The Ministry of Internal Affairs began to operate from 166 1, with a huge organization, reaching 3000 people at the peak. Be in charge of royal affairs, and bear all the clothes, food, housing and transportation of the emperor and his empresses. Where did the emperor's private money come from? As we all know, the first thing that comes to mind is the tributes of officials at all levels and vassal States. Who doesn't know to be filial to every emperor's birthday, celebrate the Chinese New Year, or who wants to be promoted?
Second, the emperor also did business, selling native products of his hometown in Northeast China, specializing in ginseng and mink.
Third, usury, this is unexpected, right? Officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs lent the emperor's money to businessmen, thus earning high interest.
Fourth, the rent paid by emperors' families everywhere. The emperor owned 886 imperial estates in Northeast China and North China, which were managed by the Accounting Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Fifth, the customs revenue of Guangzhou Customs. Before the First Opium War, there was only one trading port in Guangzhou in the Qing Dynasty, and the customs duties collected were not sent to the Ministry of Finance, but were pocketed by the emperor.
It is a little difficult to enumerate the personal income of the emperor in detail in this essay. These are the main sources.
Next question, how to store the emperor's private money? To this end, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has set up a special storage department, which is in charge of the royal treasury and has six warehouses for silver, leather, porcelain, satin, clothes and tea.
The silver warehouse stores gold, silver, pearls, jade, coral and agate; the leather warehouse stores leather, woolen cloth, ivory and rhinoceros horn; the porcelain warehouse stores porcelain, bronze and tin; the satin warehouse stores satin, yarn, silk, silk and cloth; the clothing warehouse stores imperial clothes, plainclothes and Eight Banners soldiers; and the tea warehouse stores tea, ginseng and precious calligraphy and painting.
We can also get a glimpse of the emperor's family background from the functions of various libraries. Among them, the emperor has the strictest custody of the national treasury, which ranks first among the six treasuries.
The national treasury is located in Hongyi Pavilion in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, right under the emperor's nose, so that his old man can count money for a living. According to He Gangde, an official in the late Qing Dynasty who once checked the vault, there are only three precious sapphires in the vault. Jin Gangzuan's two pockets are as big as emeralds; The rest are all gold and jade jewels, dazzling and countless.
The vault is also kept strictly, with 25 people on duty day and night. In order to prevent the inside job from stealing, the manager of the vault doesn't have a key. The key is kept by the guards in Gan Qing Palace, and there are more than one key. Opening the warehouse is even more complicated, requiring many officials to be present for monitoring, and people who enter and leave the warehouse must be searched. When the warehouse is closed, the on-site officials * * * sign with them and put a seal on the lock. Every month, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will summarize the income and expenditure of the cashier in Liuku, and the emperor may make random checks at any time in order to understand his family background.
There is another key issue. How did the emperor spend his private money? In fact, this is not much different from ordinary people. He has to buy, buy, buy for his wives. The harem concubines rely on his small coffers for their monthly money. His royal meals and robes were also purchased by the Ministry of the Interior with his money.
For example, Daoguang, who is famous for his diligence and frugality, had his clothes torn and asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs to mend them. After completion, Daoguang asked how much it would cost, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs replied: 3,200 taels of silver. This money comes from the emperor's private money, so Daoguang's nose is crooked. In addition, in a special period, the emperor's private money may also be used for state expenditure.
In order to fight the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Emperor Xianfeng once used 27,000 yuan to melt his three prefects into gold bars and nuggets to supplement military spending. He also repeatedly ordered the Ministry of Internal Affairs to allocate silver to support the front line. By September of 1853, the Ministry of Internal Affairs had only 4 12000 yuan left, which was a little reluctant to safeguard the dignity of the royal family.