Most of the so-called good emperors are diligent and frugal, have the world in mind, do not indulge in pleasures, and are bent on governing the country and opening up the prosperous world. But why is it that Daoguang, who is the most frugal emperor in history, still can't stop the Qing Dynasty from dying?
As the old saying goes, under the whole world, there is no royal land. Throughout the ancient and modern times, successive generations of Tianzi have sat in the world, and in many aspects of life, they have strived for luxury to show their royal demeanor, although some emperors understand the sufferings of the people and advocate frugality, but there are very few who can do such a heinous thing as the Same Daoguang Emperor.
As the eighth emperor of the Qing Dynasty, when Daoguang succeeded to the throne, the Qing Dynasty had gradually declined, although it was not so poor that it could not be opened, but Daoguang still regarded "frugality" as the truth of life and emphasized frugal governance. In order to lead by example, the Daoguang Emperor never added new clothes, and even repaired the old clothes that were worn out. In addition, harem concubines and ministers had to wear old clothes. If any minister today puts on a new coat and is just looked out by Daoguang, he will inevitably be scolded; on the contrary, if tomorrow Daoguang sees whose clothes are full of patches, he will be very happy, and this person is very appreciative.
In order to curry favor with the Daoguang Emperor, the ministers tried every means to make their clothes old, so that there was even such an unbelievable scene in Beijing that the price of old clothes was much higher than that of new clothes. Therefore, the daily group of courtiers went to the court, which was comparable to the gathering of the beggars.
Unlike his grandfather Qianlong, in order to save money, the Daoguang Emperor never liked to play around, but stayed in the palace to calculate various expenses carefully, personally formulated the minimum cost standard, and ordered the Ministry of Internal Affairs to act accordingly. Once on the empress's birthday, Daoguang actually broke the sky to invite a group of courtiers to celebrate for the empress, and as soon as the news came out, the ministers were overjoyed, and they all looked forward to dipping the light of the empress and eating a beautiful feast. On that day's feast, each minister placed in front of a bowl of longevity noodles, studded with a few cabbages and a little minced meat, and the ministers were hungry and swallowed, waiting for the next dish. However, when the Daoguang Emperor slowly and methodically finished eating the noodles in his bowl, he smiled and told the ministers that the banquet was over and all the AiQing could disperse. Everyone was stunned, but they were deeply aware of the Guangdi Emperor's slamming, and they had no choice but to make a deeply moved appearance and thank the "delicacy" of the gift.
As far as Daoguang is concerned, it is already a huge amount of money to invite the courtiers to eat a bowl of cabbage longevity noodles. On weekdays, his dinner with the queen would be nothing more than a few burnt cakes and a pot of hot tea. In addition, after dinner, Daoguang will go to bed, which can save the lamp oil money. Therefore, the Daoguang in the portrait is always a skinny and rugged appearance, which is also due to his frugality.
Although the Daoguang Emperor practiced frugality, the Officials of the Qing Dynasty did not feel this way, and there were still things that filled their pockets and were extravagant. The Qing Dynasty also continued to decline, and did not turn around because of the frugality of the Daoguang Emperor, and even laid the foundation for his unnecessary frugality. At the time when the Daoguang Emperor had just taken the throne, tens of thousands of troops had finally put down the Zhang Ge rebellion after years of bitter fighting. Dao Guang was overjoyed and set up a banquet to entertain the heroes, but there were only a few small dishes on the table, which was really chilling. As for river management, coastal defense, and the like, if a minister dared to propose a plan for appropriation, Daoguang would immediately change his face.
With the outbreak of the Opium War, the Qing army collapsed, and the Daoguang Emperor, who had been cutting the door for a lifetime, had to surrender the indemnity. As the king of a country, the Daoguang Emperor did not want to open up the source of profits, but instead spent a lot of money on such small things as lamp oil, and in order to be frugal, he even did such ignorant things as reducing military expenditure and not ruling the river to build defenses, which can be described as putting the cart before the horse and doomed to extinction.