To say that she is the most notorious person in modern history, I'm afraid no one can compare with Cixi. It can be said that she was the most prodigal old lady in China's ancient feudal dynasty, which was one of the main reasons why she was criticized by later generations.
So today we will talk about Cixi, saying that the old lady spends too much money. Let's explore how luxurious her life is.
Before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, everyone knew how much Cixi lived every day. I scared you to death. The daily living expenses of Cixi are 42,000 silver, 33 grams of silver, one gram of 3 yuan, and one or two silver 100 yuan. The daily living expenses of Cixi are converted into our money today, which is 4 million. You know, this is just the money for the old lady to eat and drink Lazar in one day.
At that time, the main warships of Beiyang Navy were Dingyuan and Zhenyuan, and the cost of a single warship was10.72 million silver. The Yoshino boat that Japan bought because it couldn't afford it cost 602,000 yuan, which is only half a month's living expenses for the old lady. As long as the old lady saves half the cost, she can get a Yoshino ship every month.
In addition, Cixi also used the military expenses of Beiyang Navy to repair the Summer Palace, which cost about 30 million taels of silver. If we save all this money, I can't guarantee that we won the Sino-Japanese War, but we won't lose so badly.
Cixi's daily living expenses are 42 thousand, and the amount is still amazing. Where did all this money go?
According to Princess De Ling, a female translator around the old lady Cixi, Cixi has a good memory, but even so, she can't remember how many clothes, shoes and jewels she has.
Cixi should bring clothes when she goes to worship her ancestors in Fengtian. Ordinary people may take two or three sets of clothes on business trips, which is enough. The old lady Cixi is different. She brought a whole carriage. It is estimated that there are at least two or three thousand yuan. Please don't be surprised. This is just the tip of the iceberg in the old lady's wardrobe. In the imperial wardrobe of the Forbidden City, the old lady still has about 60 thousand sets of clothes there.
In other words, the old lady changes two sets a day, but she can't wear them all her life, which shows what a prodigal woman the old lady is.
Of course, Cixi, as a woman, certainly likes to order gold and silver jewelry. According to De Ling's memory, when she first met Empress Dowager Cixi, a shawl on the old lady's body was made of thousands of pearls, and each pearl was round and shiny. The edge of the shawl is covered with jade ornaments, and its value is self-evident.
Moreover, the old lady likes precious jewels such as gems, pearls and agates very much. Even her shoes should be inlaid with pearls, as well as bracelets, crowns and necklaces, which must be valuable. According to historical records, Cixi has about 3,000 boxes of jewelry, the most valuable of which is the night pearl in Cixi's mouth, which is now priceless.
Let's talk about the catering of the old lady Cixi. We usually call it eating. Where is the gap? When we eat at home, there are usually only four courses. When the old lady eats, it is a Manchu-Chinese banquet. Every meal must have more than 100 dishes, and they are different. Some people will have this question. Can the old lady finish eating?
The answer is no, poverty limits my imagination. Cixi only chooses a few dishes to taste, and before eating, she always lets eunuchs taste them first to see if the food is poisonous. Then, Cixi will ask the maid-in-waiting to serve, pick a few dishes that suit her appetite, taste a few mouthfuls, and she will be full.
Moreover, Cixi also drinks milk every day to keep her skin tender and smooth. She drinks it at noon in the morning and at night. What she drinks is the wet nurse's fresh milk, not ordinary milk or goat's milk. On diet alone, Cixi spends thousands of taels of silver every day. In fact, what she really eats, a few taels of silver is enough.
Besides, Cixi doesn't like to use spices at home. She smoked the temple with fresh fruit. In other words, she puts some fresh fruits in the house, and fills the smell in the air with the fruit fragrance. It takes tens of thousands of pounds to smoke the fruit of the temple all the year round.
Even the old lady's bedpan is made of sandalwood. Cixi also loves photography, cosplay Guanyin Bodhisattva. Naturally, the eunuchs around her will be dressed as boys to take pictures together.
The tens of millions of dollars spent on building the Summer Palace on the old lady's birthday can basically train another Beiyang Navy to equip the world's top warships at that time. Anyway, the old lady Cixi is ruined, only you can't think of it, and you can't do it without her.
So please remember that the Qing Dynasty was never short of money, but Cixi didn't spend money on the cutting edge.
Does anyone ask Cixi what advantages she has? Of course, Cixi was able to stay in power for 50 years in the late Qing Dynasty. She plays politics very tactfully. For example, in the Westernization Movement, Cixi knew that only by learning the advanced technology of the West could the land of the Qing Dynasty be preserved, so she supported it. But behind her back, she organized a group of die-hards to impeach Li Hongzhang every day. Every time Li Hongzhang went to court, there were a large number of impeachers.
At this time, the old lady Cixi said, you see so many people have opinions on you, and I have suppressed them. You should let it go, so that Li Hongzhang will be especially grateful to Cixi. She let her die-hards and westernization factions fight each other, and she took advantage of the fishermen. This is the politics of Cixi.
Therefore, my evaluation of Cixi is that spending money to defeat the first two is nothing but diplomacy, playing politics and playing a game.