Daoguang was the most stingy emperor in the Qing Dynasty. He lived by eating sesame cakes and water!
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 Published On Dec 12, 2023

Among the twelve emperors of the Qing Dynasty, there were three emperors from the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong reigns who were admired by all people throughout the ages. There were also "Jia Dao" fall-outs: Jiaqing and Daoguang, two monarchs who were ruthlessly criticized. Among them, Emperor Daoguang was criticized for signing the first unequal treaty in the history of the Qing Dynasty: the Treaty of Nanjing. However, some historians vindicated Emperor Daoguang. In fact, Daoguang was both civilized and military, possessing both talent and virtue. Even Daoguang was Emperor Qianlong's favorite grandson. His strategic courage was enough to inherit the throne. Therefore, Emperor Qianlong had no choice but to pass the throne to Daoguang's father Jiaqing first to ensure that Daoguang could successfully succeed to the throne in the future. However, many years later, there were rumors that Emperor Daoguang was not in the right position. How did he become the Qing emperor? What kind of person is Daoguang?
Since ancient times, almost all those who have ascended to the throne of God have lived a life of wealth and luxury. But Emperor Daoguang did the opposite. As soon as he succeeded to the throne, he ordered that everyone in the palace should have simple food, clothing, housing and transportation. Daoguang even set an example by changing clothes only once a month. If the clothes are torn, they can be mended and worn again. In terms of food, except during the New Year and festivals, when meat can be eaten, all meals are vegetarian, and the daily meals are changed to four dishes and one soup. Sometimes, Daoguang even only ate sesame seed cakes and water as a meal. Daoguang became obsessed with frugality. He was not only strict with himself, but also strict with others. This affected the queen and the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty.
In the middle and late Qing Dynasty, opium smoking became widespread, leading to the outflow of silver and a decline in national strength. The Opium War made Daoguang a sinner through the ages?

In 1840 AD, the Qing Empire was being poisoned by opium, which led to the corruption of the officialdom, the outflow of silver, and even the health of the people! Daoguang, who had been both civil and military since childhood, wanted to make a difference and revive the Qing Dynasty after taking over the Qing Dynasty. So he ordered a complete ban on smoking, and appointed Lin Zexu as the imperial minister to go to Humen to sell cigarettes. He also decided to go to war with the British. Some people say that the Opium War was a disastrous failure because Daoguang was reluctant to spend money to buy armaments and even cut military expenditures, which led to the disorganization of the military. Facing the British artillery and foreign guns, the Qing army was naturally defeated. Is this really the case? ?

Emperor Daoguang, who advocated frugality during his lifetime, lived in rags and ate sesame cakes. After his death, he actually owned an underground palace that looked low-key on the outside but had very luxurious building materials. The construction cost was even more expensive than the tombs of Qianlong and Cixi, making it the most luxurious imperial mausoleum in the Qing Dynasty. Daoguang even violated the ancestral system of the Qing Dynasty and chose to be buried in the Western Qing Mausoleum with his father, Emperor Jiaqing. Living a simple life, but spending a lot of money to build a Feng Shui treasure land, what is going on?

Daoguang was an emperor who wanted to revitalize the Qing Dynasty, but unfortunately the great changes of the generations prevented him from making changes on his own.

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