six Pin Ceremonies." Princess Heshuo was assigned to be a member of the Four Pins Lingding Changshi, a member of the Second Class Guards, a Member of the Third Class Guards, and a Member of the Six seven Pin Ceremonies. There is no need to be bound to accompany the dowry household, and the princess is free to choose. Princess Gulun and Princess Heshuo were allowed to wear one person to the Eight Pins, and the Ministry of Ceremonies and the Ministry of Internal Affairs were prepared for investigation. ”
That's right, the princess's bodyguards and maids are all official masters with good qualities.
Above_ "Current Rules in the Palace of the King", published by Wu Yingdian in the tenth year of the Qing Dynasty (1884).
In addition to the above, the princesses have other incomes, but they are not stable, which is the "reward". Although it is not stable, the specific number depends on the recent mood of the emperor, but in a sense it is also a drought and flood to ensure the harvest, according to the current rules in the King's Palace, the princess's birthday and the birth of a child have a well-stipulated reward. Specifically, if you have a birthday, "it is a day, and the gift is made of satin three, the official use of satin is three, the spring is three, the aya is three, the middle fruit table is one, and the reward fruit table is two." If you have a child, the reward is even more generous, and it can be said that it is all-encompassing, and even the child's toy royal is ready.
Having said all this, there are probably not a few who envy the rich income of the princesses.
Unfortunately, the princesses were still poor.
Fifty-four years after Qianlong, the Hejing Princess Mansion was unable to make ends meet for many years, which attracted the attention of the emperor. The Emperor said, "There must be some diaomin harming my daughter!" ”
True, his old man suspected that the princess's housekeeper was corrupt, and his innocent daughter did not find out. So he ordered a thorough investigation.
The conclusion of the inventory was that "there is no abuse of affection yet", and the princess's housekeepers are also "not rich and generous." The princess's housekeepers were all poor jingles, greedy for a hammer, and the final conclusion was that "the real family can't make ends meet every year."
Above_ Hejing Princess Mansion, at No. 7 Zhangzizhong Road, Dongcheng District, Beijing (formerly Tieshi Hutong). It was the third daughter of the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Gu Lun and Princess Jing, after marrying.
A few years later, in the eighth year of Jiaqing, the emperor found that the eunuch was selling princess jewelry privately, and Long Yan was furious and tortured, and later found that it was the princess who had no money to ask the eunuch to sell it.
Moreover, the above two princesses are not only not marginal princesses that no one cares about the emperor and does not like, but they are the pearls in the palm of the Eight Classics of Zheng'er. They both had such a miserable life, let alone other princesses.
Although the annual salary of the princess is higher than that of a pin official, it is obviously dwarfed by the princes' annual ten thousand silver and ten thousand silver rice. However, the unfairness is that the cost of maintaining the operation of a princess house and maintaining the operation of the royal palace are almost the same.
What are these costs?
The big head is a wedding and funeral matter, that is, the princess marries the princess, which is not handled by the royal family in all aspects, and for the gege who gets married, this is after all a once in a lifetime event, of course, it must be vigorous, and there is a ten mile red makeup. As a result, for each wedding and funeral, the Princess House had to spend five or six thousand or even nearly ten thousand taels, which was the princess's money for several years.
Above_ Daoguang Emperor's Grand Princess (Princess Duan mercy Gulun) and Grand Brother (King of Yinzhi County), courtyard game scroll
In addition, there are salaries, although some people here are paid by the royal family, but there are also a large number of people whose salaries are paid by the princess herself, such as the daughter-in-law's monthly salary of 1020 taels per year. There are also a large number of family members, after all, there are only a few dozen people who are paid by the royal family, and there are not necessarily too many Miao people in a large princess house.
There are also a variety of miscellaneous items, such as making clothes for everyone every year, silver 3000. Chai rice oil salt sauce vinegar tea, silver 4000. Go hunting with the Emperor, Silver 1500, and so on.
All in all, it was concluded that the princess did not have any money either. Viva Grandpa can only mean "I know" (the princess's family is not spared, and she is deeply involved).
But the emperor didn't have any good way, after all, he usually rewarded so much.
Seriously, what is the cause of the princess's dilemma?
Simply put, it boils down to the dislocation of political status and gender status.
The princesses had the same political status as the princes and princes, but they were also suppressed by Confucian and traditional ideas, so that they could not make ends meet.
Above_ Princess Gulun of the late Qing Dynasty
The princesses "do not spare the family", why didn't you hear that the prince also cried poorly?
Of course, this is also related to the fact that it is easier for the princes to run their own industries, if the princess shows her face every day and goes around thinking about how to make money, I don't know how to be pointed out.
All in all, the princesses are a terrible word.
The princesses were saddled with the political mission of integrating the Manchu and Mongolian dynasties, or the carriers of such cultural integration, and their economic plight reflected the struggle of the princesses between the monarchs, the husband and wife, and the Manchu Han, and became the epitome of the institutional dilemma of the Qing Dynasty.
Text: Undecided
Resources:
[1] "Research on Manchu-Mongolian Marriage in the Qing Dynasty", Du Jiaji Palace Publishing House, 2013
[2] "The Qing Palace Internal Affairs Office Works", Palace Publishing House, 2014
[3] "Qing Shilu", Zhonghua Bookstore, 1986
[4] Current Regulations of the Ministry of internal affairs of the King's Government
[5] "The account for the investigation and handling of the entrance fee of the Gulun and Jing Princess Houses has not yet been compromised by the abuse of deception"
The text was created by the History University Hall team, and the picture originated from the Internet and the copyright belongs to the original author