As one of the most distinguished people in the feudal dynasty, most queens were like this, but one queen wore patched clothes and ate one dish at a time. Few stingy people in the world are filial and cautious queens.
Xiao Shen Cheng was the first empress of Daoguang Emperor. She is gentle, virtuous, intelligent and honest, and lives in harmony with Daoguang Emperor. She is famous for her diligence and frugality. Before Daoguang Emperor ascended the throne, as a rich brocade person and a native, she was always diligent. She usually wears patched clothes and often doesn't let the government cook. She sent eunuchs to the streets to buy some biscuits. She didn't even need food, so a dinner was cooked with boiling water.
As a filial piety of Fujin, it is frugal enough. After being chased as a queen, Xiao Shencheng made persistent efforts.
During her reign in the harem, many rules were made. For example, concubines below the throne can only be vegetarian every day and only eat a little meat during the celebration. Embroidered clothes are not allowed, except on holidays.
Empress Xiao Shencheng took the lead in setting an example and took the initiative to buckle her clothes. Even the underwear coat was sewn by herself and the maid.
Once she chatted with Daoguang Emperor, and heard Daoguang Emperor say that the minister sewed a two-dollar patch and the internal affairs office sewed five or two dollars. Queen Xiao Shencheng immediately said that it is not difficult to sew a patch. She studied embroidery since she was a child. Since the office is so expensive, she can sew that dress in the future. Later, the cushion was broken, so she simply didn't give it to the office of the interior and the maids to sew it together.
Empress Xiao Shencheng keeps the house diligently and has no worries about food and clothing on weekdays. Of course, she won't have any social intercourse, let alone think of singing and dancing at the party. Seeing that she lived such a hard and simple life, Daoguang offered to celebrate her birthday, which was the only birthday in the life of Xiao Shencheng.
Naturally, many people go to such a grand ceremony for the queen's birthday. The royal family and celebrities at home and abroad came, and the palace was very lively. After sending gifts and birthday wishes, they arrived at the banquet. The people sitting at the table were shocked, and only a bowl was placed in front of them.
Ordinary people have eight dishes and eight bowls on their birthdays, but the queen of a country has only one bowl of noodles with pork floating on it. Little Shencheng Queen is very diligent, and her life is worse than ordinary people.
As the saying goes, saving resources is not as good as opening up, and saving money is not as good as increasing income. After many days of worries, Empress Xiao Shencheng came up with a good idea, that is, selling the state treasury.
The internal treasury of the Qing Dynasty was very huge, and several emperors accumulated countless treasures. Because of this, many things are not kept properly. For example, some precious medicinal materials were stored in an unknown age, some expensive silks and satins were hardly wearable, and thousands of exquisite porcelain tributes were covered with dust, not to mention fur spices, which almost expired and moldy.
How to sell it is also a problem. Of course, you can't sell things along the street in the palace, which is detrimental to the royal dignity. Little Shencheng Queen thought of a way, Daoguang stepped forward and handed over the things in the national treasury to the ministers. Things are not done in vain. The ministers who received the reward gave the money to the little Shencheng Queen. In this way, the husband and wife have worked hard together in recent years and gained a lot.
At present, there is a portrait of Queen Xiao Shen Cheng in the collection, which shows her enjoying the lotus flowers in summer. Xiao Shencheng, the queen is wearing Tsing Yi and has a lotus flower on her head, which shows that Xiao Shencheng is also a delicate and beautiful woman, so why is she so stingy?
During the reign of Xiao Shencheng and Empress, that is, from 1882 to 1833, the Qing Dynasty was in decline, and the rise of industrial revolution in western countries had a great influence on the Qing Dynasty.
In particular, Britain sold opium to the Qing Dynasty and absorbed countless real money in China, which caused poverty and weakness in the Qing Dynasty. Jiaqing, the former Daoguang emperor, tried to change the decline of the Qing Dynasty by eliminating bureaucrats and rectifying corrupt officials. However, due to incompleteness, corruption became more serious in the late Jiaqing period. With the succession of Daoguang Emperor, the state treasury was tight, political corruption, and the Qing Dynasty further declined.
In the Qing Dynasty, the practice of "Shi Sheng Ziding, no tax" meant that the number of Ding seals in China in171year was a permanent quota for Ding seal collection. After people have children, they don't have to pay taxes, and the annual income of the national treasury is fixed.
In the fourth year of Daoguang, that is, 1824, Zhang Geer rebelled, and the Qing Dynasty sent troops to pacify it twice. Zhang Geer, who escaped from Daoguang for six years, killed a comeback and occupied Hejin City. It took Wang three years to quell the war and occupy it. War is always the most expensive, and the Qing dynasty, which only has fixed taxes every year, can only struggle to support it.
Queen Xiao Shencheng knows this very well. The harem can't be governed. As a queen, she can only help the court in her own way. Lead by example, be diligent and frugal, and lead Liugong to reduce consumption.
Expenditure. During the reign of Empress Xiao Shen Cheng, the amount of rouge gouache in the harem of the Qing Dynasty was more than one million yuan every year, which saved a lot of money. Empress Xiao Shencheng was so frugal that she was inevitably laughed at by the aristocratic ladies at that time, but she didn't care. This kind of criticism is nothing compared with the help to the former regime.
Doing something in the world is effective, and the diligence of Queen Xiao Shencheng has also been imitated by the wife of the minister and ordinary people. Daoguang respects the frugality of Empress Xiao Shencheng. When she died at the age of 42, she not only held a very grand funeral, but also ordered that no entertainment activities should be held for one year.
People are born with the instinct to pursue good things. Who doesn't want fine food and fine clothes? As the most distinguished woman in the world, she has the power second only to the emperor. If Empress Xiao Shencheng wants to pursue enjoyment, someone will definitely offer her gold and silver jewelry for her to squander, but Empress Xiao Shencheng has lived a simple life all her life.
It is difficult for us modern people to save one-fifth of our salary every month. Most of them are moonlight people, and spend as much as they have. However, Empress Xiao Shencheng can restrain her instincts and desires with reason, restrain her authority, and not be greedy and extravagant.
Although you are a queen, you live a poor life, take charge of the palace and set an example, saving millions of money for your country with your own efforts. Such a "stingy queen" deserves everyone's admiration!