If we put together the heads of the 12 emperors of the Qing Dynasty (including the last emperor Puyi), we will easily identify the Daoguang Emperor. This is because the Daoguang Emperor is too thin, and the two cheeks are deeply sunken, giving people a feeling of "sharp-billed monkey cheeks", in today's terms, "thin into a lightning bolt".
Why are the other Qing Emperors all full of heaven, but only the Daoguang Emperor is so skinny and rugged?
This may be related to the overly frugal lifestyle of the Daoguang Emperor.
The Daoguang Emperor was famous for his frugality. Before he became emperor, he often sent people outside to buy baked cakes, and two mouths would boil boiled water under the baked cakes. Where is the pampered prince, and it is clear that he is a migrant worker who saves money to beg his daughter-in-law.
After the Daoguang Emperor ascended the throne, he immediately promoted the practice of thrift and thrift in the court. He issued a death order that the inner court should not use more than 200,000 taels of silver per year.
What is the concept of 200,000 taels of silver?
According to the Great Qing Huidian, during the Guangxu period, the annual expenditure of the inner court was 40 to 5 million taels of silver. That is to say, the annual expenditure of the inner court during the Daoguang Emperor period was less than a fraction of that of the Guangxu Emperor. There is no doubt that such a little money is not enough. The Interior Ministry can only desperately save money. The concubines of the inner court no longer bought new clothes at every turn, as they had always done; even the queen had to sew and mend the worn-out clothes and wear them for a while.
Once, the empress dowager had a big birthday. The Daoguang Emperor was afraid of spending money, and issued a holy decree saying: "The Son of Heaven is raised by the world, and it is enough to fulfill the way of cultivation if the country is safe and secure." The empress dowager is frugal and thrifty, and if she is extravagant in the longevity ceremony, it is not the intention of being kind and holy. During the period of longevity, it is enough to show filial piety and respect by only large and small courtiers and entering the palace to perform ceremonies, and not to be extravagant, contrary to the ancestral precepts of extravagance and frugality. ”
The ministers understood and said that all the expenses needed for the empress dowager's birthday would be raised by the ministers, and not a penny of the Ministry of Internal Affairs would be used. The Daoguang Emperor was very happy and let it go to everyone. As a result, the Qing Dynasty had a "crowdfunding" Halloween.
Spring Festival is a festival common to all people. Even the poorest people have to eat something good during the Spring Festival. No, even Yang Bailao, a tenant farmer of landlord Huang Shiren, had to buy two pounds of white noodles on the occasion of the Spring Festival and give his daughter Xi'er a beautiful red-headed rope. So, in the Spring Festival, will the Daoguang Emperor be kind to himself?
Not that.
According to a royal dining room archive, one year on the first day of the Chinese New Year, the Daoguang Emperor's breakfast menu was as follows: "One product of boiled soup, one product of lamb sauerkraut pot, one product of duck loin, one product of duck fried tofu, and one product of egg scrambled meat." "Counting and counting, there are only 5 dishes in total.
In the Chinese New Year's Eve of the seventh year of Daoguang (1827), the breakfast of the Daoguang Emperor was: "a pin of duck cabbage pot, a pin of sea cucumber slip spinal cord, a pin of pheasant balls, a pin of small stir-fried meat, and a pin of lamb stewed spinach." "It's still 5 dishes that don't move.
You may say that although the number of these 5 dishes is relatively small, they are all meat, which is a solid "hard dish", and it is not a cold food. In fact, the Manchus started as nomads and have always eaten meat as a staple food. These meats are commonplace on Manchu menus, like dumplings from northerners. At that time, the Chinese New Year's Eve meals of many landlords' families were far more abundant than this.
There is no harm without comparison, and by the end of the Qing Dynasty, the last emperor Puyi still maintained a luxurious life. Puyi himself recorded in "The First Half of My Life" that his meals were arranged in this way, "Two tables of dishes on weekdays, another table of hot pot in winter, in addition to a variety of dim sum, rice, porridge three tables, pickles a small table." That is to say, usually Puyi's food staple food adds up to 6 tables, and in winter, there are 1 more hot pot for a total of 7 tables.
The Daoguang Emperor was too "cruel" to himself, and it also affected ordinary palace women.
Before the Daoguang Emperor ascended the throne, the inner court would prepare 4 more meals in addition to the imperial meal. 2 rewards were given to the chancellor and 2 to the palace maidens. In order to save money, the Daoguang Emperor cancelled all the imperial meals that were rewarded to the palace daughters of the ministers. The ministers have not arrived, and the lives of the palace ladies are miserable. In this way, they can't even eat a bite of meat until the New Year's Festival.
The Daoguang Emperor worked hard, thriftily and thriftily, and finally made himself skinny.