Chapter 4 "Frugality" Daoguang

Emperor Xianfeng who was in power at this time was considered a poor child. When he took over the throne from his father Daoguang, the Qing Empire was already in crisis.Xianfeng's succession situation is so bad, which has a lot to do with Daoguang's low ability to govern the country. Speaking of Emperor Daoguang, most people may not have any impression of him. In fact, it can’t be blamed on others, but Daoguang’s own reputation is too small compared with his colleagues in the Qing Dynasty—— Needless to say, Nurhachi and Huang Taiji, who founded the country, are famous in history books.

Shunzhi, the first emperor after entering the customs, is almost a household name because of his daughter-in-law Concubine Dong E and mother Empress Xiaozhuang (called "Da Yuer" by unofficial history). The three generations of Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong were all filmed by film and television dramas.Especially Qianlong, the "Chairman of the Great Qing Writers Association" who proclaimed himself "Ten Perfect Martial Arts". No one seems to recognize his "Ten Perfect Martial Arts", but the nearly 40,000 poems he has recited in his life make him a well-deserved one in history. The high-yield champion of poetry reciting, it's a pity that so many poems have been recited, but none of them have been recited by later generations.

Emperor Jiaqing's reputation is relatively bleak, but his deeds of killing the super corrupt official He Shen are quite popular. Not only that, but the incidents of the White Lotus Sect rebellion and the Tianli Sect breaking the Forbidden City that occurred in the later period of his reign are also quite impressive. As the husband of the great celebrity Cixi, Emperor Xianfeng also made his popularity skyrocket by virtue of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom War that broke out during his reign and his deeds of abandoning the city and fleeing during the Second Opium War. Although Emperor Tongzhi was short-lived, his powerful mother Cixi and the legend that he died of Hualiu disease greatly increased his exposure.

Emperor Guangxu had a concubine Zhen, the Sino-Japanese War of 1898, and the Reform Movement of 1898. Everyone should be familiar with the black and white photos of the last emperor Puyi's empress Wanrong and concubine Wenxiu, and his life experience from the emperor of the Qing Dynasty to the puppet of the Japanese and then to the prisoner of the Republic provides material for a movie, making this movie based on him The movie "The Last Emperor" for the protagonist won nine Oscars. Why is Dudu Daoguang so unknown?Firstly, he lacks the element of being gossiped by people, and secondly, his performance in power is too bad, and it is very difficult to show it.For Emperor Daoguang, later generations only vaguely remember him as a simple emperor.

As soon as Daoguang took over his father Jiaqing's class, he was determined to build a "thrifty" society. The famous "Imperial System, Sensual, Goods and Liyu" was written by Daoguang when he was in charge. Necessity and specific operational methods to achieve frugality. Daoguang said in the document that the people are not poor, can I, the emperor, be poor?If the common people are not rich, can I, the emperor, be rich? (If the people are sufficient, who is the ruler? If the people are insufficient, who is the ruler?) But how can the people become rich?Daoguang said that there is only one way, province, province for the country, province for the world, province for the people, starting with our province.

The "Imperial Sex, Sex, Goods, and Benefits" was issued throughout the country. Officials at all levels studied it carefully, discussed it enthusiastically, and deeply understood it. Compared with these corrupt subordinates, Daoguang's words and deeds are still consistent. During his decades in power, he has proved with practical actions that he promulgated this frugal declaration not just for show, nor is it a whim. History books say that "clothes are not easy to change", that is to say, Daoguang only changes a set of clothes a month. Not only that, Daoguang is not willing to throw away his trousers if they are torn, he will wear them after mending, and he is not afraid of losing his status.

The emperor loves patches, and the courtiers are also considerate of the holy will. They all put a few patches on their good official uniforms. Daoguang unintentionally led the social trend of wearing patched clothes. The beauty in Daoguang's heart: the whole court advocates frugality and opposes luxury. My role model is of great importance!Daoguang couldn't get out of the door as soon as his mouth was beautiful, so he arrested a minister and said: "You did a good patch, how much did you spend?" The minister had a bright head, knowing that the Ministry of Internal Affairs who served the emperor often took the emperor as a victim, and if he said less, he would be put on small shoes by the people of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so he gritted his teeth and replied without blinking: Three taels of silver!

Brother Daoguang was angry and anxious when he heard it: Those people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs patched me up and reported five taels!In the future, let's hand over the patches to the concubines in the harem. Anyway, they are idle, and the craftsmanship is almost unimportant. The key is that they don't need to spend a penny. This is not the most exaggerated. According to some historical data, Daoguang didn't even dare to drink a piece of soup, and he didn't eat pancakes... How could Daoguang make the emperor so shabby?It's not that he's naturally stingy, or that he doesn't have enough brain cells. The real reason is here—the lack of money, the country's lack of money, too many fiscal deficits, and not enough money to spend.

Some people can't help asking, how could the emperor have no money? !Where did the money go?