Once, on the birthday of the Empress Dowager, Daoguang was afraid of spending more money, so he wrote a letter saying, "The son of heaven is raised by the world. As long as the country is peaceful and the people are safe, it is enough to take care of yourself. " The empress dowager is thrifty, and if she is extravagant at the longevity ceremony, she will be less obedient and kind. At the end of ten thousand years, courtiers show your filial piety. Don't be extravagant, it goes against the heritage of our ancestors. Qin is here. "
As soon as the imperial edict came out, the ministers got the message and knew the emperor's intention to save money. Mu took the lead in setting an example and explained to the emperor that there was no need to spend money, and all the expenses for longevity were paid by his subjects. Naturally, the emperor was very happy. He ordered Xiang to arrange a preparatory office for the longevity ceremony of Empress Dowager Cixi. Guo Xiang secretly blackmailed the provincial capital for filial piety in the name of undertaking Wanshou. Small officials patched things together, from 100 to 200, and the governor-general served until 350 thousand. In this life, Xiang has fully benefited from100000 silver.
Where does Daoguang know all this? At this time, the second-hand shops in Beijing sold all the rags in stock at a good price. Old clothes are more expensive than new ones. Some poor Beijing officials can't afford it, so they have to make old, dirty, broken and repaired new robes themselves. Seeing that all the civil and military officials in the Qing Dynasty were in rags, Daodi thought that his concept of thrift had been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, so he became more prosperous.
Under the influence of Daoguang, it seems that the official atmosphere has changed, but in fact it is just a show.
Daoguang not only lives frugally, but also advocates managing the country and building the army through diligence and thrift. He is not only frugal to discipline himself, but also frugal to discipline himself, that is, to reward meritorious officials with a meal, which is also "frugal" at home.
Senior three students put down the rebellion in Zhang Geer, Xinjiang, and sent the rebellious Gersl to the capital. After Emperor Guangwu was captured, a celebration banquet was held. The guests invited at that time included not only their elders, but also senior ministers of 15. These people crowded two tables, and several dishes were placed on the table, but the ministers were afraid to raise chopsticks and ate them all. Daodi sat on it, not eating or drinking, and only talked with ministers about the martial arts of the previous dynasty. Later, when it comes to poetry, the monarch and his subjects improvised sentences and wrote an 80-sentence seven-character ancient poem, which recorded the joy of the monarch and his subjects at that time. We talked at the table for two hours, and then we quit before eating food.
Later, when discussing the fortification plan in Xinjiang, the plan put forward by the generals could not be passed. It turned out that the generals only needed 18 thousand soldiers to defend Xinjiang in the last performance, considering Daoguang's meanness. However, Daoguang was cut by two-thirds at once, leaving only 6,000 people in the Qing army. The generals fought back angrily and put forward a plan to defend the eastern and western parts of Xinjiang, leaving no defense lines. Daoguang denounced them for giving up Xinjiang's defense and accused them of ulterior motives.
After several years of disputes, according to the records in the Draft of Qing History, it was finally decided that "the troops of green camp in all provinces will be reduced by 2% and more than 300,000 troops will return to Xinjiang at the end of the year", and the plan was passed.
1839, when Lin Zexu was ordered to ban smoking and forced British businessmen to hand over opium, he promised that a box of opium could compensate British businessmen for five pounds of tea. As a result, 20,200 boxes of opium were finally seized, valued at 8 million taels of silver. Daoguang suddenly felt distressed and hesitated to answer. Lin Zexu had to play with Deng Tingzhen and others and said, "More than 100,000 Jin of tea needs donations from ministers and others. they
The problem of nearly 20 years was solved easily and smoothly, and Daoguang immediately looked down on the so-called British Empire. Except for Lin Zexu, Deng Tingzhen and others at the front line, no one in the whole court thought of or prepared for the war that the smoking ban might trigger. Daoguang just praised excitedly, saying: Jiao Ran, who is loyal to the monarch and patriotic, has gone abroad, and what he has done is commendable! But in the final analysis, Daoguang is not a real anti-drug hero. All he cares about is the fact that Lin Zexu scared him.
Since then, in the Opium War, Daoguang Emperor was eager to compromise, which was not unrelated to his frugality. When discussing issues such as coastal defense, frontier defense, and the regulation of the Yellow River, whenever a minister mentions funds, Daoguang will immediately show displeasure.
Although Daoguang saved some money for the Qing dynasty, it did not help solve the economic crisis, and the financial situation did not completely improve, but went from bad to worse. Then, a minister asked: why did Qianlong spend money like running water and the state treasury was full? For example, today's economy is poor but people's livelihood is poor. "The more extravagant, the more thrifty and the more stingy"?
As the king of a country, he will not greatly increase his income and profits, but will spend every penny on a meal and clothes, and even manage the country frugally, cut military spending and reduce the number of soldiers. How did he save a prosperous Qing dynasty? As neighbor Cai Dongfan commented on Daoguang Emperor: "When you come to the end of your life, you don't know what it is. If you save clothes and food, you will have enough money to run your family, but not enough to run your country. "