Daoguang advocated thrift and luxury all his life. Why is it more expensive to build your own mausoleum than Cixi?

Daoguang emperor advocated frugality and luxury all his life, and named his own mausoleum, which was more expensive than Cixi's mausoleum!

Look at the present from the past

20 17- 1 1-04 10:27

The evaluation of Daoguang in Qing history books is "frugality and housekeeping". He advocated frugality and abstinence all his life and has always been praised by people. However, as the saying goes, details reflect the truth. Whether he is really frugal or not can be seen from his death.

First of all, he once abandoned the mausoleum in the completed Dongling, but in addition, he rebuilt a new mausoleum in the Qing Dynasty. Why is this?

It turned out that in the process of craftsmen building tombs, the minister in charge found that the underground palace was leaking because of the shallow water level. At this time, the insurance method is to relocate, but it will waste a lot of money and anger the already harsh Daoguang Emperor. Therefore, the responsible minister decided to bite the bullet and do it But when Daoguang Emperor accepted the project, he found this problem and was furious. He ordered another site for reconstruction. As a result, the whole mausoleum was rebuilt, which was a great waste and really outrageous. Is it really because he lost confidence in the location of Dongling that he built the mausoleum in Xiling? I'm afraid this is just an excuse. In fact, even if the underground palace is rebuilt, or another tomb site is set up within the boundary of Dongling, it is much more economical than moving to Xiling hundreds of miles away. However, in order to realize his long-cherished wish, Daoguang Emperor brought a heavy burden to the people, but he did not regret it. This can't help but make people wonder whether Daoguang Emperor's repeated expressions of "obeying the Constitution", "frugality" and "cherishing people's wealth" are from the heart.

And let's look at the tomb project of Daoguang Emperor. Although it was known as frugality, historical records at that time recorded that this mausoleum consumed 2.4 million silver, which was 372,000 more than Yuling, the emperor of Qianlong with magnificent architecture and exquisite craftsmanship, and more than the mausoleum of Empress Ding Dong, which consumed 2.27 million silver by extravagance and waste132,000. So, why is Muling so wasteful? What kind of luxury is hidden under the seemingly frugal appearance?

For example, Muling cut down three doors, but its doors changed the previous brick, wood and stone structure and replaced them with huge stones, forming a four-poster and three-story archway. Tile ridge, kissing beast, bucket arch, rafters and beams on archway are all carefully carved with blue and white stones. This process requires precision and the cost is many times higher.

For example, the wooden frame components in the tomb are precious golden nanmu. Emperors of past dynasties favored Nanmu architecture, not only because Nanmu has unparalleled moth-proofing function, but also because it always exudes a fragrance and fascinates people. Due to years of logging, nanmu was very precious and scarce in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, so most temples only used gold nanmu in some important parts. For example, in the Long 'en Hall of Tailing in Yongzheng, only the doors, windows and beams are made of gold nanmu, and other places are mostly replaced by other wood. And even the pillars and beams of Muling are unique nanmu, which is amazing. The thrifty emperor originally had such a new feature.

Generally speaking, according to the mausoleum system of the Qing Dynasty, the name of the mausoleum of the Mausoleum should be decided by the successor emperor after the death of the tomb owner. However, Daoguang's tomb was built by Daoguang himself. How did this happen?

After the completion of Xiling, Daoguang was filled with emotion and tears when he offered wine, and he waved his hand and wrote down the commandment that "he wants what he wants". Throwing a pen at the case, Daoguang called 18-year-old 4-year-old Prince Yi Kun and 6-year-old Emperor Yi Yin and ordered them to read. After reading it, I ordered Zhu Yu to be treasured in the East Nuange of Long 'en Hall. Less than two years after this incident, Emperor Daoguang gave up his life and returned to the West. Yining, Emperor Xianfeng, who acceded to the throne in accordance with the imperial edict, reread the Book of Daoguang, especially when he saw this sentence, and suddenly realized that the emperor's father was hinting that he would use the name "desire" to name the mausoleum in the future. So he issued a decree and officially named Longquan Yuling as "Muling".