The emperor lived an enviable life, eating, drinking, and enjoying himself, surrounded by beautiful women and servants. However, is this really the case? Take Yongzheng as an example, he only rests on his birthday a year.
With only five or six hours of sleep a day, this kind of work is much heavier than most of us. Under normal circumstances, we have two days off a week, and we already feel tired after working eight hours, not to mention the high-intensity work like Yongzheng.
Emperor Yongzheng's diligence was admirable, but his tedious life made him feel bored. So, how did Qianlong, the most extravagant emperor of the Qing Dynasty, spend his day?
In fact, his life was not as easy as we thought. Mornings are the most tiring time of the day, and our office workers and student parties generally get up around 7 a.m., while high school and elementary school students may need to get up at 5 or 6 a.m., and their lives are equally hard.
The princes of the Qing Dynasty began to study in the school before dawn, and some even got up at four o'clock in the morning. Such efforts enabled them to have nine sons in the Kangxi period, because they were not only numerous, but each of them was very good.
As the princes of the Qing Dynasty, they are not pampered children, but have profound cultural literacy. Each prince was able to compare with the emperors of the late Qing Dynasty.
Yongzheng is not Kangxi's most favored son, but his ability to become a winner in the battle is enough to prove that his ability cannot be underestimated.
With his diligence and perseverance, Emperor Qianlong won the favor of Yongzheng. He inherited his routine when he was a prince, getting up at three o'clock in the morning every day, letting the palace maids and concubines serve him to dress and wash, and then prepare for the morning court.
In the early days, he would discuss state affairs with his ministers, and then, accompanied by the Minister of Military Aircraft, he would spend time reading the memorabilia and looking for solutions to problems.
It was not until seven or eight o'clock in the morning that the emperor began to enjoy his breakfast time.
As an emperor, despite having supreme power, he cannot choose his favorite food as he pleases. It is said that "no more than three foods" is their rule, and each dish cannot be eaten more than three times in a row.
The reason for this rule was to prevent someone from taking advantage of the emperor's taste to poison him. The emperor's mornings were always busy, mainly dealing with state affairs and reading.
Hundreds of copies gave them a headache, and in the blink of an eye, it was lunch time. The emperor spent most of his time in the Qianqing Palace, facing an endless stream of state affairs.
The time when the emperor was busiest was from morning to noon. The afternoon is relatively relaxed, and Qianlong will spend it in a pleasant afternoon tea time. However, the emperor would not have lunch until two o'clock in the afternoon.
Although we modern people eat three meals a day, in ancient times, they only had two main meals in the morning and evening, and ate snacks when they were hungry.
The Emperor will have more free time after lunch, and can choose to continue with his business or enjoy some entertainment. However, before that, they must first visit the Queen Mother.
After lunch, Emperor Qianlong would first go to greet the Empress Dowager and then arrange his own time. His grandfather, Emperor Kangxi, was better, because he had no mother after succeeding to the throne, and he spent more time in the afternoon, so he would choose to listen to operas, fishing, riding and shooting and other activities.
Emperor Qianlong's favorite pastime was to recite poems. Although the level of his poetry is not high, there is a collection of Qianlong poems, and the guidance of the talented Ji Xiaolan also makes his poems have something to see.
Emperor Yongzheng never let himself be idle in the Qianqing Palace, and he did not stop handling government affairs. The twists and turns came like a tidal wave, and new ones were sent in the afternoon. He has very little free time for himself, and as long as he has energy, he will always work.
It's five o'clock in the afternoon, and the most important meal of the day - dinner is about to begin. After a busy day, dinner is the greatest enjoyment, with a wide variety of dishes. Due to the variety of dishes and another busy day, dinner lasts for an hour.
It was about six o'clock after dinner, so how did the ancient emperors spend their nightlife? In ancient times when there was no electricity, what was people's nightlife? Let's explore it together.
The days of being an emperor were so boring that even the intimate matter of sleeping was watched. Although the emperor could not spend the night with the concubines who had been turned over, he was able to spend a short time with them.
As for the trivial matters of picking up the concubine and sending the concubine, it will be handed over to the clean room to deal with. The flop was not done in the evening, but in the morning after the pilgrimage, which was completed at about 7 o'clock.
After all, concubines and concubines are exquisite, they can't be casual, they must be carefully arranged and prepared. Although being an emperor also has headaches, such as not being able to pamper a person at will, if you turn over a person's brand for a long time, then you may not see her for two or three months.
The matter of choosing a concubine is not trivial, it is related to the foundation of the previous dynasty, and it also involves the inheritance of the royal bloodline. The harem concubines focus on giving birth to the emperor's heir, and giving birth to heirs is the top priority in the palace.
Even if you are favored and cannot have children, everything is empty talk. Emperor Qianlong selected the concubines to sleep at 7 o'clock in the morning every day, and at 7 o'clock in the evening, the beauties were immediately **. In order to ensure that the emperor gets enough sleep and prevent indulging in women's sex, even the bedtime is supervised by a special person.
The concubine stayed in the emperor's palace for a short time, and when she was about a stick of incense, the eunuch reminded her outside. The emperor even needs the help of others in family affairs, and when he reminds him for the third time, the eunuch will take the person away directly.
The emperor has a lot of opportunities, but the harem is extremely lonely. Although Qianlong is the Son of Heaven, he is not as shown in the TV series, and he can be served by concubines at any time. In fact, the time he spent with his concubines was very limited, and every hour was precious.
In order to fight for this hour's companionship, the harem concubines must be jealous, even at the expense of various means. However, the harem is hierarchical, and many things are not what they seem.
Although the emperor is in a high position, he has to deal with the affairs of the whole world, and this job is so hard that those of us who take care of a small family may not be able to imagine.
If you govern a big country, if you cook small fresh, your home is the smallest country, and your country is tens of millions. Although the Qianlong Emperor reigned for more than 60 years, he once ruled the Qing Dynasty to the fullest, but in the later period, he indulged in luxury and pleasure, resulting in an empty treasury that could not support long-term prosperity.
If the policy of closing the country off could be abandoned, perhaps the Qing Dynasty would have been able to continue its prosperity for a longer time.