The emperor's frugality was ultimately relative. Among the emperors of the Qing Dynasty, Daoguang was known as "frugal", but it was difficult to match the fame. There is also a rather ironic passage about this emperor's strict frugality: in order to save money, the Daoguang Emperor forced the harem concubines to learn needlework and sew clothes, and the ministers ran to the thrift stores to buy torn clothes in order to do what they liked, resulting in the old clothes in the capital selling more expensive than the new clothes!
Although he also wanted to build a luxurious mausoleum for himself, he could not put down his "face" in the end. Therefore, when choosing the auspicious land of ten thousand years, Daoguang also repeatedly emphasized the word frugality.
The first person to preside over the construction of the mausoleum was Yinghe. Daoguang chose him because Yinghe had mentioned the story of Emperor Wen of Han's thin burial when talking with Daoguang before. In terms of talent and character, Daoguang may not be as good as Emperor Wen of Han, but the latter consciously or unconsciously regards it as an example. Therefore, Yinghe also rightfully went to repair the tomb of the Daoguang Emperor.
In order to achieve the purpose of "frugality", Daoguang deliberately cancelled facilities such as the two-pillar gate and the tile roof of the underground palace, and also ordered the stele pavilion in the main hall and the stone statues in the mausoleum to reduce the volume to save money. But even so, it still cost 2 million taels of silver. However, Daoguang was still very satisfied at first.
However, this mausoleum, which was originally built in the Qing Dynasty, was later abandoned due to water leakage from the underground palace. According to the laws of the Qing Dynasty, Yinghe, who was responsible for the construction, was beheaded by the Ministry of Punishment. However, because Yinghe did not commit bribery during the period of tomb repair, Daoguang "opened grace outside the law":
Yinghe was sent to Heilongjiang to serve as a laborer, and his sons Kuizhao and Kuiyao also went with him.
In the thirty-first year of Daoguang, the Daoguang Emperor personally went to the QingXi Mausoleum and chose a piece of auspicious land for ten thousand years here, which was the Muling tomb of Longquanyu. This mausoleum was built in the 32nd year of Daoguang, in order to highlight the "frugality", the tombs of the previous Qing Tombs were demolished and the materials were transported to the Xiling Tombs for reconstruction, which can be described as a great effort.
In the process of rebuilding Muling, Daoguang also deliberately removed facilities such as Fangcheng and Minglou, and some buildings were also reduced in size. However, although there are fewer facilities on the ground, the underground palace is still luxurious. In addition to the previous construction, demolition, and transportation, Muling after the restoration still consumed a lot of silver.
As mentioned earlier, the emperor's frugality was ultimately relative. Compared with Qianlong, who prides himself on being a perfect martial artist, Daoguang's life is also much more frugal. However, Daoguang's behavior is inevitably too much to sell his reputation, his frugality, more like to do it for others to see, although "bitter" himself, but also has no substantive significance.