The Daoguang Emperor was probably the most miserly emperor of the Qing Dynasty. In order to save a few silver, the Daoguang Emperor ate three meals a day with coarse tea and light rice, and even the meat was reluctant to eat. On the empress's birthday, the Daoguang Emperor slaughtered only two pigs, only enough for the princes and ministers who came to Daohe to eat a bowl of noodles. The queen was very happy, after all, she had not eaten meat for some days.
Daoguang Emperor
In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, a prince known for his miserliness appeared. He was the eleventh son of the Qianlong Emperor and the half-brother of the Jiaqing Emperor, Prince Cheng yongxuan.
Yong yao was born on March 22, 1752 in Wufu Hall, Yuanmingyuan. Before the Qianlong Emperor gave him a name, the people in the palace called him "Brother Wufutang".
Since the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, it has attached great importance to the education of the crown prince and the emperor's grandson. Yong Yao received a good royal education from an early age and wrote good calligraphy. When he grew up, he integrated the strengths of each family and became a school of his own, and was listed as the "Four Families of Qianlong" alongside Weng Fanggang, Liu Yong and Tie Bao. Zhao, the Prince of Li of the Qing Dynasty, recorded in the "Miscellaneous Records of the Xiaoting Pavilion": "When Yong Yao's name was heavy, the scholar was given a piece of paper with only words, and it was as heavy as a treasure. ”
Yong Yao
According to news reports, on December 23, 2013, at the Rongbaozhai Shanghai Autumn Auction held at the Shangri-La Hotel in Pudong, Shanghai, a painting by Yong Yao was auctioned for 680,000 yuan, several times the estimated price. Today, Yong Yao's calligraphy works are still sought-after items at major auctions.
Yong yao was very favored by the Qianlong Emperor. The Qianlong Emperor not only betrothed Empress Fucha's niece, Fucha Shi, to him as Concubine Fujin (正女), but also often took him out to play. At the age of 37, Yongyao was again made the Prince of Cheng by the Qianlong Emperor. "Cheng" is the Manchu word for "mutengge", which means capable and talented. This shows that the Qianlong Emperor greatly appreciated Yong Yao's talent. In 1795, Yong Yao left the palace to live. The Qianlong Emperor gave him the residence of Nalan Mingzhu, a major minister during the Kangxi Dynasty. Later, the Qianlong Emperor often went to prince Cheng's mansion to hang out and exchange calligraphy with Yong Mao.
The Qianlong Emperor
As prince of Cheng, Yong Yao enjoyed a rich amount of silver and rice. In the Qianlong Dynasty, Yong Mao served as the governor of Manchuria, and in the Jiaqing Dynasty, he served as a military aircraft minister, a minister of internal affairs, etc., managed the transfer department, and had a job income. The Qianlong Emperor and the Jiaqing Emperor would reward gold and silver every three to five years. Overall, Yongyao's income is very objective. It is not an exaggeration to say that he had "accumulated 800,000 silver in the treasury" and had more than 800,000 taels of silver.
Surprisingly, Prince Cheng's Yongyao was not only famous for his calligraphy, but also for his miserliness.
As mentioned earlier, Prince Cheng's family had more than 800,000 taels of silver savings, but they were reluctant to use it, and only took out a very small part as daily expenses. The family's eating and wearing degree has reached the point of "cold".
The Miscellaneous Records of the Pavilion records: "One day on horseback, the king ordered the cooking to replace the meal, that is, the day did not lift the whip, and so did it." "This is to say that one day a horse died in Prince Cheng's house. In other royal palaces, the horses would be carried out and buried when they died, and no one would think of turning them into food. Prince Cheng was different. He ordered that the dead horse be cooked, and that the whole family should eat the horse's meat as rice, and that no other people should cook it.
horsemeat
In this way, Prince Cheng saved a day's food expenses. This matter spread from the palace to the outside world, becoming a joke. To this end, the Qianlong Emperor educated him many times, and he did not think so, and did not change his practice.
Prince Cheng's concubine Fu cha was the daughter of Fu Heng, an important minister of the imperial court, and the niece of Empress Fu Cha's mother,and the family environment was superior, and she brought a rich dowry when marrying Prince Cheng. After the marriage, Prince Cheng confiscated all these dowries and stored them in the treasury. As a result, Fu Chashi ate coarse tea and light rice every day, and was extremely depressed.
Due to the drastic decline in living conditions, Fucha's depression became a disease, and he gradually suffered from depression-like symptoms such as "phlegm fever multiplied by the heart cells, hot and restless, and crying and laughing", so that in 1812, he died and left Prince Cheng. Of course, this is not necessarily a relief for Fucha.
Prince Cheng calligraphy
Prince Cheng had accumulated a huge amount of family property and was unwilling to squander it, which was a frugal virtue. However, things must be reversed. Frugality is excessive, it becomes miserly, and it goes in the opposite direction. Prince Cheng's descendants were worried about the huge family property in the family, and took advantage of Prince Cheng's lack of attention to quietly throw it out and sell it. Prince Cheng was kept in the dark, unaware.
Prince Cheng, like his father, the Qianlong Emperor, was an artist who had always been keen on buying antique calligraphy and paintings, and was willing to spend a lot of money. However, Prince Cheng's art appreciation level was not high, and he was often deceived by others, spending a lot of money to buy worthless fakes. If it was someone else, he would be very distressed, and Prince Cheng would not pay attention to it, nor would he pursue the liar.
Prince Cheng was miserly by nature, but lived a long life. He lived through the three dynasties of Qianlong, Jiaqing and Daoguang, and died on May 10, 1823, at the age of 72. Among the princes of the Qing Dynasty, this is considered to be a relatively high lifespan.