In 1820, Jiaqing died, and Daoguang, who was nearly 40 years old, was enthroned. Daoguang, who entered middle age, was not as talented as his predecessors Kangxi and Yongzheng. Judging from his thirty years in power, his intelligence should be considered mediocre. Although Daoguang is not qualified, he has been trying to be a good emperor and restore the prosperity of his ancestors.
When Daoguang was a prince, he knew that success changed from frugality to luxury. At the beginning of his accession to the throne, he promulgated the Imperial Order of Sound, Color and Taste, which advocated that both monarch and minister should be frugal.
Daoguang did what he said and took the lead in cutting royal expenses. He limited the annual expenditure of the court to 202,000 silver. You know, his grandfather emperor Qianlong spent more than 2000 taels of silver on six trips to the south of the Yangtze River. In contrast, Daoguang is too frugal. There are many stories about Daoguang's frugality. Let's pick up some.
Daoguang's heart of saving is very firm, so he should practice it and start with his own diet. It turns out that the emperor's meal has 48 courses, and concubines often offer delicacies to the emperor, so the emperor has 60 or 70 courses per meal. Since Daoguang came to power, he thought it was too extravagant to eat so many dishes, so he stipulated that only four dishes were needed for each meal, and sometimes even a bowl of tofu cooked pork liver. Usually there are only a few dishes on the table of a banquet.
In order to be frugal, Daoguang cancelled the practice of entertaining ministers on Longevity Day (the emperor's birthday), Qian Qiu Day (the queen's birthday) and New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, Shangyuan and Winter Solstice. It's another year, and it's Millennium Festival. Some ministers put forward suggestions to celebrate the queen's birthday. Daoguang agreed for the first time and ordered the queen to celebrate her birthday on the Millennium Festival. Ministers thought that the emperor was finally going to be generous, but they didn't want to go to the queen's birthday party. There was only a bowl of cabbage noodles in front of them, which made Wu, the minister of Manchu Dynasty, laugh and cry.
On another occasion, the university students put down the long-term rebellion in Xinjiang and won the battle. Daoguang was very happy and decided to hold a celebration banquet. Once again, the ministers went to dinner hopefully. When they started eating, they found that there were only a few small dishes on the table. The poor soldiers who had just won the battle were hungry and ready to have a big meal, but in the end they were afraid to move chopsticks. They were afraid that the emperor would have nothing to eat as soon as his chopsticks fell, so they had to drink two cups with the emperor in a hurry.
Daoguang can not only scrimp and save money, but also save a lot of money on his own robes, which are second-hand goods that have been worn for more than ten years and are still patched, and are rare among emperors in previous dynasties. One winter, the Ministry of Internal Affairs prepared a fox fur blouse for Daoguang. This blouse is wide inside and narrow outside, and the satin lining around it is exposed. It's not practical, just for looking good. Daoguang saw that this setting was a waste of materials, so it was called the reorganization of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and it was not allowed to show excess silks and satins. Well, the emperor has orders, and the minions have to follow them. Hearing this, Daoguang was unwilling to spend that money. Just ordered: "Since the cost of restructuring is high, it will be temporarily exempted, and the new system should not be out of the wind." The army department was ordered to inform officials in the capital. Since then, courtiers wearing smocks in winter have never dared to "go out" for more than a decade.
In those years of Daoguang's reign, the atmosphere of the imperial court changed the luxury atmosphere during Long Jiaqing's reign. From emperors to ministers, it is difficult to put on new clothes all year round. When he is in court, he must wear patched clothes. After all, the emperor's robe was patched! However, this is only a superficial illusion. The ministers of the Qing dynasty were just frugal outside and extravagant inside, and secretly they were still eating and drinking. Only the emperor's family is truly frugal. Historians have also said that Daoguang's personal virtue is still good, but his limited ability did not save the empire. Since then, the dominance of the Qing government has declined sharply, and he has gradually become a vassal of western countries.
In fact, compared with the emperors of other dynasties, most of the emperors of the Qing Dynasty were good, and there was never a bad king. Even the emperor shunzhi, who became a monk, knew that he dared to escape into an empty net by carefully selecting his heirs. Even their harem is much smaller than that of emperors who often have thousands of concubines. Only because of the system and their own ability, the emperors in the late Qing Dynasty failed to save the nation from from the mire, which made the Qing Dynasty look so miserable.