The Forbidden City covers an area of 720,000 square meters and has more than 70 palaces. It is said that there are 9,999 and a half. It is one of the most luxurious and spectacular buildings in the world. Generally speaking, hall of mental cultivation is the main activity place for emperors in Qing Dynasty, and emperors since Yongzheng lived and handled state affairs here.
In fact, the emperors of the Qing Dynasty were not in the Forbidden City for most of the year. According to statistics, about half to two-thirds of their time is not in the palace.
Not in the palace. Where have you been? They moved to the western suburbs of Beijing and lived and worked in court gardens such as Changchun Garden, Summer Palace, Yuanmingyuan Garden and Jingyi Garden. In addition, there are summer resorts in Nanyuan and Jehol.
Emperor Kangxi often went to Changchun Garden, while Yong Zhengdi often stayed in Yuanmingyuan. Later emperors such as Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang and Xianfeng spent most of their time working and living in Yuanmingyuan.
After the Second Opium War, Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Tongzhi and Guangxu mainly spent their time in the Summer Palace because the Yuanmingyuan was burned by the British and French allied forces.
Yong Zhengdi once said to ministers, "I am in Yuanmingyuan, just like in the palace. Everything I should do will be handled as usual. " This shows that compared with the Forbidden City, the Forbidden City Park in western Beijing is a more important political center. The Forbidden City mainly became a symbol of imperial power.
Why doesn't the emperor like staying in the Forbidden City? As we all know, the Forbidden City is very imposing and sacred everywhere. Friends who have been there can consider it. Is it really comfortable to live in it?
There is no green in the Forbidden City, even a tree is rare, so the living environment will naturally not make people feel comfortable. In addition, hall of mental cultivation, where the emperor lived, was surrounded by high walls, and the space was not very spacious, giving people a sense of oppression.
In order to seek a more comfortable life and more comfortable office conditions, the three imperial capitals of Kang, Yong and Gan invested heavily in building garden-style palaces in the western suburbs. These places are lush with flowers and trees, mountains and rivers, pavilions and pavilions, and breeding rare birds and animals is refreshing. Emperors naturally don't want to return to the rigid Forbidden City.
The emperor stayed in the garden and didn't come out, giving people the impression of indulging in debauchery and neglecting political affairs. Ministers inevitably talk about it. Emperor Qianlong noticed that he specifically explained to ministers in 1737:
"Although I live in Yuanmingyuan, I occasionally take a trip to save money, but I am conscientious and take care of tens of thousands of things, fearing that I will relax politically."
What he means is that I only play and relax occasionally in Yuanmingyuan, and I am busy with political affairs from morning till night and never slack off.
The emperor is at ease in the western suburbs, and the princes and ministers suffer. The distance from Beijing to Xijiao Garden is twenty or thirty miles. Ministers should get up earlier and go further when attending the "Imperial Gate Listening to Politics" hosted by the emperor. "Ministers get up early every night and are exhausted." If you encounter stormy weather, you will feel even worse.
Emperor Kangxi also realized this problem. In order to understand the minister, he ordered that the morning time be postponed for one hour from 6 am in spring and summer and 7 am in autumn and winter respectively. Even so, the return of princes is hard to predict.
It may be that the minister delayed his official business because of the inconvenience of going back and forth. Therefore, Yong Zhengdi stressed: "You shouldn't be late." If there is nothing to play, you don't have to come to this yamen to do business. "
In this way, the work discipline is stipulated, and things at hand must be dealt with in time; I have nothing to report to the emperor, so I don't have to come. This opened the door for some ministers and reduced labor.
References:
Yuanmingyuan and Qing Palace politics, Three Mountains and Five Gardens in Liu Zhonghua and the management of royal gardens in Qing Dynasty.