Among the twelve emperors of the Qing Dynasty, Qianlong was the most special existence, believing that his Wenzhi martial arts had reached the pinnacle of perfection and self-proclaimed himself the "Ten Perfect Old Man". In addition, he also has an almost morbid love for antique calligraphy and painting, not only inscribing the calligraphy and paintings of various famous artists with his own handwriting, but also stamping them to show his unique views on art. Of course, the most famous thing is his extravagance and waste.
As an emperor, the delicious food around him is naturally indispensable. He also held a "Feast of a Thousand Sorrows". Many elderly people were invited to the palace for dinner, and although the taste of mountains and seas on the table was dizzying, the taste was inexhaustible. In fact, few people are willing to eat foods that seem delicious.
At a celebration, Qianlong personally gave the ministers the elbows for sacrifice, and they also bowed and knelt down on the surface, and when they went out, they directly threw away the food, without any affection. The main problem in this situation is still Qianlong.
1. Feast of a Thousand Sorrows
The "Feast of a Thousand Sorrows" was actually created by Qianlong's grandfather, the Kangxi Emperor. Legend has it that on kangxi's 65th birthday, he was very happy, believing that from ancient times to the present, those who had actually held power on the throne for such a long time had no one but himself. So he ordered a feast and invited the elderly people over the age of 65 in Beijing to celebrate his birthday and eat together in the palace.
The banquet was attended not only by civilian and military officials, but also by ordinary people. At the banquet, the crowd sang and danced, enjoying the wine and food. Kangxi looked at all this and couldn't help but sigh with emotion, and personally wrote poems. But this year was also the last year of Kangxi's reign, and he died of illness not long after. As the grandson of Kangxi, Qianlong carried forward the traditional genes of the family and expanded the "Thousand Sorrows Banquet" several times, and during Qianlong's reign, the scale of the "Thousand Sorrows Banquet" reached its peak.
But in fact, because there are too many foods at the banquet, the first dishes have been cold, and its unique flavor has already been lost when it is really ingested. However, everyone did not dare to violate Qianlong's majesty, and could only eat it hard, and they had to praise it one after another.
Second, waste food
Naturally, being in a high position, he could not hear the voices of the bottom, and Qianlong felt very good about himself, believing that the "Feast of a Thousand Sorrows" had been carried forward under his own efforts. Therefore, the "Feast of a Thousand Sorrows" reached its peak during the Qianlong period, and it was not until qianlong's death that this system was gradually abolished.
In addition to the "Feast of a Thousand Sorrows", the various banquets usually held by Qianlong are also full of extravagance and waste. The food left over from a wine feast is thrown away the next day. At that time, there were many people everywhere who could not eat a delicious meal. At the end of Qianlong's reign, many areas had already begun to revolt, and the "White Lotus Sect" was one of them.
During a royal celebration, Qianlong gave the ministers the elbow for the sacrifice. The ministers looked at each other, but still thanked each other with joy, and when they went out, they turned around and threw away the meat. Why did the ministers throw away the pork knuckle given by the emperor? It turned out that these pork knuckles had no taste, they were boiled in white water, and they were tasteless. Tasteless pork, no one wanted to swallow, so they secretly threw the meat elsewhere.
3. Gift to Ji Xiaolan
According to other historical records, Qianlong often gave the ministers elbows to eat, and they were not easy to refuse, so they had to pretend to accept it first, and then take the opportunity to throw it away. Every time the ministers were afraid that Qianlong would give them this kind of pork boiled in white water, and even some ministers pretended to be sick and resigned when Qianlong invited them to a banquet.
However, there is one person who has solved this problem for everyone, and this person is Ji Xiaolan. According to historical records, Ji Xiaolan liked to eat meat the most in his life, and basically regarded meat as a staple food. Even the white water pig's elbow given by the Qianlong Emperor, he also received it correctly. When the ministers saw Ji Xiaolan's appearance, they gave him their own elbows, and Ji Xiaolan was also happy to accept it at first, and smiled and took all the pig's elbows into his pocket.
However, everything follows the marginal decreasing effect, and Ji Xiaolan, who was willing at first, gradually lost interest in this food. After all, he also often ate fine dishes at home, and the ministers always gave him tasteless pork, which Ji Xiaolan was difficult to swallow after a long time.
Later, Ji Xiaolan encountered this kind of thing again and simply shirked it, or directly excused himself to go home beforehand. The ministers had to find other solutions, most of them still chose to throw it away, and only a few chose to take it home and feed it to their pets or beggars on the road.
Fourth, the road has frozen bones
Although Qianlong was accustomed to a life of fine clothes and food, the people at the bottom of society were still suffering and starving. However, Qianlong did not take these matters to heart, and he only pursued political development and ignored the people's livelihood issues that really affected the foundation.
In the days when Qianlong and his ministers wantonly wasted grain, many poor people had no food in their homes, and even more they starved to death on the side of the road. At that time, the biggest corrupt official around Qianlong, He Yan, regarded these scenes as nothing, and still lived his own life of spending days and drinking. Qianlong also turned a blind eye to him, and he won Qianlong's favor by virtue of his excellent skill of sneaking and patting horses. So there was no fear and many years of leisure, and this situation did not end until the Jiaqing Emperor took the throne.
The extravagance and wastefulness of the Qianlong Emperor were also unwatchable by many ministers in the DPRK, but every time they entered the court, they were covered up by Qianlong or jokes or reprimands. There are also many clever ministers who take home the elbows given by Qianlong and reprocess them, after all, they do not want to be reprimanded by Qianlong, but also want to live in a high position and without pressure.
5. Summary
As the last feudal dynasty in history, the Qing Dynasty's downfall and people's livelihood problems were inseparable. If Qianlong had been able to devote all his thoughts to the problem of governing the people's survival at that time, there would not have been so many uprisings in the future. Qianlong only cared about his immediate interests, and the so-called "prosperous kangqian" was only a document of the victors, and the cruel problems that were really hidden under the history books were not resolved in any practical nature.
In fact, no matter what kind of political achievement, Qianlong could not compare with the Qin Emperor Han Wu and Tang Zong Song Zu, he only appeared quite capable against the background of other emperors of the Qing Dynasty. The other emperors after him did not actually make any policy that could free the people from the sea of suffering, which was also a key factor in the qing dynasty's transformation from prosperity to decline after qianlong's death.
The wind of history has quietly blown, and now we have already enjoyed the peaceful and prosperous world. We who have been educated since childhood remember the virtue of not wasting a single grain of food. History often brings people not success stories, but those that fail. Only because of failure can people remember, can people find ways to solve problems, so that human civilization can progress in continuous progress.